Jacob is Homeschooling too!

After I homeschooled Jaron for 2 weeks Jacob was begging to come home. He walked in the door Friday and said he brought everything home with him and he thought he was making the right decision. He wanted to be home with his brother so Jaron wouldn't have to learn alone. Over the weekend we talked about it a lot and decided to let him stay home. He was begging! I knew he had a math book he could work on from school and I can print things online to get us by for the first few days until I decided what to do.

Monday and Tuesday went well. I had Jaron at the counter and Jacob at the table working on all different subjects. Going back and forth helping each one as needed and encouraging them to keep up the good work. All while Jonah and Justus were playing in the living room and watching Baby Einstein. I wanted to try out time4learning.com so I signed them up yesterday and we got up this morning after breakfast and tried to get comfortable using it. They offer an online curriculum for PreK-8th grade. We are taking the day to practice with it and get a feel for how things work. It seems pretty self explanatory and very user friendly.

The work is graded automatically so that saves me a lot of time and paperwork. I can print reports to keep on file of their school hours, grades and work completed. They even offer "playground time" with games but I can limit the use of that. They each have their own password to login with. It's really a neat program so far.

This is not a christian curriculum so we are going to be reading Bible stories and memorizing verses still everyday after they complete their online work. I am just using this time4learning to finish up this school year~only 8 more weeks.

Terrifying Tornadoes!!!

 Well I'm sure everyone knows about the awful tornadoes that recently hit our country. Here in GA we were also under tornado warnings and that new trundle bed came in handy. It was our safe place because we don't have a basement. After the boys all fell asleep I got them out of the bed and put them under Jonah's bed.

 Jacob and Jaron didn't even wake up....Jonah and Justus did....they were not happy. I had flashlights and shoes for everyone and bottled water and of course my bag. My "mary poppins bag". I have everything in my bag. That's a whole other post. We ended up staying under there all night because the warnings were until 5am and I wasn't comfortable taking them out. We have a lot of big trees in our yard and it was VERY windy here. Thankfully God kept us safe.

 We are so sad for those who lost their homes or their families. I cannot imagine how hard that must be.

The big boys woke up asking "why were we under Jonah's bed?" they really had no idea they slept there all night. Ignorance really is bliss.

Camping inside...

 The boys got under the highchair and were pretending they were camping (so being the creative mom that I am) I decided to make them a really awesome "tent"!

With a few blankets thrown over the kitchen chairs they were in heaven. Crawling through, around and under. It was awesome and kept them busy about 45 minutes then we had to take it down for dinner time.

Trying New Things

We invested in another trundle bed for Jonah and Justus's room. One day he will be crawling out of the crib and he will move to the bottom bed that is hidden under this one. Jonah loves it! He feels so big with is new bed.

And I tried something new.....fun pancakes. I got a squirt bottle with a very small tip and put pancake mix in it. I got the pan hot first and squirted the outline of what I wanted and let it cook for a minute. Then used a cup to fill in the rest. And TADA!!! The kids loved them and said the baseball tasted like baseball. 

 Then I tried to be a cool mom and make a spiderman pancake. This is the best I could do...

 Justus discovered he can carry a backpack and he loved it. He looks so grown up in this picture.

Jaron's First Day Homeschooling

Well after many months of feeling like I should take Jaron out of school and teach him hear at home....I finally did it. Friday was his last day of public school. He has a hard time focusing and staying on task in a classroom full of children and only one teacher. I knew that I could provide him with the one on one attention he needs to get his work done.

Today was our first day of homeschooling and we survived! His teacher sent home a chart of things he needs to work on in Writing and Language Arts. Also she sent home his science and math workbooks that he needs to complete by the end of the year. I have done all the necessary paperwork (one form) for the state to notify them he is homeschooling now. All I have to do now is record his attendance and mail it in to them once a month.

I went to the local school supply store and bought a couple of books with activities in them for all subjects. We already have a lot of stuff like handwriting paper and arts and craft supplies. I had a rough idea of what I wanted him to do but did not plan ahead I just got all the work books out and let him pick what he wanted to do next. He has a hard time sitting still so I let him do 30 minutes at a time with 15-30 minute breaks in between each subject. He chose math first, then map skills, creative writing, science, language arts, Art (painting and playdough)...

...then reading The Story of Creation, Handwriting and Spelling words from the story. We covered the required 4 1/2 hrs by the state and finished the day by 1:30pm.

I am pleased with how smooth it went. Jonah had a hard time understanding why Jaron couldn't play with him but once he figured out when he took breaks they could play then he was ok with it. I skipped my nap today with the little ones (not easy but I will have to quit that) and that's when we read the story and focused on his handwriting and spelling.

Jacob is still in public school and wants to finish out the year there. He is warming up to the idea of homeschooling next year. His main conern is not having friends. But I am going to join a local homeschool group to go on field trips with other families next year.

I am excited for this new beginning in our lives. God has allowed me to stay home with my children and my husband is a hard worker providing for us to afford it.

He hates the gate!

I have a baby gate that I use to keep the boys out of the kitchen when I'm mopping or to seperate them when they're fighting. Or just to keep the little ones out while the big ones do homework.

 And Justus is not a big fan of being seperated from Mommy or maybe it's just the fact that he can't pace the floors like he does now since he's mastered the art of walking.

 He paces around with his hands behind his back and going from room to room not following anyone just pacing....it's cute...he gets it from his daddy and peepaw.

 So after I mopped on this particular day I grabbed my camera when I saw his face smushed up against the gate. He kept doing it so I kept snapping as many silly faces as I could capture.

We had fun and I think he liked seeing mommy laugh so hard...he was putting on a show for me.

My Valentines....

Well all of us are coughing and have yucky noses. It's rare to get them all in the same place for any length of time. But when they are sick this is what they do most of the time. Laying around watching movies and bonding.

 Then when Jonah heard me ask for a roll of quarters at the bank he knew he had the chance to earn some money so he offered to help me vacuum and empty the dishwasher and clean the table. It's amazing how a quarter will movtivate this 3 year old!

And incase you didn't know....yesterday was valentines my husbands birthday! Every year I tell him happy birthday and in return he says happy valentines day. He got me purple tulips and some chocolates (THE BEST GIFT EVER!). And I made him this heart cake and a nice card.

We tried to celebrate and enjoy ourselves but it's not easy when everyone feels yucky.

I do love him more today than the day we met. He means more to me now and I can appreciate the differences we have instead of trying to change him. Opposites really do attact and we fit together like a puzzle. I am so glad God sent Chris to me and we have been together for 13 years. It's amazing what the Lord can do in your life if you just let Him.

This too shall pass...

Last week Jaron was congested and coughing....now we ALL are! Justus is the only one running a fever so after 3 days of alternating tylenol and motrin every 4 hours trying to help his 103 fever~ I gave up. I went to the ER today~desperate to find out "what's wrong with my baby?!?!?" After waiting for eternity the doctor and holding him on my numb shoulder (for 3 days straight) she came in and checked his ears. After confirming my motherly instinct was right, both ears are infected, I decided that a shot of strong antibiotics was in order to kick this nasty infection before I go crazy from lack of sleep. I do not want to wait for 10 days of antibiotics (accompanied by diahrrea) before his ears get better. We both wanted relief and fast!

We got home and the Lord reminded me of the stock of numbing ear drops we have because all our boys have had TONS of ear infections. So I gave Justus some of those drops and some milk in a medicine dropper. He won't suck a bottle because his ears hurt so bad. And too much milk increases the already troublesome mucus. But ibuprofen on an empty stomach makes him puke. But the milk causes phlem and makes him cough which leads to puking. UGH! It's a vicious cycle that I am praying will be better tomorrow. Please pray my baby sleeps tonight and is back to himself soon! (my shoulder can't take anymore~carrying around a 25lbs. baby for 3 days has not been easy but I'm his mother and I will do whatever I have to do to help him feel better)

New Ideas!

I have been looking online for new games and crafts to do with the boys. This marshmallow launcher was a BIG hit! Made with a small glad cup with the bottom cut out and a balloon stretched around the bottom. Fill with marshmallows or just put one and pull back the balloon to send the "amo" flying.

Then we made a baseball diamond on the carpet with masking tape and they loved that too!

Jacob is so ready to start their baseball season in March.

Despite the rain we had fun inside today.

And I can't forget Jaron dressed up in daddy's suit and said "here comes pastor Jaron". So cute!

Personal Pepperoni Pizza Party!

We let the boys create their own little pizzas with english muffins, mini pepperonis, pizza sauce and shredded cheese. Then 5 minutes in the oven to melt the cheese, they all gathered around the oven window with the light on, anxiously waiting for their creations, mouths watering. It was fun and we all loved them!

Playtime~all the time!

 When child locks fail...

 tigger gets a tail...

 and they all check their email...(except Jaron~he's said "where's my laptop?)

 The fish are not alone...

 And there's two kings on their throne...

then Jonah wrote his numbers on his own.

Letting Go...

I set high expectations for myself and never reach my goals. I have good intentions but when I can't complete my "To Do List" I beat myself up for it. I want my house be perfect, spotless and organized.
It sounds so crazy as I type because I know that's impossible with 4 children. I want all the papers on my desk to be filed in the correct place. I want to create and plan crafts for my kids but never do. I read online and get tons of ideas but never follow through with them.
Keeping up with the check book and making sure bills get paid is priority over the other paperwork.
I want to get on a regular cleaning schedule with sweeping and mopping and vacuuming.
Chris washes clothes almost daily and they stay piled up on the couch most of the time until I feel so guilty I make myself fold them.
Most of this sounds like normal things most people probably have under control. I guess it's the lack of sleep that makes me unable to focus. I feel like I'm in a fog. I try to sit down and work on something and just can't muster up the energy. I need to prepare for taxes but haven't started yet. I need to research homeschooling curriculum but haven't done it yet. I drink caffeine to stay awake and feel like I'm in survival mode most days just making sure everyone is fed and bathed.

I need to stop giving Justus milk bottles in the bed but I haven't. It's my fault he's still on the bottle and not fully transitioned to milk in a cup. I have been slacking on that too. If I could just get a good 7 hours of sleep every night I am sure I'd be able to skip napping with the kids and really knock out all of that stuff while they sleep 2 hours each day. So every night I pray for God to make the children stay asleep so I can get some sleep too. I have high hopes that tonight will be better than last night. But Justus is teething and also is croupy today so sleep is not really happening much.

I have to learn to let go of the things that aren't important and focus on what needs to be done. The rest can wait. I shouldn't be so hard on myself and then I wouldn't feel so guilty for the lack of accomplishment. It's a vicious cycle I need to break and I am determined....

Creative Minds

Jaron and Jonah wanted to be pirates this morning so we got out the laundry baskets, papertowel rolls and used a golf club to make a flag.

 It's amazing how they can entertain themselves just by using a little imagination.