Here We Are

Apparently I have something against writing a blog post without a picture to go with it which is why I haven't written in a very long time.  My "computer" (you can hardly call this machine a computer) has been sitting, uncharged, and I haven't loaded any new pictures on it lately. 

1.  For the first time in my "memory" I can see without any glasses or contacts.  I got my first pair of glasses in second grade with a fairly hefty prescription and I truly have never been able to function without some sort of correction.  Until now.  Last week I had LASIK done on my eyes as a belated 25th birthday present from my very generous parents (very belated since I will be 32 in a week).  When it was first offered I was either pregnant or breastfeeding a small infant and the timing didn't work out.  We've had a little window and I jumped on it, and now I can see.  What an amazing technology.  I'm self-admittedly hard on modern medicine, but this procedure is one I can get behind.  Wow!

2.  This probably doesn't surprise you, but I was disappointed in the results of the big election we just had.  Bummer.  Too much to say, and haven't really found the best way to explain.  I admit that regardless of what "side" anyone is on, we all want what this country promises us.  We just don't all agree about how to ensure that happens.  The goal with discussing politics is to do so with love.  Just love.  Sometimes loving means saying things to get someone to think more deeply about a situation, but sometimes it means to just shut-up (which is a swear word in our family and I have to laugh as I felt a little edgy typing it just then). 
P.S. I'm grateful that I can disagree with some of my family members on these issues and still love them to pieces.  

3.  We have a wolf living in our woods.  Aidan happened upon him while playing, they looked each other in the eyes, Aidan backed out, and now we have a trail cam set up in our-campsite-before-we-knew-we-had-a-wolf-living-there.  I can relate a little to Laura Ingalls when she could hear the wolves howling outside of her house in the Big Woods (uhmm....yeah, that's pretty much here).  He howled the other night and it truly sends shivers up and down the spine.  Creepy.

4.  My kids rock.  There, I said it. No particular reason, they are just fun to be around.

5.  Brett built a deck this fall and just in time for the snow to fly.

6.  Veronica is not a little kid.  Whenever I have the two youngest with me and say something about the two "little ones" she loudly corrects, "I'm not a little one.  *I'm* a big sister".

7.  Felicity is growing up.  She is a constant reminder of the great blessings of this life. 

8.  We took last week off of school, and I wish I could say that I used the whole time to plan for the next handful of weeks.  Nope, I didn't. 

9.  I wish I lived closer to our families.

10.  Have I mentioned on here that in a couple of years we are taking the crew to Scotland for 3 weeks while Brett teaches in an exchange program?  I'm just starting to believe it, and getting really excited about it.  I'm afraid as the time gets closer you all will be sick of hearing about it.

It's About Time

No, really.  It's all about time. 

It dawned on me a couple of weeks ago as I was pouring over some of my favorite blogs that there was a consistent theme.  How we spend our time as mothers.  Post after post it seems someone was always writing about how to balance the time on the computer (specifically) and the rest of our motherly duties, especially those of us who homeschool.  The conclusion I came to?  Don't.  Don't try to balance it.  Eliminate it. 

Truly.  No, not the kids, the computer time. 

If the computer and all the pinterest, facebook, blogging temptations knock you off track of the main purpose of your vocation, get rid of them. 

I never signed up for Pinterest because I'm simply not crafty, and when I am, there are plenty of resources available (google anyone?) so I didn't feel the need to add that to my "computer time".  Facebook?  I've been off for awhile, other than to post a link for my brother-in-law, and I don't miss it.  My blog reading has been knocked down as well.  I added my favorites to my little reader thingy and that's it.  I've limited my blog time to when kids are asleep, and if you know anything about our youngest you no know the reason I've been absent on my own blog.

I contemplated getting rid of this blog all together as well.  Someday, I might.  I do enjoy writing, and as much as I can say I write for myself, I also really hope that someone, somewhere is finding what I write either helpful or enjoyable or both.  I do hope also that if my blog is burdensome in anyway that my little group of followers would not hesitate to give me the boot.  I never want to be a source of frustration or discouragement.

And so, there ya go.  And here's a little teaser of how our fall pictures went.  My life, I love it.

God's Gift

Save the Date!!!!

www.godsgiftcelebration.com

If you are local, or close to local, or are not super local, but wouldn't mind a little bit of a drive for a very big event, please consider coming!

I'll let you go and explore the website, but please come back and comment if you are planning on coming. 

If you can't attend, but have a means of spreading the word then by all means SPREAD THE WORD!!!!

Hope to see you next weekend!

(P.S. Childcare is available during the keynote on Friday night)

Take a Hike

Today didn't start off very well.  I'm starting to get a cold, the baby is as well, Brett and I were at odds (for? nope, still can't remember, which goes to show how silly it is to be grouchy with one another over nothing), and we had run out of coffee.  When did I become so reliant on coffee?  Grrrrr....

Anyway, I was a grump.  There, I said it.  It was me, all me. 

About mid-day I called Brett to share with him my grumpiness about my day, and he told me to go take a hike.  As in, "pack up those kids who you claim to not like and go hiking."  Ironically, I had already thought of cancelling school for the rest of the day and doing just that.  Naps were essential, as was a snack, but late afternoon we took ourselves to the state park which is just minutes from our home and went hiking.  It was wonderful.

A little soul-food is all we needed.  I have promised myself and the kids that we will make a better effort of getting out and enjoying this beautiful part of the world.

Birthday, birthday!

Emma turned 9 yesterday.  The report is that it was the "best day ever".  This year all the kids' birthdays are already marked as "no school".  Year after year I say, "I know it's birthday, but we are doing school", and every year, we don't.  So this year I decided to save myself the trouble.  We played all day, we adored the birthday girl, we made the day special, and it was.

Birthday Banana Bread

A couple of the posters I made of the birthday girl.

Waiting for our cake-eating guests

Posing with the cake that Aidan made and decorated for his sister.

Chocolate Cake for Breakfast!!!!

A'sailn' we did go

Our summer read-aloud for our annual trip back "home" to South Dakota was "Swallows and Amazons" by Arthur Ransome.  This book, which is the first of a 12-book series was recommended to me years ago by my biggest early homeschooling supporter, Amy.  Amy, who could have a whole post of her own, has been great at giving me lists of great books my kids have to have read to them.  Ah!  Too many tangents I could go with this post, but I'll get back to the point.  Sailing.

"Swallows and Amazons" is about 4 siblings who are having their holiday in the lake country of England.  They have been giving permission to man the little sailboat at the vacation home and have adventure after adventure.  Think "Boxcar Chidlren" meets "Narnia", but the only "magic/fantasy" that happens is in the children's imaginations.  Great read.  As a treat (for all of us) we just started the second of the series, "Swallowdale".

With sailing on our mind it was perfect when our Bishop dropped by unexpectedly, on his way to another part of the diocese, and invited us to his house to go sailing the following weekend.  So, during Labor Day weekend, we made the 2-hour drive up the South Shore of Lake Superior to go sailing.

I volunteered to be a land-lubber since in my old age I've been more prone to motion sickness, and I wanted the older crew to be able to enjoy a nice long adventure without having to turn back for me or for the two littles who would rather not be contained to a sailboat. 

The only disappointment to the kids was that Bishop Peter didn't say "coming about", but rather "watch your head." Since he is a true sailor, they decided they didn't need to correct him. 

Our 2012-2013 School Year

I never intended to homeschool.  In fact I was dead set against it.  I didn't want socially inept children even if they could recite all the state's capitols backwards while playing Chopin.  Brett first brought up the subject because of his undergraduate college professor who homeschooled their children.  I also started leaning towards the idea of homeschooling as our family grew and as I completed my degree.  Honestly, I wasn't too impressed with the future of education as I saw it in the individuals with whom I was taking classes.  But really, the main reason we decided to homeschool was so we could be with our children and learn as a family and instill the values we held dear to our hearts.

We continue to homeschool for much the same reasons.  My children are developing into people who I enjoy being around (most of the time, they aren't perfect nor am I).  We are a close family who has fun in the simple things.  

My approach to homeschooling has changed along with my children's needs.  While I would love to do only unit studies and spend our days on long nature hikes, my original homeschooler needs a little more structure and predictability. 

Our biggest challenge this year has been my two little ones.  Nica-3 (very, very, very 3) is feeling the absence of her playmates and although is willing to play with the littlest one of the group, doesn't always find that Felicity is quite as willing.  I've adapted my original plan of the year to include some time for just my little ones, right away in the morning.  Many a wise homeschooling mother has recommended this approach.  We shall see if it works. 

Almost every year I've changed almost every thing as far as curriculum is concerned.  I have finally arrived to a place where I am really, really happy with what we are using and other than adding a few things, we are continuing with much of what we did last year.

And so with that, I present our 2012-2013 homeschooling year curriculum choices.

Math- MathUSee.  We started this last year and everyone loved it.  I'm pleased with it as well.  

Spelling-  Spelling Power.  This book has daily (5 minute) tests and you only review the words that are missed.  You keep spelling them until they are learned.  No weekly tests with words that are automatically forgotten after Friday.

Religion- While at the homeschooling conference this year a friend ordered Family Faith Formation for her family.  I wasn't quite ready to commit then, but after doing some research went ahead and ordered it for our family as well.  This program look fantastic, and Brett will be able to be involved as well which will be awesome.  

Science-  NOEO Physics I and II.  We did their Biology last year and I can't say enough about this amazing program.  They make science fun and very homeschoolable (good word, huh?)  No more searching for a used car battery to perform some "101 household items" science experiment.  All materials are included and the kids are learning from a mix of hands on and real books.  

 Reading- Gianna is beginning the Seton Grade 2 readers.  Solid reading for a new reader.  I stopped formal reading for the older two awhile ago.  They read well beyond their "grade level".  They will be reading several literature books as part of our history program.

History- Connecting with History.  It's a living history, classical, and Catholic approach to history.  Not the cheapest option available, but the materials/books are amazing.  There are a lot of read alouds involved which our family enjoys.

 Writing/English-  The oldest two are beginning IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing).  I'm very impressed with this program.  My husband is a college professor and the papers he brings home make me want to cry.  These are high school graduates writing at a second grade level.  I'm not exaggerating a bit.  Brett is actually going to start incorporating some of the IEW methods in his teaching. 
                          All three of the kids will be working through some Seton English workbooks.  It's solid stuff, and sometimes ya just have to sit down and do a workbook.  There, I said it. 

I think that does it.  The preschooler is going to get a lot of books read to her.  That's my goal anyway.  We don't do formal preschool lessons (except I am going to try some stuff out of "Slow and Steady, Get me Ready", a recommendation from a dear friend who also has little ones who want attention, the nerve of those little ones), but reading we do, and I need to do more of it for the little red head and her trusty 2-ft companion.

The pictures are from our crab-apple picking adventure.  The crab-apples are most likely going to be turned into wine, what else right?  My husband and his wine making addiction hobby will have to wait for another post.