Something Cool for Home School

WooooHooooo! Thank you Karisma for posting these links on your blog. You know I gotta post them here to share with my friends.

Seagrass Adventures great site for the kids.

Community Environment Network is an alliance of community and environment groups from Lake Macquarie, Wyong and Gosford.

The Days Go By

The days go by so fast sometimes. And then again, I sometimes wonder if the day will ever end. Do you have days like that? It seems like the more fun I have, the faster the day goes by. Now if I just happen to be having one of those days. Yeah - you know the kind. LOL It's those days that I wonder if they will ever end.

We have gotten back full force in our home schooling. We work on our regular subjects most of the time, but it's the extra things that I want to do. The extra things are games, cooking, sewing, exploring, discovering and on and on. I think the boys really just wanna throw their books out the window and do the things that I want to do. But we just gotta get that book work done.
B-o-r-i-n-g!

I think tomorrow I will just sleep in a little later than usual.
Or maybe take a nap during the day.
I think tomorrow we may just play one of those games.
It's always educational.
I think tomorrow we just might bake some bread.
Or just get out the flour and play.
I think tomorrow we might play hopscotch in the dirt.
Or find a stick and play fetch with the dog.

That's it! We are gonna throw the darn books out the window and play!

Happy Friday!

The Taste of Soap

I bet you know what I am about to say. Yeppers - your right. The taste of soap is bad. I have tried and tried to stop the sassy mouths of the boys. JD is the one that has the worst mouth when it comes to sassing. On Monday, I sat a bar of soap on the kitchen counter and I gathered all 3 boys around and explained exactly what the bar of soap was for. They have had to taste soap before, just not with me.

Today, Mr. JD had the sassy mouth to die for. Ok - that's it, let's go taste the soap. More sassing from him. Every time he sassed was one good lick of the soap. He got the bright idea to just barely touch the soap to his tongue. Didn't work!
"I'm not doing it!" Lick #1.
"But mom!" Lick #2.
"I hate school!" Lick #3.
Yeah - it went on. Lick #4. Sass! Lick #5.
A total of 5 licks. After 5 licks he had nothing else to say. Three minutes later, his words were as kind as can be.

For now it is working. I don't know what will happen next time. Only time will tell. I have got to get control now. The longer I wait and the longer I let it go will only make it worse. JD is 12 years old, 10 pounds lighter than me and as tall as me. In a year or 2 he will loom over me. I will look like a little drill sergeant, looking up at him, trying to get him under control. What if he gets it in his head then to challenge me? Somebodies gonna get hurt.

If it takes the taste of soap to get your child under control, then do it. Take time now to get control of what could later become a very bad situation.

Where Do I Start

Sunday - that seems like a great place for me to start. Rain, we got more rain. I went to paint class and painted an awesome oil painting. I love the Bob Ross wet on wet method. My instructor is awesome. She is just so wonderful that it is hard to describe her.

Monday - class went really well today. We finally managed to get our microscope out and do a few Science projects. The boys were just amazed at what they saw. These Science projects are 5th grade level but MJ did them with us. MJ is really zipping through his books. His reading has improved so much and we are so proud of him. Now if I could just get WW and JD to show more interest. JD used to have such problems staying awake in class when he went to public school. He doesn't get sleepy during home school. I keep them hopping, so they don't have time to get sleepy. I also get them in bed pretty early, that way they are sure to get plenty of rest. Every night (including weekends) I have the boys sit down for quiet time. The quiet time is used to read. Every once in awhile the quiet time will be used as coloring time. The coloring time is about once a week. They are now looking forward to quiet time.

Tomorrow MJ goes in for his surgery. It's a day stay surgery but I am sure it will take most of the day. WW and JD are spending the night with their Granny (my mom). I sent them off with 2 small coolers full of food for breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. Lots of good snacks too. They were really excited about spending the night with her. They really wanted her to eat supper with us tonight but she had other plans. MJ ask me all kinds of questions tonight about his surgery. He said that he is a little bit nervous and he wants me and his dad to be with him the whole time. I assured him that we would be right there with him as long as the doctors would let us.

It's close to midnight right now and we all have to be up early in the morning. I'm heading to bed - oh yeah - after I let Molly in, because she is barking at the back door. LOL
Night all!

I Got the Finger

Have you ever had the finger? Do you know what the finger is? I'm sure that everyone knows what the finger is and just what finger I'm talking about.
We were all on the way to see Granny Karen the other day and this pickup truck was in front of me. The speed limit was 55 and the truck was going right at 50. I had the go-ahead to pass. I checked my mirrors, put on my blinker and proceeded to pass. Well the driver (young male) must not have wanted me to be in front of him. He started speeding up when I got beside him. Pure spite is all it was. I refused to play his game so I just slowed down and merged back into the lane behind him. Out the window of his truck came his hand. Oh it wasn't a wave at all, it was the middle finger and I had just been given the official bird. The boy's didn't like that too much either. "Mom, he just shot you a bird". "I know, but it's ok, he was just telling me I am number one". They got a good little chuckle out of that.
About a half mile down the road the guy turned right. Nope, notta blinker or nothing. Oh yeah, he gave a hand signal, but it wasn't the turn sign he used. LOL I got the official bird again. Twice in one day and by the same guy. That's kinda like getting a traffic violation twice in the same day by the same cop. HaHa...
My mom and I talked about the driver's attitude and that he must be just having a bad day. My mom's comment was "Sometimes you just gotta look over people like that". And she is exactly right in her wisdom.

Just another great lesson for the boys.

Especially the AMERICAN FLAG

Every week I like to read our local newspapers online. Tonight I start reading one of our local newspapers and of course I just have to go and read the editorial. The article that I am talking about just upset me. Why? If you are an American then you will know why. Please remember that I am posting this because I am an American and I believe in our country. This post is not meant to offend anyone!

Letters to the editor
Students banned from wearing flag
Editor:
It has come to my attention that the Levy County School Board does not allow Students, especially at the Williston Middle school, to wear any clothing with a Flag on it. Especially the AMERICAN FLAG!
I find this absolutely ludicrous. This is AMERICA!
Who are we going to offend? A Muslim? An anarchist ? An illegal?
I have also been advised that the Pledge of Allegiance is not pledged each morning in class. Is that true? Why not?
This IS AMERICA. The Land of the FREE. We Are “One Nation Under GOD” or have you bubble heads forgotten that under the guise of political correctness? Read the entire article here.

Field Trip

Everyone loaded in the car and away we go, one little squirrel in tow. After JD's doctor appointment on Friday, we all headed to my mom's where she jumped in the car with us and we were off for a 1 hour drive. Have you every heard this "Are we there yet"? Of course you have, especially if you have kids. They are so funny.

Ok so back to the field trip. Yes, we took our baby squirrel with us. Why? Because no one was going to be home to feed him. It was pretty cool though. MJ has a neat little bag that Granny Karen gave him. I think it's some type of camera bag. I was able to put a towel in it and then put in the squirrel and carry a baby bottle.
I toted the bag with the squirrel all cuddled up inside all day long. I had to stop from time to time and feed the little guy, but that wasn't difficult at all. I just unzipped the bag and stuck the bottle in and he nursed until he was full. Once his little tummy was full, he snuggled up in the towel and was fast asleep. There was one time when I was feeding him that a group of kids saw what I had. About 10 kids wanted to see the little guy, so I did a short show and tell. It was pretty darn neat.

Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. It has been many years since my first visit to this park. During the summer the boys went with their 4H day camp. JD didn't want to go again, and his reasoning was that there were too many kids and they were rude. I explained that it was just us going this time. I mean there would be other people there, just not in our group. He thought about it and decided that it just may be fun. And it was!
We took a boat ride. We even rode a tram. We walked and walked and walked some more. My poor mom, at times I kinda felt sorry for her. She was a trooper though. And a very good one too!
At Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park, there is a Hippo, bunches of Alligators, Birds all all sorts, Manatees, Squirrels, White Tail Deer, Key Deer, Florida Black Bear, Bobcat and so much more. There is something they call the fish bowl. You go underwater in a building and you can see the fish swimming all around. We saw Sheepshead, Red fish, Snook and more. The boys were all excited! They actually said that it was much more fun with me than with their 4H group. Awwwww!

I know - Pictures! You will all be please to know that the love of my life bought me a new Cannon camera today. It's fancy and I have no idea how to use it. LOL I am off to bed for now but there will be lots more pictures in the days to come.

Meetings and Fieldtrips

I am really loving going to out homeschool group meetings now. I don't know why but I am. Maybe it's the I don't have to if I don't want to thing. Today was a good day for all the boys, which makes it a good day for me.

There wasn't anything planned today for our weekly outing, we just played it by ear. And believe it or not, things worked out well by doing it that way.
There were several people at the springs that was fishing. One gentleman caught a very small bream and gave it to WW and everyone looked at the little bream and then WW was able to release the little guy. When you release a fish, you can't just throw him in the water and expect him to swim off. WW held him in his hand and supported him upright until the gills went to working and then the fins started working and then he slowly started to swim and then he swam off in a hurry. What a cool thing for kids to do.

One of the kids caught a very small Snapping Turtle. It wasn't much bigger than your thumbnail. I didn't know they were orange on their underside - but I know now. Snail eggs - not just any snail eggs, but Apple Snail eggs. The snail eggs had not been laid very long, they were still shinny and slimmy looking. Pretty darn neat if you ask me. Oh there were other little critters to explore and enjoy too. We look and we leave. Look at the critters, enjoy what you see and then leave them alone. The kids really like to pull the Water Lettuce out of the water. It is such an invasive plant that we try to pull some everytime we go. Another invasive plant is the Water Hyacinth. And yes we pull these too. They really do have some awesome flowers but they are killing our water resourses.

For some time now, I have been interested in learning Spanish and French. I just didn't have anyone else that was interested in learning it with me, so I just put it off. Ah Ha - the boys are interested in learning with me. Finally, someone that is interested. Tonight me and all 3 of the boys sat down and started on our Spanish. We started with Rosetta Stone. I don't know how we are going to do, but at least we are willing to try. WW seems the most interested in learning, well besides me. MJ sits with us and he tries so hard, I think that he may just get the hang of it. JD shows a little bit of interest, but who knows, maybe he'll come around. And maybe Spanish just isn't his thing. Maybe he will be more interested in French.

Tomorrow we are off on a field trip. Wow this has really been the week for trips, two days in a row. Actually, kinda neat. Our field trip tomorrow will find us at Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. My mom is going with us and we are all excited about getting out of the classroom again.

I know you all want pictures, but please bear with me on this. I really hate my digital camera because it is so picky and is very old. Hopefully within a couple of weeks I will be able to buy another one. We are looking at a Canon and a Sony. So be patient and bear with me please.

Fun Things

I found a couple of things that you just might be interested in. And if you aren't interested in them - well - that's ok too.

Halloween Survival Guide, not just a survival guide but fun things to do for all ages.

Something else that I came across today and I really don't even remember how I found it. Superman and I have considered buying the LifePac Bible curriculum for our boys. Why haven't we already bought it? Cost. Yep, plain ole money. We talked about it and thought that once we got the boys going on their regular class studies and all of the required by State stuff that we would start some type of Children's Bible Studies. Here is what I found today that is absoutely free! Bible Study Planet. Yes, I said FREE! All you have to do is print the lesson plans out from Adobe. Easy enough for me.

That's all for now, I'm off to read a little more in my book. We have our homeschool meeting again tomorrow and we are all looking forward to it.

Long Long Day

When class starts and 9:30 am and ends around 5pm, it certainly makes for a long, long day. And get this - class really didn't end at 5 pm, it's just that I had had enough. I couldn't take the whining or complaining anymore. JD can certainly takes hours and hours to whine and complain but he can't take 15 minutes to do his work. I think that for some reason that he believes that if he complains enough that I will just let class go and not do it, or he won't have to do his work. I have showed him time after time that no matter the amount of complaining that he does, he will still have to do his work. How in the world can I get him to understand? And even if he doesn't understand right now, if I can just get him to comply.

I know that some of you may have experienced what I am going through with getting JD to understand, sit still or just simply do his work. What can I do? He wanted my help today with math, no problem - but - the whole time I am explaining the division problem to him he is using his pencil as a car and even making car sounds. How much of this can a person take? I stopped and ask him to stop making the sound and to please put his pencil down. Oh yes - it worked for about 15 seconds. I know - take what is given to me. But the whole 15 seconds he is complaining that he doesn't understand. Well for goodness sake, I guess he doesn't understand if he won't listen.

I suppose some days I am just at a lose. Tonight we discussed his behavior at supper and he had to have a talk with his dad. He certainly doesn't like having those talks with his dad.

MJ is about to move on to Unit 2 of his History and Geography studies, he is also about to move on to Unit 2 in his Language Arts studies. He is really working very well and comprehending what he is reading.

I told WW that I am not holding him back and waiting on JD anymore. Tomorrow he will be able to pick up his books and do his studies by himself. I ask him to come to me with any questions that he has and I will check him from time to time.

Other than it being a long, long day, it was an ok day. Hopefully JD will get some really good rest tonight and we will be able to move him along.

Game Day

It was so much fun! For 2 and a half hours there were about a dozen kids, ranging from 5 months to 14 years old, all playing educational games together. All playing and getting along without any problems at all. What a wonderful thing!

Today was our first "Game Day" meeting. Our group leader planned it all and put it all together. We all (well all that could attend) met at one of our members churches (in the fellowship) hall. There were educational games for all of the children to play. It gave us all time to sit and chat with each other and actually put some things together on paper for our group. I think this group is really gonna do very well. We do have a website that is in the process of being built and when it's all done, it will be totally awesome. We are also about to put together a yahoo group so that we can all communicate with each other without the mass email thing.

So now I am off to take care of creating the yahoo group where we can all post away until our little fingers get really, really tired.

80 Miles Round Trip

Yes the round trip from our home to our home school group meeting and then back home is 80 miles. I know it seems like a lot and some days it feels like double that. I had thought about not going to the meetings anymore then I get reminded of how important they are. I also get to thinking about what we learn on that drive.

We learn things like this:
Time, distance, careers, patient, money, laws, reading, direction, manners, spelling, history, geography, language arts, math, science and my goodness, so much more.
On one of our little trips we watched men working on clearing under the power line. They were using heavy equipment and putting limbs into a chipper. We talked about why they were doing it, how they were doing it and how dangerous it could be.
On another of our trips we talked about the train that we saw. The cars on the train were full of coal. That started a conversation about electricity, coal miners, our planet and more.
Yesterday - oh yeah - yesterday!

Yesterday on the way home I saw smoke. I mentioned it to the boys and tried to point it out, but with the trees in the way it was kind of hard to see. We came to an area that is farmed and I could see it really well and pointed it out to the boys. As we drove we kept looking for it. We were getting closer and closer. Excitement was building. Oh my - it's in our neighborhood. What's really cool about is that MJ is studying about neighborhoods, helping and sharing (such as neighbors, fire departments and such). Oh the boys were all paying attention now and the excitement was getting more intense.

"MOM!!!" Yeah I know. It's getting fun now. I pick up my cell phone and dial 911. The fire was huge! It was running across the tops of the trees. It was burning on the ground. It was growing and growing. I'm on the phone with 911 and the boys are excited. The dispatcher was asking me question after question. I was giving answer after answer. Something you may need to know about cell phones - when I dialed 911, my cell phone was still on the tower that dials into another county 911 center. I was giving the address and the dispatcher was telling me that it didn't exist. I know I wasn't going crazy.

Finally - transferred to the right 911 center. I knew I wasn't crazy! LOL I've been a 911 dispatcher and I know how all this works. I should have known before the dispatcher ask me what county I was in. I was amazed that no one had called in this fire yet. It was pretty darn close to a house too. And get this - the house that it was close to had cleared some land, piled up the brush that they had cleared (right next to the woods). Now I don't know and I am just assuming, but who ever lives their had to have set that fire. They were actually inside the house, we found that out once the fire department arrived on scene.

Less than 5 minutes after my call to 911 the Forestry Department and the local Fire Department were there. I was very impressed. A total of 5 brush trucks, 1 Forestry truck and dozer, and one tanker truck showed up. One of the brush trucks was from an adjoining county and the tanker truck was from the adjoining county. The tanker truck was there to refill the brush trucks. The boys were able to see all of this happening. They thought it was the coolest thing and they could hardly wait until their dad got home from work.

What an exciting 80 mile round trip!

Fourth Week of Home School

We are on the last day of our fourth week of home school. It certainly has been a long 4 weeks. We have had our ups and downs but there have been more ups than downs.
WW started out kinda like this was a horrible chore. Now he is wanting to start as soon as he gets up every morning.
JD hates school. He's also defiant. As I said before, I have my hand full with him.
MJ, well he is just excited about everything. He is really zipping through his school work and doing very well.

If I remember correct, yesterday was our 5th home school group meeting. We missed last week but our fearless leader caught us up to date. We meet at Rum Island Springs, it's a county park and a pretty darn neat place. Yesterday we took a walk up the river. We talked about plants, animals, the Florida Aquifer, protecting and respecting our planet. And so much more. The kids were also allowed to swim and enjoy mother nature.

Our little group is really growing. I mentioned to Superman the other day that I had thought about us not going to the meetings anymore because of the drive. I sensed from he that he really didn't think that was a good idea. I am really glad that we discuss things and can communicate so well with each other. Ok, I'm convinced that we will go to the group meetings each week. We all enjoy them very much, it's just that the drive is 40 miles one way. But then I think about all the educational things in the 80 mile round trip ride. And I have something really great for you in just a few minutes. The boys remind me every week that we have our meeting on Thursday. I like that they do that. Our group now has started what we call "Game Days", we will meet on the 3rd Monday of each month for educational games. How can I not want to go when we have so much fun?!

No Place Like Home

There's no place like home. No matter how near or how far, there's no place like home.
Once again we take things for granted and just don't realize that our boys haven't experienced some of the most common things in life. Security is one of them. Having a place to call home and being able to actually go home. Missing someone or something and then finally seeing and being with them again.

All the way from the airport the boys kept saying they couldn't wait to get home and they were glad to be back in Florida. When we pulled up to our gate the boys jumped out of the car and were just full of excitement. We all grabbed bags from the car so that we could get it unpacked and get inside. MJ and JD kept asking if they could go over and get Mindy, Molly and Rocko. Once inside we sent them on their way to Granny Karen's to get Mindy, Molly and Rocko. Later, Granny Karen called me and told me all about the hugs that the boys gave the dogs. They missed the dogs and were really glad to see them. Our boys have never had a home to come home to or pets who missed them or anyone to miss them. Oh the love that they are feeling now.
MJ and JD ran into the house with Mindy and Molly in tow. It was loud and the boys and the dogs were jumping everywhere. So silly! Then they were all off to fine all the cats. Once everyone was found and hugs were given out things began to settle down.

WW, JD and MJ walked around the house checking things out. Maybe to see if everything was just like we left it. They were really worried about all the animals on Thursday when we were getting ready to leave. They were worried that the horses would starve to death and no one would pet the cats and on and on...When we got back home they saw that everything was just fine and they were ok after that.

I am glad that we have these boys and I am glad that we are able to show them love and give them security. We are not rich in monetary value, however, we are extremely rich in love and value. Families need that more than money!

Count Down

The end of this week we will be signing all of the paperwork on our new property. Our closing day is Friday the 7th. 40 acres! I am trying to contain myself and not get all giddy, but it really isn't easy. As I say that, I think - hmmm....I don't get giddy very much. I always remain pretty darn calm and level headed until things are all over with. Just my nature, I guess.

Did I say giddy? The boys wake up every morning this week and instead of saying good morning, I hear "5 more days" or "4 more days". WW wanted to start packing 2 weeks ago. He is one that has to plan ahead and be prepared. It's almost like Christmas around here with the excitement.
I don't think that the boys will get much sleep the night before we go to the airport. Instead of Santa flying in, we will be flying out.

It's hard to have class when the boys are all fired up. WW is so concerned that he will get put on restriction or make a bad grade and not be able to go swimming while we are in Missouri. I have tried and tried to explain to him that I rarely have any trouble from him. Today he explained (after making a C on a practice spelling test) that he was really worried that his dad was going to be really upset with his grade. I explained to WW that he should not worry that nothing bad is going to happen and his dad would not be upset. I explained that his dad would just tell him that he needed to study a little more. Now if you remember, our boys are adopted and their past memories are not very good ones. It's very natural for all 3 of the boys to think the worst. In time, I believe that those memories will fade and they will have more good memories than bad ones. Superman and I will do everything in our power to make that happen.

Ok - now you can join us in the count down! We fly on Friday in the early am. Less than 3 days and counting...

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

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.

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!