Sicknesses and more sicknesses

As the title suggests, we have been sick often these past few weeks.  After an eventful weekend a couple of weeks ago (including an art festival, face painting and bowling), Ada came down with a fever.  She had a fever for 3 days, was snotty with a headache for a couple of days and then was fine.  I, on the other hand, came down with this virus two days after her and have yet to completely kick it, two weeks later!  I hate my immune system, but am glad my girls have better immune systems than me.  Maddie and Hazel have been fighting it.  A little snotty in the mornings and complaining of headaches randomly, but overall fine.  So, last week we had 3 sick days, three sick days!  This week are are back to "normal" but have been dealing with crankiness when it comes to math as our work is getting harder.  So, I haven't been pushing it and they are slowly coming around, with one worksheet a day, each with four problems.  No stress, they will get it eventually. 

Soccer practices for Ada are winding down, thankfully.  She is still quitting when she feels done and is still throwing fits. I'm thinking next spring she might not be in soccer again.  In three weeks we start tumbling, so we will see if that is better or if it will be back to dance next year.  Maddie, on the other hand, is telling John he needs to be her coach in the spring for soccer.  I have started planning a daisy troop (girl scouts) with two other women that we are starting to get going.  It will be fun.  Ada and I are planning on heading to a half day girl scout activity at ISU Saturday.

The main events for the next couple of days in regards to me and the girls will be a nature walk planned for tomorrow (after a play and before grocery shopping) and then seeing the Laurie Berkner Band on Sunday.  The girls first concert and it will be exciting!  John and I even like the Laurie Berkner Band.

The other, family type, excitement has been the birth of my first niece!  My brother and his wife had Olivia Ruth Ann yesterday morning, and I must say, she is the 4th cutest little baby in the world!

Now, back to work :-)

Oh my goodness, busy busy...

We are now officially on our 4th week of homeschooling.  There are good days and bad days.  For instance, yesterday was awful for Ada.  She is just like me, poor girl, and gets so upset when she can't do something perfect or "right" in her estimation the first time.  Currently, the big issue is writing letters and numbers.  I praise her trying and her outcomes which generally look pretty good, or gently correct those that are backwards or a little off, but bad moods prevail.  Can you imagine a K teacher having to deal with her tantrums which I am used to dealing with?  I can't and would pity the poor women.  The pros for Ada over the past few weeks is that she is slowly learning to read (and spell), which is wonderful and exciting and I hope she continues our Reading Eggs program over the next year consistently (again yesterday was a bad day) so she continues to improve in the one area I was nervous about teaching.  Maddie is slowing working on phonics too but is always amazing me with her ability so far to keep up with us in math.  The inability to write numbers were frustrating Maddie today where things were clicking in that department with Ada.

The big excitements over the past few weeks have been my brother's marriage in Iowa City, going to homeschool day at Living History Farms, going to the science center, soccer practice and games for Ada (which has been good and bad due to her want to throw the other kids around), going to my new sister-in-law's baby shower (so excited for a little niece in a few weeks), going to Center Grove Orchard, new haircuts for Ada and Maddie and getting a new puppy (Abbie) a few days ago.  And, since my laptop is broken and I am posting this from the desktop I will close with pictures!

 This is Abbie the day we got her

 Ada covered in dust from "art class" outside

 Ada helping the blacksmith at Living History Farms

 Ada sliding down big slide at Center Grove Orchard

 Ada jumping on the Jumping Pillow at Center Grove Orchard

 Ada's first soccer game

 Ada on her first day of K

 John helping Ada wrap up an egg for the egg drop at the Science Center

 The girls learning how to wash clothes at Living History Farms

 The girls helping me peel tomatoes for canning, Ada thought it was gross

 Maddie and Hazel with a calf at Living History Farms

 Maddie, Ada and Hazel waiting for the tractor ride at Living History Farms

 Maddie and Ada hiking at the Ledges

 Hazel crossing a stream at the Ledges

 Hazel and Maddie on the first day of school

 Hazel loved the pin board at the Science Center

 Hazel watching her egg go up to drop at the Science Center

 Hazel and Maddie doing Reading Eggs

 Maddie bending metal at Living History Farms

 Maddie playing outside

 Maddie Rocking her new haircut

The girls at the Science Center

First week officially down, many more weeks to go :-)

Well, our first week is officially done and we are sort of starting on our second week.  The girls have been excited to do their work every day and are often begging me to find some more for them to do in the afternoon, we'll see how long that continues.  Right now we are only doing official school in the morning for 2-3 hours but, if they want more to do and I could get my work schedule more evened out we might extend it.  I don't want them to burn out so we'll see.

Highlights from this week:

• Ada and Maddie (who I am surprised is with us) have completed the first 2 weeks of our Math U See Primer Program.  I know they will slow down some as the information gets harder and Ada might be ahead of Maddie before Christmas, but right now I am happy.  I am also happy that I bought the next year, Alpha, used from an online used homeschool forum before this school year started, I might be using it for one or both of them
• Coloring and writing things every day.  The girls seem to enjoy some of the little observation and tracing worksheets
• The girls enjoying all the reading, as that is a lot of what Sonlight is, though I knew they would enjoy it
• So far not being too annoyed at Hazel wanting to do "school" with us but mostly taking her sisters stuff away when they are trying to work
• The girls love Muzzy!  I don't think they are learning any real french lately, but they are enjoying it and we can start more serious second language training in future years

Some other things that we have learned is that Maddie definitally does not have the fine motor skills to truly work on writing, and Ada is lacking in that catagory also.  We will work on tracing and such and random coloring.  This will also mean me modifying a lot of our "curriculum" for reading for Ada (and Maddie, as far as she stays with us on it), but since I'm the teacher I can do what they need and that is what this is all about!

This morning we also had a great time going to the science center since Daddy is home!  All three kids had a blast and could have stayed there longer but Hazel was starting to melt down with soap from the bubble areas in her eyes and I needed to get other things done.  We have a membership so we might make that a monthly (?) thing this winter once we need more inside stuff to do.  I just wish you didn't have to pay for parking downtown, as that will get very old if we keep the membership past this year.  Ada also demonstrated herself as maybe a budding sculpter.  They had one of those things where you can push "pins" through to make designs like your hand, except the pins were plastic and it was large.  The girls loved it and it almost makes me what to figure out how to build one for our basement.  Ada was making some interesting designs with it.  The last one she did, thinking of this on her own, was she pushed in a profile or her face and upper body then turned and pushed in the opposite facing profile.  It looked just like two people kissing and holding hands.  Very inventive!

Now, to plan for the rest of this week, which will include two more field trips so not a ton of book learning, but a lot of fun!

Side note, John and I had fun at the football game this past weekend but I must say it made us nervous for watching the game next weekend!

First Day of School!

Today was our first day of school, well, officially.  I did not get up early like I should have but the rest of the morning was good!  I came up with a schedule of sorts last night and so far it seems to be working.  I know kids have sort attention spans so we did a lot of switching it up.  Going between reading some to coloring to reading to flashcards and more writing or coloring.  The kids of course were also asking for reading eggs on the computer, which they ended their homeschool morning with.  This whole thing might work out :-)  There were a couple of meltdowns of course but overall it was good.  We also made homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast and that is always a hit!

This past weekend wasn't that exciting, but Friday night was good.  Friday night we went to a picnic for the Boone homeschool group we are going to join.  We met and talked to some people and the kids had a nice time running around with other kids.  I think it will be a good community :-)

Crunch Time

This week has, yet again, been busy busy busy.  A number of different doctors, dentists and physical therapy appointments have turned my weekend into a work and lessonplan-a-thon (at least it better be, with all I have to do).  The big news this week can almost be looked at as a lack of news, or lack of improvement.  After three physical therapy appointments last week and two this week, Ada's arm is not getting any better.  Her surgeon, who we saw on Wednesday afternoon, said that all other movements are just what they would want to see and have full function, except for bending it.  She can at most do about 110 degrees.  In everyday life that is not that big of a deal, except that she is having to try to find a new way to put on, and take off, her shirts.  Where it might come into play is with some exercises or sports she may want to do.  I can't see her ever being a compentitive swim person now, though I'm not sure she would want to be.  Softball and gymnastics may also be out.  If she did want to do these sports then we would find a way around it but she probably wouldn't go pro.  The big impact is solidifying for another reason why I am glad we are going to homeschool.  I can just see a public school PE teacher yelling at her or tell her she is not trying hard enough, or ever punishing her (God forbid) for not being able to do pull-ups or push-ups with her left arm.  Even if we had a note in to the teacher or a signed doctor note I can see it, at sometime, being an issue and an embarrasment for her.  But, we will never have to worry about it and that makes me very, very happy.

Speaking of homeschooling, a question might be asked if I have done any of my planning for next week yet.  The answer would be.....not really.  That is on my large to-do list this weekend.  Along with 14 hours of grading work (including what needs to get done today), making and canning applesauce, cleaning the basement and house in general and trying to find the motivation to do all of the above.  Fnding the motivation won't honestly be hard or homeschool planning for next week (as I am only going to do a personal plan a week or so at a time, the overall outline for the year is done by our curriculum). I love planning, really I do, though that might make me odd.  It is a switch to plan for different kids (well, sort of plan differently, it is yet to be seen how much different Maddie and Ada will need the plans to be overall) and to plan at a PK and K level compared to high school.  All these different subjects as well, it will be interesting.  But, I am very excited for Monday, as are the kids. I even had John move some furniture around last night to get a comfy reading chair in the homeschool room.  Now, if only I could start getting up to work or work out when my alarm goes off I would be all set :-)

A new puppy picked out and canning...

As the summer winds down it just keeps getting busier around here.  Yet again, I have found things to do besides my work.  But, oh well, there is always tomorrow to catch up :-)

Since we promised the kids a puppy after having to take Chief back (see previous post), I have been keeping my eyes open.  John was immediately thinking next spring, but as he says, once I get something into my head I can't rest until it's done.  So, I've been looking at petfinders.org, craigslist and breeders sites.  Breeders always seem to expensive, and knowing we need a puppy the shelters aren't being much help with a dog we know will be a large breed.  Then Wednesday I saw an ad for German Shepard puppies.  I contacted the person and their price was so reasonable since it was a mistake litter, and it included the first shots (something I haven't seen much of on craigslist) that we decided to do it.  The girls and I went to pick out our puppy on Friday, though she won't be coming home until she is 7 weeks old in the middle of September.  I am glad we went yesterday as the puppies were going like crazy and we had a few puppies to pick from.  John and I wanted a darker puppy and the girls wanted a girl, so that left one.  We have named her Abbie and the current home is already sending me update emails and pictures, which I love. Abbie has her own baby picture file on my computer already.

Another new and fun thing for the past 2 days is my first experience canning.  I bought 45 lbs of tomatoes from a farm in our CSA group on Tuesday, though by Friday I had to throw about about 10-12 lbs due to moldy tomatoes.  I still ended up canning 11.5 quarts between last night and this afternoon.  The whole canning thing is making me a bit nervous and I hope all the seals are obviously fine by tomorrow once they have cooled down.  But, I quickly learned my new pressure cooker with John's help and really like using it!  This morning the girls and I hit up the farmer's market and a local orchard and bought a lot of apples.  Tomorrow I am thinking of making and canning some applesauce, but we'll see if that happens tomorrow or later this week.  Apple butter or pie apples is another option that I haven't ever made before that I might try to can.  Perhaps I have gone canning crazy?  Oh well.

Tonight we had a fun night at a party for one of our friends as he turned 30. Tomorrow I think John needs to work on the garage and we need to clean and I need to do some (or a great lot, maybe 8 hours if I can) of grading.  But, I also know I have a week to get my first week's of general lesson plans done for our school year to start, and that picking away at my mind might make work impossible until I get those done.  But, we'll see :-)  One more busy week of doctor's appointments, dentist appointments, Ada's physical therapy and other odds and ends and then we officially start homeschooling.  I am nervous but looking forward to the adventure that will start next Monday and last the next 14-15 years.

And the "new dog" is gone, not such a wonderful start to the week.

The new dog, Chief, lasted all about 3 days in our house.  He was a sweet-heart and I have now been sold on Newfoundlands, however him and Lola did not get along.  Maybe it was because he was an unneutered male, or maybe it was just him, but everytime any of the girls or I were near Lola or showing her the least bit of attention he would attack.  And by attack I do mean biting and pinning her to the ground until I could pull her off screaming.  The girls even got caught in the middle a few times.  So, after this happened for the 6th or 7th (or 10th, I lost count) time during dinner Saturday night we took him back.  Ada and Maddie were besides themselves with crying and screaming that they loved him, but we just couldn't have Lola going through that.  The girls of course did not understand completely, and even the promise of a puppy would not sooth them.  When we went to the new Orange Leaf in town they calmed down a bit, but were still sad.  However, when everyone woke up Sunday morning they seemed fine, so noone is the worse for the wear, except for maybe poor Lola who is still yelping when we pet the bite marks on the back of her neck.

Today has been pretty laid back.  I still have not been able to get myself out of bed to do work or work out before the kids wake up, but we have started to read again after breakfast.  I really need to get myself and the girls on a better schedule that will lend itself to our homeschooling officially beginning in 2 weeks (yicks!).  This morning wasn't too bad, however.  The girls and I did some chores before breakfast, then read some and then the older two played their new learning game online.  I bought a subscription to Reading Eggs for both Maddie and Ada through the deal they currently having going with Homeschool Co-Op and so far the girls love it!  Of course they are only a couple of lessons in, but even if it doesn't truly work to teach them how to read it will be a fun game and a nice "between lessons" activity for one of the girls while the other is working on something with me one-on-one.

This afternoon I have been cranky though, with no children napping (and my capacity for ignoring the running around over my head not being the best today) and my own lack of being able to do work this afternoon, I am not the best one to deal with right now.  Of course that didn't keep me from doing something to try to better my mood this afternoon, besides working.  I saw yesterday that hip homeschool moms asked about blogs on a status update on facebook yesterday, so I went in and looked at the links this afternoon.  And I added a ton of blogs to my already long blogs list to the right.  That's okay though.  Always looking for new ideas and to see how other people are doing, especially since we don't have any friends who homeschool (well, I do have one, but she lives 2.5 hours away).

Maybe tomorrow will be better for moods and schedules.  Though that might not happen since I have to have two cavaties fixed tomorrow.  Yuck, I hate the dentist!  I wish my mouth wasn't so stupid with cavaties and such.  I take fairly good care of my teeth and my mouth, it just doesn't like me :-(  So, maybe Wednesday will be a better day?  Here's to hoping!