An Organized Mess

Counting Blessings

2012-01-02T02:04:00.001-07:00

As I think back on 2011, I realize that it has been an amazingly great year for me and my family. Here are some things that made it great.

1. I lived in Hawaii

Here we are celebrating our 2 year Hawaiiversary

2. Rand had/has a great job that he loves that brings in enough money for us to make ends meet every month and even save some for fun stuff like traveling.
3. We moved to the faculty townhouses where we plan to live for the foreseeable future. (meaning we have no plans to move anytime soon!)
4. We were able to decorate our new house in a way that makes me happy and feels like home.
5. We were able to rent our downstairs bedroom to students which has helped us to save more money for traveling and has taken the pressure off of me feeling like I needed to try to get a job. I had been stressing about this since I didn't think I could work and homeschool the kids.
6. We have been healthy.
7. The girls are improving academically.
8. The girls are thriving socially.
9. After 15 years, Rand and I may have figured out this marriage thing and spent this 16th year having fun and loving each other more each day.

10. We were able to travel to the mainland this summer visiting family and taking the girls to Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and NYC.

11. I was able to take a trip to visit my best friend in Las Vegas after not seeing her for 2 years.

12. After 8 years, I have finally figured out this homeschooling thing with curricula and a schedule that works, making my life much less stressful.
13. I have been able to keep motivated to exercise regularly.
14. I have made some new good friends this year whose husbands get along with my husband and whose kids get along with my kids and who keep me motivated to exercise (see #13).
15. I was able to be in our university's production of A Winter's Tale. It was so fun to be in a play after an eight year hiatus.

16. And just a week before the end of 2011, I tried surfing and I like it!

Here's to 2012 being even more awesome!

Around the World with Sculpey

2011-11-20T23:00:00.000-07:00

My oldest daughter loves Sculpey and her favorite thing to make is little dolls. She has amassed quite a collection including dolls representing cultures from around the world. When we moved I decide to make a display of her dolls and our world map.

Here it is (forgive the terrible lighting)

And here are some of the dolls up close.

China

Hawaii (of course)

Africa

The more things change, the more things stay the same part 3

2011-11-15T14:04:00.001-07:00

Kali in a box 2001

Kali in a box 2011

Part 1
Part 2

Why I love having older kids

2011-11-10T23:55:00.000-07:00

Don't get me wrong I LOVE babies. Their soft heads and squishy thighs and sweet baby smell. I love them so much that I was worried that I would keep wanting to have more and more babies. But alas the baby hunger stopped after 3 babies.

And toddlers are just so cute.

And preschoolers. Oh, preschoolers are so much fun!

But older kids and teenagers, yikes, teenagers... I didn't really know what to expect. Turns out they are still pretty cute and they are lots of fun and....

They can carry on real conversations.
They can clean up after themselves - with reminders ; )
They don't fight bedtime
They can be left home alone while you go shopping, exercise, go to a girls' night out, go on a date!
They can help out with the household chores.
They are more fun than work while camping or traveling.

Yep, having older kids is great. They no longer let you smell their soft heads or squish their thighs, but they are so much less work. And I am really enjoying watching them grow and mature. It is really amazing to see the people they are becoming.

Just Because

2011-10-22T21:01:00.000-06:00

I was sorting through my pictures and found this one of Kali. Isn't she pretty? And sandy...

Homeschool Schedule 2011

2011-10-19T21:15:00.000-06:00

I am tempted to just copy and paste our schedule from last year because things haven't changed much. In fact, I think I will and I will just make changes as needed.

7:00am - I attempt to get out of bed. This is a half hour earlier than last year.
7:30am - I go to gym to use elliptical machine
8:15 am - Meet friends for weight training. This is a recent addition. I am hoping it will help spark some weight loss and it is fun to be with other women for a while each morning.
9 am - return from home, eat breakfast, computer time (Kids are awake by this time and are eating breakfast and watching TV)
9am - school starts - girls work on independent work while I finish up on computer and do other morning chores, such as start laundry and tidying up a bit. I am often called over to answer questions.
10 am - I take a shower, put away laundry, more tidying, more questions
10:30 am - Read aloud (or, as has been happening lately because we no longer spend much time in the car, listening to book on tape)
11:00 am - "mom school" time - M and W - history, T - science, Th - depends on my mood (poetry, extra history books from the library, art, etc.) F - is our short day if we get all our work done or is a catch up day, if we miss another day during the week.
12:00 - lunch
1:00 pm - girls finish independent work
2:00 pm -school's out
after school - play with friends, instrument lessons, choir. Sierra tried an art class, but didn't like it. Kali and Arwen have been taking a dance class.

This schedule has been working great almost 2 years now. I am starting to feel a need for some tweaking. When I don't get in the shower until 10 am, I don't have time to do anything with my hair. I end up just twisting it up and letting it air dry. That works fine for Hawaii, but I often feel like a slob all day. So I want to try and work on getting a shower earlier.

Also, I am feeling like I need to give my girls more individual attention. I spend time with them in the morning and afternoon on an as needed basis, but there is often much distraction (either from the other girls or because I am looking at the computer...). I want to find a time to have a scheduled "meeting" time with them to focus on areas where they need help or to discuss what they are reading on their own. I am trying to decide whether I should meet with them each once a week on Friday (our short day) or for 10 - 15 minutes each day. If I meet with them each day, I will have to cut something out. I am thinking of cutting out our listening to book on CD time after we finish our current book. I think this meeting time will be even more important as Sierra does more independent work as a high schooler next year, so I'll have to figure something out. We'll have to see what works best. I'll keep you posted.

The Lost Tablet

2011-10-08T02:15:00.001-06:00

It's Fall Break for the public schooled kids here on the island. Yes, they get a fall break. Yes, already. They actually started the school year at the beginning of August, so I guess now is as good of a time as any for a break. For the last few years during the break, some moms have put together a play. The first year I asked if my homeschooled kids could participate and they were happy to let them, especially since I volunteered to help direct ;)

I have to admit that it is almost as fun for me as it is for the kids. It has been really fun to have a creative outlet, even if it is only once a year. It really works out well because we rehearse and perform the play in just one week. So I get to immerse myself for a short period of time and then go back to my regular life. This year it was about a month of work because I helped coordinate a group of teenagers who wrote scenes for the play.

In the end we had a play about kids from Laie who went on a quest to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World to gather pieces of a tablet that would restore world peace once brought together.

Kali played Artemis and sang a beautiful solo.

Arwen was an Egyptian and did a really cool dance

And Sierra wrote the Egyptian scene.

Here she is with one of her Egyptains which she called her minions.

2011 - 2012 Homeschool Plan

2011-10-06T18:04:00.002-06:00

Can it be that is is already October and I haven't posted our homeschool plans? This blog started out as I way for me to publicly think through my homeschooling plans with a little bit of regular life thrown in. Now it is mostly regular life with a little bit of homeschooling thrown in. When I actually get around to posting... But in case I have any homeschoolers still reading, here are our plans for 2011 - 2012:

Reading: Books, books, and more books. I have 3 readers now, so now it's just about finding good books for them to read. I made Kali and Sierra lists of books to chose from. Sierra started the year with The Magician's Nephew and Kali read Alice in Wonderland. Then I chose for them and had Kali read The Witch of Blackbird Pond and Sierra read The Crucible to go along with our history studies. Arwen is still developing her reading skills, so I let her chose to read whatever she wants. She read one of the Gail Carson Levine Princess Tales chapter books and she also sometimes reads picture books.

Writing - My older 2 are using Writing Strands and also writing papers that I assign, like research papers, etc. Arwen is doing freewriting this year. All three girls are doing copywork. And Arwen is learning cursive.

Spelling - We are still doing individualized lists. Each week I look through the girls' writing and find misspelled words and they study those words for a week and then do a test. Any words misspelled on the test go on the next week's list. I give them between 8 and 10 words to work on per week. If I can't find enough misspelled words in their writing (either they didn't write much that week or they didn't spell very many words incorrectly - unusually the former), I have them pick out words from their grade level in Natural Spelling to work on.

Grammar- We are still using Growing with Grammar. And I am still going with the plan of using the 4th, 6th and 8th grade books but taking 2 years to complete each books. This avoids much of the repetition in many grammar curricula. Arwen is beginning level 4 as a 3rd grader. Kali is doing the second half of level 6 as a 6th grader and Sierra will finish level 8 this year as an 8th grader. I still feel like it is very repetitive, but it is working for me to have the girls each do 2 grammar lesson per week.

Math - Arwen is working on Singapore 3. Kali is doing Singapore 5 with a plan to also complete (or at least begin) level 6. Level 6 is not has long as the other levels. Sierra is finishing up Thinkwell PreAlgebra and will begin Thinkwell Algebra in about two weeks. I am loving Thinkwell. Sierra can pretty much do math on her own now with the video lessons.

History - We are studying American history by reading through The History of US. We read 10 chapters per week. I was hoping to get through the series this year, but we may have to finish the last book at the beginning of next school year. Sierra is reading Don't Know Much about History on her own. Kali is reading the Jean Fritz history books as they tie in with our other reading.

Science - We are working through Apologia Elementary Science Human Anatomy and Physiology.

Foreign Language - Sierra and Kali are using the free Live Mocha program. Sierra is studying French and Kali is studying Italian.

Music - Sierra is taking flute lessons. Kali is taking violin lessons. Arwen is taking piano lessons. All 3 girls are in a choir.

Art - We aren't doing any formal art lessons. Art just seems to happen naturally at our house.

And that's it. We have finally found a schedule that works ( I'll post that later). Most of the curriculum is a continuation of what we used last year. It was an easy beginning of the school year because we just kind of jumped in where we left off with the same schedule and curricula.

A Mother's Love

2011-08-22T03:06:00.003-06:00

It is said that a mother will do anything for her child. During our trip this summer I had an experience that proves just how true this is. Here is what happened.

Before we left Philadelphia for NYC, we packed everything we would need for our days in the city into backpacks so we wouldn't have to haul suitcases in the subway and on the sidewalks. My husband reminded me that we would want dressy clothes to wear to a Broadway show. So I packed the girls' and my dresses and fancy shoes. After a few days in the city, the night that we planned to go to Phantom of the Opera arrived. By that time I realized that we would not want to wear fancy shoes to walk across the city from our hotel to the Majestic Theater.

I started making plans for us to wear our flip flops with our dresses. "OK, if I wear Kali's and Kali wears Sierra's and Sierra wears Kali's (Arwen can wear her own fancy shoes because they are already flip flops), then we will all kind of match our dresses." But Sierra didn't want to do that.

Her grandma had just bought her new shoes that matched her new dress. I didn't push the issue. The shoes were canvas wedges, so it didn't seem like they would be too uncomfortable. A block and a half into our journey, it became clear that I was wrong.

Sierra was wobbling down the sidewalk because of the height of the wedges and the backs were rubbing her heels. Another block and I was wearing her shoes. For 6 long blocks and 6 short blocks, I wore those shoes. Those who have lived in or spent time walking around NYC know what I am talking about. For 6 long blocks and 6 short blocks those seemingly innocent canvas wedges pinched my toes and rubbed blisters into my heels.

And that my friends is a mother's love.

Did I mention that I also walked back to the hotel in my daughter's shoes? Love, I tell you, true love.

Me, wearing my daughter's shoes and her next to me in flip flops

Book Club 4 Boys Giveaway

2011-08-10T02:51:00.001-06:00

Obviously I have no boys, but a friend of mine has a website with all kinds of cool ideas for getting boys excited about reading by hosting book clubs. Some of her ideas would be great for girls, too! She is hosting a giveaway right now and the grand prize is a Kindle, so go check it out:

http://bookclub4boyshome.blogspot.com/2011/08/kindle-give-away.html

Is it July already?

2011-07-08T02:23:00.002-06:00

Wow, time is just zipping by. The past 3 months have been busy, busy. We moved in May. Don't worry it was just to a house down the street. We are still in Hawaii. Then I went on a Girl's Weekend to Las Vegas. Then we left on a month long vacation to the mainland.

Here are some highlights from our trip.

Playing with cousins

Seeing favorite animals

Eating delicious food

Georgetown Cupcakes

Preztel Bread from Ssam Bar

Patsy's NY style pizza

Dinner at Fatty Crab in NYC

Cereal Milk Ice Cream from Milk Bar

Soft Cheese Cake from Spot Dessert Bar

Wafels and Dinges

Visiting Historical Sites

Ground Zero

Taking in some museums

Calder sculptures at the National Gallery

Smithsonian Natural History Museum

The ruby slippers at the American History Museum

Starry Night at MOMA

Natural History Museum NYC

Egyptian exhibit at the Met

Degas sculpture at the Met

My Kali

2011-04-04T03:11:00.001-06:00

She is the model of a middle child. A true peacemaker. She is kind and loving. She was an easy baby and an easy toddler. When she was three, she went through phase of screaming to get attention, but since that was the year I started homeschooling her older sister and providing childcare for 2 other infants along with taking care of her baby sister, she had to do something drastic to get heard...

She is funny. When people meet her, they comment on how quiet she is, but once you get to know her, her subtle (and not so subtle) humor comes out.

Even though she is super nice, she stands firm in her beliefs. Rand and I used to worry that she was too nice, but I have seen her stand up for herself even when sometimes I wish she would give in, so her younger sister will stop whining...

She is always willing to help. And often offers to help without being asked. And she is cute, too. I am awfully glad I get to be her mom.

Finally

2011-02-21T21:53:00.001-07:00

When I first started homeschooling, I would meet many older homeschooled kids that loved to read and were socially conscious. I wondered if my kids would ever be the same way. For a long time, they liked to read, but weren't bookworms and weren't all that socially aware. But... in the last couple of weeks, my oldest daughter has read about one book a day and my middle daughter started a club to save pandas. She began earning money to donated to the cause by selling her silly bands.

Parents of the older homeschoolers promised me that my kids would turn out just fine and, in fact, they would be smart and kind. They never promised me that they wouldn't be weird though...

Yes, she is in the cage with the guinea pig!

A little bit weird is a good thing though, right???

Things we like: Spilling Ink

2011-01-30T01:35:00.002-07:00

I can't remember where I came across this book. I think it may have been from rabbit trailing off some homeschool blog. As I read about it and used the "look inside" feature on Amazon, I was pretty sure that my oldest was going to love it. But you never know with 12 year olds... I requested it from the library and read it myself. I felt like I was getting a view inside my daughter's creative mind.

After getting about 3/4 of the way through reading it, I decided to just order a copy. I asked my daughter if she just wanted to read it or if she wanted me to assign it. She said she wanted me to assign it to her. I put on her schedule that she was to read 1 or 2 chapter a day and do one "I Dare You" writing exercise each week. At that rate, she would have finished the book in a month.

After about the third day, I found my daughter in her bedroom one afternoon pouring over the book and making notes in her book ideas binder. I, of course, scolded her for doing school work "after hours" ; ) She just rolled her eyes at me and said, "I love this book. It is exactly how I think." Soon she was reading the book whenever she had the chance and finished it in about 2 weeks.

Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook was a big hit. I guess I know my daughter pretty well after all.

15 things: Belated Anniversary Edition

2010-12-26T14:32:00.003-07:00

My hubby and I celebrated our 15th anniversary on December 23rd. In honor of that I present to you 15 of my ~~annoying habits~~ quirks that my husband has had to live with for the past 15 years

1. My need to talk incessantly
   and by incessant I mean that when I start talking sometimes I don't even need to stop to take a breath

2. My pathological neatness
   I will put away something while he is in the middle of using it. It's an illness I tell you.

3. My spaciness
   sometimes I lose track of the conversation mid sentence

4. The fact that I like to use a blanket at night even in Hawaii
   What? I like to snuggle up under blankets when I sleep

5. My chronic lateness
   I try. I really do, but I cannot get places on time.

6. My inability to stop in the middle of working on something
   It's a problem. Once I start a project, I cannot stop even if I should be doing something else like making dinner.

7. My internet addiction
   between email, facebook, and blogs, it gets out of hand sometimes, but I am working on it.

8. My cheesiness
   I'm kind of cross between swiss and cheddar. Cheesy music, cheesy movies, getting choked up over random things, that's me.

9. My forgetfulness
   if I don't write it on my list, I will forget it.

10. My list making
   see #9.

11. When I say I will be ready in 5 minutes, and I am not.
   probably related to #5 and #6. My sense of time is not great...

12. The fact that I don't like to watch football
   he has tried to teach my about the game, I have tried to find a team to cheer for, but I just can't get into it.

13. My taste in music
   I like Colbie Caillat. He likes Nirvana.

14. The fact that I something feel claustrophobic when we snuggle.
   sometimes I am fine with him draping his legs over me while we watch TV, sometimes I have to throw his legs off me in a panic

15. My overwhelming love for him
   ok, not a quirk, but it is true, for 15 year through our ups and down I have never stopped loving him.

Thanks, babe, for loving me, quirks and all, for the past 15 years!

The Best Christmas Eve Ever

2010-12-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

Today as the girls and I were making Christmas cookies to leave for Santa tonight, I started thinking about my favorite Christmas Eve memory.

One Christmas, I think it was the year that I had a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a newborn, I ran out of time to make Christmas cookies for Santa. I was feeling frustrated and upset that I had not succeeded in carrying out an important Christmas tradition. Rand, my wonderful husband, came to the rescue. He suggested that we leave Dr. Pepper and chips for Santa. The girls thought this was a great idea. And the next morning, we found a note from Santa thanking us for the pop and chips and telling us that it was nice to get something beside cookies. What started out as a disaster in my postpartum mind became a favorite Christmas memory.

Smooth Sailing

2010-12-20T17:33:00.006-07:00

This picture has nothing to do with this post, but I found it on my camera and thought it was funny. Oh and by the way, we love Singapore Math. My oldest is just not a fan of math in general.

In fact, this post is about how smoothly everything has been going in our homeschooling lately. Yes, my oldest is still not a fan of math, but truly things are going SO well. (Please don't let this post jinx it!) I mean it. It just feels like I after finally figured out this homeschooling thing. And it has only taken me 7 1/2 years...

I haven't been posting much about homeschooling lately and I think that is because everything is just kind of chugging along. Nothing overly exciting is happening. I am not stressing out over curriculum or deficiencies in my girls' learning. I don't have anything new to report. We are just happily using what we have found works in our homeschool; Writing Strands , Singapore Math , First Language Lessons , Growing with Grammar, Story of the World , English from the Roots Up , Real Science 4 Kids , Live Mocha, Individual spelling lists, reading good books...

My girls have their daily lists and come to me when they have questions. I spend about an hour and a half every morning fielding questions. With 3, it seems like someone always needs help, but it is manageable. Then I actively teach and lead discussions for another hour and a half. Usually the girls have some work to finish up after lunch and then I have my afternoons to do household stuff while the girls play with the neighborhood kids.

So.. If you are a new homeschooler or thinking about homeschooling, you just need to stick it out for 7 years and it will be great.

Just a typical day in our homeschool. For some reason my middle child likes to stand while she works...

Link to my girls' daily lists

The Goose is getting fat...

2010-12-18T14:30:00.001-07:00

or maybe that's just me... Must exercise more.... Too much holiday food...

Yes, Christmas time is upon us.

I have been enjoying this holiday season with my sanity pretty much intact. Or as much as my sanity is ever intact...

Decorations are up.

Gift have been bought (Thank you, Amazon!)

Packages have been mailed.

Cookies have been baked.

I still have wrapping to do and more cookies to bake (need to make sure we have some to leave for Santa on Christmas Eve). I gave up Christmas cards last year due to facebook. Sad, I know, but it freed up some serious time and money in my Christmas season.

one of about 20 pictures found on my camera that my kids took of the Christmas tree

Want to know a secret? I let my kids set up and decorate the tree all by themselves AND... I didn't even go back and move the ornaments around when they were done.

Truly it has been a very relaxing Christmas season this year. Yep, I kept myself sane, but I am not sure what has happened to my hair...

OK, I do know. Arwen gave me Cindy Lou Who hair the other day while we were learning about DNA. It made it hard to concentrated, but we had a good time laughing!

Merry Christmas

Ok, so maybe homemade laundry soap doesn't work

2010-12-02T00:01:00.002-07:00

'member when I made homemade laundry soap and I was skeptical at first, but then excited when it worked. Well...

I am not sure it works.

First, I made a batch and forgot to add Oxy Clean. I started to notice that my clothes were looking dingy and then I remember that I read that that would happen if you didn't use Oxy Clean.

Now, Rand and I are noticing that our T-shirts are starting to smell really rank, even right after they are washed. OK, yes, we live in Hawaii and stuff gets musty easily, but clearly the homemade stuff is not getting the stink out. They seem to be getting worse and worse. I think it is time to buy a big box of Tide!!!

*I just remembered that the first couple of batches I used washing soda, but then I ran out and it is really difficult to find in Hawaii, so I started using baking soda. I just read that washing soda is stronger. Hum, maybe I won't give up completely.

I also tried homemade dishwasher soap and all purpose cleaner.

Homemade Dishwasher Soap
This took a bit of experimenting. The basic recipe is

1 cup of borax
1 cup of baking soda

use 1 teaspoon in each soap container

easy peasy, right? Well, this got the dishes clean, but left a residue. I tried adding salt. I added a squirt of dish soap. I tried vinegar in the jet dry spot (which kind of worked, but splashed everywhere). I read that citric acid works well, but I didn't feel like running all over trying to find it and I couldn't get it on Amazon with free shipping. Finally, I just added a cup of Cascade to the recipe and it works great. And let's be honest, I am doing this to save money more than to save the environment. Sorry, Mother Earth, love ya, but a girl's gotta save a dime where she can. So really what I am doing is extending the life of the store bought stuff with cheaper stuff.

Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner

1/2 teaspoon baking soda or washing soda
2 teaspoons borax
1/2 teaspoon liquid soap or detergent
2 cups hot water

Combine all the ingredients and the water into a spray bottle. Shake well. The washing soda or baking soda makes this formula a great grease cutter.

So far no problems with this one and is really is great for cleaning up greasy messes. But not greasy faces, as my daughter Arwen suggested when she was reading over my shoulder and I tried to explain to her what a grease cutter was.

5 Questions

2010-11-06T19:20:00.001-06:00

I've been tagged in a blog meme by my internet friend, an American Muslim convert living in England who shares my name and my home state.

She asked me to answer the following 5 questions:

1) What is your favourite book of all time?

My first response would be A Tale of Two Cities, a book that I have claimed to be my favorite since high school. I can't wait to reread it with my daughter in a few years. But I recently read The Outsiders again and I love, love, loved it. I really love reading, especially young adult novels, so it is really hard to pick an all time favorite. I went through a phase after college and when I had little babies that I didn't read much. I think I got overloaded with my college reading and then I got "mommy brain" and could barely concentrate long enough to read a magazine article. I am glad that my dear husband encouraged me to start reading again.

2) What is your idea of the perfect day?

My perfect day would include a fun family activity in the morning (but not too early...) like going to the beach or a museum or hiking. Afternoon would involve a delicious lunch that I didn't have to prepare or clean up after. A nap would be part of a perfect day. The evening would be spent going out to eat with my hubby, probably to Vino's where I recently ate the best meal of my life (the kids would miraculously be fed...). Then after dinner I would spend some...um... quality time with my hubby. Also, somehow during this ideal day, my house would stay perfectly clean.

3) If you weren’t homeschooling, what sort of career would you have?

Well, my dream job would be to be an actress (stage, screen, TV, whatever) Once when I was in college my best friend and I made a timeline of our lives. I have pretty much followed the timeline except that I haven't been in a made-for television movie, yet :) In reality (because an acting career would not exactly be the best job to combine with motherhood - and I would chose motherhood over acting every time), I would probably be a teacher. In fact, I am looking into what it would take for me to be able to teach English 101 classes at the university that my husband works at. I am thinking it would be a great job for me when the kids are older and definitely after they have flown the coop.

4) If you had the chance, what one famous person would you meet and why?

This was a hard question for me. I don't really get caught up in famous people, especially celebrities . It seems to me that they are just regular people that took a certain life path. Although it was kind of fun to meet Josh Holloway... Anyway, I can't think of just one person that I am dying to meet. I decided that I would arranged a dinner party with the following historical figures: Cleopatra, Michaelangelo, William Shakespeare, Vincent Van Gogh, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Eva Peron, Martin Luther King Jr., and Albert Einstein... and maybe Josh Holloway...just kidding... or not, it could be fun to add a nice southern boy to this motley cast of characters.

5) If you could possess one talent (singing, painting, writing, etc) and be truly proficient in it, what would it be?
This one is easy. I was just telling my hubby that I wished that I could sing like Kristin Chenoweth. There are many things that I am not good at (drawing, cooking, remembering things from one minute to the next), but if I could snap my fingers and have one talent that I currently don't, I would pick singing.

OK, I am supposed to tag 5 people and give them 5 questions to answer.

Here are my 5 people:

Dori's Diner

Heidiopolis

A Honu World

mostly fluff, this dandelion life

The Life and Times of Mrs.Blimes

And here are my 5 questions:

1. If you had one super power to wish for (X-ray vision, invisibility etc.), what would it be and why?

2. What is your favourite book of all time?

3. What is your idea of the perfect day?

4. If you had the chance, what one famous person would you meet and why?

5. If you could possess one talent (singing, painting, writing, etc) and be truly proficient in it, what would it be?

'Sup?

2010-10-26T19:39:00.007-06:00

Well, ever since school started it feels like lots and not much at the same time. We keep plugging along with school. We have had fun things to do, but not so many that I feel overwhelmed. I can't quite get everything done on my to-do list everyday, but I get enough done that I feel satisfied.

Here is what we've been up to lately:

Bleaching my hair blonde

Making Movies

Going to the pumpkin patch ( yes, they have them in Hawaii)

Writing and acting out plays

Participating in Laie's Fall Break play

Grandma and Grandpa coming to visit

Celebrating Kali's 10th birthday

Taking gymnastics classes

'Sup with you?

WritingGuide.com: a review

2010-10-15T20:45:00.001-06:00

I was recently ask to review the Individualized Writing Course offered by WriteGuide.com. This company offers courses from one to twelve months in length. Students enrolled in the course work with their own private writing teacher via email and work on projects of their own choosing. I chose to try out the month long course.

Originally, I was going to just use the course for my 12 year old, but the company allows the option of more than one student sharing a writing consultant, so I decided include my 10 year old as well. The catch is that the student(s) can only send one email to your writing consultant each day, so I had to keep track of whose day it was to sending their writing to the teacher.

Here is how the program works. The writing consultant begins by sending one email to the student and one to the parent. The consultant asks about the student and discusses what type of writing will be done. You can choose any kind of writing. The consultant can help with a writing curriculum or project that you are already doing or the consultant can put together a writing plan.

Since we were just doing a month long course, I decide choose one of the project options listed on the website and I had my girls each do a personal essay. After my initial correspondence with the teacher, I only ended up emailing her one other time (more on that later). The teacher worked directly with my girls in choosing a topic and working through the writing process.

I really liked how the writing consultant drew ideas out of my girls by asking them questions. Here is an example of a message sent to my 10 year old who was writing a personal essay about why she dislikes pizza.

Hello! Thank you for your message and list of reasons you don’t like pizza. For next time, let’s build a paragraph about the sauce. Do you like tomato sauce on pasta, or do you dislike it on everything? In your paragraph, tell about why the sauce on pizza bothers you. How does it feel when you bite into it? How does it make you feel after you taste and feel it? Use examples of times you have touched or tasted pizza to bring the paragraph to life.

The teacher also taught my 12 year old about metaphor and personification and encouraged her to use it in her essay about why she likes water. During the editing process, the writing consultant will correct and teach grammar concepts. My 12 year old learned about using commas after introductory clauses.

One downside to this program was the scheduling. And it was really my fault. I inadvertently scheduled the course the month that my parents came to visit for a week. The girls did some writing during the visit, but we did miss a few days. This was the other time that I emailed the teacher. Then the last week of the course fell during our local public schools fall break. We took the week off school to participate in a community play. I completely forgot about the writing course - oops. By the time I remembered, the course had ended.

Another downside, is the cost. A one month course is $75 and goes up to $800 for a 12 month course. The one month course isn't bad, but I can't imagine anyone spending even the $630 for a 9 month course. But as Lee at Home Scholar always says, "Spend money on your weakness." Writing isn't a weakness in our house. I have a pretty good grasp on writing and my husband is a professor who teaches academic writing for a living. If writing is a weakness though, WriteGuide,com is less expensive than Brave Writer's personalized writing help.

I would recommend this program to anyone who is struggling to teach writing. A month or two month long course could really help walk the student and you, as the parent, through the writing process. I would also recommend this program for anyone who is working on an important writing project, such as a college essay and needs help with revising and editing.

I felt terrible that we missed the end of our month long course. The girls were very close to finishing their essays. I helped them complete them though and I think they turned out really well.

My 10 year old's essay

My 12 year old's essay

for Braeden

2010-10-06T05:35:00.002-06:00

Two years ago today, one of my dearest friends lost her 10 month old son.

I can't imagine the grief that she experienced

that she is still experiencing

yet I am inspired by her strength

and the strength of other women that I have known who have lost children

I am grateful for the faith that I have

in a life after this one where these mothers

will be reunited with their little ones.

Please don't stop by my house at 11am

2010-09-17T01:24:00.001-06:00

As you may have guessed, homeschooling can reek some serious havoc on an otherwise clean house. Most nights I am able to get my house cleaned and straightened up after the kids go to bed. I enjoy sitting around in my clean house for just a few minutes before bedtime. But then morning comes and the mess begins. By 11am it looks like a tornado has come through. At lunchtime, I tidy up a bit and the kids help clean up when we are done with school for the day, so the house is not a total disaster. But at 11am, the house is a complete wreck. So if you are planning to stop by unannounced, please come by at another time. Unless you want to feel better about your own housekeeping...

at night after the kids are in bed

11am

at night after the kids are in bed

11am

at night after the kids are in bed

11am

at night after the kids are in bed

11am

A Future Fashion Designer?

2010-09-14T00:00:00.005-06:00

My oldest daughter made these dresses out of tissues, yes, that's right, tissues.

Didn't you hear?

Kleenex dresses are all the rage this fall!

Dust Gatherers

2010-09-10T03:07:00.001-06:00

As I typed out my curriculum purchases and mentioned that I thought the Writing With Purpose books might be dust gatherers (I am pretty sure now that I have them that they will be...), I thought about the other curriculum that I have bought that have turned out to be dust gatherers.

Now it's not to say that these products aren't any good. One family's dust gatherer might be another family's favorite curriculum. Here are the curriculum purchases that haven't gotten much use in our house.

The Usborne Internet Linked Science Encyclopedia - I bought this at the same time that I bought The Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia of World History . I have used the world history one more because it is used as part of the Story of the World curriculum. I just haven't found a way to work this into our school. I have kept it around for the 5 years since I bought it. I keep hoping I will find a use for it in our homeschool.

The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading - I bought this because I thought I needed to do more phonics with my oldest after we finished Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons. We had finished 100 Lessons and she was just reading easy readers for about a year, but when she was almost 8, she hadn't made the leap to chapter books, so I got worried. Shortly after I bought this book, something clicked and she has been a voracious reader ever since. I sold the book at the end of the school year.

Many Math extras - When my oldest was in 3rd grade, we struggled with math. Eventually, I discovered that part of the problem was the curriculum we were using (Abeka) and part of it was that she simply needed to solidly memorize her multiplication facts before we went any farther in math. But before my realization, I bought A LOT of math extras to try and help/spark interest in math. These included a dominoes book, a geoboard book, Mia Math CD rom, Peggy Kaye's Games for Math, and Family Math. The girls played the Mia Math game a couple of times. The rest I don't think ever got used. Oh, I read Games for Math and Family Math from cover to cover and took notes, but I don't think I have ever actually used them with my kids.

Art Basics for Children - I don't think this even had time to gather dust. This was one of those purchases where I wasn't able to get a good sense of what it was just from looking at it on the internet. I sold it almost as soon as I got it.

Basic Not Boring Spelling - I should have know better than to buy something designed for public school kids (And I should have remembered when I bought the Writing with a Purpose books this year...). These workbooks were, well, boring. I think my older 2 did 2 pages each before we stopped using them.

Hands on Equations - I bought this when I still thought I would use all of the math extras. And hands on that sounds great, right? We haven't gotten to algebra, yet, but I doubt we will use it. There is just not enough time in the day/school year for all of the "great" hands on things.

Math Wrap Ups - These were used a few times and now just sit on a shelf. We got slightly more use out of the states and capitals wrap up when my older 2 were learning those.

Winston Grammar - I bought the Basic teacher's manual and the cards used and acquired the Advanced level teacher's manual and student workbook. I haven't used either of them. They are too teacher intensive. Kind of like Right Start (which I used for a while, but then sold and switched to Singapore). They are very hands on which is nice, but you know how it goes with hands on stuff... Growing with Grammar is working really well for us, so I doubt these will ever get used.

Lyrical Science - I have the texts and CD's for Life Science 1, 2, and 3, and Earth Science, but I have never used them. They seem like a good idea, but I can't seem to figure out how to use them in our homeschool.

Nitty Gritty Grammar - I think I needed to add something to an Amazon order to add up to $25. I read it, but I doubt I will actually use it.

Number Jugglers - I bought this just last year. Did I not learn my lesson when I bought all the math extras several years ago?

Quarter Mile Math - Another one that seemed like a good idea, but my kids were bored by it. The whole point was to make learning math facts more interesting, so I gave up making them play it after a couple of months.

But like I said, one person's dust gatherer might be someone else's treasure. I am actually trying to sell the Winston Grammar and the Quarter Mile Math. If anyone is interested let me know. And if anyone is interested in anything else on this list that I haven't already sold, feel free to make an offer on those too.

The Many Faces of Arwen

2010-09-06T02:39:00.003-06:00

Arwen has been borrowing my camera a lot recently and when I look at the pictures afterwards (deleting most of them), I find a bunch of self portraits. Here are some of my favorites:

Bunny Arwen

Sassy Arwen

Upside down Arwen

Grumpy Arwen

The End

Homemade Laundry Soap - It actually works!

2010-09-03T23:15:00.004-06:00

I was a bit wary when I thought about making my own laundry detergent. I have learned from past experience that natural homemade stuff often doesn't work. But I'm all for being gentler to the earth and I am really all for saving money, especially now that we live in Hawaii and everything is so expensive, so I decided to give it a try.

And it works. It actually works.

Here is the recipe I used:

1 bar of soap (grated into tiny pieces. I use my food processor)

1 cup borax

1 cup washing soda

1 scoop oxy clean

mix and use 2 tablespoon per load

There are tons of recipes on the internet. I chose this one because it make a powdered detergent. I hate how the liquid kind drips and gets everything in the laundry room sticky. Also, because it is easy. The liquid kind requires you to cook it on the stove. And I chose this particular powdered recipe because it is easy to remember. 1-1-1-1...

The first time I made it I used a bar of Fels Naptha soap. After that I have used Lever 2000. The Lever is easier to chop up and it is less expensive and easier to find at the store. And it works just as well.

I have started making a double batch and that lasts me about a month.

I read that using the Oxy Clean is important or your clothes start looking faded because this homemade detergent doesn't have brighteners like the store bought kind.

You can also use baking soda in place of washing soda. I am going to try that with my next batch. Mostly because I haven't been able to find washing soda at the store. I got the first box from a neighbor who ordered a case from Ace Hardware. I only bought one box because I was skeptical about whether homemade laundry soap would work.

I guess I didn't need to be worried.

*** update*** It doesn't work. The clothes became dingy and workout clothes stayed stinky!

A Conversation with a 12 year old Homeschooled Girl

2010-09-01T03:01:00.002-06:00

Today my girls were searching through my box of costumes and clothes and accessories that I have kept from the '80's in search of Halloween costumes. Everyone has one of these boxes, right? You know, just in case...

Anyway, my 12 year old daughter picks up a pair of zipper earrings and says in a tone frequently used by 12 year old girls everywhere, "Why did you wear those?"

"That was what was in style." I say.

" You wore what was in style?!?!" says my daughter in complete shock.

"Um, yes," I say.

"Why?" she asks.

"Well, I guess because I went to school and that is what lots of people who go to school do." I reply.

"I don't like to wear what's in style. I like to wear whatever I want."

Homeschool Plans 2010 - 2011

2010-08-09T15:34:00.008-06:00

Alright here it is, our homeschool plans for the 2010 - 2011 school year*

*subject to change, many times probably...

Reading:
   Arwen (age 7) - Arwen has finished Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. This year we will work on fluency. She has made a big leap in her reading this summer and can read somewhat independently. I will have her read aloud to me every school day, so I can see how she is improving and help her with sounds and words she is struggling with.
   Kali (almost age 10) - Kali will choose books from a reading list and read at least one chapter each school day. The first book she has chosen is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Other books on her list include, Tuck Everlasting, Pollyanna, The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, or any Little House on the Prairie book. She may not get to every book on the list this year, but I wanted to give her a bunch of options.
   Sierra (age 12) - Sierra will also read books from a reading list. Her first pick is Through the Looking Glass. Other books on her list include The Giver, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Catherine Called Birdy. Towards the end of the year, when we get to the corresponding period in history, Sierra will be required to read the following books, Animal Farm, The Diary of Ann Frank, and To Kill and Mockingbird.

Writing:
   Arwen - For handwriting, Arwen will start copywork this year. She will continue to work on printing (manuscript). For composition, she will start freewriting, meaning she can write about whatever she wants for 15 minutes. I will also try to incorporate writing into other subjects.
   Kali - Kali will continue cursive copywork. For composition, we are going to try Writing Strands 4 and also incorporate ideas from the Writing with a Purpose series.
   Sierra - Sierra will also continue with cursive copywork. She will do Writing Strand 5 and activities from Writing with a Purpose for composition.

Grammar:
   Arwen - Second half of First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind. I have this one, but apparently they are coming out with a new version that has a separate volume for 1st and 2nd grade
   Kali - Finish Growing with Grammar grade 4, begin Growing with Grammar grade 6. We are skipping a grade level because grammar curricula are so repetitive.
   Sierra - Finish Growing with Grammar grade 6, begin Growing with Grammar grade 8

Spelling:
   all girls - Sequential Spelling Level 1

Vocabulary
   all girls - English from the Roots Up

Math
   Arwen - Singapore Math 2a and 2
   Kali - finish Singapore Math 3a, begin 4a and continue to 4b
   Sierra - work through Singapore Math 6a and 6b, start Thinkwell Prealgebra

History
   all girls - SOTW 3 and 4. It took us 3 years to get through SOTW 2, so I'm not sure why I think we can get through 2 volumes in one year. We did take a bunch of side trips into geography, government and artists, etc. during those 3 years and the girls are older and we are more focus now, so I am hopeful. Also, Sonlight goes through both books in their Core 7, so I know it is possible...

Science
   all girls - Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry and Physics

Foreign Language
   Kali - I was so excited to find Live Mocha. It is a free online language program that is very similar to Rosetta Stone. Kali has decided that she wants to learn Chinese.
   Sierra - Sierra wants to learn French. Both girls are excited to learn new languages. I am very happy because they were not very thrilled when I was making them learn Spanish a few years ago and we had free access to Rosetta Stone.

Music
   Arwen - begin piano lessons this year
   Kali - continue violin lessons
   Sierra - continue flute lessons

Art
  It is difficult to not have art in our house. I have no formal plans for art, but we have art supplies available for use at any time and we will learn about artists as we come to them in our history studies.

Here's to a great 2010 -2011 school year!

Homeschool Purchases 2010

2010-08-03T19:44:00.005-06:00

After much pondering and reconsidering and taking items off the list and adding items to the list. I present to you this year's homeschool purchases.

From Rainbows Resources

Singapore 2b and Singapore 4b workbooks - These are for Arwen and Kali. We already have the home instructor's guides and textbooks for this level and the sets for level A

Sequential Spelling Book 1 - spelling is still a problem around here, so I am going to try this program with all 3 girls.

Writing with a purpose series (Narrative, Descriptive, Expository, Persuasive) - I have had the hardest time deciding whether or not to get these books. We have been on an academic writing kick since doing K12. I am not sure how useful these will be. They might turn out to be dust gatherers.

History Odyssey Level 2 Modern - to use in conjunction with SOTW 4

From Amazon

Writing Strand 4 and 5 - level 4 for Kali and Level 5 for Sierra. I am very hopeful about this program. I looked at it once back when I first read The Well Trained Mind and I thought level 3 looked really boring and pointless. The higher levels look better and I really like that they are self teaching. I also like they include both creative and academic writing. Notice that I am buying 2 writing programs. I am not sure if I will use both or just keep one as a back up... Luckily they are both inexpensive. Even buying both, I am spending less than other writing programs.

Reading Strands - I have never used a literature program. I just have the girls read books or we listen to them or I read them aloud. I am hoping this book will give me ideas for discussing and analyzing literature.

George Washington's World

Abraham Lincoln's World

Story of the World 4 Activity Guide

From Homeschool Buyers Co-op

Thinkwell Pre-Algebra

From an independent homeschooler seller

Growing with Grammar

Coming up: My plan for using these purchases and other curricula that we already own this coming school year...

Where Have you Been?

2010-08-01T18:21:00.005-06:00

Instructions: “Bold the states or provinces you’ve been to, underline the states you’ve lived in and italicize the state/province you’re in now…”

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas/ California /Colorado, / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska? / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C /

British Columbia / Alberta / Saskatchewan /Manitoba /Ontario / Quebec / New Brunswick / Nova Scotia / Prince Edward Island / Newfoundland & Labrador / Northwest Territories / Yukon Territory / Nunavut

Stupid North Dakota and maybe Nebraska! I may have driven through Nebraska, but I am not sure. I am so close to having been to all 50 states. I guess I need to find a reason to go to these 2 states...

Where have you been?

Crazy Milk Trick : It really works

2010-07-30T06:01:00.000-06:00

Often times we try an experiment and it doesn't really work the way it says it will. Well, we tried this one and it really does work. Apparently, it works better with fuller fat milk.

Did I mention that we bought an 1/8 of a cow?

2010-07-28T20:16:00.000-06:00

We had the opportunity to go in on a cow with some people. The meat turned out to be a bit gamey. It turned out it was actually a bull and not a cow. It was also totally grass fed. And it was um... interesting having part of a cow carcass in my kitchen.

Things We Like: Magnetix

2010-07-26T18:38:00.000-06:00

We love playing with Magnetix. Come over and join us. But you might want to bring your own. You never know where ours have been...

We Survived Tsunami Day 2010

2010-07-24T21:33:00.001-06:00

I keep seeing people wearing T-shirts that say that. It cracks me up. If you recall, we had a Tsunami scare after Chile's earthquake in February. It turned out to be nothing, but we still talk about Tsunami Day.

When we hiked up the hill.

And noticed how much more prepared others were, as we left the house with only our 72 hour back packs.

We watched the water.

And the kids played on the hill.

And we were glad that we got to go home after we got the 'all clear' sign. And could laugh about surviving Tsunami Day 2010.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Part 2

2010-07-22T19:30:00.003-06:00

Arwen 2003

Arwen 2010

See part 1 here

Cool Things about Hawaii

2010-07-20T13:19:00.003-06:00

Watching Kite boarders

Waterfalls

Botanical Gardens

Floating in the Ocean

Food Fest

Dancing Pineapples

Honu

Moorish Idol

Whole Pig in Chinatown

The view from Diamond Head

Pearl Harbor

Sunsets

Family comes to visit

Are we the only weird family that plays Minute to Win it?

2010-07-18T02:15:00.003-06:00

So far we have played the "Get the cookie from the your forehead to your mouth without using your hands"

And "Move the cotton balls from the plate to the bowl by sticking them to your nose with Vaseline"

Things We Like: Owl Pellets

2010-07-16T01:45:00.014-06:00

OK, *like* might be a strong word for how we feel about owl pellets, but we sure did have fun dissecting them.

Arwen is making an "I'm grossed out" face, but she dug through the owl...um... vomit with gusto.

Look at this cool rodent head,
Mommy!

I have to say hands on science is pretty awesome. I am looking around to find some kits to buy for next year. Anyone got any suggestions? We got our owl pellets from Rainbow Resources,but it seems you can get them cheaper from Home Science Tools

To Blog or to Live

2010-07-13T18:40:00.001-06:00

Am I the only one who feels guilty about not blogging? I love blogging, but sometimes (well, all the time) it is more fun to do things than it is to blog about them. I really wish I could just think about something I want to blog about and it would be blogged. Someone definitely needs to come up with that technology!

Over the last month that I haven't been blogging much, I have thought about blogging. I would think, "Oo, I should blog about that", but then I think about taking pictures and uploading pictures and typing and editing and it doesn't happen. I seriously don't know how these people who blog everyday do it. How do they have time to do all of the things they are blogging about?

But, I do have few blogs up my sleeve. Some fun things we did in our homeschool this spring. A Hawaii post about some of the cool things we have done lately. Some homeschool musings. And eventually our homeschool plans for next school year. Stay tuned.

Hub Bub in the Blog World: Children's Favorite Novels List

2010-06-20T19:17:00.001-06:00

Have you heard about the controversy regarding the School Library Journal's list of 100 favorite children's novels? Apparently there was some tampering of the vote counting so that kids' votes only counted if 2 adults voted for the same book.

You can see the list and read more about it here and here.

Because she was curious (and I am, too) to see what books kids would choose without having to get adult support for their choices, Alicia from Magical Childhood is conducting her own survey.

Go here to vote.

Spread the word, so we can get lots of votes and see what books are truly kids' favorites!

25 years later and I still love this book

2010-05-22T05:42:00.002-06:00

Man, I love this book! I first read this book when I was 11 years old. Coincidentally, the movie came out around that same time. And yes, I was a bit obsessed with all of the actors in the movie. Ralph Macchio was my favorite.

I just finished reading it again because I am having my almost 12 year old read it for school. I am pretty sure I love it more now than I did then. I intended to read one chapter and go to sleep, but I ended up reading the rest of the book.

It is just such a timeless book. It was written over 40 years ago and it is still applicable today. I just want to gather up all the boys from the wrong side of the track and tell them that there is still good in the world and make them watch the sunset.

*update: apparently the picture from Amazon doesn't show up in google reader. I guess you will just have to click through to the site to see what book I am talking about ;)

My Trial

2010-05-18T04:23:00.004-06:00

OK, so I feel a little embarrassed sharing this. It is really such a little thing. And it really doesn't matter that much. It is not a serious trial like losing a baby or being in a plane crash, but it is my trial so I am going to claim it. I will probably never buy a house of my own.

When we decided to move to Hawaii, I knew that not being able to buy a house was part of the deal. But I was getting to move to Hawaii, so I figured it was a good trade. But every once in a while that little girl who used to look through the JcPenney's catalog and decide how she wanted her house to look feels a bit sad.

It's not that I don't get to decorate. I have had lots of practice decorating all of our rental houses, but it has always been temporary, so I never wanted to put that much time and money into it. Maybe I am thinking about this right now because we are stuck in temporary housing until some faculty housing opens up.

I have to admit that it is more than a little frustrating not to know when or where we will be moving. I mean, it is one thing to accept that we will never buy a house, but not to be able to choose what the house looks like or where it is located! It has taken every ounce of my patience to continue waiting for housing to come available and even more inner strength to give up control over what and where our housing will be.

I know in my mind that we are probably better off not buying a house. There are lots of other things I would rather spend money on than a new water heater. And once we move into more permanent housing, I will feel more settled in and will once again be OK with never buying a house. I think the waiting and wondering are just getting the best of me.

Speaking of Geeky Homeschoolers

2010-05-15T21:36:00.003-06:00

I mentioned the other day that I was a geeky homeschooling mama. Well, it seems that my kids have not been spared the geekiness that comes with homeschooling. It appears that some of the...um... downsides to homeschooling include your kids developing their own sense of style and your kids doing things that public schooled kids their age would probably find babyish.

I took the following pictures when we were hiking up Diamond Head last month.

Here is 7 year old. She insisted on wearing the flowered top with the green plaid pants. I have pretty much given up on trying to get her to wear a matching outfit on regular days, but I do try to get her to not totally clash when we go out in public. This particular day, I wasn't in the mood to argue and when she added the purple socks, blue plaid, aqua socks, I laughed and decided that I must have photographic evidence of her unique style.

This is my 9 year old. Grandma was visiting and had brought her this doll carrier as a gift. She really, really, really wanted to carry her doll up Diamond Head in the carrier. " Sure, why not?"

You know, I joked at the beginning of this post that it was a downside that my girls are not self conscience about what they wear and the things they do, but honestly, I think it is great. Having never been in an environment where they are made fun of, they have no reason not to do or wear whatever makes them happy. Now if this formerly public schooled mama could get over her embarrassment.

"I'll just be hiking a few feet behind you. OK, kids?" Just kidding ;)

Things We Like: Snap Circuits

2010-05-13T21:19:00.004-06:00

I bought this Snap Circuit set for Christmas one year. It wasn't something that my kids asked for, but I'm a geeky homeschooling mama and I like to sneak in educational gifts.

I love it even more when my girls end up enjoying the gift!

I've returned from the dead

2010-05-05T19:42:00.004-06:00

Yes, really. I was a zombie last week. Here's the story:

Last week I got my wisdom teeth taken out. As I left the oral surgeon's office, I caught a look at myself in a mirror. Both sides of my face were puffy and numb. One side of my lip was hanging down lower than the other. I knew I looked a bit ridiculous, but bravely made my way to the elevator and down to the street. After all, I had just let the dentist rip 4 teeth out of my mouth. I could be brave.

I had to wait a few minutes for Rand to pick me up (he and the girls were hanging out in Waikiki during the procedure - nice huh?) So, I put on my sunglasses and tried to act casual as I waited on the downtown Honolulu street. Eventually, Rand picked me up. Little did I know, while I was waiting, some blood had started dripping down my lip.

I got into the car and the girls took one look at me and screamed. I looked in the mirror and saw the blood. I was so numb I couldn't even feel it. It must have been there for a while because it had started to dry. Rand told me I looked like a zombie with my glassy eyes, puffy face, and blood dripping out of my mouth. The fact that I started laughing hysterically added to the zombieness. And my tongue was numb, so I couldn't talk. I tried, but the garbled sound just made it all more horrific.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), there is no picture evidence of this event. Rand tried to take a picture, but it didn't work for some reason. By the time we realized it, I had already wiped the blood off, so the effect wouldn't have been the same. So you will all just have to visualize how I looked on... The Day I was a Zombie.

Full Disclosure Friday

2010-04-23T03:10:00.001-06:00

Here's the truth: I never get around to playing math games with my kids.

Yes, I have done math clubs and I am currently helping to find some ideas for math games for a co-op, but at home with just my kids and me. It doesn't happen. I have these grand plans. I put math games on the schedule. I own Games for Math, Family Math, I Hates Mathematics, Mega-Fun Card-Game Math, Number Jugglers... I have taken detailed notes on some of the books. Others I haven't even looked at.

Oh, there was a time that I played Go Fish to 10 with Sierra and Kali pretty regularly and we enjoy Zeus on the Loose, but as a consistent part of our homeschool, math games just don't seem to get priority.

I don't know. Maybe I just lack motivation. I am sitting here with all of these math game resources and I have only found 5 games that seem interesting enough for the co-op. I am finding many of the games to be too complicated. I think my problem at home is that I am trying to find games that we can all play and that is tricky with a 4 1/2 year age gap.

Ok, I just looked through the Number Juggler Book (one of the ones I hadn't looked at before) and found 8 interesting games including one that might work for the co-op. BUT I bought that book used and it is missing the cards. Anyone know how many cards and the amount of each number in the deck?? Maybe, just maybe, I will get motivated to actually play the games with my kids. But in keeping with the theme of full disclosure, I will admit that I am not going to count on that happening.

*I got the idea for Full Disclosure Friday here. Oh and by the way (full disclosure again), I will not be posting one of these every Friday...

They're reading me out of house and home!

2010-04-19T19:58:00.000-06:00

My older girls have been reading so much lately that I am having trouble getting enough books from the library to keep them stocked with reading material.

Sierra has been obsessed with the Companions Quartet series. Kali has been working her way through the Magic Tree House series and is up to book #32.

Help! I need suggestions of books for 9 - 12 year old girls. They like books with magic, mythical creatures, princesses, etc. and most important an element of excitement or suspense.

My Parents visit Hawaii

2010-04-17T20:52:00.007-06:00

We took a second "spring break" while my parents were visiting. My mom loves to stay busy, so we got to visit lots of fun Hawaii sites. We climbed Diamond Head, went to the beach, snorkeled at Shark's cove, went to the Bishop Museum, went to Waimea Valley and swam near the waterfall, saw turtles at Turtle Beach, and of course, took a Mother/Daughter shopping trip :) AND Rand and I got to go kayaking while my parents took the girls to the Polynesian Cultural Center.

I think we may have worn my dad out...

P.S. I finally updated my other blog

Hawaii is a paradise, right? The bad, part 3

2010-03-25T20:44:00.003-06:00

3. Ants

These buggers are EVERYWHERE. I have to admit that I haven't been doing a great job of using ant killing products because the idea of spraying poison in my kitchen near all of my food is not very pleasant. And honestly they don't bother me that much, but it is pretty annoying to clean my kitchen and then come back an hour later to find ants crawling all over the counter...

Peter Pan in Hawaii

2010-03-23T19:48:00.008-06:00

My girls and I had the privilege of being part of the local elementary school's spring break production of Peter Pan. We were really grateful that the moms in charge let us be a part of it, being homeschoolers and all. It has really been challenging since moving to this tiny town with no homeschool group. I am glad that so far we have found this community to be very welcoming.

Sierra had a blast playing Wendy.

...and singing with the Lost Boys.

Arwen enjoyed being a mermaid

There were pirates

and Haka Warriors (instead of Indians since we're in Hawaii)

...and of course, Hula Dancers (Kali is in the second row on the far left)

Homeschool Giveaway

2010-03-19T08:48:00.000-06:00

My good friend, Ann has launched a cool website about homeschooling. She's got a great giveaway going with over $1500 worth of stuff. There are two parts. One for Colorado homeschoolers and a second for homeschool and parenting bloggers or Facebook users. To get entered, you just need to post about it to your blog and send her a link to your post. Here's her site to get all the details.

Do it.

You know you want to.

I am totally eyeballing the Teaching Science Skills at Home without being a Rocket Scientist.

...and the $100 Amazon gift card

Go here http://homeschoolcheercolorado.com/the-cheer-giveaway-2/

Tell her Michelle sent you. It won't help me win the prizes, but it will give me friendship brownie points.

Hawaii is a paradise, right? The good, part 3

2010-03-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

3. LOST

It is so much fun living on the same island where LOST is filmed. It has been great to be able to check out the sets and see the actors and watch the first hour of the season premiere on the beach.

Survivor's Camp

The stadium where Jack met Desmond

The Banyan Tree

It is one BIG tree

Another picture of the survivor's camp (including part of the plane)

The day we spotted them filming at the banyan tree

The night shoot at the banyan tree

Sunset on the Beach premiere

The red carpet at Sunset on the Beach. (Can you spot Hurley and Ben?)

And... and... getting to meet Sawyer (aka Josh Holloway)If you have been watching the show you will notice that he has been wearing this same shirt in the recent episodes.

How I have used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons

2010-03-08T21:33:00.001-07:00

Our well-worn copy

I am just about to finish using this book for the third and final time. I have taught all three of my girls to read using this book. I thought it might be useful to other homeschooler to explain how I used this book. I used it differently each time. Yeah for homeschooling where we can adapt the curriculum to fit the child.

The first time I used this book was back in 2003. (I pointed out to my hubby that I have been teaching a child to read for the past 7 years and am looking forward to being done with this stage.) Sierra was almost 5. We went through the lessons and I started out reading the teacher's script word for word. I skipped the writing parts. I think I was using another book for writing. At some point before we got half way through Sierra got bored with the stories at the ends of the lessons, so I let her read books from the Now I'm Reading Series instead. Around lesson 50, she was reading pretty well, but didn't like the lessons at all, so I let her just read easy readers for a while. When She was about 7 and half, I began to worry because she hadn't made the leap to chapter books, yet. I went back to 100 lessons and had her go over the sounds from lessons 50 - 100 that we had a skipped. I wanted her to read the stories, too, but she convinced me that if she could read the story from lesson 100 she could skip the other stories. Finally about a month before her 8th birthday, Sierra discovered the fairy books and started reading chapter books. I used an informal reading assessment with her the other day at age 11 and a half she is reading at an 8th grade level.

When I went through the book with Kali, I was less exact with the script. I introduced her to the sounds and had her read the stories. Once again I skipped the writing parts. I pushed her a bit to get her to lessons 75. At this point she just started reading books. I don't think I ever went back to finish the rest of the lessons. I remember being worried that I needed to work with her on sight words, but eventually it all clicked. She started reading chapter books at about age 7. I dont' think her comprehension was great, but she was motivated since she wanted to read the books her sister was reading. She turned 9 in October and tested at 6th grade reading level on the assessment.

Finally, I started teaching Arwen to read. She has been my most challenging kid to get to focus and sit still. We started working through the lessons. She, like Sierra, didn't want to read the stories from the lessons and so she read Bob books and the Now I am Reading Series books. I think we made to about lesson 60 before we took a break. We moved twice while in the 2 years that I have been teaching her to read. At the beginning of this school year I was worried that she was behind. We used the K12 phonics program in the fall and came back to 100 lessons in January. Arwen decide that if she read the rest of the stories through lesson 100 that she should be rewarded with ice cream when she finished. I thought that sounded like a fine idea and she is now on lesson 99. I also had her do the reading assessment and she tested half way through 1st grade which she technically is (turned 7 in November). We definitely still need to work on fluency and I will continue to have her read to me until she becomes more proficient reading on her own. I am confident that eventually it will "click" and she will become an independent reader. The thing that makes me the most happy is that she is now excited about reading and is looking forward to being able to read the fairy books and Magic Tree House books.

The thing I like the most about Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons is how simple it is. You pick up the book and use it. No flashcards, no workbook pages, no complicated games. And it works. The only thing I wish now is that I had done the writing lessons. I noticed as I was looking through the book while writing this post that the writing parts connect the sounds to the written letters. I was so focused on the reading and thought that the writing was just handwriting (we used Handwriting without Tears), but I see now that it ties the phonics with the written letters. I bet doing that would make spelling easier. I highly recommend this book. It is easy to use, can be adapted to fit your child, and it works.

Hawaii is a paradise, right? The bad, part 2

2010-03-06T20:03:00.003-07:00

2. Roosters

I find this aspect of Hawaii to be both good and bad. I think it is pretty cool and funny that chickens and roosters roam freely around the town, but... I really don't like it when the roosters wake me up at 5am.

Our new schedule - Fridays

2010-02-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

I forgot to add that our new schedule is a 4 day week. I have left Fridays to be the day we do fun stuff and extra stuff. Right now on Fridays we do an art project, a poetry lesson, work on memorizing states and capitals, and freewriting. I have grand plans to also play educational games, but that hasn't happened, yet. It has been nice to have a day set aside for all of the activities that we never used to make time for.

The other nice thing about planning a 4 day week is that if we end up missing a day of school during the week for things like doctor's appointments or going to town for shopping, we can make up the work on Fridays. For several weeks in a row we ended up missing a day and we were able to still accomplish all of our work for the week. This last week we had a full week and we able to have do our other activities again. So far it has been working out really well.

Our new schedule - yes, again!

2010-02-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, this whole homeschooling thing is constantly changing. Well, at least it is not boring... After quitting K12 it was time to redo our schedule yet again. We started this schedule right after Christmas Break and it has been working pretty well so far.

7 am - my alarm goes off. I’m not gonna lie. I am not a morning person. My kids aren’t either, really. I used to set my alarm for 8am, but our school day was going too late in the afternoon, so we’re trying to start our day earlier.

Once I drag myself out of bed, I exercise, check my email, facebook, google reader, and eat breakfast.

7:30 am - the kids are supposed to get up. Sometimes they set their alarm and sometimes I wake them up. Lots of times I let them sleep in until 8am, especially if they have stayed up late the night before.

7:30 – 8:30/8:45 ish – the girls eat their breakfast, do their morning chores, get dressed, etc. they are allowed to watch one TV show while they eat their breakfast.

8:45 – this is when the older 2 girls (ages 9 and 11) are supposed to start their school work. Some days we do a good job starting on time and other days it is closer to 9am.

My older girls have a bunch of school work that they can do mostly independently (thank goodness!). During this time they do their math, spelling, typing, handwriting, reading, writing, and grammar.

Once they get started with their work, I jump in the shower.

9:30 – After I am showered and, I start working with Arwen, my first grader. We do reading/phonics, math, grammar and handwriting.

10:30 – Snack time and read aloud. This is a new addition to our schedule and I LOVE it! By this time, my older girls are ready for a break and are usually hungry. I love having a chance to read aloud to my kids. I used to read to them at bedtime, but as they have gotten older we have a gotten away from that.

11am – Group school time – I do history and science with all of my kids together, so at this time we gather for history reading, working on our timeline, map work, science reading, or an experiment.

Noon – lunch time and break. The girls go off and play while I make lunch. They usually watch a TV show while they eat lunch. I use this time to check email and regroup.

1pm – usually my older girls have some of their independent work to finish now. Occasionally my youngest has some work as well. They are usually done by 2pm.

Afternoons are playdates, classes, and lessons, and sometimes the beach :) All three girls are in a choir, Kali is taking violin lessons, and Sierra just started flute lessons. Sierra and Kali are doing an Ocean Awareness class through parks and rec.

Evenings have pretty much stayed the same except that I am less exhausted than I was when we were doing K12. We eat dinner, hang out with Daddy, watch our favorite reality shows (American Idol and Survivor). The girls go to bed at 9pm and are allow to read until 9:45. Rand and I hang out watching TV and reading and staying up too late. Then it is off to bed.

My Funny Valentine

2010-02-14T07:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day, Honey

I have a feeling that my life would be very boring without you!

Hawaii is a paradise, right? The good, part 2

2010-02-13T19:07:00.006-07:00

2. The food

I love all of the food here (even the poi). Pineapple, coconut, Kalua pork. Yum, yum. Here is just a sample of the yummy stuff we have had to eat since we moved here.
Rand went spear fishing and got this bugger. He deep fried it and even our picky eater liked it.

Some more fish from Rand's fishing adventure.

Dragonfruit. I had no idea it looked like this. We got this in Chinatown. You scoop out the white part and seeds like you would a kiwi. And the texture is a lot like a kiwi with the seeds, but the flavor is much sweeter.

Hawaii is a paradise, right? The bad, part 1

2010-01-30T12:00:00.002-07:00

1. The centipedes

About a month ago my dear hubby got bitten by one of these in our bed while we were sleeping. He said it felt like someone had stabbed him. Apparently it could have been much worse. Now every night he throws the sheets off the bed to check to make there isn't one of these buggers in our bed.

Hawaii is a paradise, right? The good, part 1

2010-01-29T18:27:00.007-07:00

1. The Beach!

Any time we encounter a bad thing about living in Hawaii, my hubby and I remind ourselves that we live a 10 minute walk from the beach and then we realize how lucky we are.

Hawaii is a paradise, right?

2010-01-28T20:03:00.006-07:00

Before moving to Laie, Hawaii 5 month ago, I was totally excited about moving to a tropical island. I mean, what could be bad about living in a paradise? Now, don't get me wrong, it is pretty awesome, but there are a few negatives. So, coming up next on An Organized Mess, I present you with a series of posts on the good and bad of living in Hawaii.

Here is a sneak peek (you can guess which is which):

We're Baaack!

2010-01-07T22:00:00.004-07:00

We started school this week, back to our good ol' independent homeschooling. It is a short week. Rand went back on Wednesday, so we did, too. And we have to go into town tomorrow to officially withdrawal from K12. And we did half days because I didn't want to start history and science for such a short week.

Today was absolutely lovely... Compared with the torture of my days with K12, it was just wonderful. Yes, it was only a half day of work for the kids, but still. The girls did math, and grammar, and wrote thank you notes for their Christmas presents (handwriting, composition - check). I read aloud from The Calder Game. Kali made cookies from scratch all by herself with no help from me and even (mostly) cleaned up.

Inspired by The Calder Game, we made out own mobiles. I can't say enough good about the books by Blue Balliet. We learned about Vermeer and pentominoes while reading Chasing Vermeer, got excited about Frank Lloyd Wright during the The Wright 3, and check out these Alexander Calder inspired mobiles.
It's good to be back.

Christmas Day in Hawaii

2009-12-26T13:22:00.004-07:00

Mele Kalikimaka!

Well, that was an interesting diversion...

2009-12-22T20:10:00.004-07:00

How many of you have been taking bets on when I would decide to quit K12?

If you guessed December 8th, you win. Wait, it may have been the 7th. Ok, if you guessed the 7th or the 8th, you win. I'm not sure what you win. Maybe just the satisfaction of knowing me better than I know myself.

I was sitting at the table trying to help Sierra with history and she couldn't figure out the answers to some of the questions and I skimmed the book and couldn't find the answers. And I just thought, this is ridiculous. I can't discuss this stuff with her because I don't have time to read what she has read. And I don't have time to read it because I am spending 4 hours in the car every week and because my kids are going in 3 different directions and I am having to divide my time trying to teach them all separately.

Even though I liked many aspects of K12, I knew at that moment that it was time to be done, that we could take what we had learned from K12 and use it to create our own plan.

I decided to continue doing the K12 work until the 18th, so the girls could all get to good stopping points. Then I spent several hours last week working on a new plan. I imagine I will spend some time over break tweaking the plan a bit and then start fresh in January.

A week in the life of me - weekend

2009-12-06T20:23:00.004-07:00

I am just going to pretend that I meant to make this last edition a weekend addition and just ignore the fact that I ran out of time to post yesterday.

I woke up Saturday around 8. It is really strange to have gotten to a point in my life where getting up at 8 feels like sleeping in... I jumped in the shower right away because we were planning to go into town to the Aloha Stadium swap meet to do some Christmas shopping. Rand had gotten up early to go check out the big waves on the the North Shore and I wanted to be almost ready to go by the time he got back, so that he wouldn't lay down on the couch and lose motivation to go.

We headed out the door about 10. We drove the 45 minutes down to the stadium listening to the John Denver and the Muppets Christmas album. We got to the stadium only to discover that the swap meet was not going on - Ugh! It recently discovered that it costs $15 ever time we drive into town! I wanted to make it worth our while, so I suggested that we stop at Target and get a few things.

I know I was just at Target earlier in the week, but I had forgotten to look for some things. Sometimes it is really difficult to live so far away from civilization... After Target, we decided to look for a Borders because Rand had just finished reading a book in a series and wanted to get the next one. We looked up Borders on our GPS and found the closest one. Unfortunately, we discovered that it was in a mall. There was no way we were going into a mall this close to Christmas just to get a book. We had the GPS guide us to the next closest one, which I had seen before, so I knew it was NOT in a mall.

Our bad luck of the day continued when we ended up in a huge traffic jam on our way to the other Border's. Rand got his book and finally we headed home. The bad luck was still with us as we hit bad traffic along the North Shore. It was really starting to feel like a wasted day. Then Rand suggested that we look for the beach near Haleiwa where LOST is filmed. Thanks to the GPS and our phones' web capabilities we found it. It was very fun to see all of the sets from the show. And made me feel like the day wasn't a total waste. I am not sure Rand felt that way when it still took us an hour to get home when it normally takes us a half an hour from Haleiwa We decided that driving into town so close to Christmas and taking the North Shore route home when the waves were big was something we never planned to do again.

By the time we go home we had about an hour and a half until our church Christmas party. I had signed up to bring a dessert, so I got to work making peppermint patty brownies. They were barely ready in time.

We had a nice time at the party. It was nice to have time to visit with some of the new people we have met since moving here and fun to see the kids playing with their new friends.

We came home around 8pm. I straightened up the house and did some stuff on the computer. I can't remember what. It wasn't blogging... At 9pm it was time to get the girls in bed and I realized that I had forgotten to have them shower - oops! I sent them off to bed anyway. I did some more straightening up and computer stuff and then watched movie with Rand.

Sunday can be summed up in a few words. Morning - church. Afternoon - lunch, talked to my mom on the phone, nap. Late afternoon - choosing and up loading pics for a Christmas present for my mom, blogging.

Uploading the pics took forever, as usual. Rand and the girls had gone to take a walk on the beach and got back around 6:30. I was still working on the pictures. Dinner needed to be cooked, but I was in the middle of the project. At 7, I finally decided I better get dinner started. I got all set to start cooking when I discovered that the chicken I had plan to make had gone bad - ugh! I had nothing else defrosted, so I made chicken nuggets for the kids. There was one pizza left from the Costco pack, so I Rand and I ate that - ugh and double ugh! The one thing that really suffers from my busy life right now is dinner. I just don't have time for everything. Well, at least dinner clean up was easy.

Bedtime for the girls was a bit rough. Arwen was cranky and their rooms had gotten pretty messy over the weekend, so clean up took a while. They have been doing pretty well cleaning up on their own lately, but every once in a while they need help.

Now that the girls are in bed I am thinking of either coloring my hair or watching TV then it is off to bed to get some sleep, so I can start another week. Thanks for joining me this week.

A week in the life of me - Friday

2009-12-04T20:34:00.003-07:00

TGIF! This new school program has me really appreciating weekends more. Usually Rand wakes me up around 6:45 on Fridays so we can work out. This morning we stayed in bed until 7:45 instead. As you can tell we are not doing a great job keeping up with the P90X workouts. Between missing Wednesdays and Thursdays when I have to get up early and drive into town for the girls' classes and being so tired from driving into town twice a week, it has been difficult.

I got out of bed and woke up the girls at 8am. I got some laundry started. Then I ate breakfast and checked email and facebook. I attempted to get in the shower, but Sierra had an earring crisis. She hadn't worn earrings in a few days and couldn't get an earring into her right earlobe. Once that crisis was solved, I got in the shower. When I got out, the girls had finished their morning chores. Sierra and Kali were working their school work and Arwen was playing on the computer. Kali needed help with science and Sierra needed help with her literature assessment. By the time I was done helping them, it was 10:30 and I still hadn't done anything with Arwen, yet. I managed to do math, phonics and art with Arwen before lunch. Lunch break included Saddle Club, of course.

We were just getting ready to start back up with school work when a neighbor girl stopped by to see if Sierra, Kali and Arwen wanted to come over and make cookies. I had forgotten that today was Furlough Friday. Right now in Hawaii the kids have 17 Fridays off school as a way to cut costs. Well, I have been trying to help Sierra make friends with this girl for a while, so I wasn't about to say no. I sent the kids off and thought, wow unexpected time alone!

I got all of the girls K12 school work recorded and looked through what we need to do on Monday, so I wouldn't have to think about it over the weekend. Then I started straightening up the house. I turned on an episode to of Desperate Housewives to watch/listen to while I worked. Once the house was in order, I started working on all of the things that needed to get done that had been building up during this busy week. I sent an email, sorted paperwork, request some CD's from the library, changed a light bulb, dusted the fans, balanced the budget, charged the camera battery and caught up on my blog reading.

Rand got home early because his last class was canceled. I chatted with him some and then we watched some TV while I sorted the laundry. He then took a nap and I did some ironing. Then I remembered that I promised Rand that I would make him a new treat, so I made some coconut bars that I had been wanting to try.

Then girls got home at 5pm. I informed them that we wouldn't be doing any school over the weekend as I had originally suggested when I sent them off to make cookies in the middle of our school day. I am try hard not to get caught up in being "behind" with this program. We started out behind since we didn't sign up until the beginning of the 2nd quarter and I have been trying to catch up, but it has really been driving me crazy. I am really trying to just relax and take things day by day.

I worked on this blog post for a while and then some on more of the junk that is piling up - paid some bills, addressed Arwen's birthday thank you notes, started uploading some books on Itunes.

At this point it was after 6pm. Rand woke up from his nap and I pondered out loud about what we should have for dinner. When we first moved to Hawaii, Rand cooked everyday. Then he started teaching and asked if I could cook on Mondays and Wednesdays and I agreed to. A few weeks later Rand seemed to lose his motivation to cook. This is a cycle that we often go through. Rand cooks for a while and then gets bored of cooking. Then I cook for a while and then Rand gets bored of my cooking and then he cooks for a while, etc. But with starting a new homeschool program, I knew it would be too much for me to take over the cooking, so I have been encouraging Rand to continue cooking even though he has not been in the mood lately.

Anyway, by the time we figure out that we would work together to make sweet and sour for dinner, it was very late. We didn't eat until about 8pm. We watched Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and when it was over it was bedtime for the girls. Rand is doing the dishes again. What an awesome idea he had to get me to spend less money! And I am typing this post. We will probably watch some TV and then head to bed.

A week in the life of me - Thursday

2009-12-03T23:30:00.004-07:00

Another busy day. Up at 6:15, showered, got the girls up. Well, I got Kali and Arwen up. Rand got Sierra up and took her to his office, so she could do her school work while he taught his morning class. This is the first time we have tried this. Normally I take Sierra with me and she works on her school at the Learning Center. It hasn't been working very well because the Learning Center is noisy sometimes and she has trouble concentrating.

Kali and Arwen and I listened to some School House Rock during our morning drive. I didn't want to start a new book without Sierra. I finally got Arwen into the 1st grade Science and History classes, so she had 3 hour's of classes. Kali had her Hawaiian History class from 9 - 10:15. I took my glorious hour of alone time to go looking for a few more Christmas gifts for the girls. I was unsuccessful. The thing I was looking for was way over priced, so I decided against getting it.

Back at the Learning Center, Kali and I worked on her school work until it was time to pick up Arwen at noon. Then it was time for our monthly trip to Costco. I had been thinking that I would only have to run errands a few times a month during our trips to "town" for the girls' classes, but there has only been one time this whole quarter that we have come straight home. Every week we seem to have shopping needs or dentist appointments or doctor's appointments.

Costco was thrilling as usual. Arwen was pretty cranky. We made a deal that she would stop riding in the cart when she turned 7, so today was our first Costco trip that she had to walk. Getting up early and going to 3 hours of classes before going to Costco did not make for a cooperative kid.

We made it home with only a 10 minute delay while driving past the North Shore surfing competition. I spent most of the time driving home wondering if I be able to take a nap when I got home. Of course as soon as we arrive home we had to unload all of the Costco stuff. I decided that I was only going to put the perishables away and then get that nap I had been thinking about. I was delayed a bit because the maintenance guys had arrived and I had to put in a load of laundry to show them that the washer was leaking. I was so grateful that Rand agree to stay awake while the maintenance men finished working so I could go take a nap.

As I was getting ready to go lay down, Kali got invited to go play with a girl from one of her K12 classes that lives a few blocks away. I decided to let her walk over by herself. Then another neighbor invited Sierra and Arwen over and they walked over together. Finally, I was ready for my power nap. I only laid down for an hour, but it was very refreshing and I really needed it.

When I got up I checked my email and facebook. I am getting very behind on my blog reading during this busy week. Then I recorded the girls' K12 school work for the day and figured out what we need to do tomorrow. Sierra did really well working on her own and with Rand today. Between carpooling and leaving Sierra home on the Thursdays that I drive, so I can have some time to myself, I may survive next quarter without losing my mind.

It started to rain and it was getting dark, so I drove over and picked up Kali. I was planning to pick up Sierra and Arwen, too, but Rand called to let me know that they had already walked home. When I got back I needed to finish looking over the school stuff.

Neither Rand nor I felt up to cooking dinner, so we had frozen pizza. While the pizza was cooking, I worked on putting away the rest of the Costco stuff. By the time the pizza was ready it was 7:15 , so we watching Survivor while eating. After dinner, Rand cleaned up because he made a deal with me that he would do the dishes once for every $25 I went below the budget at Costco and Target this week. I took this time to start working on this post. Now I will finish straightening up the house, get the kids to bed, and watch some TV with Rand before heading off to bed.

A week in the life of me - Wednesday

2009-12-03T00:07:00.004-07:00

Today Sierra had classes at the Learning Center. These classes were one of the main reasons we decided to try K12 this year. The classes haven't turned out to be too great though. Half of them have been canceled and the content of some of them hasn't been great. The math class is basically 45 minutes for her math work with the teacher available for help. The history class has been a sub showing a video and a jeopardy game covering stuff that Sierra hasn't learned, yet because we started a quarter late. But she likes the English and Science classes, so...

Anyway, we got up early because it is an hour drive to the Learning Center, 6:15 for me and 7 for the girls. Probably the best thing about going to the Learning Center is the time we get to listen to books in the car. Today we finished up The Lightning Thief. Kali and Arwen and I worked on school work at the Center while Sierra was at her classes. It started out great. The area we were working in was quiet and the girls were getting through their work quickly. After about an hour and a half, it started getting noisy and the girls started losing focus, but we got everything we needed to get done done, so I was happy.

When Sierra was done with her classes we headed to Target. It is the beginning of the month and we needed a bunch of stuff and I had some time to kill before my dentist appointment. I found pretty much everything I needed which rarely happens, so again I was happy.

The dentist appointment went well, two fillings. I was out of there in a hour. On the way home we listen to Joseph and the Amazing in Technicolor Dreamcoat - Go, Go , Go Joseph!

We got home in time for Kali to do a make up violin lesson after she missed yesterday's when she banged up her knee. She only made it through half the lesson though because she got pale and started to pass out - yikes. I figured it must have been because she hadn't eaten enough. It is very difficult to pack a lunch for her because she is so picky. I took her home and made her eat some peanut butter on a spoon.

By then it was time to make dinner. I took a few minutes to check my email and facebook. I am getting very backed up on my blog reading since I have been so busy these last few days. I made dinner and was all set to eat at the table tonight, but the girls wanted to watch A Year Without a Santa Claus, which is one of my favorites, so I caved... again.

After dinner involved kitchen clean up , showers for the girls, and getting ready for another day down at the Learning Center. Sierra is going to stay home with Rand tomorrow, so I made sure she had all of her books gathered. Then I figured out what I needed for Kali and Arwen.

I am not sure how much longer I can handle this schedule. When I first found out about this program I was thinking the classes for all of the grade levels were on the same day and that I would have a little break. I also thought the Center was 45 minutes away instead of an hour. Instead I am driving an hour there and back 2 days a week and I always have aleast one kid with me who needs to do school work. Next quarter I am going to carpool on Thursdays. Hopefully that will help.

Now I am off to pack lunches for tomorrow and watch some Glee before stumbling off to bed.

P.S. I did not end up do plyometrics while watching Biggest Loser yesterday. Instead I ate chocolate that Rand got for us when he went caroling with the youth.