Homeschooling Humor

Ok, so this whole list sounds awfully bitter, but hopefully it makes you laugh at least a little. Or maybe you're guilty and it'll make you think. LOL
http://www.familyhack.com/2007/11/09/homeschooler-rant/

Know what I wanted?

Caris just got up from nap and said, "Know what I was trying to have?" I said, "No, what?" She said, "a stream." I said, "a dream?" She said, "yeah, I was trying to have a dream but I couldn't have it."

Just blame Chandra and Alison

So everyone's right: once we tried lapbooking we were HOOKED! If you're not aware, lapbooking is kind of like scrapbooking and schoolwork all rolled into one. The basic idea is to alter a file folder and fill it with all kinds of pictures, mini-booklets and things and turn it into a really cool project all around a theme. Our first lapbooks (one per child) are on Valentine's Day. I'll upload pictures (those pics up top are just random pics from Google) once I can get my camera, usb cable and computer to play nice but until then, if you're intrigued then check out these links:

I told Chandra I was overwhelmed by lapbooking and she said to just jump in. She's right! Here's a link to her blog: http://eaglestaracademy.blogspot.com/

Alison has mentioned lapbooking in the past and turned me on to http://www.handsofachild.com/ where one can purchase all sorts of ready-to-go lapbooking packs. Here's her blog: http://wayzleyacademy.homeschooljournal.net/

And here's the one we're working on now: http://www.handsofachild.com/shop/Valentines-Day-Ebook-P530.aspx

Canaan, 50 weeks

Walking about half the time now. He gets so excited and laughs and walks with his tongue out!
Four molars are on their way (not poking through yet)
When he wants something he yells, "Ma-MA! MOM! MA MA MA!!" LOL
Wearing size 18-24 months, size 5 shoes, Large diapers

LOL-ers Only

Christian Tim Hawkins - really cute bit on what would happen if corporations got ahold of our favorite worship music.

It's over!

HE NURSED!!!!! He nursed! He nursed!! Praise the Lord, he nursed!

53 hours

It's been 53 hours since my son last nursed. I probably sound pathetic to most anyone who might read my blog, and I just don't care. I'm hysterical, I'll admit it. I'm sure my hormones are a little wacky because of the lack of nursing, and I'm just completely irrational at this point. I've read it all and know nursing strikes are fairly common, usually last 2-4 days, etc. I just can't get over this and how much it's upsetting me. Alif made a joke about it this morning and I could have shoved him out a window. Seriously. I'm reading on the LLL website and this girl understands the gravity of how I feel about this:

I didn't know it at the time, but 12 days before this writing, my 11-month-old daughter, Dakota, stopped nursing. I wish I had known she was going to "go on strike," I would have treasured every moment of it. I would have smelled her hair, kissed her forehead, and looked into her big, beautiful eyes, savoring every second of our special time together.

Nursing strike seems like such a simple, self-explaining term. Well, that little term rocked my life and my soul. It felt as if I was mourning the death of a loved one. I was mourning the way that I mothered my child. Mothering through breastfeeding was all that I knew, and without it I felt useless, detached, defeated, and depressed. The experience was life altering.

After 12 days and nights, I woke this morning to my little angel starting to rouse. She tossed and turned and started to root. I lifted my shirt and scooted over to her as I had been doing every morning since the nursing strike began, just to give it a try. Like nothing had ever happened, she latched on. She nursed slowly and drowsily for about three minutes. I don't think I even breathed through the whole thing. I touched her head, looked into her sleepy eyes, and took one big whiff of her feathery-soft hair. With a kiss on her forehead I whispered, "Welcome back, my Angel."

Nursing Strike

As you know, Canaan is sick. He's getting better day by day but he's still congested and cranky. Add another misery to the list: he refuses to nurse. As of this minute, it's been 31 1/2 hours since he last nursed. He cries, he asks for it ("na naaa. . . . ") but as soon as it's out he arches his back and cries. Even the sight of his once-beloved nursies causes this back-arching reaction. He's miserable, I'm miserable, we're all miserable. Please be right, LLL, when you say that it shouldn't last more than 2-4 days.

Canaan's Sick

A Day in the Life

Heart of the Matter is doing a meme on A Day in the Life of a homeschooling family, so here is my contribution. http://heartofthematteronline.com/2008/01/meme-day-in-life.html

First of all, you should know that organization, routine and consistency are not my strong points! I used to have a button when when I was a little girl that I absolutely treasured. It said, "PBPGINFWMY". I guess even then I knew I was a work in progress, and even then it was the cry of my heart: please be patient - God is not finished with me yet! I think I might need a sign in my home stating this! ANYway . . . we do have a basic daily routine, and it goes like this:

Waking - 9 am: everyone gets dressed, eats breakfast, does morning chores, check e-mail

9 - 12: schoolwork, playtime, etc. I work with each of the big kids individually while the others entertain themselves or work on their own

12 - 1: lunchtime, cleanup, play

1 - 3: Quiet time! Kids nap or have quiet time in their rooms, Mom sews, goes online, reads, etc.

3 - 6: afternoon chores - each child helps me work for 30 minutes and we get most of our housework done. Laundry, dinner prep, etc.

6 - 8:30: dinner, cleanup, baths, time with Daddy, bedtime

That's about it! Pretty simple!

Canaan, 45 weeks

26 pounds (90%), 31.5" tall (above 95%)
Crawling all over, cruising along furniture and walks while holding on to our fingers
Says bath ("baaa!"), brother ("bubba!"), mama and dada
Nurses throughout the day (and often once at night) and eats solids usually 2-3 times a day, if I remember. ;-)
2 naps per day, 1.5-2 hours each. Goes to bed by 8 and wakes up for the day by 7.
Had his first haircut (by Mommy) last week. He looks like such a big boy now!
Has 8 teeth

Yeah, good idea!

It is that evening tidy-up hour and I said to the kids, "What could we do to make the house look extra-specially nice?" and Caris said, "BALLOONS!" HA HA!

Silver and Staples

I love when I enter a home that is lovingly, carefully decorated, especially when you can tell that it's happened over time and each piece has been chosen because it struck someone's eye and they had to have it. I do not feel this way about my own home yet. Especially around holidays, I tend to beat myself up for not spending more time and money to make my home into a holiday happiness that my family and friends can enjoy. I was feeling that way before Thanksgiving this year. We were having my Mom over and I felt like the house was bare, that I didn't have any special decorations planned, no beautiful Thanksgiving centerpiece, etc. I determined that next year it would be different. Then I went down to the garage for something and what did my eyes behold? A utensil tray full of dirt - AND SILVER! There was a full set of beautiful, tarnished silverware - even serving pieces! I brought it upstairs and admired it. Mom brought over some silver polish and Malachi set to work. He made every piece gleam, and it was gorgeous. Thank you Lord for such a gift!

On Saturday we celebrated Thanksgiving at Tony & Rabae's house. Now SHE had a gorgeous Thanksgiving setup! But anyway, right around 1:00 Caris fell backwards from a tug of war game and hit the back of her head on their granite hearth. Alif scooped her up and was getting some ice when I saw that there was blood down the back of her shirt. Thankfully, Tony's brother Nick was there. He is an EMT and really helped out. He said it probably needed a staple, so Canaan & Caris & I took off for urgent care. The doctor agreed, probably a staple or two. A nurse cleaned it all up (was THAT hard to watch!! but Caris laid still and quiet the whole time!) and when the doctor came back in she said it was bigger than she thought. It ended up with three staples. Watching her do that was one of the hardest things ever as a Mom. Caris was so brave, lying still and crying softly into the table. I feel like I let the doctor do something barbaric to my little girl, but what else could be done? Her scalp was gaping open and had to be fixed. It certainly could have been a lot worse, but watching her have to have staples in her head was no fun. She's healing up wonderfully and we even got to wash her hair today.

Kids' Christmas Production

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9551363592

pics

Triplets, anyone?

When the kids and I walked into the WIC office today, everyone was smiling at us. A lady who was there with her kids asked, "are they triplets?" It took me a minute to realize she was referring to Malachi, Graham and Caris. I said, "Oh - no, they're not." She said, "Oh, ok - I saw that they (Malachi and Graham) were twins and then thought that she looks a lot like them too." ROFL! I said, "Oh - they're 9, 7 and 4, but boy triplets would have been a lot of work!" Ha ha ha! I get asked A LOT if Malachi & Graham are twins, but triplets - that was a first.

He's so precious

When I look down and I can just see Canaan's big brown eyes peering up at me, or his little sausage fingers reaching up to see what he can find on top of my desk, or hear his new spitting-all-the-time exuberance, sometimes I get tears in my eyes. I remember to thank God for this most beautiful gift.

Malachi, the white Ninja (no, the colors don't mean anything, they're just generic ninja costumes)
Graham, the red Ninja (or ninya, however you prefer LOL) ;-)
Caris, the big green Dragon - my little princess ROFL
Canaan's 1st Halloween, wearing the same Pooh costume his big brothers wore
Pooh didn't make it very long. We took him to one house trick-or-treating, fed him some carrots out of the split pea soup and then he was pretty much ready for bed. Don't worry, he didn't sleep in his costume. LOL

When I grow up I want to be like my son

Malachi has always had a strong spiritual sense. He has loved the Lord from the beginning and has always craved more of Him. Well, he's 9 now and taking off in his reading and every night he asks if he can read to me. He reads the Bible to me! I don't know anyone who has a hunger for the Word like my little son does. He memorizes it, talks about it, reads it on his own and with me and even prays it. I am praying that God will give me a desire to know the Word the way my son wants to!

And totally off topic: Caris has a hernia! OMGosh! I noticed a squishy lump in her groin area at least a year ago. I mentioned it to her pediatrician. She took a look at it and didn't see anything. I'd always trusted her very much, and she's a very thorough, conservative doctor so my mind was mostly at ease. Every so often I'd see that little soft lump and wonder what it was. Well, yesterday I read a post on a message board. This Mom was talking about how her daughter's surgery had gone that day. Her daughter is Caris' age. She said something about the scar in her groin area and something about a hernia and it made me wonder how she knew her daughter had a hernia. I looked back through the archives and her original post said that she noticed a soft squishy spot in her daughter's right groin. Just like Caris, I thought. I looked it up online and Inguinal Hernia sounded exactly like what I have seen on Caris. I called the doctor's office (they go to the family doctor I have seen for years now that we left the old pediatrician's office) and they made an appointment for her to be seen today. This practitioner saw it right away and gave me a referral to a surgeon. We'll see him on 11/13, though I am wondering if our doctor's office could get us in with him any sooner than that. I am praying that Caris is either healed or that this is easy to fix and never comes back!

Canaan, 36 weeks

-started crawling a few steps at a time
-sits in the big bath and loves to splash! Mommy has to sit him down over and over as he tries to climb all over the bath
-claps hands