Biology Lesson

Rachel and I will be learning all about animals in the next few months of Science.  Luckily, we have an expert joining us for the lessons on offspring.

(Actual conversation...)
Ruby:  Mama, Taylor Swift is a Mom (while she's looking at a picture of her).
Me:  No, Ruby, she's not a Mom.
Ruby:  Yes, she is!
Me:  What makes you think that?
Ruby:  I can see her ribs.
Me:  What?
Ruby:  She's got big ribs.  I can see them.
Me:  So, having big ribs makes you a Mom?
Ruby:  Yep.

Winter Break!

The first half of homeschooling Kindergarten is over!  We ended our "semester" today with a subtraction test, the final page of the 1st grade handwriting book, writing a Christmas story (in which Santa's countdown machine broke), and a totem pole to represent our family.  Rachel has really learned a lot since our official start in August.  I know there are things we need to go back and review (like addition facts and lowercase r), but I'm proud of us for making it this far!!  I hope we can keep up the momentum once Baxter is here and Allen goes back to work and we have to start schooling in our new normal.  She can be very focused when she wants to be and very distracted, too, so it will be a challenge!  My goal for myself is to stay on top of the planning and come up with more engaging activities for Ruby and Ford while Rachel really needs to concentrate!
Now bring on the season of holiday cheer!  We are ready for our Christmas Eve service, Sana's visit, and a new year with a new baby.  I'll keep you posted on Baxter's arrival, but other than that, I doubt there will be much blogging over the next two weeks!
Merry Christmas!  Happy Holidays!  Season's Greetings!

Finals week

It is finals week at Ingram School as in:
-final Daisy meeting
-final story time
-final tennis lesson
-final violin lesson
-final appt when I'll need childcare
-final week I'm going to say, "Banjo is going to tell Santa if you don't listen!"

Some of these things (plus more) will start back up in January, but it will be nice to take a little break. Allen has a half day on Friday and then he's on break until the 2nd (depending on when a little baby makes his appearance!).  It will be so nice to go to my appointment next Monday without worrying how the kids will act or if Ruby will have an accident that someone will have to clean up.  The kids are excited about Papa time and, of course, Santa Claus!  Next week will be a little wild but this is such a great time for them to get new toys, new books, and new activities that they can use when Baxter gets here.  At my appointment yesterday Barbara didn't seem to think that Baxter was in any hurry to get here.  Things are definitely progressing, but I am 37 weeks, after all!  Ruby also had an appointment yesterday for her 3 year old check up.  She was so independent and wanted to go by herself with Nurse Sarah to have her height, weight, and blood pressure checked.  She even peed in a cup (the first Ingram child ever to do that on the first try at the office!).  When I filled out her 3year-old questionnaire I was amazed at the fact that I could answer "yes" to every single question except one (uses scissors correctly...I had to put sometimes because she doesn't often get scissors!!).  I think, thought that when you're the third child you've picked up on all the things your brother and sister can do.  It's nice to have a pediatrician, too, who knows your child well enough to know that she really can do all of the things it was asking!  So, I guess that was Ruby's final and she aced it!  Now, we just wait for Baxtie Bax Bax to come and then we'll be going to the office more regularly!

We are really gearing up our Christmas preparations around the house now that Ruby's birthday has passed.  Today the kids cut wreaths out of green construction paper (no, Ruby didn't get to cut!), used red dot dots to put berries on them and then colored a bow.  We practiced our songs for Christmas Eve and talked about the parts they will most likely be playing in the play.  Rachel has one Native American group left to talk about either tomorrow or Thursday, subtraction to finish up, and a Christmas story to write and then Ingram school will officially be on break until January 6 (also depending on when Baxter shows up!).

It's nice to have everything bought, wrapped, and labeled.  Just gotta do some baking this weekend and put my feet up.  Then I'm along for the ride of Christmas-New Year-Baby delivery :)

What I need to be learning/remembering...

Rachel has learned about the Native Americans, subtraction, and magnetism.
 Ford is a triangle pro and is into spelling words with magnets on the refrigerator.
Ruby has been working hard in a princess book she got fr her birthday with stickers and mazes and fun activities as well as coloring lots of art work she got for her birthday.
Baxter is learning how to breathe on hs own.
Now it's my turn to re-learn and remember what I need to be doing to get ready for a newborn.  I also am going to have to teach myself some new things.  Here's the list I came up with today of things I haven't put any energy any to thinking about yet, but better get on it!:
-keeping track of eating, peeing, and pooping...they ask you at every check up how often they do all three and in the past I've actually kept track in a notebook so that I had my answers ready!
-using cloth diapers (!). I think my plan is to use the generously loaned out cloth diapers during the day at home and stick to disposables at night and while we're out.  Probably should start thinking about a system for keeping those suckers clean!  This is wher Baxter's excellent godmother, Amanda, is going to have to give me some lessons!
-how to schedule homeschooling, art classes, tennis, violin, soccer, and, oh, each, a NEWBORN!  Good thing I've got the bucket car seat already installed for Baxtie (Ruby's latest nickname) to ride around in and two nursing covers!
-Keeping the house clean so that somebody will buy it, and packing up and moving if it sells...what a great problem to be faced with at this point!
-having patience
-getting my running legs back!!!  I just can't even wait for blisters and salty shirts and layering up on Saturday mornings!  My body has taken a beating this time around, so I think the return to running will be slow, but I'll get there!!  Gotta get that iPod ready to go!!

My bag is packed, the car seat is in, we have cute Baby Boy candy, Christmas shopping tat had to be done without kids around is finished.  Ready or not Baxter ought to be here peeing and pooping and crying and sleeping and cuddling and cooing in 3 weeks or so!  I can't believe it's finally here!!

Advent in Ingram School

Our kids know about Advent.  We have an advent "wreath" made of pottery and we are lighting a candle each Sunday.  We have an Advent calendar that Allen and I made together for Ford's first Christmas on which the kids take turns putting a different symbol of Christmas each day.  We also have an Advent calendar on the computer that Baba sends every year that has something new to do or look at every day.  Advent is about waiting and about being patient and that is such a hard thing for small children.  It is probably one of the best lessons I can teach them in school, but it is so hard.  We're talking about people who don't like to wait ten seconds for somebody else to climb into the car!       This is the third Advent season that I have been pregnant and it's a lesson in waiting for myself.  The kids are learning to be patient to open presents and decorate a tree (we wait to decorate until after Ruby's birthday on the 14th).  I am learning to be patient with my body.  Each pregnancy the aches and pains get a little more difficult, but each time I remember how they completely go away!  I have a hard time breathing, but I know that will be gone when Baxter is out.  I have a hard time walking, rolling over in bed, putting on shoes, but that, too will all be gone in a month or less!  I have a hard time waiting to meet this precious little boy and sharing him with his brother and sisters and father, but I know that there are many reasons for him to stay in and grow.  Most of all, though, I have a hard time waiting to see what our life will be like with our family complete.  Allen and I were pretty certain Ruby would be our last baby, but something just kept nagging us to try for a little brother for Ford.  It is unreal that this is actually going to happen.  I can't say 100% that Baxter will be the final Ingram baby, but we really have been given more than we could ever have dreamed of.  I spend so much of my time picturing our life in five years when we have hopefully sold this house and built our homestead in the country, when our kids can go exploring in the woods by themselves and I have the energy to make homemade bread and applesauce again.  When Allen can find a job that he loves and maybe even be able to do it from home.  Most of all, I think about being together, eating meals together, learning together, traveling together, and marching to our own beat together.  I think the hardest part of waiting is figuring out how to do these things together now with what we have and even though I want Baxter to be here so I can get my energy back and put more effort into this family and our school and our lives, I am willing to wait because what is four weeks in the grand scheme of things?  The kids will remember this season when we waited for Baxter and I think, like Christmas, the anticipation is just as fun as the actual event.  I hope Baxter is everything they want in a brother, a best friend, and more.  I know he will be our precious gift this year and a healthy baby is all I need.  He will definitely be worth waiting for!

12 things of school

1.  School went great today with everyone doing their work at the same time.  That plan might bomb tomorrow, but it worked today!
2.  Ford and Rachel both used excellent handwriting skills to answer the same questions.
3.  Rachel did her subtraction with no help today...a genius!
4.  Ford can tell you that a triangle has three points, three lines, and three angles.  He can almost spell triangle!
5.  I love reading Christmas stories!  Today was Madeline's Christmas.
6.  Rachel learned that whena magnet pulls on something, we use the word attract.  She took her magnetic fishing pole all over te house to see where it would stick, I mean attract.  Apparently, the entire back door is metal!
7.  We checked out a gazillion books on Native Americans at the library today so that we can dive in tomorrow (or maybe Thursday).
8.  Ruby did several number puzzles today and lots of ballet!
9.  Our craft was to cut out green Christmas trees, yellow stars, and brown trunks.  Rachel and Ford did their own cutting.  Everybody pasted the three items together and then used watercolor pencils to decorate.
10.  We went to story time today and heard Mr. Jason's stories about dragons.  It's nice to go hear Mr. Jason again every now and then.
11.  Rachel practiced her violin beautifully today despite the fact that it is seriously out of tune!
12.  Tomorrow will be alittle crazy because Baxter and I have a check up in the morning.  I think this is the last "just measuring" visit and then next week I go once a week and check what's happening inside.  Hold tight, Bax Bax, I need you to make it four weeks from tomorrow!!

3 weeks of school and 35 weeks of baby

I always think things don't work out as I've planned them, but when I look back, they seem to work out despite what I might have planned.  When Allen and I decided to have a fourth child, we wanted to not have another holiday baby, but it might just work out well that Baxter comes over the winter break since Allen doesn't have any more sick days and the kids will have lots of new toys to play with while I feed the baby.  I am holding out hope that we make it all the way to January 1 before we head to the hospital, but there is no way to plan or control that!!
As far as school goes, we have 3 weeks (15 days!) until Winter Break (I'm not calling it Christmas break because so much more than that one day will be happening during that time!).  Ford is going to work on triangles, reviewing his writing, doing activities in a Rudolph book, and making Christmas crafts.  Rachel is going to keep reading, working on subtraction, practicing her handwriting, learning about magnetism and Native Americans, and reading and writing Christmas stories.  Ruby has a Minnie Mouse Christmas activity book that she loves.  She colored all of the pictures in it today already with the peach crayon.  Maybe tomorrow we can try a different color on top of that ?  I'm trying to make a simple craft every day except Wednesdays (we have a craft at story time) to practice cutting and pasting.  Today we made stockings out of red and white construction paper and put them up on the wall.  Ford colored orange stripes on his, Rachel put a flower and polka-dots, and Ruby colored a Christmas tree (at least one person is in the Christmas spirit!).
We had a pretty good morning getting back into the swing of things, but our afternoon was kind of lousy.  No one wanted to listen or make good choices.  I think they were a little wound up about going to the town Christmas parade tonight (candy!!) and because our elf on the shelf, Banjo, is here!  Yesterday all they wanted to do was show Banjo that they are well behaved and how much they've grown since last year.  Today I told them that Banjo just might go on back to the North Pole and stay because he wasn't seeing anything good.  I need to make a better effort to follow up with consequences when they don't listen or we're all going to go insane!!  I think a week of junk food, TV, and beach time totally threw us off kilter, but it's time to buckle down and get back to what our normal life looks like so that we'll all be happier.  Then Baxter will be here and we'll figure out a new normal!

A full day

It's getting busy around here!!  We had two days worth of school work to do today, so Rachel and Ford's little brains were worn out by 9:30!!!  We made it through, though, and packed up to head to Target!  This is not a simple trip for us since it's 30 minutes away, but a snack and some Taylor Swift made the drive fly by.  Ruby finally got to use her money to buy herself an adorable leotard!  Racheland I snuck in some tights, leg Warner's, and ballet shoes for her birthday.  She will be such a diva at her birthday party.  Not to worry, though, I'm sure Webb will be all boy so the party should have quite the YinYang feeling :). Ballerinas on the floor, tough guys in the foam pit.
While we were at Target, I figured I better go ahead and get any essentials for Baby Baxter in case he decides to come early (I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "Oh, you won't make it to Christmas!"...I am super determined to make it to the New Year!). We got a blue crib sheet and a super cute little outfit that sort of doubles as a winter coat that he can wear home from the hospital.  That ought to guarantee that it will be 60 degrees the day he's born!  We also swung into Michael's next door and got a frame to paint and out his name on that will sort of match everyone else's name sign.  Apparently, after six years they decide to stop carrying the same thing I've bought for every  kid!
By this time everyone was starving but had been so good, so we went to Costco and got some samples and a cup of frozen yogurt for each of us.  We came home and napped/rested, played with Papa, ate dinner, finalized some ideas for our letters to Santa, and even managed to practice a little violin.
I can't believe how fast these holidays and due date are coming, but there's nothing we can do to stop it, so we might as well get prepared!

Wrapping things up for the holidays

I am in finishing mode.  If yiu're a runner, you know what I mean.  The finish is in site and I've got energy left, so let's get there!!!  This week we are going to wrap up the Human Body.  We are going to start and finish our small unit on US Geography.  We are going to finish the first lesson of subtraction.  We are going to take on a couple of tall tales and be done with that section.  I am so excited that all of this can be finished up by Friday so that we can sit back, relax, and enjoy more than a week of vacation for our Thanksgiving Holiday.  I am planning to put my feet (with their fancy polished toes) up and let the swelling go down!  Thanks to my sweet friend, Amanda, I had an awesome pedicure and some good old-fashioned girl time yesterday.  Thanks to Dr. Ed and Lisa, our kids got some much needed attention on Saturday morning and an awesome playdate.  Thanks to my super husband (of 8 years tomorrow), I had a lot of time off my feet this weekend and actual time to rest.  Throw all that together with some nesting and we are cruising to the holidays.  I'm going to try to tackle some small things in the month of December for school, but let's face it, every school in America-public, private, charter, home, etc- will be in holiday mode after Thanksgiving.  It's time for making Christmas crafts, singing Christmas carols, and reading Christmas stories.  If I were teaching public school, we'd just substitute the word "holiday" for Christmas.  It's a great time to review and have fun without too much stress.  We have no idea what our Christmas break will be like, so there is no need to start any new big project.  We are going to desperately need a routine when January rolls around, so it's okay to loosen things up for a couple of weeks.  The major assignment of Ingram School for the month of December will be to keep Baxter from coming early!!!

Maybe I'm not so bad after all

I've been exhausted all week and feeling like I haven't been on my "A" game for school.  We're plugging right along and covering the basics, but there haven't been too many exciting extras!
So, this morning as I have a headache and a sore throat and Rachel is going back and forth with a fever and now Ford doesn't feel well, I just decided to turn on a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for everyone so we could just relax on the couch.  I always feel bad about resorting to a show, but sometimes you've gotta do what you've gotta do.
Ford made me feel a lot better, though, when he said, "Mama, this episode has a lot of personification!"

On this week's episode of Ingram School...

We are almost through with all seven continents!  Rachel thought it was hysterical that we started Antarctica on the day that it was calling for snow here!  (Unfortunately, after waiting all day, we didn't get to see the five minutes of snow...must have been showering and brushing teeth before bed!)
Rachel started subtraction and really seemed to get it!  I guess when other people in the house are always taking things away from you, it makes sense :)
We began reading Fables yesterday and all of the kids like listening and talking about personification.  Every story we read after that, they had to point out the animals who were talking or wearing clothes!  Super cute!  Our first fable was "The Lion and the Mouse" and Ruby loved that someone small could help someone big.  She kept telling me all day how she was helping even though she was little!
There are zillions of ideas out there about the five senses, but honestly, we're being pretty boring and zooming right through them.  We did so much with them last year, so we're just reading a story about each sense and focusing on the organ associated with it.
Rachel signed up to read to a therapy dog at the library yesterday.  She did a great job sitting right down and reading three Biscuit books.  I was most proud of how she didn't need me to sit with her!!  Ruby and Ford and I just wandered around the children's room and checked out books.  For some reason, the subject of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory came up this weekend and they really want to read it, so last night we started with the first three chapters.  Rachel and Ford loved it!!  Ruby could take it or leave it...she's not so good with a book that isn't full of pictures!
We will finish up the continents this week, finish up the five senses, read the rest of the "required" fables, and try to get a good grasp on subtraction.  Coming up next week, it's time to start talking turkey!  I'm hoping to do lots of fun crafts and spend time talking more about what we're thankful for while still getting in some good math and reading before the Thanksgiving holiday.  To wrap up the Human Body, we're supposed to talk about taking care of our bodies including eating healthy. Ni guess we could all use that reminder before we have a week full of stuffing, cakes, pies, and more!

Roller Coaster World

Ingram School could easily be compared to an amusement park on any given day!  It has been such a week of ups and downs and extremes that I feel like I'm just going from one ride to the next.  We even have a feel of Epcot these days while we work our way through the continents.  Rachel and Ruby love reading stories about the animals that live in Australia like kangaroos, koalas, wombats, and today there were even dingoes!!  We started the human body in science this week which is a lot of review since the goals are to learn about the five senses and how to eat healthy and take care of your body.  Those are things all three kids are familar with.  Ruby is cranking out capital letters these days with little help like H, L, F, E, P, B, R, Y, and V (sometimes U).  Ford doesn't want to be on that level any more so he has fully committed himself to learning lower case letters and only writes his name in lower case now!  Rachel can't be outdone, so she really wants to know when she can start cursive.  Where does this competitiveness come from?!?!  Ford loves doing his math in which he is still counting blocks and shading blocks.  Rachel finishes up addition facts and starts subtraction (!) next week.  She couldn't be more thrilled!  I've been trying to do more crafty things but my patience doesn't hold out for long these days.  However, today's weather was so beautiful that after doing our work we went to the park for recess and then had a paint party at the picnic table.  Thank goodness for washable paint or I might not have been able to handle it.  Ruby basically laid across the poster board at one point and Rachel took the sponge to her face, but I let it go and even enjoyed it!  We ended up with an awesome abstract painting that they all worked on and a portrait of (surprise!) Thomas, Percy, and Edward in the mud.  Ford did the trains and mud.  Rachel painted a beautiful landscape in the background with a sun and a flower (but not a sunflower).  Ruby immersed herself in sticks, sponges, dot markers, and every.single.paintbrush on the abstract piece.  They were very proud of their work and were great helpers when it was time to clean up.  And here's the best part:  no one whined or complained when it was time to clean up!!!  Merr Christmas to me!!  Everyone is resting now.  Rachel even got under her covers to rest because she starts tennis today (everyone's favorite winter sport!).  I'm excited that she'll get to be with kids her age and get some exercise.  Basically, we're just trucking along on this ride for 8 more weeks until Baxter comes with a new ride for our family to experience!!

Halloween

Happy Halloween!  It's a wild day around Ingram School.  We started bright and early by going to Baba's to check mail and get papers and we had to be there by 8:00 to see the new Curious George Halloween special.  Finally, a show that didn't produce whining and crying at the end!!  It was super cute and totally worth it.  I miss Curious George.  I always thought those episodes were cute and we usually learned something.  The kids don't like the drama and today's movie was pretty dramatic, but after hiding behind the couch, Rachel really loved it.  Ruby and Ford loved it, too...they didn't have to hide their eyes as much!!
We came home and did some handwriting and read some Halloween stories and even worked together to bake Jack-O-Lantern cookies.  They had a lot of fun decorating them...candy eyes and all!  Ford started his numbers in his math book today and when he finishes those, he'll be ready to move on to the Kindergarten book and the world of lower case letters!!!  He is so excited!  I think Rachel is just as excited for him!!  We colored some Halloween pictures and Rachel and I worked to make a list of possible candy she might get trick or treating tonight (Ford and Ruby chimed in, too, with their favorites).  I wrote the list of candy and then she wrote it in her handwriting, too.  Tomorrow we'll check off all the things she got in her bucket.  I was going to try to make a chart, but I'm afraid we won't have much candy left...we'll see what happens tomorrow after Papa gets a chance with their buckets :)
This afternoon we have violin.  Rachel is going to wear her costume (she is a witch), but wait for makeup when we get back home).  Allen is lucky enough (or maybe I'm the lucky one!) to leave school a little early today and bring Ford and Ruby home to start getting ready in their costumes and make some food to take to a Halloween party tonight.  When Rachel and I get home, we'll do some quick makeup on everyone, then make our rounds to Ms. Lisa, Dr. Ed, G.G., Aunt B, etc and then head to the Shives.  We're going to load all 5 kids in the wagon and walk down to a Halloween party/dinner thing and then go trick or treating.  We'll see how long we make it!!  It's going to be a wild and crazy afternoon, but I think we'll have a good time.
I've been reading several blogs this afternoon while waiting for Ruby to go to sleep and I've got lots of ideas for the upcoming months as far as holiday planning and de-cluttering go (I know, I have the extreme opposite problem of a hoarder, but it is what it is).
Tomorrow we'll start talking about what we're thankful for and drawing turkeys.  I'm ready to start emphasizing with the kids, too, that we need to be grateful for all that we have and try to do nice things (and meaningful things) for those that don't have as much as we do.  Rachel is starting to learn more and more about that through Daisy Scouts but it can't hurt to talk about it with Ford and Ruby, too!
I'm also trying my best to get a little more exercise in my life (we'll call it P.E.) because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel when it's not okay to eat whatever I want just because I'm pregnant!!  I heard a lot of songs yesterday that I used to listen to while running and my feet were getting a little itchy to get back to the pavement!!
Here's to the end of October...I can't believe how fast the next two months are going to fly!!!

Friday thoughts

--I love cold weather, but boy, has it been cold!!
--Baxter is going to be here before you know it and it will be like he's always been a part of our family.  I clearly remember the feeling I got when each child was born of how weird it was to think of our family without them!
--Halloween is next week, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas...this time of year is so fun, but flies by! And did I mention that Baxter will be here at the end of all that (let's hope we make it that far!!)
--I'm ready to have my energy back and not have aches and pains and be hungry all the time. Hopefully we can get Baxter adjusted quickly so I can get into a better routine of school and planning.
--I love my kids so much, even on the days they drive me crazy!!

Yesterday was so much better, I couldn't even blog about it!

Not one second of TV yesterday made for a much better day (a little sleep helps, too!).   The kids had a great time at story time and we did some extra work because I had a big surprise for them today.  We got up and out of the house at 7:50 this morning!!  I took everyone with me for my 30 week appointment (technically I'm still 29 weeks, but Baxter is definitely measuring a 30!!).  They were really well behaved and Barbara even let them put in an order for the kind of stickers they'd like to have next time so the office girls could order them!  We left there around 9:30 and got in the car with a snack to go to the zoo!!!  It was super cold today but we had a blast looking at all of the animals Rachel's been studying.  It's cool that now she know lions live in Africa and lemurs live in Tropical Rain Forests in Africa and South America.  We ran and ran and learned lessons about avoiding school groups because they're wild and rarely use manners!  Rachel also wanted to know if we could have T-shirts made that say "Ingram School" for when we go on field trips (very observant, that girl!).  We had an eventful afternoon of taking everyone to violin practice...no one would stay with Ms. Lisa at GRACE girls because the girls were being loud and obnoxious.  Ms. Luci was a good sport and even though I didn't get to pay much attention at violin, we made it through!!   We swung by to see Papa real fast and then went to get Baba's mail.  I remembered on the way that we had free Kidz Meal coupons for Zaxby's (everyone should join their Kidz club, it rocks to get free meals for Halloween, Back to School, and their birthdays!!).  Dinner was easy!  Then we played and relaxed a little before having an early bedtime due to the exhaustion!!  It's 7:30 and I haven't heard a peep!  Maybe we should go to the zoo more often :)

How TV ruins our day

We had a super awesome morning filled with discussions of rain forests, monkeys in South America, reviewing ways to add up to 9, practicing upper case letters, reading the Three Billy Goats Gruff, counting circles, using stickers, and more.  This was all done before 8:45!  We needed to go by my Mom's house to check on things and get the papers, so I told the kids if we could finish our school work without whining, complaining, or rushing, we could go in and watch a show and have a snack.  I've never seen kids go for 90 minutes like that without one.single.complaint before!  When we got to Mom's, I settled everyone in front of the TV, divided up the rest of the Goldfish, and they enjoyed an episode of Peg + Cat (a super cute new math show on PBS).  While they watched and ate, I went through the papers, emptied the dishwasher, etc.  I was almost done when the show ended and try, of course, wanted to watch one more show.  I figured it couldn't hurt since the next show was Dinosaur Train and I did want to sit down for a little while.   After that, though, it was, "Can't we watch one more?" and "I want more to eat." and lots of whining.  I said, "No!" to both and loaded up the car.  It was like the whine switch had been turned on and the rest of the morning was Complain City.  We finally started our all-time favorite game of Puzzle Obstacle Course (run two laps, stop and do a puzzle, run two more, stop and do a puzzle, until the puzzles have all been done).  Everyone kind of turned things around and then I made the huge mistake of getting out some more challenging puzzles.  For Ruby, that meant trying the 24 piece Thomas puzzles that Ford has been doing since he was two. Ford started crying like a baby because I let her do those puzzles.  It was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen!  I tried explaining to him that I had a more challenging (100 piece) puzzle for him but he coukdn't get past the fact that Ruby was doing HIS puzzles.  Once she was done and let him have them, he was better, but he still wouldn't try the harder puzzle which s crazy because he s awesome at puzzles!  After lunch we played some more, then read stories and settled for rest time.  Everyone needed a break, but I desperately needed a shower!!  The safest way for me to take a shower when I'm the only adult here is to lock the door and let the kids watch a show.  We had already met our limit of TV time, but Ruby was asleep, so I thought Rachel and Ford could handle 20 more minutes of a Busytown Mystery so that I could not feel so grungy.  It all went well until I came out and realized Rachel had been chewing on her fingers the whole time...which drives me crazy.  I told her if she did it again she had to leave while Ford finished the show.  Of course, she did it again, so she left and Ford finished the show while I finished getting dressed.  Then he wanted to look up how much a Thomas Train cost so while we did that Ruby woke up and came in my room.  When I turned off the iPad she screamed like someone had pushed her down a flight of steps.  She couldn't believe that I wouldn't let her watch a show or play a game (she had no idea that the other two had watched a show).  It was only after I got Rachel and Ford a snack that she finally calmed down enough to tell me that she would eat a little snack.  I needed some fresh air after that!  We went for a walk and stopped at Vanessa's to swing for a little while, then Rachel got mopey because people weren't paying "her way" and Ruby got mad because Ford decided he didn't want to play with girls.  It was just too much!!  We walked up the hill (with Vanessa and the boys) and played in our back yard for a little while.  Then it was time to fix dinner and see Allen for 30 minutes before he had to leave again.  Rachel drove me crazy by eating with her fingers instead of her fork but I finally got her to use the fork.  I thought everybody might calm down if I let them play in the bath tub instead of just taking quick showers and that finally seemed to do the trick.  We took our time bathing, washing hair, brushing teen, drying hair, etc. and still had time to sit at the table all together and color.  It was a relaxing evening at the end of a chaotic day.  I know my patience level is at an all-time low right now and I don't have the energy to do all they want to do right now, but I'm still blaming it all on the TV!!!  (which I guess really means I blame myself since I let them watch it, but don't tell...)

Lots of work

Rachel and I accomplished a LOT of work today!  We started South America and she pointed out to me that the Equator runs through it (so proud!).  She read a Bob book to me and made sure I saw that it was for First Graders!  We made a KWL chart about rain forests and looked at a rain forest book together.  She wrote and illustrated a story all by herself about three tree frogs who are playing ball outside and have to come in when a storm comes.  She did a math review and made me a little nervous that we're going too quickly through addition.  Some days she remembers the facts and some days she looks at me like she's never seen math before!!  We read "The Bremen Town Musicians"...another crazy Grimm Brothers story.  Ford and Ruby were able to answer all of my questions...Rachel was exhausted by this point!!  All of us made Jack-O-Lanterns out of craft bags and hung them up like stockings over the fireplace.  Ford finished his capital letters today and was so proud of himself!  Ruby emptied out the puzzle basket and was able to put all the puzzles back together.  We played outside for awhile after np time and the ate dinner.  Rachel and I went to Daisy Scouts and then to bed.  It's been a busy day but it feels good to get so much done and have fun doing it!!

The end of North America

It's Friday, AKA pizza night, so we're having Mexican pizza.

Rachel and I looked at picture books of Canada and Mexico today.  She was bored.

We read "The Wolf and the Seven Kids" today.  Ford doesn't understand why all of these fairy tales have wolves that eat people or animals and then get cut open in the end.  Frankly, I don't get it either!!  Those Grimm brothers had wild imaginations!!  I'm also not sure how I feel about the celebration at the end that the wolf is dead.  I'm sure long ago parents were in an uproar over the violence in fairy tales!!

Ford has been sad lately that Allen has to go to work.  He wanted to move his bed back to his old room with Baxter's crib and make a boys' room.  He also thinks Allen will be sleeping in there with them.  I think he's got big plans for late night boys' nights!!

Ruby got a new tutu and fairy wings today from my friend's mother.  As if wearing just the leotard weren't enough!!  Always fun to take Ruby and her outfits out in public :)

Good books

We had a pretty regular morning today.  In addition to our normal work routine, Rachel, Ruby and I read about the Statue of Liberty since that is the landmark we're supposed to associate with Nirth America.  Rachel and I decided it would be fun to go see it in person some day!  Ford has been asking to go to our favorite little library out in the country, so when we finished our work, we headed out there.  He went straight to "the big Thomas book" while Ruby looked through some Dora books.  I love how this library is laid out and I was quickly able to find books about South America and rain forests for next week as well as some more age-appropriate books on Canada and Mexico for this week. It is well worth the 15 minute (or 4 Taylor Swift songs) drive to get such great books!!  Our library in town will never be this organized, not because the librarians don't care, but because people don't put things back or take care of books like they should.  I am always so impressed with the quality of books out in the country, not only in subject matter but how well they are taken care of!!
This afternoon we have violin and maybe a little time at GRACE Girls to make soap.  It's been a pretty good rainy day :)

Apples Galore

What's more American than apple pie or Johnny Appleseed?  Today we ate apples for a snack and got the seeds out after reading two stories about good old Johnny Appleseed.  We'll do our best to plant these seeds and see if anything happens.  I have to say, Ol' Johnny must have had more patience than I do because I think it takes a LONG time for apple trees to grow!!  We stopped by the store after story time today and picked up some Apple Cider to go with our lunch.  Rachel and I had homemade applesauce with our lunch, but Ruby and Ford wanted pineapple instead (at least it has the word apple in it!).  Hopefully, that will take care of our apple fix!  I'd love to have apple pie, too, but we're going to a dinner at church tonight where there will be lots of cakes and desserts, so we'll try that for another day maybe?
Rachel's assignment during story time was to find a book on the Statue of Liberty and to see if she could find the Mexcian and Canadian flags.  With the help of Mr. Jason, she managed to do all of those things.  Basically, she handed him her list and he found it all, but we're getting there!
Everyone did their math and writing and Rachel read another Bob book and practiced a few new sight words.  Ruby had an activity book that was full of dot to dots and mazes and stickers.  She didn't exactly follow any of the directions, but she had a great time pretending to be a big kid who could do all of those things.  Have I mentioned that she is no longer wearing a Pull-Up at night?  Allen and I are taking her to the bathroom a few times during the night, but since we're up anyway, this is way better than buying Pull-Ups or diapers!!  She really wants to be a Big Girl when Baxter gets here!!
I think this afternoon we'll get the arts and crafts bin out and just see what we can create.  Ruby and I talked about making an apple mosaic, but we may just be coloring with markers again...

An Apple a Day

I am going to try to get back on the blogging track this week because I do feel like it helps keep me accountable for school work.  I don't have any administrators popping in to observe or checking lesson plans, so this blog is my record.  It might be easiest just to make a list to kind of catch up on what we've been doing and where we're headed.  I might be repeating myself from earlier posts, but it's been so long, we all need a refresher course!

Rachel is:
Studying the seven continents...we've done Asia and Africa.  This week is North America.  She has breezed through almost all of her addition facts...this week is the 9 family and there are a few extras for the final lesson before we start subtraction!  She is reading the Bob Books Sight Words collection and spelling everything ridiculously well.  She loves trying to spell words and gets them right most of the time (definitely an innate ability!).  We are doing a different story every day from the list in the Core Knowledge series. Some of them link to the continent we're learning about and some don't.  We're keeping a chart of the titles, authors, illustrators, setting, characters, problems, and solutions.  We're kind of in a lull this week for Science but we are talking a little about apples since it's fall and we'll learn about Johnny Appleseed since he's North American.
Rachel has been doing extremely well with violin and loves her Daisy Scout troop.  She's headed for a new song in violin that is NOT another version of Twinkle!!!  She's learning about being fair and honest at Daisies.  Basically, the girl is busy!!

Ford is:
Zooming through his handwriting book which has basically been a review of all the capital letters.  I think he'll be ready to move on to lower case letters after Christmas but he's in no rush.  He is doing a much better job with his counting in math. It's taken awhile for him to slow down and count each item instead of just putting his fingers on things and calling out numbers.  I think we'll be gearing up for some more serious math soon.  He has a little workbook that he loves to do activities in, too, like cutting, matching, mazes, color by number, etc.  Let's face it, though, the boy would play trains all day by himself if I let him!!
He finished up soccer last week and was so excited to get a medal!!  We also got his team picture back...it's a group of cute looking kids with their coach and then there's Ford making the craziest face. Hysterical!!  He is starting to talk about learning an instrument next Fall, either ukulele or violin, but he really wants to take art classes in the spring!

Ruby is:
Out of control.  Seriously.  We are deep in that transition between the terrible twos and the "oh, yeah, did I mention three is worse?" era.  There are days where she is so sweet and works hard at whatever she is doing and then there are those other days.  I don't even need to elaborate!!  She finally talks to Mr. Drew, the new librarian. For weeks she covered her eyes at story time so he woudn't look at her but now she's back to normal story time Ruby.  She loves to hear stories, she loves to color with markers, she loves to paste paper to paper, she LOVES stickers and puzzles.  She also loves necklaces, bracelets, headbands, leotards, tutus, fancy dresses, high heels, makeup, etc etc.  She can already tell you all about Asia and Africa so when she gets to Kindergarten, we'll move on to other things!  She always wants to be a part of Science and Social Studies and whatever stories Rachel is reading.  (Ford plays trains most of that time, but still soaks in a lot of the information!)
She says she wants to take ballet next year or maybe horseback riding or maybe art or maybe guitar...she will definitely be well rounded!!!

Baxter is:
Growing fast!  I am 28 weeks along and he's doing great.  I'm really hoping we make it to 40 weeks but he will be a big baby!!!  He moves a lot after I eat and at night but sleeps a lot too.  I know he's running out of room because my lungs have run out of room, too!!

We went to Dr. Ed's office today and everyone got the flu mist. Rachel and Ford did great.  Ruby screamed bloody murder because they made her lay down.  Then she woukdn't take stickers from the sweet nurse but screamed in the car because I only got her one sticker!!!  It never ends!!!

I think that's our school world in a nutshell.  I'll try to be more specific more often, especially since it's going to get crazy again here soon!!

Trying to find normal

Our world has been out of sorts lately, to say the least.  It's been almost two weeks since my father died and we just haven't quite gotten fully back on track.  I feel like I'm living in a fog similar to the fog that comes when a new baby arrives.  You just kind of get up and keep moving because really, what choice do you have?  The difference here is that instead of a baby, we have grief and instead of diapers and feedings, we have lots of questions.  Allen and I have really tried to keep things as normal as possible for the kids but it's not always easy.  School has definitely not been what I hoped but we haven't completely lost focus.  Rachel started learning about the seven continents focusing on Asia this week.  We read a book about wind today and made a weather vane for the yard.  We haven't worked together on spelling hardly at all, but the other night when I left her room, she said, "Mama!  G-o-o-d n-i-g-h-t.". I was so proud of her for learning to spell that on her own!!  Ford has drastically improved at soccer.  He's finally taking the initiative to go up to the kid with the ball and kick it away before he/she can score.  I think we have a defender on our hands.  He has been the one with the most questions lately and wants to know all about why your body gets sick and where our bones go.  He told us out of the blue today that when he dies he wants to be beside Rachel's box because she's his best friend...pretty sweet in a creepy kind of way!  Ruby has become even more of an extremist than I ever thought possible.  She has hit a stage of not liking anything from the clothes we pick out to the food we serve for any meal.  I just keep trying to move on and let her throw a fit and then watch her go back to sweet when she gets over it.  She is really into coloring and pasting these days, so I'm trying to sit down with her more to do that.  Not quite ready to let her do the cutting yet!
     Our day is all about keeping things balanced and helping everyone get what they need.  We're also at the point of the year where time seems to speed up, so it feels even harder to catch up some days.  We've got Halloween costumes ready (thank goodness!) and then we'll have to figure out what our plan is for Thanksgiving.  Then we'll start that game of will the baby come before or after Christmas?!?!  My hope is we'll make it to January before we meet Baxter, but we've got to be ready for him just in case!  It's a wild ride around here and I know for the next year I'm going to be doing just as much hanging on as I will be driving!!

Calming down and gearing up for Fall

It was so nice today to not have to be anywhere in the morning at all.  We were able to cruise through some school work, get focused back on what's important, and starting gearing up for our Fall Festival.  By the time 10:30 rolled around, we had finished all of our work and rearranged the house a little in case of bad weather on Sunday.  In case you haven't heard, Sunday is the Autumnal Equinox and since Rachel put it on her calendar, she thought we ought to celebrate.  So, we're having a Fall Festival with chili, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, baked apples, and candy corn.  Plus, who knows what other goodies might show up!!  We started making a big leaf pile in the back yard to play in, but now it looks like rain might turn this into an indoor party.  We moved the train/lego/multi-purpose table into the living room for the kids to use as a place to eat and play and now the playroom looks like the biggest room in the house!!  Rachel and Ford both practiced their cutting skills today and made some leaves for decorating.  We went to the dollar store and picked up a few party necessities.  I think we're going to have a great time.  First, though, we have to get through Saturday which is the Arts Festival at our church.  Rachel is playing the violin with the other violin students and she, surprisingly for the way things have been going lately, is not nervous at all.  She's pretty much all business when it comes to playing her violin which is why the anxiety she had been going through was really starting to worry me!!  Her lesson today went really well, though, despite the fact that I had to hold Ruby most of the time.  Ruby climbed up some cubbies yesterday and they fell on her and bruised her leg pretty badly, but she got over it and has been her little active self.  Today, though, she woke up from nap time and screamed for literally 15-20 minutes nonstop which is not like her.  She can usually move on pretty quickly but she finally was able to sort of tell me that her foot, not leg, hurt.  I really think what happened is that her foot must have gotten caught between the bed and the wall at nap time and was numb and hurt while the circulation was coming back, but I was so worried that it had something to do with her injury from yesterday.  Anyway, Rachel managed to have a great practice with Ms. Luci while Ruby sat with me and then Allen came to check on her foot.  She was walking by the time Rachel was done, but still limping a little.  I think she's going to be fine, but it was just another crazy Thursday occurrence!!

One more wild and crazy day

Hopefully we have made our run of all the appointments and such we need to take care for for awhile.  We've had to zoom through school work for the past couple of days and I'm ready tomorrow to buckle down and focus some more.  This morning we had to be out the door at 8:45, so we did a quick round of math review and handwriting and Rachel did some reading.  I guess you could say we're sticking to the three Rs before we go on with our day.  At 9:00 poor Ford didn't know what was coming.  On the way to the doctor's office, I told him that we didn't quite finish with his check up last time and they had called to ask us to come back.  He was so excited to go back just for him and to get some Thomas stickers, so I didn't have the heart to tell him why we were going.  Ms. Sarah came in and asked me the bajillion questions they have to ask before giving vaccinations and one of them was, "Is he allergic to anything?" I said no and then she mentioned the word shot (I can't quite remember what that question was), and Ford piped up, "I am definitely allergic to shots!"  At that point he started to catch on.  However, we read a Thomas book while she went to prepare everything and it talked about Thomas being a brave little engine, so he was quite a brave little engine.  He laid down for her and was fine when she cleaned his legs and seemed to understand what was coming...he just didn't realize how bad it would be until she actually stuck the needles in his legs.  Poor guy.  He hasn't screamed that much in a long time.  Luckily, they have condensed the four shots down to two, so it was over pretty quickly.  I think he had his feelings hurt more than anything, but he calmed down when I told him I'd carry him out and we could stop and get a Thomas sticker.  He did such a great job!!  When we left, I told him I'd take him for a smoothie for a snack today since he did so well and since the girls were so well behaved while we waited.  In the car Rachel said, "Next time I need shots, don't tell me until we get there.  That went much better than when I had shots!"  I couldn't agree more.  That girl worried for a week and then refused to lay down and then screamed and convulsed and threw a fit and she had to be still for four shots.  It was a nightmare!!  So, all in all, this was a much better experience!!  Now we just wait a little over a year until it's Ruby's turn...they may have to put her in restraints!  Of course, by then, it may come in a mist, who knows!!
Anyway, after our snack at the coffee house, we swung by the education store, then went to story time (where Rachel completed her assignment to find some mystery books and Ford made sure they had ordered the new Thomas movie for him!), went by church to drop off some things for the festival this weekend, came home and ate lunch, took a nap, and went outside until dinner.
Tomorrow we'll begin decorating for our Autumnal Equinox celebration!!!

Day of Appointments

We had a quick little session of school time this morning before our day of crazy began.  Allen, Ford, and Rachel all had cleanings at the dentist this morning.  We live close enough to the dentist that Ruby and I decided to walk down and join them so she could get a glimpse of what it would be like when her turn comes up in the spring.  It was a great day for a walk!!!  Those appointments started at 8:30 and we were home a little after 10.  Everyone (even Ruby) came home with a new toothbrush and great teeth!  Once everyone got settled, I took off for a check up with my midwife to see how Baby Baxter is doing.  His heartbeat was great, he's measuring on the big side, and all was well.  Next month I go for the hour long glucose test and then I start checking in every two weeks!  Time is starting to fly by.  After leaving my appointment I got to go out to lunch with Lisa to talk about Daisy Scouts.  I have no idea when I last went out to lunch with another adult and no kids.  That time flew by faster than anything else!!!  I got home right at the end of nap time and the big kids were already up and playing in the yard with Allen.  We played some more and hung out in the awesome weather and then came in for dinner.  After dinner Allen was off to teach a night course and the rest of us headed to the soccer field.  Dr. Ed and Ms. Lisa came to watch Ford play soccer and he was so excited!  He gets so nervous and anxious at the end when they do a scrimmage, but he told me he'd stay in soccer "for the snacks" even if he had to play the games!  The boy loves those Doritos and Capri Suns at the end!!!  I got everyone home and bathed and teeth brushed with their new fancy toothbrushes, read stories, said prayers, sang songs, and now everyone is sleeping soundly.  It was a busy day but they had a blast being able to spend so much time with their Papa!!
Now wish us luck with Ford's shots tomorrow...

Piece of cake

What a better week we're already having!!!  We got so much school work done today with such great attitudes.  Ruby wasn't 100% perfect or entertained, but she had a much better day than she's been having!  Ford started his new math lesson today with a video from Mr. Steve (his "math teacher"!) who told him that this week's lesson would be a piece of cake.  Ford thought that was the funniest thing he'd ever heard and sure enough, the lesson was easy peasy!  He learned about the Magic C today in his handwriting which was fascinating to him and also a piece of cake!  After we'd been doing school work for a little while, Ms. Gail called to see if she could bring us some leftovers from Will's birthday party including, what else, but four pieces of cake!!!  We were really cracking up then about things being a piece of cake!
Rachel zoomed through handwriting and math (a new lesson on squares, rectangles, and skip counting by five which she can already do, but I like her doing some review practice).  We started talking about predictions today in Language Arts.  Her favorite thing was when we got out the story paper.  I had started a story for her and let her predict what would happen next and finish the story.  She loved writing about a girl who finds pixie dust in the woods and is able to fly!  I'm pretty sure she's also decided to be a fairy for Halloween...the girl is a planner!  We did an assessment for Social Studies today where I just asked her a few basic questions about the Geography we've been doing.  She was able to easily answer all seven questions.  I was so proud!!  I really had no idea if she'd be able to answer the questions in a way that someone else could see she understood the concepts, but she did great!  For Science today we talked about rainbows.  We made our own rainbow by putting a mirror into a bowl and filling it with water.  Then we shined a flashlight on the mirror and it put a rainbow up on the wall.  It was pretty cool and all of the kids loved it.  They were amazed that all rainbows don't come in that "normal" arch shape.  We had fun drawing rainbows with the colors in the right order but not shaped like arches.  Surprisingly, though, Ford stuck to the arch.  I think he was afraid to get it "wrong".
We had a great time all together, too, exploring our new calendar that has a place to change the month, a place for day of the week labels, numbers to change every month, a special square showing where Fall begins (and lots of other holiday squares), and a place to show the season and the weather!  I think we will enjoy using that calendar together every day!
Ruby and Rachel played so nicely together after getting our school work done.  They dressed up like princesses and had their own ball in the living room with ballerina music.  Ford and I were able to build a pretty cool track for the engines while the girls danced.  I was able to finally get the laundry put away after everyone felt entertained.  Then we saw Ms. Vanessa and decided to have a picnic and ride bikes (we had to get that sugar energy out from the cake!).  Now everyone is asleep or resting.  I am so thankful for a better attitude in myself today as well as better attitudes in the kids.  We're definitely making some progress!!

Five Good things on Friday

1.  Rachel ACED her math test this morning.  Every single problem right the first time with no test anxiety.

2.  Ruby made some letters with blocks all by herself, no help needed.

3.  Liz and Char Char came for an impromptu early morning play date.

4.  Ford is so excited about soccer tomorrow he can hardly stand it!

5.  All three kids are sound asleep for nap time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Violin and the rest of the stuff

This morning I said a little prayer that if Rachel could go back to having a great time at violin, I could put up with anything else that could come my way today.  It's been a long three weeks of violin with Rachel having anxiety after the whole first-time-I-ever-threw-up-was-at-my-violin-lesson episode!  Well, talk about prayers being answered!!!  Violin was awesome!!  She relapsed for about two seconds and then I reminded her that she was in control (thanks to Liz for some awesome advice on dealing with childhood anxiety!).  After that she chatted up Ms. Luci, showed off her new skills, told Ms. Luci some facts she learned in her nonfiction book about violins, learned a new song, and found out she gets to play at an arts festival in a week and a half!  She's back and I couldn't be more excited!!!
But about that other half of the prayer, yeah, it got answered, too!!!  I started off the day by telling myself that we were going to have a stress-free day and I was going to do my best to not say "No" to Rachel unless it was something harmful or destructive because I really wanted her to have a good day before violin.  By the time Allen had left for work (around 7:30), she was already in time out for grabbing Ford and Ruby.  I can't let that go.  She is so rough with them and almost always someone ends up getting hurt when she grabs them.  Well, we got past that.  Then, I thought, "We'll do Play-Doh to start today.  Rachel loves that and we've cleared off the train table for lots of space."  I ended up playing Play-Doh with Ruby, just the two of us, while Rachel and Ford played trains in the living room.  Ford came to join us, then FINALLY Rachel came and had a great time.  That led into them wanting to do arts and crafts and I said, "Why not?"  The table is clear once we move the Play-Doh and I'm up for fun today!  Ha!  Rachel wanted to sit on the table and she was doing so well, that I let that slide.  Ruby and Ford were having a great time with markers, scissors, glue, paper, etc.  Somehow we ended up with paint out...that always seems to make things go badly, especially if we're not at the big table with newspaper or outside...Rachel decided she needed to put glitter glue and paint all over her hands and spread it everywhere while she's sitting on the table.  I couldn't take it any more.  When her picture was done, I picked her up and took her to the bathroom to clean up. It was on her arms and legs and on her clothes and I lost it.  She said she was just "being like Ruby".  I had to remind her that Ruby is TWO YEARS OLD!  It seems kind of silly now that we were both crying because we were mad and frustrated, but it was rough at the time!  While I was cleaning up Rachel, Ruby proceeded to get paint on the carpet and in her hair and on her clothes, too.  Once I got the girls cleaned up and changed and got rid of the paint, Ford decided he wanted to paint (after saying he didn't want to earlier).  I was like, "Are you kidding me??!?!?!?"  I asked you earlier and you said no and now I've got everything cleaned up.  NO WAY!!  So, he started crying.  This was one of those walk out of the room and take a deep breath moments.  So, what did I do?  I got out a snack (it was after 9 by this point).  Everyone cheered up with a snack and then we started our regular school work and all was well.  Seriously, except for a couple of reminders to Ruby that we could play when I finished with Ford and Rachel, the world turned around.  The big kids actually did a really good job with their work.  Rachel wrote a nonfiction story about herself and was proud of her illustration.  Ford did a super job with his writing and math.  All three of them had a great time using a thermometer and measuring the temperature of water that's been sitting out, water put in the freezer for a few minutes, and water put in the microwave for a few minutes.  Rachel read aloud to us and did a great job with her math and handwriting.  Really, I should have just started the day like normal.  This is what I get for breaking the routine by trying to ease stress!!  I'm thinking you ease stress by sticking to the norm!!

Day, Interrupted

We had another weird day today, but we made it.  We had to be out of our house from 11-2 for a Realtors' Open House (keep your fingers crossed that something comes of it!).  That meant, we had to clean the house last night, but not clean everything because, let's face it, three small children brushing their teeth are going to destroy the bathroom counter again in the morning!  Oh, and of course, there's breakfast to clean up and not pulling out every toy...
Anyway, we made it.  We managed to all hang out in our little bitty play room and do some school work and play with only so many toys at one time.  Everybody actually did a pretty good job in the playroom all together.  Ford did his handwriting and math.  Rachel did her handwriting and math.  She also read aloud for us and we all did her Language Arts together.  We read a nonfiction book about weather and talked about some facts that we learned.  After that, everyone went nuts while I finished cleaning up all the final things (like removing things to the car that were in the way, vacuuming one last time, etc.)  I think we left the house in pretty good shape and got out of the house by 9:30.  I couldn't stand the thought of messing things up too much, so we went ahead and ate a snack in the car, went through the drop off at the library with some books, drove around town for a little while, watched a train go by, and then went to my mother's house.  While we were there, we tried to not leave the TV on the entire time (since they think TV and eating are the only two activities allowed at Baba's house!).  Mom was at a meeting, so I pulled out the crayons, coloring books, puzzles, and assorted toys and we had a fun time playing with new things.  Ford found some dot-to-dots in a couple of the books.  Rachel found some color by number (or letter) and Ruby found some stickers.  They did such a good job playing, I let them watch a show while I got lunch ready.  Then we turned the TV off again and finished lunch (they started eating while watching, but there wasn't much eating going on!).  We played and took potty breaks and cleaned up all the toys.  Then we all got settled on the couch with blankets and turned on a Tinkerbell movie.  I was hoping Rachel and Ford would rest and Ruby would sleep.  I think I was the only one to actually close my eyes!!  After Tinkerbell, Ford watched one Thomas episode and Ruby watched some Tickety Toc thing.  We had a popsicle and then it was time to come home.  Rachel and I finished up her school work.  We made different types of clouds with glue sticks and cotton, we looked at clouds in a weather book, and we recorded our weather information on our chart for the day.  Then we talked about oceans on maps and on globes.  She added the Atlantic Ocean to her map of our state and felt pretty good about all she had accomplished today.  (FYI Ruby fell asleep on the way home and slept through Science and Social Studies.  Ford was so happy to see his trains again, that we didn't see him for a good 45 minutes!).  Then we went outside for some soccer once Ruby woke up.  She was a grouch for the rest of the day and after eating dinner with Allen and sending him on his way, I told the kids we would have a dance party and then it was time for bed!  We started bedtime at 6:00 since no one had gotten a good nap or rest.  Ford was asleep by 6:45.  At 7:45 I was still fighting with Ruby to lay still and trying to convince Rachel that she should stop thinking about how horrible last week's violin lesson was.  She's terrified that she's never going to have a good lesson again and it's keeping her awake!!!  Help!!  I told her to picture all the clouds in her mind that we talked about and to cuddle up with her stuffed animals and I think she finally went to sleep.  I haven't been back in to check on Ruby because I don't want to start all over again if she's not asleep yet, but I guess I'll go in there in a little while and hope that everyone's snoozing.  It's been quiet, at least, for the last 30 minutes, so that's a start!

Multi-tasking

It's been a wild day!!!  We had a lot of things to cover in school this morning and somehow we managed to get to them all, but I wasn't sure we were going to make it!!
Ford did a great job with writing the letter E and drawing on the chalkboard and writing words.  Then he did some counting for math.  When we got to his train book, though, that has little preschool and kindergarten-type activities, I didn't know if he'd ever stop!!  He's become obsessed with dot-to-dots, but he can't quite get them done all by himself.  So, every minute or so, he'd call out, "Where's number 19?" and I'd have to leave Rachel or Ruby and help him find the next number.  Some of his final pictures are hysterical, but he's getting there.  He must have done 20 of them today!
Ruby couldn't quite get herself together today.  She wasn't bad, but she just needed a lot of help.  She'd say she wanted to do one thing, then get started and I'd move on to help Rachel and then as soon as we got started, Ruby would call to say she needed something or wanted to do something different.  I finally told Rachel just to do her handwriting and math sheet (since she can do those with very little, if any, help) and then we'd wait on everything else until Ford and Rachel were settled (as in, not doing dot-to-dots for Ford and finding something that would finally keep Ruby's attention!).
So, finally, Rachel and I were able to talk about the difference between fiction and nonfiction.  She read an entire nonfiction book about weather to me that she'd never seen before.  We talked about weather, precipitation, clouds, and temperature.  We started a weather chart for the week.  We looked at mountains on maps and the globe.  We added mountains to a map of our state with a key at the bottom as well as a compass showing NSEW.  We practiced all of her bow patterns on her violin and then we finished up by reading Max Found Two Sticks and going back to our music discussion of rhythm.  Everyone joined in by getting two Kapla blocks and we did a rhythm parade.  It was pretty fun and these kids have more rhythm than I thought!!  I made them a special lunch of pigs in a blanket (something they never get, but love!) and now everyone is sleeping or resting.
Sometimes it amazes me how quickly the time can go by!!!

TGIF

I feel like yesterday's post was complaining, but really it was more venting.  Today was an awesome day with great weather!
When I taught public school, I used Friday as a day for me to check that the kids had paid attention all week, to help the kids who had been out to catch up, and to give me a chance to finalize the week before leaving it all behind for the weekend.  Fridays were the best!  I feel like here at home our kids are still so young that there's no reason to spend all day every day doing school work just to say we did school work, so as long as we're caught up with what I want to accomplish for the week (or realize we may need to re-group for next week), I want Friday to be a quick review or assessment with some good old play time!  So today we did just that.  Ford and Rachel each did math and handwriting then Rachel did some reading.  We proceeded from there to playing in the yard, playing in the playroom, and having a dance party in the living room.  It was a nice stress reliever for all of us.  Kristin and Wyatt came to play for the rest of the morning. After nap time we went back outside and played some soccer and dug in the dirt.  Vanessa and the boys stopped by to play and Sherri and Ryan came out to play.  It was a fun afternoon.
Now if I could just get Ruby to go to sleep...

Thursdays might just put me over the edge

Our life is not normal and I realize that.  I like not being normal, but sometimes it takes its toll.  I went walking with a friend last night and she was saying how she doesn't know how I get through the day without a TV on.  I'll admit, when my kids watch TV, they are still and quiet and I can do just about anything I want to, but they truly turn into zombies and I don't like it.  Most people I know get to go back to the "real world" when school starts.  They can send their kids off for the day and then go to their jobs and talk to adults and go to the bathroom without an audience or a screaming match in the other room.  A lot of people get their kids to bed and then can unwind for the night.  Granted, there are nights that I can do that, but if no one took a nap or rested during the day, this is when my work of laundry, planning for school the next day, and just catching up in general starts.  Thursdays have become the hardest days around here.  We do school all morning, try to get in a quick nap, head to Rachel's violin lesson, and then I'm on my own until bedtime.  (Allen teaches a night course on Thursdays and has to go straight there from the middle school in order to be on time.)  Today really just about put me over the edge!  We threw in two over-due well visits (for Ford and Rachel) plus all of the errands I needed to get done while in town.  We kind of had to rush through math and handwriting this morning, then shove some science and social studies in during nap time.  Then Rachel had a meltdown at violin...she's terrified she's going to throw up again and has kind of a mini-panic attack when we get there.   Then once we got back home, Ruby has one of her evenings of being absolutely crazy while I'm in the middle of trying to talk to our realtor on the phone.  The one shining moment in our evening was that everyone actually ate their dinner (Ruby had three bowls!) and didn't complain at all.  I didn't actually have any moments of throwing in the towel completely today, but all of it added together, plus that feeling of rushing from one place to the other with no down time in between was a lot.  I think I just need to remember in the future not to plan anything for Thursday mornings.  It was just too much!  I also told Rachel that she is absolutely required to rest as long as Ruby is napping on Thursdays so that she doesn't go into meltdown mode again at violin which used to be her favorite thing in the world to do!
It was a wild ride today and we're taking a little longer than I thought to adjust to this whole school schedule thing, but in the end, I can sit here and type this and think of just as many good things that happened today:
Rachel and Ford are absolutely healthy!
All three kids behaved at the doctor's office and didn't tear anything up!
When Rachel started playing violin, she did a great job!!
Ruby and Ford and Rachel all entertained themselves at the education store while I talked to Mr. Toby, then we came home with some cool reusable stickers from the store and they actually all entertained themselves without fighting while I made lunch (that's a serious high point of the day!)
Ruby didn't have any accidents today and pretty much went to the bathroom by herself all day!
Rachel could tell me facts about the Polar Zone, Tropical Zone, and Temperate Zone as well as show me the equator and talk about what lines of latitude are.
Nobody got hurt...even though I must have said 100 times, "You're going to hurt yourself!"
Allen has a job (well, jobs) and at least one of them makes him happy.  Hopefully this will all lead to an awesome career for him!
We're doing it, we're making it, I just need to keep focusing on the positives :)

So-so school and Soccer Madness

Nothing overly exciting happened during our school time today.  I guess the biggest news is that Ruby actually "worked" the whole time Ford and Rachel were doing handwriting and math.  She actually kept herself entertained at the table with us!  Rachel and I had a hard time connecting today on things.  She kept getting confused about weather and climate and I finally said, "We'll try again tomorrow."  Then I introduced the word fiction to her and we talked about books that have made up characters and TV shows that are made up.  I asked her to write a short (as in three sentences) fictional story.  Holy Cannoli!  She could not think of a thing to make up.  She ended up writing about a girl named Rachel who had a nature class and her class did leaf rubbings and then took them all home.  Did I mention that tomorrow she's actually "teaching" a nature class and having the kids do leaf rubbings and then they can take them home?  Well, it hasn't happened yet, so technically it was fiction!  We've got to work on her creativity!!
We went to story time today and Ruby actually participated today and let Mr. Drew (the new guy) stamp both of her hands.  We're making progress!  It's so funny how the most outgoing girl in the house (and she's got some competition!) goes into a shell around new people.  I keep telling Mr. Drew that one day he'll wish she was shy and quiet again because he won't be able to get a word in!!
I have to say the most exciting event of the day, today, though, was Ford's first day at soccer!  Just to give you a little background info...we tried to send Ford to preschool when he was 2.  It did not go well.  He went twice and I gave up.  Rachel made such an easy transition into preschool.  She had some tears every now and then, but she loved school and she loved her teachers, so she made it through the day.  Ford, however, literally hyperventilated for 2 hours both times he tried to go to preschool.  Poor Ms. Karen, his teacher, would carry him around and he would cry and cry.  She probably weighed about 60 pounds to his 30 pounds so it was interesting to see (I peeked at them through the window onto the playground one day and she walked around with him the whole time.)  It broke my heart and I just didn't see any reason to keep trying that when there was no need for preschool at the time.  So, when Ford said he wanted to sign up for soccer, I was a little apprehensive.  I was very excited that he wanted to do something on his own and that he would be around other kids his age, but I just wasn't sure that he'd actually go through with it.  He was so excited tonight with his cleats and his little bitty shin guards and his tall blue socks.  We got to the soccer field and went right out there with Coach Greg and kicked that ball like a champ.  He jogged around the field, he stopped the ball with his foot, he even kicked the ball into play when it was his turn.  I'm not sure he would have even known I was still there if it weren't for the fact that I had his water bottle and it was HOT so I got to see him a couple of times for water breaks.  He was so proud of himself and I was so proud of him.  Even Rachel wanted to take pictures and videos of him because she was so impressed!  He answered the coach's questions and made my heart swell.  He is definitely turning the corner on his neediness and I love that he's feeling some independence.  It just makes me a little sad that he might not live in our basement forever like Allen and I thought...

Triangles, Circles, and Roller Coasters

Ingram School is wearing us out!!  Rachel and I are exhausted at the end of the day.  Ruby gets a nap every day, thank goodness!, so she makes it through all right.  Ford is hit or miss...somehow that boy never lacks energy.  He has been saying lately that he is nocturnal and I'm beginning to see a sleeping pattern similar to that of Uncle Hobo only Ford wakes up as soon as he sees a 6 on the clock and is ready to roll!!
Rachel has been doing an awesome job with her school work.  Today she even wrote her first story complete with an illustration.  It was about fairies and it was three sentences long, but oh my goodness it was so cute!!  She and Ford are both zooming through handwriting and math.  Ford learned the fine art of Dot-to-dots with the alphabet today.  I love that he's found something he can sit and do by himself other than playing trains All.Day.Long.  Ruby had her own little sticker station for about 30-45 minutes today.  That girl LOVES stickers!!!  She went through the sticker book and took out all of the stickers that had any kind of pink on them and put them on a pieces of paper.  That's all she wanted to do.  It was awesome (and allowed me to help Rachel with her story!).  Rachel and I have been talking about the four seasons and today we put the summer and winter solstices and vernal and autumnal equinoxes on her calendar.  That girl LIVES for her calendar.  She said today, "I really should just keep my calendar in my school tray."  I couldn't agree more.  Yesterday we had an awesome time making triangles together.  We cut triangles, we pasted triangles, we made triangles with popsicle sticks, we used those to stencil triangles onto paper and cut more and pasted more.  We even had triangle pineapple tidbits, triangle peanut butter tortillas, and pretzels with triangle shapes in them for lunch.  It was all out of the blue but worked out perfectly.  So, today, I tried to do fun things like that with circles.  Let's just say it wasn't as fun.  Rachel thought it was boring, Ford wanted to cut but I tried to explain that circles are a lot harder than straight lines, and Ruby just kept getting frustrated that there was too much paper on her crayons.  It was a mess.  I finally got Rachel interested in gluing circle strings out of yarn onto our poster board, but she wanted to do about 100 of them and I needed to move on to the crying 2 year old in the corner so Rachel got mad and stormed off.  For snack, they were all throwing a fit as I sliced their strawberries to look as close to circles as possible but they were quickly sedated when I brought out two doughnuts and demonstrated circles and semicircles.  We also had a little incident during Social Studies time as Rachel and I were having an AWESOME time looking at a map of our town and telling if places were east, west, north, or south of our house and then looking at a map of the world and identifying the continents.  Ford kept wanting the maps to be about trains, so he'd interrupt to say things like, "And then Henry could come from this place and go down this street, and yada yada yada..." or Ruby would try to interrupt with things like, "My leotard is pink, my favorite color. Mama!  Mama!  My leotard is pink!"  I kind of lost it and had to have a long talk about how they wouldn't be invited back to Social Studies if they didn't learn the art of not interrupting!!  After that, it went very well, though, and I think Rachel enjoyed that lesson.  We just had such a great day yesterday that it was hard to have such a roller coaster day today.  I'm going to blame it on the fact that we ate Pop Tarts for breakfast.  Never again on a school day!!!

Highlights from Day 2

We did a super fast day of school today.  Seriously, all of our work and all of our subjects were covered by 9:30!!  These kids are raring to go, so I'm taking advantage of it!  Rachel and Ford were able to do math and handwriting at the same time as each other which sped things up.  I love being able to stand between them while they have their space at the table and give directions, then watch and help.  Ruby had the best time playing by herself with the kitchen stuff on the living room floor, so there were no interruptions.  It was awesome!  Rachel combined Social Studies and Language Arts by drawing the Wolf's Map and highlighting the parts of "The Three Little Pigs".  It was pretty cute.  Ford wanted to draw a map, too, but ended up drawing a wolf and some boxes.  Oh, and a brick house at the end.  For Science, we went back to the Four Seasons and drew and named different types of weather that occur mostly during certain seasons (i.e. snow in winter, rain in spring, etc.).  This is all still a lot of review, but we're having a good time.  We were done early enough to go to Story Time and meet the new librarian. He was pretty cool.  Ford and Ruby had a great time, but Rachel decided she's just a little too old for story time, so next week we're going to take some things for her to do if she's not feeling it.  During her violin lesson she had to go to the bathroom and in the bathroom started crying that she just really didn't feel like doing violin today.  I think the poor girl is exhausted from two days of Kindergarten and she didn't even leave the house!  I can't imagine how tired the kids are that go to school for the first time for seven straight hours!!!  All three kids were asleep by 7:00 since we skipped nap time for violin.  I'll be glad to switch to a later time next week, but it has been nice to actually get some work done in the evening before I completely crash!
Oh, and Dr. Ed's new office is opening up next week, so we swung by there today to fill out some forms and see the place.  It's so nice and fresh and new!!  I think it's going to be a much more inviting atmosphere for children and a clean, healthy place.  We are really looking forward to it!  (Well, don't mention the shots to Ford that he has to get next week and he's looking forward to it!)

We survived the first day!

I had no idea how this was going to go, but looking back on the day now, it was truly a success.  Ruby had a few moments of melting down at really bad times while I was engaged with Ford or Rachel, but over all, we had a great time, got a lot done, and even learned a few things!
I've decided that we are in a Kindergarten/Pre-K/Preschool combo because Ford is really not just a preschooler any more.  He did his own math (which was a breeze to him) and his own handwriting book (again, a breeze), and even wanted to participate when Rachel did Social Studies and Language Arts.
Ruby was really good when it was her turn to do some work.  We did the Animal Parade cards, which she loves. Rachel helped her put stickers in her sticker book and then I helped her draw some pictures in it and do some simple math.  She just has a hard time not being able to get attention right away (she's 2, after all!) so if I could stop and do something with her, things went fine.  When it wasn't a good time to stop, it was not fine.
Here are the highlights from our day:
-Rachel and Ford both watched a math video lesson and thought they were such big kids.
-Rachel actually read Ford and Ruby's stories at nap time, she is doing so well reading!
-Rachel and Ford and I all made maps of their bedroom today for Social Studies.  They were both really good at it and can't wait to make a Treasure Map later in the week.
-Rachel quickly reviewed the Four Seasons for Science and was able to draw a picture of something that would represent each season.
-I had some independent work for Rachel to try today and she was able to read the directions and follow them while Ruby had some Mama time!
-We finished all of our main subjects and work by 11:15 and were able to go for a little walk before lunch.
-We had a picnic lunch outside.
-During nap time, Rachel and I practiced her violin and did some music time talking about rhythm and beats.
-Ms. Lisa came by and played with Rachel and Ford while Ruby slept.  Once, Ruby woke up, we all went outside and played.  After Ms. Lisa left, we stayed outside until dinner and then ate dinner at the picnic table.  These kids played outside for four straight hours (dinner included).  I have been waiting all summer to be able to do that!

It really was a great day and I have to say the best part of it all was sitting outside and watching our kids play.  I love that homeschooling will allow us more time for them just to play and be kids and not worry about homework and school demands.  As they get older the work will be more rigorous and more challenging and they will also be involved in more activities, so I want to let them play as much as possible now.  Allen and I both get such a great feeling watching them be each other's best friends and make up games together, laughing and giggling and even tackling and chasing each other.

Backpack, backpack!

This morning, Ruby woke up on the right side of the bed for once!  She had such a great morning.  We started our school time with our Morning Meeting at the dining room table today and everyone was excited (let's hope we keep this going next week when the workload gets bigger!).  Ford did some cutting, Rachel did some handwriting, and Ruby and I did her letters together all at the same time.  It was one of those moments of controlled chaos that was actually fun.  I'd help Ford hold the paper and get his grip right, then I'd show Rachel what I wanted her to do next, then Ruby and I would make another letter and talk about it.  Everyone was so cooperative, it was a little weird!!  Once Ford was done cutting, he practiced writing his name and he wanted to practice erasing, so I just let him have at it on his own.  Ruby kept going with letters but started getting kind of silly, so I just let her do what she wanted to do.  Rachel moved on to her math review which was +1 and +2 and the commutative property of addition.  She did a pretty good job, but she honestly does better adding +9 and +8, probably because she has those memorized and she thinks too hard on the easy ones.  Ruby saw her using the math blocks and wanted to build, so when Rachel finished math, Ford had moved on to his trains (!) and Ruby started making a math block cake (she is a little chef these days!!).  Then Rachel and I reviewed short vowels and long vowels.  She drew a picture representing words with each of the sounds.  She lacks confidence in her drawing ability but once she starts drawing she's really good at it, so by the end of the sheet she was really proud of her purple octopus and her green cucumber.  Finally, Rachel did some work with coloring out of a Kindergarten book she had gotten last summer and Ford was building with Kapla blocks, so I started Ruby on a floor puzzle while I rotated the laundry.  Then I sat down with Ruby to finish up the puzzle, Rachel finished, and Ford was ready for a little snack.  We had a small breakfast this morning, so I fixed them some grapes and a cheese stick.  Then, finally, because Ruby had such a great morning I told her we could go looking for Fairy Wings.  They usually have them at the Dollar store and she just happens to have a dollar in her duck bank, so off we went.  We tried two different dollar stores, Ollie's, and Fred's, but no one has fairy wings!!!  Very disappointing when we are used to seeing fairy wings all the time and now all of a sudden there are none!!!!  However, at Fred's, we found the cutest pink backpack on sale.  Ruby has been wanting a backpack because Rachel has a yellow one and Ford has a blue one.  Since they don't technically need them for school, we use them to pack their clothes sometimes when we go on trips.  Well, now Ruby has one for her things.  She was so cute walking around with the pack on her back.  I honestly believe it's big enough that she could fit inside of it, but she was so proud showing it off and strutting in the way she does (hand on hip included).  She wanted to show it to Papa, so we stopped by his school since we were close by and saw his classroom and said hello to some of the other teachers.  Then it was time for lunch and a nap.  For the first time this week, Ruby went right to sleep!!!!!!!  Seriously, she is on a roll today!  I'll probably give her ice cream for dinner if that's what she wants!!!  I think a full night's sleep in her own bed did her a lot of good last night, plus she felt more a part of school today since we were all at the table together.  I definitely think the dining room table is a better fit for all of us even though it gets a little loud and sometimes crowded.  If it keeps Ruby behaving like this, I'll take it!!

Back to our old stomping grounds

We had another practice Morning Meeting today and it was just hysterical to me how much Ford and Ruby just want to tell me all about their lives as if I haven't been there for each and every story they share...so cute!

Rachel did a fabulous job reviewing the names of the months, adding 0, and the unit bars for math.  She also read a Biscuit book without any trouble at all.

We decided to go to the library this morning and check out some books.  We also wanted to say hi to Mr. Jason and everyone else since we haven't been to the library in TWO WEEKS!  I can't really believe that it's been so long since we've been to the library.  Seriously, there are weeks where we've gone every.single.day.  Story time starts back up next week and we were talking to Jason about whether Rachel might feel too old for it now.  He, of course, said she was welcome to be there and participate, but he might also have some things for her to do (I say put her to work!) or this might be a good time for her to read some books on her own or get some of her school work done.  We'll see how it goes.  We spent a long time hanging out at the library checking out the new arrangement which is going to make finding books a lot easier and ordering some things we're hoping to read soon.

We are now filling a little time with everyone in charge of entertaining themselves for 20 minutes!!!  You wouldn't believe how hard that is for them!!!  No one was going to sleep at nap time, so I decided not to fight it any more since we have to be at violin soon and I'd rather them not nap then wake them up and take grumpy people to Rachel's lesson!  I can't wait for the Fall session of violin to start and Rachel's lesson to be moved to 3:30 so that we don't have to stress about nap time!

With Fall starting, we wanted Ford to have some sort of activity that he's excited about.  I'm ready for him to branch out and make some friends and learn from some other adults.  He got a soccer ball at the beach and was pretty intent that he was going to play soccer, so we've signed him up for what's called the Instructional League meaning it's just instruction and no games.  I thought this would be a good way to see if he actually likes soccer without too much stress.  Plus, it will give us an activity to do on evenings when Allen is teaching one of his college classes.  The girls can play at the park while Ford does soccer and he'll see that we're there but not hovering.  He's excited for Rachel to watch him since he spent all summer watching her do tennis!

Life is slowly getting back to a routine and it feels good.  We even saw some red leaves outside today.  I get excited when I think about Fall.  It's by far my favorite time of year.  I'm thankful to have so much energy so I can enjoy it!

Let's get it started...

We are easing our way back into school this week with an official First Day of School being next Monday.  Rachel is so anxious to be able to say she is "in Kindergarten".  She even slid me a note out in the hall yesterday during rest time that said "already for school" (as in All Ready for School!).    She is so cute.  I told her that this week we'd review some things from last year, finish up her Bob books (which she did today!), and start getting back into a routine.
Here's what I've figured out so far for this year:
We are going to try to keep a regular routine (not necessarily schedule) every day.  I want everyone to eat breakfast, brush teeth, get dressed, potty, and make their beds by 8:45.  In that time, I'd also like to make sure that the dishwasher is emptied if necessary and the laundry is caught up if necessary.  That way around 8:45 we can actually start school.
I want to start with a Morning Meeting.  We practiced one this morning and it was so cute.  Ford kept wanting to tell me about what he did this summer.  Ruby kept wanting me to look at her baby doll.  Rachel had packed a school bag and just wanted to get to work!
Each hour of the day I want to try to accomplish a different subject for Rachel within the hour.  As in, from 9-10 we will try to get through reading and handwriting.  Also during that hour I want to get to handwriting with Ford.  I'm sure there will be many times I have to stop for Ruby within that hour, and that should allow time for her as well. (10-11 will be math for each of them, 11-12 Science and/or SS for Rachel, 12-lunch, 1-nap, 2-violin practice, 3-music for everyone, 4-Papa's home on MWF!!/Arts and crafts on T/TH, 5-dinner, 6-physical activity, 7-bath and bed).  When I look at it by the hour, I realize we have a LOT to do during the day!!!  I'm sure there are days that we won't get to Science and SS or music and we may finish everything by 10 if Ruby's in a particularly self-entertaining mood, so this is just a rough estimate!  We'll see how this goes and revamp as necessary.  I'm also trying to keep to a routine that we can maintain once there is a newborn to feed every two hours or so in January!
Rachel did a great job today with reviewing the days of the week, handwriting with the days, and place value with her math.  Ruby was awesome at sitting close to us and reading books to herself (as in calling out the names of the pictures, it was really cute).  Ford is soaking up all the train time he can get by himself before he has to get to work!  He and Ruby also spent some time playing with the math blocks which Ford can't wait to use.  I hope he's not completely disappointed when he realizes that they're not exactly for building boats and fireplaces like he did today!
We're going to be super busy around here, but I'm just taking the attitude of One Day at a Time and realizing that we won't ever get to everything every single day!!

I couldn't have said it better myself...

Now that the fog has lifted from the Labor Day Curse of 2013 (that's how we'll refer to the stomach bug that invaded our house this week...it's close enough to Labor Day to count for this year's curse!), I have been able to do something that I haven't done in awhile.  I have actually been sitting in a chair and reading a book for an HOUR.  My eyes aren't closing, no kids are asking for anything, and Allen is catching up on his sleep.  Our book club read a Maeve Binchy book, Echoes, around St. Patrick's Day so that we could say we did something Irish.  I really liked the book and wanted to read more by her, so I picked up Heart and Soul at the library a week or so ago.  It is so good that I haven't been able to put it down for an hour.  All of that led me to Google Maeve Binchy and see what else she had written.  I have heard of Circle of Friends because it was a pretty popular movie when I was in high school or college...I think college.  Other than that, though, I didn't know any of her books.  I love the way she writes and I wanted to read more about her, so I clicked on the section that told about her life and this is what I found:

 I was happy and confident. That was quite simply because I had a mother and a father at home who thought I was wonderful. They thought all their geese were swans. It was a gift greater than beauty or riches, the feeling that you were as fine as anyone else.

What a great way to describe how your parents felt about you growing up!  I hope our children know how much I truly love them and how I think that they are all so wonderful and precious and unique.  I must tell them every day 100 times that I love them but I hope they feel it as well as hear it.  Even this sweet baby moving around in my belly is such a precious gift that I will cherish for my whole life and I've never even met him!  What a better place the world would be if all parents loved their children this much and all children felt loved this much.