Unforeseen Benefits of Homeschooling

Well. Sort of. In the beginning, one of the reasons we felt homeschooling might work for us, was because hubby works shift work. He has really long days sometimes and he works every other weekend. So, that means some of his days off are in the middle of the week.

And homeschooling gave us some flexibility with daddy time and family time. And today it was just so apparent that we have made the right choice for us. As I was in the kitchen, making breakfast, all of the kids were in the bed with daddy watching the History Channel. A very relaxed morning.

Of course, we still start school at the same time, most mornings when he is home. But, I just couldn't help but think how nice it was to have them all snuggled up together. With no where to go. No pressing agenda.

Now, all of the big kids just left with him to go have the oil changed in the van. I am pretty sure that falls under the school subject of some type of science or life management skills. All that to say, if the kids were in school during the week, it would be a whole lot harder for them to have much needed time with their daddy . . .

Sleep

I have never been a big sleeper. I like sleep and 7 or 8 hours a night is good for me. But, I have never been one to lie around in bed in the morning. I have never taken naps in the afternoon (not that I haven't wanted to, even when pregnant or with a newborn in the house). And, usually, when I wake up in the morning, I do not roll over and go back to sleep.

But, lately, I can go to bed at 10PM and on one occasion slept until 8. (Because the kids let me.) The alarm goes off and I do not care. I tell myself "if by 6:15 I am not back to sleep, I will get up." And every time I go back to sleep.

Now, I don't even bother to set the alarm. I have been waking up about 6:40. I tell myself "you have 5 more minutes" because I want to get my quiet time in. This morning I fell back to sleep!! It is incredible to me. If anything , I use to just lay there for 5 minutes. NEVER going back to sleep!

I have always been jealous of people who could sleep so readily. Jealous of those who can lay down and actually take a nap. Or wake up in the mornings and roll over and go back to sleep. (I never did either thing in college.)

I don't know if it is age. Or my body just trying to "catch-up" on years of lost sleep. But, if this keeps up, I just might try a nap and see what happens. . .

Nap Time

This is how EG's nap time goes:

Go potty.

Put on diaper.

EG says "love you mommy."

I say "ohhh, EG mommy loves you to" and I give her a big squeeze.

We sit in the rocking chair with three books. I no longer read. She flips through the book asking questions. These books end up in crib with her. Along with the six other stuffed animals and three blankets.

Sometimes a stuffed animal has to sit with us. She use to sit in my lap when we rocked. Now she has to sit next to me.

After we "read," I sing her Rock-a-Bye Baby twice. Sometimes in a silly way. Sometimes softly and then she will say "louder mommy, louder."

She dives into her crib and requests that, not only do I cover her, but I cover her Abbie, her Build-A-Bear rabbit that is on loan from Nature Girl.

I say "nigh-night, EG. Love you."

She says "Good night mommy. Love you."

Then I shut the door.

She now continues to yell two or three times "love you, mommy." And I continue to say back two or three times "ohh, EG mommy loves you too" . . .

Super Bowl Sunday

We watched the game as a family and had a pretty good time. We had a traditional Wisconsin meal. Brats. And the kids had a picnic in front of the T.V. I think they even enjoyed watching it. Including the commercials.

So, so, so glad the Pack won . . .

(Borrowed your pictures, Katie. Hope you don't mind.)

Silent Sunday

Fun Friday

Last night the boys, daddy, Boop, his friend JD and his dad all went to the Monster Truck show. Before they left, Boop said his stomach was up to his neck he was so excited. This is the second time he has been and he loves his Monster Trucks!

He has two big toy trucks, Grave Digger and Bounty Hunter. And about a half dozen little ones. And he plays with them pretty consistantly. But, to go see them in real life. Beyond excitement. Can't say as I blame him! It looks like a ton of fun!!

When the boys came home, after 10, these were the highlights from Boop: they shot a lady out of a cannon, one truck ran into the wall and they had to hit the kill switch, he thought Batman wasn't there but then he came out, and you crawl into the truck from underneath.

Both families met at our house and we ate pizza together. Then the boys went to the show and the girls went to the mall to shop. We went to Justice with Little Mama, Nature Girl, EG and our friends E and M and their mom. The big girls picked out outfits and had a little fashion show for us. Very cute!

My girls had Christmas gift certificates to Justice from Auntie Karla and they each bought an adorable summer outfit. (See pictures below - a big Thank You to Auntie Karla!!)

A great way to begin the Super Bowl weekend. Go Pack, Go!! . . .

FIELD TRIP!!

The kids just love those words. Field Trip. Today our field trip was to the downtown library. We have not been there in years. (We frequent the branch down the road from our house.) When we pulled into the parking lot, Nature Girl asked "Is that whole big building the library?"

I said yes and told them that it even has stairs! They were amazed. (OK, so we don't get out much.)

Anyway our purpose was a scavenger hunt and we were meeting three other families from our book club there. We divided into two groups and off we went. The following are some examples of the 20 things we needed to find:

A book published in the 1700s.

A dictionary published before 1970.

A book about U.S. presidents.

A book that showed Michael Brady's work.

The card catalog. (Which is no longer available!)

The reference librarian's desk.

The copy machine.

This is just a few of them. It really was quite a list and each team found everything. Well, except for a book published in the 1700s. We tried to look up some of Benjamin Franklin's writings in hopes that it would say originally published during his time but we couldn't find one. The closest we got was a book with a copyright of 1928 or so. As we explained to the kids, if there was a book published in the 1700s it would most likely be on display somewhere.

I think the moms had just as much fun, and probably learned just as much as the kids. . .