LOL, So Much for Writing:)

Wow! It's been almost two months since I have blogged-I got an email today to tell me so:) I have also been encouraged to add some links to the curricula I am currently obsessed with:)
Life is just fine here. More good days then bad, the sun is showing its face more and more, the days are warming nicely and I am starting to thaw out:)Come on Summer!!!!

Tired, But Accomplished!

I am exhausted. I am literally too tired to TALK which is rare. I think everyone is wondering if something is wrong...;)
Nothing is wrong; In fact, it's quite the opposite. I have spent many recent days organizing my calendars, updating records on my computer, getting curricula completed for the year, and going through stacks of mail. I had my entire life lying around on slips of paper, tucked away in notebooks or blank calendars, or worse, simply fleeting thoughts between my ears;) The job was long and tedious, but I finally got it done and now I don't know what to do with my need to procrastinate;)
It took every spec of my brain-especially my American History program, which has been in the works since October. I very much wanted a literature intense history curriculum, and I literally fell right into the perfect framework of a book series last week. We will be using the various series within Dear America to lead us in our studies, starting with journals from the Mayflower and Jamestown. I have stumbled onto a ton of great titles, as well as helped create a monthly History Book club, so I am feeling QUITE smug with myself:)
So, we start back into history with a vengeance:) I need to get my rest-much reading ahead, as I have two younger ones that need to be read to!!!
Besides that, I am not feeing motivated to do much else...It is COLD here, like, 9 degrees, and I am so miserable wearing all the stuffy clothes and being an ice cube anyway.....I haven't worked out either-it's just TOO COLD! I just want to get under the covers and hibernate til May!!!
I am off....Stay warm!

Must Be Doin' Something Right~

My daughter turned 12 this weekend. She has been "going on 22" since she was about 4, so I thought I'd be prepared, LOL. She is a really awesome kid who has more confidence then most grown women I know, and tons of personality. Skye has been homeschooled her entire life, and has been allowed to follow her interests and talents. She is also very involved in our church, which is Unitarian Universalist, and has had her mind greatly influenced by both the belief system and the congregation. At 11, she was a conversationalist genious, debating religious freedom, personal rights, equality and peace to all who care to engage her. Her opinions and intelligence are often very much her own and are usually linked to a personal experience within her own diverse life. Her free thinking confidence mixed with a creative mind makes for an extremely interesting pre-teen;)
And pre-teen she is;) She is extremely involved in fashion and design and spends hours and hours drawing, painting, and reading Vogue. She LOVES the eighties-music, clothes, fads-and takes me to stores that sell clothes that remind me of my junior year of highschool;) She recently discovered the telephone and IMing and I am enjoying the ability to use it as a reward for good behavior;) She has a Myspace page, which I monitor closely, and an email account as well. I check both regularly and we have had some interesting conversations about Internet use and safety-my daughter and I can discuss ANYTHING, btw. She added a few "friends" to her page by request, without knowing them at all-they were friends of friends of friends....I checked the links through, trying to figure out who one 14 year old girl was on Skye's page, and didn't like what I saw. This young girl was offering pictures of herself to anyone who would email her-and they were illegal pictures. I quickly deleted her link and questioned my child. She had no idea about the link, and also had no clue about who the girl was. She agreed to allow no more "strangers"...The line of what a "stranger" is these days is shakey though, isn't it? I check on her page consistantly. She is only allowed online once or twice a week for a short period of time, so there is not much there.
I was checking up on the page the other day, reading the responses to random questions as I chatted with David on the phone. Favorite food, favorite movies, favorite color...Simple stuff...Then, as I was about to click "close" on the page and get on with my conversation I saw the heading "Heros" and stopped to read-fully expecting her answer to be John Lennon or something like that-instead I found my eyes full of tears as I read the words "MY MOM". Her follow up sentence remarked on the gravity of our last year and how I handled it so bravely for her and her brothers...I was left in tears and totally speechless (and that never happens;)). What an amazing young lady she is....:)

This is How We Do it~

I worked tonight. I am a server at a local restaurant and I really love it;) It's a fun place, the guests are mostly families with kids, and my co-workers are a great bunch of people. I laugh A LOT when I am at work. After being a SAHM for 11 years, having a place to go where I am just "Sami" and not "someones mom" is actually quite nice;) I love being there and talking about my kids. People are always shocked to find that I am forty, for starters, and that I even have kids. Then thay are shocked to find that I have FOUR...Then I drop in that I homeschool them-jaws drop-and, oh, yeah, "I am a single mom"...;) (my tips are pretty good;) LOL!) I find it rather interesting; People have such pre-conceived notions of women with several children, or homeschoolers, and of single moms...And I guess I am not fitting into any of those stereotypes;) I have always honored my need to be different and out of the box, and this works quite well for me;)
Everyone wants to know HOW I do it, and the answer is not a hard one to give-One, I just DO-it's like a Nike commercial;), and Two, I have great people in my life who believe that I am super woman and support me 100%. I don't have people "raising" my kids. I have seen many single parent situations where that has happened. My kids spend less then 10 hours a week with a sitter, at which time they are with my brother's family. I survive on divorce settlement savings, part time earnings budgetted well, and, of course, child support. I have no retirement plan, I have no long range personal plan, I simply live each day to raise my kids the way I intended, and that is my priority. I strongly believe that my decision is a good one, and one that I will continue to find Blessing in, in the future. This is my way of providing my kids with the BEST private education they can get, tailored to their own needs. I strongly believe this is the best way to raise my children to be the free thinking individuals they are meant to be. One does not have to live within a box, but be free to explore the ideas and boundries that exist in the "whole" world. My kids are welcome to embrace that ideal and have opinion and expression. It's not always easy for me to take, but it's their truth they need to find, not mine. For this, I dedicate myself to our homeschool life.
We don't live fancy, we budget our money and our time. My daughter (12) is a fashion freak inspired by the eighties, and she LOVES to shop at thrift stores and clearance sales;) She earns and spends her own money. My sons get stuff from cousins, friends with older kids. They love the "worn" look, so I rarely have to buy them clothes. I LOVE Target:) We don't NEED air conditioning to survive, or even much heat-got that from my dad (who never had a heating bill more then 45 dollars!). We don't do movies, but wait for Redbox DVDs, eat out at my work at a discount, and use coupons. I don't pay full price for ANYTHING! I only work enough to make our budget and get some into savings each month, and I have no credit cards. I also have no car payment and keep up maintenance on a 99 van. My kids don't purchase video games, though we have one that was given to us. They don't "get" the need for labels on their clothes. My daughter DOES have an iPod, which her dad and I got her for Christmas. They are level headed kids who don't ask for much at all;)
I teach my kids during the week, working a few nights a week while they stay with family. They go with "dad" for two weekends and other times during the month and I work then as well. On weekends, we are sometimes involved in soccer, and we are very involved in our UU church.
People think this is crazy and that I must be losing it. We are ok. I am great, actually. Granted, having some savings in the bank provides a great relief for me, but it's not that much. I never "had" a life of "things", so I don't feel deprived of anything-I did GREATLY in my marriage though. I sleep in sometimes, and stay up late, after the kids go to bed, writing, talking to friends on the phone, reading...I have friends everywhere that back me up, make me laugh, and love my kids. I take off two weekends a month, while the kids are away, and do something for myself, visit friends, travel, go out to eat. I think I have a pretty ok life;)
It's been a year-We are doing fine;)

"The Wind!! The Wind!!"

Today we starting building a weather station for our weather unit. Our first experiment was to make a weather vane out of straws, rubber bands, a pencil, a nail, and a piece of card stock. The boys put it together and took it out into the backyard as I looked on, camera in hand, doubting the experiment as the cards blew off and the winter wind whipped around the kids. The weather today is cloudy, very windy, and getting colder by the minute...

They set the weather vane up on the picnic table and waited for the wind as I tested the compass with my own directional knowledge. Soon the wind whipped through, the vane shook, spun a few times, and pointed to the direction of northwest....! The boys were excited to check in with the Weather Channel for the actual forecast proof....AND, it WORKED!!! The winds today are north/northwesterly at 11 miles an hour! We added the data to our weather charts along with the temperature and rainfall and diagrammed our findings in our science notebooks. Julian said it was "fun stuff school":)

Perhaps we should inform the Weather Channel that all they really need to study the weather are straws and rubber bands...:)

Angels do Phonics Too;)

This is my sweetie:) Julian, or "Jules", as he allows only me to call him, is my youngest. He is at that still sweet and cuddly age of five-six next month. He melts my heart easily with his brown eyes and pouting lower lip-I know it just drives my other three kids NUTS! He likes to do schoolwork, and makes me laugh at his observations and letter sound imitations:) His absolute favorite thing to do is play cars, and he has about 2000 Matchbox cars that end up in pockets, in the van, at every one's house...Everywhere we go, there are long lost cars waiting for him:) He can make incredible noises for each vehicle and his fire engine sounds can challenge the real ones that come from the fire station behind our house! He is old enough to make sense of things and make his own peanut butter sandwich, but still small enough to be adorable and loving and full of "lovies". When all else fails, when the other three are wild or smarty pants or just fighting it out, Jules is always available for a big hug and many kisses...

Order Returns

A strangely quiet morning here at the house. Almost frighteningly so;)
Everyone was away for the weekend, and I was on my own, doing what I do when I am merely "single Sami" instead of "MOM!". All the kids came home Sunday evening exhausted and somewhat ill-just colds. They all slept later then we planned, but got things done and got into their schoolwork without my guidance. Yes, REALLY!
After a year of being "off" of what was a lifelong daily routine for my children, we are now attempting to "get back to normal", whatever "normal" is, for a single parented homeschooling family of 5. We are settled enough in our new home-after five moves in the last year. The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE the neighborhood, which is full of kids and bikes and skateboards...:) My front yard is always full of kids, little boys on bicycles with raven's jackets on, pre-teen girls perched on the backyard picnic tables...My kids are happier then I have ever seen them. My homeschooled daughter is trying hard to put together her list for her birthday party-she has to keep it to 20 kids. Thankfully I don't have to pay for the "non swimmers" as her list also includes adults, older teens, and preschoolers:) I love this concept of Homeschoolers being unsocialized....LOL
So, back to the structure of things...I came down like a giant hammer on our lives last week. Schedules, chore lists, bedtimes, expectations, all came to light. There was serious resistance, of course, but by Wednesday things were looking better...And apparently, by the calmness of this morning, the reality of "Sami's Domain" has sunk into their heads...Public school is out for MLK day, so there is an incentive right outside the schoolroom window:) It's seventy degrees here, BTW....
It feels so good to be back blogging...It's been a long while...:) Things are SOOO much better...
Sami

Reality Bites...???

My days are getting wilder and wilder. As I move away from the six months of pain, planning, and receiving help, I move into the "new" life I have talked about having for those months...
My pain is gone, yet I am still under Dr Dorai's orders concerning work and lifting and so on. My bank account is gone, and it is beyond time to start looking for income sources. I spent much of tonight doing just that, along with setting up a new client's web account and sorting through some rather serious issues within my Homeschool Community. As I sent out emails to friends that can assist and offer leads to money making possibilities, and sorted through remarks and ideas from my fellow co-op members, I realized that this is truly my time to shine. I am truly on a path unpaved, as I keep pointing out. There simply ARE no books or websites about "how to be a single homeschooling income earning business running mom of four". For the sake of others, I hope there isn't much need for one:) I will surely start one if I think that there are more like me:)
My prospects paid off, I have a new web client, and I have some office work lined up to begin in the morning. I have no idea how that will work out, there is underlying "stuff" with the person who offered it up.
I have realized that I am capable of doing ANYTHING I set out to do, if I am patient and diligent. I view this as a quest. I am on a DAMN QUEST! I cannot fail, or give up. After the homeschool community I created four years ago, which has dragged my through more trials and mud then anyone could ever imagine, I realize that I am persistent and enduring, if nothing else. I also realized that I cannot ever say I can't do something...WON'T do something, sure, but never CAN'T!
People have told me that I am a source of inspiration. I don't know where that comes from. Certainly NOT my parents. I am made up of things that have no foundation from my upbringing, it all seems to come, truly, from ME. As I consider myself "spiritual" and not of basic religion, I cannot place the source of power and upward movement with something bigger then myself. It draws from ME. Somewhere deep within ME. Perhaps I shifted a lack of self esteem into a straight all out DRIVE to simply BE!!!!! BE Alive, BE full of energy, BE what I can BE, BE for all, BE for my kids, BE!!! Blessed Blessed "BE":)
I start office work in the AM, and should go to bed and wake up early with a fresh mind. We also have seven doctors appointments this week, including one with my Neurosurgeon. I also need to go to court for final divorce stuff. Yuck...Nuff said...
This week basically starts the beginning of my "new life" as I start to work, support myself, and gather what I need to run both my web business and my currently restructuring Homeschool Group. I have a large sum of money coming to me soon, from the surplus of our foreclosed upon house. That will bring about many changes, like moving-again-and starting back to college...Oh yes, this life has barely begin:)
I guess sleep is a requirement for all this, huh?
I am off!
BE, all you are meant to BE,
Sami

Summer Solstice, A New Beginning after 6 Months of Hell???

I haven't written here since WAY back in December. It's now wonder, considered what I have been through-what we ALL-my kids and I, along with many others , have been through.
I am not longer a "Crazed Homeschooling Mom of Four"...I am a BEYOND Crazed SINGLE Homeschooling Mom of Four! I am OK, they are, for the most part, OK...It's a very, very, very, long story full of surprised and shock and despair, but also full of incredible help, hero's, growth and survival. I will elaborate in great detail within this series of Blogs in upcoming days and weeks, I am sure.
For some insane reason, I am up at 6am, which NEVER happens. It is a holiday, "Litha", "Summer Solstice", first day of Summer, longest day of the year...One of my favorite days of the year...Perhaps that is why I am up with the early Sun:) Perhaps it all the meds I am on simply wearing off after the very late night dosages, perhaps I just want to enjoy the RARE quiet of my sleeping, silent house while I can:)
My meds???? Jeez, that is the LEAST of my 6 month journey...the climax in the path, the finale....I had two disks removed from my lower neck last Thursday-after 6 months of incredibly debilitating pain. If, by chance, you are reading this, and are putting off such surgery (procedure, they call it), I highly recommend having it done-it was NO big deal-and I have never even had stitches before:) The IV part was the only bad thing. The recovery was painless, I came home 24 hours later and I have not even needed the pain meds-I am taking medications they gave me to simply keep myself CALM. I feel so great, I just want to run and jump, and clean the house:) I haven't had a TWINGE of ache or pain. Modern medicine is simply amazing-not something I tout very often, being quite the naturalist, but I am truly impressed.
The last six months have been quite a journey. If anyone had told me at Christmas that my life would be completely turned upside down with six weeks, I would have laughed. I knew that my marriage was a sham, I knew that my husband was a liar and a sneak and incapable of handling ONE adult responsibility without tears, and I knew that he had no control of our finances at all, and was keeping the secrets from me to keep peace-in his own mind, anyway. I pretty much just resigned myself to being completely lonely, ignorred and controled financially in order to give my children a stay at home mom and a private school status home education. Simply put, I was being completely unselfish in the fact that I was dead inside and married to someone who just TOOK and TOOK and TOOK, and still cried constantly about what he "didn't get" which was things like "party-ing in the woods drinking beer with highschoolers on Christmas morning" and my not being turned on by the 120 pounds he gained in our 8 year marriage...While, I might add, I maintained a perfect size 2 figure through 4 children. (even post 7 years eating disorders) He was selfish and abusive and down right mean and lazy.
I put up with it. I was made to sit in a chair all weekend while he was home, dozing in front of the TV, waiting for him to wake up and "know I was there". I couldn't go have a hobby, a friend, a phonecall-couldn't do web design, run a business...just sit there and wait for him to wake up and see if I was around. My life and dreams became only for my kids and everything I did was for them, through them...
I could have put up with it awhile longer...I guess. Even whenI found out that for the 11th time in 6 years we were more then 5 months behind in the mortgage, and no one could see a dentist, and my teeth rotted out from the pregnancies and lack of dental cash. He made good money,but I had no access to it, and if I signed a check, well, I almost got arrested for bouncing checks...My dad, his grandma, all bailed us out. he went right back into his usial attitude. cranky, mean, unattached.
Still could have put up with it, even though I got a notice of foreclosure on January 31st 2006. he hadn't paid the mortgage in ten months, and there had also been no groceries, etc-still have no idea where all that cash went. The notice came as I was lying in bed on ice, with a ruptured disk. The kids answered the door and got the news first. They are all younger them 11.
I still thought I could deal, though I asked him to leave so I could think...
On February 7th, my kids informed me that they had been abused. It was over-that was IT. We left the house immediately and went to a safehouse shelter. Our lives could not have changed more. I was such a clean freak that we could never even stay in a hotel (as if we could afford to), and here I was in the "home" for battered and abused women and children. The call I made to Social Serives that day,a nd the call providing the "plans" for our secret escape from our lives was the most unbelievable thing I have ever gone through. The Safehouse didn't even have a room for us-we ended up on the sleep out sofa in the home library. Three on the bed, two basically under it. I was in so much pain, and the house counselors had to keep my meds for fear of addiction. I couldn;t even make a phone call, and no one knew where we were. That was the worse night of my life. I didn;t think I could follow the house rules-they treated US like abusers and children. I couldn't understand how I could possibly begin to get my life in order with all these rules keeping me under "house arrest" basically. I didn;t sleep that night, so sick witht he stories my children had told me, and so angry at my husband for what he had done behind my back. The guilt of leaving my kids with him for just a FEW times in recent years was too much. Now I KNEW why the kids cried and clung to me on the rare ocassion that I needed to leave the home without them, and I eventually stopped leaving. I didn't sleep that night, but instead laid in on the smelly mattress next to my sleeping four year old, and my over guilt ridden (for telling) and anxious 10 year old daughter. She didn't sleep either, We talked and cried all night. I didn't know WHAT I was going to do the next day.
That question was answered rather quickly the next morning at 8am. I left the room to shower (everyone dressed and fed by 9am) and saw a giant white board with the daily news on it. It said that the whole house had Strep, and everyone needed to report to the local emergency room. You never saw a woman and four kids move so fast in your life. We were out in less then 45 minutes, van packed and headed towards???????? I ended up at an aquaintances home. I knew her from my homeschool co-op, but just barely. I knew she had a HUGE home, and an even bigger heart. Karma was with me that day-I asked her if we could move into her empty basement, and she said yes. We moved in. The basement was finished and had beds and a sofa and a futon...and a bathroom and storage space. It was bigger then most apartments. The family homeschooled, and has four small girls that I adored:) They were a real family, with parents that got along, and dad that was plugged in and took good care of his family like a man. My kids didn't know what to think of him-the four and six year olds asked if Mr Joe could be their dad.
We stayed their for 5 weeks. It was a LONG five weeks, and I was full of pain, somedays not even able to cope. I couldn't work, and I had left the house with 40 dollars. As soon as my husband knew I had left, he closed the bank accounts and took all the money. I saw 250 dollars from him in the next four months. If it hadn't been for my family, my church and my co-op, we would have been living in our van and eating from food pantries-which we had done the night before. The court battles started, and my pain grew, my arm would go numb for days, I had no use of my right arm or hand. It was insane. I began to realize how many people cared for me-they literally came from NOWHERE, people that I had never spoken to at church were giving money to the minister for me and the kids. Boxes of food, coats, toys, all started showing up. I had never dreamed it would be me on the receiving end of this type of behavior.
The next few months were UNBELIEVABLE, but I lived, and will write more about this again....For now, I want to post this:) I have some research to do for my new business...Yes, my new business:) More later:)
Life goes on, and Good Karma DOES work!!! I am living proof:)
~Sami

25 Years Later-The Dream Still Lives

December 8th 1980 started out like any other day in my 14 year old life. It was a Monday, so I went to school, the tenth grade...My parents were die hard football fans, so they were watching Monday Night Football down in the basement. I was doing homework-I don't really recall what exactly. When someone knocked on my door a little after 11pm, I was sure it was to be told "lights out". Instead, my mother spoke words that changed my entire existance. "One of the Beatles, John Lennon, was just shot and killed in New York City." Being a woman who never tolerated emotion from others, she simply turned and went back downstairs, leaving me with the words.
At fourteen I was innocent, completely untouched by reality, and had been in awe of The Beatles for 11 years. At three, I discovered a stack of beatles 45's in the basement of my brother's seven year old friend, WeeGee (yes, that was his name! He had a cousin named Chip, and grandpa named Pipsi, and a sister name GingyLyn...!). I remember listening to "Hey Jude" and spinning around and round in my three year old circles. I fell instantly in love with Paul, and John remained my "symbol of rebellion" forever and ever. When I was 9 or 10, my brother was a young teen, and he bought several albums, including the White Album (The Beatles). It came with 8x10 glossy photos of each member, and they were hung on the outside of his bedroom door. I feel asleep each night looking across the hall at them. I wanted to be a hippee, I had peace signs all over, and wore ribbons as headbands around my head:)
The fact that a FAN shot the greatest person in my life was SHATTERING. To make matters worse, I couldn't speak about the horror, the pain, the complete FEAR I felt inside over this tragedy. My father made jokes at the dinner table each night at my expense, too gross and nasty to ever write or repeat. By the time my older brother left for college that spring, I was a complete basket case, too depressed and pained for words. I barely existed at school, and my obsession with The Beatles only grew. It became a "trait" of my personality. My mother said I would grow out of it. It annoyed her to no end, she HATED anything to do with "rock and roll" or worse, the Sixties! LOL.

I sit here now, on the 25th anniversay of his death, and write my thoughts. I see all of this completely different now. It's not that my hero is dead, that he died way too young, that the music is "over" as they say...It's not a horror of my teenage years. It's a travesty of history, for sure, that I didn't really get at 14.
The biggest thing for me to comprehend is this: I am just a few months shy of the age John was when he had his life RIPPED away from him. My youngest son is a few months shy of the age John's son, Sean, was, (5) when he lost his dad. Such a tragedy, one I didn't even REALIZE at 14. I have YET to make my mark, YET to feel old, YET to accomplish enough to make me feel successful....I feel that forty is YOUNG...And we lost John.
He had so much more to do, so many more to touch. His music was just beginning to show his heart, his capacity for love, for his intense NEED for peace in the world. The world has changed...Changed SO much since 1980...9-11 would have completely DESTROYED John, a New York lovin' man, a peace lovin' man. The world has changed, I have changed. John has not-he is forever a man of hope, peace, love and incredible talent.

And me? I sure didn't "grow out of it". My two youngest sons are Dakota John and Julian Paul-research the Beatles if you don't "get" those names:) My children all had/have Beatle lulliby albums they listened to each night. They know each and every song, and they will help remember John in the daylight of December 8th, 2005. The Beatles are SUCH a constant factor in my life-our homeschool is named Penny Lane Academy:) I think, quite honestly, that if people that know me well were asked to sum up "who I am", "BeatleFreak" would be right in the top part of the list:)

Blessings to John-to all who knew him, whether in person or by song, and to all who WILL know him. I carry him with me always. ALWAYS.

I Have Entirely TOO Much to Think About...

So, here I sit. I am juggling soo many possibilities right now, it's almost crazy.
I finally landed my first account as webmaster/designer, and the job at hand is rather huge. The person I will be doing the work for is extremely busy and overtasked all the time, and is also a perfectionist about everything....Hmmmm, sounds like a can relate...:) Actually, I CAN relate, he is my brother:) I will be doing the site for his high-end carpet business, showroom and carpet cleaning division. He's adding to his business all the time, and has a great network of friends that own businesses as well. I am hoping this gets my foot in the door. I think this is "what I want to be when I grow up":) LOL
Of course, the children's book still sits on my desktop. I just can't seem to get focused enough to research a publisher and do what I need to do. I get sidetracked so easily these days. It's a shame, because the book deals with something never done before...Big old secret here:) I think this should be my main focus for a while...
THEN, yesterday at my homeschool review, someone turned on the lightbulb in my head. Many things became instantly clear, and I discovered "what I am supposed to do". It was amazing-an epiphany! Something that satisfies my passion, my interests, my life, and earns income as well as providing a great great ministry...Oh, too good to be true...I have TOO much to think about...TOO much.
Thing is, I need to do SOMETHING. Some people never get a good idea in their lives, and I get several and I am completely overwhelmed...Usually I clean a lot when I am like this:)
ahhhhhhh...What else....
The Co-op! The co-op is good! The co-op is fun again, the moms all smile and get along:) We did have t ouch of drama this week, but everyone was pretty much expecting it to happen. Public school moms just should join homeschool groups...Especially if they don't ever plan to do it, consider it, etc...Especially if they have, in fact nothing nice to say about it at all. I have no idea WHY a PS mom would join a co-op and expect everyone to listen to her "anti homeschooling" "pro public school" attitude...But she did, and we didn't...Listen that is...Which offended her enough to set her completely and totally bonkers...WOW.
Gotta eat before it's time for bed....

It's too Hot for Math!!!

Oh MY!
We completed our formal year on May 27th, and today we started out Summer Session. The two weeks off were kind of filled with fighting, whining and complaining about nothing in specific, so I am pretty happy to be back to structured activities:)
We're only focusing on a few subjects during this mini session that will go three weeks on, one off, til having off all of September. We plan to do double math each day, completing an entire semester of Singapore in 9 weeks...:) We'll also be doing geography with Flat Travelers, a little science, a little logic, and weekly creative writing assignments. Lots of art as well....
It's very hot here, and we are surely going to have some real banging thunderstorms this week. The humidity is sweltering! The kids went outside to play with daddy before he left for work today and came in soaked with sweat...After showering-they even ASKED to-my six year old declared it was simply TOO HOT for Singapore Math! (we do have the air conditioner cranked, so for those that know me, even I was hot enough to turn it on!) We got the work done though, and lunch is being cleared right now...The heat made them tired, even in the little bit of time they were out there...They want to watch Lilo and Stitch this afternoon and simply relax...:) Sounds good to me:) I have a review to prep for.
My co-op is growing and growing and we are planning a steamy day at the park on Wednesday. It's going to be well into the 90's, but we will have shade and lots of snacks and drinks.
We've been working really hard to advertise and get the word out-lots of people seem to be looking for something. Many have had bad experiences with other groups, or simply been made to feel left out, or worse, discriminated against. I keep hearing horror stories, and of course, I have my own to tell...Sadly, no matter what sort of minority group we manage to get into-homeschoolers, for instance-most still find a way to cut people out and make them feel bad. I don't understand it.
We also have a sort of monopoly on homeschooling in the area as well. Certain groups own elists for the county, and they find it necessary, for some controlling reason, to censor the info that's available to the rest of the county. I think it's pretty crazy for one homeschooler to decide what info about HS opportunities should be made available to all. Sounds like Communism to me, actually. It's ok, though, their members are finding us anyway. When they realize that they have gotten censored info through their lists, they get really upset....This "other" group has done some pretty petty, immature things to prevent our group from growing-hasn't worked mind you:) AND, we've gotten a kick out of watching the leader of that group run from public places in shame, as well...What do they teach their children, acting like this?...They have even sent SPIES to our co-op in the past-SPIES that then couldn't look us in the face when we ran into them again and again...From what I hear online, this is pretty normal behavior in co-ops and groups. I can't stand it, it has nothing to do with the kids...And, isn't that the point here???

My email is so busy today...more group stuff:) Off to relax for a bit...Staying cool:)
Sami

Happy Summer!
I can't believe I haven't posted on here in four months! It's partly because I forgot my ID on the BLOG site, LOL:)
We completed our Spring Session on May 27th-this was definitely our most successful year EVER:) Considering that was added Kody, our middle son, six, to the mix, that's a really big accomplishment!!!
Skye our oldest, managed to not only catch up after her diasterous third grade year, but completed fourth and fifth grade in one year! We schooled year round, and she doubled up on math, spelling and grammar-her own choice-for most of the year. Her writing is at least 7th grade level, and her vocabulary is way beyond that. She spent a large part of her year perfecting her budding art skills-which are AMAZING-seriously-sometimes spending 6-8 hours on one project. She got professional water colors and pastels recently, and has absorbed every book and video on the mediums front he library:) She's also self taught herself Coolpage web design and Paintshop Pro 8 for graphic design. This has definitely been a year to see many advantages to homeschooling:)!
Jordan, age 8, would have completed second grade if he was in public school. He completed third grade in math and science, and fourth grade in all language arts subjects. He's gotten into paper airplane building and has, again, taking out every book on the subject:) He spend hours designing them and flying them. He had an AWESOME year in Sunday School as well, receiving tons of praise and reward from his teachers. His writing is improving and is at about fourth grade level. He's become quite the drawer, and is showing interest in fine arts and music as well. He is begging to play guitar.:) little Elvis???
Kody had a great first official year. He fiddled with some bits and pieces in the fall, and mostly unschooled til February. I started him on a pretty strong classical program at that point and he THRIVED. He began doing history with the older kids and enjoyed chemistry as well. We used First Language Lessons for the first time, and he loved it. He also started with Spelling Workout and Plaid Phonics and is now reading basic stuff:) He does Singapore as well, and really loves that.
Julian is four, and he did Dora K level Math and Singapore Earlybird Math. We also did some stuff in BIG SKILLS, and lots and lots of art projects. He also helped us plant our gardens this year, starting and charting seeds indoors for months. He will start formal K after Winter Break in 2006, next year. That should be a hoot:)
Next year is completely planned out. I am sooo happy that I discovered The Well Trained Mind three summers back-my time spent planning is ZERO these days. Homeschool Tracker, of course, makes it easier:) My review is on June 21st....
We are spreading our Support Group wings! We participated in a Multicultural fair with a group on Monday evening. We were Russia and my kids kicked a little tail getting it done:) There work was amazing and there was TONS of it. I simply directed them and they went with it. It helped, of course, that they'd been experiencing "Culture Day" with our Circle Co-op for two years. My daughter built the Kremlin from modeling clay-really something to see....Pictures SOON! We hope to hook up with that group again soon:)
Next week we're hoping to join up with a UU based group in Annapolis. I am REALLY excited about the prospect of meeting other UU Homeschool moms!!! That will be totally new for me:) Annapolis is a BEAUTIFUL place and I haven't been there in forever, I can't wait!
Our Circle Co-op is growing, and there's such a no hassle, grown up attitude...the contrast to things we dealt with in earlier days is HUGE. I think back to those times and wonder why I trusted people so much...People were just HORRIBLE to one another. It's funny though, once we got rid of the moms that kept yelling "this is just like Junior High" it stopped BEING "just like junior high". Hmmmmmmmm........Completely stopped. Again, hmmmmmm.
The group is doing great, no issues for, jeez, a year or more...:) We just have canceled alot of things due to being "burnt out" however....We'll get there:)
We have been off for the last week and a half...We spent last week getting Russia ready though. Today the kids spent the whole day watching tiny camcorder videos from the last 7 years. They are all in need of some sort of cataloging and that's what they were doing. It took up most of the day, and they are just heading to bed-it's just before midnight here...We start back with lessons next week for three weeks. Then a week off, then three weeks of lessons, then another week off....Three more weeks and then they have off the whole month of September. They will do double math four days a week, a creative writing assignment each week, various science projects, and geography which will include doing Flat Travelers. We're studying drawing in June, Painting in July and Sculpture in August. We plan to complete a full semester of Math. Kody will continue with his first grade lessons three days a week.
We have tons going on at church-a Dr Seuss Day, a Harry Potter Book Release day, and an entire month of "Arts in August" in which the adutls share arts with the kids through dance, movement, art, poetry, drumming, gardening, scrapbooking and more. Each sunday has a different class. I will be doing a yoga/sculpture class with the children...I also plan to teach PreK Sunday School again next year, be on RE Committee and co-chair the committee as well. I guess we plan to be busy....Speaking of which, SOCCER starts in 7 weeks...!!!!!!


That made me tired....:)

Signing off to say Moon Blessings...
Sami

Uggh! That's my general feeling about life right now! Things have gotten a little frantic and chaotic, and I am trying to calm them to no avail...
The update for the site is complete-the writing portion, anyway. I can't seem to get it on the pages and uploaded however. The computer crashed, my carefully planned out schedule freaked and I think I have an allergy thing going on...
So much for planning and scheduling. I laid out a spreadsheet for goodness sakes, in effort to plan this semester properly. Then they cancelled a Theater class, rescheduled it at the DUMBEST time, and I am now carting kids all over town on Thursday-ALL OVER town. ALL DAY. Tomorrow is looking particularly bad because on top of gymnastics, theater and a lunch date, I also have an all afternoon meeting that will basically be held around my children's pick up and drop off times...
The meeting-at church-is a long one to make up for two weeks of cancelled services and meetings...And falls on the craziest day of the week.
I hope to have the site completed by the weekend. I am having "focus" issues...:)
I think it's all because of Winter...and the fact that it is going on and on and on...
One good note-our co-op seems to be doing quite well. I think our little break during the busy holiday season was just what we needed. I am feeling refreshed and ready to share, play and learn again...whew!:)
I am heading to bed, thought the site upload is beckoning me:) I really do think I have a sinus thing going on, and it's making me tired and lightheaded...
Just what I need:)
Sami

WOW! The New Year is here, and we started off with a bang, right back into schedule, no problem. We actually started off better then we left off, getting our household schedule implimented, finally!
We got up on Monday and put the entire house together in less then an hour. It was wonderful, everyone had a specific chore, we put on some loud music (Beatles 1962-1966 *red album*), and it went very well. Our RULES for the new semester went into effect as well. No TV or video games before 7pm, and those are earned privilages. The kids aren't much on TV, except for movies they borrow from the library, but they are FREAKS about playing the new Ms Pac Man game. I bought it simply to use as in incentive tool, and it's working!!! They earn a half hour a night on it, if all work and chores are completed without issue. My house is clean, the kids are relatively behaved....WOW, could it get any better;)?
Actually, this New Year brought us great Blessing. We banished the old and exhausted from our lives and together, as a family, started the year with new attitudes, new expectations, new goals. It is showing in our everyday lives, so I know it's not simply resolutions. We went through a lot in recent years, opened ourselves to many negative influences in attempt to give of ourselves, to connect with the community and our families. In some cases things went well, in other cases, well, the garbage that came was just inhealthy. It funny how you can't see the forest for the trees, sometimes. Last year was one of the worst in my life. It was just simply a BAD BAD year. There was no tragedy, just lot's of influence and outside, trivial, ultimately important STUFF going on around me, and I had no control. I chose to "check out" on several aspects of my life, and it showed, of course. Things have been on the upswing though, actually, more then an upswing-a straight out Blessing...as I said.!
I plan to work on the site a bit in the next few days-I am surprised at the number of regular hits:) "Homeschool Mom" seems to be the main search leading people here, and I plan to gear the site a little more to taking care of MOM, along with stuff for kids, etc. I have so many ideas, and so little time:) LOL
Ok. Time to get going with Grammer and Spelling, we start a new Geography unit today that I have been working on for ages...And, we need to set up our Lit Notebooks, papers are taking over the house.
~

Here I am, sitting here as I do each year, wondering what to do what ALL THIS STUFF:)
Like everyone else, we just celebrated several Winter Holidays, and the gifts and crafts are pile to the ceiling. I have fallen right into the whole "out with the old" thing. In the last two days I have removed an amazing amount of NOTHING from my home-it's amaziong how it piles up. I just did this over the Summer, and yet here I am again...
The kids didn't get all that much-compared to past years which have been insane. One year a grandmother shower up with 9 55 gallon trashbags full of gifts-for TWO children. She now has MANY grandchildren to buy for in the family-and I am all the more grateful to get less. We just have NO room.
We did break down and get the kids a cheapy little plug in video game. It's that little plug and play Ms Pac Man. My husband and I have been stealing it from them-it's really cute. I only bouhgt it so that I could have something "worthy" to "take away" if the kids don't focus on school work and chores. With Skye, it's always the computer-she LOVES it, and will get any amount of work done to spend time on paintshop pro or checking out her email. With the boys, well, I didn't have much to go on. They have SO many toys that nothing really means anything. Jordan tends to get a little "passionate", ok, obsessed, with things, and that's a level there...The video game is working wonders-the kids are getting SO much done to earn an hour a day before bedtime. This has TOTALLY blown away wanting to watch TV as well....They also got Battleship, Yatzee and Boggle for the car and waiting for other's to practice things, etc.
They got a ton of books, Leap Pad stuff, magnet sets(3), drawing books, art study books, legos, software and crafts...And here I sit, in our schoolroom, trying to figure out where it's going....It's not like anything is LEAVING the schoolroom-not with ANOTHER child sitting in for formal math and english (Jule's!) this February...(he is starting Singapore on his fourth birthday)
I have no idea where it is going...I think I will need a week to re-organize it...( I LIKE to organize, thankfully:))
Off to fold laudry-I haven't posted her so ling, I just thought I'd pop in.
Sami

It's Thursday night, the week has been calm, and I am not so much looking forward to the weekend...If it rains, which is likely, it won't be too bad...Although I will get serious "sad face" when soccer is canceled...! If it does NOT rain, which is likely, cuz, this is Maryland, soccer will happen, and I will spend a total of eight hours at the field on Friday and Saturday...Again, not bad, but I have BOXES and BOXES of work to do this weekend, and I want it done by Monday so I can have more!
I am tired, this week wore me out. We got a ton of lessons done, more then planned actually...We missed out on our co-op meeting this week, due to several issues...Most of which were from the extended family. Things are not good...I hope, each day, that my in laws know that they can trust my judgement and care with my children....their grandchildren. They are in constant turmoil over the lives of their other seven grandchildren, and it has taken a great toll on them. I truely believe grandparents should be "special" people in a child's life. Mine were, my husbands were. My friends speak of grandparents and memories with such heartwrenching love...Yet, my children don't have that. It's been overshadowed by family issues, immaturity, personal agendas and worse. In my mind, I dreamed of a homeschooling family where the grandparents were very involved, taking trips with the kids, taking interest in curriculum choices, enjoying time spent in the learning process...I thought awesome relationships would be formed...And, why not, I saw those kind of relationships with the first few grandchildren-on both sides of the family. I saw, and participated in those types of relationships with my grandparents. (may their souls rest in the joy of my memories) My husband's biggest hero is his grandfather....who, is sadly passed as well. I just had more expectations for relationships and love...Instead, well, we got a lot of stuff from the dollar store, and bang up Christmas gifts. Appreciated, yet, not what we were looking for.
Enough on that. :)
My kids are amazing. They have taken the bull be the horns this year in school. Curriculum is just FLYING through the house....They are finishing up their language arts work at such a pace! My daughter, who would not READ two years back, is flying through fifth and sixth grade vocabulary and reading comp workbooks like mad. (she is in fourth grade). Our one pitfall is Math. I think we have decided that we don't like Saxon Math. We are so far ahead on all subjects- but behind on math. I find us doing other things to satisfy math. I need to get my head straight though, and figure out the issue. Is it boredom? On my part? On theirs? Is it the time constant? Is it the fact that we all want to BANG our heads on the table halfway during the lesson??? (Maybe we should...!) I have invested a TON into this program, and I want to see it work...Jeez! I have to get over this....
I am yawning...I have a teacher dedication this week at RE, which is Sunday School for those that follow a more tradition crowd...Soccer and Fellowship wear me out on the weekends, it's the insane schedule change....Ed's been working from noon to after 2am this week...He is there now, almost 12midnight....They want him in at 8 am tomorrow.....Overtime...But still....He will work through the weekend, surely, and into a third week of no time off....On top of soccer and Fellowship this weekend, I have many boxes of work to attend to, and more after that. We are also getting ready for the Fall, which begins next week, and we plan to celebrate our favorite season with great joy and much excitement! Tomorrow we will spend time on crafts, and perhaps some Fall cleaning and organizing.....(I have a craft closet that needs work, and crafts to follow! Yay!:))
Ok, about to PASS OUT from exhaustion....
Sami

Well, here we are, several weeks into a new homeschooling year...Exhausted! LOL!
This year has started better then usual, actually, No one got sick, no one needed several doctor appointments, and I didn't even throw out my shoulder. We did, however, lose a printer. We also found out, in the process of replacing it, that our computer has almost NO temporary memory (RAM), contrary to what we were told at purchase. This being the reason for frozen programs and stalled computers. We (I) learned alot about the workings of computers this week, and look REALLY forward to removing the cover and adding new memory this weekend....!!!
This year has already presented many challenges. Our schedule is an ongoing battle. I seem to be the only person that understands(or cares about) the insanity of living this "second shift" schedule. I feel quite positive that I have spent the last several years catering to the specific schedules of everyone I know, yet have been met with blank/unyielding stares when I actaully SAY that we aren't really into mornings, that they are extremely difficult for us. Because of this, our lives have changed in ways I never considered, our friends have changed, and the way we spend our time has changed. Mostly for the better, thankfully.
Our new schedule has us doing chores and finding playtime in the am hours, usually up around nine to eat, do chores, and plan our day. At 10, the kids usually go out to play with Daddy, sometimes they work in the garden together. Around 11am, the older kids start lessons with five different subjects of Language Arts, the younger play cars...We break around noon to eat with daddy, then go outside to say goodbye and chase him up the street...LOL:) After that, we jump back into lessons with either History or Science, while the younger boys continue to play upstairs with building toys, blocks, Leappad and more...At 2, I work a brief time with my kindergartner, reading letter books, handwriting, site words and phonics pages. Usually the youngest, 3 1/2, joins us. The older children complete writing work for science and history during this time, and sometimes do a chore or two. Sometimes they watch a science/history video. I then spend some time working individually with one of the older children, doing math, working on other subjects that might need extra help from me. Around three or so, I take a break, usually to watch Dr Phil and eat a small snack, make phonecalls and catch up on laundry. This is art/music time for the kids. Four o'clock has me back with an older child, working on Math and etc again. Then it's math concepts with the younger til five or so. Usually I spend some time working on plans, calendars, co-op stuff while they finish lessons, get chores done and prepare for dinnertime. Sometimes we run errands before dinner....Sometimes dinner gets eaten at 8pm, and soccer practice has us running all night, then eating at 9:30pm....Chores, baths, pjs...and it's 10pm!!!! Which leads us to the last, and, obviously, least important, time of our day-TV time. Sometimes, if closer to 9, the kids watch a rented movie from the library, sometimes, if later, they watch "Who's the Boss", "Cosby", and once in a Blue Moon, Lizzie McGuire...Most nights they opt out to play, surf online, or read, and that's fine by me. I don't know HOW I managed to raise children that don't need television, don't even seem to care, but I am I NOT complaining!!!!!!:) The kids head to bed between 10 and 11pm, helping to keep them sound asleep til a "daddy decent" hour of 8:30 or so. He arrives home sometime between 1am and 4am.....I doze after 1:30am, if I am not working on something, but don't really "sleep" til he is home safely....Sleep is wild and waning here.....!:) Some nights I write til the am, when he gets home, some nights I read....Sometimes I watch really bad rerun tv all night!
We do the library two, three times a week, soccer three nights and all day Saturdays from 8am on (yes, mornings!), dance once a week, co-op on Wednesday, playdates on Fridays, and now, ME, being a Religious Ed teacher on Sundays...
Someone in the neighborhood-with ONE small child, I might add, asked me two weeks back what I "did" with all the time I have being "home all the time".....The person knew I had four kids (as if that's not enough to do!), and also knew I homeschooled AND develop our curriculum, and have four in soccer....I told her she was welcome to spend any hour she wished with us as a homeschooling family, and see what she thought. Her 'smug" face made me think she knew my life better then her own. Her husband, horse of another color, asked me tonight (while trying to convince the small boys I did NOT want the sidewalk toad into my house!) HOW I do it...! he remarked, in a totally not disrespectful manner towards his wife, that she didn't seem to have enough hours, enough patience, enough...anything, to get through a single day with one small child. He seemed amazed at what my day entailed, asked several questions and left us with a look of complete awe on his face. I love talking to people like that-amazed by homeschooling, amazed by homeschoolers, amazed by passion for children. It's different then most of the people I meet...Many of them seem to feel an instant need to "defend" themselves for NOT homeschooling. I am quick to say, "not for all", "special person to do it", "personal circumstances" etc.....but sometimes people just get angry...like my saying "We homeschool" is really coming out as "you don't homeschool!"....which I would never say...Sadly, I have met more "not great" homeschoolers then great. The "great" are those I stay in contact with. They say to "surround yourself with greatness". !!!
OK...12 midnight, time for me to get planning done for tomorrow and thurday....We are going to the Baltimore Science Center in the am, with our co-op, so I need to get some sleep!
Sami

Whoever said that Summer was a time of lazy, hazy, days did NOT know me... This Summer has been anything but lazy, though, being in Maryland, we certainly have the "hazy" part down!
I don't know what it's like for other homeschooling families...Do they take Summer off, completely, like many public schoolers, and lay around the pool, watch talk shows, and eat, most days? Do most try to incorporate some kind of learning experience into daily life? Do some continue their schooling schedule, perhaps altering it a bit for more warm weather fun??? I guess that homeschoolers are like anyone else, and do what they please all Summer, whatever that may be...In my homeschooling house, we use Summertime to try new things, enjoy being outside, and take classes and workshops in many different activities-all which I journal daily as continued "school". We love our local community college, they are an incredible source of new learning for us, at a great price!
This Summer found me at endless baseball/t-ball games while my oldest child waited for her "time" to begin. It began last week-fortunately after ball ended for the year-with Ballet lessons at a private studio each Monday. This week added a Music Theater workshop to her list, with her dancing all day today at both classes-a total of four and half hours of dance. This has me in the mini van, three younger boys in tow, pretty much from non til five, and then even later today with the Ballet thrown in...The boys have already forgotten that "sis" sat through...hmmm....maybe 35 games in recent months-most during brewing violent lightening storms-so they are not happy about the situation....!
I woke up this morning after a bad night-not sleeping this week I guess-and rushed to get things in order. My husband had to leave two hours earlier for work, so the rush was more intense then usual. My daughter was running through the house in her dance clothes, asking about snacks, room numbers and emergency phone numbers. The boys were packing matchbox cars and looking for shoes. I directed them around the house, chores to be done, lunches to be packed....With water bottles, picnic basket and matchbox cars in check, we headed out for a day long ago marked on my calendar-day one of "crazy week"! Minutes before leaving, I realize that our library movies-21 of them, were not due on Monday as believed, but on Saturday...Panic ensues as we run to locate the largely fined videos, which was no small feat....I ended up paying a whopping twenty five dollars in late fees...We rush them to the nearest library, hoping for mercy, dropping them at the drive thru window and explaining ourselves. I agree to handle the issue at another branch that same day...We drive to the college, in another part of the county, a long, winding drive with much radio music to hear...We drop her off at class and head to the nearest playground to eat our lunch and swing before our next activity-a children's Max and Ruby program at the library in town. The boys finish their sandwiches, play, drink lemonade and argue about getting into the sandbox. (I don't have time for baths!) Soon we head to the 2 oclock class and I drop the two youngest boys off. That lasted two minutes, I had to go in with them, Jules would NOT stop looking out the door for me! We finished the stories, and the craft and packed up to head out to pick up some pizzas for dinner, right near the college....We sat in our favorite resturant for awhile, eating french fries and watching ESPN, got our dinner and head to pick up Skye...Left there, hurried to get her to Ballet, closer to home. Dropped her there-she was TIRED-and went home to eat pizza...Well, the boys did, anyway. I rushed around in a flurry of mysterious energy, cleaning, and doing laundry-sever loads by bedtime...Cleaned two closets, folded some things for the yardsale pile...vacuumed, bathed the kids, checked the bank account, wrote two bills out, and sat down....It starts again tomorrow!
My first thought was, "wow, I got nothing done today!
Now...What is wrong with ME????
!!!!!
Sami


 

11:24PM...Just ate my first meal of the day-turkey taco meat wrapped in lettuce-and got the kids into bed...Finally.
I have no idea how we are ever fitting lessons back into our lives....Since Ed's schedule change, the days are long and very, very full....
Getting used to the schedule thing was a little insane at first-the kids were staying up all hours, day after day, yet still getting up at 6:45AM. They rushed to see daddy who was HOME in the morning now...With only three hours of sleep behind him...! Fortunately, running their tails off all day, not allowing naps but for a few days a week, and having a strong dose of patience, paid off. They now sleep til 8-sometimes 8:30....Once til 9:45...! I don't get a single second to myself from 9am til 11:30pm, but hopefully they will all get tired of bugging me and go find something to do...!
Baseball ended tonight, T-Ball last Saturday....SOOO happy. No rest though, Ballet starts next Tuesday, intersects with Baton Camp and Dance Theater Camp, overlaps Soccer..Which runs straight through October...For FOUR children this year....Maybe...The five year old seems interested in gymnastics.....I joke that I don't have a calendar, but a spreadsheet...Then, I look into my canvas school bag and realize, I really do!
WOW...It's late...And I just sat down to look at email. Nothing good..I wish I had some money to shop online-Curriculum is calling me!
I have put some serious thought into my choice of Curriculum...Probably about three months worth of serious consideration, and many of general searching and comparing. Today, I went to the Homeschool Outlet at the Christian Bookstore in town. I had heard that they had a "used" shelf...It ended up being the larger portion of the store! I could not believe what I saw, stacks and stacks, pile and piles, of Saxon Manuals, Textbooks, science books, art programs, language tapes...It was pretty amazing. Now I am left with many more options...My budget can handle a bit more, so, do I want to get Saxon K for 20$???? I was thinking of doing workbooks, etc, til my five year old was ready for the Saxon One my seven year old skipped over...Now, I am reconsidering....I will have another child that can use it...hmmmm! Saxon three times a day....uggggh!
OK....I am alone in the peace and quiet, for the first time since my eyes opened....And I am thinking, of all things, TV...Another turkey taco maybe...My curriculum file is beckoning....(Do other people have files that yell at them???:) Do other MOMS have files that yell at them?????:))Mine do...;)
Thought I had something important to say, but I guess that was just the inspiration from getting the kids into bed!
Sami