New camera...(and peacocks)

We found a camera today that we liked at Target, but they didn't have any in stock. This evening, after John downloaded all the pics and movies from the tournament, John decided to go on-line. He found the same camera at Wal-mart in stock at Camden, so off to Camden we go. We found the cameras and two (I'll use an "old" term) skate-rats were in the same section. John picked up the camera we were looking at and one of the boys said, "Dude, how'd you do that?" (use the voice you would imagine...it applies) John, "I picked it up." (very straight forward John voice). It was a fun moment! And we got the camera and a new memory card all for less than what we would have paid for the camera at Target. It was a good day.

Okay, so the peacock. I know you won't believe me but here goes. This morning John wanted to go to Hardee's for breakfast. On the way, we saw a male peacock. Yes, a peacock. He was beautiful and on the loose! And he was less than two feet from the side of the road. Tonight, on the way to Wal-mart, we saw him again in the same place. Somehow we don't believe peacocks are native to SC. I called animal control but I'm not sure they check their messages over the weekend. We are hoping he doesn't get hit tonight. Keep you fingers crossed for the lost peacock.

TKD tournament results...

The girls had a great time today. They did not spar but they both helped with the sparring. Jesse was time keeper and Chloe kept the score board, until the last round then they switched. They loved it! Both girls did their forms, because they are both black belts now, they had to compete against one another. I gave them the lecture "no complaining no matter who comes in first". I don't think I needed to; they were both very good sportsmen (sportswomen). Chloe came in second and Jesse came in first. They both did a great job, but I have to say this was the first time I saw Jesse flourish on the floor. She listened to all of my advice and followed it to a tee and it made such a difference.

I haven't checked the camera yet for pictures. John and I have now both come to the conclusion a new camera is in our future. The screen had a brown haze, which means the pics probably will too (it did last time). The good news is it did work for everything John wanted to get. Now, we just have to see if we can "see" anything.

For those who may be wondering...I did compete, though I was more worried about having to judge. But honestly it wasn't that bad. I did okay with judging the sparring but I did a few "no see" calls because honestly you have to focus in pretty quick with some of those kids; they are fast. Okay. Okay. I came in third in forms, weapons, and sparring. Yes, third in all three. I'm glad I decided to compete. I wasn't as nervous as my last competition; therefore, I'm improving.

TKD tournament...

Tomorrow is the big day. The girls are excited about competing. Chloe is just doing her form; Jesse decided to fore go doing sparring and weapons, so she too is just doing form her TKD form. Me, well, I haven't decided for sure that I'm going to compete, but I will practice some this afternoon and tonight in case I do. Mrs. Amy wants me to spar so she and I can spar. I really don't like sparring, so I'm really on the fence with this one. But she said she would not spar unless it was the women against the women and men against men. She is co-planner so we'll see.

Me, myself and I...

Yep, those are my three worst enemies. Right now I am struggling with a few things. One is something I told John. It wasn't bad or anything, but it was stupid! (And yes John would agree with that one.)

When I lived alone I had no problem keeping a clean house. By nature I am a total neat freak, right down to which directions my pens go in drawers. I'm a bit insane. So, when I got married, then eventually had children, I still wanted everything precisely the way I wanted it. There are only a few draw backs to this...a husband and two children. Don't get me wrong John is improving on clean up after himself and on occasion he will vacuum, clean bathrooms, etc. But on a daily basis it is up to me to keep order in their disorderly lives. (No, John will not like this post.)

We lived in our house in Edgefield for five years. I doesn't seem like that long, but it was. I hate to admit it but it was just before John was told he got the job here that I looked around my house there and said, "Wow, I finally have it." My house was clean, and I mean clean, everyday. It was dusted and vacuumed, neat and orderly on a daily basis and I was at peace. Then we packed everything up and moved. (sigh)

Since, then my house has only been clean for moments. I posted awhile back that I was so happy everything was clean and organized. Now, it is no longer. I think it took a week. I have a desire to be many things. I want to be a good cook but I hate cooking, for me cooking is a chore. I don't want it to be but it is. I want to have time to do fun things with my girls a lot more often, but I don't. Between having school, planning for school, TKD, cooking, laundry, etc. I just can't manage everything. John keeps suggesting a course in Time Management. My problem is there just isn't enough time (I come here to find calm my brain, so I need that on occasion).

All I want is to have a clean, organized home, including the girls' rooms. Laundry to always be caught up and everything to be clean. Not everything cleaned on a daily basis but regularly enough to where it's always clean. I want John to be excited about dinner every night. I want to do a lot of things I've been thinking about for awhile, but I'm just not there yet.

Though perfection eludes me right now, I'm working on it. Every day for the past week there have been little changes around the house. I don't think John has noticed any of them, but I don't expect him to; however, one day he is going to look around and be amazed. I am determined to get to where I want to be, but I am also realistic enough to know I can't do it in a week. It will take time, but everything will be the way I want it (except the girls rooms-their way) I just have to have patience.

A busy two weeks...

The next two weeks are going to be a bit hectic around here. This week won't be so bad, just stressful. We have a TKD tournament Saturday. Now that we are black belts we have to help judge. I think I'll do fine with forms, maybe. But I can not remember all the rules to judging sparring. I'm hoping there will be plenty of others there who know what they are doing so I can just write down the points or something. Jesse is going early to help with the judging too, but I don't exactly know what she'll be doing. She loves the tournaments! Chloe will come later in the day (Jesse and I have to be there at 10am) to compete about 2pm. Yes, we will be there all day. I haven't figured out how I'm going to eat, but I know if I know I have too.

Next week is the killer. John has a doctor's appointment and we are going to keep him company. There will be TKD graduation, my birthday and Tyler's graduation (all three in two days). On top of that, it's drill weekend.

I'm not complaining about any of it. I'm looking forward to each event (except maybe my birthday). I am worried we will get behind in school because of all of the activities. We are already going to June 12th, so getting behind would not be fun.

Homeschool discussion...

Julia has finally seen the light and is going to start using TWTM. :) We met tonight and talked for quite a while about what we do and how we do it. I also had the chance to look at her newest version of TWTM and I've decided to hold off on getting another copy. It just didn't look like that much had changed and I can always meet Julia again to look up a thing or two.

I was disappointed in the books that BAM had in stock. We went to check some out after we chatted for awhile but they didn't have any there we were looking for, that happens to me often.

I think I now have everything I need for next year, in the way of books. I still need to work on SOTW II notes, but I believe almost everything else is complete. The one exception is to print out a list of the items we will need for the second chem book, but that won't take too long to do. Now all we have to do is finish this school year, so I can start setting up for next year!

Happy, happy, joy, joy...

Yes! My order from Rainbow Resource arrived today and it did contain book II of Adventures with Atoms and Molecules. I couldn't get it from the publisher, Books-A-Million or Barnes & Noble, but RR came through!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still working on school for next year...

In fact, I don't feel like I ever really stop thinking about "next year" no matter what time of the year it is. I still have not done anything more for SOTW II. I do have an alternate plan for science if I can not get book II of Adventures with Atoms and Molecules, but I'd rather have book II. I'm still waiting to see if it ships from Rainbow Resource or not, which means I'm still waiting for the geography books I ordered. The geography books look like that are going to be a great fit for what I want; I am just anxious to hold one in my hands.

Tomorrow I'm going to meet Julia, somewhere at sometime (don't know yet), to see her newest version of TWTM. I'm really looking forward to it. She wants to see my notebooks, which should be very interesting. I started doing mine the way TWTM suggested but then decided it didn't work for my brain, so I switched it up a bit (Courtney is rubbing off on me).

I think, other than the books I've ordered that haven't arrived yet and SOTW II, everything is ready for next year. Chloe is excited about going into first grade and starting history. Jesse keeps telling her she (being Chloe) should enjoy Kindergarten because "it gets hard". lol Too cute! I'm excited too. We will actually be starting our fourth year of homeschooling. I just can't believe we've been doing this for four years already. While I have adjusted my original thoughts on how to school them, we haven't encountered any problems. Yes, there are times when I would like to have five minutes to myself, but I wouldn't trade a moment (as Jesse leaps into my lap because the "monster" - Dad - "is coming").

Memories...

Okay, so my birthday is coming up VERY soon and I'll be knocking hard on the door of "40", which leads me to the following:

Today, the girls and I went to my parents to introduce them to Rosie and to see my Mom for Mother's Day (yes, a little late-and I forgot her present...duh!). Well, they have been working on their garage and had a few boxes of things from my childhood for me to go through. I came home with a box of "stuff", things that were important to me then, that I remembered now. The most interesting item was the journal we had to keep in Mrs. Denton's 11th grade English class. I have to be honest...I had to read it (well, most of it). I was amazed by what I remember about that year and what I wrote about then. In other words, what was important then versus what my brain retained over time. There were guys I "dated" then who I can't recall at all now; and guys I "dated" then that still pop-up in my nightmares on occasion. It's strange how the mind works. I mean while you are in high school you think you are all so grown-up: driving, working after school, etc. But in reality, you haven't a clue what the world is about to slap you with and until you are there you have no idea how you'll handle yourself. Okay, my high school years are a FAR cry from most. I was neither the most popular or the most intelligent. I'd like to say, "but I was me". However, I don't think I was "me". I kept a lot, most, of my feelings inside (especially after one incident in Mrs. Denton's 11th grade English class-I never got over that one).

Twenty-something years later though I can say this: I am who I am (yes I like Popeye), and I'm rather proud of me. After everything I've been through (I think only John knows it all), I am stronger both physically and emotionally. I don't shrivel up and try to hide in the corner. I'm not painfully shy anymore (John always picks on me because I talk to everyone anywhere).

I've learned a lot about me in the last twenty-something years. I used to not be able to say this but I can now: "I like me, in fact, I love me." I am a loving, caring person that once I call you "friend", you can trust me with anything. I'm incredibly loyal to those I trust and love, but to those who cross me (I've learned from the past)...well, they are a much different story.

So, reading my journal from years ago was like seeing me, but not the whole me. It was interesting and makes me appreciate my life now even more.

Apparently we've lost our minds...

John's response "There's another vet bill. Why am I so nice?" Yep, HE did it this time.

A few nights ago I was walking Rosie in the front yard, when a cat leaped out of the darkness from the side of the house. It gets REALLY dark in the country! Luckily, I had Rosie on the leash and pulled it back just a bit. She sat watching the cat as the cat paced large circles around us then went up the street. Totally, freaked me out!

John was grilling when he came in and told us there was a "beautiful" cat in the backyard. I went to look and sure enough it was the same cat from a few nights ago. Of course, in the dark it looked horrid! lol Tonight it just looked hungry. What did my loving husband do? Tossed it some meat he was grilling. Then he gave the cat some milk (mixed with water). Has the cat left our deck? No. So, I guess we have another vet bill.

It's alive...

We were out on the deck tonight, when I happen to look out at the tree I planted a few weeks ago. Leaves are growing back! I am so glad it is coming back.

Keeping my fingers crossed...

I wrote, in the last week or so, about not being able to find a chem book I was looking to buy. Tonight, I was on Rainbow Resource and accidentally ran across the entire series. There it was book II and it said the book was available. Now, granted this is exactly what happened when I found it on the publisher's website, so I'm being optimistically hopeful. We'll know in about a week!

Zoo trip...

This morning John decided today would be a good day to go to the zoo. We haven't been in a while, so the girls were very excited. I was hoping since the state testing was going on this week it wouldn't be crowded. Hoping doesn't make it happen.









Still we had a great time. There were quite a few animals that were very close. The girls were able to feel the shell of the Galapagos Tortoise. It was a short trip, by our standards but I promised to take them back soon. Jesse wants to "sketch" an animal or two. Chloe just wants a "mushed penny".

I think John enjoyed himself too. I think he has enjoyed most of his week off. He finally had a vacation from work where we stayed home and he actually had the chance to relax. He not only needed it, but deserved it.

To Sonny...

I just heard about your broken foot this morning. I hope it heals quickly.

Preparing for a new school year...

I have already vented about the lack of chemistry books for elementary students (and Sonny half.com didn't have it either, but thanks for the info I'm sure I'll use them later). But right now chemistry seems to be the tip of my stress.

While this year was Chloe's first year to actually be in school, she had a very light schedule. I know a lot of homeschool parents put two or three children doing the same thing in science, history and other subjects, with each child doing what is appropriate for their age, skill and knowledge (a good idea for multiple children). I have two. Seriously, I should be able to keep up with two children doing different things, but honestly I'm not sure I'm going to survive.

So, far for next year I have most of my "lists" complete. Jesse's reading list and Chloe's science and reading lists. Story of the World II (SOTW II) I have not yet read the book (I make notes for them to read, but I'm thinking for book III they'll do it themselves). I think if I would at least get half way through the book I'd feel better right now I'm on chapter 5...out of 42.

Another source of stress is our books. Now, that we have a puppy in the house I can no longer use my method of stacking library books by subject, in order of being read, on the floor for Jesse to grab when its time to start a new book (and next year it will be books for Jesse AND Chloe). So, I found something that worked great now I can no longer do it. That seems to happen a lot! I think I'm just going to rearrange my desk entirely and see what happens. I'm still trying to finish this school year and plan far enough ahead so when we are out for a few weeks I can just relax with the girls. I hope that happens.

Irritated with the lack of customer service...

I've known for quite a while now that company's just don't care about their customer service. But really, a publisher that deals with homeschoolers SHOULD care. I've been trying to find two chemistry books for Jesse for next year. The bookstore could order one but not both. So, I googled the publisher and they had a site to purchase books. I placed the order for both books (last Saturday). Monday morning a rep from the publisher called me to ask me a couple of questions saying "they wanted to better serve the homeschool community." Well, let me tell ya BUB if you want to serve people better then vital information should be given when a product being ordered, which is the only series of books the customer is ordering, can not be delivered because YOU are no longer printing it. I will now avoid Enslow Publishing because of their lack of commitment to customer service.

No, I don't feel better, but thank you for listening.

Kindergarten...

I've had a few people ask lately what I've done for Kindergarten, so I thought I would put some information here.

I tend to focus on reading, because you have to read to be able to do work in other subjects. We use Hooked on Phonics (HOP). Its a 1983 version. There are no games or little books like the ones you buy at Wal-mart but you can find "my" version on Ebay. I started whenever my kids were ready. Jesse started HOP in July when she started Kindergarten, but Chloe started the January (or February) before she started Kindergarten. They both will finish all six books by the end of their K year. Jesse was reading on a second grade level and Chloe is at a third grade level (but she hasn't finished it yet). I can't tell you how much I love this program! I never would have thought my girls could do the reading they were (and are doing) by the end of K. And by the way, for those who don't know, reading was John's key for continuing to homeschool. "They at least have to be able to read some by the end of the year." Some...right. I laugh now because really we were both shocked.

For math, we used A Beka Numbers K. I liked it but be forewarned it will not be for an entire year if you have been working with numbers at all with your child. Both Jesse and Chloe started their A Beka Grade 1 book in January of the K years, with no problems. We also played a lot of math related games like Hi! Oh! Cherrio!, Sorry! and Bingo.

Science was different for both girls. Jesse did little to no science in her first semester of K, but at the end of the year I was told about a great series of books,Let's-Read-And-Find-Science (something like that anyway). So the second semester, she did all of the animal books in that series along with the Kingfisher First Encyclopedia of Animals. Chloe read the books the first semester, then did the Kingfisher Encyclopedia the second semester and it worked beautifully.

Writing. Oh, writing. Some kids like to write others loathe it. I simply bought (for the first semester of K) a writing tablet from Dollar General and wrote out our own words (using dashes for the letters so they could trace) from the HOP program (did you see how that went together? I love homeschooling!). Second semester, their writing was from their Spelling Workout A book, while they are consumables we don't consume them. They have to write everything out, hence writing! Again, I love homeschooling. LOL

We did one other subject for Chloe for K...geography, simply because she wanted to do it with Jesse. I have a lot of geography games and we would rotate them over a two week period. Jesse did not do geography in K.

And that is all we did. Yes, I know there is no history here nor a few other things people may consider important. However, as I said in the beginning, my focus in on reading. I really wanted them to have the reading down so when they started first grade they would be prepared for all the extra stuff, like history.

I hope this helps those who were wondering and for those who weren't wondering but you read it anyway, you now know how my days are spent. lol

An answered question...

Yesterday, we ran into the lady who gave us Rosie. I told her about giving Rosie the stuffed dog and how she reacted. She was confused at first, then she said they have a dogie door and her older dogs sometimes take their toys outside to play with them in the yard. And there is the answer, Rosie thought she had to play outside. She has gotten used to playing inside and to be honest is very cute, and a little scary, when playing with her stuffed dog. We think she is a bit nuts...she fits in perfectly. :)

Dog/Garden Updates...

Well, we've now had Rosie for a full day (a day that started at 4:43am when she told me she had to go out). She has had a couple of accidents today, which I fully understand with her being a puppy. I think she is starting to learn her name, but she isn't fully convinced yet. lol We went out tonight to get her a couple of chew toys (I can't seem to find Maggie's old toys she didn't play with). We were all kind of shocked by her reaction. The girls picked a pink, squeaky dog (wiener dog); when Rosie saw it she went kind of nuts. She took it immediately then ran to the door and whined and whined and whined. I took her out thinking she had to go. She did go but as soon as she came back in she took the pink dog and whined again. I finally let her out with the pink dog to see what she was going to do. She took it out, then plopped down in the grass and put her head on it. Humm. Not sure, but I know its related to the almost nine weeks of her life we know nothing about. I'm sure she'll adjust to playing inside with her toys...eventually.

The garden is loving the rain, well some plants are loving it. The corn is now about three-and-a-half inches tall. The okra is doing well. There is only one confirmed eggplant and all the lettuce and broccoli was apparently covered by the downward slide of sand during the rain (all gone). So that is where we stand with that. John is excited about the corn though, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for him!

Introducing...

Rosie!! The girls chose her name. They asked me if there were any flowers that were black and white. I told them I knew some people liked to dye roses black. From there they found their way to Rosie. She is a Boston Terrier/Pug mix and she will be nine weeks old this Monday. She is very sweet and still unsure of us (as most people are, lol). I think she is going to fit in just fine.