I started a second blog, specifically for preschool and toddler activities.
Waterfront Preschool
I'm still going to blog here about the older kids, and their many activities, and our family life in general, but the second blog allows me to keep track of all my preschool lesson plans (something I was unable to do the last time through) so that I can use them in the future, and also might give some others ideas.
We had a nasty stomach bug last week, right after I had spent a week getting my house in SUCH good shape it was amazing. Of course, it all fell apart when we were throwing up! LOL
I agreed to teach my neighbor preschool stuff, and I was feeling overwhelmed! LOL I guess I'm over that notion now. It must have been a bad week.
We exchanged flat travelers with our friend Heather's family, and my daughter loved seeing the pictures on their blog! We just got our traveler, and we're very excited to start taking him to do fun things.
School is going fine, after we recovered anyway.
More later!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Ramblings
So I must confess, I'm feeling really overwhelmed lately.
And yet, I keep thinking about getting pregnant again in the summer. How does this make sense? I'm overwhelmed, so add more!
It's my strange sense of logic.
I guess mostly I feel over-extended. Which also doesn't make sense considering that we don't do NEARLY as much now, as we once did. There was a time when we were out of the house, at different events, 4 times a week. And that actually didn't include sports! So now that ALL we do is sports and Girl Scouts, and an occasional playdate, how can I feel like it's TOO much! It's not to much for the children, in fact, I think my oldest would be happy if we went back to 4 days a week of outings, in fact I know she'd like that and not only because she's a complete extrovert, but also because she'd think that would take the pressure off actually getting her work done (more on that later). I've made the decision that I need to step out of my Girl Scout responsibilities next year, and just be involved as a mom, not a leader. This was a hard decision for me, as I truly do love "my girls", they are so much fun, but I don't feel it's fair to not feel like I'm giving them 100%. This year hasn't been nearly as successful in my personal review of my progress. I think the girls are still having a good time, and learning new things, I just feel like it could be so much better. In fact, I know it can be, because it was! It's very frustrating for me. I need to get it together.
And, third and fourth grade is time consuming! LOL Who knew! My younger dd is doing mostly 3rd grade work, with the exceptions of reading and writing, which have been slower to develop. My older is doing 4th grade with the exception of math-oh and the exception that she has made the decision to fail 4th grade. I've made the decision to let her. I decided I'm no longer in the reminder business. I spend ample time planning, and they are old enough to work independently a lot. So, I give them their assignment sheets each day. Things they need help with need to be completed by dinner, but they are free to work on things they can do unassissted until bedtime. Things that aren't completed by bedtime get zero's. My 8 yr old has yet to get a zero, in fact she's well on her way to straight A's! However, her sister...not so much. She had 20 zero's the first week we went to this system (we're about to enter week 3). I'm pretty sure she's going to have to fail before she learns this lesson. She needs to gain personal responsibility for her education, I don't think it's to early or that it will do her any great service to allow this lesson to wait. If she fails (which seriously, I think she will), she will be able to catch up...on her own desire to do so. If she is willing to work extra hard to get back "on grade level", then I will help her with that. If she isn't, then I will accept that decision as well. I'm hoping *crossing fingers EXTRA TIGHT* she will find her own inner motivation. She's not the most responsible being, and sadly I've realized I created this irresponsible, immature being before me! I robbed her of many opportunities to experience the natural consequence of her irresponsibility by constantly being that little voice in her head that said "did you get that done?" "what needs to be done now?" "do you have things you need to finish before class?" By being that voice, I've caused her true voice to grow silent. I'm hoping it will return.
I have a lot of planning to do. I have tons of stuff I want to share, but I haven't made blogging a priority yet. I'd really truly like to. I enjoy it immensely. I need to carve out a time once a week at least to get this done! It's not that I don't have the time...especially with the new laptop, it's that it hasn't been high on my priority list. Which would be fine, if I were spending that available computer time doing something important or worthwhile...but it's nothing that noble.
I want to share one quick thing about our school work, then I'm going to go and get on that planning, and cleaning my home, and going to ULTRA FUN things with my kids this weekend (We're seeing High School Musical 2-stage tour this afternoon, and the Hannah Montana 3-d digital movie tomorrow!!!). I will really try to blog more next week!
We did our first "research project" this month. We completed it with oral presentations this Wed. And, while it became apparent to me that I need to teach my kids how to take notes....after years of saying "complete sentences" they don't get it! It did go very well. They researched Coretta Scott King, and Harriet Tubman. They did internet research, and book research at the library. They collected the info then presented it orally (which wasn't the original plan...but was what our assignment morphed into). They both did a VERY good job, and I was very proud of them!
Now, I'm out.
And yet, I keep thinking about getting pregnant again in the summer. How does this make sense? I'm overwhelmed, so add more!
It's my strange sense of logic.
I guess mostly I feel over-extended. Which also doesn't make sense considering that we don't do NEARLY as much now, as we once did. There was a time when we were out of the house, at different events, 4 times a week. And that actually didn't include sports! So now that ALL we do is sports and Girl Scouts, and an occasional playdate, how can I feel like it's TOO much! It's not to much for the children, in fact, I think my oldest would be happy if we went back to 4 days a week of outings, in fact I know she'd like that and not only because she's a complete extrovert, but also because she'd think that would take the pressure off actually getting her work done (more on that later). I've made the decision that I need to step out of my Girl Scout responsibilities next year, and just be involved as a mom, not a leader. This was a hard decision for me, as I truly do love "my girls", they are so much fun, but I don't feel it's fair to not feel like I'm giving them 100%. This year hasn't been nearly as successful in my personal review of my progress. I think the girls are still having a good time, and learning new things, I just feel like it could be so much better. In fact, I know it can be, because it was! It's very frustrating for me. I need to get it together.
And, third and fourth grade is time consuming! LOL Who knew! My younger dd is doing mostly 3rd grade work, with the exceptions of reading and writing, which have been slower to develop. My older is doing 4th grade with the exception of math-oh and the exception that she has made the decision to fail 4th grade. I've made the decision to let her. I decided I'm no longer in the reminder business. I spend ample time planning, and they are old enough to work independently a lot. So, I give them their assignment sheets each day. Things they need help with need to be completed by dinner, but they are free to work on things they can do unassissted until bedtime. Things that aren't completed by bedtime get zero's. My 8 yr old has yet to get a zero, in fact she's well on her way to straight A's! However, her sister...not so much. She had 20 zero's the first week we went to this system (we're about to enter week 3). I'm pretty sure she's going to have to fail before she learns this lesson. She needs to gain personal responsibility for her education, I don't think it's to early or that it will do her any great service to allow this lesson to wait. If she fails (which seriously, I think she will), she will be able to catch up...on her own desire to do so. If she is willing to work extra hard to get back "on grade level", then I will help her with that. If she isn't, then I will accept that decision as well. I'm hoping *crossing fingers EXTRA TIGHT* she will find her own inner motivation. She's not the most responsible being, and sadly I've realized I created this irresponsible, immature being before me! I robbed her of many opportunities to experience the natural consequence of her irresponsibility by constantly being that little voice in her head that said "did you get that done?" "what needs to be done now?" "do you have things you need to finish before class?" By being that voice, I've caused her true voice to grow silent. I'm hoping it will return.
I have a lot of planning to do. I have tons of stuff I want to share, but I haven't made blogging a priority yet. I'd really truly like to. I enjoy it immensely. I need to carve out a time once a week at least to get this done! It's not that I don't have the time...especially with the new laptop, it's that it hasn't been high on my priority list. Which would be fine, if I were spending that available computer time doing something important or worthwhile...but it's nothing that noble.
I want to share one quick thing about our school work, then I'm going to go and get on that planning, and cleaning my home, and going to ULTRA FUN things with my kids this weekend (We're seeing High School Musical 2-stage tour this afternoon, and the Hannah Montana 3-d digital movie tomorrow!!!). I will really try to blog more next week!
We did our first "research project" this month. We completed it with oral presentations this Wed. And, while it became apparent to me that I need to teach my kids how to take notes....after years of saying "complete sentences" they don't get it! It did go very well. They researched Coretta Scott King, and Harriet Tubman. They did internet research, and book research at the library. They collected the info then presented it orally (which wasn't the original plan...but was what our assignment morphed into). They both did a VERY good job, and I was very proud of them!
Now, I'm out.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Baby's First Birthday
Here are some pictures of the little one, enjoying his cake, and his present at his birthday party!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Ahhh, sweet routine returns.
So, my 'theory' that I'd have more time to blog while we were "tracked out" was so far off base, I definitely need to rethink that hypothesis. Also, our track out was supposed to last 3 weeks, and instead lasted 6. Ooops. Life happened.
We were planning on starting back on the 2nd of January, that didn't happen, but I can't remember why. So, I thought "Ok, we'll start back on the 7th." Then, my sister was scheduled to be induced on the 7th with her fourth baby. Ok, maybe we could fit something in on the 8th? Well, her labor lasted an entire 30 hours (poor poor girl)...and Tristen Cole wasn't born until late the afternoon of the 8th. So scratch the 8th too. My MIL was coming in early on the 9th-to be here for the baby's birthday, and well it's just about impossible to get school done with grandma Betty here, because we only see her once (twice if we're really LUCKY) a year, and the girls are just over the moon to see her! And, she really likes to shop so we were out almost every day she was here. She left on the 15th, and well, I really still needed to plan, so I decided we'd start back today.
I don't know when I've been so relieved (maybe right after Tristen came into the world?, no that was when my SISTER was relieved)! I'm so ready to get back into the 'normal' routine of things in our house again. Since Wednesday I've been SUPER busy because being the insane woman that I am I decided to WRITE A CURRICULUM. I found a book at the library called "How to Write a Low Cost/No Cost Curriculum for your home school child" by Borg Hendrickson. And, since I had already been thinking I needed to make sure I was checking off my p's and q's (this is more important the older my kids get) and checking what I thought we should learn against the NC Standard Course of Study I figured...well, I sort of write my own curriculum already. I have a collection of books we use, and I make up our lesson plans as I go along, so really this is just a formal extension of what we were already doing. It will be good to have in the future, I suppose. I'm not all the way done, I need to add activities that go along with the objectives, but I have all the Goals and Objectives for the rest of the year in place (thanks largely to the NC Standard Course of Study website). Now I just need to add in some things that are running around in my head as ways to meet those goals.
Now, also during our track out time we discovered that my sweet baby boy has food allergies. Tree nuts and peanuts. Ugh. We already knew he had an allergy to strawberries and banana's, but those are much easier to avoid than tree nuts and peanuts! You wouldn't believe-once you start checking labels-how many things are processed in facilities where nuts are also present. It's a new challenge to have to find things for him to eat that aren't made with any products that have been processed in those places. UGH. Also, as an added bonus, I'm pretty sure he is either lactose intolerant, or has a dairy sensitivity. More fun! The introduction to whole milk has not gone well, and he has some other symptoms when he eats yogurt (which he LOVES...going to try some soy yogurt this week).
We have lots of extra-curricular this week too! Bowling league, a nature class, dance class, basketball game and practice, girl scouts, and hopefully we'll be exchanging a "Flat Traveler" with Heather's family. We'll also find some time to do this weeks Unplug Your Kids project.
Our school lessons will include units on Dr. Martin Luther King, and other civil rights leaders. I can't wait to share this project with you all, when they've finished it. Here is the project we'll be doing. They Had a Dream Too. We'll be using both the Internet and the library to collect our information, and then build our projects. We're also going to be talking about Water Conservation for our science unit, and learning about water density and buoyancy in our experiment. This is a fitting unit as we really need to conserve as much water as we possibly can, considering we are in the worst drought in recorded history.
I think that's all for now. I hope I'll share more later this week!
We were planning on starting back on the 2nd of January, that didn't happen, but I can't remember why. So, I thought "Ok, we'll start back on the 7th." Then, my sister was scheduled to be induced on the 7th with her fourth baby. Ok, maybe we could fit something in on the 8th? Well, her labor lasted an entire 30 hours (poor poor girl)...and Tristen Cole wasn't born until late the afternoon of the 8th. So scratch the 8th too. My MIL was coming in early on the 9th-to be here for the baby's birthday, and well it's just about impossible to get school done with grandma Betty here, because we only see her once (twice if we're really LUCKY) a year, and the girls are just over the moon to see her! And, she really likes to shop so we were out almost every day she was here. She left on the 15th, and well, I really still needed to plan, so I decided we'd start back today.
I don't know when I've been so relieved (maybe right after Tristen came into the world?, no that was when my SISTER was relieved)! I'm so ready to get back into the 'normal' routine of things in our house again. Since Wednesday I've been SUPER busy because being the insane woman that I am I decided to WRITE A CURRICULUM. I found a book at the library called "How to Write a Low Cost/No Cost Curriculum for your home school child" by Borg Hendrickson. And, since I had already been thinking I needed to make sure I was checking off my p's and q's (this is more important the older my kids get) and checking what I thought we should learn against the NC Standard Course of Study I figured...well, I sort of write my own curriculum already. I have a collection of books we use, and I make up our lesson plans as I go along, so really this is just a formal extension of what we were already doing. It will be good to have in the future, I suppose. I'm not all the way done, I need to add activities that go along with the objectives, but I have all the Goals and Objectives for the rest of the year in place (thanks largely to the NC Standard Course of Study website). Now I just need to add in some things that are running around in my head as ways to meet those goals.
Now, also during our track out time we discovered that my sweet baby boy has food allergies. Tree nuts and peanuts. Ugh. We already knew he had an allergy to strawberries and banana's, but those are much easier to avoid than tree nuts and peanuts! You wouldn't believe-once you start checking labels-how many things are processed in facilities where nuts are also present. It's a new challenge to have to find things for him to eat that aren't made with any products that have been processed in those places. UGH. Also, as an added bonus, I'm pretty sure he is either lactose intolerant, or has a dairy sensitivity. More fun! The introduction to whole milk has not gone well, and he has some other symptoms when he eats yogurt (which he LOVES...going to try some soy yogurt this week).
We have lots of extra-curricular this week too! Bowling league, a nature class, dance class, basketball game and practice, girl scouts, and hopefully we'll be exchanging a "Flat Traveler" with Heather's family. We'll also find some time to do this weeks Unplug Your Kids project.
Our school lessons will include units on Dr. Martin Luther King, and other civil rights leaders. I can't wait to share this project with you all, when they've finished it. Here is the project we'll be doing. They Had a Dream Too. We'll be using both the Internet and the library to collect our information, and then build our projects. We're also going to be talking about Water Conservation for our science unit, and learning about water density and buoyancy in our experiment. This is a fitting unit as we really need to conserve as much water as we possibly can, considering we are in the worst drought in recorded history.
I think that's all for now. I hope I'll share more later this week!
Friday, January 11, 2008
My Baby is ONE!
Baby B was born on January 11th, 2007 at 1:34 am. He weighed 9 lbs and 1 oz, and was 20 1/2 inches long. Now, at one he weighs almost 25 lbs, and is 28 inches. He also has 14 teeth (misery I tell you, misery!)
Watch him grow...a year in pictures.
Only a few hours old:
1 month:
2 months:
3 months:
5 months:
6 months:
7 months:
8 months:
9 months:
10 months:
11 months:
And, a current one (right after his first haircut!):
Party pics coming this weekend!!
What a wonderful year it has been, I look forward to watching you continue to grow and learn, my sweet baby boy! Happy Birthday to you!
Watch him grow...a year in pictures.
Only a few hours old:
1 month:
2 months:
3 months:
4 months:
5 months:
6 months:
7 months:
8 months:
9 months:
10 months:
11 months:
And, a current one (right after his first haircut!):
Party pics coming this weekend!!
What a wonderful year it has been, I look forward to watching you continue to grow and learn, my sweet baby boy! Happy Birthday to you!
Thursday, January 3, 2008
My big girls banged up face
Here she is....the pictures really don't do any justice to how bad she looked!
She scratched her face from hairline to mouth, busted her lip wide enough that it really should have had a stitch in it, and chipped both of her front permanent teeth. It looks a lot better today, and she doesn't seem to be in any pain-which is fantastic.
She scratched her face from hairline to mouth, busted her lip wide enough that it really should have had a stitch in it, and chipped both of her front permanent teeth. It looks a lot better today, and she doesn't seem to be in any pain-which is fantastic.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Whew! What a day!
Yesterday was blissful, and fun, and exhausting!
We have so much STUFF now....and trust me, we had enough STUFF before! LOL
The girls were over the moon over many of their gifts, which made my husband and I very happy (its nice to get them things they will really enjoy, and won't be tossed aside quickly). I handpicked every gift they got from my mom...so those were all big hits as well! :-) I know my kids.
The biggest hits...a ball popper for the baby. Man, he loves that thing. A new X-games bike for my 8 yr old and a shopping spree for my 9 yr old.
Here are a few pictures:
This is SO Awesome! (I love this shot)
Here is my 8 yr old with her stuffed Yoda doll that my 9 yr old made for her.
Here is my 9 yr old with a new tradition we started this year, Rice Krispie Treat Christmas Tree's...they were very fun, and the kids all loved it!
As for me, and my AMAZING husband. I got a LAPTOP! It's AWESOME, and will allow me to spend more time on the computer, as my desktop is in our bedroom...and not easily accessible when the kids are all up because, well I can't sit in the back of the house locked in my room. But, now, I will be able to do things even when they are all up because I can be in the same room with them (provided they are all happily involved in other activities that don't require my assistance) and still be on here. Like right now, the girls are happily watching High School Musical 2 (a present from one to the other) as I type-the baby is happily napping.
I started a new blog as well, specifically dedicated to baby/toddler activities. Waterfront Preschool, not much going on just yet. I plan on starting more there in the coming week. Hopefully, I also need to prepare for the big consignment sale next week though, AND for the upcoming weeks for the girls. So, we'll see! I have one week already planned for the little man, but I will need to post it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)