Payback!

Tonight Jody got me a pink Sony MP3 Walkman at Best Buy. Thank you Sweet Honey!

Dakota loaded me up with music. The MP3 player will hold 4GB.
How will I ever listen to that much music?

So I was sitting here at my computer and had my earbuds in listening to Brad Paisley and Dakota was in here standing around like he was wanting to talk to me or something. I said to him "How does it feel for someone to plug up and ignore you?" ROTFL


I've only had my new toy a few hours and I already LOVE it!

Some of my favorite music on my MP3 player: Ella Enchanted soundtrack, Holes soundtrack, All 3 Shrek soundtracks, Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Dixie Chicks, Jason Aldean, Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert, Rascal Flatts, Rodney Atkins, Toby Keith, The Beach Boys, Allen Jackson, 3 CDs of Tom Jones, Trace Adkins and many more.

Homeschooling

I stopped making any lesson plans for homeschooling years ago. I learned that God's plans were always different from mine. I've never liked the idea of making plans and then not being able to do them. Even when I would make some great lesson plans and be all set for a great week on Sunday evenings I'd often wake up sometime Sunday night with a sick child and end up in the hospital for a week.

Then it got to where I didn't even have to make lesson plans, I could just think we are starting school and something would happen like Dakota getting bit by a snake and even me or Jody ending up in the hospital. I've learned to be very flexible. Over the years I always knew God was in control.

We've never been a homeschool family that's able to school Monday - Friday, 8AM - 12PM or whatever. We school on the weekends while Jody is working or sleeping and have family days during the week while daddy is off. Jody has always worked some type of shift work so we would work our schooling around his shift. You can often find us doing night school starting about 9PM. I've gotten up at 2:30AM before to use the restroom and found Dakota in the school room working on a lapbook.

I didn't make any lesson plans, but I did decide that this week was our best shot of getting a jump on some school work before co-op starts up. So Sunday night we got in the bed at a descent hour thinking we would get some school work done Monday morning while Jody slept after working graveyard. I woke up at 3:30 AM with it raining in my house!

About a week before we had some really strong winds that peeled up some of our metal roof.
This section was right over Dakota's room. Sunday night we had a steady hard down pour that went on for hours. I woke up and heard water, I jumped up and found water pouring from Dakota's doorway. Dakota and I did what we could with towels and pans. The rain went on and on.

It was the middle of the night, the kids and I were wide awake watching it rain. I mentioned that we needed to try to get some sleep because I wanted us to get some school work done on Monday and throughout the week, it would be our only shot before co-op starting. Elijah dared me to do school with him right then at 4:30AM. I didn't really want to, I was pretty upset about the raining in my house, but he dared me. So we did spelling at 4:30AM! Crazy Kid!
When we finished spelling we went to bed.

So needless to say Monday was not a school day for us, it turned into a work day and running back and forth to Lowes. Jody and Dakota got the roof fixed, it took all day. I'm sure Dakota learned a lot from the experience and had a great time with his dad, I heard a lot of laughing and both of them being silly all day, that counts for something.

Monday was not totally shot, Elijah and I did do that spelling in the early AM and I read a FIAR book to him at 9 last night.

A couple of months ago a friend told me her plans were to be more consistent with schooling this year. I laughed and said my plans were to not be consistent because then I wouldn't be let down when it didn't happen. I really don't want schooling to get in the way of our life. I want us to be able to wake up and decide to go fishing or go meet friends at the park.

I don't know what I'm trying to say here, but our hit and miss schooling works for us. In Louisiana we are required to school 180 days. We don't have to turn anything in, but that should be our goal. We pretty much school year round so if we get 15 days a month in, we meet the 180 days. Some months we don't get 15 days in and some months we go over the 15 days so it all evens out.

Don't be discouraged if life happens and your fantasy of schooling Monday - Friday from 8AM - 12PM isn't happening. If you make lesson plans and you have a week of Egypt planned and your little guy is all excited about Indians, go with the Indians. It's okay not to follow those plans.

I heard someone say they had to school Monday - Friday 8 - 12 so that their children would be able to handle college. Think about that for a moment. Do you know anyone in college student that has the same time schedule Monday - Friday? Everyone I know has a schedule that changes every day. Some days they have a 10AM class and some days they have a 2 PM class and then they might have a night class starting at 7PM. Mostly either their Monday, Tuesday and Friday classes are the same or their Tuesday and Wednesday classes are the same.

Most blogs I read talk about their lesson plans and their set schedule of when they do school which is usually Monday - Friday 8AM - 12PM. I'm just trying to be real, that ain't happening here and I do see my children learning and moving forward.
If Monday - Friday 8AM - 12PM works for you, then great, go for it, but there are homeschool families out there struggling trying to copy that and I just want them to know it's okay to be a nontraditional homeschool family.

Very Busy!

We are very busy these days!

I don't know if I have mentioned that our family is very involved in co-op. I know I've mentioned that we love it, but actually our family, I mean Dakota, built the co-op website.
We keep it updated and take care of registration that started August 1 and will end August 15.
It is a big job, but Dakota and I both enjoy doing computer work so it's not so bad.

Each of our co-op locations have Advisory Council members where we divide up the co-op work that has to be done to make our co-ops run so smooth. Thank goodness we all have different talents. I enjoy the computer work and I would not enjoy some of the other jobs. We all make a good team working together for good of co-op.

Over the next few weeks, I may not have time to breathe at all.

The week after registration closes I have 3 Advisory Council meetings in one week.
Then we have a CHA (our homeschool group) Mini Conference, that isn't feeling so mini to me.
It looks like we will have a lot of offer.

I will be doing a lapbooking/notebooking workshop twice that day, a homeschooling with special needs session and a workshop about using games in your homeschool. Some where between now and the 23rd I need to plan those 3 sessions/workshops.

The next week we have two co-op orientation nights and back to school bowling.

Then the very next week co-op starts! The WM co-op starts on the 3rd and the M location starts on the 4th. We are so pumped! Oh somewhere between now and the 3rd I need to plan out the 9 classes I will be teaching in co-op and make copies of pages for students. Jody has his 3 classes planned and ready to go and he enjoys rubbing that in. Dakota has most of his computer class that he is teaching planned also.

I also have to keep up with daily house work, laundry, shopping for groceries, cooking and pay bills. Sometimes I do feel like I am drowning, but then I take a step back and see what needs to be done first and get after it.

What was I thinking we'd start some school before co-op started? When?
Do you think life will slow down after co-op starts? We will have two days of co-op and Elijah will have two days of college. One of those college days will fall on a co-op day.

Sometimes people ask me why we do so much or they just tell me that we shouldn't do so much.
I know they are thinking of Elijah and they mean well, but I'm not one to say we can't do something because of him. I don't want him to grow up thinking he can't do stuff or be active. We do and go as long as he is able. Now at times he does get sick and we have to slow down or even come to a halt for a bit, but we pick back up when things are better. I don't want to raise him to think he can't, I want him to know he can as long as he is able.

Elijah does have good days and bad days and during those days he has good moments and sick moments. Many days he needs to lay on the couch for a little while in the mornings and he'll have times like that throughout the day also. If we are on the go we have pillows in the van and towels, wipes and a trash can that is used often. We also keep extra clothes in the van. That's just life for Elijah, we've had to learn to make the best of it. Elijah will sling his backpack of formula and feeding pump over his shoulder and head out to have fun just like any other child his age.

If you think about it, pray for us over the next 3 weeks as we have meetings and plan workshops and classes. We would really appreciate that.

Science Day

Elijah enjoys having what he calls a "science day." He is always asking for a science day.
Sometimes his timing doesn't fit with what we have going on, but I try to let him explore and experiment when ever I can.

The only rule is, Elijah is to clean it up when he is done! He's been good about that, because he knows me and I wouldn't allow him to have science days if he didn't clean up after himself.

Here are some pictures from a science day he had in May before the hair cut and new glasses.

Dakota and I were lost in Lost so I was glad to set Elijah up so he could have a few hours of experimenting. It's all about his education you know, it had nothing to do with the 3rd season of Lost. I must have snapped pictures on a potty break.

Here he has samples of plants from outside he checked out under the microscope.

I gave Elijah all sorts of things to mix and explore with, baking soda, sugar, flour, salt, coffee grounds, vinegar, water, ginger ale, coke and food coloring.

Playing "Scientist" keeps Elijah busy for hours!

Today Elijah asked if he could have a science day, he wanted to play with these little coke bottles that look like science bottles. He got out the food coloring to make colored water and mixed making new colors.

I have to say I did not realize what shirt Elijah had on until I uploaded these pictures. Too funny! This shirt used to be real big on him and he wore it as a night shirt. Now he plays in it around the house. I promise he does not wear this shirt away from the house.

He said he was making poison potions.

Turtle Eggs!

We had a surprise yesterday morning to find eggs in the box turtle's terrarium. WOW! Didn't expect that. Elijah has had this turtle just over a month.

Elijah was very excited. I told him I didn't think they would hatch, but after googgling, I'm thinking there is a chance. I guess time will tell. Oh it will be a long wait, any where from 50 - 100 days! This kid is going to drive me crazy waiting on that.



This is the turtle who likes to eat legs off the frogs in Elijah's story below.

Guess what we are studying about now?