Unit Studies

I've decided to change things up a bit in our homeschooling, at least for the remainder of this school year. We'be been bogged down lately and everyone has gotten frustrated, I think. So, we are working on unit studies right now. Our first study is on Photography. The kids seem to be enjoying what they have done so far, especially since they have the opportunity to take some neat pictures along the way. I don't think we are going to do this next year, however. The more I think about it and look into what is needed to be ready for college, the more I believe that in high school Shawn needs more structure than what the unit studies seem to provide. So, we've decided to use Switched on Schoolhouse for next years curriculum. We used this years ago when they were younger and both in elementary school but it didn't quite feel right for them at that time. What's changed, you might wonder? Well, for one thing I have two more children, and little ones at that, to take care of. SOS does all of the planning and grading for me which I could use at this point. Also, it makes it really easy to prepare high school transcripts. Shawn will also be taking his first elective...Spanish I. I'm so excited for him! We are all looking forward to learning a little Spanish. He really wants to learn Japanese but he needs to get an easier foreign language under his belt first, the principal (a.k.a. dad) and I have decided. I'm glad that the cost is a little more manageable than Bob Jones, as well. I really think this will work out better for all of us, but we may need to look into getting a backup computer. The other good thing is that Makayla can go right into his curriculum in two years so no need to buy new workbooks or anything like that. I'm already for this year to be over and next year to begin :) I may keep doing unit studies next year as well as the computerized curriculum because I think it can only add to a well rounded education. We'll see!

TiLT

Ok, I've decided to start something new called Things I Love Thursday! Hopefully this will work as sort of a gratitude list as well and will grow and grow over time.

1. Love that I just printed out four tickets to Disney! Can't wait to take the fam!

2. Having fun times with my family. Right now everyone is doing there own thing and getting along and just plain having a good time right now.

3. Having a random day where my husband happens to be home. Ok, so his car wouldn't start this morning which is what makes it random but I'll deal with the car not starting later...LOL.

4. Listening to my husband wash dishes while I'm blogging...LOVE IT!!!

5. Knowing my kids always have someone else to play with since there are four of them. They always have a partner to play a video game (Shawn and Chris right now), watch a movie, play school (that's what Makayla and Phalyn are doing now) or just be alone to explore the house (that's Morgana).

6. Realizing that just listing all of this and hearing my content family around me brings a smile to my face!!!

There is a lot more of today still to go so I'm sure I'll add some more things I love later in the day!

Homeschool Reboot

I've been so frustrated lately! My older kids have some sort of lazyitis when it comes to doing their school work, chores, etc. Of course, they would never miss playing video games, checking their internet accounts, socializing with friends and that sort of thing. So...I've decided that our homeschool needs a reboot. Starting next Monday I am going to focus on smaller doses of schooling with slightly shorter lessons and build back up to full swing. I think we just came out of the gate too fast after the holidays. They seem to be in a bit of shock. Shock that they are expected to do things again. After two weeks off and all of the celebrating it's hard to get their attention back to everyday life and the routines of things. Wish me luck!

My Goals for the New Year: A 2010 Bucket List

Ok, so it's 13 days into 2010 and I haven't really established any goals yet. Here goes...
1. To lose about 40 pounds before June when we go on vacay!
2. To study more...to learn something new. Take courses on-line at ksurf.net for one.
3. To bring back the excitement of home schooling after so many years. To encorporate more field trips in the coming year.
4. To read the Bible completely...again and to really study it.
5. To blog daily, even if I have very little to say.
6. To completely organize and declutter my house...no small feat!
7. To create a working cleaning schedule. One that involves everyone living in our house of age enough to assist!!!
8. To create more financial peace and freedom.
9. To get back to church more. I make sure that the older kids get there three days a week but since the younger ones have had such a hard time adjusting we haven't been staying with them. Maybe we can change that this year.
10. To spend more time with family and friends that I haven't spent so much time with over the past years due to growing families and such.
11. To establish a date night.
12. To locate "ME" time!

That's it for now. If I come up with more then I'll be sure to add them. Wish me luck!

Lost

Ok, so I lost track of blogging my schedule the other day but I can tell you that once the hubby comes home it is hard to get much done. We ended up busy with all sorts of things and that was the end of my productive day beyond cooking dinner for the family.

Thursday - second update

2:00 - started 3rd load of laundry washing and started folding and putting away my 4th load. Got a tired, hold-me baby that doesn't want to nap.

2:20 - Helped Makayla with her English report on Italy and broke the boys roughhousing up >:(

2:40 - Preschool time. Helped Phalyn work on his cutting skills. In between helping the kids with their work, I continued to clean, declutter, sort and arrange the two large bookshelves in the den. Still got a lot of work to do in that area.

3:00 - Gana is finally down for a nap. Hopefully she can sleep uninterrupted for a while. Never mind that! As soon as I laid her down she woke up.

Thursday - first update

I've been keeping a running list of pretty much everything that's been going on today...so here goes!

At 8:40 I got Phalyn a Pop Tart and put a sleeping Morgana in her crib. Well that didn't last long! I barely had enough time to get my contacts in before she was awake and crying to get out. So I fed the little kids breakfast and got a little something for myself. We are usually kind of scattered in the morning with breakfast since everyone wakes up at different times. I decided to have a Green Tea and a Special K bar. Not bad, only 100 calories so far today! I fed the dog and cat, too. Got Phalyn started on his preschool computer programs.

9:00 - Put first load of laundry on to wash and decided to take before pics of my messy house, or most of it anyway. After taking pics I cleaned the dining room since that was the easiest to get accomplished. 15 minutes later and I was finished sweeping, clearing and cleaning the table. That meant there was plenty of room to fold and sort the three baskets of laundry I had been putting off. UGH!

9:15 - Shawn and Makayla are finally awake. So I ran off to get dressed for the day. As soon as I got fully dressed I hear my baby girl, Morgana, crying frantically so I call out to the older kids to check on her while I'm racing down the hall buttoning my buttons with a shoe still untied. She was standing at the dining room table and fell backwards down a little step and landed on her face :*( I scooped her up and got her changed and dry in just enough time for my 4 year old and 14 year old to get into it over playing the PS2....major UGH! After I got them somewhat calmed down and repeated myself probably 15 times that it wasn't getting turned on this morning, I think they sort of got it.

9:35 - Working on folding my 2nd basket of laundry.

9:50 - Introduced kids to Homeschool Advantage on the computer and they both (Shawn and Makayla) really liked it and completed all activities for today plus some. Got Shawn to play with Morgana to distract her from wanting to be carried all day after her little fall. It worked!

10:00 - Called Mom to chat and walk. Commonly referred to as "my aerobics". I probably walk miles and miles every week just by walking and cleaning while talking on the phone. Usually I am walking to find quiet places to be able to talk and to get away from kids that always seem to have a million questions as soon as I get on the phone. I started washing my 2nd load of laundry and finished folding my 3rd basket...all while talking on the phone :)

10:39 - I hung up with Mom and began putting all of the clothes that now filled my table away. I took a little break to take pictures of my cuties playing. While putting the little kids clothes away I managed to clean their room.

10:50 - Cleaned the living room.

11:15 - Began work on the "den".

11:20 - Got the kids started decorating their placemats and took pictures of those too. Phalyn drew a very accurate picture of Poppy, with just one arm, on his plate. Makayla's (or Mickey) was all about celebraties and peace. Shawn's was all about Yu-gi-oh (and a quote from Jeff Dunhem's "Achmed"). Morgana's was all about being 16 months old!

11:45 - Break to prepare lunches. This is probably where most of my down time starts. I snacked on Gana's (that's Morgana's nickname) vienna sausage (100 calories) and now I'm waiting on my yummy potpie (that'll be 640 calories). Now I'll get to enjoy some computer time until lunch is ready.

12:45 - Time to eat finally! Guess I should have started making it earlier. Everyone else is done eating and enjoying some game playing time.

1:15 - Done eating and blogging. Kids are getting started on school. So I'm off until this evening when I post some more. Pretty productive day so far, I think. Ok, I got stuck blogging a little longer than I planned but I also got Makayla started on her research report, Phalyn settled with a movie and Shawn started on his Science.

2:00 - Started 3rd load of laundry washing and working on folding my 4th load.

What I'm Up to In a Week

I decided to keep a running log of what I actually do throughout the course of a week. Being a stay-at-home mom I often get that my house should be very clean and that I should have plenty of time to myself, however, that seldom is or seems the case. That's why I have decided to keep a running log of my daily activities. So here's what I've been up to so far today...well, actually, let me start with the fact that for some crazy reason my baby girl is a night owl and didn't go to sleep before midnight last night and I in turn couldn't sleep. I ended up going to bed around 1:30 am but proceeded to read until 2:00 am. Now on to today's schedule of activities.

6:00 am - baby girl woke up and wanted to leave the bed which forces me to get up since our bed is elevated and it scares me to think of her falling off if I fall back asleep...yes, she's a cosleeper and by then our 4 year old son will have climbed in with us, as well....all in a queen size bed ;) Now since I was up...I decided to jump on the computer and check email, facebook, the usual, which lead to doing some research on homeschooling ideas and resources. Before I knew it, it was 8:00 am and baby girl was now asleep on the couch beside me.

8:15 am - Phalyn, my 4 year old son, wakes up. Now he insists on moving to the couch with a blankie and pillow after he visits the bathroom and gets himself dressed but he won't leave the bedroom until I go and get him. He's a funny sort of guy. He has his own way of doing things, that's for sure. It'll take him a bit to warm up to the day, usually does, but by the time his older brother and sister wake up he'll be raring to go. He's just asked for breakfast which happens to be a poptart this morning (his fave). But he's also announced that he doesn't like the new flavored water and would prefer milk in his sippy cup that we are trying to break him from. I guess in a since it's mission accomplished because we have been wanting him to drink more milk and he's already asking for milk on day two! Yeah, me! I'll take my successes where I can get them.

I'll keep track of everything that goes on today and post more later today when I locate that ever elusive free time...I know it's there somewhere but I really need to see it in black and white...LOL