Homeschool Thoughts

I have been considering joining a co-op next year to get my kids more involved in the "arts" and possibly more physical education (more than just riding their bikes up and down the driveway!). My question is, do I want to go big or small? Should I join in with my current HS group that I am involved in that meets about a half an hour away or try and find something closer? Can I actually teach a class for a co-op? I always wanted to be a teacher (I went to college for it, but didn't graduate), could this be my chance? Am I patient enough? All these questions, so little answers! :) I guess it's something to think about and consider, I do have a few months to makes my decisions, right? I never really thought much about it before because living in the UP we didn't have that as an option, there just weren't enough HSers around. Although if you have a co-op with 2 families in your kitchen I suppose you are doing better than not (if that be your desire). Now that my kids are getting older, I do have more things that are possible to be involved in.

I have been thinking about starting a group of Keepers of Faith for the kids in our group. For the girls it's called Keepers at Home and it teaches girls how to be mothers and wives and to be God fearing in the process. The boys group is called Contenders for the Faith teaches boys to become godly men who provide for their families and become the men that God wants them to be. I still have to see if there is any interest in them for our group. It's not a strictly Christian group so I suppose if some don't want to participate they don't have to.

I was also thinking about teaching Latin to the kids next year. Not that I know anything about it but a few different people have suggested this Prima Latina Christian Latin program that they say is really easy to understand, even for kindergarteners. Although it may be more practical to teach them something that they may actually use in the future like Spanish...it's not set in stone yet, just thinking about it. I just think it would be cool to learn it myself and to tell others that my second graders are learning Latin! How many public schools can say that?! HA!:) Who knows, maybe I can teach it in the co-op in a year or two!

I also had an idea that I haven't brought up with my group yet is to have a curriculum drive for hurricane victims. We are members of the Home School Legal Defense Association and in their most recent issue of The Home School Court Report they had an article about hs families that lost everything - it's sad to see how many hs families were affected by the hurricanes. Not only did they loose their homes but also their schools. I figured in an area like this there has to be a ton of hs families that have books and supplies that they are done with and their kids have outgrown. I know I have some stuff that I probably could sell but really don't know how to go about it and it's just sitting there being unused. Somebody who needs it may as well put it to good use. I will probably call HSLDA about it this week and see how we could go about doing it to make sure that it got to the right people.

"The Big City" Library...

Well, we finally got to the library today to get the kids their very first library cards. They were pretty excited about it and it didn't take them long to pick out 2 things. Thankfully that's all they were allowed to check out this time because I didn't feel like being there all day! They each chose a computer game and a book. Luke was pretty upset though when I wouldn't let him keep his card in his pocket. After they were done I went to find some that I had found while browsing the online catalog at home this week. It took me some time because Luke had to pee - well, he said, "I have to go potty mom! That has a "t" in it! And I have to go REALLY bad!" - and kept pestering me to find the bathroom. Well, after looking for 5 different books in 5 different places (and finding 5 completely different books with the same call numbers) I figured out that these books weren't at this particular BRANCH of the library, they were spread all over the county at 4 different libraries! I guess that's what happens when you come from a small town that has only 1 library and go to "the big city" - as Luke and Jozie call it - and have like 6 branches of the same library all over the county! I felt kinda silly after I asked the librarian about it...I didn't even bother looking for anything else, I was pretty embarrassed. I guess after tomorrow they say I will be able to check out like 25 things and I will just request them online and go and pick them up when they come in! AND the next time I go to the library for me, I won't be taking my kids! :)

Woo Hoo!!! :)

Things are going pretty good here. There are a few things that I am more excited about than normal though...

1. Nobody else got the flu! Sam was actually not feeling to well and came home from school on Mon. but ended up going back to school Tues. morning. She didn't sleep well but didn't end up getting sick either! And I know that was nothing but God - I was awake most of the night praying for her!
2. It's almost spring! Well, at least it seems like it here in NW Indiana! I have never lived anywhere that I can go grocery shopping and to the library in short sleeves WITHOUT a coat, hat, and gloves in the middle of January! And without my shoes filling with show! This weather is unbelievable! But, they say it's suppose to snow tonight...like 6 inches...oh, no! *gasp!*...being a Yupper, that doesn't bother me too much, though I know it will be terror to most residents of NW Indiana!
3. I went shopping last weekend with my mom, Jozie, Sam, and her friend, Cierra at Old Navy. Now, I know, that isn't such a big deal, people go shopping all the time, right? BUT this happened to be a sale week where all their clearance was an ADDITIONAL 50% off the marked down price! I couldn't believe my luck! I got Jozie 2 new skirts for less than $5 each - which she picked out, one was pink, of course! I got Luke a fleece hoodie and pants outfit for under $10. Plus, I got myself 3 pairs of pants! But wait...that's not all! I got these pants in a size 12! At lest one of them is! The others are 14 but they are big, the easily pull down without unzipping them.!!! Sorry for all of the "!"'s but this excites me!!! (there I go again:) My mom and I decided that we weren't going to be the fattest ones at Levi's wedding this summer (July 15th) and I believe that I may just pull it off. And the best part of it is that I haven't even been "dieting"! I just quit eating like a pig and everything in sight. It's rather embarrassing to say that I was up to an 18 earlier this winter but I am happy to say that that won't be happening again! And to think that I always thought I was FAT in High School...I took a size 6 or 8...wow...now that's a cow, yah right! I can only DREAM of being that size again! But I know I can do it!
4. Oh, and before I get carried away with my "non-diet" I will add my #4 of "Woo, Hoo"'s! We are starting to look for a house again! Trying to rent to own and find what will fit us in our budget...which is always a fun thing for anybody. Why is it that that "perfect" house is always just a little out of your grasp and you have to settle for just a little less than what you actually want? Is it that we are selfish? Piggish? Wanting more than we really need? Who really knows, I just hope that our house hunting this spring can be better than it was last fall. God willing, we will find that house we have been looking for.

PS...Why is it that so many people send forwarded email that they don't check that validity of BEFORE they send them? I HATE forwarded email and rarely read them because 99% of them are just junk and lies but I fell for 2 of them today! I did check them before I sent them because both of them sounded rather outrageous to be true and sure enough, both of them were just false. So, a little advice, before you send them, check them! :) It's the only way we will rid the world of horrid forwarded email! :) Here's a website called Urban Legends Reference Page where you can check your forwarded email against their research to see if it's true or false.

It's Flu Season! :P :(

So, we got hit...I was really hoping that we were past the holidays and we probably had missed it...but nope. Bob came home sick from work on Mon and was sick all day tues...then Luke started Wed. night and actually woke up puking...on the bed, floor, rug, and finally all over the toilet... :P and to make things worse, he had red coolaid at Awana that night so I think the rug is stained! Sorry for all the details, but I am pretty upset about it. He was so sweet about the whole thing though. He was more upset that he threw up on the rug because I was going to have to clean it up than he was about actually being sick! He said, "I'm sorry Mommy, I didn't mean to puke on the rug!" That's when the tears started. Then later on in the night, I was trying to sleep on the love seat while he slept on the couch (with a bucket next to him this time!) and he woke up and said he was feeling fine, that I could get some rest now in my own bed! What a kid! But, after I went to bed he called me for a drink, then he called me because his belly hurt again (so much for mom getting some rest!) I was sitting next to him on the couch and just trying to comfort him and he said, "Mom, you don't have to stay there, I don't want you to get my sickness. You can go back to bed!" It almost made me cry! It's times like those that make his strongwilledness all worth it. I wouldn't have him anyother way! :) He was feeling better in the morning and actually ate a little breakfast and was going down the steps and quoted Garfield to me - "Love me, feed me, never leave me!" He loved that movie and has seen it about a hundred times!
Jozie has had a little diarrhea today and keeps saying that her belly hurts but I think that's just because she was hungry (I didn't let her eat much all day for fear that she was sick and didn't want her to puke more than she had to)...hopefully that's all she gets. I am just waiting until this weekend or Mon. for my turn...I do not look forward to it! I'm just praying that it stops here!
So, since I have been cleaning washing towels and sheets, and disinfecting all week, I haven't had time to post about our trip to Navy Pier.
The kids had a great time! We did end up paying for all of us to ride the rides at the Winter Wonderland because the lady who coordinated it didn't know that you didn't have to pay to get in, only to ride. But the kids definitely used their money's worth. The only thing they didn't do was skate because none of us adults would go with them. I MAY have been tempted to take one at a time but it's been so long since I have been on skates and they only had hockey skates, which I could never skate in, for rent. So, they went on the climbing wall, down all of those big blown up slides, those big blown up trampolines, the Ferris wheel, and a bunch of other rides.
The Chicago Children's museum was free that day so we went there in the afternoon. The kids had a great time there too but our time was cut short because my mom, Bob, and John decided they were bored and sat at the ice cream shop and waited for us..and got bored doing that too. But, they did get to dig for dinosaur bones, check out the robots, play in the waterworks room, and climb the ships mast and gang walk. We didn't find our group until the last room because we all ate at different places and didn't all get to the museum at the same time but once we found them they didn't want to leave. We were in the waterworks room, which is like a huge water table play area. They supplied raincoats for the kids to wear! They did get wet, despite the raincoats but had a lot of fun. Jozie had all her little girl friends there and was very upset to leave, and Luke liked undoing all the things the girls were doing so he didn't want to leave either.
But, we had a good time and actually made the trip to Chicago in about 40 minutes and back in the same amount of time! Anybody who lives around here can probably tell you that is record time! The traffic was unbelievably good, which was good for me because I always get sick when I ride in that van for very long!
We just got our new Paces in this week so we will be starting them on Monday. I'm excited. It's all new stuff and I know the kids were getting tired of just letters and numbers everyday. I'm really hoping they will both take off and finish first grade this year. I know Jozie will, but I'm sorta nervous about Luke, he isn't too big on school work yet but if he doesn't make it all this year, there is always next year. He is a year ahead at this point anyway.

Jozie and Kylie on the huge rocking horse (Jozie wasn't letting go for nothing!)

Jozie, Luke, and Daddy by the Robots

Jozie and Luke on Lukes favorite ride, and of course in his favorite drivers car! (Tony Stewart, because the car is orange, of course!)

Luke at the Waterworks

My budding archeologists!

Luke on the climbing wall (with daddy there to catch him!)

Another Tag....

With all of these tags I am having a hard time finding time to make an actual post from me! Maybe it will come soon...we are going to Navy Pier tomorrow for their Winterfest and the Childrens Museum so I should have some more to post and some picutures...so without further adue...here's my whatever it is... :)

Four jobs you've had in your life:
1. pizza maker (pizza place in L'anse, MI)
2. photo taker (worker for Soumi College news paper...I think that's what it was!)
3. ice cream scooper (same pizza place in L'anse)
4. message taker (MTU IT Dep. office assistant)

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. While You Were Sleeping
2. Anne of Green Gables
3. Kristy
4. Princess Bride

Four places you have lived:
1. Almost as far north in MI as you can go
2. Mount Rushmore National Memorial, SD (yes, I lived there at the dorms while I worked there for a summer in college)
3. Northern MN
4. Northwestern IN

Four TV shows you love to watch :
1. CSI (all of them)
2. Gray's Anatomy
3. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
4. Survivor

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Springfield, SD
2. Omaha, NE
3. Orlando, FL
4. Bayfield, WI

Four websites you visit daily: (I'm NOT excluding blogs)
1. Amie's Blog
2. Jamie's Blog
3. My yahoo groups
4. Handwriting Practice!

Four of your favorite foods:
1. IceCream
2. Papa Murphy's Pizza
3. Chicken Fajitas
4. Steak (red meat!)

Four places you would rather be right now:
1. In bed, reading and relaxing.
2. Watching TV
3. In MI visiting my daddy
4. Visiting reletives in SD

Four bloggers you are tagging:
1. You
2. You
4. You and
5. You