Week Ending January 27th

Phew!  Only 4 days left in the month and then good-bye January......how sweet it will be to see you go :)

This week was MUCH better at the clubhouse.  And here is why:

I spent less time on my computer in the mornings.  It is so easy to get the kids working on something and then to steal 5 minutes to check my work email and respond to a few of them, or hang out over at TWTM boards, or check the local news, look at last minute vacation deals or whatever.......but that 5 minutes very easily can turn into 10 or 20 minutes and next thing you know, the kids have finished their tasks, realized that I am preoccupied, and then they go wild.  And then Mom gets upset that things have gotten out of control and the vicious cycle begins of meltdowns from the kids, mom getting increasingly frustrated, everyone in a foul mood and then lots of tears, grumpy faces and misery all around.

It worked.

Now I will be 100% honest and tell you that I DID check my work email and I DID have to do a little bit of my work, but it wasn't constant and I made sure that I stopped once the kids were finishing up their tasks.

I went into the office all day Tuesday while the substitute teacher (Mr W) took over.  Let's just say that Mr W has a much different approach to their schoolwork when he is home.  They had lots of fun - but not much work was done.  We stayed up until 10pm that night getting caught up, and the kids LOVED being able to do their work at night.  Mr W and I agreed that on the days he takes over - we call it a PD day :)

On Wednesday, Miss Muffett had an appointment with the orthodontist.  Phase II of her ortho treatment has started; complete with a top appliance and full head gear to wear at night.  She is less than thrilled but handling it all like a real trooper.  And she is loving FLL & WWE. 

Awwww Mom....not again.

Chunky still won't nap that well in the afternoon which continues to drive me crazy.  We have tried every trick in the book without success.  I've been spending lots of time outside with him in the morning and after lunch - but even that doesn't tire him out.  I joked with Miss Muffett that we just need to go to a big empty field and let him run for an hour!  I am not ready for him to be nap-free!!!!  I need that time in the afternoon for work and for the other 3 kiddos! 

Up from his nap!  He makes his way downstairs...

Rather than napping on Thursday, Chunky was trying to be helpful.  He dunked the swiffer mop into the toilet and proceeded to "mop" the floor.  I thought it was pretty cute until I realized that someone hadn't flushed the toilet so he was actually mopping pee everywhere!!  ARRGHHHH!  Spent the next 20 minutes disinfecting the floor. Yep, that was fun.

Today was a fairly good day.  We were supposed to go our enrichment classes but freezing rain and snow descended early this morning so the classes were cancelled.  The kids spent some time doing schoolwork and had their friends over to play for a little bit. 

To finish up a much improved week, DH texted me today to tell me he had booked me in for a mani/pedi tomorrow morning at a local spa.  He is the best.

Week Ending January 20th

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness....." Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Arrrghhhh what a week.  It is still January isn't it?

It was the best of times............hmmmm, there weren't very many good moments at the REAL Jellybean Clubhouse this week.  Let me see if I can come up with at least 1:

1.  We needed to get a spare car seat for Chunky and borrowed one from a friend.  It isn't in the car yet, so Chunky has been playing in it.  And he really likes to be buckled in.  So he has been sitting in there, watching a TV show for 15-30 minutes and it has been great!  I'm sure the novelty will wear off quickly but at least for this week - he was so happy with his new "toy".  LOL

2.  DH knew I was not having a good week and was extra helpful, extra attentive, etc.  He even brought home flowers on Friday night :)

.....it was the worst of times..........indeed it was.  I was so busy with work this week, and a critical deadline, that I was not in a very good mood.  I was not a very good mom this week.  I really wasn't.  The kids were feeling the mood shift in our house and they reacted by misbehaving, talking back to each other and me, being rude & disrespectful, and generally just being disobedient all the way around :(

.....it was the age of wisdom......OK well, in spite of the behaviour issues (for all of us), they actually all got a full week of work done.  So yes, they did learn something. 

WWS is going well with Mr R.  Even though I have to constantly re-direct him back to the instructions. 

Mom:  What do the instructions ask you to do?
Mr R:  I don't know.
Mom:  Read them out loud. 
Mr R:  (reads them out loud)
Mom:  Ok - great so what do you have to do next? 
Mr R:  I have to ........
Mom:  Good, so go and do that.

I love how SWB has the material directed to the student.  And the TM is awesome!

Miss Muffett had several changes to her work this week.  We dropped GWG and WWW and went back to the familiar, much loved (by Mom) WWE & FLL.  Oh how I love these :)  It is just what we need.  It takes a lot less time to do these so she even had time to bake some cookies.

We also started FLL with Hugs this week.  So far so good.  He is doing so well with SWO A and his math.  And the new Timez Attack Addition/Subtraction is a huge hit here.

We also started Mark Kistler's On-Line Art Lessons and the kids are thrilled.  They all love to draw so this is a natural fit for them.  It isn't as much a subject for them, it is more of a fun thing to do when they have finished their work for the day.

....it was the age of foolishness............there was a lot of foolishness here this week.  Foolish decisions, foolish actions, foolish mistakes, just foolishness all over.  And not the good kind either. 

I think we are all glad that this week is over.  We are happy to have the weekend to relax, re-connect and prepare for next week.  Until then............

In trial or difficulty I have recourse to Mother Mary, whose glance alone is enough to dissipate every fear.”
-Saint Therese of Lisieux

 

“Let us run to her, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence.”
-Saint Francis de Sales

Week Ending January 13th

I don't like January.  There I said it.  

It is a rather depressing month; all of the Christmas decorations are taken down, no more joyful Christmas music on the radio, the weather is cold, the days are short, there is virtually no sun to speak of, school gets back in session, and everyone just feels BLAH.  Including me.

So why do I still expect that our regular schedule will be followed?  I really should have adjusted my expectations this week.  It was our first week back.  It wasn't awful.  It wasn't great.  It just was.

(Gosh - this post isn't sounding very positive!)

It was a busy week; Brownies started again, piano lessons for all 3 started again, orthodontist appointments and then Mommy had to go into the office for a few hours.  No easing back into the schedule at all.

Mr R struggled the most; but in his defense, he was fighting a cold so he wasn't feeling 100%. 

I was SO excited to start WWS with him!  And he was pretty excited as well when he saw that it was all on the IPad.  We got through Week #1, Days #1-3 and so far, so good.  It is clearly very different from WWW so it is taking a bit of getting used to for him.  I personally find it very comforting to be back to a familiar look/feel/style, if that makes any sense.  

We started Spelling Workout again, which he hasn't done in over a year.  We stopped doing it mid-way through last year because he was getting 100% on all of the pre-tests that he did every Monday and I didn't want it to turn into busy-work.  But lately I've noticed some really silly errors in his spelling; it is almost like his spelling has regressed?  So I pulled out SWO Level E and we're going to work on this for a while.

In math this week, Mr R had a lesson about Pi and calculating circumference.  I had him start the lesson by reading Sir Cumference & theDragon of Pi.

These books are so simple yet really engaging for the reader - even the 10 year olds :)  I think I will include some of the other books as part of his math lessons next week.

Basically, Mr R had a fairly productive Monday, and then got very little done until Friday when he plowed through a tonne of work.  He will also be doing some work over the weekend to get caught up (yes I am mean that way). 

Miss Muffett had a GREAT week.  She jumped right back in and was very motivated this week.  

I decided to drop GWG 3 for now.  I think she is going through the motions with this and not really learning that much.  I'd rather wait and let her focus on her other subjects rather than get frustrated.  And as I think about the various work she has been doing, I have to remember that she is a young grade 3 student.  She just turned 8 so there is no rush to push her into things when she clearly isn't ready.  I know I've said this before, but I really have to look at FLL again for her.

Saxon 3 Intermediate is working really well for her and she has been doing all of it on her own this week!  We did run into some trouble with her novel study this week.  She is working on Charlotte's Web (Progeny Press) and one of her assignments this week was to look up & define some words.  We realized that the dictionary we have is useless.  It is a cheap little pocket one.  It didn't have any of the words she was supposed to look up.  So I will need to order something this weekend.

I'm also realizing that WWW is not exactly a hit with Miss Muffett either.  I was listening to SWB's audio lecture (A Plan for Teaching Writing:  Focus on the Elementary Grades) and it really resonated with me this week.  I need to go back to the basics with her: narration, dictation, copywork.  I need to stop pushing her along and meet her where she is at.  So I will dig up our WWE books this weekend and move her back into them for next week.  I am sure she will be less than enthusiastic - she prefers to work independently and WWE is definitely not an independent curriculum.  

Hug-A-Bug had an OK week.  He got most of his work done but it happened in fits & starts.  He has a little bit of work to finish up this weekend but he enjoys it so I don't think he really sees it as "work".  He is working on SWO A and LOVES spelling, especially the pre-test on Monday and the final test on Friday.  He wants to do a full lesson EVERY DAY so he can have the tests!!!! He has finished up the Abeka Language Arts 1 book now & I had him start the MCP Comprehension Plus Level A book but I'm finding it to be a lot of busy work and essentially redundant for him.  I went back and re-read some of TWTM and decided to get him started on FLL 1 and scrap MCP.  

In the land of Chunky Monkey, we continue to work on getting him to sit still and play with his toys.  He has also been climbing out of his crib when he is supposed to be having a nap or down for the night.  Last week he was getting out of bed in the middle of the night, multiple times!  It was exhausting to be up every hour or two!  But he seems to have finished playing that game and now he just keeps getting out of bed when we initially put him down.  Yesterday, it was 19 times before he finally stayed!!!!  Mr W has decided to lay down on the floor beside his crib every night just to keep him from climbing out.  Once Chunky is asleep, Mr W leaves his room but I'm not sure who falls asleep first - Chunky or Daddy :)

I am swamped myself at work.  This is the start of our planning season, which typically lasts a few months.  Last year at this time, I wasn't working so I really hope I can manage to juggle all of this.  Stay tuned!

Wordless Wednesday

Week Ending Jan 6th

The Week of Stomach Flu & Superglue.......yep, that about sums up the week here.  At least we were still on Christmas break :)

Here are the kids on Christmas Eve:

We had a great party with some of our friends for New Year's Eve!  It was awesome - lots of delicious food and drink and so much fun for the kids who had some of their friends here as well. 

And then 24 hours later, Chunky Monkey came down with a nasty tummy virus :(  Fortunately it only lasted 36 hours - but it seemed like a lot longer.  Then Mr R came down with it on Tuesday.......we did more laundry in 2 days than I normally do in 2 weeks!
I switched up the bedroom situation on Monday.  That involved taking apart beds/crib and moving dressers, bookcases and lots of "stuff".  It took most of the day but is much better now.  When DH was away on business last September, I thought it would be great to move Chunky out of the nursery and into a room with Hugs; this way Mr R could have his own room.  In theory it should have worked, and it kinda did.  But DH thought it worked better with Chunky in the nursery and Mr R and Hugs sharing.  So that was how I spent the day - moving furniture and cleaning/organizing the rooms. 

Hugs & I headed out for some fresh air and to do some final Christmas returns on Tuesday night.  As I am standing in line at one of the stores, I get a text from DH to call home.  The first words out of his mouth when I called were "Please don't freak....."  HUH????  What is going on?  He proceeds to tell me that he was using superglue on one of Chunky's toys (a plastic toy car ramp thing that kept falling apart) and left it sitting on the table while he went to do something in the basement.....and while he was gone, Chunky climbed up on the table and starting playing with it!!!!  When DH came back just a minute or 2 later, Chunky had superglue all over his fingers!!  I think DH was pretty worried.  He put him in the bath and tried to soak it off?  We got home shortly after and thanks to the ladies over on the WTM forums, we used some nail polish remover to get the rest off. 

Here is the cause of the superglue incident:

Pretty eventful week so far....and it was only Tuesday night!!!

Wednesday morning, DH called to let me know he wasn't feeling well and was on his way home.  He spent the next 48 hours quarantined in the guest room in the basement.  I did make a big pot of chicken soup for him and brought him some Nyquil, ginger ale and the tablet so he could play Angry Birds as he recovered :)

So here we are on Friday, the last day of Christmas and the Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord.  We were supposed to be going to my in-laws to celebrate but with everyone having been sick this week - we will just stay home and keep any residual germs to ourselves :)

Everyone is healthy.  But the house??  Oh my - it is a disaster.  Better go and start cleaning up.

Have a blessed weekend and happy feast day to those celebrating today, and this weekend.

What did we do this week?

This week didn't go exactly as planned.  I had hoped to have the kids do a little bit of schoolwork but not a single thing was done :( 

But we did get the tree up, finally! 

Chunky is very intrigued by it and is constantly pulling decorations off of it!!  Good thing we went for the non-breakable ones this year rather than our usual assortment.  We continued the tradition of giving each of the kiddos a new ornament, and here they are:

Chunky's ornament

Hug-A-Bugs's ornament (yes it is the Biebs)

Miss Muffet's ornament

Mr. R's ornament

We headed across the border Tuesday to pick up a few things, had piano with Hug-A-Bug Tuesday night, and he helped me finish up some Christmas shopping later that evening.

The kids have decorated gingerbread houses, played a LOT and have spent time planning a special "event" of some kind for everyone on Christmas day.  We've also been doing a few random acts of kindness throughout the week........I know we get so much more out of it than the recipients :)

Uncle M stopped by with the coolest Christmas tree for the kids!  Love it!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more." —Dr. Seuss

The rest of the week has been busy with getting the house ready for all of our guests this weekend.  We are having various family over beginning the morning of Christmas Eve through to Boxing Day so there was lots to do!  The kids have been very helpful the last few days but today (Friday) they are just going crazy!!  The anticipation and excitement is making them all so goofy and silly.  I think it is time for the Polar Express and a big bowl of potato chips!

So, here we are today.  The presents are all wrapped, the grocery shopping is done, the house is clean (mostly) and now we can enjoy the next few days!  We start by celebrating the 50th birthday of a good friend tonight! 

We wish you & your loved ones the gift of faith, the blessing of hope and the peace of His love this Christmas and all year.  May you be surrounded by much love and joy this Christmas season.

3 Weeks Ending Dec 16th

We are back!  Not that we went anywhere.  I have just been very busy with my PT work and keeping everyone on track.  And trying to prepare for Christmas. 

Here is a little bit of what we've been up to these last few weeks;

We sorted & packed up most of the toys in the basement play area.  Lots were donated and the rest are in the storage room.  Rather than having every.single.toy that we own all over the place - they can pick & choose which one they want, play and then tidy it all back up and put it away.  The older 3 were pretty good about keeping their things organized - it was Chunky who would pull everything off of the shelves and make a huge mess and then the others would have to clean up.  This has worked great so far.  But I am not so sure what will happen after Christmas. 

Again with the boxes!! They spent the first hour just playing with the boxes before getting down to business and actually packing them!

Hockey season started for Mr R.!! Yippeee for good ol' Canadian ice hockey outside!  So far, DH has been taking him but hopefully all of us will get out and support his team.

We went to our homeschool group Christmas party!  The kids had so much fun.  Unfortunately we haven't been going to the classes this year.  The couple of times we went, I spent my time chasing after Chunky & trying to keep him entertained and not really contributing to the activities/discussions.  I felt so un-helpful to the other moms and so out of the loop.  That combined with juggling the demands of PT work & homeschooling - well I just didn't think it made sense.  The kids always asked if we could go and I was always saying no; but after talking with a very special mom at the party - I realize that we need to be there, as much for my family as for the others who are there.  So we will be heading back to our classes in the new year!  

I've spent a lot of time shopping on-line :)

The kiddos received their video messages from Santa (http://www.portablenorthpole.com/) and they were very excited.  I won't tell you which of them are on the naughty vs nice list but let's just say that a couple of them are working extra hard to be good as we countdown the days to Christmas.  DH even received a message from Santa!
 
Chunky Monkey;  well I can hardly believe I'm writing this but he is actually sitting still and watching TV for 15 minutes!!  If someone else sits with him - he can even manage a little longer!  This is huge progress and such a big help to me.  15 minutes is just enough time to explain a new math concept, or help out with a piano lesson or even sit down & listen in on a history lesson.  I most definitely don't want him to be in front of the TV all day but what a difference it makes to have him sitting still for short periods of time.  His latest discovery is playing soccer (with a plush ball) and he loves running all over the house with this ball.  Again, it holds his attention for more than 5 minutes so even though I am still chasing him most of the morning - I do have more time to spend with the older 3.....yes, I define even 15 minutes as more :)

When he isn't running around making a mess - he does really try to help as best he can.  He loves to help vacuum :)

Hug-A-Bug continues to be a star student.  His eagerness and interest in his work just boggles my mind.  He just finished Lesson #69 in his math and rarely has any mistakes.  His timed facts practice sheets are perfect every time and he is working really hard on remembering his odd numbers from 1-19.  For some reason, he doesn't recall these as easily as the even numbers. 

He is almost finished his Abeka Language Arts 1 book - just a few pages left and he wants to finish it before Christmas.  He also started Spelling Workout A and finished 6 lessons in 2 weeks!  I was initially worried that he was sacrificing speed for accuracy/retention in quite a few of his subjects but not at all....he gets it.  He really does.  He worked very hard on his Christmas songs for piano and played Good King Wenceslas & Jingle Bells for his class. 

I need to start thinking ahead to other subjects/curricula I can use with him since he is just whipping through what I had originally planned. 

Here is a recent conversation that Hug-A-Bug had with his sister;

Hugs:  I think I'm going to marry you when I grow up.
Miss: What?! You can't marry me!!  I'm related to you and you're not allowed to marry your relatives.  You have to marry a friend.
Hugs: Oh.
Miss:  If you have a crush on someone, then you can go on a date and then you can marry them.   But something important you have to remember for when you grow up is that if you are 5 or 10 minutes late for a date then they won't like you anymore so make sure you are always on time. 
Hugs: OK can we play with the lego now?

Miss Muffet
She has her good days and her not-so-good days.  She can be so motivated one day and then so ornery the next.  I've heard that 8 is a fun age.  If a particular subject or lesson isn't interesting to her (on that particular day) - then she procrastinates like crazy.  Eventually she gets it done - but not without a struggle.  She is amazing with Chunky & spends a lot of time playing with him; and will often use him as an excuse for why she isn't doing her work! 

I may switch up her subjects so that we can do some of the more intense ones in the evening.  She is a night owl and I know she likes to work in the evening.  She is doing really well in her math - and doing a lot of it on her own.  Her test scores have been 20/20 & 19/20 so I know she is understanding the material.  But we are moving into the multiplication tables now and I know she doesn't like them so I think we will take a break from her text and have her spend some time on Timez Attack to get those solidified.  Mr R credits Timez Attack with teaching him so I am hoping the same works for Miss Muffet. 

I had mentioned earlier about switching her back to WWE/FLL.......and it is still under consideration.  We took some time off of GWG3 and just spent time reviewing the concepts she has learned so far and I think the review made a big difference to her understanding.  Her writing needs a lot of improvement so I think that may be a subject we do in the evenings. 

She is doing really well in piano - so much so that her teacher has asked if we would consider moving her into another class so she can be more challenged.  I'm not sure about this.  The current group she is in has 4 kids - 1 boy & 3 girls.  Given that she is around boys all day here at home, I like that she gets to interact with the girls.  And she does get together with one of these little girls on weekends so there is a friendship there.  The other class that she could move into is 2 other boys.  Still thinking on this one.......

Her history, french, poetry, science and religion are all moving along.  No issues at all. 

Here is another conversation she had recently, this time with Mr R;

MissM: We have 4 students in our homeschool, right Mommy?
Mom: Yes
Mr R: No that isn't right. Chunky doesn't do work so we have 3 students.
MissM: Yes he does.
Mr R: No he doesn't. He just runs around & makes a mess everywhere.
MissM: Well he is still learning stuff.
Mr R: Like what?
MissM: Like love, that is what he is learning.

(awww - so sweet. And of course she is right)

Mr R

Mr R is, as always, moving right along.  We took a break from GWG6 (when he bombed the Chapter 3 Review) to solidify some of the grammar concepts and I think it was helpful to him.  I'm not crazy about this particular program for him because I think the retention is not great but we will stick it out until the end of the year and then reassess for next year.  It is definitely getting more complicated so I think we will slow it down a little and rather than doing a lesson per day - maybe spread that out a little more and have Mom spending more time with him.

Math is going pretty well - I think it is getting more challenging for him, which is a good thing.  He is asking for me to help him with the new concept which is good and then once he understands it he is off.  I'm so glad we jumped up to 7/6 - it definitely is better suited to his level right now.  He keeps "forgetting" to do the facts practice - he thinks it is a waste of time since he gets perfect on them and does them very quickly.  Too bad - I insist that he does them.

We are on Chapter #11 in the Baltimore Catechism #2 and I'm starting to feel a little lost myself so I've ordered a number of books for ME to read (I was not raised in the Catholic Church).  It is one thing to take them to mass, teach them the basics and even prepare them for First Communion, but as they get older and start to ask more questions and start asking all of the hows & whys.......well, I simply don't have the answers.  Not that I need to have ALL of the answers, but I'd like to be able to have a good, theologically sound discussion with Mr R.  I don't think he realizes that I don't know all of this.  Truthfully, I think he knows far more than I do so time for Mom to catch up.

Mr R finished up the Biology section of his science - and we never did get to dissect the fish :(  I know that was a huge disappointment for him so I need to make that happen somehow.  There was a big Biology test that I was trying to help him prepare for.  He insisted that he didn't need to study that much and that he understood all of it.  I decided to let him take the test and let the chips fall where they may.  He scored 67%.  He was satisfied.  I was not.  (even though he did OK for not studying at all; the point is that he didn't do as well as he should have or could have)  So when we finish up the Chemistry unit - he will definitely be studying for the test.

He also finished up Level 1 of L'Art de Lire and is well into Level 2 now.  We are aiming to be through Level 3 by the end of the year.  I may start up Rosetta Stone again in the summer, just for fun.

Lastly, Mr R is preparing for his Grade 1 piano exam in the new year.  In addition to the requirements for the exam, he was very sweet and agreed to learn the Charlie Brown Christmas song just because it is one of my favourites :) 

Well that was a very long post. But now you are all caught up!  Next week is a "half" week which means we will be doing just half of our subjects - math for sure, and I'm not sure what else.  And shopping, and baking, and decorating, and Christmas movies, and all of the things we need to do to prepare for Christmas.

Have a great week!