Way too long since I've posted

It's been awhile since I've made a new post and thought I should update.  We are still plugging away at discovering how to make this homeschooling thing work.  We have good days and bad days and I'm learning that a lot of it has to do with me.  The better prepared I am, the better is generally goes.  My attitude makes a big difference as well.  I have two big goals for this month.  One is to the Spalding book read and ready to implement in December.  The other is to start doing the Science curriculum we have sitting on the shelf twice per week.

In other news, we are buying a house!!!!  We put an offer in on house that we thought we would never get for what we were offering and it was accepted.  The closing date is January 15th. We are over the moon with excitement!  It is an older home that is well build but needs some cosmetic work.  It has 3 bedrooms and a bathroom, an eat in kitchen and a living room on the main floor.  The basement has been used as a apartment and has a kitchen area, two bedrooms, a living room with a gas fireplace, a bathroom and the laundry room.  The backyard is HUGE and also has a heated workshop.  It has so much potential and everytime we talk about it we come up with another renovation idea.  It will be hard to hold off and do things slowly (aside from the issue of not having the money for it, lol).  We are still working on getting out of our lease.  The landlord has said that we can terminate at the end of February as long as we find him new tenants.  We were hoping for the end of January but I guess one extra month isn't too big of a deal.  It will also give us extra time to do some of the small projects on the house before we move in. 

That's it for now.  I'm going to try and be a little better at keeping up with posting.

Feeling very down today

We just got back from Windsor late last night and I'm really struggling today. Tim ran a half marathon yesterday and I am so proud of him.  But I think it has hit me really hard because it is reminding me of how far I am from the goals that set for myself at this time last year.  I was going to finally get in shape and be healthy and I was doing great.  I lost almost 40 pounds and was loving being active again. Then we moved back to Ontario and I fell off the wagon and haven't been able to get back on.  If I had stuck with the track I was on, I could have run that race with Tim but instead I was on the sidelines.  I'm just really disappointed in myself.  And then to top it off I received an email yesterday from a friend that really threw me for a loop.  I'm feeling very misunderstood and alone. AND I have a major headache from being sleep deprived and emotional. ARGH!  ARGH! ARGH!  No homeschooling has been done yet today because I just can't stop crying. 

Going to take the kids for a walk to try and clear my head....

A brag session

Nate had his first math "test" today and finished it in 12 minutes (instead of the 20 minutes I allotted him).  He got 100%  and wrote everything very neatly.  I'm so proud of the progress he is making.

At Nate's hockey practice today Caleb asked me to quiz him on his addition (adding 0 and 1).  And then asked me for paper to practice writing his numbers and letters.  AWESOME!!!

In the car the other day, the topic of homeschooling came up and Tim asked the boys if they like it.  Caleb answered "No" and Nate said "I love it" so then Caleb said "Oh, OK, maybe I like it a little bit."  I guess Caleb missed the memo that they are supposed to like it now.  LOL!

Nate has been writing a story called "Under My Bed."  He's excited that he is going to be an "author".  We told him that we will try and get a real hardcover book made with the story once it is done.  It is all he wants to work on. 

I love that my kids are starting to love to learn!!!!! 

One month in

So it's been a bit over a month since we started the school year and although I feel like we've made some progress I'm still worried that we aren't getting enough schooling done. It just seems like there are a million things that get in the way of getting our work done. We get math and reading done daily but the rest is hit and miss. The kids are getting a bit more cooperative but its still a struggle to get them down to work after breaks. I'm really hoping that it will get better still. I've also been slacking a bit when it comes to preparing and I don't know why I lost steam.  I think the lack of planning is my biggest deterrent.  We have been talking about doing an army rank system as a reward system.  I think it will also help with motivating them...if only we could find/make the time to get it set up.

On another note, the kids have chosen Niagara Falls for their next research project. The library only had one book on the topic. I was very disappointed.  I'm hoping we will be able to find more info online and maybe do a field trip this month as well :)

I'm also not as impressed with the online Bible overview course we have been following for our Bible lessons as I used to be.  More and more it is getting dependent on reading books other than the Bible (mostly that I don't own).  I think I may continue to use it as a guideline and do my own thing (which I was kind of doing anyways, but now more so).

We also really need to get the Spalding program book read and implemented because one of my biggest goals for Caleb for this year is to get him to read. I know that it is a good program, but it seems like it would "easier" to just get a program that is all set out for me....like All About Spelling.

Ahhh...so much to do.  This homeschooling stuff sure keeps me on my toes.

And here are some random pics of my beautiful children...the reason all of this work is necessary and so worth it!!!!

Halloween costumes were purchased this week and have been worn around the house non-stop!

ABC's

I just had the best laugh I have had in a long time.  We were sitting working on writing out words with the same sounds and Caleb got bored of it.  So I told him to play with blocks while Nate and I were still working.  I look around and he was making letters with the blocks.  He is so creative.  Then he decided to start making letters with his body.  Nate and I were laughing so hard at his imagination.  Then of course Nate had to join in, then the camera came out...

Try and guess which letters they are:

First field trip of the year

Today we went on our first field trip of the year. We went to Willowgrove Farm. We learned about honey bees and their importance in apple orchards. My kids rocked it! We had borrowed a book from the library last month about bees and read it a couple of times. They knew the answers to all of the questions. It was a good "review" for them. I have to admit that my kids were the smarty pants of the group. ;)

Here's a few pics from the adventure:

Cake decorating

This is post is not about homeschooling but it is part of what keeps me "calm".  My hobby is cake decorating.  I started it seven years ago for Nate's first birthday.  I bought a simple cake decorating kit and taught myself how to do it with the help of the internet (mostly  www.cakecentral.com).  I've come a long way and made my first wedding cake last month for my cousin's wedding (see pic below). I still have a lot to learn because I've mostly done it for the kids birthdays and occasionally for a baby shower or something.  I've had people pay for them a couple of times but I never charge enough.  I would love to some day do it as a part time business so I am starting to try and get my skills up to par.  This weekend was the Baking and Sweets show in Toronto and I got to go!!!  I attended a demo class from Michelle Bommarito.  She is a celebrity chef from the food network. She was great!  I learned a lot from her about fondant and I'm looking forward to trying out some of the techniques she suggested.  I also scored a bunch of  bakeware and decorating supplies for super cheap!!!

I'm hoping that maybe in the near future I can take some hands on classes somewhere and also start selling my cakes on a more regular basis to help supplement our income.