And Here Is Where I Pick Your Brain

Sign-ups are this month for our next session of Homeschool Co-op and I plan on teaching again but I'm stuck on what to teach.

Seriously stuck!

I'd like to teach to a 12-14 age group but I want something interesting and fun. So any ideas out there? Any classes that you've taught that have been a success? Any curriculum that you loved and would work in a classroom setting with 8 classroom hours and anywhere from 5-12 students?

I'm desperate.

Help!

I'm just popping in real quick.

I'm speaking at a homeschool meeting tonight to new homeschoolers and I'd like to provide a list of free resources for all the newbies. So could you leave me a comment and links to your favorite online resources so that I can pass them on and not look like I'm a babbling fool?

Thanks guys!

Crash, Bang, Boom!

Crash is what my computer has done.

Bang is what my head is doing against the wall.

Boom is what I lowered when I told my husband that I covet one of these.

Aren't they cute?

As soon as I get our back-up computer working (it's a total antique but I'm so grateful to have it) and retrieve all my info on the old hard drive I'll get back to posting regularly. Should be a day or two.

I'm shopping for laptops so tell me which one you've loved the best.

I Miss My Built In Babysitters.

Once a year during summer vacation, my kids go camping with Grandma and Grandpa for a week. All but my youngest that is. And although I look forward to a little more peace and quiet, a lot less work, and a break from being the mom of four, that’s not EVER what it turns out to be.

It seems that the special little gift that we Mom’s get that makes us forget the ACTUAL pain of childbirth also includes the memory of how much hard work it is to have only one child.

But dang, this is tough stuff.

Instead of giving me a break what has really happened is I’ve lost my built in dishwasher unloaders, clothes folders, vacuumers and babysitters. Instead I’m left with a little boy who doesn’t know how to be alone because he usually always has someone around to play with.

So he has become my shadow in all things…

“C’mon Gabe, let’s go fold the clothes (or make dinner, or go to the bathroom with mommy, or get the mail). Do you feel my pain?

He even blogs with me. Say “Hi” Gabe.

“hi”

SEE!

I can’t wait for my kids to come home. Not because I miss them terribly, (yeah, maybe just a little) not because my house can’t stay clean without my labor force, but just because….

MOMMY. WANTS. TO GO. POTTY. ALONE!

Thank You, I'm Done Now

Ok, so in light of yesterdays post and comments I’m going with the card folks.

And just to clear my name (psycho-ex-girlfriend-who-just-can’t-let-it-go) I’d like to add that my dilemma was that my life is still intertwined with his extended family…

Cousins are babysitters

Aunt is a talk-on-phone and meet-for-lunch kind of friend

I’m still invited to weddings and graduations

His local family is a part of mine and Chris’s extended church family.

I think I left out those important details.

Just so you know I’m not psycho?

ok.

i’m done now.

and i’m sending a card.

Oh Internets, Lay Your Genius On Me!

So 15 years ago I had a boyfriend. One that, after three years together, I thought I was going to marry.

But through a lot of agony and heart pain and yuck, I ended up not marrying.

But it definitely left me wounded.

But his family meant the world to me and really imparted some amazing stuff into my life.

And the patriarch died over the weekend and the funeral is on Saturday.

Here’s my dilemma…

Will my presence cause any wierdness for his wife or the family or would it be good to go and show my love and support?

Should I stay away and send a card?

Should it not even be an issue, I mean, it's been 15 YEARS!

Will it stress out my own husband? (Of course I’ll talk to him about it and he would go with me.)

I know it’s been a long time but it’s still an awkward thing for ME to see him but I could totally put it aside if it was the right thing to show up.

What do I do????

Help Me!

It’s so hard to find good reading material for my older kids. They love to read, but it’s a full time job finding stuff that is appropriate. We hit the library and I scour the shelves looking for something with substance. It seems like most pre-teen books for girls are about chasing boys, being nasty to other girls, or how to be a teenage witch. For boys you can choose between horror or evil or, hey, more horror and evil!

It seems like the safest books I’ve found are the ones written more than 50 years ago, but I’ve also found that my kids DO judge a book by its cover. If it looks old it’s a turn off. So if I can find them republished with an updated cover, well, then we’re all happy.

I’ve managed to buy myself some time as my daughter (10) begins the Nancy Drew series. And the only way I got her to read those, in all their antique glory, was because I took her to the movie first. I’m figuring with over 100 books I can relax for a few months while she works her way through those.

But my son, (11) who likes the fantasy/adventure genre, stumps me. Right now he’s reading a series by Edward Eager about magic wishes. He’s also really enjoyed a few of Cornelia Funke’s books and went through a season where he devoured every Star War’s Jedi Apprentice book he could find. But it’s hard to find fantasy books that don’t confuse good and evil. I don’t mind them reading about it as long as the lines are clear.

So what books have your kids read and loved? I’m hoping to get a nice long list from all my genius bloggy friends so all I have to do is print it out and cross it off for the next school year. And as a little incentive, since technically your input will be my homeschool reading plan for next year, otherwise known as occupying-their-minds-with-something-productive-so-mom-can-get-some-stuff-done, I’m offering a little incentive.

Write a post on your blog, recommending some good reading material and linking back to this entry. Then enter your link in the Mister Linky at the end of this post. Your name will be entered into a drawing to win a Butterfly Garden from Insect Lore! And these are so cool! I just received mine today and we’ll be using it for a biology lesson for school.

So lay it on me! Help me come up with some reading ideas and spread the word so I can get a nice big juicy book list!

Calling All Scrapbookers!

I am so NOT with it.

I’ve managed to avoid this crazy Scrapbooking thing for this long….watching all of you go crazy over it and just not getting’ it. But the time has come for me to get my toes wet. This Sunday a group of girlfriends have invited me to a scrapbooking party. From 2-10pm I will dive into the pool of all things scrapbook and I’m so afraid I’m going to forget my swimsuit. (So to speak). So, months ago, in anticipation of this event, I bought a prepackaged kit with tons of confusing stuff in it.

Here’s what it came with, right off the label…..

Scrapbooking Organizer, which I assume is the cute box it came in

8 x 8 scrapbook and a 8.5 x 11 scrapbook

36 scrapbooking papers

3 paper edgers

3 sequin roping

26 foam alphabet letters

36 buttons

140 glitter stickers

5 dimensional paper labels

160 assorted brads

6 woven labels

180 paper flower embellishments

5.5 feet decorative ribbons

17 feet fun fibers

1 metal bucket (and what’s that for?)

Can I just say that most of that is a foreign language to me? So what am I missing? I seriously need some coaching. I’m so afraid I’m going to show up with great intentions and be missing some key component and have to just stare at everyone for 7 L-O-N-G hours.

So what do you recommend? What the heck am I missing? And what can you just not live without when you are scrapbooking?

Help?!?!?

Doing The Happy Dance, Now!

The God of the heavens has chosen to shine his light of internet mercy on this poor soul.

Yes folks, who cares about my ability to call 911 in case of an emergency? I’m hooked back up to the world wide web so now I can patiently wait for the phones to start working again.

And just in time, too! I seem to be in need of some good old fashioned advice.

We have new neighbors and I’d really like to go over and introduce ourselves and maybe take a small gift. But I just can’t decide what to do. I though perhaps fresh muffins or cookies would do the trick, but I know there HAVE to be some better ideas than that.

So I’m open for suggestions. Whether you ARE the new neighbor and can tell me what you would like to receive, or you’ve been the one to welcome the new neighbor….either way, I need some fresh ideas.

So bring it on!

Seeking Ways To Conceal My Wrinkles!

Now that I’m 35, my skin is crying out to finally be taken care of and I have no idea where to start. I have to admit, I’ve never really followed any kind of skin care routine other than washing my face with whatever bar of soap has been left in the shower. I don’t even use sunscreen except for when I know I’ll be out on a boat or something and even then I only put it on my nose and the tops of my ears. So…..I need some good advice on what products to use.

Can someone help me?

I’ve got normal combination skin….nothing too tricky and nice pair of crows feet and laugh lines that need to GO AWAY! I can’t even fill them in with a nice thick dose of foundation anymore. So…..what do you swear by! What skin care product can you just not live without?

My crows feet will thank you!
(I just read through that and realized I sound like a commercial, but I'm desperate ladies!)

I Need Some Advice

We don't take summer break....we take holiday break from Thanksgiving to New Year. We usually do school once or twice a week during this time, but I really don't sweat it if it's been two weeks and we haven't cracked a book.

But New Year is almost upon us and it's time to get back into gear. I really want to implement a personal devotional time for the older kids. (Ages 11 and 10) I'm just so overwhelmed at the thought that our teen years are approaching and I'm really feeling a sense of, um, panic.

By the teen years I need to be at the stage where I am ready to release them to make their own decisions. I want them to have the opportunity to learn how to be independant before they actually leave our covering and guidance and ARE independant. So I'm really feeling a lack in the area of teaching them to rely on God's word to work out their issues and problems, and also a lack in their personal relationship with Him.

How do I bring it from being Mom and Dad's God to their God?

They've professed faith in Him and have taken steps to commit themselves to Him but I really want them to understand the importance of having conversations with God and listening to His direction in their lives. So my questions to you is this.....

What kind of personal devotion time do you expect for your kids?

I've heard of some people having their kids do a bible reading alone and journaling about it, but I need a little more detail than that. Do you have them do it first thing in the morning? What do they journal on? How do you assign scripture? How do you check in with them to make sure they are actually doing it? What, if any, resources do you use other than the Bible?