Back to Blogging- Homeschool Edition

Today the kids and I went to the zoo and skipped lessons since it was a glorious sunny and warm day in an otherwise terrible, gloomy, and cold Midwest spring. Along the way through the monkey exhibit there was a class of children Cabe's age following their teacher. I had to explain to Cabe what a field trip was, and then of course had to reassure him that he wasn't missing out on anything as we take way more field trips than any conventional school. But as the teacher stopped to snap a picture of her class by the exhibit, it occurred to me that I haven't done a very good job documenting Caleb's first year of school. Of course, I have an accordion file stuffed full of work proving that he has been learning over the past eight months, but I have very few photos. I am embarrassed to admit that in the scuffle of every day life it never occurred to me to stop and reflect on our day-to-day adventures. So my plans is to share what a homeschool looks like here in our home. To post the triumphs, big and small. The admit the aggravation and hair pulling. To document our projects, studies, and "field trips". If I can inspire a fellow homeschool mom, or provide insight to those curious to what our homeschool life looks like, even a little- I consider it a bonus. My main goal is to create a sort of year book for my children and family.

 To that end, I'd like to share a homeschool adventure we had last week. The kids, Papa and Grandma, and I piled into the minivan and drove 4 hours to the Great Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati. I knew the day would be tiring and rushed as we had to make the trip in only one day, but I was determined to be able to thumb through books and curriculum. Last year, for kindergarten, I bought all of our books online with only reviews as a guide. I still believe that reviews offer great insight while shopping online, (and I am known to obsessively to read them) but nothing beats looking at things first hand to decide whether or not they may work four my family. The above photo is only one half on the exhibitor hall! It was an exhausting three hours hunting down the vendors I wanted to check out (despite having looked up their booth assignments and such prior to going). But I gained a lot of insight in that time!

  First off, I loved seeing the crowds. It is quite reassuring knowing you are not the only crazy person out there doing this. It was nice for my parents to see that although our lifestyle is in the minority, it is a vastly growing one. I also finally realized what I was looking for in curriculum for my kids. Until now I used components of Timberdoodle kindergarten curriculum, some Charlotte Mason books, and lots of hodge podged worksheets from my stash from when I taught in public schools. That wasn't working admittedly and I need a curriculum that lays it all out for me. It was hard to admit that to myself as I rather arrogantly decided right at the start that as an educated teacher who was trained to actually write and create curriculum, I didn't need to pay hundreds of dollars to pay for it.

  Fast forward to the end of our first year and I clunked down the big money to have the freedom of popping open a teacher manual the night before to prep for lessons. It wasn't that I couldn't write extensive plans and such- but it was too time consuming and unrealistic for me (and most families I am guessing). I began to resent the time it required for me to prepare and with Sophia enetering kindergarten next year, I knew I couldn't keep it up with two kids. So in case you are wondering for Cabe, we went with My Father's World first grade deluxe, Real Science 4 Kids to supplement, All About Spelling Level One to supplement, Math-U-See Alpha to supplement, and a Bible study curriculum to supplement. For Sophia, we went with All About Reading Level One, that's all. I plan to have her follow Caleb's other lessons as far as her development lets her.

 Finally, after all the mind numbing curriculum shopping, we skipped out of the convention center without going to any workshops. The weather was sunny and seventy degrees, a stark contrast to the weather we have been having at home. There for we skipped over to Kentucky to walk along the river and to have dinner. Cabe thought it was pretty cool to have dinner in a different state. Even though we live 5 miles from Michigan and have dinner in "another state" quite often. Here are the kids on the bridge with Sophia mostly crying because the sun was hurting her eyes. Like I said, spring has been so horrible here that the sun is now foreign and scary, lol.

Flowers, Pictures, and Warm Days.

My friend Heather took Emmie's 18 month and Caleb's 3 year pictures.... a little late. I just wanted to put it off until it was warm enough to do outside picture for once since they both cold weather birthdays. But, it was more than warm for these pictures, it was downright hot! The heat index for this July day was about 104! My poor babies had to sit an hour in the heat waiting through photo sessions with clients for my side business, and then they were hot, sweaty, and crabby for their session. But Heather is good at salvaging at got some cute pictures. I especially love the ones of Caleb sheltering his sister from the edge of the pond. He was so concerned about her falling that he held her hand, elbow, or shoulder almost the whole time. It was so cute. I hope that he is always so thoughtful and loving towards her!

Day Tripper, Day Tripper Yeah!

We took the kids to Port Huron, Michigan a couple of weekends ago. The water there is gorgeous, blue, and clear. The kids splashed in the waves and built sand castles. I got to teach the kids my dribble sand trick for sand castles that look like ice cream cones, and then we pushed the round rocks from the beach into the castle.



After we picniced on the beach, we headed downtown for the festival. Caleb and Emmaline rode a couple carnival rides. Caleb rode the bumblebee ride all by himself, and then Emmie and Daddy joined him for the dragon ride.




After the carnival, we got some drinks (it was soooo hot) and settled down on a curb for some live music. We heard a great indie/folk rock group, and then a really good Bealtes Tribute band, Dig A Phony. They really did a good job on the music, and the best part was that they didn't wear corny mop top wigs and suits. We <3 Beatled music!




It was just nice to go somewhere new with the kids and relax in summer style.

Disney Trip 2

I have been puting off uploading pictures from our May trip. Our internet connection has been awful. But here are just a few, I will upload a few every couple of days. :)

Fishing on Father's Day

Caleb has been pestering us to go fishing lately. And after a trip to Cabela's he was especially in a fervor to try the sport out. So on Father's Day, we met grandpa, grandma, and Uncle Chris at Luna Pier so Caleb could try his luck. Uncle Chris got Caleb's Lightening McQueen rod ready, and showed Caleb how to cast. Caleb sat patiently for about 10 minutes. After that, with no fish caught, and no remaining attention span, he had had enough. The only thing we found swimming in the waters was the pacifier that Emmaline threw over the edge. She was mesmerized as it bobbed in the waves.

Catching Up on Posts

Pics of the kids at Chuck E Cheese! Emmaline loved it this time around. She ran around the toddler area and rode the Teletubby ride 5 times. She'd dance in her seat to the ride music. She also loves big fuzzy characters. She loved it when Chuck E came out. She clapped her hands and waved.

Mother's Day 2010 Weekend

It was a big weekend here in our home. Most importantly, after a long, hard journey, Joshua is FINALLY done with college! This Saturday was his commencement ceremony from the University of Toledo, in which he earned a degree in Registered Nursing. In the time that he earned his degree, he worked full-time at Coca-Cola. He had class twice a week before work. He was in and out hospitals on his little off-time. He'd spend weekdays literally out of the house for 14 hours. He'd work a clinical Saturday mornings, do homework that evening, research patients on Sunday morning, study that evening, And then he'd have another eight hour shift at another hospital on Monday morning and then go straight to work afterwards until 11:30pm that night. And among that crazy schedule, he managed to bring two babies home from the hospital and was the best daddy that he could be. Whenever he was home and NOT sleeping, he was with his kids. So I am very proud that he passed his classes. Most people don't realize he had to maintain an 80 percent in his classes to pass them! So all A's and B's on his transcripts. So by now you're thinking that my proud announcement of Joshua's graduation should be followed by a classic photo of him standing in his formal commencement gown and cap. Well, he bought the gown, and the tassel twice. But when it came to the morning of the event, he backed out and decided to skip it. I will admit I was a little disappointed. I was looking forward to hearing his name announced as he walked the stage. But the reality of sitting in the stands for hours with two young kids made his decision easier. So no photos.

I did throw him a graduation party as he did not have one for his high school graduation, nor his computer programming degree. I felt he deserved a party. We had family and friends over, and my brother cooked a Mexican themed dinner. Alas, no photos from the party either! When I turned it on, I realized we forgot the SD card....

Today the celebration continued for Mother's Day. I kind of felt like I earned a day off myself. It hasn't always been easy being an almost-single mom these years. So after Josh replaced the brake pads, oil, and rotors on the van in the morning, we went out to see "Walking With Dinosaurs: The Arena Experience". On the way downtown Caleb said, "I want to see a T-Rex. I want to see Dinosaurs nap and eat". I was really excited and it was a GREAT show!!! It was really easy to believe that the dinosaurs were alive and among us. Caleb was a little afraid after the intermission. As the show began for the second, time, he covered his eyes and said "no more dinosaurs mommy, they are scary". But he got over it quick and after the show he was telling Josh and I how cool they were.

Emmie and I waiting for the show to start.

Some dinos Josh snuck during the show. (No flash used)

Finally, we ended the day with dinner at a Chinese restaurant and a late afternoon nap. All four of us fell asleep on our couch together! It was a busy weekend.