Making It Up As We Go

Signs that you are a really bad mom

2012-02-10T18:50:00.000-08:00

1. You attempt to give your son a little trim, not noticing one of the prong-things on the clipper extension is broken, cutting every 12th hair to a no-extension/bald length.

2. You try to fix it by shaving all the back hair off, and when he starts to cry, you leave him looking moth-eaten for 2 days.

3. You have the same 2 laundry baskets of folded clothes on Friday that you folded on Monday sitting in your living room.

4. When the hygienists compliment your children on how good they are, you tell them to just wait. Then you feel justified when they fight with each other over junky toys from the treasure box.

5. After being informed that your 5 year old needs 4 fillings, a root canal and a silver cap, you cringe and think you may as well have been giving her Tampico in a bottle all this time.

6. Your 9 year old cries because she never got a cool silver tooth. The same 9 year old who had 4 cavities herself.

7. Even though your insurance refuses to cover it, you still torture your 12 year old with 18 more months of braces and several fillings, with no Novocaine. In your defense, you declined the nitrous oxide and did tell them to use the Novocaine.

8. After an eventful day of cleanings and wonderful plans to spend the rest of your tax return on teeth, you okay your husband's idea to get some Pepsi. After this fun day, you feel that you deserve it. After the kids are in bed of course. Everyone knows that soda rots your teeth.

Long awaited beds

2012-02-06T21:58:00.000-08:00

So I have been talking for a while about hanging beds for Annie and Emma. We found the idea on AnaWhite. We promised the girls that if we moved to California, they could get these beds. Well, their room wasn't configured to have beds just like the project idea, and they didn't want bunks. So Howard, being the awesome man that he is, adapted the plans to fit their room.

They now have L-shaped hanging beds. See that groovy red ladder? It has been replaced by a real wooden ladder that Mr. Awesome adapted to fit the spot. He also added the rails, not necessarily for the girls. We know its inevitable that the little kids will climb up there, so the rail is just a precaution for them.

There are big plans in the works for decorating. Current ideas: Christmas lights strung around the bottom, stuffed animals hanging from the chains, Anne's window from Katie hung like this or like this. And somehow incorporate her copy of No More Deliveries, which is a copyrighted photo just like the one that you can enter to win in a few days. Emma plans on plastering her side with Justin Beiber posters, just to annoy Annie.

So there you go, a glimpse into what the heck I have been talking about. If we ever finish them, I will post pictures of our updated bathroom and kitchen. Until then.

Monday, monday

2012-01-30T10:32:00.000-08:00

this week, its not the kids having a Monday, its me. I can't get anything done, as I have no motivation. Annie is good though, as she is Annie. She finished her work before 11 today, with the exception of art. She is reading Chasing Vermeer, so we decided she would look up the works of art mentioned in the book. Pretty easy.

Our goal for today is to start getting warmed up for softball season. We are pretty rusty so we'll need lots of practice. I am pretty sure we can get this done at least.

2012-01-25T18:30:00.000-08:00

I am so tired of being sick. I have been sick for a week now. Before that, I was almost better from the cold I had before for 2 weeks. This time, karma is coming back at me. I have been teasing Howard that he wasn't really sick, that he just had the manflu. On Monday though, this cold knocked me on my bum. I thought I was sick on Sunday, but whoa nellie!

I have been spending my days on the couch or in my bed. Annie has been doing her schoolwork, of course. I am pretty sure that she even had me give her a Latin lesson, but I could have hallucinated that. She finished her Elementary Spanish for the year this week and has begun a 365 picture project. Emma has been taking advantage of me being ill and has been trying to get away with not doing any schoolwork. Luckily, in a more lucid moment, I printed out a lapbook on the Black Death that coincided with her history lesson. Also, she did math from her too-easy Life of Fred Dogs book. She can't do her language arts until I am well enough to take them to the library, but she can do spelling (insert evil laughter).

The little kids have been crawling all over me in bed and on the couch. Sarah has been working in one of those Total Skills workbooks from Costco. She asked me questions, and it turned out I gave the right answers. Hooray for autopilot. Annie has also been helping out. She has been setting goals to get up early and do her chores and she is rocking those goals.

Annie got the little girls Bendaroos for Christmas and those things have been a life saver.

I have been drinking this Gypsy cold remedy tea and it better work, as it is nasty.

15 years!

2012-01-19T12:44:00.000-08:00

As of yesterday morning, Howard and I have been married for 15 years! Holy cow. Sometimes it seems like just yesterday and other times it seems so long ago. When I look at pictures of that day, we were so young! We've grown up quite a bit since then, and grown stouter too! I still love that man, more even than I did then, which I didn't think was possible.

We celebrated by taking Laura and Adam to the doctor. Adam needs a nebulizer for his cold and serious lotion for his sandpaper rash. Laura needs steroid cream for her rash. If neither rash clears up in the next few weeks, they will be referred to a dermatologist. Laura was referred yesterday to an ENT about her gigantic tonsils that will most likely need to come out. Then we headed to the store for some bread and milk. Aren't you envious of our romantic day?

When we returned, we gave the older kids the rest of the day off, while Howard tried to sleep off his cold. It sounds like a free clinic in here with everyone coughing and asking for more tissue, more tissue.

Anne, Emma and Sarah wrote notes for us, and Anne finagled a free redbox code. After the kids went to bed, we watched Cowboys and Aliens. Just as I was about to fall asleep at the close of this memorable day, Laura woke up, most likely due to her sleep apnea/snoring and started screaming. I trudged to her side, attended to her needs, and returned to bed, without even pausing to contemplate the milestone we reached.

6 things

2012-01-03T14:51:00.000-08:00

I realize its been a while since I posted. I have been busy living a fairy tale life. How, you might ask? Well, I got to be Cinderella and scrubbed my kitchen and dining room floors on my hands and knees. I got to be Rapunzel and got my hair cut, a bit shorter than intended. And I got to have my Prince Charming home with me during his vacation. See, life is one fairy tale after another.

Now that vacation is over we are back to real life. We have some ideas for the upcoming month. Not resolutions, since those are stupid.
1. Study rockets. This was brought about by the kids discovering that we have a rocket kit in the garage. I have been waiting for them to ask about it. We will be suspending some scheduled science to capitalize on this interest.

2. Study Australia. Annie was fed up with her history program, so I am having her read more living books and watch movies. The Man from Snowy River was a hit. Rabbit Proof Fence is on hold and we have lots of books from the library. We have already learned about Ned Kelly, who was a bad dude.

3. Have some sort of birthday something for Emma. Her birthday is on the same day as the 49ers game, so we will have to think of something for Friday, maybe?

4. Institute a quiet time for Laura and Sarah. Their late afternoon tantrums are getting old. Thank goodness our library has kid books on cd. This week: Olivia and Diary of a Spider.

5. Play in the tree in the backyard as much as possible when it isn't raining. We did some trimming of the fig tree and it is perfect for climbing and swinging at the moment.

6. Get the giveaway going.

Those are our 5 realistic goals and one optimistic goal for January. What are yours?

Eevah!

2011-12-21T00:03:00.000-08:00

Adam has reached the age of obsession. His love? Eve from Wall-E. He watches Wall-E every day. He walks around the house looking for Eevah. If you put him on the phone, he asks for her. He has been sleeping with a Wall-E book from the library. He also loves the song Sunday Clothes that is in the movie, from Hello Dolly! Anne thinks it is awesome that Adam loves Eve. Sadly for Adam, there is not much Wall-E merchandise out there. Hopefully Santa will be able to find something.

Coming soon: A Give Away!!!

2011-12-17T21:47:00.000-08:00

The owner of bnelsonphotography will be giving away the choice of one of three prints from his Transportation gallery! If you love vintage-y cars and trains, or know of a little boy (or grown man) who loves them, you will want to check out the website.

I will have the specific photos up soon. In the meantime, feel free to peruse the gallery.

Annie has a print of "No More Deliveries" and she loves it, so its not just for guys. She wanted me to make sure that was emphasized. If you want to see this particular photo, go to "genres" and then "transportation" and it will be on page 2.

There are also plenty of gorgeous nature photos and really cool old buildings. If only I had more wall space in my new house!!

Okay, so look it over, find a favorite, and hope it is one of the three chosen for the give away. Happy dreaming.

TOS review: Artistic Pursuits

2011-12-06T22:40:00.000-08:00

We were asked to review Artistic Pursuits by The Old Schoolhouse Crew. There were many books to choose from:

Preschool
K-3 Book One
K-3 Book Two
K-3 Book Three
4-6 grade, Book One
4-6 grade, Book Two
Jr. High Book One
Jr. High Book Two
Sr. High Book One
Sr. High Book Two

We chose K-3 book 2, since Sarah is in K and Emma is in 3. Emma did book 1 in Kindergarten.

Phew, that was a lot of numbers. Hopefully it wasn't too confusing. Book 2 is set up as "Stories of Artists and Their Art." It features the Gothic, Renaissance, and Academy Art of the 18th Century. Each lesson begins with a short historical fiction story about each artist. It teaches about each artist's vision. Next is a project that allows the child to create their own work of art, applying that vision. There are two projects per lesson, and 32 lessons in the book. Each lesson also has at least one beautiful Master work featured.

The text is written to the student, so eager kids can blast through it, if they desire. The projects include drawing, painting, paper craft, clay, printmaking, sculpture and more. I usually read the background on the artist with my kids, and help them set up their area. There is a list of materials at the beginning of the book, so you know what you will need. You don't need to buy it all at once, but if you want, you can order an Art Supplies kit on the Artistic Pursuits website. I personally picked up items here and there, and we made our own papier mache. We also had plenty of supplies from when we stocked up when Emma was in Kindergarten.

What I love about this product: pretty much everything! One of my kids was in an art program where the kids were told to copy the works of the Masters and were graded on how well they copied. Totally killed the budding artist. In Artistic Pursuits, kids are given the tools, then encouraged to do their own thing with each technique. I love this quote from their website," We expect a child to be a child and we value what they produce from their own hands. Projects do not try to force young children to draw like adults. Our projects do not require patience and discipline on the part of the child, which leads to frustration. Children don't need patience when their own interests and motivations are guiding them." There are samples of work done by other children, so kids can aren't intimidated at all. I even learned to sketch, which is amazing, considering how bad I always thought I was at art.

This is a project page, with a sample work of art. Our scratch art was all mermaids, the inspiration/obsession at the time

While this product was designed for homeschoolers, it can also be used in a traditional classroom. There is a section on the website directed toward classroom educators with links on how to use it in the classroom.

Here are some pictures of how we use it in our classroom:

Even though this was for Emma and Sarah, Laura had to join in

They loved painting with watercolors, so much that they used up two cheap-o sets

pardon my terrible photography skills

We have had a lot of fun with this book. I keep Emma's art each year and it is amazing to see the skills she has developed.   She has been learning to observe something before she paints it. She had our dog come and sit before she painted this. She also painted 2 frescoes, but there is a limit to how much of her art she is willing to share.

Artistic Pursuits is available online on their website. This book is $42.95. It is non-consumable, so it can be re-used and enjoyed over and over. It can also be purchased by contacting the company at:

Artistic Pursuits Inc.
2626 East 109th Ave.
Northglenn, CO 80233
Ph (303) 467-0504
alltheanswers@artisticpursuits.com

Artistic Pursuits has won many awards, including the Homeschool Crew Seaworthy Award, Excellence in Education Award and Practical Homeschooling Reader award.

I will admit that I totally loved this curriculum before the review. The company is based in Northglenn, CO, so it was a local product when we began homeschooling. I would love to have the whole set some day. Don't just take my word for it though. See what other reviewers are saying at The Old Schoolhouse Crew

disclaimer: I was given Artistic Pursuits K-3 book 2, free of charge, in exchange for my honest review.

Digestion

2011-11-29T23:23:00.000-08:00

Today Emma began a new science unit and Sarah joined in. The topic that evoked dual interest? Digestion. Sarah stuck around for the majority of the lesson, long enough to learn about teeth and why we brush. Emma was pretty captivated. Ok, I held her captive, or close to it. Laura was watching Madeline and it is too distracting for Emma, so we did the lesson in my room, away from the noise. It was interesting having our lesson, hanging out with Sarah and Emma, with Adam crawling over everything. When we talked about teeth, Adam showed us his teeth. When we talked about tongues, yup, his tongue came out. When we did an experiment with crackers and saliva, he had to have a cracker too. Sarah and Emma are both eager to do the next experiment with a tooth and soda. On Thursday we will learn about the stomach and other fun stuff. I guess it really does always come down to poop.

Same old same old

2011-11-14T16:03:00.000-08:00

Aside from reviewing , what have we been up to? Nothing out of the ordinary.
We are adjusting to living in a small house in a small town. We can't go to the grocery store in the middle of the night, so we are learning to plan our shopping. We have a much larger ward geographically, and a stake center that is a drive, instead of it being in our ward boundaries. We are also trying to figure out what to do with our extra stuff. We have boxes of stuff in our garage that we needed before, but don't now. We have toy bins, toy food, Potato heads, toys that we haven't unpacked. We have boxes and boxes of books, but less book storage.

We are homeschooling in our dining room. While it is nice to have it in a main living area, it presents a challenge because everything is in the main living area! With 3 kids schooling and 2 preschoolers, some days it is a wreck! When we began homeschooling again 4 years ago, Howard was adamant that we not have one of "those" homeschool homes, where it is always messy with experiments, schoolwork, maps on the wall, etc. Well, we have 2 large maps, calendar, chalkboards, etc visible when you walk in the door. We only have one experiment going now, a chicken bone in vinegar. And yes, there is schoolwork all over.

Our sliding doors have become a giant writing board

It has been an adjustment. We have changed our focus from having a pristine house to having a learning house. Sometimes the lessons are painful. Today the kids are trying to climb the door jambs. I am calling it PE.

Keeping Adam and Laura out of the way during school hours has been challenging. We have decided on having them in their seats for their table time, so they aren't wandering all over the house. Its a work in progress.

Laura and Adam scooting like worms down the hallway

Adam using bingo markers

Not all of it ended up on the paper

Adam exploring letter magnets for the first time

Sarah earnestly writing letters in a workbook

Annie and Emma are getting more interested in robotics, how things work, etc. They are currently building a hydraulic arm for a review.

If you look all around, you can see our current chaos

Emma has been doing experiments with her muscles. She tried to keep her arms extended for 5 full minutes, then did the pushing in a doorway for 1 minute thing. She also get to work her muscles as she practices basketball for her local team.

Howard painted the nasty purple/plum trim on the front of the house, because he couldn't take it anymore. All the neighbors have stopped by to say thank you, it was that bad.


Before

After

TOS review-Keyboard Town Pals

2011-11-13T22:44:00.002-08:00

Our family was chosen by The Old Schoolhouse to review a typing program called Keyboard Town Pals. The goal is to teach children to type on a qwerty keyboard with little to no stress in a relaxed, easy format. The program uses puppets and catchy songs to captivate the child. In the first lesson, the child is introduced to Sunny, a big sun puppet.

The child is then introduced to each letter, which has a puppet whose name begins with that letter, starting with Amy. Keyboard Town uses a creative method for remembering letter locations. There is home street, downtown and uptown. Different puppets live on different streets. There are catchy songs, one of which is being sung all the time in my house: By the "C", by the "C", by the beautiful "C".

You can see a sample of it here:

Features:
The program can be taught finger by finger, or one hand at a time.
Using this program during early elementary years reinforces early literacy with rhyming, letter sounds and blending.
The delete and backspace buttons are disabled, so the child won't freak out about correcting mistakes.
Available in cd-rom and web based versions
Ages: All ages, once a child can recognize letters.
Cost: $30.00 to $45.00, depending if you want the basic program, or bundle with accessories.
You can purchase it here at the Keyboard Town Pals website.

So, now that you know all about it, I am going to tell you what my tester said about it. Emma was the reviewer for this one. Initially, she was totally freaked out by Sunny. She refused to do the second lesson, but that is pretty typical for Emma. After showing Sunny to everyone in the family, she warmed up to it. She really liked that I had her do short, finger by finger lessons, lasting around 7 minutes at a time. She isn't into long, drawn out lessons, so this was a good option. She liked the puppets and enjoyed plopping down to do her work. She had this to say about it: "At first I didn't like it, but now I really do and I wish I could have it for a long time." Which is funny, because since she finished it, she doesn't really need it anymore.

I asked Sarah if she wanted to try it, and she said no way, the puppets were scary. So there you go. One kid was able to adjust to the puppets, one was not. I'd have to say here, know your student. If you know your kiddo is not into or scared of puppets, this program would not be a good fit.

To find out what other reviewers thought of this product, click here.

disclaimer: I received Keyboard Town Pals in exchange for my honest review. All the opinions are my own, or that of my children.

Park Day

2011-11-08T21:00:00.001-08:00

     Today was a park day. We finished school by 3. Assembled the bike trailer, pumped the tires. Put kids in the trailer. Since Emma's bike is currently disassembled due to inner tube issues, the kids decided to use their scooters. After we started out, the kids made a decision we would regret later on. When we came to a critical intersection, the kids chose the longer route. They wanted to by their cousins' house. Sarah winn the Most Injured Award. She was coasting downhill and lost control, slamming into a bridge rail. She may have a black eye in the morning.
Emma gets Honorable Mention, for hitting a hole in the sidewalk and launching her scooter. She only suffered minor scrapes.
     My bike trailer, sadly, is also injured. Letting little kids help with pumping the tires was not so wise. I now need 2 new tubes, as they were over-inflated and now bulging.
We did manage to make it to a park. Our first real park since moving here. Okay, we did try one park when we first moved here, but it was infested with yellow jackets and we didn't last 5 minutes. The kids all had a good time getting out and about. We had Howard pick us up, as I didn't think Sarah would make it home. Annie and Emma scootered home, as I rode my now trailer-less bike.
     Tomorrow we will try again at another park, if we can get school finished early enough. We just may drive though. :)