Week 3 – sorta, kinda . . . .Maybe?

Well, another week down, but I don't know if we should count this one towards our hsing journey or not. Kenne did 2 days of hs but then we just quit for the rest of the week. BUT WAIT! Don't get your knickers in a twist. (I have always wanted to say that!) She participated in Science Camp this week through the public library system. FREE and she loved it. Wow! This year's focus was Chemistry, so every afternoon from 1 to 4 she went and hung out with 19 other boys and girls and completed these awesome science experiments. She really had a blast.

Oh, and one more great hurdle was jumped this week. We have officially (as opposed to unofficially?) committed to hsing the twins, NOW! Their first "official" day of hs will be this Monday. We are very excited and they are really into it. They were feeling left out and while they wanted to go to school to see their friends, each day they would ask why they couldn't stay home and homeschool, too. Evidently God did want them home because he allowed me to get my brain wrapped around everything and he guided me towards a very workable schedule so that I can teach each child, do my chores AND work some. Gotta love that. So folks that are clients . . . .please know that I have changed my office hours. They are now 1:00 until 4:00, nights and weekends by appointment.

Ok – what else, what else? Hmmmm. We are really doing great. Truly. It takes me a bit longer to realize that we do NOT have to stress about scheduling but once it does hit me upside the head, then all is good (like this past week! Why the heck was I going to make Kenne go thru basically 12 hours of school if you count the science camp plus the work she had to do before and after just to stay "on schedule?" Oh – and I realized that when we go to Gettysburg in September I am NOT going to do any hsing curriculum stuff, but instead focus on the experience itself.

We are just so blessed to have this opportunity to be with our girls. I told Tim, Oh darn! I forgot to buy a lottery ticket. Oh well! Anyway, I told Tim that my main reason for wanting to win the lottery is so he can stay home with us and quit having to work so hard to provide for us. He is missing out on so much of their growth that it just depresses me. Now, before you get all sappy, ask me if it depresses me enough to make me want to go and work a real, 9 to 5 kinda job so he can stay home with the girls. The answer to that is HECKARONI NO!!!!!!! Love him, mean it. . . . .but I am so selfish that I do not want to give up my time with the girls.

Ok – well, off to bed now. We had a very successful yardsale at my office in Wake Forest today and I am beat. Not only do I have a "heat" headache, but I am just plain exhausted.

Love to all and God bless!

Field Trip & Fun!

You know, I'm an old fashioned southern gal and I am used to having fresh vegetables and fruits and all that jazz. But since we had the twins, our time tables have gotten all messed up and we haven't had a garden in years! Trying to change the family's eating habits & save money really got me thinking. Then what do you know, the HS group I joined (Generations) posted a link about a produce co-op. When I was too late to the table (ha ha, pun definitely intended folks!) a wonderful lady in the group by the name of Anita, shared her knowledge with me. So, being the exploring kinda gal I am, I decided what a great field trip for Kenne! On Thursday morning, we packed up, dropped the twins off at public school (more to come on that) then headed to The State Farmer's Market. Oh My! Talk about a great experience. Now, folks, I have been to the market before & taken the girls and we all loved it. But I have never been to the bulk market. I got everything you see spread out on the dining room table . . . .are you ready for this? . . . . . $65! Now, I know with 1 dimension pictures it is hard to truly see what is there so I'll tell ya! I got a case of squash, case of snaps, 10 pounds of tators, 113 apples, case of peaches (case seen plus 18 more because I had already set up the dehydrator and the girls were wolfin' them down left and right) and 5 pineapples. Can you believe that? Oh my! Oh my!!!

Is that not amazing? So, Kenne's field trip for the week consisted of economics – she had to decide what we bought and which vendor to get it from (who had the better deal). In the next part (that comes from the field trip but is really conducted here at home) she will help me put up all this food by dehydrating, canning or freezing. We will also make some apple sauce later next week or early the following week once the apples of ripened a bit more.

So I would have to say our 2^nd week was another great success. Of course, we did have a bad day or two, but even those ended up ok. Oh, and we had our first "anti homeschooling" run in with one of Kenne's old friends. I knew it was inevitable but it still depressed us. Maybe I will be able to write about one day, but right now, let's just leave it at this: I am praying very hard that God wraps this little girl (the friend) in his arms and shows her his love because she needs it, very, VERY, badly.

Okee dokee – signing off for now. Y'all take care and thanks again for reading this. I'm doing it to keep all our friends and family posted on how it's going, definitely. But I am also doing this to keep a journal for future years so I can remember (we know how that memory thing just isn't a great thing with me!). So, love to all!

First week down, only 35 more to go!

Hot diggity dawg! We have had a blast this week! Being the type triple A personality that my great friend, Buck, accuses me of being, you know I had scheduled and spreadsheeted myself to death over homeschooling! I had a schedule for my schedule! But hey, it gives me something in writing to follow and if it is in writing, well, I tend to actually do it! So after this week, we are so excited. Kenne loves hsing. She loves it. I know it has only been a week, but she has made remarkable progress. It's like she has grown up overnight. I haven't had to string her up by her toenails just to get her to do her chores. She also is in love with reading – how the heckaroni did that happen? Tim and I both love to read, but she hated it! Well, when I say she hated it, she didn't really hate it! She just picked out a book because she thought the cover looked cool. Then that book would sit on her desk or her bed for WEEKS and she would never open it!

Now this rugrat BEGS to read. She is loving it! I thank Sonlight for that. Anyway, today she is having her spelling test and then moving on to Chapter 2 in her history and then she will read some more of her "living history" book and then she has the rest of the day off. I am just so proud of her!

I truly thank God for giving us this opportunity! It is a blessing to be able to do this with our children. I am trying to imagine life once we get the twins out of public school and I have to say, I am scared! Really scared! But oh well, God will provide the patience for me as I try to do His will.

Love to all! Oh – a friend asked how does she follow this blog – just click on the box up above that says "Follow Blog" it should show up in the Blog toolbar above. If it doesn't, just shoot me an email. Love to all of you! Off to watch School House Rocks right now – so we can watch a "Noun is a Noun." Gosh, I love this!

Happy 4th of July

Happy Independence Day everyone! I sure hope I homeschool better than I blog! J I haven't been too regular have I? Uh, regular as in blogging. . . .not anything else that needs regulating. (yep, that's what I'm talking about!)

Ok – seriously, I hope you guys had a fabulous 4^th of July and truly celebrated our independence. The girls got so excited thinking about how blessed we are to live in a country with as many freedoms as we have here. We are truly blessed you know. Sure, it's not perfect. But when you think about other countries and other trials folks face – we have it pretty easy, don't we?

Thank you, Lord, for the freedoms you have bestowed upon us and for allowing it to be our CHOICE to follow You. We love You so very much and truly hope to please You in all we do. In Your son's holy name, Amen.

Trials already . . . .and we haven’t even begun!

Happy Thursday to you! Well, I sure have gotten off to a horrible start, haven't I? Let's just say that we have had the crud passing through our house like crazy these last 2 weeks. Add to that a good friend from high school passing away and you have a lady who hasn't really been with it. Anyway, I guess you can tell that I finally got around to posting #9 on the must have's list. I will try my best to be more diligent in posting – but it has just been a quacky 2 weeks. So, enjoy and hopefully I will get into the habit and be better at posting regularly. Love to all!

Newbie Must Have’s #9

The willingness to learn from your child(ren). How many times did you hear as a child " . . . because I said so!" If we can take a step away from that mentality, we will see that our children can teach us just as much as we can teach them. Not only will we learn from the curriculum we choose for our children, but we will learn from their innocence. How many times have you listened to your child ask a question and then think to yourself, "I don't know and why do you even care?" It happens to me on a regular basis. So one day, I actually listened to the question being asked and I became determined to find an answer. The question was one of those simple questions, "Mom, why is the sky blue?" So we started researching and that research led to more research and the next thing we knew, we had a whole list of questions we wanted to answer. That was the day that I realized how much I stand to gain by listening to my children and learning from their own naturally curious natures.

Tomorrow: #8: The faith that you CAN teach your child.

Newbie Must Have’s #10

Over the next several days I am going to share with you the steps that I passed through (decisions, trials, night sweats, etc) as we begin changing our lifestyle to that of a homeschooling family. These are just my opinions and my experiences. They are not meant to offend anyone with different ideas. If you don't like what you read, move on to another blog.

The desire to take on the responsibility of your child's future. So many times we willingly give the government the responsibility of raising our children and we don't even know that we have done it. The public school system, in theory, is a great thing and it is the right choice for a lot of children. So please do not think this is a bash session against public school. Remember that I am leaving the twins in until I get my ducks in a row because I am too scared to pull them all out together. What I mean is this: until a parent makes the decision to be 100% responsible for their child's future and not rely on the school system (public or private) then the homeschool decision is not the decision for them and before you can decide that homeschool is the right decision for you and your family, you must be willing to take that responsibility away from whatever institution you have entrusted with your child and plant it firmly on your very own shoulders.

This is probably the scariest part of the whole ordeal - assuming the responsibility. That is why it is listed as the #1 on my list.

Tomorrow: #9: The willingness to learn from your child(ren).