So, I finished overhauling the library (a few posts back) now it's the loungerooms turn.
I actually did both the kids bedroom & the loungeroom one after the other over a couple of days, as I switched furniture out.
The kids room was always a mess. They had a bookshelf in there that books would constantly fall off of, their play kitchen which clothes and other items would disappear beneath and two toy storage boxes. Their clothes, books, toys etc, would just make this overflow of mess that was hard to contain. And there was no room to add a conventional laundry basket to contain dirty clothes. Now its been cleared. The cats frequently spend their night on the toy kitchen :p
The loungeroom is a weird L shape, with another L added onto it via hallways. This means it would be practically impossible to have a couch in there (ridiculous I know, but I saw the last persons set up before we purchased the place, and having a couch in there means you need to shuffle round and can hardly move. So this was set up as DH's den. It has his armchair and big TV and his PS3 (men and their toys.) since it was his domain, but also held all the various electronics (phone, DVD player, modems, routers etc) that entire area was a BIG, ENORMOUSE jumble of tangled cords/wires (seriously, if you know me IRL, you know this is my nightmare....I hate tangled cords....I have been known to just completely disconnect everything throw the jumbled mess into a storage tub, close the lid and toss it in the garage). At the top of the lounge/L is our giant cat tree. The cats only use the cat tree when the dogs are in the house, elsewise they are inside the curtains basking in the sun.
The room are now clean, tidy and organized.
Kids Room: Everything but the bed was removed (the kids share a king size bed for the moment, they prefer to snuggle with each other over being alone *awww*) The Cat Tree (with a LOT of humphing and hawing) was moved my moi into the bedroom. I told DH he now HAS to do the raingutter bookshelves if he wants anywhere to put the books :p I hopefully have lit enough of a fire under him that it should be done sometime in the next few weeks. A Laundry basket will be put behind the kids door now that there's room. The cats were gloriously happy to have the cat tree in that room and spent a majority of the evening glaring down at everyone from the top of it.
Lounge: Kept DH's "den", but completely removed all the wires, cleaned under everything, and slightly moved the corner shelf, now all wires are labelled, OCD'ed :p, wound up and taped (or wound and used twisty wires to hold), and are all nice and neat (now this was a LOT of effort.....where's that medal? :p), with the cat tree gone, I had that weird top of L hallway bit, so I have put the kids bookshelf, the big wooden toybox, our mini chalkboard table & chairs, and our cane chair, as well as all of our wooden baskets there, and this will become the kids nature/seasons nook. They can play, and bring in items from outdoors etc...more on this later :p
Next up I have to start catching up a bit on the washing and moving some storage items from my room to the storage room. The next "real" challenge will be re-organizing the bathroom (boring to you guys :p ) and then the kitchen/dining (which is basically more cleaning...boring) and the teachers closet (*gulp* ummm....its a mess in there.....I may need chocolate before I attempt that)
xxx
Miss E.
Showing posts with label Rambling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rambling. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Pinterest Projects are HAZARDOUS
You walk onto pinterest (well your fingers walk, but same old, same old) and find all these amazing projects, kid inspired crafts and things that SHOULD you actually do them, rather than pinning and forgetting, will make you the best mother in the world. *snort*....um yeah.
This is a myth. There are many seemingly innocent projects that can go extremely awry.
We have done many of these pinterest projects, and is about 80/20 (80% goes awry) An example of one is the "Bubble Snake Maker"
This activity looks great! Your kids will count you as the fun mother who provided an amazing activity to keep them occupied all afternoon. So ^ above is what this should look like. I know its usually meant for older kids, but my children (6) (4) (3) are great at doing this sort of thing! After all, they can blow bubbles in the milk and create an overflowing volcano with the straw, so this seems like the perfect activity.....um NO. Just NO.
What actually happened went something like this: "Hey kids, look what super cool mummy made!" **oooooooohhhhhh** "So what you do is this (demonstrates)" **yyeeeeyyyy, our go, our go** "Okay, have fun!" The kids then proceed to "breathe in" with their lips over the bottle **cack cack, cough, cough** "Oh, silly Chaos, you okay? Sweetie you breathe out through in, see (over exaggerates on breathing in away from bottle, and blowing out in bottle) so do you want to try again?" **yes, yes, I do it** ............. **cack cack, cough cough**
Yep. I had to end up being the "bad" mummy and confiscating the "Snake Maker".
Do you have any Pinterest projects that flopped?
This is a myth. There are many seemingly innocent projects that can go extremely awry.
We have done many of these pinterest projects, and is about 80/20 (80% goes awry) An example of one is the "Bubble Snake Maker"
This activity looks great! Your kids will count you as the fun mother who provided an amazing activity to keep them occupied all afternoon. So ^ above is what this should look like. I know its usually meant for older kids, but my children (6) (4) (3) are great at doing this sort of thing! After all, they can blow bubbles in the milk and create an overflowing volcano with the straw, so this seems like the perfect activity.....um NO. Just NO.
What actually happened went something like this: "Hey kids, look what super cool mummy made!" **oooooooohhhhhh** "So what you do is this (demonstrates)" **yyeeeeyyyy, our go, our go** "Okay, have fun!" The kids then proceed to "breathe in" with their lips over the bottle **cack cack, cough, cough** "Oh, silly Chaos, you okay? Sweetie you breathe out through in, see (over exaggerates on breathing in away from bottle, and blowing out in bottle) so do you want to try again?" **yes, yes, I do it** ............. **cack cack, cough cough**
Yep. I had to end up being the "bad" mummy and confiscating the "Snake Maker".
Do you have any Pinterest projects that flopped?
Contemplating the MESS!
I'm sitting here....procrastinating as usual (this time its procrastinating in going to bed......during the day I am tired, then once everyone else is in bed, I enjoy my quiet & alone time so much, I have the singular thought "I can sleep when I'm dead".
Upon my procrastination journey through Pinterest (My link to my boards is right over there >>>) I started thinking about the mess children make and the myths some people seem to believe (that or they have major denial mode kicking in, I am guilty of this too). They think if they limit or take away the toys, this will limit the mess.
I am coming forward to say THIS IS NOT TRUE. Children have the imagination & determination to make a mess from whatever comes to hand. Locking your cabinets & cupboards won't help either. Gosh forbid you leave one singulat cupboard unlocked, they will find that cupboard and create mass destruction.
My children are capable of making the GROSSEST mess compiled just of their lunch ingredients & paper. I can go into my beautiful just cleaned loungeroom, and find that they have left the dining area, jettisoned themselves across the house, and created a mess of crumbs, crust, apple skin and cut up miniscule paper ALL OVER my just vacuumed carpet. They have got this routine down pat to two minutes. 120 seconds and the loungeroom goes from decor magazine to landfill. AND for the LOVE of all that is holy, do NOT let my children get a hold of tomato sauce or peanut butter. I made the mistake of leaving both on the benchtop whilst I went out back to feed the dogs. BIGGEST mistake ever. I came back inside to find one of the dining chairs re-upholstered with peanut butter, said butter was trailed all across the wall, into the hallway across my whitegoods, and smeared all around the walls of the bathroom. The entire tomato sauce bottle was upended on my carpet. Cleaning peanut butter off the toilet wall has to be the most gross situation.
And my children aren't the only ones to try to dip into my never-ending patience. My DH has big feet, thus big shoes, and has the habit of taking them off in the middle of the hall, middle of doorway, middle of room, anywhere where I am likely to go a** over t** and nearly kill myself.
And the final drama? The toilet paper has to be locked away. The children will rip it into pieces and create snowmen, and if they don't touch it and you leave it (h I don't know, where its MEANT to be) then the cats seem to think the TP is some sort of alien bent on attacking them, as you'll wake up to it shredded into pieces and them still skulking around waiting for the TP to attack again.
I gave up on rugs about a year ago, after going through about 10 rugs in 7 years. My children seem to congregate around the rug, and plot ways for its demise. This includes, but is not limited to: - Yoghurt splats, leaving their "leavings" (when they were younger of course), said tomato sauce, stashing noodles and rice just to smoosh into rugs, and many other bewildering situations.
Now don't get me wrong, my children, DH & my cats are nice, good people. :D They just have certain creative centers that seem to focus on destructive imaginative. If I clean a room, internal sensors on anybody in the house automatically "pings" and knows, and they head towards this lovely shiny room, and become.......NOT my family, people I don't know. They go absolutely barmy, like a snowstorm, until room is suitable for their messy tastes again, they calm down and leave.
Luckily, I have a special secret whenever I am getting frustrated and upset, I just head over to Parenting Illustrated with Crappy Pictures and suddenly, I'm giggling and laughing and everything is okay again, I soldier on.
So whenever your having a bad day, and everyone has got you down, just head to her site, and rest assured, everything will seem okay again :D
xxx
Miss E.
Upon my procrastination journey through Pinterest (My link to my boards is right over there >>>) I started thinking about the mess children make and the myths some people seem to believe (that or they have major denial mode kicking in, I am guilty of this too). They think if they limit or take away the toys, this will limit the mess.
I am coming forward to say THIS IS NOT TRUE. Children have the imagination & determination to make a mess from whatever comes to hand. Locking your cabinets & cupboards won't help either. Gosh forbid you leave one singulat cupboard unlocked, they will find that cupboard and create mass destruction.
My children are capable of making the GROSSEST mess compiled just of their lunch ingredients & paper. I can go into my beautiful just cleaned loungeroom, and find that they have left the dining area, jettisoned themselves across the house, and created a mess of crumbs, crust, apple skin and cut up miniscule paper ALL OVER my just vacuumed carpet. They have got this routine down pat to two minutes. 120 seconds and the loungeroom goes from decor magazine to landfill. AND for the LOVE of all that is holy, do NOT let my children get a hold of tomato sauce or peanut butter. I made the mistake of leaving both on the benchtop whilst I went out back to feed the dogs. BIGGEST mistake ever. I came back inside to find one of the dining chairs re-upholstered with peanut butter, said butter was trailed all across the wall, into the hallway across my whitegoods, and smeared all around the walls of the bathroom. The entire tomato sauce bottle was upended on my carpet. Cleaning peanut butter off the toilet wall has to be the most gross situation.
And my children aren't the only ones to try to dip into my never-ending patience. My DH has big feet, thus big shoes, and has the habit of taking them off in the middle of the hall, middle of doorway, middle of room, anywhere where I am likely to go a** over t** and nearly kill myself.
And the final drama? The toilet paper has to be locked away. The children will rip it into pieces and create snowmen, and if they don't touch it and you leave it (h I don't know, where its MEANT to be) then the cats seem to think the TP is some sort of alien bent on attacking them, as you'll wake up to it shredded into pieces and them still skulking around waiting for the TP to attack again.
I gave up on rugs about a year ago, after going through about 10 rugs in 7 years. My children seem to congregate around the rug, and plot ways for its demise. This includes, but is not limited to: - Yoghurt splats, leaving their "leavings" (when they were younger of course), said tomato sauce, stashing noodles and rice just to smoosh into rugs, and many other bewildering situations.
Now don't get me wrong, my children, DH & my cats are nice, good people. :D They just have certain creative centers that seem to focus on destructive imaginative. If I clean a room, internal sensors on anybody in the house automatically "pings" and knows, and they head towards this lovely shiny room, and become.......NOT my family, people I don't know. They go absolutely barmy, like a snowstorm, until room is suitable for their messy tastes again, they calm down and leave.
Luckily, I have a special secret whenever I am getting frustrated and upset, I just head over to Parenting Illustrated with Crappy Pictures and suddenly, I'm giggling and laughing and everything is okay again, I soldier on.
So whenever your having a bad day, and everyone has got you down, just head to her site, and rest assured, everything will seem okay again :D
xxx
Miss E.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Re-organizing & Getting Ready for the New School Term
These days are flying by!
Our new school year will begin 21st May.
I've cleared the schedule for the next month until then to do cleaning (ignored whilst planning, so house is a bomb-site), deep cleaning & maintenance, re-arranging and re-organizing.
I love this idea. The kids know we start school in roughly a month, we've stopped any unit studies/natural learning we had going (although they still learn amazing things every day), and they understand they are helping me get ready for the new school year. They haven't even made a fuss about me slowly taking away all the toys!
I've finished the library (which i'll admit, amidst planning and spreading out on the floor in there, I made the room a mess a couple of times!
Heres the summary of the overhaul to the library:
- Completely cleared & cleaned shelves & cupboards
- Labelled EVERYTHING. lol. Labelled all the shelves, filing cabinet draws and the art cupboard
- Cleared out all the stuff that didn't belong in said drawers & cupboards (what the? TP Holder? 3M Sticky things.....OH so THATs where my otterbox iphone holder went!
- Collected up every book in the house wiped any covers that needed it, and put all books on appropriate shelves
- Recycled books past their prime (sorry kids, Lola & Charlie are falling to pieces)
- Put board books and plain silly kids books (heres your simpsons colouring book Chaos) back into the kids room.
- Put everything back into appropriate cupboard area
- Cleared middle bookshelf for all enrichment/extra activity stuff
- Put return book basket back ontop of art cabinet (temporarily filled with misc craft supplies till I get some organizing baskets etc)
And you know what? I had NO reason to complain! I have PLENTY of room in my little library! I have four empty filing cabinets ready to re-fill with Art Supplies, History/Geo Supplies, Craft Supplies and Science stuff. In my art cabinet there is now room for the pile of scrap paper (all paper before was in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet, loose and was just everywhere.), pile for the folders/laminating pouches etc, and an empty slot for the copy paper once I release it from my "clutch" (currently under computer table in my bedroom). Bottom shelf has been cleared for misc/more craft supplies, and on the other side I have a clear file crate with suspension folders holding a rainbow of construction paper (and my photo paper at the back). Also managed to fit my year plans into the top shelf of the bookshelf.
I'm SO excited, I actually have a workable library with loads of room :D
Next up, I have started on the loungeroom, so once I clear, and clean that tornado of a room, I figured out what to do with that weird shape of our "loungeroom" (our house was originally one not really meant for kids, so the lounge is a mini L shape thats very odd, I have an expanse of narrow room (or wide hall) back to the library. I'm going to make this into a Nature Area! :D We're studying biology/life science this year, so we're going to be having a little area to congregate our nature supplies,put all our critters, and its also going to be a little waldorf-inspired play area for collected nature supplies (think nature table/shelves, waldorf playscape, seasonal tables, that sort of thing) It'll give me something to do with all of these wicker baskets I have collected to (everyone keeps GIVING them to me for some reason :/ LOL)
My plans are to get the Dino-scape/cardboard playset up tommorrow night (pics!) and I'll also hopefully find somewhere they have them in stock so I can link.
Right....enough procrastinating (although in my defence I am waiting for the vacuum cleaner to charge up again :p) back to work for me.
P.S. Yes, will get pics of school areas, once they are stocked, right now, they are looking empty till DH raids the postman :p
xxx
Miss E.
Our new school year will begin 21st May.
I've cleared the schedule for the next month until then to do cleaning (ignored whilst planning, so house is a bomb-site), deep cleaning & maintenance, re-arranging and re-organizing.
I love this idea. The kids know we start school in roughly a month, we've stopped any unit studies/natural learning we had going (although they still learn amazing things every day), and they understand they are helping me get ready for the new school year. They haven't even made a fuss about me slowly taking away all the toys!
I've finished the library (which i'll admit, amidst planning and spreading out on the floor in there, I made the room a mess a couple of times!
Heres the summary of the overhaul to the library:
- Completely cleared & cleaned shelves & cupboards
- Labelled EVERYTHING. lol. Labelled all the shelves, filing cabinet draws and the art cupboard
- Cleared out all the stuff that didn't belong in said drawers & cupboards (what the? TP Holder? 3M Sticky things.....OH so THATs where my otterbox iphone holder went!
- Collected up every book in the house wiped any covers that needed it, and put all books on appropriate shelves
- Recycled books past their prime (sorry kids, Lola & Charlie are falling to pieces)
- Put board books and plain silly kids books (heres your simpsons colouring book Chaos) back into the kids room.
- Put everything back into appropriate cupboard area
- Cleared middle bookshelf for all enrichment/extra activity stuff
- Put return book basket back ontop of art cabinet (temporarily filled with misc craft supplies till I get some organizing baskets etc)
And you know what? I had NO reason to complain! I have PLENTY of room in my little library! I have four empty filing cabinets ready to re-fill with Art Supplies, History/Geo Supplies, Craft Supplies and Science stuff. In my art cabinet there is now room for the pile of scrap paper (all paper before was in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet, loose and was just everywhere.), pile for the folders/laminating pouches etc, and an empty slot for the copy paper once I release it from my "clutch" (currently under computer table in my bedroom). Bottom shelf has been cleared for misc/more craft supplies, and on the other side I have a clear file crate with suspension folders holding a rainbow of construction paper (and my photo paper at the back). Also managed to fit my year plans into the top shelf of the bookshelf.
I'm SO excited, I actually have a workable library with loads of room :D
Next up, I have started on the loungeroom, so once I clear, and clean that tornado of a room, I figured out what to do with that weird shape of our "loungeroom" (our house was originally one not really meant for kids, so the lounge is a mini L shape thats very odd, I have an expanse of narrow room (or wide hall) back to the library. I'm going to make this into a Nature Area! :D We're studying biology/life science this year, so we're going to be having a little area to congregate our nature supplies,put all our critters, and its also going to be a little waldorf-inspired play area for collected nature supplies (think nature table/shelves, waldorf playscape, seasonal tables, that sort of thing) It'll give me something to do with all of these wicker baskets I have collected to (everyone keeps GIVING them to me for some reason :/ LOL)
My plans are to get the Dino-scape/cardboard playset up tommorrow night (pics!) and I'll also hopefully find somewhere they have them in stock so I can link.
Right....enough procrastinating (although in my defence I am waiting for the vacuum cleaner to charge up again :p) back to work for me.
P.S. Yes, will get pics of school areas, once they are stocked, right now, they are looking empty till DH raids the postman :p
xxx
Miss E.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
A timeline of Me: What I actually look like
So any coming across me on any forum, will see my "classic" avatar
ie.
But what do I ACTUALLY look like? Well, it changes any given day. Yes, I do need glasses, no, most of the time I don't wear them. Actually I need to go get some more, I have been through so many pairs over the years, I just sort of gave up :p (My children spent about 4 long years consistently destroying each pair of glasses I got)
This is me about 7 years ago (sans makeup, professional photographer)
And about the same time, a photo taken by myself, with makeup:
And this was about 18 months ago, (sans makeup, self-taken)
And this was sometime last year (camera phone, no make-up, and obviously annoyed that I had to take a photo of myself (I hate photos) No trickery. My kids wall is Purple, and my hair is RAINBOW
I've sort of been ignoring my hair of late, which means I have plentiful roots of my natural hair colour (which I haven'y seen since my teens, I'm naturally a sort of mousey blonde that sparkles and changes with the sun, I didn't like it because of the sterotypes and it was that fair (and my hair was already fine) that it looked like from far away that I was bald Oo )
So my avatar would be me, before I became a rainbow fairy, if I was a good girl wearing my glasses (and not squinting at everything) and probably just after I have had a shower :p Elsewise I pretty much look like the above pics (or a fair amount worse). So I much prefer my avatar, its pretty much putting my best face forward, so to speak.
Oh and Dressing Gown and Uggboots are my wardrobe staple when home ;)
xxx
Miss E.
ie.
But what do I ACTUALLY look like? Well, it changes any given day. Yes, I do need glasses, no, most of the time I don't wear them. Actually I need to go get some more, I have been through so many pairs over the years, I just sort of gave up :p (My children spent about 4 long years consistently destroying each pair of glasses I got)
This is me about 7 years ago (sans makeup, professional photographer)
And about the same time, a photo taken by myself, with makeup:
And this was about 18 months ago, (sans makeup, self-taken)
And this was sometime last year (camera phone, no make-up, and obviously annoyed that I had to take a photo of myself (I hate photos) No trickery. My kids wall is Purple, and my hair is RAINBOW
I've sort of been ignoring my hair of late, which means I have plentiful roots of my natural hair colour (which I haven'y seen since my teens, I'm naturally a sort of mousey blonde that sparkles and changes with the sun, I didn't like it because of the sterotypes and it was that fair (and my hair was already fine) that it looked like from far away that I was bald Oo )So my avatar would be me, before I became a rainbow fairy, if I was a good girl wearing my glasses (and not squinting at everything) and probably just after I have had a shower :p Elsewise I pretty much look like the above pics (or a fair amount worse). So I much prefer my avatar, its pretty much putting my best face forward, so to speak.
Oh and Dressing Gown and Uggboots are my wardrobe staple when home ;)
xxx
Miss E.
Monday, April 16, 2012
I am BORING
That is a current simple fact.
Its been one week since I last blogged (I promised myself to regularly update this blog) and what do I have to show for it? NOTHING.
Oh, its not like I have been sitting around doing nothing, on the contrary, I am have been running around like a chicken with its head cut-off.
But anything I have done is not photo-blog worthy, not even photo-less blog worthy. A WHOLE post about nothing. Interesting!
I finished the basis of my planning, its all done and raring to go, unfortunately, instead of purchasing the camera I said I would.....I went and bid (and won) an Ipad. Well it was cheap and I REALLY needed one. Apart from the obvious fact that I seem to be the only homeschooling mother without one (or so it seems when you ask for suggestions for resources/curriculums and everyone replies with ipad apps) I actually DID have quite a number of personal reasons I needed it. The main being DS learns so much from my iphone, but has problems with the small screen, another is that I desperately needed a place for my picture book ebooks (Kindle DX does not work so well for colour picture books).
I've also been getting stuff for the continent boxes, purchasing online supplies needed, and helping to edit a really, really cool Living Maths book. But none of it is really blog-worthy on its own (well the LM book is, but I am really not at liberty to say more right now :p )
I am hoping my old camera magically appears and I can get just a few photos out of it of the binders, but at least I have done my duty and not let a week go by without blogging ;)
Hopefully in the next few days (still busy with that book) I can get onto my other computer and upload pics of this really cool Dinosaur book my son has been playing with.
Until then, I think I am going to sleep. I think I've come down with the flu :(
Till next time
xxx
Miss Edumacated
Its been one week since I last blogged (I promised myself to regularly update this blog) and what do I have to show for it? NOTHING.
Oh, its not like I have been sitting around doing nothing, on the contrary, I am have been running around like a chicken with its head cut-off.
But anything I have done is not photo-blog worthy, not even photo-less blog worthy. A WHOLE post about nothing. Interesting!
I finished the basis of my planning, its all done and raring to go, unfortunately, instead of purchasing the camera I said I would.....I went and bid (and won) an Ipad. Well it was cheap and I REALLY needed one. Apart from the obvious fact that I seem to be the only homeschooling mother without one (or so it seems when you ask for suggestions for resources/curriculums and everyone replies with ipad apps) I actually DID have quite a number of personal reasons I needed it. The main being DS learns so much from my iphone, but has problems with the small screen, another is that I desperately needed a place for my picture book ebooks (Kindle DX does not work so well for colour picture books).
I've also been getting stuff for the continent boxes, purchasing online supplies needed, and helping to edit a really, really cool Living Maths book. But none of it is really blog-worthy on its own (well the LM book is, but I am really not at liberty to say more right now :p )
I am hoping my old camera magically appears and I can get just a few photos out of it of the binders, but at least I have done my duty and not let a week go by without blogging ;)
Hopefully in the next few days (still busy with that book) I can get onto my other computer and upload pics of this really cool Dinosaur book my son has been playing with.
Until then, I think I am going to sleep. I think I've come down with the flu :(
Till next time
xxx
Miss Edumacated
Monday, April 9, 2012
Planning & Organising...The Circle of Life
I've had a few people PM me in one of the many forums I visit, in hopes that I will have that "perfect" planning/organising/scheduling solution for them.
I'm afraid I probably don't
I'm good for ideas, but won't be able to come up with a solution for your unique situation, why? Because only you can do that.
The fact of the matter is, NO-ONE will have a perfect planner system that will work for every single year of their child/ren's homeschooling journey. They may have one that they "make do" with for the whole of the cycle, if its not in them to come up with something different or change it.
Because your children & you, all change throughout the homeschooling journey. Just because a particular curriculum or planner may work for you this year, does not mean it will work next year. In fact, in most cases, it won't. It's in us to evolve, change & re-arrange, so this comes across in our learning styles and in the way we organize.
Last year we went with the workbox/filebox/crate system. And this worked brilliantly, for that year, if you'll remember we were also using Sonlight, already planned out, and I could just dump the appropriate sheets into that weeks folder. This year, I started to plan that way, only to realize, I just had too many sheets in each weeks folder, I am putting together my own whole curriculum from different curriculums/resources. The sheets were getting bent, the box wasn't holding up to the weight and it was just generally starting to be annoying.
This year we are going with a binder system ala Sonlight style. I think this will work quite well (I will be photo-blogging next weekend on the whole binder system, so you'll have more info then.
What about next year? Well I can tell you now, the binder system probably won't work for us then. Next year I will have 1 in preschool, 1 in Kindergarten/Prep & 1 in 2nd Grade. The Binder will just be too all over the place, everything won't fit in unless I have about 10 binders, and it will just be higgledy-piggledy. My initial plan thinking now, will probably be to mostly use Proclick Binding to make whatever subjects into individual books. I will probably have one folder for stuff like pre-k/kinder stuff. I will also pro-click the lesson planner. So everything will be via child & subject, then student & Teachers manuals
And What about the year after that? Well....thats quites a whiles away :p But since by then, the children can really start having individual subjects and not relying on me to initiate each subject (the youngest will be in prep/kinder by then) I will probably get on the Workbox/drawer wagon and follow that. or individual weekly books, or student binders etc.
Right now, all subjects are pretty much teacher intensive as my kids are young. I have to hand everything out, explain everything, and generally lead the whole herd through the day :p. So as such, I have to look at ideas best meant for the "teacher" and not directed towards the student.
The Point being, don't get frustrated if your current planning isn't working out. It happens to the best of us, and your system will always be evolving! I think probably the best chance you have of finding a "perfect" planner is finding someone in a similar situation (curriculum wise) and with similarly (is that a word? hmmm...dictionary time after this!) aged children, and see what they are using.
Try to remember what styles you are currently using, as this most affects your end planner. (e.g. if you are using something like AAR, a workbox system isn't going to work out very well, unless every drawer is filled with "lesson with mum" :D lol )
Good luck with your journey!
xxx
Miss Edumacated
I'm afraid I probably don't
I'm good for ideas, but won't be able to come up with a solution for your unique situation, why? Because only you can do that.
The fact of the matter is, NO-ONE will have a perfect planner system that will work for every single year of their child/ren's homeschooling journey. They may have one that they "make do" with for the whole of the cycle, if its not in them to come up with something different or change it.
Because your children & you, all change throughout the homeschooling journey. Just because a particular curriculum or planner may work for you this year, does not mean it will work next year. In fact, in most cases, it won't. It's in us to evolve, change & re-arrange, so this comes across in our learning styles and in the way we organize.
Last year we went with the workbox/filebox/crate system. And this worked brilliantly, for that year, if you'll remember we were also using Sonlight, already planned out, and I could just dump the appropriate sheets into that weeks folder. This year, I started to plan that way, only to realize, I just had too many sheets in each weeks folder, I am putting together my own whole curriculum from different curriculums/resources. The sheets were getting bent, the box wasn't holding up to the weight and it was just generally starting to be annoying.
This year we are going with a binder system ala Sonlight style. I think this will work quite well (I will be photo-blogging next weekend on the whole binder system, so you'll have more info then.
What about next year? Well I can tell you now, the binder system probably won't work for us then. Next year I will have 1 in preschool, 1 in Kindergarten/Prep & 1 in 2nd Grade. The Binder will just be too all over the place, everything won't fit in unless I have about 10 binders, and it will just be higgledy-piggledy. My initial plan thinking now, will probably be to mostly use Proclick Binding to make whatever subjects into individual books. I will probably have one folder for stuff like pre-k/kinder stuff. I will also pro-click the lesson planner. So everything will be via child & subject, then student & Teachers manuals
And What about the year after that? Well....thats quites a whiles away :p But since by then, the children can really start having individual subjects and not relying on me to initiate each subject (the youngest will be in prep/kinder by then) I will probably get on the Workbox/drawer wagon and follow that. or individual weekly books, or student binders etc.
Right now, all subjects are pretty much teacher intensive as my kids are young. I have to hand everything out, explain everything, and generally lead the whole herd through the day :p. So as such, I have to look at ideas best meant for the "teacher" and not directed towards the student.
The Point being, don't get frustrated if your current planning isn't working out. It happens to the best of us, and your system will always be evolving! I think probably the best chance you have of finding a "perfect" planner is finding someone in a similar situation (curriculum wise) and with similarly (is that a word? hmmm...dictionary time after this!) aged children, and see what they are using.
Try to remember what styles you are currently using, as this most affects your end planner. (e.g. if you are using something like AAR, a workbox system isn't going to work out very well, unless every drawer is filled with "lesson with mum" :D lol )
Good luck with your journey!
xxx
Miss Edumacated
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Why I haven't posted for a few days...
I just missed Wordless Wednesday, which would of explained it without writing. I have been snowed under with doing the final notes for my planning sheets (basically the final bit before plonking everything into folders and pronouncing myself done).
Unfortunately this involves a great amount of desk space.......oh and apologies for the picture, I won't be getting a new camera till next wednesday, so this one has been take with my iphone.
Yep. Thats half a giant folding table (the kind they set-up for markets or impromptu meetings :p ) You don't want to see the other half....no, trust me on this. I think I have enough energy drinks to create a life size pyramid. Plus 2 bottles of tomato sauce....because, yeah, there just essential on your desk.
So once I find the table again, I will post more...I promise :D
xxx
Miss Edumacated
Unfortunately this involves a great amount of desk space.......oh and apologies for the picture, I won't be getting a new camera till next wednesday, so this one has been take with my iphone.
Yep. Thats half a giant folding table (the kind they set-up for markets or impromptu meetings :p ) You don't want to see the other half....no, trust me on this. I think I have enough energy drinks to create a life size pyramid. Plus 2 bottles of tomato sauce....because, yeah, there just essential on your desk.So once I find the table again, I will post more...I promise :D
xxx
Miss Edumacated
Saturday, March 24, 2012
How do you do it all?
This is a question I have been asked many, many times. We may only be "new" to formal homeschooling (1 yr) but after planning this year, and the things we got through last year with two littlies hanging on, everyone seems to want to know.After the last PM today, I decided to blog about it.
Answer is.....I don't!
The "ideal" solution for us would be for me to make my own curriculum, completely from scratch, but unless I have a year between each "schoolyear" and no children around, that is not going to happen!
What we do (and so you don't think I am totally crazy, I have seen a few other homeschoolers who do this) is yes, I buy mutiple curriculums/resources for one subject. This may not be the most money-efficient means (well, its definitely not) but it allows me to customise a subject to our liking with a minimum of fuss.
For the subject at hand, I gather all the materials/curriculums/resources I purchased. Then I usually have one item/curriculum as the spine/base (for History this is Story of the World, for Science its Elemental Science) then anything else I rearrange according to the layout of the spine item. Once that is done, I simple go through each mini subject and pick and choose the books,activities etc to suit our current set-up/year.
Most of the items I purchase are teacher manuals/digital curriculums etc, stuff that can be re-used for reference/activities/curriculums throughout their schooling. We follow "very loosely" the WTM way i.e. the 4 year rotation of history. So anything we don't use this year, can be used on our next two rotations (yes, believe it or not, some of the stuff I purchased now can be used for the child in year 9).
So *thats* my secret. I don't actually do it all, and if I did, I would probably have gone completely mad by now! :D Its just a matter of holding tight to how you want the final subject to turn out. For us right now, videos and arts & crafts trump everything, as with the combined ages of the kids, this is what can be done/viewed by all, and enjoyed by each ones individual learning style. After that comes games & books, last is worksheets. My children are not very worksheet styled, so experiments, documentaries, art, craft and DIY games work much better to help them retain that knowledge.
Before we have even begun the year, my daughter is entranced with all that is *egyptians*, this came from 3 things. The start of it was a simple papyrus picture in a frame I picked up, she wanted to study it for ages, then, by pure accident, I started watching a documentary on King Tut, she was absolutely fascinated, and asked more about it, where I led her to an online game about Egyptian Mummies. Now she's become so obssessed she even wants me to make her dibetes logbook into Egyptian themed complete with "an Egyptian flat person on the front and hieroglyphics inside and LOTs of gold mummy!". I have promised her a trip to the museum in the City towards the middle of the year, when they have an exhibition on Egyptian mummies on, she's counting down the days.
So yes, my advice is to not do it all, if a curriculum/program suits you fully, stick with it. I have found most programs in their unaltered states don't suit us, as we require a very vigourously interactive program.
So hopefully your not thinking I am supermum now!
xxx
Miss E.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Curriculum Flip-Switch
Is it only me, or before school begins for the new year, do you also suddenly jump around and backtrack all over the place?
Because it is starting to not be amusing.
This, however, is my final change, *holds hand over heart* I promise!
So changes ahoy!
Phonics:
-Scrapping Explode the Code (my daughter does not appreciate the repetiveness of the book) we will keep the books around in case of a need to review, but we won't have them anywhere on the lesson plan
- Adding in All About Reading Level 1. New program, I already had the readers, but just found out the teachers part has come out, and that was the final push needed to decide to go on to that instead
Spelling:
- All About Spelling will be moved back to start Level 1 in the middle of the year (week 19)
Maths:
-After jumpstarting around A LOT on this, I have decided to put 1a&1B back to next year, and just do Part B this year, instead of skipping ahead, so sticking back to the original plans from back yonder. I will be adding in Maths Lessons for a Living Education Book 1 & Life of Fred Elementary Series.
So there we go, a few simple (yeah right!) changes to our curriculum!
P.S. A link dump for the Health, Safety & Etiquette curriculum will be up in the next few days!
xxx
Miss E.
Because it is starting to not be amusing.
This, however, is my final change, *holds hand over heart* I promise!
So changes ahoy!
Phonics:
-Scrapping Explode the Code (my daughter does not appreciate the repetiveness of the book) we will keep the books around in case of a need to review, but we won't have them anywhere on the lesson plan
- Adding in All About Reading Level 1. New program, I already had the readers, but just found out the teachers part has come out, and that was the final push needed to decide to go on to that instead
Spelling:
- All About Spelling will be moved back to start Level 1 in the middle of the year (week 19)
Maths:
-After jumpstarting around A LOT on this, I have decided to put 1a&1B back to next year, and just do Part B this year, instead of skipping ahead, so sticking back to the original plans from back yonder. I will be adding in Maths Lessons for a Living Education Book 1 & Life of Fred Elementary Series.
So there we go, a few simple (yeah right!) changes to our curriculum!
P.S. A link dump for the Health, Safety & Etiquette curriculum will be up in the next few days!
xxx
Miss E.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
I love Iphones
Okay, so I am now officially a convert!
At the beginning, I was against them, I couldn't see the point.
Now its a complete 180!
A summary:
- Replace my calendar and have constant reminders for upcoming birthdays
- Can finally shop by myself and call to have DH pick me up
- Replace my paper planners with Digital Versions!
- Have a menu planner, recipe book, and shopping list AIO
- Replace my MP3 player which has bitten the dust
- Replace my DSi which has also sadly bitten the dust
I have a ratty calendar I refer to for birthdays, results are I often forget birthday's due to that being the only reason I check it. DH has been bugging me for ages to get another phone so I am contactable and he doesn't have to sit in the car waiting for me. My paper planners take too much time to setup and keep on top of, with two seperate apps, I can designate Zones and cleaning schedules, and another app gives a pre-filled list of stuff to do (wipe fridge, replace dish towels etc). Menu planning gets sadly neglected round here, and shopping lists are often written spur of the moment on an envelope, well no more! I need music in my life, and sadly the radio stations here are very neglected music wise, and most are filled with inane boring chatter. My poor DSi, I believe, needs to be soldered, and my skills are sadly lacking in that area. Luckily a quick search through the app store located similar games I currently play on my DS (I always do "puzzles" before bed, but I move through them rather quickly, and as the puzzle books I like out here are $5 a pop, this can get expensive very quickly. The DSi helped fill that void, now the Iphone will replace it, with Tri-towers, 11 Ball, Linkapix, Kakuro, Battleship Solitaire and various other mind games I enjoy ;)
And to think I originally couldn't understand what the fuss was about!
Iphones are expensive. I may look into getting a 4 or 5 once the 5 comes out, but scouring eBay paid off and I picked up a "broken" Iphone for $150 AU. a 3GS 16gb, an absolute bargain in my mind. A few days of frustration paid off, and I now have a fully working phone at my disposal.
How? Well I may not be the most technically savvy person, but when you have a whole internet at your disposal and some smarts, almost anything is possible! ;)
Well, I just came to brag, so now off to bed I go! Last Birthday photos (sorry very overdue!) Should be up over the weekend. I have also been very busy writing up a schedule for next term (currently upto week 16), I may upload the schedule later on (next term) for others to view. Its Sonlight-inspired, as I love the way Sonlight sets out there schedule.
xxx
Miss E.
At the beginning, I was against them, I couldn't see the point.
Now its a complete 180!
A summary:
- Replace my calendar and have constant reminders for upcoming birthdays
- Can finally shop by myself and call to have DH pick me up
- Replace my paper planners with Digital Versions!
- Have a menu planner, recipe book, and shopping list AIO
- Replace my MP3 player which has bitten the dust
- Replace my DSi which has also sadly bitten the dust
I have a ratty calendar I refer to for birthdays, results are I often forget birthday's due to that being the only reason I check it. DH has been bugging me for ages to get another phone so I am contactable and he doesn't have to sit in the car waiting for me. My paper planners take too much time to setup and keep on top of, with two seperate apps, I can designate Zones and cleaning schedules, and another app gives a pre-filled list of stuff to do (wipe fridge, replace dish towels etc). Menu planning gets sadly neglected round here, and shopping lists are often written spur of the moment on an envelope, well no more! I need music in my life, and sadly the radio stations here are very neglected music wise, and most are filled with inane boring chatter. My poor DSi, I believe, needs to be soldered, and my skills are sadly lacking in that area. Luckily a quick search through the app store located similar games I currently play on my DS (I always do "puzzles" before bed, but I move through them rather quickly, and as the puzzle books I like out here are $5 a pop, this can get expensive very quickly. The DSi helped fill that void, now the Iphone will replace it, with Tri-towers, 11 Ball, Linkapix, Kakuro, Battleship Solitaire and various other mind games I enjoy ;)
And to think I originally couldn't understand what the fuss was about!
Iphones are expensive. I may look into getting a 4 or 5 once the 5 comes out, but scouring eBay paid off and I picked up a "broken" Iphone for $150 AU. a 3GS 16gb, an absolute bargain in my mind. A few days of frustration paid off, and I now have a fully working phone at my disposal.
How? Well I may not be the most technically savvy person, but when you have a whole internet at your disposal and some smarts, almost anything is possible! ;)
Well, I just came to brag, so now off to bed I go! Last Birthday photos (sorry very overdue!) Should be up over the weekend. I have also been very busy writing up a schedule for next term (currently upto week 16), I may upload the schedule later on (next term) for others to view. Its Sonlight-inspired, as I love the way Sonlight sets out there schedule.
xxx
Miss E.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Gadgets & Technology
Where have I been these past couple of days?
Well, in my worst nightmare. Nearly all of my gadgets have gone on the blink at the same time. Thats the trouble with living in a technological world, we become very dependant on our gadgets.
Heres a short summary:
- My media laptop has decided the DVD drive no longer works
- My netbook (what I am currently on) has decided to do the blue screen of death, complete with Kernel dumping
- My Creative Zen (mp3 player) has decided to give up the ghost, and no longer turns on
- My DSI now won't even turn on (just a brief flash of blue)
- My new "broken" iphone is turning out to be harder to fix than I thought (thanks to the previous person jailbreaking it)
So, the only working gadget in my possession is my kindle, although the plastic strap on the cover for it broke off.
The past few days have been spent in geeks glory world, complete with screwdrivers, many many screws, and a whole lot of googling and fiddling with software. Has it fixed anything? Nope, but to look on the bright side, I have so far eliminated many "causes" for each gadget, so if I keep going, eventually I will find the answer for each (I hope).
So whats next?
- A ton of background software fiddling whilst trying again to restore the iphone
- Actually looking further into the Creative Zens problem, and remembering to leave it charging overnight (the one cord does my computer speakers, camera & zen, so its hard to reeber to plug the zen back in)
- The DSI has to be re-opened back up (only the 10th time lol) and the two do-hickeys looked at (I think its L2 & L4) they may need soldering.
- A backup of all items I need on netbook, and figuring out a way to fix the problems without a CD drive
- Same for Media Laptop
- A new cover needed for Kindle
And what does this tell me? That I am sorely close to just mailing everything to my Dad, and letting him fix it all. He's a certified genius and even makes circuit boards from scratch. Unfortunately he does not have the time to be playing with my non-important gadgets.
Moral of the Story - I have a Love/Hate relationship with gadgets. Also I think I always manage to get the cursed Apple products, I've never had an apple product that worked right, but I still refuse to give up, I do love Apple products, just a pity they don't love me.
P.S. As for my hands (for those in the know) - They are going okay, I'm trying to lay off the computer typing for a while (hence why no post till now too) as 'specially with keyboard typing, they do tend to get worse, the shaking has lessened for the moment, but I'm afraid, I did have a bit of an outlashing about it the other night. I was trying to address two packages, and couldn't even get a few letters out without it being illegible. I kinda lost it, and chucked a huge wobbily, which started me to actually look and decide I need a bit of a break from just "trying to get everything done".
Thanks for all your wellwishes
xxx
Miss E.
Well, in my worst nightmare. Nearly all of my gadgets have gone on the blink at the same time. Thats the trouble with living in a technological world, we become very dependant on our gadgets.
Heres a short summary:
- My media laptop has decided the DVD drive no longer works
- My netbook (what I am currently on) has decided to do the blue screen of death, complete with Kernel dumping
- My Creative Zen (mp3 player) has decided to give up the ghost, and no longer turns on
- My DSI now won't even turn on (just a brief flash of blue)
- My new "broken" iphone is turning out to be harder to fix than I thought (thanks to the previous person jailbreaking it)
So, the only working gadget in my possession is my kindle, although the plastic strap on the cover for it broke off.
The past few days have been spent in geeks glory world, complete with screwdrivers, many many screws, and a whole lot of googling and fiddling with software. Has it fixed anything? Nope, but to look on the bright side, I have so far eliminated many "causes" for each gadget, so if I keep going, eventually I will find the answer for each (I hope).
So whats next?
- A ton of background software fiddling whilst trying again to restore the iphone
- Actually looking further into the Creative Zens problem, and remembering to leave it charging overnight (the one cord does my computer speakers, camera & zen, so its hard to reeber to plug the zen back in)
- The DSI has to be re-opened back up (only the 10th time lol) and the two do-hickeys looked at (I think its L2 & L4) they may need soldering.
- A backup of all items I need on netbook, and figuring out a way to fix the problems without a CD drive
- Same for Media Laptop
- A new cover needed for Kindle
And what does this tell me? That I am sorely close to just mailing everything to my Dad, and letting him fix it all. He's a certified genius and even makes circuit boards from scratch. Unfortunately he does not have the time to be playing with my non-important gadgets.
Moral of the Story - I have a Love/Hate relationship with gadgets. Also I think I always manage to get the cursed Apple products, I've never had an apple product that worked right, but I still refuse to give up, I do love Apple products, just a pity they don't love me.
P.S. As for my hands (for those in the know) - They are going okay, I'm trying to lay off the computer typing for a while (hence why no post till now too) as 'specially with keyboard typing, they do tend to get worse, the shaking has lessened for the moment, but I'm afraid, I did have a bit of an outlashing about it the other night. I was trying to address two packages, and couldn't even get a few letters out without it being illegible. I kinda lost it, and chucked a huge wobbily, which started me to actually look and decide I need a bit of a break from just "trying to get everything done".
Thanks for all your wellwishes
xxx
Miss E.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Pinterest!
I love pinterest! Its so easy to bookmark sites "by picture" of your choosing, and you can add a little note.
I have a little bar added to the top of my internet browser, and when searching, if I come across something I like, I can just "pin it" and forget it until I need it.
Its so much better than normal bookmarks, and is easier in the long run too (for instance my bookmark list is about a metre long, no exaggerations here, and thats just from oh...the past month) I've been on Pinterest for a while, mostly browsing, but finally got around to actually putting stuff on it.
I'm guessing after a quick cleanup, my internet bookmarks are going to stay pretty empty (I can hear DH sighing) yep, they are that bad. I go through them about once a month, and find a forum or notepad to dump relevant links, then duly forget about them till the end of time.
Well, no more; PINTEREST to the rescue!
Hopefully this gives you the right link, I'm a "noob" at sharing my Pinterest link! Here you go:
Miss Ed's Pinterest Board
and remember if you are interested in a link of mine, its best to pin it to your own board! I only keep items as they are relevant, if I have used/already planned them, then they get deleted. I'm not one for additional clutter, and since I can't control the clutter in my house due to other family members, I over-zealously cut the clutter with my online stuff.
Good deed for the day - CHECK.
P.S. Yes, I will be getting photos and links for the birthday up shortly, lately, my life seems not to be in my hands at all! I am planning to get photos uploaded tommorrow (both parts)
I have a little bar added to the top of my internet browser, and when searching, if I come across something I like, I can just "pin it" and forget it until I need it.
Its so much better than normal bookmarks, and is easier in the long run too (for instance my bookmark list is about a metre long, no exaggerations here, and thats just from oh...the past month) I've been on Pinterest for a while, mostly browsing, but finally got around to actually putting stuff on it.
I'm guessing after a quick cleanup, my internet bookmarks are going to stay pretty empty (I can hear DH sighing) yep, they are that bad. I go through them about once a month, and find a forum or notepad to dump relevant links, then duly forget about them till the end of time.
Well, no more; PINTEREST to the rescue!
Hopefully this gives you the right link, I'm a "noob" at sharing my Pinterest link! Here you go:
Miss Ed's Pinterest Board
and remember if you are interested in a link of mine, its best to pin it to your own board! I only keep items as they are relevant, if I have used/already planned them, then they get deleted. I'm not one for additional clutter, and since I can't control the clutter in my house due to other family members, I over-zealously cut the clutter with my online stuff.
Good deed for the day - CHECK.
P.S. Yes, I will be getting photos and links for the birthday up shortly, lately, my life seems not to be in my hands at all! I am planning to get photos uploaded tommorrow (both parts)
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Stuffed
That pretty much sums it up!
Roxy (one of our dogs) got back from surgery yesterday 24hours after her actual "surgery", point being she had nothing to make her dopey in her system. That combined with coming home and seeing us again, is not a good mix!
Let me explain....she is a VERY active dog, we needed something that would keep up with our other dog, whom is also active. Since shes still a puppy, that active-ness is essentially doubled. Now I wish she had come home whilst she was still dopey lol.
Instead I essentially have one very active girl, locked in a bathroom. Not my best plan, but she needed somewhere that would be kept clean & sterile (so constantly acessed for cleaning), easily cleanable, and that is separated from all other animals and from the children. This only leaves the bathroom. Whilst its great for its intended purpose (keeping her rested and quiet) when I have to go in to go to the loo, its not so great. Imagine a VERY LARGE, VERY BOUNCY puppy trying to get in your lap and have hugs whilst your trying to use the facilities...yep, not fun. Not only that but she has an eternity of kisses to apparently make up for, so each time I sit down, she's non-stop licking everything accessible, my hands, my jeans, trying to take the Toilet Paper off me. I also have to find a place to stash her for 20 minutes, so I can take a shower, as I desperately need one, and whilst normally I wouldn't care if she was jumping in and out of the shower (not that that would happen normally since shes not normally inside!) she cannot get her stitches wet.
Which also brings more fun when I have to take her outside to pee....cause well....its raining buckets right now. There is no way NOT to get them wet, especially since she wants to pee in the grass, now would be the one time I wouldn't care in she peed under the carport, but no, my girl has a special spot she seems to be fond of right now, right dead center of the lawn, in the pouring rain. And of course, with the rain, there are those innumerable smells that pop up. Which results in her jumping round doing her happy dance flinging herself into the air, like some crazed circus clown.
Luckily her stitches still seem all fine and good, but with this girl, it only seems to be a matter of time before there will be an emergency rush to the vets. The poor thing had her dewclaws removed at the back at the same time too, as the vet deemed them dangerous, they were protruding too much and too "loose", Which means in my spunky dogs term, it was only a matter of time before she got them caught on something and ripped. Whilst they provided info on the desexing, they did not provide any on the Dewclaws, which now have a big sticky bandaid bandage wrapped round them. Off to google more on what to do....
xxx
Miss E.
Roxy (one of our dogs) got back from surgery yesterday 24hours after her actual "surgery", point being she had nothing to make her dopey in her system. That combined with coming home and seeing us again, is not a good mix!
Let me explain....she is a VERY active dog, we needed something that would keep up with our other dog, whom is also active. Since shes still a puppy, that active-ness is essentially doubled. Now I wish she had come home whilst she was still dopey lol.
Instead I essentially have one very active girl, locked in a bathroom. Not my best plan, but she needed somewhere that would be kept clean & sterile (so constantly acessed for cleaning), easily cleanable, and that is separated from all other animals and from the children. This only leaves the bathroom. Whilst its great for its intended purpose (keeping her rested and quiet) when I have to go in to go to the loo, its not so great. Imagine a VERY LARGE, VERY BOUNCY puppy trying to get in your lap and have hugs whilst your trying to use the facilities...yep, not fun. Not only that but she has an eternity of kisses to apparently make up for, so each time I sit down, she's non-stop licking everything accessible, my hands, my jeans, trying to take the Toilet Paper off me. I also have to find a place to stash her for 20 minutes, so I can take a shower, as I desperately need one, and whilst normally I wouldn't care if she was jumping in and out of the shower (not that that would happen normally since shes not normally inside!) she cannot get her stitches wet.
Which also brings more fun when I have to take her outside to pee....cause well....its raining buckets right now. There is no way NOT to get them wet, especially since she wants to pee in the grass, now would be the one time I wouldn't care in she peed under the carport, but no, my girl has a special spot she seems to be fond of right now, right dead center of the lawn, in the pouring rain. And of course, with the rain, there are those innumerable smells that pop up. Which results in her jumping round doing her happy dance flinging herself into the air, like some crazed circus clown.
Luckily her stitches still seem all fine and good, but with this girl, it only seems to be a matter of time before there will be an emergency rush to the vets. The poor thing had her dewclaws removed at the back at the same time too, as the vet deemed them dangerous, they were protruding too much and too "loose", Which means in my spunky dogs term, it was only a matter of time before she got them caught on something and ripped. Whilst they provided info on the desexing, they did not provide any on the Dewclaws, which now have a big sticky bandaid bandage wrapped round them. Off to google more on what to do....
xxx
Miss E.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Don't you hate it when....
You have finished your curriculum shopping, only to realize that in amidst separating all the items "to get a better deal" you somehow forgot to switch an item over from one site to another? No? Never happened to you?
Well it happened to me! Somewhere between trying to get the best deal for things, an item disappeared off that list. It was only now, when I was double checking received orders, that I went "Where is the Fan-Math Process Skills?" oops. Somehow it didn't make the shopping cart transfer from Christian Book to Book Depository.
Normally I'd be all over it, and already have one coming in the mail. I decided, however, to cut my losses. I have Queen Homeschools "Math Lessons for a living education" listed as a supplement, so I don't don't think I need another supplemental book. Its kind of got me paranoid now, though, that I have forgotten something of more importance! I think a re-go through of my seperate shopping lists for each subject might be in order!
There's been a bit of a delay with getting party photos up. Mainly due to me not getting much sleep, and plugging in the camera and uploading seems like the biggest task in the world, right now. I've also done a temp fix on my DSi, but I still do need to take that apart. What happened to my DSi you may ask? Well, quite a number of months ago, the children took my DS from its hiding place, DH found it, and put it in the backroom. It was only after I could not find it, he told me what happened, so I go to get it (2 days after they played with it) and find it had some sort of sticky substance (probably juice) that had been spilled near the plus control. Thats right, it had leaked into there. The plus control moved all funny, and the screen showed signs of water damage. I had other things going on in my mind, so just left it to "dry out" (with the battery still in it rofl). Fast forward to now when I finally get round to looking at it. Water spots have dried out but are still present, but the control panel works and still the touch screen works (had I known about the put it in a bag of rice trick, that might of saved it all that time ago). Whilst it does work, the water spots have me concerned. And I still seem to have the contact card issues I had before the children played with it. So now I just have to get around to trying to take it apart (I say trying, because although I have a screwdriver that should fit it, I didn't have much luck last time in opening it). So I'll see how I go with that.
I have also given in to the pressure and purchased a phone. WOW! lol. I managed to get a cheap iphone that needs some tinkering with (extremely cheap) so hopefully I can fix it up, and I will finally have a way for DH to contact me whilst I'm at the shops. I have been looking into Apple products for a while, mainly for the app store (sorry androids, your apps don't do it for me), I am hoping the phone will become my virtual command centre.
I will use it for all the things my poor forgotten paper binders are for. I'm a paper and pen girl (and possibly notepad on computer girl), but its become a bit of an annoyance when my kids keep taking my todo lists and pens. And honestly, my life is so hectic, I need a personal assistant, slash that, I need something with a reliable, working brain, to keep up with all the appointments, schedules, birthdays, shopping lists and just the stuff I never get around to "organising". Whilst I don't think it will be the be-all, end-all of everything, hopefully it will help me to get more on track, as my mind wanders a lot lately. Even just setting an alarm to remind me about the bins, and to feed the animals during the daytime (I currrently feed them at dinner time) will be a major help. As elsewise, I seem to procrastinate on everything until the last minute. I currently have "emergency brain" where only things that are suddenly of dire urgency pop into my head.
So theres my ramble of an update. The weather has turned here, so I hope everyone is keeping warm.
P.S. Our lil pup Roxy is getting towards being a big girl, she went in for her desexing yesterday! She was supposed to come home yesterday evening, but the poor darl was so tired she had fallen asleep again in her pen by the time DH got there! The vet offered to keep her overnight and feed her, as it wasn't nice to disturb the poor lil bub. She's going to be picked up shortly by DH! yey! I have a nice cosy area inside, near us (but behind the locked screen, so the kids leave her be) for her to schnookle up and get some yummy warm rest. She'll be back to the vets in 10 days to have her stitches removed, until then, we somehow have to keep the bouncy pup settled (I remember how hard that was, from last time with our other dog Lila). And she's upto 18.5kg! at 5 months! So I reckon she'll probably get to that 24-25 kg mark, and will be a big 'un just like her Daddy (who is a Lab x Rottweiler), her mummy is small medium (Border Collie x Kelpie).
Well it happened to me! Somewhere between trying to get the best deal for things, an item disappeared off that list. It was only now, when I was double checking received orders, that I went "Where is the Fan-Math Process Skills?" oops. Somehow it didn't make the shopping cart transfer from Christian Book to Book Depository.
Normally I'd be all over it, and already have one coming in the mail. I decided, however, to cut my losses. I have Queen Homeschools "Math Lessons for a living education" listed as a supplement, so I don't don't think I need another supplemental book. Its kind of got me paranoid now, though, that I have forgotten something of more importance! I think a re-go through of my seperate shopping lists for each subject might be in order!
There's been a bit of a delay with getting party photos up. Mainly due to me not getting much sleep, and plugging in the camera and uploading seems like the biggest task in the world, right now. I've also done a temp fix on my DSi, but I still do need to take that apart. What happened to my DSi you may ask? Well, quite a number of months ago, the children took my DS from its hiding place, DH found it, and put it in the backroom. It was only after I could not find it, he told me what happened, so I go to get it (2 days after they played with it) and find it had some sort of sticky substance (probably juice) that had been spilled near the plus control. Thats right, it had leaked into there. The plus control moved all funny, and the screen showed signs of water damage. I had other things going on in my mind, so just left it to "dry out" (with the battery still in it rofl). Fast forward to now when I finally get round to looking at it. Water spots have dried out but are still present, but the control panel works and still the touch screen works (had I known about the put it in a bag of rice trick, that might of saved it all that time ago). Whilst it does work, the water spots have me concerned. And I still seem to have the contact card issues I had before the children played with it. So now I just have to get around to trying to take it apart (I say trying, because although I have a screwdriver that should fit it, I didn't have much luck last time in opening it). So I'll see how I go with that.
I have also given in to the pressure and purchased a phone. WOW! lol. I managed to get a cheap iphone that needs some tinkering with (extremely cheap) so hopefully I can fix it up, and I will finally have a way for DH to contact me whilst I'm at the shops. I have been looking into Apple products for a while, mainly for the app store (sorry androids, your apps don't do it for me), I am hoping the phone will become my virtual command centre.
I will use it for all the things my poor forgotten paper binders are for. I'm a paper and pen girl (and possibly notepad on computer girl), but its become a bit of an annoyance when my kids keep taking my todo lists and pens. And honestly, my life is so hectic, I need a personal assistant, slash that, I need something with a reliable, working brain, to keep up with all the appointments, schedules, birthdays, shopping lists and just the stuff I never get around to "organising". Whilst I don't think it will be the be-all, end-all of everything, hopefully it will help me to get more on track, as my mind wanders a lot lately. Even just setting an alarm to remind me about the bins, and to feed the animals during the daytime (I currrently feed them at dinner time) will be a major help. As elsewise, I seem to procrastinate on everything until the last minute. I currently have "emergency brain" where only things that are suddenly of dire urgency pop into my head.
So theres my ramble of an update. The weather has turned here, so I hope everyone is keeping warm.
P.S. Our lil pup Roxy is getting towards being a big girl, she went in for her desexing yesterday! She was supposed to come home yesterday evening, but the poor darl was so tired she had fallen asleep again in her pen by the time DH got there! The vet offered to keep her overnight and feed her, as it wasn't nice to disturb the poor lil bub. She's going to be picked up shortly by DH! yey! I have a nice cosy area inside, near us (but behind the locked screen, so the kids leave her be) for her to schnookle up and get some yummy warm rest. She'll be back to the vets in 10 days to have her stitches removed, until then, we somehow have to keep the bouncy pup settled (I remember how hard that was, from last time with our other dog Lila). And she's upto 18.5kg! at 5 months! So I reckon she'll probably get to that 24-25 kg mark, and will be a big 'un just like her Daddy (who is a Lab x Rottweiler), her mummy is small medium (Border Collie x Kelpie).
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
How much longer?
Yep two posts in one day, going for the record. I would of just posted one, but I need separate posts for this.
Since I have given you all the details of our next curriculum lot, some of you are probably wondering....when are we starting it?
The answer is as soon as we finish our current workbooks. Also, just because I have given our curriculum, doesn't mean we're fully organised as of yet. I have certificates to make up, progress charts, finishing printing some stuff, and adding it to our plan folders, theres still a lot of planning thats going on behind the scenes.
Anyway here's how much bookwork we have left to do:
- 1 1/2 books of ETC Primers
- 2 1/2 books of Singapore Math
- 1/2 book of Social Studies
- 2 1/2 books on Developing the Early Learner.
ETC - I refuse to do more than one letter a day, but we are moving quicker than SL suggestion which is 1 letter a week, but we may not do this everyday, on days we don't I review the letter with various games (I spy, 3 things beginning with...., rhyming etc) she'll also get a review of her letters in the next curriculum lot.
Singapore - She moves through this sometimes with startling speeds, and other times only does a page or two. This is mostly because the younger two seem to know when its math time and play up to the max. Although I have plenty of activities for next time to keep them amused, right now I'm running on empty. And E (our youngest) is never amused with an activity for more than 5 minutes, which only gives me time to half explain things! But this will pass, its just a matter of finding the "right tools for the job" as Handy Manny says ;)
Social Studies - we only do this every so often, since we do a section at a time, the book only has 18 sections all up, we take it slow, and do extra activities on top of this for review.
Developing the Early Learner - This tends (so far) to use the same activities over and over, in different contexts (listening same/different, find the hidden animals/cars/planes etc) DD flies through this with sparkling colours. This is done at odd hours (just before Daddy gets home, of a weekend etc).
I think it will be another 3 months before we begin our new "term". We've just been in the middle of purchasing a house, and also every appointment/visit under the sun is all due/overdue.
Heres a little list of things that have happened and stuff we still have to do:
- Need to change address with companies/people/bank
- Need to get council registration for animals for new district
- Need to cancel registration for old district
- Took dogs to vets (vaccs, heartworm injection etc)
- Need to take cats to vets
- Puppy due for desexing in two weeks
- Appointment with A's medical team/doctor
- Need to make appointment with local doctor to "assign" team (red tape)
- Appointment with OT for kids
- Younger two need referral from doctor
- Need to organise refunds for various house stuff
- Getting stuff for forum swap
- Plus a whole lot of other drama
So aside from getting stuck into our workbooks, we also need to do all these various other things within business hours. Its seems every time we get one thing done, 3 more crop up. Such is life.
With re-organising the house, getting our to do list one, finishing workbooks, I reckon 3 months looks about right.
The rest of our posts will mostly be about current activities we're doing, links to other resources, photos of curriculum and the like. Round near when we begin the next term, I'll put up our 2011-2012 curriculum plans with "spines" we're using, and a link back to the previous posts for those that want more details.
I may be behind a bit in when "stuff" happened, as I only upload my camera every now and again, so next updates will start from stuff two weeks ago.
Tally Ho!
xxx
Miss E.
Since I have given you all the details of our next curriculum lot, some of you are probably wondering....when are we starting it?
The answer is as soon as we finish our current workbooks. Also, just because I have given our curriculum, doesn't mean we're fully organised as of yet. I have certificates to make up, progress charts, finishing printing some stuff, and adding it to our plan folders, theres still a lot of planning thats going on behind the scenes.
Anyway here's how much bookwork we have left to do:
- 1 1/2 books of ETC Primers
- 2 1/2 books of Singapore Math
- 1/2 book of Social Studies
- 2 1/2 books on Developing the Early Learner.
ETC - I refuse to do more than one letter a day, but we are moving quicker than SL suggestion which is 1 letter a week, but we may not do this everyday, on days we don't I review the letter with various games (I spy, 3 things beginning with...., rhyming etc) she'll also get a review of her letters in the next curriculum lot.
Singapore - She moves through this sometimes with startling speeds, and other times only does a page or two. This is mostly because the younger two seem to know when its math time and play up to the max. Although I have plenty of activities for next time to keep them amused, right now I'm running on empty. And E (our youngest) is never amused with an activity for more than 5 minutes, which only gives me time to half explain things! But this will pass, its just a matter of finding the "right tools for the job" as Handy Manny says ;)
Social Studies - we only do this every so often, since we do a section at a time, the book only has 18 sections all up, we take it slow, and do extra activities on top of this for review.
Developing the Early Learner - This tends (so far) to use the same activities over and over, in different contexts (listening same/different, find the hidden animals/cars/planes etc) DD flies through this with sparkling colours. This is done at odd hours (just before Daddy gets home, of a weekend etc).
I think it will be another 3 months before we begin our new "term". We've just been in the middle of purchasing a house, and also every appointment/visit under the sun is all due/overdue.
Heres a little list of things that have happened and stuff we still have to do:
- Need to change address with companies/people/bank
- Need to get council registration for animals for new district
- Need to cancel registration for old district
- Took dogs to vets (vaccs, heartworm injection etc)
- Need to take cats to vets
- Puppy due for desexing in two weeks
- Appointment with A's medical team/doctor
- Need to make appointment with local doctor to "assign" team (red tape)
- Appointment with OT for kids
- Younger two need referral from doctor
- Need to organise refunds for various house stuff
- Getting stuff for forum swap
- Plus a whole lot of other drama
So aside from getting stuck into our workbooks, we also need to do all these various other things within business hours. Its seems every time we get one thing done, 3 more crop up. Such is life.
With re-organising the house, getting our to do list one, finishing workbooks, I reckon 3 months looks about right.
The rest of our posts will mostly be about current activities we're doing, links to other resources, photos of curriculum and the like. Round near when we begin the next term, I'll put up our 2011-2012 curriculum plans with "spines" we're using, and a link back to the previous posts for those that want more details.
I may be behind a bit in when "stuff" happened, as I only upload my camera every now and again, so next updates will start from stuff two weeks ago.
Tally Ho!
xxx
Miss E.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Update
Not much done today, just one letter/section of ETC Phonics.
Now that the overhaul of the schoolroom is done, I have been spending most of my time re-organising toys, school supplies, and other assorted paraphernalia.
Since C's birthday is in just less than two weeks, I have also been working on a quiet book for him, although I feel, soon, another trip to Spotlight is warranted to get some more felt. For some reason (presumably because my mind was a jumble) I got 4 pieces of pink felt and a classic girly kitty print that are definitely not needed for this project. I may use it for part of the dollhouse makeover, but for now the felt is useless.
I just joined a Art/Craft swap, so may utilise my time in Spotlight to pick up a few other odds & ends. Honestly, I love spotlight, the sections I look in (craft aisles) change all the time, theres always new products and sales to enjoy, many spark the creative impulse in me.
We're about due for another craft activity, so keep an eye out for the link for that.
I'm still deciding on Life Skills activities, most will be Montessori based, but I haven't had time as yet to sit down and organise it.
Theres also a little appointment I have with DH tonight, for another weekly "where are you upto" jobwise. Honestly I am the man's constant to do list. But I love the scatter-brained cutie.
I do try to get one blog post up a day (part of my new financial years resolution to keep on track of myself, to write, and to share resources) but things here are honestly so hectic, I'm not sure if I'll get any writing done tomorrow. Also, I may not have anything new to add, so for a little bit, my posts maybe late and random, but rest assured, I am still here, life is just making itself felt.
xxx
Miss E.
Now that the overhaul of the schoolroom is done, I have been spending most of my time re-organising toys, school supplies, and other assorted paraphernalia.
Since C's birthday is in just less than two weeks, I have also been working on a quiet book for him, although I feel, soon, another trip to Spotlight is warranted to get some more felt. For some reason (presumably because my mind was a jumble) I got 4 pieces of pink felt and a classic girly kitty print that are definitely not needed for this project. I may use it for part of the dollhouse makeover, but for now the felt is useless.
I just joined a Art/Craft swap, so may utilise my time in Spotlight to pick up a few other odds & ends. Honestly, I love spotlight, the sections I look in (craft aisles) change all the time, theres always new products and sales to enjoy, many spark the creative impulse in me.
We're about due for another craft activity, so keep an eye out for the link for that.
I'm still deciding on Life Skills activities, most will be Montessori based, but I haven't had time as yet to sit down and organise it.
Theres also a little appointment I have with DH tonight, for another weekly "where are you upto" jobwise. Honestly I am the man's constant to do list. But I love the scatter-brained cutie.
I do try to get one blog post up a day (part of my new financial years resolution to keep on track of myself, to write, and to share resources) but things here are honestly so hectic, I'm not sure if I'll get any writing done tomorrow. Also, I may not have anything new to add, so for a little bit, my posts maybe late and random, but rest assured, I am still here, life is just making itself felt.
xxx
Miss E.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Not much of interest going on....
I have a few interesting posts planned for the future, but right now, nothing interesting is happening.
Due to DH's work schedule this week, it has bogged my body clock and made my condition's symptoms worse than ever. I'm all foggy-headed, and can't really concentrate, and there's still another day and a half to go. I'm hoping that a nice night's rest on Friday will help matters immensely as I had big plans for this weekend.
DH had a time schedule all drawn up and sent out to the various parties the other night (I helped him do up a todo list, what I'm famous for, and work out his schedule), but its gone wonky since then. He pulled an overnighter into Wednesday Morning, was in no shape to work for the rest of Wed, and due to his boss deciding on something, DH had to go in for a few hours somewhere round 12-2am Now this morning he left at Gosh only knows what hour (I think got back at 2 then left again at 3-4am) today he said was from 6am - 6pm, but on the schedule we drew up, because of a production run, he's supposed to work from midday to midnight, and from midday to 5pm friday. So right now I have no idea whats going on, and am currently winging it, with what little energy I have left. I am a very very light sleeper, DH could sleep through a earthquake, hence he deals with the kids of a night. As he can sleepwalk to replace their drink,fall down on the bed, and be asleep simultaneously. If I have to do it, I will be up for 2 hours past getting the drink, only to just settle down to sleep to be woken by another child. Consequently cause of the all-nighters, I have had little to no sleep, I'm functioning on not-there reserves, so we'll see how this works out by the weekend.
I did take pictures of AAR Pre-level 1 and have some plans about Organisation for toys, but right now I need to go back to zoning....
xxx
Miss E.
Due to DH's work schedule this week, it has bogged my body clock and made my condition's symptoms worse than ever. I'm all foggy-headed, and can't really concentrate, and there's still another day and a half to go. I'm hoping that a nice night's rest on Friday will help matters immensely as I had big plans for this weekend.
DH had a time schedule all drawn up and sent out to the various parties the other night (I helped him do up a todo list, what I'm famous for, and work out his schedule), but its gone wonky since then. He pulled an overnighter into Wednesday Morning, was in no shape to work for the rest of Wed, and due to his boss deciding on something, DH had to go in for a few hours somewhere round 12-2am Now this morning he left at Gosh only knows what hour (I think got back at 2 then left again at 3-4am) today he said was from 6am - 6pm, but on the schedule we drew up, because of a production run, he's supposed to work from midday to midnight, and from midday to 5pm friday. So right now I have no idea whats going on, and am currently winging it, with what little energy I have left. I am a very very light sleeper, DH could sleep through a earthquake, hence he deals with the kids of a night. As he can sleepwalk to replace their drink,fall down on the bed, and be asleep simultaneously. If I have to do it, I will be up for 2 hours past getting the drink, only to just settle down to sleep to be woken by another child. Consequently cause of the all-nighters, I have had little to no sleep, I'm functioning on not-there reserves, so we'll see how this works out by the weekend.
I did take pictures of AAR Pre-level 1 and have some plans about Organisation for toys, but right now I need to go back to zoning....
xxx
Miss E.
Monday, July 25, 2011
I'm thankful for.....
Since having a bew-di-ful morning (as seen by my last post) I thought I would even it out by saying things I am thankful for:
I'm thankful for:
- Having the chance to be round my beautiful children all day :)
- That the AAS cards and letters are perforated (the previous edition wasn't)
- having a DH who understands me, and is sweet & kind
- Having dogs who love me so much they follow me down the road ;)
- that we have a roof over our heads, and food in our belly
- living in a State that understands the varied styles of homeschoolers
- that all animals & people in this household are happy & healthy.
- having a wonderful supportive family who helps out in times of need
- ebooks & downloadable curriculum (very big yahoo!)
- freedom (in so many different ways!)
- my secret stash shelf that contains everything a girl needs for a bad day (I believe theres even white Tim Tams in there right now)
- the wonderful support from the government (yes, I know thats probably surprising to most people, but compared to some other countries, we are quite lucky)
- Just being able to be me, and the children being able to be themselves without fear of criticism
- being able to go off on a rabbit trail when something interests the children (tonight it was hedgehogs & Owls)
- definately add a thankful for the readers out there whom actually read my weird ramblings.
- and just plain thankful
xxx
Miss E.
I'm thankful for:
- Having the chance to be round my beautiful children all day :)
- That the AAS cards and letters are perforated (the previous edition wasn't)
- having a DH who understands me, and is sweet & kind
- Having dogs who love me so much they follow me down the road ;)
- that we have a roof over our heads, and food in our belly
- living in a State that understands the varied styles of homeschoolers
- that all animals & people in this household are happy & healthy.
- having a wonderful supportive family who helps out in times of need
- ebooks & downloadable curriculum (very big yahoo!)
- freedom (in so many different ways!)
- my secret stash shelf that contains everything a girl needs for a bad day (I believe theres even white Tim Tams in there right now)
- the wonderful support from the government (yes, I know thats probably surprising to most people, but compared to some other countries, we are quite lucky)
- Just being able to be me, and the children being able to be themselves without fear of criticism
- being able to go off on a rabbit trail when something interests the children (tonight it was hedgehogs & Owls)
- definately add a thankful for the readers out there whom actually read my weird ramblings.
- and just plain thankful
xxx
Miss E.
Its One of those Days...
Its one of those days where you realize:
- You are currently being stretched in too many directions
- That although your body feels "good", you don't have the energy to make it through the day
- You realize that this is the start of what the rest of the week will feel like
- You expect the sugar on the floor should pick itself up, 'cause your sure not gonna.
- That the highlight of the week will probably be when the weeks come to an end.
Yep, I'm having one of those days. Tell me exactly how the doctor expects you to remove all stress from your life, unless you permanently live in a black bubble? Yep, not possible!
On the upside I think I may see my DH at lunch-time so thats always a happy pick-me-up. And the kids have been having loads of fun with said sugar, its been an "archaeological dig" "raceway" "snow" and various other props. So at least they are having fun playing, and I'm thankful its not cocoa powder (now THAT is a PAIN to clean up) and its not something wet. It should easily be cleaned up with the vaccuum. But, still, it should pick itself up. Good note to others - do not let DH leave his coffee paraphanalia out on the benchtop when he leaves....the other day it was coffee and oh boy, that was fun.
Already happened this morning - We played with shaving foam and food colouring and paper patterns, E covered herself in purple shaving foam, said problem with sugar, having to do some paperwork urgently for DH requiring a bribe of cereal for the kids (which worked well....for 2 minutes) yep. Lovely day. Oh, and E is still going on about her clothes hurting, and having a few other problems, so once the house drama is sorted out, we'll be seeing a GP to get a referral for both the 2 younger kiddies, so I will keep everybody posted on this.
We're lucky these sorts of days are few and far between, if they were every day, I think I'd go mad (don't get cheeky and say I'm already there!) Hopefully I can do some cleaning up, and get a bit of Maths into our day. I will also get some piccies of our All About Reading program, I have already sorted one student pack out, so I can goss the details as well!
Lovin' Life
xxx
Miss E.
- You are currently being stretched in too many directions
- That although your body feels "good", you don't have the energy to make it through the day
- You realize that this is the start of what the rest of the week will feel like
- You expect the sugar on the floor should pick itself up, 'cause your sure not gonna.
- That the highlight of the week will probably be when the weeks come to an end.
Yep, I'm having one of those days. Tell me exactly how the doctor expects you to remove all stress from your life, unless you permanently live in a black bubble? Yep, not possible!
On the upside I think I may see my DH at lunch-time so thats always a happy pick-me-up. And the kids have been having loads of fun with said sugar, its been an "archaeological dig" "raceway" "snow" and various other props. So at least they are having fun playing, and I'm thankful its not cocoa powder (now THAT is a PAIN to clean up) and its not something wet. It should easily be cleaned up with the vaccuum. But, still, it should pick itself up. Good note to others - do not let DH leave his coffee paraphanalia out on the benchtop when he leaves....the other day it was coffee and oh boy, that was fun.
Already happened this morning - We played with shaving foam and food colouring and paper patterns, E covered herself in purple shaving foam, said problem with sugar, having to do some paperwork urgently for DH requiring a bribe of cereal for the kids (which worked well....for 2 minutes) yep. Lovely day. Oh, and E is still going on about her clothes hurting, and having a few other problems, so once the house drama is sorted out, we'll be seeing a GP to get a referral for both the 2 younger kiddies, so I will keep everybody posted on this.
We're lucky these sorts of days are few and far between, if they were every day, I think I'd go mad (don't get cheeky and say I'm already there!) Hopefully I can do some cleaning up, and get a bit of Maths into our day. I will also get some piccies of our All About Reading program, I have already sorted one student pack out, so I can goss the details as well!
Lovin' Life
xxx
Miss E.
