Saturday, March 29, 2008

Catch Up

I knew that I haven't been blogging to much lately...but I just realized that I have only posted 4 times this month! That is a quarter of what I was doing. That's awful. I am going to make it a point for the month of April to blog at least 15 times. That breaks down to at least every other day.

This is the time of year that I look back on the what we have done this school year and what I would like to do in the next. The homeschool convention is less than a month away. I want to have a game plan when I go. This school year has been a mixed bag. I had never homeschooled before this year with a baby in the house. All I can say is, I don't know how people that have baby after baby do it. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying this sarcastically....I am giving them a HUGE amount of credit. I just don't know how then get everything done. But believe me...I am NOT complaining. Miss Emily is such a blessing to our family and she is worth every gray hair on my head that I color : )

I had planned on staying home from this year's convention. I have now decided I NEED to go. I need a fresh perspective. I need to hear from others how they are doing it. I need to be around 3,000 other people that are doing it too. Last night at our homeschool support group meeting one of the ladies who has finished her journey with homeschooling said "whenever I go to the convention I feel like I am going home." Yes, that's it! I need to go home.

Tonight my honey and I are going on a date. I am thinking dinner and a movie. My mom is going to bless us and watch all the little darlings (not that CJ needs too much watching while we go out).

Oh, one last thing. Over at The Heart of the Matter Rachel did a great post today. I urge you all to go and read it (you can get there from my side bar). It is about not comparing ourselves to others and each one of us bringing something unique to homeschooling. I loved it. Just what I needed to hear.

Toodles,
Judy

Friday, March 21, 2008

What I wish I knew....

Over at the Heart of the Matter they pose a weekly question on Friday's. This is the first week that I am leaving my 2 cents on the matter.

The question: What You Wish You Had Known Your First Year of Homeschooling

I wish I knew about learning styles and all the different ways there are to homeschool. The first year I bought a full curriculum from one company. Now I am very eclectic in my approach. I use what works best for my children.

My first year I wish I had known to relaxed more. I was so afraid of getting it all right (sometimes I still struggle with that concept). This is my 6th year hsing and I am amazed at how much my children have learned...even in those times that I feel like life has taken over and not much has gotten done from their books.


Every year has brought about new challenges and blessings. One year we started the school year with me having back to back surgeries. Another year we moved at the being of the year. Twice we have had children placed in our home for adoption. I have taken care of a mother who as had open heart surgery. Life does not stop happening because I homeschool. And you know what....that's okay!!! Some of the best lessons my children have learned haven't come from a book. It has come from LIFE. They have learned about compassion when taking in a new sibling. They learned about honoring your mother (even when you are in your 30's) when they saw me take care of mine after surgery. They have learned about putting others first and serving their brother or sister when another is sick in bed. THESE ARE LESSONS THEY WILL NEVER LEARN IN A SCHOOL OR A BOOK!!! Isn't that great?!


Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Wordless Wednesday






Wired Up!!
Emily had her first EEG last week. After having to get up at 5 and not being allowed to go back to sleep she wasn't exactly a happy camper. This EEG came out normal. Next step is a 48 hour EEG. They will hook her up..24 leads of her head, then send her home with all the wires in a backpack that she will carry around (sounds like fun with a 15 month old doesn't it!!). Will post when this is happening. After testing we brought her out to lunch at Cracker Barrel (she still wasn't very happy with us---but we can't blame her).



Friday, March 7, 2008

LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD!!!!

I don't know if you have heard yet but CA is the first state to make homeschooling illegal. Yes, you read right...HOMESCHOOLING ILLEGAL!!! Can you believe it!! I don't know all the details. What I do know is: California Appeals court decided on Feb. 28, 2008 that almost all forms of homeschooling would be illegal. A parent needs to have a certification to teach their own children. HSLDA was NOT a part of this case. Dr. James Dobson, who is outraged, and Focus on the Family are speaking out against this ruling.

HomeSchool Legal Defense Association is moving in. If you go to their website HSLDA you can get info about the case and sign a petition. I urge everyone to look into this... whether you homeschool or not. What's next if they make this illegal...next Private schools? Help protect our right. We all need to get outraged.

Toodles,
Judy

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

I'm back!

I haven't been blogging much. I had gone through a period of time that I was feeling so blah that I didn't want to sound negative and turn people off to my blog. I was feeling very stressed and overwhelmed. I was believing all the lies that like to sneak into our heads about homeschooling. You know the ones: "I am terrible at this" "Should I send the kids to school..they would probably be better off without me teaching them"......stuff like that.

Luck for me, I have the BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD!!! I didn't want to talk about how awful I felt but he knew something was wrong. So last week he set up what I like to call "24 hours of spoiling". It started last week on Tuesday. Chris called on his way home from work saying we were going on a date that night. The weather was questionable and at first I told him I just felt like staying home (when you are that down you don't feel like going out). But after some convincing, I decided to just give in. Boy I am glad I did!!! We stated off going to a little Italian restaurant, just the two of us. Then we headed to the movies (bonus-- during the week it is only $5 a person). Being as wild as we are, after the movies we ran to Kohl's so I could pick Emily up a dress I saw on a previous shopping trip. We finished up the night by stopping at The 99 Restaurant to pick up take-out dessert (yummy). We had a great night.

Well it didn't stop there. The next day, Chris booked me a one hour massage with my favorite massage therapist. I like to call this my "One Hour Vacation". Sylvia is FANTASTIC!!! 1st off, she knows exactly what I like: scent~~orange. music~~a CD of various nature sounds. It starts off sounding like I am sitting on the beach and I can hear the ocean. Next, it sounds like I am walking through a rain forest during a thunder storm and I am can hear the animals. It plays different sounds like that. Each one transporting me to a different place on the globe. Last but not least, Sylvia doesn't talk!! She talks to me before the massage to see how I am doing and if I need any certain place worked on. After that she says three sentences: 1. Is the pressure alright. 2. Roll over. 3. Thank you. This is very important to me. Most people that I know that didn't enjoy a massage was due to the fact that the person talked the whole time. This is not relaxing at all. Don't get me wrong. I will talk to you all you want about homeschooling, having 5 children, and what I do all day being a SAHM....just not during my one hour vacation. This is my time to forget it all. AND I DID!!! I was so relaxed that I nodded off. I realized it when she asked me to roll over. This isn't the first this has happened.

Later in the evening, Chris brought the boys to Zachary's basketball game and came home with flowers for me. It was just the perfect ending to my perfect 24 hours of caring. That time honestly lifted me out of the funk I was feeling. It let me know how much he loves and appreciates me.

In other news, I am learning how to scrapbook. Saturday I went to a scrapbooker's dream. It was a 12 hour event put on by the area Creative Memories. It was awesome. It ran from 10 am to 10 pm. You brought your stuff and off you went. 12 hours of scrapbooking...alright, it was more like 9 after the lunch and dinner break we took and minus the last hour. I just couldn't do anymore after 9p.m. because my eyes were starting to bother me. I got 6 pages done. Not bad for someone that is new and didn't know ahead of time what they wanted to work on.

Have a great day!

Toodles,
Judy