Just thought I'd share a cool Science site with other homeschoolers, and anyone who is interested!! They have some really great videos and a whole site of stuff!!
I chose this video to share because the hunting season IS upon us. In fact, in our state is has arrived. We are in the middle of bow hunting season as of now. Rick has already bagged a really nice 8 point buck this past Saturday. When I get the pics on the new laptop I will post some. :o)
Winter, it seems, is also upon us!! Temperatures here today are in the mid 30s and we have our first 'little' snow in this area. No accumulation, just flurries here and there. UGH!! I don't like snow so you might here me call snow a dirty word, you know it's sn**. Or s**w. :o) I think I was meant to move south for the winter, maybe I missed my calling and was meant to be a bird, I don't know. All I know is that cold weather and me don't get along! Brrrrr!!
Anyhow, I also added this Science link and some others today in the links over there!!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
Fayette County Homeschoolers meeting with BOE
In my personal opinion, the meeting between Fayette County homeschoolers and the BOE was unproductive for homeschoolers. This is pretty much how it went, and I'm sure I'm leaving out a ton, but bear with me.
I had never spoken to Judy Lively in person, therefore I didn't know what she looked like. When we got there we took our seats at desks, and a woman came around and handed out folders to everyone. That woman was Judy Lively, unbeknownst to me, and I'm sure a lot of others had no idea who she was. Now, first off, this perturbs me (new word for the week LOL), because IMHO I think she should have extended a hand as she did that and said "I'm Judy Lively, and you are...??" or something to that effect. I just think it would have been the professional thing to do. Instead, though, they passed around 'name tags'.....WHATEVER. *sigh*
Ms. Lively started the meeting by introducing herself, and Dr. Serena Starcher (asst. county super), and Dr. Karen Larry (asst. state super). It stated in the invitation to the meeting that Chris Perkins, county super, would be there but he wasn't. (??) Ms. Lively went on to say that this was a friendly meeting, and that they support homeschoolers 100% and that most homeschoolers are doing a great job and they applaud us for that and all this stuff. Then she went on to explain THEIR position on this issue, which is 'requesting a more detailed 'Outline for a Plan of Instruction' (POI)'. She directed us to our folders, which included examples of 'good' and 'bad' NOI's, and a copy of the law, and another letter of some sort from 1990-something and I can't even remember what that was, cause I threw mine away (sorry, I have no use for that stuff).
The bad examples had things like "same as Meadow Bridge High School" or something similar on them, and one had the wrong year. The GOOD examples (yep, there are a few who comply with their requests) were filled out nicely and had the curriculum's objectives or table of contents attached. These were actual NOI's that had the personal info blacked out. One of the good NOI owners was actually there, and she spoke up and pointed out that one of those was her's, but she was there to support the right to be able to choose how much info is given to the BOE.
Ms. Lively went on to tell stories as to why she needs this info. She said that there are cases where kids are missing, not in any school, and they have no idea where they are, and that these kinds of people fill out the NOI's like the bad examples were and it sends a red flag and all this stuff. Now, I agree that all children need to be accounted for in some way...otherwise abusive and evil people could just beat a child to death and bury them somewhere and no one would miss them. She said that some parents take their kids out of school, put them back in, take them out, and so forth and the kids are left alone with no teaching, and she's just trying to fix that I guess.
And I don't know what DOCTOR Starcher was on....but whatever it was it was apparently in her bubble gum, she seemed to enjoy it immensely. No joke. She sat there and chewed her gum like a cow chewing it's cud, mouth wide open and all, and she'd even blow a little bubble every once in a while. Yeah, it was an informal meeting, so why not?? LOL And before I get sued for defamation of character, just joking about wondering what she was on, I don't have a clue whether she was ON anything. LOL However, she never spoke, meaning she never addressed us like Ms. Lively did, except for later to close the meeting....more on that in a bit though. Dr. Larry hardly spoke either, usually to answer a question from Ms. Lively, and a few times she answered a homeschoolers question or comment.
The attorney who was present from HSLDA (Steve Schwartz) hardly got the chance to say anything, he tried to argue some points of the law and such, but was cut short by Dr. Larry. She said that it wasn't fair to address those points without THEM having an attorney present. He tried to get across that the law says what it says, and that it it vague for a reason and I don't know what all. Also present was John Carey, who is an advocate for homeschoolers in the legislature and all. He had a lot to say and he is great, he gets in there and speaks his mind, although I hardly heard a word he said cause he's soft spoken and this was a big room and I wish that anyone who spoke had stood up. Most didn't. Ms. Lively was the only one standing. Well, until this one homeschool Dad stood up and took the floor. LOL He's great. He's in our local homeschool group here. He was trying to speak and bring his points home, and he got a little irate. So much so that Ms. Lively looked at the other BOE members and said "I think we may need to call someone". Well, there was a guy in the National Guard sitting there, I assume he's a homeschool Dad also, and he was in fatigues. The other guy looks at Ms. Lively and says "what do you need to call someone for?" (as he points out the NG guy) he says "here's somebody who protects our COUNTRY, he can protect you." I thought I'd crack up.
So, finally Ms. Lively wrapped up her speech...and she asked if anyone had questions or comments. No one spoke at first, and she said "hmm, short meeting". Then someone spoke up and and that led to more and more discussion from the homeschoolers, and when they found out that they weren't going to get what they came to try to talk us into, Ms. Lively stated that they were going to take all this back to the state superintendent and the legislature. She said they would just have to go back and have the law clarified once and for all. They think the law is vague for their benefit apparently, so that they can tell us what to report. The homeschoolers, the attorney, and Mr. Carey all let them know that the law was left vague so homeschooling parents could discern and decide what they would teach. When the 'discussion' wasn't going in the direction they wanted it to Dr. Starcher decided to stand up and call the meeting to a close. All she did was chew her bubble gum the whole time and then she just says "I'm calling this meeting to a close, you can walk around and mingle if you want to". It didn't end there though...others kept commenting and bringing up points and it'd lead to more. When the one woman who had the GOOD NOI said what she had to say...Dr. Starcher asked how could we go about seeing how many homeschoolers want to send in more info. DUH. I was thinking "well, I think we've seen about that already, seeing as how those who WANT to comply with your requests already have, and those who don't, haven't."
The woman with the good NOI brought up a great point...she said that when she prepared her NOI she just went to the Internet and printed off the stuff she sent. She said anybody can do that, and what if everyone did and then didn't follow that plan? Ms. Lively made it clear that she just needs to know we have a PLAN. The woman said something like "yeah, but what if somebody just prints something off just to satisfy you, and it's not accurate and the don't plan to follow that plan at all, then what's the use in spending time sending in information that is not accurate? Again, Ms. Lively said "I just need to know you have a plan." So, it does not matter whether you actually plan to teach the plan you send.....interesting. I agree, what's the use in sending one? For one thing, it's dishonest, and that's one thing that most homeschoolers are not.
I didn't say anything, I wouldn't have been heard anyhow. I'm soft spoken myself so I knew better. So that pretty much ended that. I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot of valid stuff that was said, but I wrote it all here and then lost it earlier. Maybe someone else can tell more of what I left out, just ask questions in the group.
But yes....this is affecting us all in the state. They did say they were going to pursue this in the legislature...again. So keep your eyes open and be ready to head to Charleston...again.
As for what happened to me last week, (the truancy letter?), I never spoke to Ms. Lively. My daughter asked me why, and that she might have apologized to me in person. I told her that she apologized on the phone, and if she wanted to aplogize to me face to face she should have sought me out and done so. She had opportunity to do so. As for me, I didn't want to get chummy with her after being all nicey nice and acting as if she wanted this because she cares about all kids and it's her job and she's just trying to do her job to the best of her ability. Yeah, she's trying to cover her butt is all. I know she has cases that are questionable, but she needs to go after THEM, not us. She says if she requests information from one, she has to request it from all. We all know that she could focus on the 'red flag' NOI's.
At any rate...just be on the alert!! Nothing was resolved at this meeting. And I'm not sure about the number of homeschoolers who turned out...if I had to guess I'd say about 45-50 families were represented.
I had never spoken to Judy Lively in person, therefore I didn't know what she looked like. When we got there we took our seats at desks, and a woman came around and handed out folders to everyone. That woman was Judy Lively, unbeknownst to me, and I'm sure a lot of others had no idea who she was. Now, first off, this perturbs me (new word for the week LOL), because IMHO I think she should have extended a hand as she did that and said "I'm Judy Lively, and you are...??" or something to that effect. I just think it would have been the professional thing to do. Instead, though, they passed around 'name tags'.....WHATEVER. *sigh*
Ms. Lively started the meeting by introducing herself, and Dr. Serena Starcher (asst. county super), and Dr. Karen Larry (asst. state super). It stated in the invitation to the meeting that Chris Perkins, county super, would be there but he wasn't. (??) Ms. Lively went on to say that this was a friendly meeting, and that they support homeschoolers 100% and that most homeschoolers are doing a great job and they applaud us for that and all this stuff. Then she went on to explain THEIR position on this issue, which is 'requesting a more detailed 'Outline for a Plan of Instruction' (POI)'. She directed us to our folders, which included examples of 'good' and 'bad' NOI's, and a copy of the law, and another letter of some sort from 1990-something and I can't even remember what that was, cause I threw mine away (sorry, I have no use for that stuff).
The bad examples had things like "same as Meadow Bridge High School" or something similar on them, and one had the wrong year. The GOOD examples (yep, there are a few who comply with their requests) were filled out nicely and had the curriculum's objectives or table of contents attached. These were actual NOI's that had the personal info blacked out. One of the good NOI owners was actually there, and she spoke up and pointed out that one of those was her's, but she was there to support the right to be able to choose how much info is given to the BOE.
Ms. Lively went on to tell stories as to why she needs this info. She said that there are cases where kids are missing, not in any school, and they have no idea where they are, and that these kinds of people fill out the NOI's like the bad examples were and it sends a red flag and all this stuff. Now, I agree that all children need to be accounted for in some way...otherwise abusive and evil people could just beat a child to death and bury them somewhere and no one would miss them. She said that some parents take their kids out of school, put them back in, take them out, and so forth and the kids are left alone with no teaching, and she's just trying to fix that I guess.
And I don't know what DOCTOR Starcher was on....but whatever it was it was apparently in her bubble gum, she seemed to enjoy it immensely. No joke. She sat there and chewed her gum like a cow chewing it's cud, mouth wide open and all, and she'd even blow a little bubble every once in a while. Yeah, it was an informal meeting, so why not?? LOL And before I get sued for defamation of character, just joking about wondering what she was on, I don't have a clue whether she was ON anything. LOL However, she never spoke, meaning she never addressed us like Ms. Lively did, except for later to close the meeting....more on that in a bit though. Dr. Larry hardly spoke either, usually to answer a question from Ms. Lively, and a few times she answered a homeschoolers question or comment.
The attorney who was present from HSLDA (Steve Schwartz) hardly got the chance to say anything, he tried to argue some points of the law and such, but was cut short by Dr. Larry. She said that it wasn't fair to address those points without THEM having an attorney present. He tried to get across that the law says what it says, and that it it vague for a reason and I don't know what all. Also present was John Carey, who is an advocate for homeschoolers in the legislature and all. He had a lot to say and he is great, he gets in there and speaks his mind, although I hardly heard a word he said cause he's soft spoken and this was a big room and I wish that anyone who spoke had stood up. Most didn't. Ms. Lively was the only one standing. Well, until this one homeschool Dad stood up and took the floor. LOL He's great. He's in our local homeschool group here. He was trying to speak and bring his points home, and he got a little irate. So much so that Ms. Lively looked at the other BOE members and said "I think we may need to call someone". Well, there was a guy in the National Guard sitting there, I assume he's a homeschool Dad also, and he was in fatigues. The other guy looks at Ms. Lively and says "what do you need to call someone for?" (as he points out the NG guy) he says "here's somebody who protects our COUNTRY, he can protect you." I thought I'd crack up.
So, finally Ms. Lively wrapped up her speech...and she asked if anyone had questions or comments. No one spoke at first, and she said "hmm, short meeting". Then someone spoke up and and that led to more and more discussion from the homeschoolers, and when they found out that they weren't going to get what they came to try to talk us into, Ms. Lively stated that they were going to take all this back to the state superintendent and the legislature. She said they would just have to go back and have the law clarified once and for all. They think the law is vague for their benefit apparently, so that they can tell us what to report. The homeschoolers, the attorney, and Mr. Carey all let them know that the law was left vague so homeschooling parents could discern and decide what they would teach. When the 'discussion' wasn't going in the direction they wanted it to Dr. Starcher decided to stand up and call the meeting to a close. All she did was chew her bubble gum the whole time and then she just says "I'm calling this meeting to a close, you can walk around and mingle if you want to". It didn't end there though...others kept commenting and bringing up points and it'd lead to more. When the one woman who had the GOOD NOI said what she had to say...Dr. Starcher asked how could we go about seeing how many homeschoolers want to send in more info. DUH. I was thinking "well, I think we've seen about that already, seeing as how those who WANT to comply with your requests already have, and those who don't, haven't."
The woman with the good NOI brought up a great point...she said that when she prepared her NOI she just went to the Internet and printed off the stuff she sent. She said anybody can do that, and what if everyone did and then didn't follow that plan? Ms. Lively made it clear that she just needs to know we have a PLAN. The woman said something like "yeah, but what if somebody just prints something off just to satisfy you, and it's not accurate and the don't plan to follow that plan at all, then what's the use in spending time sending in information that is not accurate? Again, Ms. Lively said "I just need to know you have a plan." So, it does not matter whether you actually plan to teach the plan you send.....interesting. I agree, what's the use in sending one? For one thing, it's dishonest, and that's one thing that most homeschoolers are not.
I didn't say anything, I wouldn't have been heard anyhow. I'm soft spoken myself so I knew better. So that pretty much ended that. I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot of valid stuff that was said, but I wrote it all here and then lost it earlier. Maybe someone else can tell more of what I left out, just ask questions in the group.
But yes....this is affecting us all in the state. They did say they were going to pursue this in the legislature...again. So keep your eyes open and be ready to head to Charleston...again.
As for what happened to me last week, (the truancy letter?), I never spoke to Ms. Lively. My daughter asked me why, and that she might have apologized to me in person. I told her that she apologized on the phone, and if she wanted to aplogize to me face to face she should have sought me out and done so. She had opportunity to do so. As for me, I didn't want to get chummy with her after being all nicey nice and acting as if she wanted this because she cares about all kids and it's her job and she's just trying to do her job to the best of her ability. Yeah, she's trying to cover her butt is all. I know she has cases that are questionable, but she needs to go after THEM, not us. She says if she requests information from one, she has to request it from all. We all know that she could focus on the 'red flag' NOI's.
At any rate...just be on the alert!! Nothing was resolved at this meeting. And I'm not sure about the number of homeschoolers who turned out...if I had to guess I'd say about 45-50 families were represented.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Homeschool Portfolio-Finished!
For the past couple of weeks I have been spending a lot of off-time trying to put together and complete our homeschool portfolio. For those of you who don't know, us homeschoolers are required to turn in some form of assessment to the Board of Education by June 30th of each year. We choose (for now) to use a Portfolio Review for our assessment. This requires putting together samples of the child's work from the year for a certified teacher to review, then a form is signed by the teacher and she adds her certification number, and then you send it in.
This year I decided to let a teacher who is in one of our homeschool groups to do our review.....online. A new experience for me, although I'm very much used to 'online' anything, I had to choose some of their work for each subject, scan each page, and upload to another blog I made especially for our review. Also added into this is my input, goals, weaknesses, and I'm sure I got a twinge of 'pride' in there somewhere. LOL But before I started the portfolio I was very nervous, as homeschooling mothers (or fathers, in some cases), you worry that you're not doing enough work, covering enough material or topics, and you just basically second guess your own teaching abilities. After several hours of work put into this though, I put those fears aside! Once I started compiling their work, adding in the 'extras, that we do, and putting it all down on paper (well, not paper, on the blog LOL) then I really saw just how much we've done and how far we've come. We could stop homeschooling for the year right now and we'd still have way more work than public school does....but....our year will end on or about May 30 (God willing). I am so relieved to have the Portfolio completed this early.
Oh, and a note on that......yes, we have until June 30th to turn in the reviewers form, but these things need to be done early enough that time is given for compiling the review, the reviewer needs to have time to really review what you put together for them so that an honest assessment can be made, and time enough to get the form filled in by both the reviewer and the parents, then sent in with time to spare so that you're butt is covered in case the mail is slow or something. I will send mine by certified mail so I will have a reciept in case anything happens. I also send in the NOI at the same time. This is our Notice of Intent to homeschool for next year, that lets the BOE know they will be homeschooled again next year. That doesn't have to be sent in until a couple of weeks before school starts, but I go ahead and 'kill two birds with one stone', as they say. Our reviewer teaches public school AND homeschools her own kids, so she is only reviewing from April 1 - May 15, because she has to get her own assessments done and reviewed (not sure what kind of assessment she uses though), but she still has to wrap up her own year end stuff, both at her job and at home, so it's totally understandable that she'd have a cut-off date. BUT, I do know (from last year's observations) that she will more than likely be doing reviews right on up til the last minute for people who suddenly realize they are out of time or something.....LOL, because that's how she is, she will help in any way she can.
Enough of that I guess....sorry if that was boring. I'm just excited to be finished with something that is so important (have to be totally legal) so early! Now I can move on to other things....like starting the ball rolling on a little business venture I want to start into. I designed and put together the most awesome homeschool yearbook for my kids, it turned out so well that I want to offer to do them for other homeschoolers. When the thought came to me about doing our own, I checked online to see what was available to us. Not a whole lot at all! Josten's offers a 'kit', not very appealing at all, you put your pics on their templates and send it back to them and they send you a book, at a cost that is not worth the results, if you ask me. I also found another place that offers a kit that is 'cute', but it's more of an art project for the kids or something, a true scrapbooking project. A nice keepsake to have that the kids have made....but not a real 'true' professional looking yearbook.
My yearbooks will have the homeschool's name, logo (designed by me if one is not provided) with mascot and school name, pages will include:
This year I decided to let a teacher who is in one of our homeschool groups to do our review.....online. A new experience for me, although I'm very much used to 'online' anything, I had to choose some of their work for each subject, scan each page, and upload to another blog I made especially for our review. Also added into this is my input, goals, weaknesses, and I'm sure I got a twinge of 'pride' in there somewhere. LOL But before I started the portfolio I was very nervous, as homeschooling mothers (or fathers, in some cases), you worry that you're not doing enough work, covering enough material or topics, and you just basically second guess your own teaching abilities. After several hours of work put into this though, I put those fears aside! Once I started compiling their work, adding in the 'extras, that we do, and putting it all down on paper (well, not paper, on the blog LOL) then I really saw just how much we've done and how far we've come. We could stop homeschooling for the year right now and we'd still have way more work than public school does....but....our year will end on or about May 30 (God willing). I am so relieved to have the Portfolio completed this early.
Oh, and a note on that......yes, we have until June 30th to turn in the reviewers form, but these things need to be done early enough that time is given for compiling the review, the reviewer needs to have time to really review what you put together for them so that an honest assessment can be made, and time enough to get the form filled in by both the reviewer and the parents, then sent in with time to spare so that you're butt is covered in case the mail is slow or something. I will send mine by certified mail so I will have a reciept in case anything happens. I also send in the NOI at the same time. This is our Notice of Intent to homeschool for next year, that lets the BOE know they will be homeschooled again next year. That doesn't have to be sent in until a couple of weeks before school starts, but I go ahead and 'kill two birds with one stone', as they say. Our reviewer teaches public school AND homeschools her own kids, so she is only reviewing from April 1 - May 15, because she has to get her own assessments done and reviewed (not sure what kind of assessment she uses though), but she still has to wrap up her own year end stuff, both at her job and at home, so it's totally understandable that she'd have a cut-off date. BUT, I do know (from last year's observations) that she will more than likely be doing reviews right on up til the last minute for people who suddenly realize they are out of time or something.....LOL, because that's how she is, she will help in any way she can.
Enough of that I guess....sorry if that was boring. I'm just excited to be finished with something that is so important (have to be totally legal) so early! Now I can move on to other things....like starting the ball rolling on a little business venture I want to start into. I designed and put together the most awesome homeschool yearbook for my kids, it turned out so well that I want to offer to do them for other homeschoolers. When the thought came to me about doing our own, I checked online to see what was available to us. Not a whole lot at all! Josten's offers a 'kit', not very appealing at all, you put your pics on their templates and send it back to them and they send you a book, at a cost that is not worth the results, if you ask me. I also found another place that offers a kit that is 'cute', but it's more of an art project for the kids or something, a true scrapbooking project. A nice keepsake to have that the kids have made....but not a real 'true' professional looking yearbook.
My yearbooks will have the homeschool's name, logo (designed by me if one is not provided) with mascot and school name, pages will include:
- student introduction page (student pic, name, age, grade)
- student's interests page (with pics)
- curriculum page (description and/or pics of some books and/or work, to show family and friends what homeschoolers do
- field trip pages (with pics taken of or at different locations)
- special projects page (with pics and info on any projects)
- school activities pages (additional things not considered as bigger projects, i.e. science experiments, finished art projects, etc.)
- family page (with pics taken throughout the year, family gatherings, etc.)
- family activites page (pics and descriptions of activities the whole family participates in
- sports page (pics and descriptions of student playing, or team pic)
- music page (pics and descriptions of any musical activity, lessons, favorite music, music class, etc.)
- friends page (with pics of the students and a few friends)
- student comment page (student's own opinion/feelings about homeschooling
- autograph pages (for family and friends to sign)
I can't wait to get started on a site or blog to offer these books. I will be using our yearbook as an example, but I also want to do a few more sample pages that our's does not include, and add different designs, to show a customer what is available and what can be done. If you're a homeschooler reading this and you are interested, let me know in email or by posting here and I'll put you on a list to let you know when the site for ordering is ready.
I'm off here now.....time to get back to life around here!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Waxing 101
I received this e-mail today from my sister-in-law (thanks Tammy!), and it is probably THE funniest thing I've ever read, mainly because I can relate some. LOL I do not know who wrote this, (understandingly so) but if anyone comes forward I will give credit where credit is due, just let me know and I will either remove at your request or add your name with your permission. Read on for a great laugh, here is the e-mail as I received it:
WAXING 101
Hair Removal....This is funny. (I don't have a clue as to who wrote this, but...WHAT A HOOT!)
..................All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal - The Epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the wax. Read on .........
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: "Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.
"So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those "cold wax" kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off.
No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ("Cold wax," yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works!
OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire.
With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet.Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it was a long strip).
I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!!
I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!!
Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted.
I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...must stay conscious. Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal.
I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip!
There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX???
Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip...it's not! I touch...
I am touching wax!!I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down.
Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut!I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself "Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!" What can I do to melt the wax?
Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right???
*WRONG!!!!!!!*
I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit.
Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax.
So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!!
I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter "So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!
"There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, "Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?"
She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box.
YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night. While we go through various solutions. I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.
My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax.
What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and... OH MY GAWD!!!!!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. "IT WORKS!!"
"It works!!" I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair...THE HAIR IS STILL HERE.......ALL OF IT!
So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts.I could have amputated my own leg at this point.
Next week I'm going to try hair color...
___________________________________________________________________
WAXING 101
Hair Removal....This is funny. (I don't have a clue as to who wrote this, but...WHAT A HOOT!)
..................All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal - The Epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the wax. Read on .........
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: "Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.
"So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those "cold wax" kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off.
No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ("Cold wax," yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works!
OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire.
With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet.Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it was a long strip).
I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!!
I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!!
Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted.
I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...must stay conscious. Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal.
I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip!
There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX???
Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip...it's not! I touch...
I am touching wax!!I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down.
Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut!I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself "Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!" What can I do to melt the wax?
Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right???
*WRONG!!!!!!!*
I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit.
Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax.
So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!!
I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter "So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!
"There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, "Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?"
She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box.
YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night. While we go through various solutions. I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.
My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax.
What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and... OH MY GAWD!!!!!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. "IT WORKS!!"
"It works!!" I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair...THE HAIR IS STILL HERE.......ALL OF IT!
So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts.I could have amputated my own leg at this point.
Next week I'm going to try hair color...
___________________________________________________________________
Answering Question about Letter to my Family
After I posted my "letter to my family" yesterday, someone in one of my homeschool groups that I shared the link with gave me a compliment on it (thanks Erin!) and she asked, "one question-how did it work?" When I tried to answer her question, I, of course, ran on as I usually do. LOL I didn't want to take up space there with my long answer (as a lot of you know, I can write a book, and some say I need to LOL). So I moved my answer over here where anyone can choose to come and read it if they were interested, and if not, they don't have to be trying to scroll through my 'book' to get to info they might need.
So.....in answer to this question, here is what I started posting there, and then continued here:
Q. "One question-how did it work?"
A. It worked wonderful here! I wrote that letter at the beginning of this school year. I think it made my kids realize that, just because I'm Mom, it's NOT my job to continue cleaning up their messes and that it's not fair for me to stand in the kitchen preparing and cooking and then have to take care of the leftovers and the dishes. As I stated in the letter, I am a 'clean-as-I-cook' person, so nobody ever has to wipe down the stove from grease splatters or boil overs or anything like that, and any cutting boards or mixing bowls I use get washed while I wait for something to cook or boil. My husband, on the other hand, pulls a bar stool up to the stove and sits there while he cooks, grease flying, dripping stuff across my stove and counter, you get the picture. LOL So, one Sunday (he usually just cooks breakfast on Sundays, soooo, bacon, fried eggs, you get the jist) I made the kids get in there to clean up after HIM.....they were more than happy to clean up the kitchen after I'd cooked then, and they still comment almost every time they do that they'd rather clean up after me than their Dad. LOL
It does work, life may not be perfect but they have a better awareness of who and what MOM is, and they understand that being a part of a family means that we all have to carry our fair share in our home. I recently told them that a house is just a house, the people who live there are what makes it a home, and we all agree that we want our's to be peaceful and loving, and with this stuff in mind, they DO make an honest effort in helping each other out. I thought I'd fall out the first time I saw the two younger one's working together to clean the kitchen up, and I even asked why BOTH of them were cleaning it up. All I got was shrugged shoulders and they kept working. Like I said though, life isn't perfect, THEY aren't perfect, I'M not perfect, and we don't have the "Father Know's Best" household. Who does? We all keep learning, we all keep messing up.
But since that letter, and some other talks since then, it seems to have spilled over into other areas here....they are just nicer to each other, and to me. And they even offer to help other people, when they don't have anything to do here they sometimes (at least one of them does) go up the road to my Mom's house to ask if they can do anything for her. They EARN their allowance now, they don't just get money or stuff cause Mom and Dad feel sorry for them, and they don't even have a 'set allowance'. We told them that there is no limit to what they can earn around here. Of course, there is....LOL. But you know what I mean. We could set it at $10 for doing all of their assigned chores....and if they just do the basics that's about what they get. But if they do extra things without being told to do them, they can earn more. They know that their attitude has a lot to do with it, and they know that if they have to be TOLD to do the basics they won't even get the $10. One of them NEVER has to be told to do anything, and he takes on other jobs you don't even know he's doing until he comes and says "I cleaned the stall so Dad won't have to", or "I washed your car", or whatever. The other one almost always had to be told to do her basic chores, much less to do anything extra, and when she saw her allowance be handed to her brother because he not only did HIS, but picked up her slack too, she had a whole different attitude. He didn't know he was getting her allowance, and neither did she. I kept that little idea to myself until payday and it worked like a charm for them BOTH. He doesn't hesitate to do anything she hasn't done, and she knows she has to get it done NOW so HE doesn't do it. LOL He knows to give her due time to get her stuff done, that was an issue, I had to talk to him and tell him that he couldn't just run ahead of her and do it, that it doesn't work that way. Cause he tried that. LOL They know we pay attention to what they do, we don't just have a set price for certain chores and so on. If they have treated each other well this week, and done their chores and schoolwork and haven't been in trouble for anything serious (getting grounded kind of serious) and do extra stuff without being told, they can get $20-25 cash. HE usually makes that much, she usually gets her $10. LOL She isn't nearly as motivated on chores as he is, and she is such a socialite that she doesn't 'have time' for such trivial stuff you know. And sometimes she decides she doesn't 'need' anything this week, so she tries to be lazy and let HIM do her part. She found out it doesn't work that way either, not only does she lose her allowance but she is in trouble too then, for not doing HER part.
At any rate, I almost never see a dish or glass sitting anywhere, and each one does most of their own laundry now. The laundry was a hard one with our middle child....he'd let stuff pile up in his room until he'd yell "Mom, I don't have any clean pants!" and I simply said "wonder why?" and I'd go on about my business and he'd have to deal with it. The time before that he brought his basket to the laundry room, but he just left it there, no sorting or anything, so I left it there too. When he asked if his clothes were done, I said " you carried them in there, WHY didn't you go ahead and WASH them?" He said there were clothes in the washer. I'd washed some clothes. So I asked him why didn't he put them into the dryer and THEN wash his stuff? He just said "oh". And went and did it. I purposefully left things the way they were so he'd see. And he did. Now they know if they don't do their laundry, they won't have what they want to wear. I do help them out though, just as I expect them to help ME out. I will put their laundry in the dryer, and even get them out and fold them if they are not available to take care of it right then, to show them that I am willing to work alongside them in this thing if they are willing to work alongside ME.
I don't tolerate laziness anymore. There is no sense in it. My preacher said something in a sermon years ago that made my lightbulb go on....he said "we raise our kids to leave home", and I knew that he meant that we are training our children to live independently, so that when we are gone or they are out away from us, they will know what to do. Simple concept.....but as a young mother I never thought about it and the fact that, the more we DO for them, the more we teach them that it is ok to sit back and let others DO. It's so much easier sometimes to just do something ourselves, too, and we will, to make sure it's done right the first time, and so we don't cause a fuss, and so they can go off and 'be kids'. The thing is, if we don't tell them to do it, show them how to do it, and sometimes cause that fuss, they are going to go off and 'be kids' when they leave the nest, and then where's that gonna get them?
Although that letter was written to older kids, you can apply the same principles in it by sitting younger kids down (family meeting) and just adapt it for them, as well as adding to it or skipping what you don't need. I put off doing something like that because I just didn't have time to get my thoughts on paper. I am the type of person who communicates better in writing, when I try to talk to someone about something, maybe, for instance, when I make an important phone call and try to explain something, I forget what I need to say or meant to say, unless I write down my main points or questions first to have in front of me. I am that way with my family too, my oldest son has many letters from me that I've written him over the years. He was a handful at times, and we'd have a quarrel or he'd end up in big trouble and I'd sit down and write to him to let him know I loved him anyway, and to explain why he couldn't continue that particular behavior, and he'd understand that much better than just saying "because I said so", and fighting with him over it. I'd also write to him to let him know how proud I was of any accomplishments, and also when he'd be really disappointed over big things, like when his first girlfriend dumped him, or when his PaPa wouldn't trade his 4-wheeler in for a bigger one (big disappointment to an 10 year old) I had to let him know his PaPa loved him more than life itself and that was why he wouldn't get him something bigger and that bigger means bigger chance of injury. AND when he couldn't get the job he wanted, it was easier for me to explain that sometimes the answer is "No", whether we tell him 'no' or God tells him 'no', the reasons are the same. He's very impatient and wants what he wants NOW, no matter what it is, and he can be hard to deal with sometimes when he isn't the least bit open to hearing what you have to say to him, so sometimes a letter would do the trick for me. He usually always came out of things with a better attitude then, knowing the world wasn't against him but that we have to roll with the punches, walk around the mountain, and sometimes wait on the Lord.
So.....in answer to this question, here is what I started posting there, and then continued here:
Q. "One question-how did it work?"
A. It worked wonderful here! I wrote that letter at the beginning of this school year. I think it made my kids realize that, just because I'm Mom, it's NOT my job to continue cleaning up their messes and that it's not fair for me to stand in the kitchen preparing and cooking and then have to take care of the leftovers and the dishes. As I stated in the letter, I am a 'clean-as-I-cook' person, so nobody ever has to wipe down the stove from grease splatters or boil overs or anything like that, and any cutting boards or mixing bowls I use get washed while I wait for something to cook or boil. My husband, on the other hand, pulls a bar stool up to the stove and sits there while he cooks, grease flying, dripping stuff across my stove and counter, you get the picture. LOL So, one Sunday (he usually just cooks breakfast on Sundays, soooo, bacon, fried eggs, you get the jist) I made the kids get in there to clean up after HIM.....they were more than happy to clean up the kitchen after I'd cooked then, and they still comment almost every time they do that they'd rather clean up after me than their Dad. LOL
It does work, life may not be perfect but they have a better awareness of who and what MOM is, and they understand that being a part of a family means that we all have to carry our fair share in our home. I recently told them that a house is just a house, the people who live there are what makes it a home, and we all agree that we want our's to be peaceful and loving, and with this stuff in mind, they DO make an honest effort in helping each other out. I thought I'd fall out the first time I saw the two younger one's working together to clean the kitchen up, and I even asked why BOTH of them were cleaning it up. All I got was shrugged shoulders and they kept working. Like I said though, life isn't perfect, THEY aren't perfect, I'M not perfect, and we don't have the "Father Know's Best" household. Who does? We all keep learning, we all keep messing up.
But since that letter, and some other talks since then, it seems to have spilled over into other areas here....they are just nicer to each other, and to me. And they even offer to help other people, when they don't have anything to do here they sometimes (at least one of them does) go up the road to my Mom's house to ask if they can do anything for her. They EARN their allowance now, they don't just get money or stuff cause Mom and Dad feel sorry for them, and they don't even have a 'set allowance'. We told them that there is no limit to what they can earn around here. Of course, there is....LOL. But you know what I mean. We could set it at $10 for doing all of their assigned chores....and if they just do the basics that's about what they get. But if they do extra things without being told to do them, they can earn more. They know that their attitude has a lot to do with it, and they know that if they have to be TOLD to do the basics they won't even get the $10. One of them NEVER has to be told to do anything, and he takes on other jobs you don't even know he's doing until he comes and says "I cleaned the stall so Dad won't have to", or "I washed your car", or whatever. The other one almost always had to be told to do her basic chores, much less to do anything extra, and when she saw her allowance be handed to her brother because he not only did HIS, but picked up her slack too, she had a whole different attitude. He didn't know he was getting her allowance, and neither did she. I kept that little idea to myself until payday and it worked like a charm for them BOTH. He doesn't hesitate to do anything she hasn't done, and she knows she has to get it done NOW so HE doesn't do it. LOL He knows to give her due time to get her stuff done, that was an issue, I had to talk to him and tell him that he couldn't just run ahead of her and do it, that it doesn't work that way. Cause he tried that. LOL They know we pay attention to what they do, we don't just have a set price for certain chores and so on. If they have treated each other well this week, and done their chores and schoolwork and haven't been in trouble for anything serious (getting grounded kind of serious) and do extra stuff without being told, they can get $20-25 cash. HE usually makes that much, she usually gets her $10. LOL She isn't nearly as motivated on chores as he is, and she is such a socialite that she doesn't 'have time' for such trivial stuff you know. And sometimes she decides she doesn't 'need' anything this week, so she tries to be lazy and let HIM do her part. She found out it doesn't work that way either, not only does she lose her allowance but she is in trouble too then, for not doing HER part.
At any rate, I almost never see a dish or glass sitting anywhere, and each one does most of their own laundry now. The laundry was a hard one with our middle child....he'd let stuff pile up in his room until he'd yell "Mom, I don't have any clean pants!" and I simply said "wonder why?" and I'd go on about my business and he'd have to deal with it. The time before that he brought his basket to the laundry room, but he just left it there, no sorting or anything, so I left it there too. When he asked if his clothes were done, I said " you carried them in there, WHY didn't you go ahead and WASH them?" He said there were clothes in the washer. I'd washed some clothes. So I asked him why didn't he put them into the dryer and THEN wash his stuff? He just said "oh". And went and did it. I purposefully left things the way they were so he'd see. And he did. Now they know if they don't do their laundry, they won't have what they want to wear. I do help them out though, just as I expect them to help ME out. I will put their laundry in the dryer, and even get them out and fold them if they are not available to take care of it right then, to show them that I am willing to work alongside them in this thing if they are willing to work alongside ME.
I don't tolerate laziness anymore. There is no sense in it. My preacher said something in a sermon years ago that made my lightbulb go on....he said "we raise our kids to leave home", and I knew that he meant that we are training our children to live independently, so that when we are gone or they are out away from us, they will know what to do. Simple concept.....but as a young mother I never thought about it and the fact that, the more we DO for them, the more we teach them that it is ok to sit back and let others DO. It's so much easier sometimes to just do something ourselves, too, and we will, to make sure it's done right the first time, and so we don't cause a fuss, and so they can go off and 'be kids'. The thing is, if we don't tell them to do it, show them how to do it, and sometimes cause that fuss, they are going to go off and 'be kids' when they leave the nest, and then where's that gonna get them?
Although that letter was written to older kids, you can apply the same principles in it by sitting younger kids down (family meeting) and just adapt it for them, as well as adding to it or skipping what you don't need. I put off doing something like that because I just didn't have time to get my thoughts on paper. I am the type of person who communicates better in writing, when I try to talk to someone about something, maybe, for instance, when I make an important phone call and try to explain something, I forget what I need to say or meant to say, unless I write down my main points or questions first to have in front of me. I am that way with my family too, my oldest son has many letters from me that I've written him over the years. He was a handful at times, and we'd have a quarrel or he'd end up in big trouble and I'd sit down and write to him to let him know I loved him anyway, and to explain why he couldn't continue that particular behavior, and he'd understand that much better than just saying "because I said so", and fighting with him over it. I'd also write to him to let him know how proud I was of any accomplishments, and also when he'd be really disappointed over big things, like when his first girlfriend dumped him, or when his PaPa wouldn't trade his 4-wheeler in for a bigger one (big disappointment to an 10 year old) I had to let him know his PaPa loved him more than life itself and that was why he wouldn't get him something bigger and that bigger means bigger chance of injury. AND when he couldn't get the job he wanted, it was easier for me to explain that sometimes the answer is "No", whether we tell him 'no' or God tells him 'no', the reasons are the same. He's very impatient and wants what he wants NOW, no matter what it is, and he can be hard to deal with sometimes when he isn't the least bit open to hearing what you have to say to him, so sometimes a letter would do the trick for me. He usually always came out of things with a better attitude then, knowing the world wasn't against him but that we have to roll with the punches, walk around the mountain, and sometimes wait on the Lord.
I haven't written that many letters to the other two kids, I've always been able to really talk to my youngest son, we have similar personalities (although different enough to get along) and he is more open to listening to us. He's very easy to talk to and he usually takes advice and 'life lectures' to heart. He can get hurt easily, but he doesn't get mad easily, so he doesn't take on the attitude that he doesn't care or doesn't want to hear it when you have to deal with him or his issues. He takes your words to heart, and goes on. The youngest, on the other hand, can get angered easily, and she definately has an attitude at times, but she knows the oldest of our three is very similar to her, and that we have been there and done that, and bought the t-shirt, (poor Randy, had to be our guinea pig) so she doesn't get by with stuff like storming out when you try to talk to her, or sitting there trying her best to focus on something other than YOU when talking to her. Plus, I learned long ago that I have to let her be for a while, give her a cooling off period (as well as my own cooling off period), and THEN we deal with her and the issue. If it is a case of them being hurt or disappointed, they are both open to us and we are able to discuss things with them, or if it's accomplishments, we do something like tell them our regular Friday night dinner out is for THEM and we tell everyone, in front of them, about the accomplishment and they are proud of themselves then.
So, basically, my letter writing to my kids (as well as other family members) is my way of getting things across to them that I KNOW I'll mess up somewhere between my brain and my mouth!!
Somehow I turned this into a novel, sorry for that. I only meant to write a short book. LOL
And now.....I must get some work done on my homeschool portfolio today, so my parenting advice column must come to an end for today. LOL (I'm an expert you know.....NOT).
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Sharing Letter to Family
Today I was searching for something in my household files and ran across a 'letter to my family' that I wrote and distributed to each of my family members, including my husband, a while back. The letter was meant to get my point across to them that I was overwhelmed and tired of doing most all of the housework, and I set down some rules in it. As I read it again, I realized that a lot of mothers may benefit from a letter like this one, as it took me quite a while to write it. In fact, it took me a couple of days to get it written, in between all the chores and daily activity around here. So, in thinking about all of you mothers who are in the same boat that would like to write something similar to your own family members, I am pasting the letter in it's entirety here.
Keep in mind that some parts of the letter may be of no use to you, I am a homeschooling mom with an energy problem that I take B-12 shots for, and it is mentioned in the letter (sympathy ploy LOL, however, true). So, you may wish to re-word parts of it or delete or add to it. Feel free to copy and paste the letter into Microsoft Word or your word processor and make changes according to your own needs.
In giving credit where credit is due, some of my ideas or rules, as well as the "Weekly Blessing Hour" comes from a web site called Flylady.net. Lots of useful tips and things here for gaining control of your home, clean-wise, that is. LOL In other words, a lot of useful organizational things and tips on delegating responsibility of household duties, as well as a lot of other topics.
Here is the letter:
Dear Family:
I was getting ready to vacuum today, and I thought “why should I vacuum when everybody else is doing something fun today?” Then I thought about it all, and decided that I’m going to delegate some jobs. This is my ‘memo’ to all family members. Maybe that got a laugh, maybe not. But I’m being serious. I’ve been wanting to have a sort of family meeting, to get some things straight and to tell everyone some things.
First of all, I am a mother, NOT A MAID. I am to be respected, and I am demanding respect. Second of all, yes, you each do a little to help here and there, and I’d like to take this opportunity to let you know that I do appreciate that, but I still feel like I’m doing more than my fair share, and my fair share is way more than any of you because I am the Mom here. But, it is my job to teach you, not to clean up after you all the time. Yes, I have to do my part around here too, but I am not supposed to do it all when you have been taught how to do it and are perfectly capable, and I won’t do it all.
I am a homemaker, mother, and wife. But above all of that, I am a PERSON. I have feelings, and dreams, and there are things I like to do, just like you all like to have fun doing things you like to do. I don’t do hardly anything that I like to do anymore though. I have no time to do them, and when I think about doing them, I look around at all the things I HAVE to do, and I do what I have to. I have made a pretty nice home for you all, and I’d like to keep it that way. I take pride in my home and my family, and lately I’ve been feeling very overwhelmed again, and then I get mad. Like I said, I look around, and I see things that need to be done, and I don’t mind doing some housework, but I DO mind doing ALL of it. I get mad because I don’t have little toddlers anymore that make a mess that I have to clean up because they don’t know how to or aren’t big enough to. The youngest person here is as big as I am now, so yes, I get mad when I see messes that are left for me to clean up. If I don’t clean them up, they sit longer than I can stand for them to, or they don’t get cleaned up. Respect me as a person, not just as your mother, but as another human being that has wants and needs of her own. I do not intend to come across as being ‘selfish or self-centered’, but I AM a person who needs to do more than clean house and do the household chores.
I have let a lot go, because I can’t and won’t do everything. If I start to vacuum, my mind races about the dusting, then about getting the bathroom cleaned, then about cleaning out the fridge, and so on. My mind works that way. Then I get overwhelmed and then mad because nobody bothers doing anything. Even if I do start cleaning, nobody chips in to do anything unless I specifically TELL them to. So sometimes I just don’t do anything myself, because I know I will work all day, going from room to room, while everyone else is doing “their thing.”
It’s just not right for one person to do most of everything. I look at my bathroom, and I think “I’m not the only one that uses it”. Then I look at my kitchen, and I think “I’m not the only one that uses it, and I put MY dish in the dishwasher” and then I go to straightening a counter, or shoes in the entryway, or picking up pillows out of the floor, and I think “I didn’t put this here, these aren’t my shoes, WHO put the pillows in the floor again for them to get dirty?”
So don’t you think I get mad? This is MY house. I mean, it’s OUR home, but if it is dirty or cluttered, I am the one that looks bad. One way or the other, I am a bad housekeeper, or I am a bad mother for not making anyone else do anything and I must not have taught my children very well. So, since I know I’m not either one of those, everybody is going to stop making me look like I am one of those. I am tired of not saying anything, keeping my mouth shut because I might hurt somebody’s feelings.
When I started home schooling, I delegated responsibilities to everyone else, because the things I did during the day when you guys were in public school were not going to get done if I didn’t get some help. It is overwhelming to try to home school AND do everything I had done all along.
Do you guys realize what has to be done around here? Schooling, dinner, laundry (sorting, washing, folding, put away), dishes, vacuuming, dusting, straightening, mopping, clean windows, doors, commodes, showers, mirrors, dog bathing, dog feeding, bill paying, errand running, porch sweeping, curtain washing, wipe down inside and outside doors , clean shelves over windows, clean blinds, fans, grocery shop, plan meals, cook meals, and just try to keep my sanity.
Not to mention all other wifely and motherly duties. Everyone wants my attention or to spend time with me, everyone needs me at some point, and that it not a chore to me, but it is hard to balance everything. Going for a walk or playing a board game, watching a movie together, etc. is har to fit in and can be tiresome when I’m worn out from the chores. Sometimes I just don’t want to THINK about anything.
I’m not going to lose my mind though, as I said before, this is MY house, and everyone is going to do their part to keep it clean. I stay tired a lot. You all know I take the shots for my low blood count, sometimes they help, sometimes they don’t. What they never do though, is make me Superwoman. I can’t do it all, and it wouldn’t be fair for me to have to if I was Superwoman. I’m NOT trying to lay a guilt trip on anyone, I’m NOT sick, I AM as able bodied as you all are to do the things that need done. Yes, I do have some back trouble and something is wrong with my arms right now, but I still carry and lift anyhow.
I take pride in my house, but lately I haven’t been feeling very prideful. Everyone knows (or needs to know) that I keep a clean and neat house. Now WE are going to keep a clean house. I’m through with cleaning up after everyone else.
A WEEKLY HOME BLESSING hour, is one hour that you will spend cleaning the FAMILY HOME, with the family working as a team. A Weekly Home Blessing blesses the entire family with more time for each member to do what they want to do (free time), and the family will have more time to do fun things together as a family. It also brings a closeness into the family, which is how God intended families to be. He intended for families to work together, as a team. Mom and Dad teach, then delegate as we work alongside each other. He did not intend for ONE member of the family to bear most of the house work. It would not be fair a family member came to you and told you that YOU had to do ALL of the house work from now on, while everyone else had THEIR free time, now would it? Think of everyone else’s feelings and do the right thing….DO YOU’RE PART as a team member!!
This is they way it will be, THE RULES OF THE HOUSE:
1) I don’t expect a perfect house, but I do expect it to be ‘company ready’ all the time. If somebody shows up, I better not be ashamed of it in any way. That goes for bedrooms, too. Yes, they are YOUR private spaces, but they are in MY house and they will look like they are a part of MY house. Make the bed and keep it the room straight!
2) The same goes for the bathroom, it better not smell like a gas station bathroom or be left looking like one. If you get water in the floor, DRY IT UP. Rinse the shower, close the curtain so that it dries without mildewing. Make sure the toilet and sink are as clean AFTER you use it was it was BEFORE you used it, that way no one can blame you when the bathroom isn’t clean. Wipe your hair, toothpaste, shaving cream, etc. off of counter, out of the shower, and rinse sink and wipe the faucets.
Also, you all need to only use the hamper for towels and washcloths. It seems to me that everyone could put their dirty laundry in a basket in their own rooms, just carry it to your room after you shower, when the basket is full then do your laundry! This would help to stop a lot of hassle over nobody wanting to ‘touch’ other people’s dirty underwear, etc. If you wash your own towels, do your own washcloths, too. It’s not fair to not want to ‘touch’ anyone else’s dirty stuff and then expect someone else to want to touch your’s! More on laundry later.
3) You’ve heard the rule “If you drop it, pick it up”, my rule is “If you leave something lying around, you pick it up or I throw it away. Your choice.”
4) If you make a mess in the kitchen, you clean it up. Crumbs, dishes, whatever it is, needs to be cleaned up. If you cook, clean up after yourself. When I cook, I DO clean up after myself AS I cook. When I cook for the family, the family can help clean up the dishes, etc. If someone else cooks for the family, the family will help clean up, too, but if you make a mess along the way, YOU clean that part up, don‘t expect someone else to clean up after a messy cook.
If you use just one bowl or dish and the dishwasher is full of clean dishes, do NOT just put your dish in the sink for someone else to wash or put in the dishwasher. Either take the time to unload the dishwasher, or wash the dish!
5) If you see that something needs to be picked up or cleaned up, then do it. Help each other out, don’t leave things for ME to end up picking up because YOU didn’t do it or leave it. Look around and straighten things up if they need it.
7) Pick a day or time to do your laundry. I will take care of my laundry and Dad’s laundry, and I do not mind helping you out to get your’s done sometimes, as long as you are doing your part around here and you are going to work, or are busy with necessary activities, but you need to keep up with your own laundry most of the time. Otherwise, if I do your laundry AND all of the towels, I expect you to help do everybody else’s too. At least take it to the laundry room before it is a huge load or loads, and take the bathroom laundry and sort it before it mildews! Stop cramming the laundry in the hamper until it’s about to burst. AND when you do your laundry, YOU make sure you will be around to put it in the dryer, get it out, fold it, and put it away. When I need to do laundry I don’t want to have to do all of this to get it out of my way.
8) If you see somebody else leave a mess, ask them nicely to clean it up. If they don’t do it right away, then walk away. It is not your job to make them. It is mine and I will take care of it in MY OWN TIME and IN MY OWN WAY.
I know that work schedules might be hard to work around, but everyone is going to clean up after him/herself here and help out when you can.
9) Everybody will have a room assigned to them to monitor and clean. This is your zone, if it needs dusting on Tuesday, don’t wait until Saturday to do it if you have a few minutes NOW. Same goes for sweeping or vacuuming. If everybody takes care of their own zone, and their bedrooms, then we are working together, T-O-G-E-T-H-E-R to make our home peaceful and clean.
Just a note about delegating jobs to someone else: This is allowed, BUT, if you are working or busy and you delegate YOUR jobs to somebody else, YOU are going to pay them. Meaning, if you ask the younger kids to clean the bathroom or take a job that YOU are supposed to do, then YOU need to be the one to reward them for doing it somehow, or trade jobs and STICK TO YOUR WORD. Each of these are to be negotiated and agreed upon between the two of you. If one does not agree to the other’s requirements, do not start an argument or involve ME, if an agreement can’t be reached, do the job yourself! You waste time that could be used to just do the job when you argue.
10) Always keep two things in mind: 1- Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and, just as important, 2-IF MOMMA AIN’T HAPPY, AIN’T NOBODY HAPPY!!
Love you all,
Mom
Keep in mind that some parts of the letter may be of no use to you, I am a homeschooling mom with an energy problem that I take B-12 shots for, and it is mentioned in the letter (sympathy ploy LOL, however, true). So, you may wish to re-word parts of it or delete or add to it. Feel free to copy and paste the letter into Microsoft Word or your word processor and make changes according to your own needs.
In giving credit where credit is due, some of my ideas or rules, as well as the "Weekly Blessing Hour" comes from a web site called Flylady.net. Lots of useful tips and things here for gaining control of your home, clean-wise, that is. LOL In other words, a lot of useful organizational things and tips on delegating responsibility of household duties, as well as a lot of other topics.
Here is the letter:
Dear Family:
I was getting ready to vacuum today, and I thought “why should I vacuum when everybody else is doing something fun today?” Then I thought about it all, and decided that I’m going to delegate some jobs. This is my ‘memo’ to all family members. Maybe that got a laugh, maybe not. But I’m being serious. I’ve been wanting to have a sort of family meeting, to get some things straight and to tell everyone some things.
First of all, I am a mother, NOT A MAID. I am to be respected, and I am demanding respect. Second of all, yes, you each do a little to help here and there, and I’d like to take this opportunity to let you know that I do appreciate that, but I still feel like I’m doing more than my fair share, and my fair share is way more than any of you because I am the Mom here. But, it is my job to teach you, not to clean up after you all the time. Yes, I have to do my part around here too, but I am not supposed to do it all when you have been taught how to do it and are perfectly capable, and I won’t do it all.
I am a homemaker, mother, and wife. But above all of that, I am a PERSON. I have feelings, and dreams, and there are things I like to do, just like you all like to have fun doing things you like to do. I don’t do hardly anything that I like to do anymore though. I have no time to do them, and when I think about doing them, I look around at all the things I HAVE to do, and I do what I have to. I have made a pretty nice home for you all, and I’d like to keep it that way. I take pride in my home and my family, and lately I’ve been feeling very overwhelmed again, and then I get mad. Like I said, I look around, and I see things that need to be done, and I don’t mind doing some housework, but I DO mind doing ALL of it. I get mad because I don’t have little toddlers anymore that make a mess that I have to clean up because they don’t know how to or aren’t big enough to. The youngest person here is as big as I am now, so yes, I get mad when I see messes that are left for me to clean up. If I don’t clean them up, they sit longer than I can stand for them to, or they don’t get cleaned up. Respect me as a person, not just as your mother, but as another human being that has wants and needs of her own. I do not intend to come across as being ‘selfish or self-centered’, but I AM a person who needs to do more than clean house and do the household chores.
I have let a lot go, because I can’t and won’t do everything. If I start to vacuum, my mind races about the dusting, then about getting the bathroom cleaned, then about cleaning out the fridge, and so on. My mind works that way. Then I get overwhelmed and then mad because nobody bothers doing anything. Even if I do start cleaning, nobody chips in to do anything unless I specifically TELL them to. So sometimes I just don’t do anything myself, because I know I will work all day, going from room to room, while everyone else is doing “their thing.”
It’s just not right for one person to do most of everything. I look at my bathroom, and I think “I’m not the only one that uses it”. Then I look at my kitchen, and I think “I’m not the only one that uses it, and I put MY dish in the dishwasher” and then I go to straightening a counter, or shoes in the entryway, or picking up pillows out of the floor, and I think “I didn’t put this here, these aren’t my shoes, WHO put the pillows in the floor again for them to get dirty?”
So don’t you think I get mad? This is MY house. I mean, it’s OUR home, but if it is dirty or cluttered, I am the one that looks bad. One way or the other, I am a bad housekeeper, or I am a bad mother for not making anyone else do anything and I must not have taught my children very well. So, since I know I’m not either one of those, everybody is going to stop making me look like I am one of those. I am tired of not saying anything, keeping my mouth shut because I might hurt somebody’s feelings.
When I started home schooling, I delegated responsibilities to everyone else, because the things I did during the day when you guys were in public school were not going to get done if I didn’t get some help. It is overwhelming to try to home school AND do everything I had done all along.
Do you guys realize what has to be done around here? Schooling, dinner, laundry (sorting, washing, folding, put away), dishes, vacuuming, dusting, straightening, mopping, clean windows, doors, commodes, showers, mirrors, dog bathing, dog feeding, bill paying, errand running, porch sweeping, curtain washing, wipe down inside and outside doors , clean shelves over windows, clean blinds, fans, grocery shop, plan meals, cook meals, and just try to keep my sanity.
Not to mention all other wifely and motherly duties. Everyone wants my attention or to spend time with me, everyone needs me at some point, and that it not a chore to me, but it is hard to balance everything. Going for a walk or playing a board game, watching a movie together, etc. is har to fit in and can be tiresome when I’m worn out from the chores. Sometimes I just don’t want to THINK about anything.
I’m not going to lose my mind though, as I said before, this is MY house, and everyone is going to do their part to keep it clean. I stay tired a lot. You all know I take the shots for my low blood count, sometimes they help, sometimes they don’t. What they never do though, is make me Superwoman. I can’t do it all, and it wouldn’t be fair for me to have to if I was Superwoman. I’m NOT trying to lay a guilt trip on anyone, I’m NOT sick, I AM as able bodied as you all are to do the things that need done. Yes, I do have some back trouble and something is wrong with my arms right now, but I still carry and lift anyhow.
I take pride in my house, but lately I haven’t been feeling very prideful. Everyone knows (or needs to know) that I keep a clean and neat house. Now WE are going to keep a clean house. I’m through with cleaning up after everyone else.
A WEEKLY HOME BLESSING hour, is one hour that you will spend cleaning the FAMILY HOME, with the family working as a team. A Weekly Home Blessing blesses the entire family with more time for each member to do what they want to do (free time), and the family will have more time to do fun things together as a family. It also brings a closeness into the family, which is how God intended families to be. He intended for families to work together, as a team. Mom and Dad teach, then delegate as we work alongside each other. He did not intend for ONE member of the family to bear most of the house work. It would not be fair a family member came to you and told you that YOU had to do ALL of the house work from now on, while everyone else had THEIR free time, now would it? Think of everyone else’s feelings and do the right thing….DO YOU’RE PART as a team member!!
This is they way it will be, THE RULES OF THE HOUSE:
1) I don’t expect a perfect house, but I do expect it to be ‘company ready’ all the time. If somebody shows up, I better not be ashamed of it in any way. That goes for bedrooms, too. Yes, they are YOUR private spaces, but they are in MY house and they will look like they are a part of MY house. Make the bed and keep it the room straight!
2) The same goes for the bathroom, it better not smell like a gas station bathroom or be left looking like one. If you get water in the floor, DRY IT UP. Rinse the shower, close the curtain so that it dries without mildewing. Make sure the toilet and sink are as clean AFTER you use it was it was BEFORE you used it, that way no one can blame you when the bathroom isn’t clean. Wipe your hair, toothpaste, shaving cream, etc. off of counter, out of the shower, and rinse sink and wipe the faucets.
Also, you all need to only use the hamper for towels and washcloths. It seems to me that everyone could put their dirty laundry in a basket in their own rooms, just carry it to your room after you shower, when the basket is full then do your laundry! This would help to stop a lot of hassle over nobody wanting to ‘touch’ other people’s dirty underwear, etc. If you wash your own towels, do your own washcloths, too. It’s not fair to not want to ‘touch’ anyone else’s dirty stuff and then expect someone else to want to touch your’s! More on laundry later.
3) You’ve heard the rule “If you drop it, pick it up”, my rule is “If you leave something lying around, you pick it up or I throw it away. Your choice.”
4) If you make a mess in the kitchen, you clean it up. Crumbs, dishes, whatever it is, needs to be cleaned up. If you cook, clean up after yourself. When I cook, I DO clean up after myself AS I cook. When I cook for the family, the family can help clean up the dishes, etc. If someone else cooks for the family, the family will help clean up, too, but if you make a mess along the way, YOU clean that part up, don‘t expect someone else to clean up after a messy cook.
If you use just one bowl or dish and the dishwasher is full of clean dishes, do NOT just put your dish in the sink for someone else to wash or put in the dishwasher. Either take the time to unload the dishwasher, or wash the dish!
5) If you see that something needs to be picked up or cleaned up, then do it. Help each other out, don’t leave things for ME to end up picking up because YOU didn’t do it or leave it. Look around and straighten things up if they need it.
7) Pick a day or time to do your laundry. I will take care of my laundry and Dad’s laundry, and I do not mind helping you out to get your’s done sometimes, as long as you are doing your part around here and you are going to work, or are busy with necessary activities, but you need to keep up with your own laundry most of the time. Otherwise, if I do your laundry AND all of the towels, I expect you to help do everybody else’s too. At least take it to the laundry room before it is a huge load or loads, and take the bathroom laundry and sort it before it mildews! Stop cramming the laundry in the hamper until it’s about to burst. AND when you do your laundry, YOU make sure you will be around to put it in the dryer, get it out, fold it, and put it away. When I need to do laundry I don’t want to have to do all of this to get it out of my way.
8) If you see somebody else leave a mess, ask them nicely to clean it up. If they don’t do it right away, then walk away. It is not your job to make them. It is mine and I will take care of it in MY OWN TIME and IN MY OWN WAY.
I know that work schedules might be hard to work around, but everyone is going to clean up after him/herself here and help out when you can.
9) Everybody will have a room assigned to them to monitor and clean. This is your zone, if it needs dusting on Tuesday, don’t wait until Saturday to do it if you have a few minutes NOW. Same goes for sweeping or vacuuming. If everybody takes care of their own zone, and their bedrooms, then we are working together, T-O-G-E-T-H-E-R to make our home peaceful and clean.
Just a note about delegating jobs to someone else: This is allowed, BUT, if you are working or busy and you delegate YOUR jobs to somebody else, YOU are going to pay them. Meaning, if you ask the younger kids to clean the bathroom or take a job that YOU are supposed to do, then YOU need to be the one to reward them for doing it somehow, or trade jobs and STICK TO YOUR WORD. Each of these are to be negotiated and agreed upon between the two of you. If one does not agree to the other’s requirements, do not start an argument or involve ME, if an agreement can’t be reached, do the job yourself! You waste time that could be used to just do the job when you argue.
10) Always keep two things in mind: 1- Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and, just as important, 2-IF MOMMA AIN’T HAPPY, AIN’T NOBODY HAPPY!!
Love you all,
Mom
Friday, March 28, 2008
Latest Happenings
I haven't had the chance to blog for a while, but I thought I'd drop a few quick lines to let friends and family know how my Granny is doing. Granny is 94, as of February 19. She had a mini-stroke in December, but was recovering well from that, although she was weak and unsteady, of course. She was getting stronger and then she had a fall, and fractured something in her back and they did a procedure to cement a bone. She did well with that and then she was recovering from that but she started having problems with her bowels and her side hurt her a lot. Her doctor found a mass, and x-rays and a CT Scan showed a tumor and a blockage in her intestines. Surgery was scheduled for Wednesday and she came through it with flying colors. They were afraid her intestines might not be strong enough to be sewn back together and that she might have a colostomy bag, but they were fine and they were able to piece them back together. They also removed the tumor and it was sent to pathology, so we will know more about that later. She is in SICU for a couple of days, and then she'll be in ICU for a while after that. Continue praying for her as she heals, she needs to heal quickly so that she can get the nourishment she needs, she weighs only 100 pounds now. God is good though, and He has brought her through better than the doctors expected. She continues to defy them and what they 'think' or are 'afraid of'. She's a strong woman with a strong faith in God. I'll try to post to keep everyone updated on her condition.
For more news on the homefront.....I'm so glad Spring is here. We can still have until the last of May for our schoolwork, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Call me lazy or what you want to, I HAVE to take summers (some homeschoolers school year-round) off. I have to have that break myself and I can't wait. It's a lot of responsibility to homeschool, although I do think it's not as hard as people think it is. I mean the people who think about homeschooling but won't because they think it's too hard. Anyone can do it, it does take time and it does take patience, but I'd rather do it for 3 hours a day than to have my kids sitting in a public school for 8 hours learning nothing and having to deal with all that surrounds public school. But I can't wait til the summer!!! Almost time to start winding this year down.
Randy, the oldest, has flown the coop. Yep, he's got a place of his own now, and he's getting married this summer. Not sure of an exact date yet, that should be decided in a few days. Courtney (future daughter-in-law) is searching for a wedding dress right now. They have to be very economical, they have to pay for most everything themselves, so we're looking for a dress on a tight budget. Not sure how that's going to go, we've found some nice ones online for decent prices, but not even sure they can pay that much. So, if anyone knows of a nice dress for sale (size 14 or up a little, dress can be taken in) let me know. She doesn't like the fru-fru poofy bell type dresses...she wants simple but elegant, train is fine, not a lot of tulle. So if you have one for sale or know of one, e-mail me!!
For more news on the homefront.....I'm so glad Spring is here. We can still have until the last of May for our schoolwork, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Call me lazy or what you want to, I HAVE to take summers (some homeschoolers school year-round) off. I have to have that break myself and I can't wait. It's a lot of responsibility to homeschool, although I do think it's not as hard as people think it is. I mean the people who think about homeschooling but won't because they think it's too hard. Anyone can do it, it does take time and it does take patience, but I'd rather do it for 3 hours a day than to have my kids sitting in a public school for 8 hours learning nothing and having to deal with all that surrounds public school. But I can't wait til the summer!!! Almost time to start winding this year down.
Randy, the oldest, has flown the coop. Yep, he's got a place of his own now, and he's getting married this summer. Not sure of an exact date yet, that should be decided in a few days. Courtney (future daughter-in-law) is searching for a wedding dress right now. They have to be very economical, they have to pay for most everything themselves, so we're looking for a dress on a tight budget. Not sure how that's going to go, we've found some nice ones online for decent prices, but not even sure they can pay that much. So, if anyone knows of a nice dress for sale (size 14 or up a little, dress can be taken in) let me know. She doesn't like the fru-fru poofy bell type dresses...she wants simple but elegant, train is fine, not a lot of tulle. So if you have one for sale or know of one, e-mail me!!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Driver's Education for Homeschoolers
Just wanted to share...we got our Driver's Ed materials this week!! Casey is soooo excited about it. We did our first classroom lesson yesterday. The book seems so big and like it'd take forever to complete, but there are only 7 levels. They recommend at least 30 hours of coursework and 50 hours behind the wheel. Do you know that most public school driver's ed courses only require 6 hours of behind the wheel training? This is what the book says anyhow. If this is true, no wonder the statistics are so startling about teen accidents and deaths.
When I was in Driver's Ed in public school, the coach of the football team taught it. There were four of us in the vehicle all the time, (four students). Our time to drive was right before lunchtime, so we got to drive to McDonald's. I learned early on how to maneuver through a drive through. LOL Anyhow, Coach used to read the newspaper while we were driving!!! This almost got us in trouble once. A male student was driving one day, (Ronnie, very nervous guy, no common sense, no coordination, etc. you know the type), on a two lane highway, and he came up over a knoll and then it goes down this hill and around a big curve. There was roadwork and only one lane was open, and it wasn't OUR lane that was open. A flagman stood at the top of the knoll, in plain sight, and his sign said "STOP". Ronnie never let off the gas. He swerved just in time to keep from running over the flagman (and the flagman jumped back out of the way)...and proceeded to just go around the work in the opposite lane, with the rest of us yelling "Oh my gosh, watch out! What are you doing?? Coach! Look out!" and stuff like that. We were terrified. THANK GOD traffic was stopped at the other end! Coach got his newspaper down and took control just in time to make sure we didn't hit the stopped traffic head on or run over any road workers. It's very funny now, but it wasn't when I was in the back seat of that car. LOL At any rate.....can you IMAGINE, a driver's education instructor READING THE PAPER while young inexperienced driver's are driving?? I wonder now what he was on?? Hmpf....the joys of public school.
We're using National Driver Training Institute. I'm glad that WE are doing this, to ensure that we aren't turning our son out on the roads without throrough training. Our oldest, Randy, had his driver's license when he took Driver's Ed. They only offered it in 10th grade and he was held back a year before so he was already driving age then. Our insurance agent had not encountered any homeschoolers when I called to ask her if this certification would be accepted for a discount, and I told her that it looks like they'd EMBRACE homeschoolers who were taught by their parents because the parents actually CARE about the teens being taught...a public school instructor doesn't care about their welfare like we do. Our agent said do "go ahead and do the course, then we'll send in the certification and see if they accept it for a discount". I wasn't satisfied with that answer, so I called the company directly myself and found out that as long as it is certfied by someone certified to certify it (seriously, this is the terminology she used) and that the person certified signs the certification it will be accepted.
More important than the discount, of course, is the peace of mind of KNOWING that our children receive the proper training for THEIR safety, as well as the safety of other drivers on the road with them, and any passengers they might have. I feel like we're doing all we can do ensure that. :o)
Off to homeschool now! Have a great day, week, month.....who knows how long it will be before I get the chance to post again!!
When I was in Driver's Ed in public school, the coach of the football team taught it. There were four of us in the vehicle all the time, (four students). Our time to drive was right before lunchtime, so we got to drive to McDonald's. I learned early on how to maneuver through a drive through. LOL Anyhow, Coach used to read the newspaper while we were driving!!! This almost got us in trouble once. A male student was driving one day, (Ronnie, very nervous guy, no common sense, no coordination, etc. you know the type), on a two lane highway, and he came up over a knoll and then it goes down this hill and around a big curve. There was roadwork and only one lane was open, and it wasn't OUR lane that was open. A flagman stood at the top of the knoll, in plain sight, and his sign said "STOP". Ronnie never let off the gas. He swerved just in time to keep from running over the flagman (and the flagman jumped back out of the way)...and proceeded to just go around the work in the opposite lane, with the rest of us yelling "Oh my gosh, watch out! What are you doing?? Coach! Look out!" and stuff like that. We were terrified. THANK GOD traffic was stopped at the other end! Coach got his newspaper down and took control just in time to make sure we didn't hit the stopped traffic head on or run over any road workers. It's very funny now, but it wasn't when I was in the back seat of that car. LOL At any rate.....can you IMAGINE, a driver's education instructor READING THE PAPER while young inexperienced driver's are driving?? I wonder now what he was on?? Hmpf....the joys of public school.
We're using National Driver Training Institute. I'm glad that WE are doing this, to ensure that we aren't turning our son out on the roads without throrough training. Our oldest, Randy, had his driver's license when he took Driver's Ed. They only offered it in 10th grade and he was held back a year before so he was already driving age then. Our insurance agent had not encountered any homeschoolers when I called to ask her if this certification would be accepted for a discount, and I told her that it looks like they'd EMBRACE homeschoolers who were taught by their parents because the parents actually CARE about the teens being taught...a public school instructor doesn't care about their welfare like we do. Our agent said do "go ahead and do the course, then we'll send in the certification and see if they accept it for a discount". I wasn't satisfied with that answer, so I called the company directly myself and found out that as long as it is certfied by someone certified to certify it (seriously, this is the terminology she used) and that the person certified signs the certification it will be accepted.
More important than the discount, of course, is the peace of mind of KNOWING that our children receive the proper training for THEIR safety, as well as the safety of other drivers on the road with them, and any passengers they might have. I feel like we're doing all we can do ensure that. :o)
Off to homeschool now! Have a great day, week, month.....who knows how long it will be before I get the chance to post again!!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Just Things
Most of our schooling today was learning about what to do to try to locate the owners of a stray dog. :o) At the start of our Math lesson, Makayla jumps up and yells "Casey, come and look at this dog, he is starving to death!" She had spotted him out the window. They went to inspect. I cringed, cause I KNOW what's about to happen. So, a minute later they come and get me. I heard them beforehand, and I was secretly doing the 'meditation talk' over and over in my head "please go home, please go home, please go home". So, no such luck. Especially since it COULDN'T go home cause Makayla tied him up! And of course we had to feed him. In all honesty, he IS bones. See, I'm not TOTALLY heartless. He seems to be some sort of hunting dog, he looks like a Bluetick Hound to me. His ribs and hip and backbones are showing. With that kind of dog you never know....they are hard to keep due to their hunting nature and he has probably wandered off to far in his hunt. I called the Humane Society and local Vet to see if anyone has called their lost dog. Nope. We made flyers to put up around town, and even posted a couple of 'Found' notices online. Hopefully we will locate his owner and get them reunited. PLEASE GOD. We do not need another animal, nor do we want one. So, at any rate, our school day was interrupted but what do you do? The thing is, every day can be a learning experience, life lessons, no day is lost or wasted. There's more to life than the Three R's.
An update to the 'Scientific Notation' post: I'm happy to report that my nephew made passing grades (varying from 80s -90s from what I have been told) on all of the papers I helped him with! Yayyy! I really am amazed myself, because I seriously wondered if a lot of the answers were right. I didn't quite understand what the teacher expected on some of the material we did, there was a lot to decipher with no specific instructions. It's hard to teach something you don't know when you don't have instructions. He also took the test on that chapter and passed it! One note here though, I've been told that his grade was passing, but it wasn't a high passing, it was a low passing, but acceptable either way. Here's what gets me though, my son said he saw the test and my nephew only missed 5. I think there was 20 or 25 questions. I think he did awesome!!
But, honestly, I see why the 'good' public school teachers are teachers....and why they keep at it, even when the system is failing them and the kids....it's because there is nothing like seeing that 'light' come on when they 'get it'. Especially when they have NO confidence in themselves and feel like they will never 'get it'. I know he got some of it at least, and I love it when my kids 'get it'. Course, I can work with them and pound it into their heads for days if I have to. LOL It doesn't take that long, of course, but I can take the time if need be. So many perks to Homeschooling. I highly recommend it!
An update to the 'Scientific Notation' post: I'm happy to report that my nephew made passing grades (varying from 80s -90s from what I have been told) on all of the papers I helped him with! Yayyy! I really am amazed myself, because I seriously wondered if a lot of the answers were right. I didn't quite understand what the teacher expected on some of the material we did, there was a lot to decipher with no specific instructions. It's hard to teach something you don't know when you don't have instructions. He also took the test on that chapter and passed it! One note here though, I've been told that his grade was passing, but it wasn't a high passing, it was a low passing, but acceptable either way. Here's what gets me though, my son said he saw the test and my nephew only missed 5. I think there was 20 or 25 questions. I think he did awesome!!
But, honestly, I see why the 'good' public school teachers are teachers....and why they keep at it, even when the system is failing them and the kids....it's because there is nothing like seeing that 'light' come on when they 'get it'. Especially when they have NO confidence in themselves and feel like they will never 'get it'. I know he got some of it at least, and I love it when my kids 'get it'. Course, I can work with them and pound it into their heads for days if I have to. LOL It doesn't take that long, of course, but I can take the time if need be. So many perks to Homeschooling. I highly recommend it!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Life this Week -Scientific Notation
Life at our house this week....hmmmm, very busy. When I haven't been consumed with the normal everyday happenings (cleaning, cooking, homeschooling) this week, I've been trying to figure out Scientific Notation and Significant Figures to help my newphew Johnathan. It seems that he isn't doing as 'ok' in public school as his parents have said he was for the past few months. Who is? Public school is a rat race and all of us parents want it to be ok, but it's usually not ok. Parents are afraid to admit when a kid isn't doing ok for fear of everyone thinking that it's a reflection on the kid's intelligence or the parent's ability to see to it that they are getting an education. Neither of those are true though. It is the SCHOOL that hasn't done it's job.....and when you have a kid who is making bad grades, it's the SCHOOL'S FAULT, and when you have one who is making good grades....you better make sure you see the work so you'll know they are actually EARNING those grades and not just slipping through the system. At any rate, I got a call from his mother asking me if I could possibly help him with some Science. He had missed a whole week of school the week before (medical reasons) and had a TON of make-up work to do in his Science class and they were stumped as to how to do some stuff. I thought "sure, it's Science, how hard could it be?" Not sure why they asked me to help, I mean, yeah, I'm a HOMESCHOOL teacher, which means I'm intelligent enough to teach my own children and I know where to find answers when I don't quite understand things myself, but I am by no means a TEACHER with a degree. I learn a lot as my kids learn.
So, we make plans for the next evening for them to come over. Turns out, it's PHYSICAL SCIENCE. Not just Science. And the 'math problems' they were having so much trouble understanding were 'Equations in Scientific Notation'. Big difference, at least to me. Math to me is simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, etc. Those of you who know what Scientific Equation is know what I'm talking about. It's anything but simple (except maybe to the geniuses of the world). So, I had to start from the beginning myself to learn this stuff. Crash course in both Algebra and Scientific Notation. Thank God for the Internet. There are a lot of good sites out there that explain things really well, so I was able to learn a lot fast, and then came the page with adding in Scientific Notation. You'd think it would be simple:
(2.34 X 10^12) + (4.473 X 10^15) =?
Simple, huh? Just add the decimal numbers...and then...uh, ok, what about the 12 and the 15? Hmmmm, do I add them together maybe? Yeah, that's gotta be it. WRONG!! Cause the next part of the example said:
(0.00234 + 4.473) X 10^15 = ?
Ok, where did those zeros come from? WHY did the numbers change? Why does the 4.473 not change? And where did the 12 go in the 10^12? AND, why does THEIR answer have only three digits when mine has a bajillion? Believe me, I was sooooo confused and couldn't find the answer to these questions anywhere. I even sent out an SOS to my homeschool group in the hopes that a veteran homeschooler might have been there and done that and could enlighten me. Instead, I think I scared the one's to death that have younger kids because they thought about having to TEACH that in the upper grades. LOL (sorry about that guys, didn't mean to cause any coronaries there).
At any rate, I worked at it until I figured out the answer to those questions on my own, comparing my thoughts and mental notes to those of similar equations on some help sites. None of them gave an explanation.....but I'm that kind of person. I WILL eventually FIND THE ANSWER or figure it out myself. Just in case you're curious now...
The 10^12 goes away...because you use the exponent with the highest power, which is 10^15 for both addends. Hence, the addition equation that simply has the addends in parentheses and then the one X 10^15 =? at the end of it. The number 2.34 changed to 0.00234 because the difference between the 12 and the 15 (exponents) is 3, so you add that many zeros to that number so the value doesn't change, and the decimal point always goes to the right of the first digit. The addend with the exponent you used stays the same, it's value doesn't change. So, add those addends together, and you get
4.47534. Ok, but THEIR answer says 4.48. Again, confusion. Then I did find the answer to that one.....this is where 'significant figures' comes into play. Your answer has to have the same amount of significant figures (fancy terminology for 'digits') as the addend with the LEAST amount of figures in your original equation. In this case, it is 3 digits (2.34 is the one with the least), so your answer will have to be rounded to 3 digits and the decimal, again, is always placed to the right of the first digit. DONE.
I think I'm writing about this because my own kids will more than likely be doing Physical Science at some point (they just HAVE to now, so I can show off what I learned LOL).
I was able to help my nephew for the moment. Herrrrre I come to save the dayyyyyy!! LOL We'll see what happens this week. Stay tuned. LOL I should write a book when we get through this course called "Physical Science for Blondes". Oops. I'm sorry. That's politically incorrect. "Tips for the Physical Science Challenged"? BTW, don't get offended, I am blonde myself. Hee hee. If you're blonde, when I make fun of you, I'm making fun of me. :o)
What I WILL do though, is post some links to the sites where I found lots of goodies and help......math, scientific notation, algebra.....check the links called 'Great Homeschool Helps I've Found'.
So, that's all for today folks. Yep, see why I don't post but once a week? I post enough in one post for a week's worth of reading. :o) Stay tuned though, I might get a wild hair and write some more this week!!!
So, we make plans for the next evening for them to come over. Turns out, it's PHYSICAL SCIENCE. Not just Science. And the 'math problems' they were having so much trouble understanding were 'Equations in Scientific Notation'. Big difference, at least to me. Math to me is simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, etc. Those of you who know what Scientific Equation is know what I'm talking about. It's anything but simple (except maybe to the geniuses of the world). So, I had to start from the beginning myself to learn this stuff. Crash course in both Algebra and Scientific Notation. Thank God for the Internet. There are a lot of good sites out there that explain things really well, so I was able to learn a lot fast, and then came the page with adding in Scientific Notation. You'd think it would be simple:
(2.34 X 10^12) + (4.473 X 10^15) =?
Simple, huh? Just add the decimal numbers...and then...uh, ok, what about the 12 and the 15? Hmmmm, do I add them together maybe? Yeah, that's gotta be it. WRONG!! Cause the next part of the example said:
(0.00234 + 4.473) X 10^15 = ?
Ok, where did those zeros come from? WHY did the numbers change? Why does the 4.473 not change? And where did the 12 go in the 10^12? AND, why does THEIR answer have only three digits when mine has a bajillion? Believe me, I was sooooo confused and couldn't find the answer to these questions anywhere. I even sent out an SOS to my homeschool group in the hopes that a veteran homeschooler might have been there and done that and could enlighten me. Instead, I think I scared the one's to death that have younger kids because they thought about having to TEACH that in the upper grades. LOL (sorry about that guys, didn't mean to cause any coronaries there).
At any rate, I worked at it until I figured out the answer to those questions on my own, comparing my thoughts and mental notes to those of similar equations on some help sites. None of them gave an explanation.....but I'm that kind of person. I WILL eventually FIND THE ANSWER or figure it out myself. Just in case you're curious now...
The 10^12 goes away...because you use the exponent with the highest power, which is 10^15 for both addends. Hence, the addition equation that simply has the addends in parentheses and then the one X 10^15 =? at the end of it. The number 2.34 changed to 0.00234 because the difference between the 12 and the 15 (exponents) is 3, so you add that many zeros to that number so the value doesn't change, and the decimal point always goes to the right of the first digit. The addend with the exponent you used stays the same, it's value doesn't change. So, add those addends together, and you get
4.47534. Ok, but THEIR answer says 4.48. Again, confusion. Then I did find the answer to that one.....this is where 'significant figures' comes into play. Your answer has to have the same amount of significant figures (fancy terminology for 'digits') as the addend with the LEAST amount of figures in your original equation. In this case, it is 3 digits (2.34 is the one with the least), so your answer will have to be rounded to 3 digits and the decimal, again, is always placed to the right of the first digit. DONE.
I think I'm writing about this because my own kids will more than likely be doing Physical Science at some point (they just HAVE to now, so I can show off what I learned LOL).
I was able to help my nephew for the moment. Herrrrre I come to save the dayyyyyy!! LOL We'll see what happens this week. Stay tuned. LOL I should write a book when we get through this course called "Physical Science for Blondes". Oops. I'm sorry. That's politically incorrect. "Tips for the Physical Science Challenged"? BTW, don't get offended, I am blonde myself. Hee hee. If you're blonde, when I make fun of you, I'm making fun of me. :o)
What I WILL do though, is post some links to the sites where I found lots of goodies and help......math, scientific notation, algebra.....check the links called 'Great Homeschool Helps I've Found'.
So, that's all for today folks. Yep, see why I don't post but once a week? I post enough in one post for a week's worth of reading. :o) Stay tuned though, I might get a wild hair and write some more this week!!!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Monday
It's really Tuesday...but I'm still up so I'm posting about Monday. It's definately been you're typical Monday. We woke up to a booming thunderstorm here this morning.....then pretty much a lot of rain and dreariness for much of the day, although, I do try to see the glass as half full, so on the upside, it wasn't cold!! Still not Spring-like temps, but I can deal with it. Now, tomorrow...I hear it's supposed to be about 70 degrees! Yes! But not to bring any negativity to the post (as I know it will) it isn't gonna be a great summer with all of the bugs that are surviving this winter! I really really hate it, but we DO need a good deep freeze or we'll need mosquito nets this summer. Well, maybe nothing as drastic as that, but we WILL need major amounts of bug spray.
We got a late start on our schooling due my laziness today...LOL. Actually, I wasn't being lazy, I just feel that way when I'm still in my jammies at noon, even though I've been using the past couple of hours constructively.....paying bills that is. I COULD have been lazy though...my house was all nice and clean because it was cleaned over the weekend for Makayla's birthday. Everything but MY own bedroom (I know, it's OUR bedroom, but it's all flowery and stuff because I painted it in Spring colors so I'd always have a 'happy' place to go to). Yep, I'm one of those SADD sufferers that can barely see the light (SPRING) at the end of the tunnel (WINTER) and I get bogged down no matter how many times I tell myself "nope, not this winter, I'm gonna get busy, and stay active so the winter doldrums don't set in on ME". It hasn't even been a bad winter and it still set in. Anyhow, I consider my house warm and cozy (I call my style of decorating 'clean country') but my bedroom is Springy and Airy and Light with it's Yellow and Spring green walls, Donna Dewberry border, and the mural I handpainted in the Donna Dewberry style (it's a scene of a blue sky, flowers bordering a white picket fence, and a big tree with a tree swing, and birdhouses). Just a place where I can go and it's Spring ALL YEAR LONG!! At any rate, I needed to dust the room, and vacuum some, so I did that at 10 o'clock last night. :o)
We got a late start on our schooling due my laziness today...LOL. Actually, I wasn't being lazy, I just feel that way when I'm still in my jammies at noon, even though I've been using the past couple of hours constructively.....paying bills that is. I COULD have been lazy though...my house was all nice and clean because it was cleaned over the weekend for Makayla's birthday. Everything but MY own bedroom (I know, it's OUR bedroom, but it's all flowery and stuff because I painted it in Spring colors so I'd always have a 'happy' place to go to). Yep, I'm one of those SADD sufferers that can barely see the light (SPRING) at the end of the tunnel (WINTER) and I get bogged down no matter how many times I tell myself "nope, not this winter, I'm gonna get busy, and stay active so the winter doldrums don't set in on ME". It hasn't even been a bad winter and it still set in. Anyhow, I consider my house warm and cozy (I call my style of decorating 'clean country') but my bedroom is Springy and Airy and Light with it's Yellow and Spring green walls, Donna Dewberry border, and the mural I handpainted in the Donna Dewberry style (it's a scene of a blue sky, flowers bordering a white picket fence, and a big tree with a tree swing, and birdhouses). Just a place where I can go and it's Spring ALL YEAR LONG!! At any rate, I needed to dust the room, and vacuum some, so I did that at 10 o'clock last night. :o)
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Birthday Day!
Today was the big day! Makayla's 12th birthday. Let me back up though. My doubts about not enjoying myself at the Hannah Montana premier went down the drain quick last night. IT WAS GREAT!! I loved it! And I was sooo glad I was the one to get to share that birthday treat with my daughter. My son, Randy, and his fiance' Courtney, had bought the tickets for Makayla for her birthday, and Courtney was originally going to be the one to take her but she had to work. It worked out that I had to go, and I am so glad I did. Oh, and that one Jonas brother is soooo cute! My daughter got a kick out of me telling her that if I was her age, I'd have his poster on my wall for sure and I asked her why she didn't? LOL But let me tell you, if you have a daughter from very young to an older teen, take them to this premier this week if possible! Girls are lining up for it, and I can see why. Miley Cyrus is wonderful, the concert and clips are wonderful, and the 3-D effects are awesome! I thought confetti was actually falling on me. Serious. I will cherish that memory with my daughter forever...and I hope she does, too.
The birthday celebration went on today.....Makayla had wanted to go bowling, and she wanted a couple of friends and her entire family to go. She got her wish, although her Daddy couldn't bowl this time due to a flare up from an old hip injury. I hadn't bowled in about 3 years and I thought my carpel tunnel was going to kill me, and my games suffered as time went on. I bowled a 139 the first game....the second game was under 100. I don't know what that score was because the screen was cleared before I saw it and I knew I wasn't doing well anymore so I didn't keep track. I had to stop after 2 games because my arm was KILLING me. Bowling ball...carpel tunnel.....not a good combo. But I tried, and I'd do it again!! I love to bowl. So, back to Makayla.....LOL. She had a blast bowling with her two friends, Jenny and Emily. And so tonight is the big pajama party! After bowling, we picked up pizzas and headed home for dinner and then the chocolate cake with white buttercream icing and cookies and cream ice cream! The cake was sooo good and verrrry pretty. Sam's Club does an excellent job on their cakes and they are way cheaper than anywhere else too.
Makayla wanted a new comforter set for her bed, and I couldn't find one in time. My mom found one today at Sear's though, and she snuck off early from the bowling alley to come and fix up Makayla's bed as a surprise for her. She loved it!
Makayla had asked for a birthstone ring for Christmas but it couldn't be bought in time, so we told her maybe for her birthday. She's never had a 'real' ring, only the cheap stuff that turns her fingers green. Well, we bought her a 10K White Gold ring with a heart shaped Ameythyst with two little diamonds on each side from Zales. Very special present. And this is how we presented it to her: She had to go on a Scavenger Hunt!! I handed her an evelope with a paper telling her in a poetic way that she had to hunt for her special gift, follow 12 clues (one for each year) and that she'd find clue # 1 on a favorite school page. She had said the other day that Saxon's way of teaching long division by using 'short' division was her favorite. So that is where her first clue was. It said "you're the APPLE of our eye" (next clue located inside a ceramic apple in the dining room). It said "MIRROR mirror on the wall, you're the fairest of them all". And the next one said "you're such a DEER to us", taped to a deer head in our deer hunting room. That one said "you're as pretty as a DOLL" and sent her to the doll I bought when she was 3 because it looked just like her. Next one said "you sing so good you could be on the RADIO". So the next one was taped to our son's stereo and said "or maybe you should make your own CD" and so the next one was in our CD organizer. IT said "you're so beautiful you could be a movie star on TV". It was taped inside the door of our TV cabinet. That one said "are you getting aggrevated? Maybe you should pray, and read your BIBLE every day". It sent her to her Bible, inside the cover was finally the 11th clue....it said "I hope you're having a SWEEPING great time". Taped to the broom in the laundry room was finally clue # 12 and it said "you're heart is still close to Pa Pa's, and your gift is close to him". She thought and thought about that one, and realized she needed to look around her PaPa's picture.....and there it was, behind the picture!
She opened it and absolutely LOVED it. She had a great birthday, as usual. Birthdays are always special in our family, and I've always done all that I can to make them special for each child, so they will know how blessed I feel to have them in my life.
The birthday celebration went on today.....Makayla had wanted to go bowling, and she wanted a couple of friends and her entire family to go. She got her wish, although her Daddy couldn't bowl this time due to a flare up from an old hip injury. I hadn't bowled in about 3 years and I thought my carpel tunnel was going to kill me, and my games suffered as time went on. I bowled a 139 the first game....the second game was under 100. I don't know what that score was because the screen was cleared before I saw it and I knew I wasn't doing well anymore so I didn't keep track. I had to stop after 2 games because my arm was KILLING me. Bowling ball...carpel tunnel.....not a good combo. But I tried, and I'd do it again!! I love to bowl. So, back to Makayla.....LOL. She had a blast bowling with her two friends, Jenny and Emily. And so tonight is the big pajama party! After bowling, we picked up pizzas and headed home for dinner and then the chocolate cake with white buttercream icing and cookies and cream ice cream! The cake was sooo good and verrrry pretty. Sam's Club does an excellent job on their cakes and they are way cheaper than anywhere else too.
Makayla wanted a new comforter set for her bed, and I couldn't find one in time. My mom found one today at Sear's though, and she snuck off early from the bowling alley to come and fix up Makayla's bed as a surprise for her. She loved it!
Makayla had asked for a birthstone ring for Christmas but it couldn't be bought in time, so we told her maybe for her birthday. She's never had a 'real' ring, only the cheap stuff that turns her fingers green. Well, we bought her a 10K White Gold ring with a heart shaped Ameythyst with two little diamonds on each side from Zales. Very special present. And this is how we presented it to her: She had to go on a Scavenger Hunt!! I handed her an evelope with a paper telling her in a poetic way that she had to hunt for her special gift, follow 12 clues (one for each year) and that she'd find clue # 1 on a favorite school page. She had said the other day that Saxon's way of teaching long division by using 'short' division was her favorite. So that is where her first clue was. It said "you're the APPLE of our eye" (next clue located inside a ceramic apple in the dining room). It said "MIRROR mirror on the wall, you're the fairest of them all". And the next one said "you're such a DEER to us", taped to a deer head in our deer hunting room. That one said "you're as pretty as a DOLL" and sent her to the doll I bought when she was 3 because it looked just like her. Next one said "you sing so good you could be on the RADIO". So the next one was taped to our son's stereo and said "or maybe you should make your own CD" and so the next one was in our CD organizer. IT said "you're so beautiful you could be a movie star on TV". It was taped inside the door of our TV cabinet. That one said "are you getting aggrevated? Maybe you should pray, and read your BIBLE every day". It sent her to her Bible, inside the cover was finally the 11th clue....it said "I hope you're having a SWEEPING great time". Taped to the broom in the laundry room was finally clue # 12 and it said "you're heart is still close to Pa Pa's, and your gift is close to him". She thought and thought about that one, and realized she needed to look around her PaPa's picture.....and there it was, behind the picture!
She opened it and absolutely LOVED it. She had a great birthday, as usual. Birthdays are always special in our family, and I've always done all that I can to make them special for each child, so they will know how blessed I feel to have them in my life.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Intro to Us
This is my first blog post, so first, introducing myself. My name is Kim and I am a stay at home mom of 3, we have two sons, Randy-21 & Casey-15, and a daughter, Makayla-12. We live in Southern West Virginia. My husband is Rick, and we own our own business, an auto repair garage, and we are in our 15th year in business.
I homeschool our youngest two children, and that is the basis for this blog. I wanted to create a way to share homeschool links with others, as well as exchange advice and ancedotes with other homeschoolers, and post our work progress for possible assessment reviewers. However, my blog will not only be about homeschooling, it will be about just about anything I can think of for the day, whatever interests me that I want to share, my endevors, and will be just about wherever life takes us! Everyone I e-mail with says I need to write a book, so I guess this is it. LOL So, hello...and welcome to my blog!
Here is my newest motto(I have many):
I homeschool our youngest two children, and that is the basis for this blog. I wanted to create a way to share homeschool links with others, as well as exchange advice and ancedotes with other homeschoolers, and post our work progress for possible assessment reviewers. However, my blog will not only be about homeschooling, it will be about just about anything I can think of for the day, whatever interests me that I want to share, my endevors, and will be just about wherever life takes us! Everyone I e-mail with says I need to write a book, so I guess this is it. LOL So, hello...and welcome to my blog!
Here is my newest motto(I have many):
I Homeschool Because I've Seen the Village and I Don't Want
It Raising My ChildrenThe formal name for our homeschool is:
Smith Academy of Excellence
Although we haven't attended church regularly like we should, we are a Christian family. Keep in mind, I didn't say "Perfect family". Christian and perfect should never be used in the same sentence. We strive to use Godly morals and values, believe in God's word and try to live by His laws, we give Him all the glory for everything good in our lives, we seek His guidance and help daily, and if we could just remember to always put EVERYTHING in His hands and stop trying to solve problems ourselves, we'd be doing ourselves a huge favor, instead of getting in the middle of a problem, hitting the brick wall and THEN seeking God. So, my message to anyone reading this is.....spot the brick wall, then just pray! How can something so simple be so hard to remember? Include God in ALL things.
Ok, that's the intro and formalities. Here's the dish for today.....tomorrow is Makayla's 12th birthday. My beautiful girl is growing up on me faster than I want her too, that's for sure. That is Makayla's pic at right. She took it herself...she aspires to be a photographer and takes lots of these pictures. To you all that have young children, take my advice.....like the song says...."Let Them Be Little".....cause little don't last near long enough! So, for Makayla's birthday, we (she and I) will be going to the Hannah Montana Premier something or other at the Cinema this evening.....tickets were compliments of her big brother, Randy, and his fiance', Courtney. Makayla says it lasts ONLY for about 3 hours......(please God, say it isn't soooo LOL). 3 hours.....of Hannah Montana (aka Miley Cyrus...hmmm, that's a thought, will DAD Billy Ray be in this thing? I can live with that ;o), and 3D glasses? But, it's for a good cause, my daughter's happiness, so I'll muddle through it. :o)
Tomorrow (her actual birthday...she's a groundhog baby) we will be taking her bowling in the afternoon. She says the entire family has to go. The entire family, for her, is Mom and Dad, Casey, Randy & Courtney, and her Nan Nan and Aunt Kathy. After bowling we'll have dinner (not sure where or what yet) and then we'll have her cake, which is in a horse theme and is chocolate cake with white buttercream icing, and ice cream, of course! THEN a friend is sleeping over for a birthday pajama party. I feel sorry for the boys, and I'm so glad OUR room is in the other end of the house. ;o) So, Happy 12th Birthday to Makayla! Wish her a happy birthday, and wish us luck!
I'm not sure if I'll be able to post daily, but check back as often as you'd like, and post comments! I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments. But please, if you are someone just wandering around the Internet and you just want to cause trouble, go somewhere else and be rude, please don't leave rude or terrible comments on my blog, they will be removed anyway. Have a great day!
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