Decision is Made and Final

Wyatt(9) grade 4, Kayla(10 turning 11) grade 6, Everett(8) grade 3, Tanner(6) grade 1

I'm so glad we started homeschool 8 weeks ago. I learned so many things this school year thus far and thats how labor intensive 6th grade is and thats really giving her a bare bones education. The math is so difficult, I am having to relearn it and then teach it to her. Wyatt had backslid a lot since our "summer" break so we are back to reversing letters and numbers. Everett is flourishing with minimal help though his concentration keeps him tied to his school books until 5pm many days. He wont just focus and do the 2 pages of math or 1 page of language lessons. Tanner is struggling to read.

 I love homeschooling though and some of my best memories with my kids is homeschool related. Here is the thing though, Kenna and Madelynn are bored and reading one BFIAR book isnt enough for them. I give them coloring books, and all sorts of fun school stuff to do while I teach the others, but they continue to fight for my attention. Madelynn is barely talking and at 2.5 years that has me worried that I need to give her more one on one to really talk with her about everything so she starts picking up language better. My little guy, Jaxxon, is crawling and very active now, pulling up and eating everything he finds, including choking several times now on teeny things he has found so I have to watch him like a hawk. So where am I going with all this? I told you I wanted to make the right decision regarding school and as much as I LOVE homeschooling, I know Wyatt needs services that our insurance wont offer him and there are many other issues I stated above.

 Nate and I sat down and did a pro/con list and we found the pro school list much much longer. We decided after speaking to the kids and hearing their input, to put the kids into public school. One of the biggest determinants for this decision was that this school we are zoned for now has ALL the services Wyatt needs. They wont ship him all over like the last school wanted to do in order to get him the speech, OT, PT and many other specialized teachers for teaching a child with aspergers. They actually have several other kids in the school really similar to Wyatt and I have hopes of meeting their families and making friendships for Wyatt and myself. This was a hard decision, but I feel it was the right decision.

Their first day was yesterday and went well. I think my kids got lucky as their teachers seem to all fit their different personalities very well. The time alone with all the little kids yesterday was so nice as well. The house was quiet and we got to read and paint and most of all talk a lot. I am normally really burned out from reading aloud to the big kids and helping them with their studies that I don't talk much later in the day to anyone. I mean I serve and cook and clean, but my voice gets tired. It was nice to talk to just the little kids all day as we cleaned, played, cooked, made a surprise for the big kids when they got home, and hung out together. That undivided attention is good for them. The quiet was also good for all of us. I was amazed that I liked it, lol.

So for 1 year we will be "trying" out public school and I think the kids are going to have a great year supplemented with weekends reading, decorating, doing crafts, baking and just being who we are. I'm excited to let them spread their wings and stretch out into the community. I'm taking this new chapter and looking for the good in it. This time our option was researched and thought out so that it will for certain last all year. The big bonus and probably the kicker to the whole school advantage is that Nate got offered a new position in his department that will take him from rotating schedules to a Monday thru Thursday 9-5 schedule for the next 3 years!!!! YAY so he wont have to miss out on family time. We wouldn't have done the public school option had this not happened so this protects our family time! Family togetherness and time is our number one priority.

Can You Have it All? Is it All it Seems?

I know I'm burned out from a busy/fun summer and homeschooling 6 weeks through already, but I find a tinge of jealousy creeping in as I see friends sending kids off to school for a "break at last." Iy, why do I compare. I often wonder if I could have my big happy family and get a break, but I try to remind myself why I do it and then I have a day where they are all complaining(at least once a week) about our schooling and throwing fits and not wanting to do the work. Today I have a lazy child who is JUST now finishing school up at 4:45 pm. That wears me out. I wont lie. My mom asks me regularly, "Why not do those fun Five in a Row" books in season like you do, but read them after school letting each child take a turn everyday for their homework reading time and then just do the fun activities like making pies or a chinese meal or going apple picking for the weekends or days off. Is she right? Could I have the best of both worlds? I dunno, but I often wonder. I am struggling to teach Tanner to read. He isn't catching as quickly as siblings have. 6.5 years old  and literally can maybe recognize sounds for 10 letters despite 4 complete phonics programs. Maybe someone else could teach him? I always question myself at years begining and around mid year when we are suuuuper burned out. I guess I start out each year knowing I want stabiliy first and foremost so it feels like a huge decision as to whether or not to put them in because I want the first decision of the year to last all year. I don't wanna switch halfway through the year...too flakey. I don't know its a tough call and I am really toying with school......just unsure. Praying about it. Needing direction. It doesn't help that my kids have told me daily for years now that they want to be in school. Maybe I am denying them? Maybe they will grow up to regret me for not listening to their wishes to be in school despite my attempts to tell them its not all it seems. Maybe they want candy everyday too though and as the mom I know that isn't best? Nate's wonky schedules don't help make the decision any easier. His shifts change as fast as I can get a routine down. Arggg decisions decisions. Input would be great. I would love to hear from homeschoolers, unschoolers, public or private schoolers and everything in between if you have any thoughts on this. Can I have my cake and eat it too? Get a break and still have a big happy family? Children who still love the Lord? Sanity? Time for the 3 littles who seem extra needy this year? hmmmm thinking........

Had to Blog About It!!!!

We started our first day back to school yesterday and went to dinner last night to celebrate our back to school. Its been a fun week so far and I just wanted to say, My Fathers World Creation to Greeks is SO...MUCH....FUN!!!! Let me tell you what a perfect balance it is of reading and hands on, but not junky and boring hands on. This is fun stuff. We have tried, Rod and Staff, Abeka, Five in a Row(LOVED), and Sonlight along with unschooling and just doing our own thing over the years. This is our 7th year homeschooling and I cannot beleive how much we are loving My Fathers World(Delux pkg). I am already thinking we will use it again next year. Its just an amazingly Biblical based curriculum that really goes in depth and brings the Bible to life through experiences, art, science and captivating books like Dinosaurs in Eden. I love doing Bible study each morning with Daddy involved also because the place in the Bible we are reading pertains directly to things we will do that day in school. Its neat because he knows around about what we are learning each day, leaving him feeling more involved. It is my prayer that each family has/could find a curriculum that they love as much as we love this one!

What we are currently using for the year:
My Fathers World, Creation to Greeks Delux package with all children, Notebooks and student sheets with 6th, 4th and 3rd grader. This package includes a timeline we hung in our homeschool room and will add to all year, notebooking sheets for the 4 oldest kids, vocabulary(latin/greek/hebrew) program, Creation science, read alouds, Bible feasts and Victor Journey through the Bible, and fun project books about Egypt and other places mentioned in early Old Testament times. I love the Bible really being the backbone to our education!

Kayla 6th grade: Abeka Language of God series for LA, Singapore math, Abeka Spelling
Wyatt and Everett(3rd and 4th grade): Abeka Language arts and arithmatic
Tanner(K/1st): Horizons math, Hooked on phonics 1 and 2 Kindergarten, My Fathers World little readers series.
Kenna(Pre K age almost 4): Rod and Staff preschool workbooks, PreK hooked on phonics
MaddiMae(2yo): Joins big sis Kenna in workbooks, coloring and listening to hooked on phonics PreK CD rom!
Jaxxon(9mo): plays with a big box of fun baby toys!
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When is your......Back to School?

We start back July 5th and I can't wait! We have been out since May 1st so I am aching for routine and I am super excited about our curriculum this year. We will be doing My Fathers World, Creation to Greeks. We plan to work for 4 weeks and then take 1 off work 4 then 1 off all year with the exception of 2 weeks at Christmas and finish again around the begining of May. How do you ladies do your school years? We enjoy May/June off because its nice weather and I notice by July we become so overheated that we prefer to be indoors anyhow. So back to school is RIGHT around the corner for us. :) yay

On a side note, I am asking for prayers. 4 of our 7 kids have chicken pox(including baby Jaxxon), 5 of us have just finished passing around the stomach virus and now a cold is also going around all at the same time. Some of the kids were puking while covered in chicken pox. Its been a really rough week and yet I am so thankful I was first to get sick because I got better fast and have been able to care for my family, including my poor husband who is now on his second virus in 6 days.

Resolution Time!

First off, HAPPY NEW YEARS 2011! Lets pray for a great year. My resolutions this year include:

• Being more kind and gentle as a mother and wife. I have been a bit short tempered lately and I want to stop that and get control of my attitude.
• Paying off and chopping up our credit card(only have 1 and now owe 2100 on it) shouldnt be too hard.
• Getting a good savings built up(by good I mean, I would be happy with anything over the 38 bucks ours currently has in it and NO credit card debt by years end.) REALLY!
• Moving back off the mountain. While we like it, its not much for us I don't think. We miss riding our horses(WAY too cold here) and having our family close by to babysit so we can actually get out and nurture our marriage regularly.
• Having a better attitude with homeschooling. I admit it, I have been burned out with it once December hit and we have now had a 2 week break so we need to dig in and get going!!
• Get Tanner reading this year. He turns 6 on the 7th of January so its time to really hunker the lil guy down and start him on homeschooling. He just wasnt developmentally ready until now.

That should do it!!

Anyway

Is it the time of year or what? My kids have been exceptionally unruly, fist fighting and we even had an incident of Tanner cutting Kayla's finger open today! What the heck? We have had a rainy, rainy, rainy....did I mention rainy? winter this year in SoCal. I am wondering if it all the being cooped up or what is going on. This past few months we have been having our doubts about homeschooling. While I love homeschooling and I don't believe in a lot of public school philosophy, I also realize that our sanity isn't doing well lately. When I say our, I mean, the whole family. We have had issues with getting enough social outlets for the kids in our small town and quite frankly, going to the Dr or Dentist will throw the entire week off for me now with having 4 homeschoolers. Our homeschooling is very relaxed, but I also worry that they won't learn enough to be competitive in society when looking for jobs. I am noticing my kids are sort of (I hate to use this phrase) "behind." Behind what??? I dunno. Maybe its normal mama fear, but the neighbor kids seem to be more socially mature then my children to the point that it can be embarrassing. I cannot go into a store and keep my children all collected. They scatter at a full run in every direction in stores. I have gotton to a point where I don't take them in places with me unless its a real emergeny. At 9(actually Kayla does OK usually), 8, 7, 5, 2.5 and 11 months, I am thinking they should be able to walk with me like civilized people. Am I wrong? Things I once balked at in public schools, I am now thinking differently about....can we say form a line and follow?? I say this jokingly, but really I mean it. Maybe 5 years of homeschooling is coming to a point of sheer burnout. My kids do not listen to other adults, they hardly listen to me lately, they fight in the car, homeschooling, watching TV, over the computer, at the dinner table, trying to get cuddles with me, over a book, over a toy, out with the horses, while baking, its nonstop. I do mean that. Right now, Tanner and Everett are punching each other while watching Spongebob. They have been entertained ALL day and they are still bored and fighting. I am really tired. I hate to admit I am not supermom, but I'm not. Nate's about to change to a new schedule that is really going to disrupt our household and its giving me some serious second thoughts about homeschooling as well. Maybe this is just a fear and not reality, maybe it is reality>? I am not making rash decisions and maybe I am just blowing off steam......or oh my gawd......Wyatt just ate and ENTIRE container of cookies. This is the crap I am soooooo tired of. Yeah pretty much.

Homeschool Group

Only about half our families showed up for the annual group Christmas party. Yea.......that's a LOT of kids! We are blessed to have an awesomely huge homeschool group that is very active.

What did we do with 5 gallons of apples you wonder?

Getting ready to heat that caramel
dipping the apples
mmmm

Tanner enjoying a yummy apple
Nate peeling, slicing and coring with our old fashion corer/peeler/slicer
The last caramel apple, 2 of the pies and the ciders....mmm
the waste bag....not much for 5 gallons of apples ey?
worm infested waste

Well I didn't get pics of all the final products because some were eatin up before I had a chance(caramel apples) and I froze one of the pies, but of 5 gallons worth of apples, we made 2 gallons of cider, 3 pies(REALLLLLLY good ones I might add) and 10 caramel apples. There was no waste. What peels were taken off for pie apples, were thrown into the juicer for cider and in the end, we had a wee lil bag of a few rotten....worm infested cores and about 1 gallon of mulch that we took out and fed to our trees and flowers in the yard. I feel so happy about the fact that we were so unwasteful with so many apples.

The Apple Pie Recipe

Crust (makes 2 shells...top and bottom basically or 2 for pumpkin pie)

2 and 1/4 C. of flour

1/2 cup oil

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbsp milk

The Pie

7-8 peeled, sliced and cored apples

butter

3/4 C. sugar

1/4 C. Honey

lotsa cinnamon

The way I did it: I browned the apples a tad in a pan with butter, some sugar and cinnamon. I then dumped them in a waiting pie crust. After that, I poured the honey, sugar, and cinnamon on them evenly and laid the top crust over. Press the crusts together to make cutsey crust finger marks and then take an egg white and brush the top of the pie. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. YUMMMMM Best pie ever. Oh and no, NOT diabetic friendly!

Pumpkin Patch 2008

Kenna was driving the pumpkin wheelbarrow machine hehe
Nate and I(13 weeks preggs-getting a tad thicker)

Riding the racecar, golf cart, pull ride
Stuck in the corn maze
Taking a ride to get pumpkins
Look at the prize picked pumpkins
Kenna with her wee wittle pumpkin

I just love him
and him
and her
and him
and apparently, she loves me too! :0)

Wyatt and a sheep
Tanner having a hayday...literally!
Wyatt had a lotta fun with the animals
Everett loved the llamas most
Me with the kids on the Hay Castle-How blessed am I?

Well the pictures tell all! What a long, fun afternoon. I wore Kenna for most the time, but after having the urge to pee for so long, I asked Nate to help out haha. I think wearing her on top of the uterus and baby pressing on my bladder, made for an interesting feeling of needing to pee nonstop! The weather was beautifully chilly and crisp and there was more fun than the kids knew what to do with. After finally pickin our pumpkins, Tanner had a typical 3yo/had too much fun, meltdown. :0) We forgive him! hehe. Oh yeah and my hair....I went blonde for anyone wondering!

Apple Pickin

Family photo with our pickins
The kids with Grandpa and their apples

HAHA those apples were WAY up there
looking for fallen apples
YAY we found some
mmm Kenna loves em
Oh no, RUN the apples are going to hit ya on the head! hehe

Yesterday, we got up early and headed up to the mountains for some apple picking. Nate has been picking apples from this old tree since he was a little boy. Its a long ways back off a dirt road and no one knows about it. We got 2 huge 5 gallons buckets full of fresh, organic apples. It was apparent bears had been there a ton because they must not have an issue with pooing where they eat:0) haha. We have plans to get the apples today and make pies(some for now....some to freeze), caramel apples, apple muffins/pancakes and cider! MMmmmmm. The best part is they are organic and were free and it was such a fun outing......freeeeezing cold, but so fun.

Bathroom Remodel

Pic above was only partially finished when this was taken

WE LOVE IT! Nate is such a handy man, I LOVE him:) What a great homeschooling opportunity for the kids to partake in and learn from.