Stick a Fork in Me!

So, things are going well but I find that by the end of the day, certainly after dinner has been put away and cleaned up I am DONE! Absolutely finished with the patience and love and kindness I try my best to be (hold on let me yell ay my daughter for coming in to ask me a question “ Be quiet I am busy now, can’t I do anything without interruption? grrrrr”) Ok I am back . Where was I??? Darn it keeping a thought in my head is harder than keeping snacks in the pantry. Patience has never been my strong suit but I am doing my best to try to exude calm and patience all day but by the end of the day I am tired and want to just gather my thoughts and have some quiet , ‘me’ time. It is complicated because Tuesday-Thursday Perry ( OH, I forgot to ‘out’ him on my last post huh? well you got me, PapaSchnuck’s Christian name is: Perry) coaches the boys in soccer and Monday and Friday are scout meetings. That means I have Nate and Jenny all the time and after a rushed and scrambled dinner off a few go and here I am and, because I am human, I get weary of it. Fall has always been challenging but I guess I am thankful that the ‘get off the bus, hurry do your homework and open your mouth as I shove food down your throat to get practice at tonight ‘ is not happening anymore, the rush just seems to start at breakfast now…

Activities complicate a well oiled machine

Well, let me be more precise, they make it slightly harder to do all the things that are suppose to get done, without more juggling.  But we are managing.  I am really and truly amazed at how easily this seems to be flowing.  Who’d a thought that they would not only accept their assignments but also embrace them.  Schnuckie 7 and 9 are both pretty much managing their own time and coordinating with me for the teaching part of the lessons.  Then I try to juggle Schnuckie 3 and 5 into the mix, trying to pay more attention to 5 in order to provide her the required teaching but not park 3 in front of the TV too much.  Wait,

OK OK STOP-  This is to hard, I just can’t be expected to think in code, I keep having to go back and cover their names and now I am numbering them.  ENOUGH! Ben is my 9 yr old; Matt is 7; Jenny (Jenny-pie) is 5 and Nate (Nater-tater tot) is 3.  There, it’s out there, for all the world to see.  I am sorry PapaSchnuck but I can’t do it anymore. Now I won’t get mixed up and can not worry about ant anymore.

SO.. where was I?  we have added in activities and have found that  this seems to make the coordination of academics a bit more challenging, but we are figuring it out.  It is so much nicer to go to the playground than tackle Math, or hit the Ma and Pa hiking Trail than try to memorize prepositions.  We are adding in Art club for all, gymnastics for 2, and a few other fun things and its miraculous how the hours melt away during the day.  So far we are doing OK.  On we go…

Three Day Weekends Rock ! (especially after your first week of Homeschooling)

Well, we made it.  Actually, I think we did excellent.  We leapt into work as the kids seemed to settle into the schedule rather easily.  Schnuckie7 did 4 weeks of Math in his workbook in 4 days. (I guess that does not surprise me.  I started him on grade level and told him to “have at it” and let me know when he gets stuck then we can actually begin lessons).  Nate has been challenging but we are getting things done (OK, OK, you caught me, I admit it, I have used the TV as a babysitter, hey what are you going to do?, I needed him out of my hair, and in my defense he watched no more than an hour a day).  Overall, though it was much smoother than I expected, really only a minimum of moaning and groaning would accompany the assignments.  For the most part the kids are logging on the computer, getting their assignments and scheduling their day out.  The younger ones need a bit more direction with this than the eldest but for the most part they only need to work me into the lesson planning (for when I need to teach- I can’t do more than one at any given time. I must say I am really proud of them, and Schnuckie5 whom I had anticipated having the most issue with has taken to ‘school time’ with gusto and really seems to enjoy it.   Dare I say, last week was fun??? But exhausting.

By Friday, I was whipped.  I mean I really was worn out.  Luckily Papaschnuck had the foresight to arrange for a day out for me.  Of course it wasn’t at the day spa (which would have been fabulous!!).  But it was at a Women on Target Rifle Course at an area Gun Club.  My goodness what fun it was, though the noise did result in a headache.

I learned all about gun safety, gun parts and had the opportunity to shoot a variety of different rifles, including a 1860’s Springfield Muzzleloader and a 50 caliber rifle.  Again, lots of fun and very enjoyable but the start of a busy 2 days of BBQ’s, friends, and fun.  Luckily on Labor day, I was able to relax, do some planning (take a 2 hour nap) and get myself ready for this week. And on we go…..