Top of 2011

Here are some of the top posts for The Family Revised:

Keepin' It Real: Homeschool Organization

This was a fun event with a linky that we did back in 2008!!! Wow! That was a long time ago. I think it's awesome that me, a blogger with "disorganization" as one of her most-used tags, has a top post about organization. Not sure how helpful it is, but the title falsely lures people in. Mwah ha ha!

I Can't Even Concentrate on the Furniture

This was a fun little rant I had about Craig's List. Not at all sure what brings people to this post, but there you go.

Our School Room 2011-2012

Well, technically our school room didn't make it to 2012. Alas, it is no more. It's Little Bit's room now. Well, it was lovely while it lasted and served it's purpose well while we had it. I hope people get some inspiration for their own homeschool spaces when they visit this post.

Our NEW Homeschool Room

This one was part of the Not Back to School Blog Hop so that explains why it is a top post. It was the first year we had our homeschool room in what is now Little Bit's bedroom. I understand. I LOVE looking at pictures of people's homeschool spaces!!

Curriculum Choices for 2011-2012 School Year

So....I'm starting to get the idea you people like me to talk about homeschooling more than anything. Hmm. Maybe I should be more of a "homeschool blogger" instead of so random and eclectic? Not even sure my brain is capable of that!

The First Day

See? Another homeschooling post. Hmm. Look at my little babies!!

On Our Shelves for the School Year

Another year's curriculum post. It's obvious that people do a lot of searching for ideas before each school year starts.

And finally, one that is NOT about homeschooling!!

Neglect

(no picture because I was preaching!)

I'm very glad to see this post in the top 10. I hope it an encouragement. I had no idea it was often visited.

And now, I'm going to throw in one of MY favorites-just because.

Seventeen Years of Sleep

Thank you, blog readers, from the bottom of my heart, for coming here to visit. I just love writing here and sharing here and reading comments and the whole thing! It's been fun for the last 4+ years. Looking forward to more blogging and sharing with you in 2012 (obviously with more emphasis on homeschooling?).

Have a happy New Year everyone!!

One Kid is Boring!

Today Sweetheart is on a play date. A very rare thing indeed for one child to go without the rest of us! She's gone for 3 hours (because we don't do sleepovers, really so this was a compromise). Little Bit and I are home alone.

Good grief I'm so thankful to have more than one child!! Right now she's playing in her sister's room at my encouragement. Hey, I was the littlest in our family and I remember the freedom of playing with whatever I wanted to with my mom's permission while they were at school. It's a wonderful thing.

We've already done art together and colored. Having one child would really mean I had to pay a lot more attention to that child. Having siblings is wonderful because they can get attention from other people too. They really do play together a great deal of the day. I think kids from big families are really blessed.

Glad today is Friday and husband will be off again for another 3 day weekend. I really do like having him around. Also glad our living room is clean and simplified with all the Christmas decor put away. It always looks so good when December is over.

Now if the house cleaning fairy would just come take care of my kitchen. And finish putting away the groceries. Does anyone else just put away the fridge and freezer stuff and leave the rest for later. Hello? Hello?

Sigh. It's really quiet here.

You Can't Believe Everything You Read

So I posted on Facebook yesterday that I was about to take down my Christmas decorations, but I took a nap instead. My mom walked down to visit--thinking I was, of course, taking down Christmas decorations. Oops. I really INTENDED to take them down, but I got tired. What can I say?

Little Bit cooked dinner by herself last night (except I opened the cans with the can opener and put it in the oven). She was very proud and then I nearly threw up getting it out of the oven. S walked in the room just as I bolted for the bathroom. It was kind of out of the blue as food hasn't been bothering me for several weeks. So, I had Cheerios last night while the family ate Little Bit's masterpiece. These girls are going to be such a tremendous help--and already have been.

Today we left our decorations still up and went to the farmer's market. It's 20 or 30 minutes away and I know I have to do big things like that in the mornings when I have energy. We also ran several other errands. Here is our haul:

Mmm. Yummy, fresh food. Not organic, but probably tons better than what you find at the grocery store. Little local places can't afford to be certified organic. I'm not 100% sure where all this came from, but it all looks fresh and delicious and worth the drive. Sweetheart said, when we were checking out, "This looks mostly like vegetables..." I told her that was what was good for Daddy and us. She isn't a fan of the vegetables.

And I'm sorry to say that at least 3 of the vegetables in that picture will end up being fried--so don't be too impressed with my good healthy choices.

I sat down last night and started to plan for school and couldn't find one solitary idea for activities to go along with Little Bit's upcoming books. Planning fail. Guess I'll try again today. I really need to get the rest of the year planned so I don't have to take more breaks to get that done.

Monday S is off so...no school.
Tuesday morning is a doctor's appointment so....very little school.
Wednesday is my birthday so...i don't WANT school.
Thursday seems kind of late to kick things off, huh?

 I'm seriously thinking about waiting another week but I'm already yearning for some routine. I think we'll just do some subjects and ease back in. How is your planning going? When do you start back?

And will you come take down my decorations for me?

Our Pinterest Christmas and Progress

I actually did several of the things I pinned this year! I also used my Pinterest board at Little Bit's birthday party so that means my time on Pinterest has not been a waste of time! 


We had these for breakfast Christmas eve morning (via Pinterest):

And I made these gifts from ideas found on Pinterest or pinned by me from other places:

The frames just contain scrapbook paper and made nice erasable boards for my sisters. The red and white ornaments were hand-stitched and we used them as gift tags on every one's gifts.

These canvases were covered in buttons in my sister-in-laws' last initials and hung from ribbon. The inexplicable piece of bacon ornament was to fulfill the "ugly ornament" we get for my oldest sister each year. This one was kinda cute, but very weird!!

Decided to make one for my parents too. And the cans with flowers in them are cans covered in craft sticks and painted. They were already wrapped at this point. The flowers are those flower pens you can make. Those were from the girls to their aunts and grandma.

So that was my Pinterest Christmas.

Yesterday I worked on the "office" area of our house. If you recall, it's a tiny area where we stack things pay bills. Here's what it's supposed to look like.  And oh look! The whole room used to be clean!  Right now, I'm boxing up all the 2011 paperwork (and OK--2010 too. Apparently I didn't do it last year.) I will feel very relieved when I get all this done today. I've already filled 2 bags with trash from the sewing room and laundry room and office area. TWO BAGS!

I also plan to take down Christmas decorations today. We'll see how that goes.

And look! We got a water cooler!

All the cool people hang out by the water cooler around here.

 All part of our plan to be healthier. We don't really drink anything but water, S drinks coffee some, and Little Bit likes juice. Sweetheart is all water, all the time. It came with a hot water spout, which I know from my sister's house is the perfect temperature for instant oatmeal or hot chocolate. But, really, we don't eat/drink that stuff all that often. So I was really doubting if the hot water spout had any merit and then I discovered this morning it was the perfect temperature for making Little Bit's magical drink! So, right there? Totally worth it.

Tomorrow I will be starting to think about school. But for today, I'll just focus on the house. That still sounds better to me.

Christmas 2011

Like that original, eye-catching title? Thank you. I came up with it all by myself.

It's over and I don't want to take down the decorations. Usually I'm stopping myself from taking them down the very next day, but this year I'm kind of not caring how long they stay up.

Christmas Eve we had S's sisters and their families over for a little party. We said "5:00" but apparently to the younger generation, that number was arbitrary. (Our niece and nephews are all adults on that side of the family.) They showed up sometime in the 6:00 hour. Hmm. Pretty sure that makes me old, but I would never have done that at their age. But we went ahead without them so no big deal. This is me probably listening to my brother-in-law tells some big story. I was really tired by the end of the evening but I think everyone had fun.

 We had to hurry and get the girls in bed (late) by the time everyone left. Had to make time for a story, though.

 This year, Sweetheart let us sleep until 7:00am. Well, 6:51....but that's good because it means she understands rounding. Then they tore open their presents.

 And we got ready for church. (Yes, I wore the same shirt, OK?)

 Look! My husband was there too! This picture was taken by Sweetheart and is far more centered than the one taken by Little Bit. Also, there is less looking up our noses. Little Bit maybe should stand on a stool next time. :)

After church, we all went to my parents' house and ate lunch and opened presents. I don't think we got any pictures from then, we just enjoyed watching the kids. We were blessed with some really cool gifts though. We got the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper from my parents, which I really wanted.

We also got a beach mat and a personalized soft-sided cooler with 4 water bottles and sandwich holders in it. Can't wait to get back to the beach!! I got some maternity shirts and my mom and sister couldn't resist buying little things for the baby. I don't have anywhere to PUT little things for the baby yet!

So S and I are feeling the pressure of 4 and half months left before life changes and took advantage of yesterday to do some cleaning/clearing out. He worked in the garage and shed and back porch and I worked in the laundry/sewing room. Today I will do the desk/office type things. I feel better already having those areas that were bad, organized again. And since I'm completely not ready to think about school, cleaning sounds better.

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas with your family!

On This Rainy Morning

Every single day this week I have said it, "Today is the day we will FINISH the errands!"

So I guess you know I have 4 places to go today. Humph. (AFTER the rain stops.)

Dry cleaner so husband has clothes to wear to church Christmas morning.
Target for what nots that have nothing to do with Christmas--just daily life.
Hobby Lobby because I want to make one more thing for my parents. They deserve it.
And Walgreen's to pick up pills.

Speaking of pills--husband's diabetes is out of control. His doctor upped his pills yesterday and we'll see if that helps but it isn't a satisfying solution. We want him OFF the pills! But more than anything, we want that blood sugar under control. He hardly ate anything yesterday and this morning his blood sugar was over 200. That is ridiculous. Medicated even! So the research has begun to figure out how to improve and heal. The changes have already started too. Changes will happen in the girls' diets after Christmas as well. They share his genes, after all. Why tempt fate?

But all the presents (with the exception of that Hobby Lobby run) are bought and made. Wrapping will commence today. And the mama will feel better.

Gingerbread houses at our homeschool Christmas party...

She got a little bit of icing on her hands. 

We always exchange books. 

New book to read!!

We have been very busy this week and I know a lot of people like to avoid the busy during Christmas. It hasn't all been Christmas-related however. We have a friend in the hospital so we've been by to visit him a few evenings this week. We kept their baby so his wife could be at the hospital with him one morning. The girls loved having a little one to look after. She has 3 big sisters so she's used to be included in everything. My girls were painting these for gifts, so I gave her a toilet paper tube to paint.

Didn't get a picture of Sweetheart, but she worked hard too. :)

Merry Christmas everyone!! Hope you enjoy your family and the love of our Savior this weekend!

Oh, and one more thing:

Actually, You Can Just Stick to Calling Me Brenda

So I had high hopes yesterday of baking and crafting goodness.

Well.

The Oreo bark was a dud. The cake balls are SO ugly! It looked so easy on the tutorial!! There is definitely a learning curve with those suckers and let's just say....I learned a lot yesterday.

So that just leaves me with the pretzel/kiss/M&M snacks which SURELY I can't mess up. Oh, and the already sliced cookies. I can do those I think.

On a good note, the gift for Sweetheart's piano teacher turned out nicely.

I am really ready to stay home for a few days but today is not the day. I need to go on a major shopping trip Friday morning and THEN, I should be able to hole up here for a while. Make my children breakfast again. Pack S a lunch. Know what's for supper before suppertime. Get some laundry done. Work on some presents. It'll be great. I'll feel like a homemaker instead of a taxi driver!

And who knows? I might even have something to talk about on here! (Wouldn't that be something?)

Ready to be home all day,


brenda


Bonus Feature:  (to redeem this boring post)

18 weeks. Please enjoy our messy bedroom. Is that an orange on my bed? 

Today You May Call Me Betty Stewart....or Martha Crocker

It's baking day at the House Revised! Yesterday we worked really hard on school so we aren't worrying about it today. Just baking Christmas goodies.

Of course, first I have to clean the kitchen a bit. Sigh. That is not the fun part!

Most of the goodies will not be consumed by us, although we will be sampling them because how can you give treats away unless you are SURE they are yummy? Right? S has 4 women that work in his office and that is a new thing for him. He knows what to get for male co-workers. This year, he wasn't so sure what to do.

"I know what to get women," I told him. "I'll take care of it."

We'll be making these.
And this. 
And these. 

So...the theme would be....CHOCOLATE.

And, most challenging of all, some of these:

Hey I can't be amazing all the time, yo? Those are for our homeschool Christmas party and our Keepers at Home ceremony later this week. The girls will be earning their pins and Grandparents are invited so we are serving refreshments. Easy refreshments.

But ladies and gentlemen....she doesn't JUST cook!

Today is Sweetheart's last day of piano for 2010 so we are making this to give to her piano teacher. Oh, but we will be using scrapbook paper that has sheet music on it instead of old book pages. It will be pretty.

(Picture from A Cottage Industry--link above)
Her whole site is pretty amazing! She has great ideas!!

Also I'm hand-sewing some little things right now. I love hand-sewing. It gives you an excuse to sit down and rest.

So cooking and craftiness all in one day! (After I clean...sigh.)

Why I'm So Happy About School (Even Though We Are Behind)

Last spring, after deciding that we had hit a wall in reading instruction and the things that were formerly working---weren't anymore, I made a change. I sent out an e-mail to our homeschool group to borrow "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." A dear mom of 8 responded. We went and picked up the book at her house and started the next day.

I felt very honored to use this book. She taught all 8 of her children, 1 of whom is married and 2 of whom are in college, to read. At the top of every lesson are her children's initials and the date they did that lesson. Little Bit already had a good literacy base before starting this book. She wasn't a 4 year old doing these lessons and so we found the book easy to fly through.

Last week found us on lesson 86. (We took the summer off.) The stories were getting longer and a bit more frustrating. I looked ahead and noticed there wasn't a whole lot more learning to happen in the remaining dozen+ lessons. Sure, some more sounds were introduced, but I can introduce those anytime. I asked Little Bit, "Are you ready to be done with this book?"

Of course the answer was yes! So I grabbed the first "reader" from her Sonlight package and handed it to her.

Buh-bye old reading book! (The cover probably fell off 4 or 5 kids ago!)

And she started reading with NO problem. Sure, I'm there to assist her. But I can honestly say...I HAVE ANOTHER READER IN THIS HOUSE!!!

I've seen enough kids learn to read and I can tell she is just at that point where all she'll do from here on out is get better at it. I love this point of reading.

Hello REAL book!!!

And that is why I am so happy with school, even though I am slowly realizing we will never finish all our subjects by May this year. It's all good. The kids are learning!!

**By the way, Little Bit is 8. I share that to encourage some other homeschool  moms. I was a teacher for 11 years and a Reading Specialist for most of those years and here is my kid--reading at age 8. I determined long ago not to push it with her and not to worry about "when" it happened. She has a very positive view of reading that I absolutely know she would not have if I had pushed her to read at the "right" age. Every child is different. Don't stress!

My Ridiculous List Has Been Checked Twice

This week's to do list is completely insane. But it is made, and I shall joy in scratching things off as we get them done. Lots of running, lots of doing, lots of going. And somehow we have to fit the basics in for one last week of school.

Our "Names of Jesus" chain has been really fun, although we most often sit down and do 2 or 3 at a time rather than one every night. We are hanging the ornaments on a little bitty tree I found on sale at Big Lots.

The girls have heard and recognized several of the names of Christ in Christmas carols on the radio since we started this. Little Bit told me she had always heard one of the names in a song and wondered who it was. :) Now she knows!

There's our chain hanging up. That's how many days until Christmas!!!

I sat down Saturday morning and did  my first-ever online shopping marathon. It was glorious! I got everything off of Amazon and most things qualified for free shipping. The few items I had to pay for were more than made up for by NOT spending gas money and running all over town and going through the drive through for snacks during shopping, etc. I was only shopping for the girls, but I feel much relieved after I get theirs done. The rest of the family is not so hard. We don't spend a lot of money on gifts and will be making most of them this week.

I told S what I wanted for Christmas---our bedroom to be painted. It's the only room in our house that we have not painted since we moved in (5 years ago!). Since we will not have a nursery for the baby, but rather a corner of our room, I'd like our room painted nice and fresh before the baby comes. Of course I have a pinterest board that I shared with husband and he's on board and I am very happy about my Christmas gift!

See, I did paint that one wall green since we moved in. It's wallpapered and someone had already painted over it and I wasn't about to start peeling paint and wallpaper! Who knows what's behind all that? We have a special plan for that wall! And that's my side of the bed, there. Where you see the desk, that will be where the baby bed goes. Where you see my dresser, that will be where the dresser/changing table goes. That's it. Baby's whole nursery!

Yesterday, we went to our beloved beach. But this time we didn't swim, or surf, or even set foot on the sand. Instead we walked around the historic downtown district and ate ice cream and window shopped.

Mmm! Candy store. My 12 year old is very tall. And I was wearing heels. 

But it was nice to be back at the beach. But enough fun. Sent husband off to work, and I'm about to get started on this 3 page to do list.

It's the Time of Year to Lose the Dining Room Table

A young friend sent me a message on Facebook this morning. She has her first apartment this Christmas and needs a Christmas tree skirt sewn together. So, she's coming over today after she gets off work.

This is going to cause me to get my hind parts in gear and find drag out set up my sewing machine. I need to do this anyway as last night I started printing out all the patterns and tutorials I had pinned earlier. Time to get going! I don't actually have the budget to go spend money at Hobby Lobby this week, but I should be able to get started on what I have around here.

7 and 3 years old. Aww.

The only problem is, there are a few things I want to sew for the girls. How to sew on these things and have them not see? A few years ago we had a desk in our room and I just locked my door and sewed in there. I could sew after they go to bed at night but honestly I go to bed right after they do! Hmm. I'll have to think about that one.

4 and 8 years old. Sigh. 

I also have several other craft things to do for presents that involve hot glue and scissors and scrapbook paper, etc. All I'm saying is....we aren't going to be able to find the dining room table for possibly a while.

Do you craft for Christmas? Where do you craft? Does it get worse before it gets better?

Running, Lack of School, and Ice Skating

Sometimes there just is no catchy title to pull it all together, you know?

We have been running errands this week every single day and I am SICK of it!! I hate going, going, going. But, the good news is...I found an outfit for the Christmas party!!! I know you are relieved. I went to our Keepers of the Home meeting yesterday and whined about how hard it is to find clothes and the other mom gave me a non-maternity shirt to try. It wasn't my size but it was pretty and I said I would try it on. It fit. And I like it. She's not getting it back. However, it's silky which equals cold in my mind so lucky I found a maternity cardigan to wear over it. So...the whole outfit cost us $16. Thank you Lord!!

Other than running to stores looking for maternity clothes, we've had a doctor's appointment, dry cleaning runs, we have piano today, and need to get gas and go buy hay for the rabbit as it will be freezing tonight.

It was 30 degrees when we woke up this morning and I would really like to just stay home.

And because of all the running, and my friend Kathy said it would make her feel better to hear how other people were not accomplishing a whole lot in school....we aren't. Yesterday I think each girl got 2 subjects done. Needless to say my ambitious plan I outlined, printed, and put on my clipboard is not working out. December is ALWAYS like this and it really is better to just take off this month rather than kill yourself trying, but I feel like I must keep going as we only have 5 months until school will be over for quite some time around here! ACK! At least we are staying home this morning to get things done.

Also, we went ice skating. This was a first for the girls. Our church had a Christmas party for the children  (which included a lesson) at a local ice rink. They really did very well. I was super impressed!

My girls are in pink. 

Ice skates only make Sweetheart look even taller. Ridiculous. 

So, in summary. I'm tired of going places, I have clothes to wear to the party, we need to get more school work done, and my kids can ice skate.

None of which have anything to do with your day. Enjoy!!

P.S. I feel like I should sound more thankful than this post does. 1. I am thankful to have a car to run errands with. 2. I am very thankful for the outfit to wear that did not cost much. 3. I am thankful to be homeschooling my children EVEN when we get behind. 4. Ice skating rinks are really cold.

The Pregnant Brain--Part 2

There she was, feeling good. School was finished for the afternoon and she was sitting and clicking around on her computer. Just relaxing.

Then suddenly a picture of a giant pizza and bag of potato chips showed up on the screen.

And she nearly threw up. Right then and there.

What on earth? She had pizza for lunch!

The pregnant brain.

Who can explain it?

I'm Going By My Calendar

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. I thought I was 17 weeks along walking in, but the nurse said I was 16 weeks. Humph. The doctor had moved my due date after the last ultrasound because the baby had consistently measured a week ahead of the calendar. Apparently, he didn't officially change it in my file though.

I know it doesn't matter. Babies come when they are ready. But I'm sticking with what came out of the doctor's mouth because it sounds so much better to already be 17 weeks along, don't you think?

Here is the crazy part: I haven't gained one pound!! I'm not bragging--I'm amazed!! With both girls I EASILY gained 50-60 pounds. I don't know what's going on this time, but I'll take it because I don't need to gain much. I'm going to make a statement and then I'll explain: I have been way more sick with this one.

Now, having said that....I have never once thrown up during a pregnancy. I don't say that out loud to just anyone, but I figure you guys can't strangle me over the internet! Don't tell me it's genetic because my mom was sick as a dog with all of her pregnancies and my sister and I never get sick. BUT...I have been very grossed out by food, nauseated, and almost threw up one day. For me...that's way more sick than usual! (I am thankful as I know how bad it can get for some women. I cannot imagine!) I suppose it all adds up to not a lot of weight gain and that's OK.

But I was going to tell you about the appointment. If you've even made it this far. Sorry.

The lobby of the doctor's office was pretty, so we took a picture on our way in. 

The girls came with me yesterday and I wasn't sure how the office would feel about children at the appointments. I told them to speak when spoken to but otherwise zip it. (Sweetheart would talk to a brick wall.) But when the nurse-practitioner walked in, she talked to the girls the whole time. She asked THEM how I had been eating and Sweetheart gave me up for that 1/2 a donut I had yesterday morning. I told her she's not coming to any more appointments. (I was kidding.) She explained the heartbeat and had them read the numbers off the Doppler. She was so sweet and teaching them whatever she could. It was nice. She said they are very welcome at the ultrasound next month and the doctor likes to teach too so they should be ready to listen! I'm so glad to have a doctor's office that welcomes the girls as well.

I'll admit I was very relieved after yesterday and hearing the heartbeat. A month is a long time to go between appointments and it's pretty easy to start worrying about things. I am SO thankful for this baby and this pregnancy. I just love every minute of it.

The Annual Christmas Party Ordeal

Guess what faithful readers??? It's that time of year again! Time for husband's work Christmas party. You guys go through this with me every single year. Haven't we had fun? Let's look back on some of the better memories, shall we?

The Unfortunate Shirt Incident

The Better Living Through Facebook Incident

Facebook Success!

(The Pictures)

So....I'm thinking this year is going to be a bit more traumatic because of the whole maternity clothes kink thrown in there. Mind you, I'm not big yet and honestly could get away with wearing normal clothes but that would mean wearing last year's outfit. Or the year before that. Or some combination of the 2. And how many times can you recycle an outfit? Certain pieces, yes. But really. It's time for something new.

So I THOUGHT this one was in the bag. I looked online and found this:

Cute, right? It's long enough (some of these things hit mid-thigh! are you serious? mid-thigh when you're pregnant???) It's black. It has sleeves. It got great reviews. I liked it.

So after my doctor's appointment this morning (more on that later--and yes I was waiting to shop until I heard that heartbeat to make sure everything was OK!), we swung by Motherhood Maternity and found that they had.....size Small and size Medium. Which are not totally useless to me because I could use those sizes as a scarf in a pinch.

Just trying to be positive. The saleslady said they sell out of Large and Extra large really quickly. You don't say? Why would pregnant women be buying those sizes?

I tried on a few other knit dresses and was not pleased to discover that I look...how shall we say? LUMPY. The models do not look lumpy on the website. I think it may depend on better undergarments. Sigh. Also? It was disturbing to watch the girls trying on the belly pillow in the dressing room and convulsing with laughter. Good times.

So...Target has some nice options but most of them say "not sold in stores." Really Target? What DO you sell in your store?

I'm starting to freak out just a teeny bit. Not sleeveless. Longer than my 8 year old's dresses. Cute. Am I asking too much?

Suggestions? Ideas?

And yes, I CAN still wear that black skirt that I've worn 2 years in a row. I wore it Sunday. I could wear a cute fancy maternity top with it. And Carrie, I'm planning to wear the shoes again. OK?

Calling Off All Plans

Sweetheart got sick last night. The puking kind. My stomach doesn't feel so good either. I went to the store at 6:30 this morning to buy Lysol, Jello, instant mashed potatoes, and applesauce.

We will not be worrying about school today. If we get some done...fine. If not....fine.

We will be washing hand and spraying everything in sight.

We will be resting.

It's Friday. Thankful to be home and able to take care of things.

It's December and I Refuse to Panic

I have no Christmas gifts. I know some people are finished or nearly finished with their gift buying.

I have feelings about those people.

But I have nothing. But then again, I never do this time of year. However, sometimes I have some gifts made already.

I'm not feeling the crafty this year.

I do have a lot of gift ideas pinned. We'll see if I can find my motivation soon.

We have decorations up around the house, but no Christmas tree yet. Honestly I'm a bit concerned about getting a real tree with the huge drought we've had. Will it ever make it until Christmas? I guess we just will avoid the fire hazard and not put lights on it. I hate putting lights on anyway.

I am, however, ready to start our "Names of Jesus chain" tonight. Here is the link. I found it through Carissa's site.  (More great ideas on that post!) I'll be honest. I never even heard of Advent until I started reading blogs.  It's not something I grew up doing. I really don't even know where it started. But I like this chain because you just look up the verse and learn the name of Jesus each evening. We are going to color these ornaments also to go along with it. Kind of wish I had a separate tree to put them on. Hmmm.....

Have you found your December motivation? Are you feeling crafty? Are you through with your shopping and willing to admit that to me even though you know how I feel about you? Where do you stand on Advent? Can you believe it's December?

Isn't That What I've Been Saying?

Long division has been the enemy here for a few months.

It's been months and not weeks only because of inconsistent schooling, mind you. We've been on long division for a while. Simple division? No problemo. Long division where numbers don't go in evenly and there are 3 digits in the dividend? With remainders? No good.

There has been much frustration and many set backs. I don't know why it hasn't been making sense to Sweetheart but I think I have figured it out based on yesterday's occurrence.

I believe to her brain, there was a never-ending series of steps you had to go through. These steps must have seemed very random to her because she was never sure what to do next. Or where to write the answer. Or what to do after that. I was sitting right next to her with every problem....

Me: OK---how many times does 4 go into 7? Write it here. Now multiply. Multiply 4 X 1. OK--where do you write that? Now what? Subtract. Now bring down the next number. No, bring it down to here. OK--what's next?

blah blah blah

I was hoping my voice would become her inner conversation but it wasn't happening. Girlfriend was just confused. That's all.

So yesterday I found this little tutorial and had her read it out loud.

And suddenly (cue angels singing) IT ALL MADE SENSE!!!

Why? I don't know. She's very visual. Something about this tutorial just clicked with her and math was done in 1/4 of the time it usually takes.

Praise the Lord!!!! It worked for us, so I thought I'd pass that along. And now some random pictures!

These are the books we found in Sweetheart's room during the cleaning last week. Mind you, there are supposed to be NO BOOKS in their rooms as they are all housed here in the black shelves. We found more later. 

My little family watching Christmas cartoons right after Daddy got home from work the other night. 

When the Plan Goes Out the Window

I very carefully planned out our school year this summer. I scheduled all our breaks. I broke our books down into chapters and lessons and figured out how much we needed to get done each week. I copied everything and organized everything.

It was a thing of beauty.

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Well.

I guess we all know that my beautiful planning is kaput. Those every-6-weeks breaks have to go. (We'll take smaller ones as needed.) I slept through a great deal of the fall so we are behind on every subject just about.

I have often given the advice to others, "Give yourself a break. You'll have time later to catch up!"

A friend is sick as a dog through her pregnancy? I don't expect her to get school done every day! Puhleeze.

A friend lives with a chronic illness? Of COURSE she will have a different looking schedule than most!

Now I have to listen to my own self.

We put up some Christmas decorations yesterday. That was way more fun than school work. We're going grocery shopping today. Life lesson. We'll take time to read Christmas books, and make presents, and enjoy this whole month....and we will do school too.

I made the calendar. It's change-able. It's flexible. We set our own schedule around here. (So thankful!) The girls will learn, and grow, and improve in all areas (maybe not as much as I had planned), every week. They will end this school year smarter than they started it.

But most importantly, they will not live with the memory of a stressed-out mama snapping at them to get busy or skipping holiday fun for math practice. So my advice still stands. It really is true--it will be OK. An off-year isn't going to hurt anyone permanently.

Besides, I know what matters most.

(And it isn't checking off my little school list!)