short and sweet

Just a quick note to say that i have a lot to say but I just lack the time....so I will write a big post when the week is over...maybe. So much going on right now. At least now you all have something to look forward to! :)

The Past Few Days

 School. That is what we have been up to, as evidenced above. Monday thru Friday we are working hard, learning lots. But we have fun too. Art, PE, park days, parties, field trips, etc. It's good.

 Second pair of new jeans...with an old top from JCPenney and topsiders.

 Love to see the kids still playing together. The swings are the all time favorite thing for all the kids.

 Jordan turned 9 this week, so last Saturday he invited some friends for a nerf war, hot dogs, and smores. Unfortunately it started raining right before the party so they had to war in the house. We still did smores outside. I made sure to take some pictures because I had realized that when my oldest daughter turned 13 a few weeks ago, i never took a single picture! What a horrible mom! I think she got some pics though so I am going to steal them sometime. They had a pizza party sleepover and danced the night away to Owl City.

 Valentine Day party with the homeschool group. I wore new capris, an Old Navy t-shirt and a clearance jacket from Kohl's. And the $7 flats that I wear with almost everything. Obviously the mirror is dirty...ooops.

 Kids eating at the party after decorating valentine bags and passing out cards. They also played bingo and had a great time.

 This is the winter retreat shirt that the youth group wore. My oldest son designed it and got to go for free. That is good because the refund paid for his weekend at T3 with the youth group.

 Here is the crew, minus Liz, at morning devo in their t-shirts. Liz was at the laptop installing her math cd.

The rest of the week holds bible classes, Valentines Day, T3, and a sleepover birthday party at a friend's house. And, as a family we watch old episodes of LOST at night. Well, we ran through all of Falling Skies and went through Sherlock more than twice. But hey, Sherlock is the best.

Allergies...Gotta Love Them

Even though it is still winter, the winters here tend to be mild. It has been in the upper 60's and low 70's most of the time for daytime highs, and that means trees and grasses will start to bud and sprout, releasing some great pollen and mold. Good for the earth, bad for some of us humans.

My husband has a severe allergy to cedar pollen. He has taken shots for three years or more, but finally quit. The clinic isn't open late enough and is too crowded for him to get there at regular intervals with his work schedule. He started the same vial over 3 times and still never finished it. Now he just takes otc allergy meds, benadryl, and local honey. Some days it is still really bad.

My oldest son has issues with johnsons grass and mesquite. But me? Now, i have allergies, as do the rest of my kids as evidenced by the itchy eyes and drainage that comes and goes, but I get the great luck of reacting on the skin. Rashes. And this weekend mine showed up right on my face, right down the middle. It is not terribly noticeable unless you get really close and know what my face normally looks like, but it is reddish, mildly itchy, and looks like my pores are inside out. I have been in a fog all weekend from benadryl, and tried cortisone, but it seems to do better if I dry it out. I'd love a sunny day to get some sun, which tends to help. But that is not to be this week. It is getting better, but the warmth and random mild itch are a bit annoying. Oh well. This too shall pass. It really isn't a big deal, just annoying.

Unfortunately it will only get worse for my husband. He will feel awful for quite a while. Poor guy. And once the grass and mesquite bloom, Jacob will look terrible for a bit.

And so begins our journey into the allergy season! Yea. On the upside, I am very thankful for the advancements in modern medicine that help us!

Changes in Curriculum? Maybe.

Ok, if you are a homeschooler, you will relate to this post. We buy lots of curriculum for our kids. Year to year they have differing needs, and each one seems to learn a bit differently than the last one. So we buy, sell, trade, and sometimes buy the same stuff again00even though we thought we'd never need it again.

Yeah. that's where I am. For my oldest two I used Daily Grams to supplement LLATL. Didn't need to, just thought it was good drill here and there. Then i thought we didn't truly need it, so i sold it. And lo, I do need it! And I need it now! For kid number 3, who really needs that extra reinforcement. What was I thinking??!! But until that order arrives we are using online resources like Grammar Ninja, Funbrains's Grammar Gorillas and some stuff off ABCya. I really like Daily Grams layout and skills so I got the 3rd and 4th grade levels...for my 5th grader. That sweet, smart kid, also needs the handwriting the program provides, though we do lots of handwriting and copywork as it is.

Science. That is another item I am looking at changing. Don't get me wrong. We love Apologia, but the oldest girl is not thrilled with it. So this summer we are looking at BJU. I hear good things, and it is also creation based. I guess we will just look at it and see if it fits her. She's already switched math on me from Saxon to Teaching Textbooks to Life of Fred (which apparently makes her very happy). I can see #3 disliking Sonlight at the HS level...OY!

I also am about to buy our third globe. Apparently we are very hard on globes. World maps are good too, but for tilt and realism, I like a big globe. The last one was used as a ball after the stand broke. And since I still have a 1st and 3rd and 5th grader, a globe is a must.

I wonder what else I will purchase (possibly for a second time) as our yearly needs change?

Photos--some of fashion--prepare thyself.

 Some people like to buy fabric, some like books, some like cars, some like models, some like games...i like clothes. We all have our "thing". This is mine. I have loved clothes since I was little...I used to have several spirals filled with outfits I had designed. Think polyvore on paper. I noticed a lot of bloggers take photos of outfits they like so I think I will too...now and then. Some of my outfits you will NEVER see, for good reasons. I dress based on time and mood. If I feel sick, I look it, If I feel athletic, I look it...etc. So, above is something I wore a couple of weeks ago. Skinny jeans from old navy($24), a top from WalMart ($12), a necklace from clearance at Kohl's ($6) and half price boots from Famous Footwear ($20). I like that outfit and it makes me feel good. Comfy too. Bad lighting....sorry.

 These are my girls at the end of January heading to church. I think they are all wearing handed down, Goodwill, or clearance rack stuff. Except the jean jacket from WalMart.

 Kim plays with my camera often. But she's just so stinkin' cute! I had to keep this one! Love the moustache!

 The two oldest (14 and 13). So tall! Seems like only 3 years ago they were little kids! Oh yeah, they were.*sniff*

 My handsome boys. Amazing how tall Jacob is! But Jordan has consistently been taller at the same ages, so one day he may very well tower over his older bro who is already pushing 6'1".

 Shopping outfit. Top from clearance rack at Bealls ($10), capris from clearance rack at Belk ($15), and Payless clearance flats for $7.

 A Sunday morning set. Long jean skirt from online order, black clearance wedges from Bealls, handed down sweater, clearance Old Navy t-shirt you can't see($5) and a clearance scarf from JCP ($8). Honestly, the sweater was 3 sizes too big and I got rid of it. Oh, and  $2 belt from Old Navy.

 Ahhh, the toothless girl! Had to get a shot of her. I miss those little teeth!

 And finally, I apologize if this offends you, but jeans can look good and do not have to be "mom jeans" or ultra low rise. Buckle, my fashion friends, is my fave place. These are MissMe from the clearance rack...and I said I wouldn't even pay the clearance price so the guy that helped me took another 20% off. Still high, but I have to tell you, these feel exactly like my yoga pants. No lie. I could wear them DAILY. And this is coming from me, a girl who has not liked herself in jeans for at least 6 years, and who only bought some in the past year because I couldn't find flattering comfy fit that looked good. Curvy cut, long legs, mid rise, soft, flattering...so I gave in on the price. They will never see the inside of my dryer.

 THE JEANS paired with a Target button down from years ago on clearance($8), an Old Navy tank from clearance ($3) and my Payless $7 flats which I am not wearing in this picture.

 Breakfast! Apparently it is worth waiting 2 hours for breakfast if mom makes Krispy Kreme knockoffs...that get inhaled in 5 minutes. I know I made at least 60 donuts that day, and not one was left...NOT ONE.

And, big sis helping little sis learn to tell time to the half hour. By request. Love it!

Household Changes

This weekend we had to go to Allen for certain reasons I will not disclose, and as a result, we did some shopping. I needed some jeans. Well, probably not really needed, but I definitely wanted some jeans. I actually own 2 pair of skinny jeans, but I wanted some regular straight leg jeans...that fit well, feel good, and make me look good. Not MOM JEANS. Gross. Oh so gross. So I thought back to my pinterest board where I post outfits I like and recalled that almost every polyvore outfit (shows where to get the items) shows jeans from Buckle. I also recalled a friend telling me that Buckle is a great place to get jeans. So off we went.

Buckle is costly, but their customer service is most excellent, as are their selection and fit. I could not have been more pleased at the help i got, or with the 2 pair of jeans i found. I will definitely be recommending them, and shopping there in the future. Also, they have a punch card for purchases and do special orders. I love that store! Just be sure to save up before you go.

Then we went to Best Buy because Jacob wanted to look around. It was the day before the Supoer Bowl and we realized all televisions were on sale. Hmmm, we had decided to drop cable in favor of Netflix and knew we'd need a wifi tv, so we began looking and comparing, and ended up purchasing a new wifi smart tv. It is amazing! We stream amazon and fb and netflix and youtube now, right off the screen. And aside from the sale price of the tv, which was a really good price for plasma, we are saving $$ on our viewing each month while getting a better package! Win win!

And after co-op registration on friday I had to purchase a dissection kit for our biology program because Jacob and others are taking that at co-op---just to cover the dissections. That is great! It will give the kids extra science, and make summer schooling shorter. Another win win!

And today, is Monday. We are cleaning. That didn't happen over the weekend with all our activity. And so we begin another week of learning and cleaning and growing together, trying our best to serve our Lord and love one another. Change is hard, good, and necessary. Life is all about change.

Blessings to you and yours!

Homeschool posting...

Over the years I have posted  what a typical day might look like for us. Honestly it changes year by year as the kids grow up. Sometimes it changes semester by semester. So today I think I will post a "picture" of our current days.

First off, we are kind of late nighters. We stay up til at least 10 watching tv and playing together, sometimes even until midnight. And yes, i am talking about school nights. Bedtimes for kids older than 5 are not our strong point. never have been. Also, we are not terrible rigid. We have a daily schedule to guide us and curriculum to guide us, be we are not slaves to either. And i do not dress like the "homeschool mom" you might see represented in magazines. We do not all wear jumpers or matching dresses. None of us even own jumpers. In America a jumper is a loose dress that you wear a shirt under, not a sweater (known in the UK as a jumper). Clarification.

So this morning I awoke when the sun was up and the birds were chirping. It was light and I heard Clay eating cereal in the kitchen. Once he headed to the shower, I got up, made coffee, and emptied the dishwasher in my momma uniform of yoga pants (more often, running spandex pants-capri length) and a lavender glittered sweatshirt (usually a t-shirt). Barefoot. Then i made coffee cups for everyone, and woke the kids that were still asleep, and started cutting fruit and scrambling eggs for breakfast. It was about 8:20am by then. The dogs had been let out and kids were watching cartoons and drinking coffee. I let the kids know that breakfast was ready and they had until 9am to eat, brush teeth, make beds and straighten rooms and be in the kitchen for devo time. We had morning announcements at 9am in the kitchen, sang, read the bible, discussed application in our lives, drilled on Matthew for our LTC competition (www.ntltc.org) and prayed. Then each kid went to do their schoolwork. The 9th grader went to his laptop and began teaching Textbooks algebra, Apologia biology, Rosetta Stone spanish, and other stuff assigned by Sonlight Core 100 curriculum. The 7th grader went upstairs to work on Life of Fred math, apologia general science, Sonlight history, LLATL language arts, and bible. The 5th, and 3rd graders went to their laptops to work on teaching textbooks math and then do their Sonlight reading before doing Spelling Workout, LLATL and Writing. The 1st grader did LLATL reading with me, then spelling workout with me, then handwriting and Saxon math. As they worked and took breaks as needed, they danced and played and I ran laundry, scheduled a fridge repair, gave the dogs, water, and made lunch of soup and grilled cheese. They are all on lunch break at this time and I am blogging--obviously. In about 20 minutes we will do chores (mid-day cleaning) and the PE time. Hopefully the fridge guy will be her so i can stop living out of coolers! I am going to drain the water from the coolers, shortly, in anticipation!
This afternoon we will complete schoolwork, watch Liberty's Kids dvd's for history, work on LTC art and maybe have some read aloud time or book studies before the older girls get ready for dance classes. I have 3 kids taking dance right now as our outside activity. One will take up dance in the fall after taking this semester off, and we are full with church activities year round, and homeschool fun stuff.
I have NO IDEA what I am making for supper at this time. It will probably be simple and ready before Clay arrives home. While girls are at dance I will get some much needed grocery shopping done. Then I will take the oldest to bible study. When everyone is home around 9pm, we are going to indulge in the final episode of  season 2 of Falling Skies on Amazon Prime. But then we have to get to bed. Friday morning is homeschool co-op registration, and being the director, I must be there early to set up. Afterward we will make our monthly drive to Sam's Club for groceries for a family of 7. The shelves, and freezer, are quite bare.

And then there comes the weekend. At this time we are planning to drop cable, get an antennae for the attic, and subscribe to Netflix. If we get all the pertinent info via mail,  I will also file our tax return. And then we will spend Sunday holding LTC practices. I couldn't care less about the Superbowl, but I know it will likely be on at our house. I will be sewing, I think. I have a great chevron knit dress to make. I also am researching a switch in science curriculum from Apologia to BJU for the 7th grader..... That will ultimately require a trip to Mardel for perusing the choices, and conveniently, also a trip to Buckle, Maurices, and Express to do some jeans shopping for me.

Oh, have no worries. I do plan to get dressed in real clothing before I leave the house this afternoon. I already have a bit of makeup on! But I see no point in dressing for the outside world until I am finished working out and showering. That should happen around 4:30pm...most likely.

So there you have it! This is a day in the life with our 5 homeschooled kids. Well, at least, that is what it is like this spring.....