So todays lessons...

Lesson number 1- not sleeping does not equal waking up with a "good" attitude. I just did not sleep well last night and had trouble waking up this morning which of course doesnt start off the morning well! This being said we did not get school done before we had to leave at 10:30, but that's just OKAY!

Lesson 2- always get to Hickory Hollow at 11:00 right when they are opening so you are ASSURED a seat, without "sharing" the table with a friendly stranger... which the restaurant's many signs encourage. SO NOT ME!

Lesson 3- When your kids hear about the splash park that they were "supposed" to get to go to but didnt have a plan in mind to make it up to them! I thought well we cant drive an hour to the other side of Baytown, we wont make it in time and we will waste A LOT of gas! Gas = money right which we are short of! So I thought lets get our bathing suits on (the kids not ME) and go to the splash area at Hermann park. MISTAKE- there was no parking and just not a good situation. So we left and I drove aimlessly around trying desperately to think of something to appease my children who were bless their hearts being really, really good about it all! So we keep driving and finally end up back at home after almost an hour- you might think GAS but literally that was like 15 miles! I kept stopping to THINK of something. Anyway, we got home and I told the kids we could go swim at Maw Maws on Saturday and then ***light bulb*** moment. I let them play in the backyard with the hose. Now mind you, we dont have a "cool" sprinkler, this was JUST a hose. But they had a blast for almost an hour! So yeah ME.

Lesson 4- when you fail to plan, your plan fails... this would be in the area of meal planning! We are very tight this paycheck because of the camping trip, a car repair and various "stuff" so my grocery budget got cut down some. I didnt plan very well so we are scraping stuff together. You know those interesting meals! Which is fine and I dont mind doing, but I just wish I had planned better and I wouldnt be in this position. I have been meal planning since we moved in and have done great except for this two weeks literally! So I already have my meal plan for the next two weeks done when I grocery shop on Monday!

Lesson 5- when you plan to clean up the floor of the school room and end up moving the entire seating arrangement you have gone too far! I just meant to straighten up, but then I was like, I wonder how it would work better this way. I also want something to hold our books by where I sit and I dont want to buy anything, so I need enough room to accommodate the shelf I already have! But I think I like it better so far... we will see tomorrow when I do SCHOOL! Which is what I didnt ever get to today! We did however start Old Yeller though. The kids are really enjoying it so far- I will let you know how that goes when we are through with the book.

Lesson 6- Although reading some blogs today took some time ( I spent almost 45 minutes reading) it was worth it by how encouraged I was when I stopped! I really did feel better about some choices I have been making- I felt like they had been reinforced! I do enjoy it and I do profit from it, I just need to place a limit on it and stick to it! That is all about boundaries which I am WORKING on!

So what did you learn today?

Wow I havent posted in months and here I am twice in one day...

So earlier my post was whiny. Not tooooo whiny but just whiny enough. Do you know whiny is one of those words when said enough times doesnt sound like a real word? Well it feels the same way whenever you spell it that many times too!

I digress.

We left the house after lunch and headed to .... the library. One of our favorite places to be! This summer I plan to try lots of the libraries around me too! Maybe we will find one that we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. I love our library for its closeness and old buildingness but it's kids section leaves MUCH to be desired and there is no where to sit and be cozy and their are always so many people on the internet that they filter over to the kids section of internet and that for many, MANY reasons makes me leery. So not that I will not continue to visit our library for just go get some books.. but I want to find a library that I LOVE.

I would also love to find a librarian who is actually nice. Do YOU know one of those? I really have not had the pleasure of meeting one! For instance today I had a large pile of books- like 25 hardback and I was holding them all since I hadnt brought the normal library suitcase I usually have. So I am in line holding them. I am not paying attention to what the ladies in line ahead of me are doing I am just holding my books and keeping track of three kids- who move quick and of course one eyeball is on the computer section AT ALL TIMES! So the lady in front of me leaves the line... I gladly move up and place my LARGE, HEAVY stack on the desk and proceed to sort them out- I dont know why I do that but I do. I am sorting and the librarian is oviously still typing stuff in. So I wait. The librarian has yet to say a word to me btw... so the original lady standing in line comes back and slightly huffily informs me that she wasnt finished. I am like "okay, so I push my stack of books to the side, pull the children back away from the counter to give the lady some room to "finish her transaction".


WHY DIDNT THE LIBRARIAN JUST TELL ME THE LADY WASNT DONT YET????


The librarian never said a single word to me. The whole time. I think I said something stupid like, are you getting ready for the summer crowds.... NOTHING! She is not mute or deaf.... I have heard her speak.


Why?


So anyway, this summer I vow to find the library I LOVE for special occasions!


e have signed up so far for

the Houston Public Library Reading program
Barnes and Noble Reading Program
Borders Reading Program

I plan to sign up for

HEB reading program

and any more I can find! I love reading programs! Well I say I love reading programs but what usually happens is I sign up for them and the kids read a TON of books and I never get any of the prizes- because I cannot stand the library in the summer and I just never go to the other places! So why sign up? I dont know it is just a thrill for me I guess! But this year I plan to participate and actually get all the prizes! Yeah! It is a GOAL. How about I have a prize for myself if I turn in all the kids reading programs papers? Yes! I will give myself $20.00 to spend at a bookstore! I love bookstores!


Make sure and ask me about the GOAL!

Oh MY Goodness...

I am coming to you live from a home schooling "session", can I call it a session? We are back here in the school room, Matt is copying his multiplication facts, Emily is working on addition and Kaitlin is KILLING me with math. I think I have literally blown some blood vessels. We have been in the school room for like 25 minutes, no longer actually! Time for lunch!


Emily did well on her reading of course this was after I made her sweep the kitchen and dining room after complaining about reading in the first place!

Matt looked at me after a few problems of subtraction with borrowing from the hundreds..." Mom how do you do subtraction?" I was like, "HUH?" What he had been doing was the math in his HEAD------ I am making him physically do the "math" on paper! So what he meant was how do you write all the borrowing stuff! He just does not get it on paper- he just does it in his head! While that sounds great in theory.. he still has to KNOW how to actually do the work for when the numbers are just TOOOO big to do in his head!

Kaitlin is working on fractions right now. AKKKKKKKKKKKKK. Dave has been enlisted to help on several occasions lately. Although he can explain the math.... he is not a teacher? Does that make sense? He doesnt really understand why we dont just GET what he "explains" the first time. I mean it makes sense to him! so I am at a loss! She is doing common denominators and I cant seem to convince her that you cant ummm make numbers up while you go? There is actual math involved... and the math is surrounded by the little things called RULES. Bothersome I know!


So anyway...we found this neat game online with fractions but I got so frustrated trying to help her get the answers - answers I am (YES... I am not ashamed to say) not really sure are the right answers! So we took a break... fortunately the next lesson in her book took a short hiatus from actual denominators and numerators and on to word problems...

HMMMM. So I wrote the 4 things you do to solve word problems on a paper and tacked it on the wall next to her...

1. What am I supposed to be finding out in this word problem?
2. Do I use addition, subtraction, multiplication or division to figure it out?
3. Set your problem.
4. Solve the problem and make sure it makes sense in regards to the story...


So I just checked her work and she did fine, but they were very easy and there was no trickery involved... You know when word problems twist and turn and you dont have any idea what they are really asking you to solve!

So it bugs me when the question is not answered properly...

Mother bought 8 bags of sugar for $1.76 a bag. What did Mother pay for the sugar?

Answer: 14.08 (((*******WRONG*****))))

the proper answer is $14.08 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay I am done... all the children have ran away... far away! They get a break because I NEED A BREAK... why because I am having trouble breathing and there might be spots involved! Maybe we do need a summer break???

Um no way! We have to make up the 4 weeks we have missed in the last 3 months! So I trudge on... this afternoon is easy--- reading and making the 6 flags of Texas out of whatever the kids want to ....let the creativity flow!

March 27???????????????????????

March 27?

Where have I been????

I have been here just apparently VERY, VERY busy.

Now I am in no way saying that those of you who manage to blog everyday are NOT busy!

I dont know what is wrong with me! I just dont blog.

In fact I am only blogging tonight because I happened to read Brenda's blog, The Family Revised, and saw that she had linked to my sad, sad little blog!

So here I am... blogging.


I am laying in bed with hubbie and even he showed surprise at my blogging!

So what to say after such a long, long absence?

NO Brenda, I do not have a camera... after the whole losing the camera fiasco and finding the camera fiasco a few months ago you should be amazed to find out that I lost my camera again! Actually Matt did, but I am casting no blame! So I am camera less now! Dave vows I am banned from buying a new camera and I havent had the guts to even start saving up for one yet!

We were driving home from Becky's house (my friend who will not blog) and I said to Dave can you believe we have ONLY lived in the house for almost three months? I mean it hasnt even been three months! It feels like forever! Someone asked me the other day if we are all settled in and I was like kindof... I feel bad saying that we arent but to be truthful I dont think we are. I still havent "found" a place for everything!

This is my plan... I have been SOOOOOOOOOOO busy that I feel overwhelmed so I have decided to SLOW down! I am actually bowing out of a few activities that I have already signed up for. I do not like doing that but I am at my wits end! I want to work on the house, I want to home school my kids (yeah I mean actually do school with them--- what a novel concept!), I want to work on some things with the kids, I want to work on our budge!

Let me break down some of those things a little more for you!

Work on house-

I want to get things more scheduled, and organized. I went though MOST stuff as we moved but I am already ready for another purging. I also want to organize my kitchen, update my coupons and menus and get cooking! My MIL got me a bread maker for mothers day! Yeah, I made Sourdough bread today but I wanna do much more! I wanna cook everyday! I wanna cook from scratch! I wanna use whole foods!!!!

I need to make lots of lists of all the things I need to do around the house... I think it is going to be really long!


School kids-

I actually need to school them! We need to start our Bible again, start their new spelling programs, keep working on math but catch up some too! and I need to continue working on Texas history! I have so many crafts and we are going to make a diorama of a battle scene! I am hoping to hook Matt with that!

We also need to work on organization in school and some chore charts!


Budget-


Well now that I have a better handle on what our monthly expenses will be at the house its time to work on our budget some! I need to start being much, much more careful in my spending! I have to much MISC. spending! I need to account for all that misc. and really count the cost of each purchase. I want to save for some specific things and the only way that I can do that is by being really careful! I know that I can do it, I have certainly done it many times before!



So that was a long, involved post with lots of rambling and mix matched conversations! But that's okay, it was the first of many catch up posts!