Saturday, August 22, 2009

Presents in the mailbox

Or at least it is for me. Its like opening Christmas presents when we receive a delivery of anything, even if I'm the one who ordered it. The missing teacher books arrived. I'm diving in excitedly looking over what we will accomplish this year. Smile on my face, I asked the kid if liked these new teacher aids. My brilliant second born answers "Oh, more school books". LOL

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Lost the bid

My maximum bid of $60 was lost to t***7 late last night to someone else with a bigger need than I. lol At first I was going to rebid but quickly did the math. This was going to cost me MORE than it would if I bought it from a dealer. We were only bidding on the books, not a CD in sight. That little CD is $50 by itself. Naw, I think I'll just bite the bullet and order it through my normal curriculum suppler Rainbow Resources with a rush on delivery.

On a side note, a good friend of mine stopped by last night with her copy of Exploring Creation with Zoology 2. Unfortunately she didn't have Zoology 1, yet I'm not going to worry about it.......free is a gift. I have borrowed her Exploring Creation books for the last 3 years. The boys and I have studied the planets and botany; now we are onto Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day. We have all enjoyed the details giving as well as the experiments to accomplish afterwords.

Still waiting for the teachers edition of Bob Jones History 8 and Writing/Grammar kit. Delay in shipping. This is what I get for procrastinating. Yet we will get them and the kid will get his education, that I have no worries about. Love homeschooling and the flexibility to do things that work for us instead of the system.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Last set of books to get

We have always used Saxon math. Only because it was the same curriculum the kids used at public school and I wanted to keep them with something familiar. Do we stick with it this year or switch to something else? This is the last of my books we need this year. Why did I procrastinate til now?

Researching I found that Bob Jones's 8th grade math looks easier to the eyes on a page. The reviews are great about it as well as for Saxon. Only $14 difference in the price, BJP being on the higher end and this is without the cd while the the Saxon set includes the cd. The kid wants Saxon because it has the cd that teaches him instead of me. Anyways I bit the bullet and bid on a set on ebay. Now its a wait and see if I get it.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Back to school again

Its that time again. I personally can't believe our summer has gone by so quickly. To much to do so little time to play. Darn it.

I'm back home again; stopped working about 3 weeks ago. The laundry mountain has become a small hill. The house is starting to look decluttered and more like an inviting home I love. There is major work ahead of me, but with FlyLady and her reminders, I'll get there eventually. (Saw a testimonial about it took a flybaby 6 months to get her home looking nice and it clicked. I don't have to do it ALL today.)

Our oldest asked to return to public school this year. He started Thursday and has said it was great and loves the challenge. I miss him during the day yet I know he needs this. Tomorrow homeschool starts for the two younger ones and me. Yeah me!!

Last week I bought a planner geared for homeschooling parents. Shocking part is I have never used any type of planner/organizer except for her calender in the kitchen. After looking at the samples and examples, it made since to me. "Why didn't I do this before?" Frankly, I thought I didn't need one. Thinking back I never knew what the boys were to do, when it was do, and so forth. This looks like it will keep me focused on what our goals are for each week/month/semester. My plan is every Sunday evening to go through all subjects per kid and write down what we need to do. Be it a test, workbook page, experiment, to a field trip...its going to be planned. What if I can't do something that day because I'm sick or the kids are? There is always tomorrow.

Our major battle this year is going to be finding act ivies for 6th-12th graders. We have support groups in our area, yet they lack activities for the older kids. Doing research on the net I'm finding the same lack of ideas and activities for this group of students. My mission today though, is to find some lessons or ideas geared for 6th - 8th grade on: Bible Study, Indiana State Studies (should have been done in 4th grade but......you get the drift), Spelling, P.E., and Home Ec. The rest of our subjects are already here or soon to be. Need to order 8th grade math yet. Thought I had one somewhere...............................now where did I put those books?

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Gasping for air

Yeah yeah, I've been lax in posting on my blog. Kinda busy of late. Yes, I'm busy. Well lets see some of the highlights in my life........
- Part-time job was to be 20 hrs a week has turned into 30.
- Elderly grandmother (maternal) had back surgery in November and is now unable to walk without a walker. I help with her care.
- Elderly mother, on oxygen 24/7. I do what I can for her when she needs it.
- Paternal grandmother passed away unexpectedly in March.
- Homeschooling 3 kids.
- Huband is gone 5 days a week for work....I'm both parent while he is gone.
- Household chores still need to be done (I've tried to ignore them but the dust bunnies don't listen).
- Selling our house to get a bigger one so grandma can live with us.
- Got diagnosed with Insulin Resistance Syndrome. Have to revamp our cooking/eating/life.

I'm behind the eight ball. Why? To much on my plate? Yes and no. I'm exhausted all the time and have chronic headaches. My body makes to much insulin. For the last two weeks, I've eaten 90-120g of carbs a day, a lot of protein and veggies. Headaches are gone. I don't remember having one in that two weeks. This is unheard of in my life. I have headaches daily!

Started meds today to help control my insulin production. Doc said that could take a couple weeks to really notice a big difference. It will help with my exhaustion & weight loss. Today I'm more awake and alert (diet has a lot to do with this). I have been up since 6:30 and now I'm getting tired (its almost 1pm). Not like before the new meds and diet. I'd be up 2 hrs and need to sleep 5 from total exhaustion. Who knew there was life in the afternoon? I didn't.

Homeschooling. We are looking into a private school here. I do NOT like the way public schools are ran nor the way kids can do anything they want. Depending on the cost this may be prohibitive. There are some charter schools on the internet. We may have to look into them.