Homeschooling

These are some photos of Zachary working on his history and grammar. Notice the blanket (cloak) he is wearing. He sits at the kitchen table with the ceiling fan above him and says he gets cold. Maybe he should get dressed for the day before he starts his school work and not just sit there in his pajama pants! :)


The past week and a half of homeschooling has been ok. Zachary has some subjects he likes better than others and he takes much longer to get those done but he has acomplished a ton of work so far. His grade average so far is 90. Great job for the first week of school! So far in the past 8 days he has done work in: Spelling, Reading Comprehension, Science, Math, Comprehensive Curriculum (a book with everything in it), History, Geography and Grammar. He doesn't like to write sentences or stories ...he would rather just say it quickly outloud..but hopefully over the next year we can get him into writing beautiful stories so I can share them with all of you. He does most of his work in the mornings when the girls are asleep and at nap time. He does work when they are up..but it is rather hard to concentrate when they both want to sit on his lap or need his help with something. This is a constant...they love their big brother!!! I am off to help Zachary with some Science work. Another busy day ahead of us. :)

Busy, Busy Busy...

Lately I have been super busy...keeping up with the housework, keeping the kids happy, trying to keep somewhat of a schedule for Zachary's schooling, planning ahead for the next day or so....it is draining! I have been sick as has everyone else in the family. Melody and Peter are the only ones who seem to still have the cough left. They are just about better but still have it hanging on...hopefully it will be gone soon!! I haven't been sleeping well because I have been thinking so much about what else I have to get done. So much to do and so little time.

I make lists for everything. What I need to get done. What I want Peter to do when he is home. What the kids need for school or for craft projects or for anything. I make a list. I have paper strewn all over my desk and you would never know I have a desk top because every single time I clean my desk off it is covered within what seems minutes!! I already have a new list started for today with six different things on it that I need to get done..today..not tomorrow but today. Lets hope the kids behave so I can get it all done. Zachary is already up getting some chores done before the girls are up and I am trying to get some things printed and ready for the day. I planned on posting on this blog every single day for the past week..do you think it ever happened? That is me..the busy homeschooling mom of three. Got to love it!

Pick your nose

For those of you who have frequent parties these would be a huge hit...they are hysterical and would make a great conversation starter! Check them out here and let me know what you think.

I just can't stop laughing at this. Imagine picking up a cup to find out it has a nose on it? Or a guy drinking from a cup with a ladies nose and lipstick on her lips? Ok ..enough of that...just let me know your opinion of my new find. :)

Sleep, oh beautiful sleep...

Last night Kylie fell asleep very early in her high chair. Peter was nice enough to bring her up to bed and she has been there ever since..this is a blessing in disguise. She is usually up till 10:30 or later! The older two, Melody and Zachary went to sleep at 9pm and I decided to go and lay down for a few minutes to rest...I haven't been sleeping much and really needed the break. So I did lay down around 9:30 or so and didn't get up till 5:00am!! Wow...that is amazing to me. It stinks that I did wake up at 5am..but still..I got more than 4 hours of sleep!!! I got 7 1/2 hours of sleep! That is unheard of!! I haven't gotten a full night of sleep in forever!! Plus I actually got to see Peter before he left for work and I can get some stuff done early before the kids are up!!

On another note, Zachary started homeschooling yesterday! I started him with spelling words, 18 of them, then we moved onto reading comprehension in two different books and then finally some math. In the middle of the day we took a trip to Wal-Mart to get some stuff but all in all it was a good day. Zachary wasn't too thrilled that he wasn't allowed to watch TV in the morning but that is too bad. No TV until the school work is done..that is my new rule in the house. We have the dining area all set up for school work. Cork board up, dry erase board, school decorations..just like when I was a kid..lol... and a book case full of curriculum. I also have bins full of folders, paper, binders, craft stuff and you name it set up as well. Today we will be working on Science and History and go from there. I don't really have a full schedule of how we are doing things done yet..I am playing it by ear this first week to get into the swing of things and we will see how that works out. Lets hope that Zachary realizes that the sooner he finishes his work the sooner he can do other things. :) He loves to whine and I JUST CAN'T STAND IT!! I hate whining!! That is our number one rule of the house..but he seems to break it every day. OH well...he is only 11 after all. Other than the whining we had a very good day.

TODAY my sweet Hubby is 34!!

34 years ago today my mother in-law was in the hospital and she had a beautiful baby boy. She and my father in-law named him Peter. Today he is a grown man whom I love dearly and I don't know what I would do without him in my life. Below, enjoy just a few photos of my man, the first as a baby...so cute! Then more recent photos from July and August and the last few from yesterday at his birthday party.

Happy Birthday Hunny! Love you lots! XOXO

Mod Mom giveaway

Go here to check out the Mod Mom giveaway!! Wow..I hope I win!!

La Cucaracha...

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Cha, Cha, Cha...

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Enjoy!

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Laundry...and bathroom wall...

Well..when my in-laws go away we are lucky enough to be able to do our laundry at their house. We did a lot of laundry..hung out the towels to dry on the drying rack and now have a ton of laundry to put away. Lucky me! But hey..at least we didn't have to pay $2.75 a load to wash everything!! That surely adds up with a family of 5! We normally do about 6 - 9 loads of laundry a week on average. But as many of you know..it just never ends..you get it all done and already there is dirty laundry in the basket already. Boy I wish there was a laundry fairy out there to take that dirty laundry while we are sleeping and return it all clean when we wake up. Hmmmm...what an idea.

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On another note..I am soooo tired this morning. I was up until 4am!! Both girls didn't want to sleep last night. But I surely did and never really got the chance. I fell asleep at 4am..woke up at 5ish when Peter got up and went back to sleep till about 10am. Still not enough sleep if you ask me. I did wake up a few times in there too. Then I got up and took my shower since Melody was downstairs with Zachary and Kylie was and still is sleeping. Then the maintenance guy showed up to see about fixing the wall above the shower wall in our bathroom. You see..it is falling apart because we are spraying water on it every time we get in the shower..me being only 5' 4" and then my husband being 6' 4" there gets to be a ton of water up there..so the wall is falling apart and looking pretty nasty. The guy looked at it and was like..hmmm..I guess I should put some waterproof stuff up there..I forget what he called it but we only have drywall there now...how stupid is that? He has never worked with that either so he has to find out how to put it up properly and that should be interesting...he doesn't seem to have all his screws tightened up in his head. So lets hope that when he does finally come back to fix it...that he does it properly. I really don't want the wall falling down on me or the kids while we are in the shower or tub. I can only guess he won't be back for a while though...probably at least a week..he likes to take his time to get anything done around here...so great that we pay for things to be fixed and such around here and nothing gets done...just wish they would stop raising the rent!! Ok..sorry there is my venting for today. Have a good one!

Playing catch up...

Well I am so far behind on keeping my blog updated and I am sorry for that. I really, truly mean to post silly little things that Melody says or Zachary does or Kylie just smiling and being silly..but I always get side tracked with the kids being monkeys!! Those of you who know us and have seen where we live know that our apartment is rather small for a family of FIVE!!! So with all the girls toys throughout the living room and the kitchen getting stuffed with Homeschooling stuff and Tastefully Simple samples and products...I am running out of room in here! Anyone have any suggestions on what to do? I try to organize..I really do...I usually get started or plan on it and never get very far.
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I have started planning our school year and printed up some sheets to start to write up a schedule of the day for Zachary and the girls...kind of for the girls..they are still little after all...but I have to work around them too!! I decided that we will be starting school on August 20th, 2007!! If we only take two days off and the weekend for Thanksgiving and then the week of Christmas and go straight through..we will be done by May 7th! That is if we don't do stuff on the weekend relating to school as well..so we can be done even sooner...say mid April! Can you believe it!!?? Why on earth do they need sooo many days off in public school. I liked it as a kid but also hated it because we always had to play catch up when we started back.
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So here I am ...1:14am and writing this blog entry. I was about to go to sleep and looked up and there it was...my least favorite little creature. A SPIDER!! I just about wanted to die. I can't go to sleep with a spider over my head! I just can't!! You can't make me!! So me..being petrified of spiders..I did what most married women do..I woke up my husband. So he got up eventually...he loves his sleep..and stood up on the bed and squashed the little bugger..literally. Now once I go back upstairs I can sleep like a baby knowing my MAN saved me! He saved me from being afraid to sleep, from having nightmares and just becoming a very crabby woman because of the lack of sleep. The reason I am down here now is because my bloodsugar was low..I figured I would take the chance to write to you all quickly and then drink my strawberry milk and head up to brush my teeth again and get into bed. Seven a.m. will be here before I know it!!

We are headed to the playground tomorrow so hopefully I can post photos of that when I get home. Ta Ta for now!

Fruit Tart

Today I am making a fruit tart...I used this recipe from http://www.kraftfoods.com/ :

Prep Time: 15 min

Total Time: 40 min

Makes: 8 servings, one slice

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1 refrigerated ready-to-use pie crust (1/2 of 15-oz. pkg.)

4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

2 cups sliced plums (about 3 medium)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 Tbsp. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon sugar (3/4 tsp. granulated sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon)
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

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PREHEAT oven to 450ºF. Place pie crust in greased 10-inch pie plate. Carefully spread cream cheese in 6-inch circle in center of crust; set aside.

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TOSS plums with granulated sugar and flour; place over cream cheese. Gently fold edge of crust about 2 inches over plums, leaving center of plums uncovered. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over tart.

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BAKE 25 min. or until crust is golden brown and fruit juices are bubbly. Cool slightly before lifting out of pie plate. Cut into slices; top with whipped topping.

I make it almost how they say...I have made this before with the cream cheese but my hubby prefers it without..which is fine..it taste great no matter what. I just use whatever fruit I have on hand...today it is blueberries, plum and peaches. I have made it with strawberries and blueberries and with peaches only before and they both come out fabulous! This recipe is super, super easy since you use a premade pie crust and just mix up the fruit with some sugar and flour...I also add a little cinnamon to the mix as well. Then you top it with the cinnamon and sugar. I love to make this recipe because of how quick and easy it truly is. I forgot to take pictures as I went but here is what it looks like while cooking:

This one has some steam on the camera lens..lol...it is 450 degrees in there after all.

As you can see..I made two at once..why not..it is so easy just put in a few more pieces of fruit. I used two plums, three peaches and a container of blueberries. I can't wait to have my first piece!! YUM!! I also don't bother with the cool whip or anything like it..I just love it like it is.

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Try it for yourself and be happy!