Happy Halloween

Halloween is almost here. The outside of the house has been decorated and costumes have been purchased. We have been invited to attend two Halloween parties this year. We are looking forward to both. One of the parties we will be attending is a Zombie party. The hubby and I chose to go with the Zombie theme while the kids chose whatever they wanted. Miss D has selected to be a Purple Witch, while Miss C had decided to be a "girly" football player. Mr C has chosen to be our local Ghostbuster and I am Zombie Cheerleader. As for Mr P he is being creative. Mr P purchased a suit for the local Goodwill. He had been working hard at find different ways to give his suit that dead look. So far his suit has been cut with scissors, slashed with a razor knife, buttons have been pulled off and rubbed continuously on the asphalt to give it the worn and beat up look. I believe at one point the kids where dragging the suit across the grass. Hubby has some great ideas to complete his Zombie look. He will be finishing it this week.

Do you celebrate Halloween? Do you dress up?

Did someone say cookies?

I am addicted to Sugar Cookies. Not eating them, but rather, making them. I could spend hours on end and days at a time baking and decorating cookies. I was shocked to realize I have been doing cookies for five months. I feel like I have been doing them my whole life.

I was contacted my a friend and asked if I would do an order of cookies for a baby shower. No need to ask this gal twice. The baby is boy and the theme is Turtles and Alligators. Too cute and different.

The Napkin:

Here is the Turtle Cookie:

Here is the Alligator:

I am delighted at how these cookies turned out. I am positive the recipient is going to love them.

Take A Break

During a recent tutoring session with our paraeducator, I mentioned how frustrated I was becoming with homeschooling and what seemed like a never ending battle. Mrs L mentioned that it is OK to take a break and have a couple of days off to regroup. I politely responded with "that sounds like a good idea." All the meanwhile I was thinking to myself, NO we can't take a break. We will just get further behind and then we will constantly be playing catch up to keep us on schedule. That was on a Wednesday.

Friday morning comes along and I awake feeling sick, sore throat and heavily congested. I just could not believe it, here I was sick with no energy and not up to teaching. I managed to complete our lessons for Friday. Saturday was spent on the couch hoping to get better. Sunday comes along and I stayed in bed all day. Nothing got done. Sunday is my prepare for the week day and guess what? Nope, that didn't get done either. Learning from previous weeks.... I am not a jump in and wing it type gal when it comes to teaching. I need my lesson plans ready to go Monday morning, otherwise, the week starts off on a bad note.

Not having any lessons prepared for the week I agreed we would take Monday off and I could use Monday to prepare lessons for the rest of the week. Praying to get better each day and I seemed to only get worse. Then, it dawned on me, the light bulb goes off in my head. Here I was at my last straw and was given the suggestion to take a break. Did I listen? No! Instead of voluntarily taking a couple of days off to regroup, I get sick and am forced to take time off. Coincidence?  Not at all.

I have been praying for days and weeks asking GOD to help me and point me in the correct direction. He was telling me what to do all along and I was missing what it was he wanted me to do. Funny how something can be so black and white, yet, grey. I looked up and said, "I get it now. I hear you." GOD was telling me it was OK to take a break and regroup. Once I "got it", I felt so much better and was able to focus on having some fun time with the kids.

I decided to give us the entire week off. The kids and I hung out for the week and even took a trip to Adventure City in Buena Park, Ca. We had a fabulous time. It was great to see them smiling and enjoying themselves. I felt so replenished and ready to take on the world again. We were once again back on track.
The following week went absolutely wonderful. Mr C had a couple of minor meltdowns, but we were able to quickly move past them. Both of the kids were able to stay on task and got along pretty well. It was a great week and it reminder me of all the positives that come from homeschooling.

Many homeschool for the flexibility and I feel that many moms that are new to homeschooling get so overwhelmed that they forget that. We forget that we don't have to stick to a conventional schedule. So if you are new to homeschooling and are feeling a little overwhelmed, take a couple of days off and not think about it. Clear you mind and enjoy enjoy some fun time with the kids. Remember, If mom is happy, everyone is happy.

Reality......

Sitting at the computer enjoying a cup of my morning decaf as the overwhelming urge to cry takes over my body. I try desperately to find an answer, to get to the bottom of what it is that has brought me to this weaken state. But there is no one answer.  This is becoming a daily if not multiple times a day occurrence. Wanting to cry that is.  Each time I fight the urge and find something else to bury myself into. After all, I am a homeschooling mom and I don't have time for crying.

Our homeschooling journey has been ongoing for about 2 months. We have been experiencing more downs then ups. I believe I am doing something wrong. How can this be? Homeschooling is suppose to be fun. I should be able to enjoy my time with my children and helping them learn. I have done what I thought to be a good amount of research before beginning and I honestly thought I was prepared. What I was, was clueless. Clueless to the reality of what really happens. Many if not most of the homeschool blogs and websites I looked at depicted homeschooling as this constant loving, warm environment. So what am I doing wrong. I want that glorified homeschooling experience that many of the bloggers post about. I want that! 

Why don't I have that? The answer is two parts. First, I honestly am coming to the conclusion that homeschooling is NOT what it is being portrayed as. I believe that all homeschool families have ups and just as many downs as the next person. They just choose not to air their problems or issues and to focus strictly on the good. As for myself, I wish I was a little more prepared for the battle of homeschooling. I wish I had come across a blogger who blogged the truth about the daily struggles of homeschooling. 

Gone are the days of waking early, getting the kids ready and dropping them off at school for most of the day. Gone is the time I had to run my errands and get all the things accomplished on my to do list. Gone is the life I had and as hard as it is to admit, I am mourning the loss of that life. I miss my sanity. I miss being in control. 

My reality is this... Homeschooling is hard. I have put so much focus on Mr. C and helping him to get to where he needs to be, that I have neglected giving Miss C the help and attention that I want her to have. Reality is, my house is not as clean as I would like. Reality is, even though I don't feel stressed, I am. Reality is, I have lots of fun things I want to do with the kids, but we can't find the time. Reality is, cooking dinner has become more of a chore than something I love to do. Reality is, Miss D and I don't get the time together that we use to have. Reality is, I am exhausted. 

But he said to me, "My grace is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Reality is, I am weak. Reality is, there are only one set of footprints in the sand. Reality is, this experience is bring me closer to GOD. Reality is, this is all a work in progress. Reality is, Mr C despite our many ups and downs is making wonderful progress and I believe he is beginning to have a love for reading (sshh don't tell him I said that). Reality is, my kids love being homeschooled, despite us having bad days. Reality is, this is the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life and as hard as it is, I don't regret it. Reality is, I am finding out a lot about myself and am working on changing me. Reality is, this is my reality. This is my life. 

I have always said that I live my life with no regrets. Everything that happens, good or bad, is a learning experience. I am closing the door on the way life was and embracing life the way it is now. I am not alone in this journey and GOD has brought me here for a reason. It is not my place to know what his reasoning is, but I shall embrace this journey and keep an open mind. 

Change your perception.

Morning time spent with myself enjoying a "hot" cup of coffee, while sitting comfortably with my computer in front of me, peace and quiet time IS important to ME. Two hours is all I ask. It is my morning routine and I like it. Time into the day so far this morning? 90 minutes, which includes time getting hubby out the door. 30 minutes of which are part of "my morning time". Yes, I said "my morning time." Here are my thoughts on my morning time this morning.

1. I am blessed that I was dreaming and not having a nightmare.

2. I was given another day to spend with my family and enjoy my life.

3. Hubby has a job for me to send him off to every morning.

4. My son's love for his father is so strong he gets up as his dad goes to work to simply say to him "I Love You."

5. My son enjoys my cooking and has breakfast requests.

6 The little one has gotten the sleep she needed and wants to join us for breakfast.

7. When homeschooling, if you miss something on the planner, you can move it along to another day.

8. I have eyes and am blessed with sense of vision.

Doesn't seem so bad. Now if only those where my initial thoughts.

1. I was sleeping really good. I don't want to get out of bed.

2. Do we really have to get up at 4:30a.

3.  Why can't I sleep in during the week and not need to make hubby lunch and breakfast five days a week.

4. Mr C is up way, way, way to early.

5. Mr C is nicely asking for me to make him an egg mcmuffin for breakfast.

6. Miss D has decided to wake up way to early also. (Wondering if the two are in cahoots with each other.)

7. Peaked at the planner and we are a full day behind with school work. 

8. This migraine is killing my head and eyes.

The second part was what first ran through my mind. It is Friday and I prefer to start my weekend on a much better note. No matter what, it seemed destined to be negative. 

I believe everything happens for a reason. I took a few moment to ask myself, "Why is this happening and where is the positive in this?" I looked for the positive and I found it. 

The point of this thread is WE need to change our way of thinking and how we perceive what is going on in our lives. If you look hard enough, you can find positive. 

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Rest of the list or put your feet up and rest?

Sunday, a day of rest. I need to reevaluate that statement. Interpreted as a day where you relax and don't have anything on your to do list. Or it's a day to get done everything left over on your to do list from the previous week. I attempt to split the day into both. Mornings, I do housework and a bit of yard work. Evenings are usually spent relaxing with the kids watching TV. But lately, Sundays are being spent on lesson plans. Yes, I said lesson plans. Planning an entire week of lessons, multiple subjects, multiple grades and three children.

Lesson plans take forever. At least in my house. Update weekly schedule so no appointments are missed and classes are scheduled. Time is important and so is time management. Checking all subjects for Mr. C and Miss C to locate any topics, subjects or themes that can be taught together and plan accordingly. Read TE (Teacher's Edition) text for LA (Language Arts) for both children and plan reading, writing, workbook, computer and discussions for the week. Math is generally easiest to plan as it is mostly review at the moment. We have incorporated SS (Social Studies) for both, with Mr. C learning about California Communities and Miss C is studying Ancient Civilization. I loved Ancient Civilization when I was younger. We have received our Science workbooks and we're ready to begin. We were also given a lab book filled with experiments. These are going to be scheduled for the weekends when dad is available to assist us.

Block classes begin for Mr. C and Miss C this week. Block classes are classes for the kids to attend class with students from their grade and another grade while working on assignments and projects in various subjects. Mr. C's block is 2/3 (Second and third graders). Miss C's block is 5/6 (Fifth and sixth graders). Miss C will also be attending Spanish. This is all new to us and we will continually evaluate and determine if this will remain on our schedules. On a side note, Target is across the street from where the classes are located and that means "Retail Therapy" for me while the kids are in class.

As for Miss D, planning for her can be a little harder. I have to plan her lessons around what the others are doing. If Miss D is going to need lots of assistance with her assignment then I need to make sure the other two are working on something independently and vise versa. Miss D's assignments can consist of pre-writing practice sheets, coloring, sorting pom poms by color, scissor practice, painting and Play-Doh. All the mean while I need to have a back up plan in case she decides she wants to work on something else. I have more website for preschool activities/work than I know what to do with. Sometimes, too many resources can be overwhelming.

Last Sunday I spent about 5 hours on lesson plans. I am sure I was over thinking it all. Hope today won't take as long. I am a big football fan and today is the first Sunday games of the season. We recently switched to DirecTv in order to see all the games. My Cowboys played the other night but I still want to catch a few games. The "Rest of my to do list" from last week has just a few items which should only take a short time to complete. Off I go to start the day.

Cheers to a beautiful day. How do you spend your Sundays?

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Starting on the Right Foot

We are starting our third week of homeschool this week. I took time today and figured out my lesson plans for Mr. C and Miss C. I also included activities for Miss D. It feels good to be prepared for the week and hoping I won't have a repeat of my "uhm" day I had last week. Tomorrow is Labor Day and a holiday, however, we will be doing school work to maintain our schedule and not have to double on on other days.

Homeschool Days- Field Trips

Happy Friday everyone. One of the benefits to homeschooling is the amount of resources that are available to you. One of the benefits is the ability to take field trips to various places for either free or low cost admission. Many places provide curriculum that is downloadable from the websites for a great learning experience, while having fun. Here are a few that I have come across recently.


Aquarium of the Pacific
Homeschool Days
September 19-20, 2012
Cost: $6 per person, children under 3 free
Parking $8

2012 L.A. County Fair
Homeschool Days
Wednesday-Friday, September 5-28, 2012
**MUST PREREGISTER AND ARRIVE BEFORE NOON

*All info subject to change. I am not in control over this. I am just sharing the offers.*