OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

WOW!!! Where has the time gone?  I promise for an update in posts!  After the last post I wrote I did three wedding cakes, wrapped up homeschool for the year, went to Utah, Memorial Day camping, trip to McCall, Id, and have been PREGNANT!!!  I am sure there is more that went on, but I can't remember everything.  I blame it on the pregnancy.  I pretty much blame everything on pregnancy right now! :)  After I update on things of the past, I am going to start blogging again on all things homeschool.  It has been a wonderful break, but I can't wait to get started again!  Now bring on the posts!!!!

What we use for homeschool

So many people have asked me what we use for homeschool.  Right now we use K 12.  The curriculum is awesome.  My favorite is math.  It is really well laid out and is not trying to reinvent the wheel like so many public schools are trying to do.  Another favorite is that the lesson plan is all laid out for you each and every day.  I simply DO NOT have the time to come up with  a lesson plan for every day.  Nor do I want to spend my entire day doing school, and I don't.  As for extra art projects that we do I usually come up with that on my own.  This is where Google comes in handy.  I will just type in what we are studying in language arts and add art project at the end of the search and come up with ideas that way.  

K12 can be expensive, but there are many states that offer it via virtual academy's for FREE.  We live in Washington State so the virtual academy that we are in is called WAVA.  I highly recommend starting out this way because you are given a teacher that can help you with questions you have and helps you stay on track.  But now that I know how it works and have got a system down I am considering getting out of the virtual academy.  Helpful as it is there are some things that are a little annoying.  We are very far ahead in the material, like a year and a half ahead, and if we miss a day or two of the curriculum they get pretty "huffy" about it.  And there are weekly contacts that the student has to have with the teacher and then once a month conferences that, at least for me, is just one extra thing to think about.  If your kids are older than it's not that big of a deal, because they do that all on their own.  But for younger kids the parent is the one doing it all.  

Overall, it's an awesome resource for homeschool, especially if you don't know how to get started.  It gets you pointed in the right direction and then depending on how you feel you can go from there.  

Hope that helps and if you have any more questions feel free to ask!

Who to blame?

My kids have been pretty good regarding scissors.  They have never cut their hair or the hair of a sibling . . . yet (knock on wood), but this last week I discovered something.  I have a docking station for our camera sitting on my desk.  This docking system is the only way to upload pictures to my computer.  Well, wanting to update my blog I went to put my camera on the dock.  I plugged it in and pushed the button and nothing happened.  I checked the power supply again and everything looked like it should be a go.  So I proceed to start pulling everything apart to figure out the source of the problem and guess what?  I found it!!  One of the kids, still don't know which one, cut the usb cord connecting the docking station to the computer.  I would have a picture for you of the damage, but no can do.  Still can't load pictures!!!  What's a blogging  girl to do?  It was a sad, sad day.  Even writing this brings a small tear to my eye.  

My New Fav!

I just found this shampoo and conditioner and I LOVE IT!!!!  A long time ago I was told by a hair dresser that I should avoid any shampoo that contains sulfates.  But it seemed to me that finding a shampoo like that was impossible.  Then a couple of years ago I found one, but it was around $25 a bottle.  If you're like me, I just can't justify spending that much on shampoo even if it is sulfate free.  Well lately my hair has been horrible.  I don't what the deal was, but I went through like four different shampoos with no result.  And then  . . . out of the blue I found this.  Ever Pure by Loreal.  It is amazing.  The sulfates in shampoos are what make those suds that we all love. But even without the sulfates, this does the job with even a small amount.  Did I say it is amazing yet?  And the conditioner is equally awesome.  It is not as cheap as the $2.50 bottle of suave or treseme, but it is around $5 and is so worth the extra cost.  Again, I am completely in love!

For lack of a better post . . .

So I really have a lot that I could blog about right now, including pictures, but it is 11:00 and I am tired.  This concern came to my mind and it has to do with home schooling.  I know that I just posted about home school so forgive me for the repetitive topic.  Today I came to the conclusion that although our Emma is only 3 I need to be better at overseeing her education.  I cater so much to Hailey and her schooling that our poor middle child gets the left overs.  Hailey has taken off like a rocket with her reading and I can't believe how well she is doing with her math.  Because math takes more time for her, Emma is right there to make sure that Hailey stays focused and tries to help the best that she can.  Well, with her being there to help, much of the math has been soaked up like a sponge by Emma.  She can add 3+3, 5+5, or 4+4, but ask her to identify letters and that is a different story.  Hence my concern.  This is a very bright little girl and I need to be tapping into this NOW!!!  I know I have raved about home schooling and I still do, but I never said I was perfect.  I am so glad I am starting now so that I can figure these things out in the early stages.  But it is definitely a learning experience for all of us.  Emma is constantly asking to do school and I know I should drop what I am doing to help her, but I find myself putting off.  I keep telling myself "she is only 3", when I need to be telling myself, "so what if she is only 3".  One reason I liked the idea of home schooling at the beginning of all of this was the idea that my kids wouldn't be limited by their age to progress in school.  Emma's birthday falls shortly after the school year starts and I didn't want her to have to wait another full year to start her education.  And now I find myself holding her back.  I need to find a schedule that fits her in better.  A better system.  I have what works for Hailey and myself down really well, but I need to focus on Emma as well.  If anyone has suggestions for this I am completely open.  I went to an organization class for enrichment last week and I find myself obsessed with organizing my home, when what I need to be obsessed with is organizing my time better.  As long as I don't have to get up to early!  :)  Wow!  Long post for being so late!  Again, forgive me for my rant and for those that think I have the whole home school thing down, this post proves you wrong.  I am constantly trying new ways to make it better and am always looking for suggestions.  So suggest away . . . 

On To The Next . . .

I have to admit, for some reason I am nervous to write about this.  I don't even know why, but for some reason or another the butterflies are flying in my stomach.  I think maybe some of my nervousness stems from what people might have to say about what I am going to talk about.   But I also have felt impressed for the last couple of weeks to write about this.  This has been a controversial topic from the get go, but I feel like I need to share how this last year has been.  Actually the school year isn't really over yet, but we have actually finished our first year of curriculum.  Our materials for the next grade level are all ready in the mail, so if you were wondering if we are going to continue to homeschool, the answer is DEFINITELY YES!!!!!  I can't begin to express how totally and completely our family has been blessed by this decision.  I as a mom and teacher have been blessed with more patience.  I think this has been the biggest thing.  Now don't think that I have become "Ms. Patience", there have been some not-so-good moments, but overall there has been a huge difference, for me and for Hailey.  We are learning together and for that our relationship is growing stronger.  That kind of leads into another blessing that has come from this.  I truly feel that our family will ultimately be stronger, I hope, for doing this.  While other children are separated from their families for eight hours for school, plus homework, plus extra curricular activites, we are fortunate to be able to spend that time together as a family.  I didn't even realize going into homeschool that this was a concern.  But after seeing how close my kids are with each other because they get to spend so much time together, I have become increasingly grateful.   Now I know you are thinking it's important for them to get other social contacts, and I totally agree.  This is why they have friends that come over and play, are involved with church activities, and are going to be enrolled in dance class.  We are also involved with a homeschool group in our area that gets together for various field trip activities.  I am in no way concerned about their social "capabilities".   I now feel that you are either social awkward or not.  How many of us went to public school and there were just weird kids?  You know who I am talking about.  So I don't even think of social aspects of homeschool a concern anymore.  I also feel blessed by the experiences we are getting to share together as a family.  At the beginning of the year so many people expressed their concern that my kids weren't going to get certain experiences that you would get in public school, and that is true.  But I think the experiences that we are having together are so much better!!  My kids will have memories that lots of other kids WON'T have.  The science experiments on the kitchen counters, the cool art projects, the fact that their mom taught them how to read, and the excitement that we shared together as a family when one of them had a light bulb go on for a certain math concept.  These are priceless to me now.  I don't think I could give them up.  Nor could my kids.  

I hope that through this I can inspire mom's to know that it is possible.  My most frustrating thing I have experienced this first year is mom's telling me that they could never do it.  If I can do it, anyone can do it!  I don't come up with my own curriculum.  I get it through an online program.  Everything is laid out for me each day, which is what makes it possible for me.  I am very busy with my calling at church, teaching piano lessons, making cakes, the list goes on.  But homeschool works.  My five year old is starting to read first grade chapter books, she can add and subtract two digit numbers.  She loves art projects and science experiments.   What more could I ask for?  I again am so glad for this experience and hope that circumstances continue to allow us to do this.  Again, I know that not only are my kids getting a better education, but we are growing closer as a family.  This is so important to me right now.  The family is so important right now, more than ever!  I hope that we can continue to grow closer and that my kids will not only have friends outside of the home, but will find best friends in each other. 

Disclaimer:  I felt so strongly about writing this that the only time I could find to do this was at 12:30 a.m.  So if you find spelling or other errors in the above post that's why!

The Reason For My Absence

I know I am just making excuses, but I seriously have not had any time to blog.  I am currently in the middle of two wedding cake designs, making cupcakes for a primary activity, planning a baby shower, teaching piano lessons, making wedding bouquets (these are for a completely different wedding, not involving the two above mentioned wedding cakes),  planning a sharing time for primary,  and trying to finish up teaching Hailey's first grade math by March 15th so we can get next years curriculum.  I am in no way complaining about how busy I am, because in all honesty I love it!  But just explaining the reason why I have not blogged.  But I do need to catch up.  I have promised several people I would post my wheat bread recipe as well as a new recipe.  I just came up with a lime chicken and green chile chutney served with sweet rice and let me just say it's awesome.  So hopefully nothing else will pop up and I will get to post those soon.