How we finished off our year

We are officially done with our school year!  WooHoo!  I had originally planned to go through this week, but I thought Hubby had this week off of school before starting his next class so we double timed through the last two weeks.  Only to realize that Hubby didn't have any time off before starting his next class.  But we didn't hurry for nothing--we got an extra week off!  I'll have a more detailed post about what all we accomplished this year, but I will say that for the first time in a couple of years we finished every book I planned on finishing.  The girls worked very hard this year and I am super proud of them!  But we are all ready for a long break!

We did have a field trip last Tuesday.  We went to the LSU Botanical Gardens.  It started out as a really nice day.  Not too hot as long as we were in the shade.  The girls and I both got to see friends and catch up a little.  We started off going to a couple of different stations and learning about trees and habitats. 

Raising their branches high

After eating lunch we were supposed to go on a little hike.  It was a little warmer by then, and not as much shade on the trail, but we survived. 

And then on the hike back it started to rain.  And not just a little rain.  Pouring rain.  We were completely soaked! However, I was very proud of my girls for not complaining at all.  #4 was a trooper.  I kept waiting for her to ask to get in the golf cart that was trailing our group so that I could ride too, but she never did!  It was a good field trip!

The adults after our refreshing walk in the rain!

 Thursday was our last official day of school.  I think they all had a math lesson and #1 had one memory card left for history.  So we were actually done around 10.  I played this song for our end of school celebratory dance.  The girls thought it was funny. 

And Friday we had our end of the year presentations for the co-op.  The three oldest were all in a choir, #1 did a little something for her storytelling class, and #2 was a guard and the narrator for the Wizard of Oz play.  I have exactly 0 pictures of any of it.  We did film it on our camcorder, but we haven't downloaded any of it yet.  Trust me when I say they were awesome!  Unfortunately, we're not going to be a part of the co-op next year because I'm starting up a homeschool choir, but we were really blessed by the co-op this semester.  The girls and I both made new friends and we enjoyed every week we spent with them! 

So now we have some time to relax before we start our annual summer travels.  The girls don't know it yet, but they're going to be gone the entire month of July.  Hubby is going to be going to CA for a meeting and we have a family vacation scheduled in Hot Springs, AR.  All of which I'm really looking forward to!  Gotta love summer time!

3 weeks in less than 200 words!

Whew!  These last few weeks have been crazy!  So I'm going to just sum it up!

Thursday:  Easter Egg hunt and picnic with homeschool group.

  
Saturday:  Sold Suburban 3 days before leaving to go to Oklahoma for a week.  Bryan took three oldest girls to a Father/Daughter picnic.

Sunday:  Mad scramble looking online for a van hoping we can go to a dealership on Monday and buy one before leaving on Tuesday.

Monday:  No luck with vans.  Thankful a friend let us borrow his vehicle to travel in so we didn't have to rent a van for a week.

Tuesday:  Leave at 5 in the morning, drive for 12 hours and make it to parent's house.  Girls are excellent travellers.

Wednesday:  Start meeting at church.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday:  Food and Family.  We had lunch and dinner every day with different members of the congregation.  We were so thankful for their hospitality.  And so very full!  Also saw 3 siblings and their spouses and child.  Spending time with family makes my heart happy.

Sunday:  Finish meeting, Easter egg hunt, too much candy, family leaves.  Find vans at dealership in Texas for a much better price than what we would pay at home.

Monday:  Stop at dealership on the way to brother's farm.  Make a deal, buy a van, drive two vehicles to farm, get in worst storm we've ever driven in, make it to farm safely.

Tuesday:  Head home in two vehicles.  Get home at 4:30, leave by 5:15 to drive to New Orleans to visit friend in hospital.  Home at 10.

Wednesday:  Decide that we are all too exhausted to even contemplate school, go to a late breakfast, get some groceries back in the house and unpack.

Thursday:  Friend didn't get to go home from hospital so we went to see them again.  Took up most of the day.  Dropped in at a used homeschool curriculum fair.  Didn't find anything.

Friday:  Start of homeschool convention.  So thankful I was able to go.  Hubby took girls to co-op.  Came home with several curriculums I wanted to research.

New History curriculum for next year.  Super excited about it!

Saturday:  Another day at the convention.  Awesome speakers.  Didn't necessarily learn a lot of new stuff, but was definitely encouraged.  And I got some awesome info on homeschooling in highschool.  Looking forward to those years!

Monday:  Finally started school back up.  Looked over remaining school work and decided we were on track to finish a week earlier than planned as long as we did school every day for the next 3 weeks.

Tuesday:  Decide at the last minute to join some friends at the zoo and skip book work.  Because I'm learning to be more flexible and realizing that my girls will remember impromptu trips to the zoo more than the worksheets I make them do.

Wednesday:  Laundry and catching up with everything else that needs to get done.  Enjoying nice weather and being with my girls.  And we'll still finish school a week early!

***You didn't really think it would be less than 200 words, did you?

Weekly Wrap-Up: It's all starting to run together

Seriously though, I'm trying to think what all we did this week in school, and all I can think is, "The same thing we do every week."  Nothing is exciting anymore.  We are simply getting through the days until school is out.  And this is why I am not a year round homeschooler.  If I didn't have a summer break to look forward to it would make getting through school much harder! 

When I was feeling so bad I could hardly get out of bed and Hubby told me he was taking care of school I was mildly thankful.  I was feeling so bad that I didn't really care if school happened or not.  So when he told me he was taking care of it, I just kind of shrugged it off.  Now that I'm feeling better though I am so very grateful that he did that for me.  We still would have gotten through everything, it just would have been a bit more crunched.  I'm thankful for all our sakes that it won't be!

We did celebrate Hubby's birthday this week, on Monday.  Since my gift is currently waiting in Oklahoma for him, I still didn't really feel well enough to cook, and he can't have cake because of his diabetes, I felt like we were kind of just passing by the day without really celebrating him at all.  So I decided that we would call him--often--and sing happy birthday to him.  My original goal was to call every hour, but it ended up being just whenever I thought about it.  I think we ended up singing to him about 8 times during the day.  And #4 sang to him at the restaurant when we went to dinner.  He put up with it with a smile!

We also got to go to pick strawberries.  We all love strawberries so we've been looking forward to this trip for a long time.  Unfortunately, the unseasonably cold winter and extra rain we've had lately made for a bad strawberry crop.  When we went at this time last year they were nearing the end of their picking season.  This year they just started picking a week ago.  Last year we could have stood in a one foot area on the row of strawberries and filled a gallon bucket.  This year we had to walk up and down about 3 rows to get our buckets filled.  But we still had a good time picking.  And then we got to eat lunch and spend a couple of hours visiting with our friends.  It was also a gorgeous day.  Not too hot with a nice breeze every once in a while.  I'm glad we were able to go!

We were the only moms left.  There were a lot more of us!

The aftermath!

We also had co-op this morning.  As we've gotten to know everyone better we are really enjoying going.  I enjoy getting to know all the Moms better and the girls are all having fun in their classes.  Unfortunately, we've decided we're not going back next year.  I decided that starting up the homeschool choir is going to take a lot of my time and energy.  And I know myself well enough to know that when I pile too much on my plate it makes me a little crazy which means the family is going to be miserable.  So we're dialing back on the co-op, but hopefully once the choir gets established we can revisit joining again.

And this weekend is going to be spent cleaning out the suburban and getting it ready to sell.  We've been waiting for it to warm up to sell it.  So now we're trying to get it sold and buy another vehicle all before we leave to go up to Oklahoma for a Gospel Meeting.  In a week and a half.  Because that's how we roll!

#4's 4th birthday

We've never really been big on birthday celebrations so #4's birthday was just a family affair.  She got to open gifts, watch Frozen, and choose where we ate dinner.  She chose Jason's Deli.  For the salad bar.  And she got an ice cream cake, although we didn't get any pictures of it because we had to wait until Sunday to get it for her.  She hasn't stopped playing with her news toys yet.  Always a plus! 

Hard to believe our munchkin is four, but we're not sad about it either!  She continues to love to cuddle and is starting to come up with the funniest things to say.  She is coming out of her shell a little bit around strangers, but she still isn't completely comfortable with new situations and new people.  She still wavers between wanting to "do school" like her big sisters and being happy having all the toys to herself while they are working.  I'm enjoying watching her come out of the toddler stage and enter into the little kids stage.

Field trip to the farm and the State Capital

I felt pretty awful all week last week, but we did manage to get school done every day and had a field trip to a farm and the older two went with Hubby to the state capital with TeenPact.

First the farm.  The directions we had to the place were perfect, but I drove past it the first time because it looked like someone's home, not necessarily a farm.  After confirming with a friend that it was indeed the place we went back.  We were the first ones there so when I approached the man in the yard I told him we were there for the field trip with Bayou Cajun Homeschoolers.  He looked at me like he didn't have a clue what I was talking about.  I think if I hadn't confirmed it with my friend that I was in the right place I would have assumed that I just drove up to a random house and told them I was there for a field trip.  I finally found someone who knew we were coming and decided we were in the right place.   After that bit of awkwardness we were good to go.

First we learned about different types of farms and why they are so important.

Then we got to see piglets that were about 4 weeks old.  They really do scream like little babies when they are upset.  Not pleasant, even when you know they aren't really in distress.

These guys were about 4 months old.  And they reminded us that piglets may be cute, but grown pigs really do stink.  A lot.

The girls got to bottle feed some baby animals

After looking at the animals we were taken to the horses.  All the girls got to ride at least once, and some of them rode twice.  I got to lead one of the horses.  In my tennis shoes.  Trust me when I say that people who work on farms wear boots for more than a fashion statement!

#1

#2

#4 with #1 walking along beside her

Me leading #3

After riding the horses we got to go on a hayride.  At one point the girls were given a sticker that said, "I met a farmer today."  After the hayride I told the man that we should have all gotten stickers that read, "I survived the hayride of 2014!"  The driver, who was probably at least in his 70s, drove like the tractor was a four wheeler.  And the rest of us hung on for dear life.  One of the other moms who had been at the farm for something else said that when they went on a night-time ride that he actually drove even faster.  I think it would have been fine if we had been prepared, but we hadn't placed the children quite securely enough to be completely comfortable.  But we all survived.  And the girls thought it was awesome.

The girls also got to pet and hold rabbits. 

We also had to settle an argument about whether this rooster was real or not.  I thought it was real.  I was wrong.

We ended the morning by eating lunch there with a few of the other families.  We really enjoyed our time and the time we got to spend with friends.  But I'm really looking forward to our trip to the strawberry farm in a week!

#1 and #2 also finally had their day at the state capital with Hubby.  They both really enjoyed it and Hubby thought it was an excellent learning experience for them as well.  I love the idea of getting our girls involved in their government, even as young as they are.  I also love that they have 4 day classes for older kids that count towards a civics credit in highschool! 

They just happen to be wearing the skirts that I made with the help of my friend.  Well, she completely made #2's and most of #1's, but I did finish #1's by myself.  And I think I could do it again.  Everyone was right, skirts are pretty easy to make. 

Our First Homeschool Camp

A Church of Christ Homeschool Camp.  We were initially very excited to find this camp.  But for whatever reason as time went on, Hubby and I started to have some reservations about the camp.  We were going in to an unknown and didn't know what to expect.  We decided about a week before we left that we needed to have a more positive attitude about going, but we still weren't super excited about it.  We were going for the kids and that was about it.

Boy were we wrong!  It didn't take more than a few hours at the camp to realize that not only were our kids going to have a great week, but we were going to be blessed as well.

First, everyone was unbelievably friendly.  I don't have a problem meeting new people, but it is helpful when you go in to a new place and every single person you see introduces themselves and has a genuine interest in meeting you.  There were a lot of people who knew each other from previous camps, but also a lot of new people.  We met a lot of people that we are going to enjoy staying in contact with, even though we don't live close to each other.

The facilities were fantastic.   Hubby did have to stay in a different cabin even though it was a family camp.  But we knew that going in.  However, the girls and I were able to stay in a cabin with our friends from Houston.  We were also very close to the bathroom.  That was a huge deal!  They did that for us since we had two little kids.  I'm going to beg each year to be that close to the bathroom.  It made my life a million times easier since I was completely in charge of bathroom/shower duty for all four girls.  And we had heat/ac in the cabins as well.  Good thing since the first night got down to freezing!

The only picture I took all week!

The teenagers who were there were exactly the role models we want for our girls.  I am fully aware that no child is perfect, but Hubby and I were extremely impressed with the older kids who were at this camp.  We sat behind a couple rows of them in the worship services and they were actively engaged in singing, praying, and taking notes during the lessons.  Hubby overheard a couple of girls saying that even though they hadn't actually studied for the Bible Bowl activities that they might as well do it since they were there.  These are the kind of girls that we want our girls to look up to.  And eventually these are the young men we want our daughters to look to for future mates.  It was refreshing to be reminded that all hope is not lost for the future generations!

There was a time for the moms to get together to encourage one another.  Not only was I encouraged talking to other homeschool Moms, I found out some great resources for our school.  I love talking with other homeschool Moms.  They have a wealth of information just waiting to be tapped.  Hopefully I was also able to encourage and help some of the other Moms as well.

The worship.  I know this idea is foreign to people who aren't a part of the Church of Christ, and even a lot of people who grew up in the church disagree with me, but acapella music is awesome.  Give me 200 Christians sitting shoulder to shoulder singing with just their voices instead of having a praise band.  Every.  Time.  I got chills the first time we sang together.  I had pretty much lost my voice by the end of the camp, but it didn't matter because you couldn't really hear yourself singing anyway.  They recorded the singing this year and we are really looking forward to getting the CD.  Listening to it will help remind us of how awesome the worship was.

All of those things were definite pluses of the camp.  But if I had to choose what the best thing about the camp was, I would say that it was being able to be completely open with everyone who was there.  Because when you homeschool, and you're the only one who homeschools in your congregation, you have to be on guard to make sure that you don't offend those who don't homeschool.  I am in no way ashamed that we homeschool, but there are a lot of people that when I say, "We homeschool" they hear, "We homeschool and think that the public schools are evil and that if your children attend public school we think you are terrible parents."  Hubby and I don't feel that way.  We don't judge people for the decisions they make for their children.  But when we walk in to a new congregation who doesn't know us, they don't know that about us.  And honestly, most of them don't bother to find out more about why we homeschool so they continue with their pre-conceived ideas about us and our thoughts on homeschooling.  Which means that we have to watch what we say about homeschooling so that we don't offend anyone.

On the flip side, when we are with people in our homeschool group, I don't talk about church stuff.  We're a part of the homeschool groups for social reasons, not to talk religion.  So when we're with other homeschoolers we have to be on guard about not saying something that might cause conflict with others. 

At the camp we were there with other Church of Christ homeschoolers.  Our two worlds were finally combined and we didn't have to think about everything we said.  No one was judging us for homeschooling and no one was judging us for our religious beliefs.  We could be completely open with everyone we talked to without fear of offending them.  That was more freeing than I ever thought it would be.

We are definitely making plans to go back next year and as many years as we possibly can.  I can already tell this is going to be our new camp to look forward to every year. 

Weekly Wrap-Up: A Better Week and a Little Reality

So this week was better by far.  I'm still ready for a break, but we all made it through without tears.  And as it turns out, next week we are going to a homeschool camp up in  Oklahoma.  I'm trying to have a good attitude about the camp.  We were really excited about it at first, but a couple of things have happened that have made Hubby and I wonder if we're going to enjoy ourselves as much as we thought.  But as I was complaining about it yesterday Hubby told me that he was trying to have a better attitude about it since he was taking a week's worth of vacation to go.  He said that he felt like he needed to at least give it a try before deciding it was going to be bad.  Which of course made me realize that I needed to change my attitude as well.  Did y'all notice how he did that?  Told me that he was needing to change his attitude which also gently pointed out to me that I needed to change my attitude as well without coming right out and saying it.  He's one smart cookie, that husband of mine.  Of course, I knew exactly what he was doing because I am also a smart cookie, but since he did it correctly I was able to listen and follow his example instead of becoming hard headed and getting in an even more foul mood. 

This week was mostly school as usual for us.  #1 and #2 did write letters to our state senator and representative as part of their homework for TeenPact.  They were very impressed with the fact that they could so easily contact their representatives and to learn that their representatives are supposed to listen to them about different issues that come up.  Which is exactly what we want them to learn through these classes.  How government works and how they can make an impact in our government.  Hubby is actually going with them for their class.  Government is his passion and I think he'll enjoy the day as much as the girls.  Once we get back home they also are going to write a bill that is going to be presented to the class.  I passed that work off to Hubby right away.  I don't want/
need any extra work to do with the girls!

I'm learning something with #3.  With her math, I teach her a new concept on Monday and then the rest of the week she works on the worksheets that review the new concept as well as review previous concepts.  With #1 and #2, when they were in 1st grade I was still able to sit next to them as they did each worksheet and make sure they were doing every problem correct.  I'm not able to do that with #3.  When she is working on her math I'm working with one of the others girls on something else.  Usually I don't even pay much attention to whether or not she is using the blocks to help her.  She knows that she is allowed to answer the problems without using blocks if she understands how to do it.  The thing is, she is getting everything right.  I know when I'm teaching the new concept when she has gotten it.  Once she has I can literally let her go and work on her own and she can do it by herself.  She still occasionally asks for help, usually on word problems, but for the most part, she figures them out on her own.  This year with #1 and #2 it was a big deal to put so much independent work on their own shoulders.  But I'm learning that even as young as 1st grade they can be left alone to do independent work.  That's a nice revelation.  It makes a difference in the way I look at school work.  That I don't have to sit next to them for every little thing making sure everything is perfect as they go along.  I can give them some independence, when it's feasible, and trust them to get it right.  Or at least trust myself to know when they are getting something and when they need my help.  It's a nice thought when I look forward a couple of years to schooling 4 kids.

But I don't have to worry about that right now!  School is done for the week so I just have to focus on getting packed, spending some time with family and spending a week with a bunch of other weird homeschoolers!  Looking forward to the break!

P.S.  Remember my post a couple of weeks ago about being real with each other?  This was my kitchen one night last week.  It took three loads in the dishwasher to get it all cleared away.  And no, I did not wash anything by hand to get it done quicker and no, I did not help the girls with their chores of loading and unloading the dishwasher.  I left everything there until someone else took care of it.  And I am not ashamed!  :)

Weekly Wr--Oh, who cares?

I have hit a wall.  You know, the one where I question why I ever wanted to homeschool.  Where neither the girls nor I can seem to keep a good attitude for an entire day.  Where I have a hard time dragging myself out of bed in the morning because I know I have to start teaching as soon as I enter the living room. 

It happens every year.  And apparently it's a pretty common theme with homeschoolers.  The holidays are behind us, the weather isn't nice enough to play outside, and the end of the year isn't close enough to look forward to.  Although, when you think about it in those terms I wonder if teachers at public and private schools feel this way too. 

Whatever it is that causes it, I'm grumpy.  I'm not looking forward to school.  We get through every day by sheer force of will and someone ends up crying at least once a week.  It's bad enough that when I thought about writing about our school week I literally snarled my nose at myself. 

And then I remembered this post from the beginning of the year.  I re-read it.  And I sat and really thought about that memory.  And wonders of wonders, it worked.  Now, I'm not saying that I'm all happy and bubbly and wishing the week wasn't over, but I remember that beautiful moment, surrounded by my lovelies.  And I know deep down that this moment shall pass.  I'll climb over the stupid wall and get past it.  In fact, I had a nice visual.  Jesus at the top of the wall leaning down to give me a hands up.  Hubby right by my side cheering me on.  And the girls sitting on the sidelines, reading a book, every once in a while looking up to give a half-hearted cheer.  Because I may be encouraged, but positive thinking will only take you so far.

So to all the other homeschool Mamas out there who are having a hard time remembering why it's worth it, I feel your pain.  If you want to come over to my house we can sit on the couch with our arms crossed glaring at our beautiful children together.  And then we'll talk about why we chose to homeschool, and eventually we'll remember why we do it.  And it won't help the year move along any quicker, but maybe it'll help us get through each day a little easier!  And then, when we've survived until May, we'll have the most awesome end of school party that has ever happened! 

Sickness, a Birthday, and Insects

Baby Girl #2 turned 10 on Tuesday.  It wasn't the original plan, but she actually got to celebrate all week long.

On Tuesday Daddy made her some eggs for a quick breakfast and then I surprised the three oldest with a painting class.  It wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be, but they all had a good time anyway. 

 The best part of course was getting to take the day off of school.  No school for anyone on birthdays around here!  Well, that was the best part for the rest of us.  The best part for #2 was a toss-up between getting to finally wear dangling earrings and getting to read Harry Potter.  Once they turn 10 is when those two things happen for our girls.  She's almost done with the first book and she hasn't worn anything but danglies since Tuesday!

And for her birthday dinner she chose CiCi's Pizza.  Ugh!  But we let them choose wherever they want to go (within reason) so CiCi's it was.  Complete with Mac and Cheese pizza.  One of my favorite pizza's there, actually!

On Thursday we went on a field trip to the Insecterium in New Orleans.  Our only time to actually go to NOLA since we've moved here.  Also the only time I've had to go through airport-like security to see a bunch of bugs.  But we got to see friends and eat some more chocolate covered bugs, so it was worth it. 

Of course crawfish are going to be on display!  Especially the blue ones!

Eating chocolate covered wax worms.  We're used to them now.

Can't forget these two!  Notice the one person not in the pictures eating a bug...

We thought he was going to be the only one to have one land on him

But #2 got lucky too

And since we were in New Orleans with friends we decided that we would take the girls down to a famous cafe to get some famous beignets.  First of all, we walked several blocks to get there.  We were in the downtown area and had already paid for parking for the day so we didn't want to try to move the vehicles and have to pay again.  Walking in crowds trying to keep track of 9 children was a little stressful for me.  But we made it in one piece.  We even got caught by a few street performers.  The girls enjoyed it even if I was slightly irritated having to put money in a terrible "magician's" hat.  But the beignets were really good and the time with friends was welcome.

Iced Cafe au Lait--it was humid!

Lovely magician--just lovely

After getting home I took #1 and #2 to get manicures.  This was one of the things #2 wanted for her birthday.  I was originally going to just take #2, but she asked if #1 could come too and since #1 has her own money to pay for it I agreed.  We had a good time.

Tonight #2 is actually going to get to open the rest of her gifts.  I failed to take in to account Valentine's Day and President's Day when I ordered her gifts so they didn't actually get here until yesterday.  Definitely another Mommy Fail to add to my list.  It won't be the last either!

And tomorrow she'll get her birthday breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes and turkey bacon.  So even though it didn't quite work out the way she wanted, I think it was still a pretty good week for her.

As far as school goes, we actually only did school work on Wednesday.  I woke up in the middle of the night Sunday night sick to my stomach and stayed that way for the rest of the day so school was cancelled.  Tuesday was off for the birthday, Thursday was the field trip, and Friday was co-op.  So we did part of school on Wednesday, and it wasn't really good for anyone.  I was still not feeling great so was cranky and short with the girls.  They couldn't seem to get in the school gear and kept messing around.  We didn't really get anything important covered.  And so we'll chalk this week up to "life experience" (because that sounds better than saying the week was wasted, although it really wasn't) and we'll move on. 

I'm looking forward to not having anywhere to go tomorrow.  I'll probably sleep as late as I can get away with.  And we'll be back on track for next week!