Making It Up as I Go

This school year looks nothing like I expected. Last year was such a sweet year of homeschooling around the dining room table, using familiar curriculum that Sweetheart had used in private school the year before. She loved all things schoolish and loved for me to act like it was "real" school. (She would come in every morning and say, "Good morning Mrs. E" or "Mom, pretend like I'm a new student and you have to introduce me to the class!") I really enjoyed last year.

But having the summer to think about things and research my options a bit, I changed a few things. What worked really well in 2nd grade wasn't necessarily going to work again in 3rd grade. And I'll be honest, it was very hard to let go of my preconceived notions of what 3rd grade "should" look like. (I used to teach 3rd grade.) I branched out and got some new curriculum that would allow us to study things from a Christian perspective and I'm very glad that I did. I have enjoyed the curriculum we purchased, but the year still doesn't look like I thought it would.

For one thing, the younger grades (Pre-K through 2nd grade) lend themselves to thematic units. That's how I always taught. If we were to the part of our reading book where we read stories about the ocean, I stayed late at school hanging blue plastic wrap from the ceiling to transform our classroom into the ocean. Then I researched and found extra books to go along with our study. We had the best Titanic unit back then. When the movie came out, my former students all had to stop off at my door to ask if I had seen it yet. They remembered that unit because their interest was sparked. I love theme units. It's so fun to put huge dragon footprints in the hallway leading to your room and decorate your door like a castle and watch your students' faces as they walk up. "What are we learning about?????" The answer? Fairy tales. Don't even get me started on my pig unit. I stayed late hauling landscaping timbers to my classroom to build a pig pen that we filled with the students' stuffed pigs where they could sit and read.

Sigh. School used to be so much fun.

But because of the curriculum choices for Sweetheart's 3rd grade year, there really isn't as much time to do a theme unit. Besides, she knows all about Johnny Appleseed and the first Thanksgiving already because she remembers from last year. And if we do our History curriculum every day, it is a theme unit in itself. (The Ancients and all that encompasses.) But to us, that is boring by itself.

I could not believe the transformation in my oldest daughter when we began learning about horses two weeks ago! Since she was already interested, I think I could have gotten her to do just about anything. And we've pretty much kept up with our other subjects. Kind of. But how else can you find yourself watching Mr. Ed and The Roy Rogers Show on Youtube? We were studying famous horses, OK? We have had so much fun.

And that led into our Colonial Unit. I wanted to do some stuff on the 13 colonies, then I got a homeschool freebie download of a colonial book that looked awesome, then I thought, "Why not read the Felicity American Girl books next?" Hmmm. Then I remembered a free lapbook for American Girl books on Homeschool Share.

Another unit is born.

And if you think I have a plan past this you are VERY, VERY funny.

Or new to my blog.

Mark This One "Done"

The American Girl tea party was a great success! Here is the table, all set and ready to go:

The place settings go along with the era each American Girl is from. Above, we have Fire King Jadite dishes for Molly from 1944 and the Depression Glass for Kit from 1934.

And here are fancy dishes for Felicity from the Colonial Era (well, Felicity is from the Colonial Era, not the dishes!), and our real 1970's dishes (and place mat) that my sister and I grew up eating on for Julie. My mom still had them. :)

First, we got everyone dressed and took their picture with the mini-doll of the character they were playing.

My niece Gnat as Felicity (1774)...

My other niece Moose as Julie (1974)...

Sweetheart as Kit (1934)... and Little Bit as Molly (1944)...We had a dance in the living room. My sister had searched YouTube for music to go along with each era. We just let the girls dance however the music made them move. Let me tell you, going from colonial era music to "Shake Your Booty" in 10 minutes' time can make you laugh. A lot. And depression era music? It's...depressing.

On to the tea party! No one had actual tea, by the way. I guess it was really more of an orange juice/milk/water party.

We got so tickled watching Gnat eat her cupcake as "Felicity". There was much sticking out of the little pinkie and dabbing of the mouth with her napkin. The right dress and fancy dishes just bring out the manners I guess.

So what do 1970's melamine dishes bring out?

After that each girl made a mobile of her character. We had a great time and I am glad it's over as we now have a birthday party to get ready for next weekend. Whew. I'm kind of glad it's Monday!

Fitness Friday Assignment

Hey Ladies!! We didn't hear from some of you on Friday, but it's NOT too late! Add your post whenever you like...the Mr. Linky stays up and we will check in on you.

Aunt Bossy left a great comment on my post and it inspired me to make a new button. HAAHAHAHAHA! You know me better than that. Actually, it inspired me to ask JulieMom to make a new button. She made a new and improved Fitness Friday button...it's edgier...it has a catchy slogan (thanks to Aunt B)...AND as a bonus feature, if you add it to your sidebar it will actually give you will power!

OK, not really on that last part.

Here's the button:




I'll have the code up as soon as I can--technical difficulties. You can e-mail me for it if you want!

Oh! I almost forgot. For our posts next week here is your assignment. You are to go shopping (online or real life if you have, you know...money) and pick out a few things you would like to be able to wear one day and feel great in. It might be new pajamas (my capri pants, yes THOSE capri pants, were falling off of me this week), a cute style of dress, whatever. Just something that you would like to be able to wear, but your un-fitness has kept you from wearing up until now. Post links, or pictures, of your choices. Sound fun?

Have a great weekend everyone!

Fitness Friday: Our Stories Edition

First of all, some good news ('cause I'm not so sure my measurements are going to BE good news this week!) Look what I fit into this week:

Yeah! I got it on and off. It's still a bit tight to be comfortable. Add the fact that I'm not used to wearing it anymore...anyway, I'll give it another week or two and I'm sure I'll be back to wearing my wedding ring full-time. I can't wait!

Now. I was 7 pounds, 14 ounces at birth, which was fairly big back then. I was bone skinny growing up, much like my Sweetheart is now. In 4th grade, my friend's father nicknamed me "Stringbean." It fit. I don't have them available, but the pictures of me roller skating down the sidewalk? Makes you wonder how my legs didn't snap in half. I was really skinny.

As a result of my excellent metabolism, I ate all the time. My dad used to tease me that I didn't have a tape worm, I had a tape snake. I never had to practice self-control and so I never really learned it. When my eating started making the pounds come to visit and stay...I didn't adjust properly. Enough psychology.

I was 5' 6" in high school and weighed 110 pounds. (And for lunch every day I ate nachos, a Grape-Ade, and a large chocolate chip cookie. Every. Day.) Looking back I don't think I properly appreciated that weight! When I got married I was 5' 7" and weighed 132 pounds. One day after I had been teaching a few years, Glenda, one of the cafeteria ladies where I taught said, "Mrs. E, you're pickin' up." I had no idea what that meant. It meant I was picking up weight. Thanks for pointing that out, Glenda. I can't fault Glenda. She once confessed to me that her boobs weighed X amount of pounds. How did she know? She threw them up on the scale in the kitchen!!! Oh that woman was entertaining.

I was between 140-150 pounds when I got pregnant with Sweetheart. That pre-baby weight was really a good weight for me, by the way. I'm not really happy to say that I packed it ON during my pregnancy. I got up and ate breakfast sometimes at 4:30 in the morning because I was starving and then ate breakfast again when I got to school. I know my gain was over 50 pounds that first time. And now my favorite quote ever:

"He was a beautiful baby boy but, sad to say, he did not weigh 60 pounds. That is what I had gained and that is what I had to lose." --Barbara Bush

I so hear you Barbara. But the thing is, I didn't lose it. Four years later along came Little Bit. And I gained some more that I didn't ever lose. But I still thought I was skinny. CONSTANTLY I was surprised by photos of myself. Do I really look like that?

But it didn't end with babies. Oh no. After Little Bit was born I quit work and lived in jeans and sweat pants for a year. It seems that jeans and sweatpants don't give you a really good idea of your proportions. Imagine my surprise when none of my old work clothes fit anymore. Huh. By then I had already begun telling myself that it wasn't so bad. And I didn't care. Then, that fateful e-mail to Karly and BOOM! Fitness Friday was born.

Boy I'm getting motivated again just writing this! And that's good because my motivation was waning this week Ladies. I could have done a whole lot better. But still, I'm doing better than I was a month ago. That's for sure.

My end goal in all this (for now) is to fit into a size 12. I think for my height a size 12 is a really good size. And I think that goal is achievable. Right now I'm a size 16 and I'm happy to say that there was a lot of hitching of the pants this week. They aren't falling off yet, and I'm not thinking I would fit a 14 YET...but they were loose. Loose is good.

Wedding rings are better!

Have a great Friday everyone!

The Person I've Become

I am amazed lately by the fact that I graduated high school nearly 20 years ago. And even though I live right where I always have, I never run into people from school. Which leads me to believe that everyone moved away except me. The only person I can honestly say I've kept up with over the years is Derek. And that doesn't count because he's S's cousin.

I didn't even attend my 10 year reunion. I know. I know. You're supposed to go to those things--kind of like prom, right? But our 10 year reunion found me 9 months pregnant with Sweetheart. Plus the tickets were like $60 each. I couldn't see spending $120 to go see folks I was fairly sure I could live without seeing only to go into labor and waste our money.

So not only have I not kept up with people, but I also don't know that I've aged. Well, I mean, I'VE aged, but everyone else I still picture the same way they looked last time I saw them. One day when Sweetheart was about 2 years old I was shopping at Academy. She was sitting in the basket while I wheeled around the clothing section. This man kept staring at me. I was starting to get uncomfortable thinking he was a perv or something. Then he walked up to me and asked, "Are you Brenda (my maiden name)?" OH MY WORD! That MAN who was staring at me was John, and we had gone to school together since Kindergarten. How did he get to be 30 years old?

So it's amazed me to locate old school friends on Facebook recently. It's interesting to get caught up with someone's life over the last 20 years in a few messages. I tell them the basics---who I married and how we have 2 kids and I used to be a teacher, yada yada yada. But I'm not sure they would believe the person I have become. I was a Christian in high school, but I was a weak one. All too often I kept my mouth shut and laughed along with jokes and talking that I shouldn't have even been listening to. My witness? Not so good now that I reflect on it.

Still, how do I explain to someone who I have become? Who God has made me to be? And I'm saddened by more than one life story that I've heard from old friends. Oh, how people need the Lord. Wishing now I had been more of a witness to them. Would that have even been possible? Should I have been in public high school just to witness to my friends? Was I ready for that? Or should I have been in an environment where I could have grown into a stronger Christian? I know how I feel about it when I think about my own children...but it seems different looking back at my high school experience.

I don't think my strength as a Christian would have persuaded any of them to live their life differently. How many people come to know the Lord because some girl in their 6th period class is a Christian? Aren't the adults in their life more important of an influence?

All I know is this: children in public school need our prayers.
I'm not planning to send my daughters off to high school as missionaries.
The number of lost people is staggering to me.

And God can do amazing things in a person's life. He certainly has in mine. It makes me look forward to what else He has in store!