And The Power Goes Out

Go figure! I sit here and type and type and have links open on my computer to share. And poof - they're all gone. Just like that! Good thing that blogger now saves our work automatically. Not that it really helped me this time, because I had no links typed up when the power went out. Like I said, I only had the links open on my computer and I was all set to copy and paste and share them with you. I reckon that will be for another day. Yeah - the day I remember all the darn web pages that I had open.

Friday school work drug out because of JD. You knew it already - didn't you? I have to admit that he is certainly going to be my challenge. Hey - we all have to have our challenges every now and then.

Today has been a very long day for me, so I am heading off to dream land. My next post will be about "The Kitty That Found Us".

Is This Where I Live

Is this where I live? I had to ask myself that question today between 4pm and 5pm. The house was so incredibly quiet that I thought that I may have come home to the wrong house. Have you ever felt that way? I think this is a first time for me.

After our wonderful Home School meeting today, we all cleaned the car out and once we got inside, we put everything away. How cool is that?! Once that was done, I sat down to read a few emails and I started supper too. The phone rings and someone knocks on the door. Yes - all at the same time. That said to me - Welcome Home! It took me less than 5 minutes to answer the phone and the door - all at the same time. The knock on the door was one of the boys friends wanting to know if they could go over and swim. OH YES! Of course they can. The phone call was Superman saying that he had one more delivery and he was less than 2 miles from the house and he wanted MJ to ride with him. What a joy that was for MJ.

Now no one is home but me. Ok - me and 3 cats, 3 dogs and 3 horses. And the critters are so quiet. It was all I could do to keep from sneaking into my dark and cold bedroom for a quick nap. I resisted! I finished supper, WW and JD came home and started studying for their Science test. Superman and MJ were walking in the door about the time all of that was happening and the quietness was over. What a pleasant and relaxing hour that was. And I add - very much needed.

Today on the way to our Home School group meeting I was busy thinking of ways to make the ride a learning thing for the boys. So I started asking what the road sign that we just past had said. The boys had no clue. Then I started giving points and they were interested really quick. Talk about competition! Then I had to get more creative. Now was this a learning trip for me or was it for the boys? Ok - both! Now I try to make it real interesting. We start looking for road signs with US Highways on them. Oh yeah! US 27 and US 41 and on and on... They loved it. JD saw a solar panel and ask me what was it and then he ask what was it for. Without me really researching that particular solar panel, I couldn't give him a 100% answer. My answer was that it could be used to power the lights for the train engineer. Then they all ask about lights for the train engineer. Which lead to the question of what is in the cars on the train.

There was coal in the cars on the train. We talked about how coal is used to make power for us to use everyday. I am always telling the boys to please don't use the lights in the house during the day. Please open your curtains or your blinds for natural light. They just could grasp the concept of why I don't want the lights on during the day. Well today was an eye opening experience for them. The conversation about the coal lead to the miners that were trapped in the coal mine. I had to explain what miners are and what they do. Our boys had no idea that there were men and women that actually worked underground so that when we turn on the light switch we can have power and make the light work. WW said to me "Mom, why didn't you tell us about the miners? Now I understand and I will try harder to help the miners." What a wonderful think for WW to say.

Explain things to your children. Don't just assume that they will understand. Everything that you tell your children is not because you say so.

Hump Day

We all made it to Hump Day! What a relief.

I have got to get out of the house more though. I am spending way to much time inside and our yard is really suffering from it. I need to pick up a few things and tidy the whole yard up. It really isn't too bad, but it isn't nice and neat like I prefer it to be. Since Rocko came to live with us, he has taken to laying in two places. Of course those places are right up against the skirting on the house. Right now it is just pushed in just a little but if I keep on putting off working on it, then it could get pretty ugly. I like to keep up with things like that so they don't get to far out of hand. It is one of the easiest things to fix too.

Speaking of getting out of hand. Yesterday I had the horses grazing on the yard. I hear a really weird noise in the den. I walk into the den and I can tell that the noise is coming from the window. I open the curtain and what do I see...Shadow looking back at me. Shadow is one of our horses. She has the screen from the window in her mouth. No joke! She pulls on the screen and it comes out of the window, then she drops it. Once she drops the screen, she starts licking on the window. What's up with that? She is just being her silly little (1500 pound little) self. And now I have a screen to fix. But this is just one of the things that happens around here from time to time.

School wasn't bad today. JD did have a small issue with a sassy mouth, but I just don't put up with it anymore. I just tell him in a very calm voice to go to his room. When he is ready to do school work and put his mind on the task at hand, then he can come back to the classroom. Today was just one of those days that he needed sleep. He gets that way from time to time. He went to his room and slept for over 2 hours. He knows that he cannot come out of his room without my permission, so after his nap he opened his door and called me. I didn't jump up right then, I waited a minute or 2 and then I went into his room and ask if he needed to go to the bathroom or get something to drink. He wanted a drink and then he ask if he could do his school work. He started on his school work and there were no problems at all the rest of the day. I really think that he is having some sleep issues and at some point they are just catching up with him. Superman and I are paying attention and we are trying to put things together and figure out ways that we can help him.

Tomorrow is our weekly field trip with our home school group. The boys look forward to it every Thursday. I have a few more emails to read and then I am off to bed. I refuse to stay up to late tonight.

Have a great evening!

Behavior at our House

Behavior can be such an issue at our house. It ranges from the behavior of a Saint to the Devil himself. Not only with the kids but with our critters too. If you have read some of my other ramblings, you would know exactly what I am referring to. For example: Biscuit (our black cat) walks around the house picking on Mindy (our Schnauzer). Biscuit will even chase Mindy. Really, she does. JD, he can be the sweetest little guy, but there are times when (I believe) that his head spins around.

Today JD just happened to be a Saint. We even had a couple of interruptions during class today. Yesterday I was certainly hoping for the best. I wasn't let down. I know that I will have to deal with the Devil himself, but not today in class. I am breathing a sigh of relief because I have been blessed with a nice day. Even on the bad days, I know that I am blessed, but sometimes it is just hard to see the blessings.

Today I tried something a little different. In the morning I did class with WW and JD. MJ and I worked together on his books in the afternoon. I know it makes for a long day but it really worked. Well, today it worked. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

I am really enjoying the Lifepac. At this point we haven't bought the Bible curriculum, but I will buy it. The Language Arts, Math, History and Geography and the Science curriculum have enough reference to the Bible that makes it really interesting. The boys keep telling me that we need to get the Bible curriculum. Superman wants us all to do the Bible curriculum together. I think this would be a wonderful thing for us to do as a family.

Right now WW and JD are playing outside in the pool. They are sword fighting. I look out the window and see their faces smiling and their teeth shining from laughing. A second look and I see CoCo standing by the pool watching the boys play. What a glorious sight! Sitting beside me is MJ reading from his Science book. He has some trouble reading some of the words but I have to give him credit, because he sure does try really hard.

I keep thinking about a reward system, but the more I think about it the more I get confused. Well, not really confused but...it's hard to put into just one word. I remember my parents had a reward system - it went something like this. Behave and you won't get a spanking. Behave and you won't get restriction. I bet some of you remember your parents reward system. I know I certainly do! Nowadays all of the child experts (whoever they are) tell us that our children need rewards. A hug isn't good enough. In today's society we are supposed to take them somewhere and spend money on them. Buy them a toy, an ice cream or some other thing that says you did a good job. Manners are behavior. If you scream in class, you have bad manners. If you sneeze all over the table while eating supper, you have bad manners. Bad manners = bad behavior. Good manners = good behavior. It's pretty darn simple to me. But I know, I have to have a little compassion and a little empathy. Give me a little credit, at least I am trying! LOL

Home School on the Road

Today we had to take a trip to Valdosta Georgia. Granny Karen had a doctors appointment and I thought that we would make it a learning experience. In the back seat of the car sat Granny Karen, WW and JD. In the front seat of the car was Granny (my mom), MJ and myself. I always get the honor of driving when Superman isn't with us. But I don't mind. I mean really, here are the choices for drivers - MJ age 9, JD age 12, WW age 13, Granny age 72, Granny Karen age ? (late 50's - early 60's) and of course me age 46. And besides I am the one that has more driving hours than anyone else, since I used to drive for a living. And just who would you want to drive? LOL

In the front seat, Granny helped MJ with his sight words. In the back seat, Granny Karen certainly did keep WW and JD occupied with their sight words, sight phrases and their sight nouns. Not only did she keep them busy with all those words and such, they had to find things in the atlas. And I really lost track of how many things she did with them to keep them busy. How creative this lady is.

On the trip home, I let the boys off from their work. I did have them read road signs to help me in finding the right roads and in telling me which way to turn. Honestly, I knew the way home and all the roads, but it made them feel really important. The best part was when they had to read the signs to find us a place to eat. We were in search of a Cracker Barrel.

"MOM, CRACKER BARREL, NEXT EXIT!" I saw the sign before they did but I kept my mouth shut. Yes, the billboard announced that the Cracker Barrel was at the next exit and then left. The boys missed the "left" part. I ask "Ok, I got at the next exit part, but which way do I turn then?". They didn't know. They just so darn excited that the Cracker Barrel was at the next exit and they were, as usual, STARVING.

That's when traffic came to a stop because of construction. LOL Just my luck! 15 minutes, 2 miles later, our exit was in sight. Off the Interstate and now which way to turn. They did it! They read the signs and found out which way to turn. I took them through a couple of parking lots before we pulled in the our destination. The whole time they were telling me that I missed it, I took the wrong turn and that I needed to turn around. It was hilarious. Of course I took them through the extra parking lots to get them to read and give verbal direction and to express themselves. Really, just what's the fun in just driving and getting it done. I had time, why not.

Full bellies and South Bound. We pulled into our drive way and off the boys ran to play. Off I ran to the barn to help Superman (who just got home) feed the horses.

I enjoy days like today. The boys had a wonderful time too. Now tomorrow, we will be back in the classroom with our heads in the books. I just have to wonder what kind of a day that will be. I'll just hope for the best!

Empty Bottles

Last night I thought that I would spend some relaxing time in a hot bath. I walk into the bathroom to start the water and Captain (as usual) thinks the running water is for her drinking pleasure. Much to her surprise, her tail ended up soaked and the cat hair flew as she took wing and hovered above the water for a brief second before finally finding her wings and flying across the bathroom. Well that's what it looked like in the blink of an eye. Cats sure can move fast!

With the bath water all steaming and ready for me, I eased down in the water and instantly could feel my skin start to cook. Ok - a little to hot! It's too late to back out now. I lean against the back of the tub and try to relax. I see empty bottles (now why didn't I close my eyes). The empty bottles are shampoo bottles, liquid soap bottles and heavens knows what else. I just looked at them and wondered how did they all come to live beside the tub. Oh, now I remember! (That comes directly from one of the boys sayings.) I buy the large bottles, because it saves money, and I refill all the bottles around the house. Once the bottles are low enough, I turn them upside down and put them by my tub in order to use them and not waste a single drop. I even put a little water inside them when they are completely empty, just to make sure that not even one teeny tiny drop is wasted. I managed to empty the shampoo bottle, the soap bottle and the conditioner bottle last night. Now around my tub looks all nice and neat again, no skeletons standing around upside down waiting for their brains to spill out.

So far today I have managed to get a little cleaning done (Karisma, this is all your fault). I hate housework! I really do. There is no doubt that I had rather move horse manure all day as to spend 1 single hour cleaning house. I always keep the house fairly tidy, because we all pick up behind ourselves. I can promise you that if I find a pair of socks laying around, I will attach them to the floor with a nail and a hammer. Well not really, but the boys think I will. I have them convinced and that is what's important. During the day we are all individually responsible for our dishes. You mess it up you wash, dry and put it away. After supper we all pitch in and do the dishes. Laundry, well I wash everyone dirty underwear. Isn't that a lovely chore? I know I do it because there is a certain way that I want it done. What can be so darn difficult about doing laundry? Nothing, absolutely nothing. It's just something I do. Ok - the boys help out a little. They fold their own clothes and put them away.

Since I have dial up and it's slower than molasses in January, I am able to do a few of these things, while I was waiting for a few (dozen) windows to open on my computer. Here are a few sites that I found that I will be saving in my favorites folder, for later use. DIY Ideas, Garden Ideas, Kitchen and Bath Ideas. I think these sites may be what put me in the cleaning mode and not Karisma. Ok Missy - I'm sorry to blame it on you!

Total Lunar Eclipse

You might want to know that there will be a Total Lunar Eclipse - on the 27th of this month. I wouldn't have known about it if it hadn't been for Karisma. She keeps me up to date on these kinda things. Ok, Karisma really doesn't keep me up to date, I stole the link from her blog. LOL Why? Because I love her blog and I have to read it or explode. Now I just have to teach her to open those links in different windows, that way her readers can stay on her blog.

And Saturday Rolls Around

I finally got up before anyone else today! Quiet and it wasn't 2 am. Ok that lasted about 5 whole minutes. LOL JD sneaked into the kitchen and peaked over the breakfast bar to see me trying to read the paper before anyone woke up. Cutest little good morning from the cutest little guy. I love being a mother - yes - even on the rough days.

WW and JD had decided to do their Science class today. We were just so busy yesterday and it got so late, so I gave them the option of doing it today. It was fine for all of about 3 minutes. You guessed it - JD wouldn't read his assignment and then he started whining about the answers not being in the book and he hated Science and on and on and on. It certainly was a morning to behold. JD ended up in his room for the day. Finally around 6 pm he decided that his room was boring because he was not allowed any toys or anything else. He came in the living room and worked on his Science and a few other assignments that were behind because of his behavior.

Here's the real dirty low down. JD was in his room and Superman and I needed to go out to the barn. JD came out to the barn about 5 minutes later and said that he was ready to do his work. Well of course now I am busy, so I sent him back to his room. Once I came back inside, I went to his room and ask him if he was ready to do his assignment. He said yes. Off to the living room / classroom we went. Without any complaining he sat down and started. I headed to the kitchen to put something in the oven. And 3 minutes later he announced that he was done.
Yes - done! I knew in my mind that there was no way in this world that he was done. How did I know this? It took his brother (WW) over 30 minutes to do this and I know that WW applies himself. And once I looked at JD's answers and saw that he got everyone of them right, I knew for sure that something was up. So I took a piece of paper and I rearranged the questions and gave it to him to redo. Sure enough he wrote down the same exact answers. He had to match 1, 2, 3, etc... to a, b, c, etc... This time all the answers were wrong. Why? Because the questions were rearranged but he had memorized the answers.

It took me almost 2 hours to finally get out of him what he had done. He had looked in his brothers book while we were outside and memorized the answers. I had him redo the test and he worked on it for about another hour (yes, he complained), finally he was done and made a 100.

I sure do have my hands full with JD but as I have said before - I will not give up.

Finally Friday

I made it! A whole week of Home School! I did think that it would go a little easier than what this first week was like, however, I also knew that it wouldn't be easy.

I know that our children have issues from their past, I know that there are things that they remember that they should have never been put through. I know that I love them and I know that I will never, ever, give up on them.

Today was kinda a mixed up day. We had to run 2 errands in the same town. Thankfully it was our little town and not the big city. We started out with me taking the boys through our little drive-thru burger joint for breakfast. They loved it! Then we sat down at home and ate our breakfast and then we hit the books. Yes there were some issues today, but nothing like earlier in the week. JD once again drug out a 20 minute assignment and made it over 2 hours. Not only is he hurting himself by doing this but he is hurting his brothers. But then again - they are all learning lessons from this too. They are learning that if they do not apply themselves to their school work that they loose privileges. Had I known that JD was going to act out again in class today, I would have probably skipped the breakfast thing. But then again - he knows that he must not act out in class if he wants to do breakfast like that again.

There have been a couple of days this week that I have really been at my wits end. My mind races to act quickly but to act properly also. In time, with experience, I think I might get the hang of it. Regardless of me getting the hang of it or not - I am not quitting!

We weren't able to finish science today. I need to refraze that. I ask all 3 boys if they wanted to skip science today and do it tomorrow (reminding them that it will be Saturday). JD and WW were ok with that but MJ wanted to do his science today. That worked out really good because I was able to work one on one with MJ.
Superman will be teaching science on Saturday! Let's see how far JD can push his dad.

Thursdays Fieldtrip

We met with our Home School group again. Yeppers - back at the springs. I don't remember if I told you the name of the springs or not but anyway, we meet at Rum Island Springs. The kids get to swim and interact with others of all ages, even adults. The park admission is free on Thursdays. We had a great time (as usual). Our coordinator couldn't stay because she had to take her oldest son to the doctor. An email from her today said that her son is fine and on antibiotics.

We had 2 new parents and 3 new children join our group in the last week. Great people! I think the group is really going to grow.

I will tell you all about JD a little later. Ok - I'll tell you now. He was not allowed to swim because of his behavior on Wednesday. He sat at our table and complained about his work. My gosh - he only had 7 questions to answer. It was open book and the answers were on 2 pages. Ok - enough of that for now.

When we left the springs and went into Gainesville because as usual, I try to save time and gas and get everything done while I am out and about. We stopped by The Learning Path and the boys loved the store. I thought it was ok - well better than ok but I think it is more focused on Public School than Home School. There really are some wonderful things for the classroom, if you are into that sorta stuff. Once we left there we drudged across town and into the University traffic. Yeah - what a blast that was. LOL Barnes and Noble bookstore. One of my very favorite stores. The boys had read some books during the summer and for every 8 books that they read, they could get a free book. WW and JD was able to get 2 free books and MJ was able to get 1 free book. Pretty darn neat idea! I had 2 gift cards, one from Mothers Day and one from my birthday that I wanted to use to get me a couple of new books. I walked around and around and I looked and looked - no books for me. I know - how can I not find a book for me in a darn book store? Because I shop the bargain books. I generally buy my favorite author's hardback books for less than $10. That way I can get more bang for my bucks. Or more books for my bucks! I love a bargain! I did manage to find 2 wonderful wall maps for our classroom - one is a World map and the other one is the United States. I managed to get them for $6 and that was with my 20% Teachers Discount (more about this in a minute). As I was walking around looking for my books, I found a table with some school info on it. There was an application for a 20% Teachers Discount - It includes Home School. I'm all signed up for my Teachers Discount! Yee Haw! You really need to check it out!

5 O'clock traffic! Oh no! And to top all the traffic off, WW started screaming like a little girl! And crawling across the back seat and coming out of the shoulder harness of his seat belt. A teeny, tiny spider was on his seat belt. Boy, oh boy - You would have sworn that a giant man eater had jumped in the car with us. I had to stop the car and have a talk to him about spiders and they are not man eaters. It certainly made an interesting topic at supper.

Ok - now will you please pass the Xanax!

ps - JD finally finished his school work and the munchkin made a 100!

I Knew It Would Happen

I knew it, I knew it! I knew it would happen! I was really tested today by our middle son. Superman and I were just talking the other night that home school would fall apart once we stuck our heads in the books. And it did. Did we make it happen by talking about it? Is is Karma? I don't have a clue but I do know that it happened. JD put me to the test today. In some ways I feel like I failed miserably and in other ways I feel like I did the best I could. Looking back now, I think I could have done better. And if hindsight were 20/20.
JD thinks that he should know all of the answers. Really he does - and if he don't know the answers he just gets very overwhelmed. How in the world can he advance to the next level or the next grade if this continues to happen? He refuses to read his assignments. When it comes to the questions he wants me to help him with every one.
For example:
#1 - 435 x 2 =_____ He will say that he can't do it. He will say that he is going to write down just anything and he doesn't care if he gets it wrong. He expects me to show him how to do it - when in fact I have showed him and showed him.
#2 - 17 x 1 =________ He says he doesn't know his times tables. He says he isn't going to do it. He wants me to show him how to do it again.

What am I supposed to do? I know he knows how to do it, I have seen him do it. I know he can do it, I have seen him do it. I know he knows his times tables, I have seen him do them. Not only have I been over this with him but so has his dad, so have teachers from public schools.
I really need some help or advise or some Xanax. Maybe a little of everything.

And just to let you all know right up front - I'm poppin a Xanax and gonna keep on keepin on!

Rah Rah Sish Ka Bah

Ok I admit it - I have boys. They are all boys too! Today after class JD wanted to play softball or was it baseball. I can't keep them separate - they are both played with a bat and a ball. LOL WW and MJ didn't want to play softball, they wanted to play Frisbee. JD tried his best to tell me that I needed to enroll them in, in, something - he just couldn't get it out. I spoke up and said "You mean I need to enroll them in ballet?". "Yes mom, then they can stand around and jump and cheer and say Rah Rah Sish Boom Bah"! He was making fun of his brothers and calling them little sissies. It got a good laugh out of us all and JD and WW ran around the house cheering. But soon this got old and they ran outside. Only they know what they played, I tried to stay out of it and have my time.

Another good day for homeschooling. I never did get my little thing made with the pockets on it. I have an idea in my head about it, but I just can't get it out of my head. Once it's ready to come out, well I suppose it will come out.

I managed to catch the boys studying 2 times today. JD had to take all of his books to show his dad and he had to tell his dad all about class. WW and JD sat down before bedtime and had their books out and was going over them. I was impressed, shocked and proud. I certainly hope this keeps up.

After supper tonight, I walked around the yard and believe it or not, I actually took the camera with me. I sure did! Aren't you proud of me? So with that said and done, I have added a picture of our pound puppy - Rocko. In case you don't want to browse over and read about Rocko, here is a great silly picture of him. We were told that he is about 2 years old. We seem to think that he is younger than 2 years old, because he just acts immature and silly. More on the puppy side. He is wonderful with the kids and they sure do love him. Every once in a while he wants to herd the horses but our horses don't have much to do with that. They just kinda stand there an look at him as if to ask "You want us to do what?".


Now this is Molly, she is the queen of Beagles - better known as Daddy's Little Girl. What she has under her chin is a dog toy that was given to us when we first got Molly. She nurses on this thing, it's her pacifier when she wants to settle down and go to sleep. We call it Rudy - originally it started out as a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with a tennis ball in the end of it. Molly has never tried to tear it up at all, but some of our other inside dogs have teased her with it. You can tell her to go find Rudy and she will search the whole house until he has been rescued.



Mindy is our Schnauzer that came to live with us from a dear sweet lady that living in the Villages which is South of Ocala. It's a huge retirement community that is getting bigger and bigger by the day. Ms. Martha (90 something years old) couldn't care for Mindy anymore and ask her caregiver to call me because she knew that I would take care of Mindy. When Mindy came to live with us, her pads were as gentle as a new born pup. Not anymore - she isn't a city dog now. LOL I mean just look at her. She is dirty from playing in the pasture with Rocko. And she is in terrible need of a hair cut. She's as happy as she can be! And that's what counts.

OMG! I just looked at the time. What happened? It was just 9 o:clock. Ok, I'll have to show off the horse pictures and the club house and the 4 wheeler trailer another day. As for me - I'm off to bed. TTFN

Rambling Again

Once again I sit in front of the computer just rambling away about our little family. Our 3 boys have put us through a few test and I am sure that they will continue to test us as they grow older. Shoot - what are kids for anyway. And of course, Superman and I put each other through test too. But really isn't everyday a test. Don't we test ourselves. I know I certainly test myself. And if I were my best friend - there would be days that I just couldn't stand to be around me. The important thing is that we should be able to recognize those moments or those days. Superman and I had a little talk with the boys last night about such things. If we are having a difficult time or just a plain out bad day - admit it. If you can't see it in yourself and someone says "are you ok" or "did you get enough sleep" or even "wow, you sure are kinda grumpy today", take it with a grain of salt and take a better look at yourself. Maybe you are having a bad day or just not feeling very rested - say ok, I think I just might need a few minutes or even a little nap.

As I was typing this, my computer just decided it needed a little break. Imagine that! So while the computer was taking it's break, I was able to wash a few dishes and clean the litter box. I guess that was the computers way of saying HEY, this needs to be done - NOW.

Speaking of the litter box, how in the world did that ever become my chore. Who assigned that to me. I guess I just got the short end of the straw that time around. It's probably best that way because one time I ask WW to clean the litter box and no joke - he showed up with a clothes pin on his nose. Is it really that bad? Well any cat owner can tell you how bad it is.

Tonight at supper we talked about our first day of school and a few other things that we did. Supper was late tonight because Superman brought home a few tools so that he could take down a couple of boards in the barn to make more room for more hay. The boys really enjoyed using the hammer, the drill and the huge pry bar.
We don't have dessert after supper every night but when we do it is a big treat for all of us. Tonight I brought out the left over cup cakes from JD's birthday. I think the icing on them was at least an inch tall. WW was sitting there babbling about something while he was eating his cupcake and I looked over at him and I just couldn't resist pushing the cupcake into his face. I think he had icing up his nose but he started laughing so hard it didn't stay there very long. MJ thought it was funny too and when he gets to laughing, it's almost impossible for him to stop. Once the shoe was on the other foot or should I say the icing was in the other face - Yes, I just had to send icing up MJ's nose too. What was so darn funny about his face was his little Hitler mustache. How in the world can all that icing not stick except the little black part on his top lip? Of course I had to do it again after all the laughter cleared from the Hitler mustache. I just thought it was so fitting for the wonderful day that we had.

Ok - I gotta run, I am going to work on a little wall hanging with pockets for our classroom. Coming from public school, the boys know what it means to pull their tab (we're using clothespins). If they get their clothespin pulled 3 times during class they have to deal with their dad when he gets home. As the boys often put it - "It's not gonna be pretty". LOL

We Survived

We survived the first day of home school. Maybe I should say "I survived". Actually we all had a wonderful time. We talked and expressed ourselves, gave ideas and ask questions, we drew and we added, we talked about fractions, we talked about fish and water. We spent the first hour in class without any of us realizing that an hour had went by. For our first break we played Frisbee. I even showed the boys that their mom had a few moves when it came to Frisbee. I still got it! LOL
Once we returned to the classroom the next 2 hours went by extremely fast too. We went over our LifePac books and a few of our lessons. The last 30 minutes the boys reviewed their books quietly while I did a few things. They worked independently and quietly. Can you belief it?! Neither can I. LOL

I was certainly surprised that the boys did so well on their first day. Very little back talk - almost no back talk. A huge improvement from our (now) 12 year old (JD). He was very, very helpful in class. We completed class today at 12 noon and off ran the boys to play or to eat lunch. I ran to the bedroom for a little nap. I ask the boys to wake me up at 1:30 and we would head to the springs.

At the springs we worked on our diving, back flips, taking turns and snorkeling. I think we snorkeled more than anything else. We saw Gar Fish, Bream and Snapping Turtles. They all suggested that we learn more about the fish and the turtles. What a great idea!

When we finished swimming and headed home the boys were all talking about how cool home school is. They talked amongst themselves and I heard each one of them say that they never wanted to go back to public school. I hope they keep that attitude once we get involved in the books more. We won't go swimming every day that is for sure, but there is no reason that we can't end on a positive note. I kinda look at it compared to the time I was horse training and take a few training lessons. Always end on a positive note.

Our Weekend

All in all we had a wonderful weekend.

Saturday
Yes - we had a birthday party and it was a blast. JD is now officially 12 years old. Oh if you could have seen his face when he saw all the gifts on the table. He had a special chair that he sat in (my computer chair). They all love to sit in moms computer chair.

Superman sent me and WW shopping early Saturday morning for a few groceries and to pick up the birthday cake. JD and MJ stayed with their dad up until it was time for JD to go over to Granny Karen's. When we got back from shopping the house was spotless! I mean spotless too! What a neat feeling. And to think that I felt quilty for spending $250 on groceries. But it was 2 buggies full. Ok, so I don't feel so bad since I had 2 buggies full.

The party was a wonderful success. JD's facial expressions were so true of his feelings when he opened his gifts. The joys of being a parent and seeing their faces light up is worth the trials and tribulations that the children can put parents through.

Sunday
Do your children creep into your bedroom or open the door really quietly? I mean like they don't want to wake you up. And then they say "Momma?, Momma?". Mine do. LOL And they do this to ask me if they can watch a movie. My goodness boys, you know the rules, do all of your morning chores and you can watch a movie. It's pretty simple. You don't have to wake me up to ask.

We had spaghetti for lunch and it was delicious. I had taken some jar sauce Thursday night and put in a little onion and some ground chuck, cooked it and put in the refrigerator for Friday night supper. We didn't eat it for supper on Friday night, so today I heated it up, added more onion, garlic, oregano and some sausage that I browned. Served over angel hair pasta with toasted garlic bread - mm - mm - good. Ice cream for dessert.
Everyone washed, dried and put away their own dish and I ran off to take a little nap.
Superman woke me up and ask if I wanted to go with them to the springs. Of course I do. So this afternoon at 4pm we headed to the springs for the boys to swim. MJ had to do his famous back flips and show off for his dad. We gave him thumbs up from across the water. He just smiled, climbed the ladder and did another flip. We stayed about an hour and there wasn't any fussing from the boys about leaving. All 3 of them thanked us for taking them.

On the way home I heard JD say to his brothers - "I don't want to go back there because there's too much cussing". There were a lot of teenagers there today and they use such foul language. Now if you remember - JD is the one that had the cussing problem when we first met the boys. Times certainly have changed for the better around here. I explained to the boys that it was pretty crowded there today because of it being the weekend. They remembered that when we go during the week that there are less people there, including foul mouthed teenagers. And now JD wants to go again. Bless his little heart!

I am excited about tomorrow! It will be our first day of home school. I have big plans and high hopes. Tonight Superman and I talked to the boys a little about what to expect tomorrow and this week. We let them know what we expect out of them and ask if they had any questions or concerns. They were all 3 fine with everything and said they are ready to get started and believe that home school will be fun.

I have a few more emails to check on and a little more research to do before I head off to bed. I am sure the boys will be up at 7am tomorrow morning and I am sure that the door will creep open as they try not to wake me, only to say "Momma?, Momma?".