Friday morning

Here's a recap of our morning:

Bobcat was kind of fussy at home school, not sure why... just was, then he kept messing with his shirt... so I took it off him. He was mad that I did that (mostly because he was cold), but I kept telling him (every freakin' day) not to mess with it so much. Finally on the very last thing we did I let him put it back and prove to me he can sit there and do his work with it on. So from now on that is what I will do. I don't have all morning to screw around with him. He would get to go just stand in time out during real school or go lay down for half an hour. So for most infractions he will not be able to get up and leave the desk at home (of course certain situations will warrant that type of disipline...), but removing the 'distraction' seemed to work this time. Also he finished Vol. 1 Phonics, so we are moving on to our Vol. 2 (a little behind sechedule, but for him we are making great progress and by May we will be all caught up on that). We finished our individual letters in our Handwriting book, and only have numbers, and missing letter pages to finish up with. In Math we have moved on to money. Pennies today, with combinations and an introduction to the look of nickels, dimes, and quarters. It is kind of hard for him to see the difference on the pages, so I will pull out my change purse of the sequence/pattern pages and lay out the real money so it is more accurate.

Snookie lost the last bite of his hot dog (in a bun) because he put two MASSIVE bites in his mouth at the end, after being told repeatedly that you take a bite and not take another until the food in your mouth was gone. The genius never saw it coming... Not happiness.

Bobcat got in trouble and will be seperated from the boys for the rest of the day. He smacked Snookie on the back because... wait for it... Snookie 'ate his fake food'. FAKE FOOD, why is it so devasting if your brother eats your fake food... make more FAKE FOOD. This is something that has been going on for a while. Someone has something for FAKE, and someone eats it or takes it FOR FAKE and crying usually ensues. They are so weird, if it is fake, then it happened for fake... but when they are playing 'for fake' it is so FREAKIN' REAL to them. So he can't be nice to the boys, he won't get to play with them today.

On a funny side note: Yesterday we went and met Daddio for lunch, and as we are waiting for him to come down to the car Snookie starts to whine. Why??? Well here is what he said "my head keeps going over there (to the left), but I want it to go over here (to the right)". How do you respond to something like that... HONEY, IT IS YOUR HEAD YOU CAN MAKE IT GO WHERE EVER YOU WANT... sometimes I really wonder about that kid, bless his little heart.

Wednesday... moving on to Thursday

I really thought this week was going to better... apparently that just isn't completely in the cards for me right now. Sure Monday went well, and Tuesday was okay, but come Wednesday all hell broke loose again. The problem wasn't from homeschooling (thank goodness), but more from my own body. I just like absolute crap. I had taken an allergy pill the night before for a stuffy head and woke up ten times worse yesterday morning... that is when I finally was able to clear the fog from my brain. It was as if I had been up all night the night before drinking and partying... not a happy feeling. We skipped homeschool for the day. I knew if I attempted it with him and he lost his focus that I would have a hard time controling my own temper... sometimes you gotta know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. And then to top of the painful day was an excruciating agrument with dear hubby. Of course which ended in a stale mate... only because the phone rang (for him) and I simply lost the will to continue.

Today has been somewhat better. Have we solved the arguement from last night, no!!! Do I think we will... not really. He doesn't really see where I'm coming from, and can't seem to build a bridge to get there. And of course he thinks I'm a loon... which isn't anything new. So we will be good to go for another few months, and I will decide I can't keep biting my tongue... after 5 years of marriage that is just the pattern. It has to happen... thankfully it isn't that often.

Week from hell!

Okay, I bore (or horrify) with the details of last week. I will only say that homeschooling was completely crappy due to Bobcat's complete lack of focus, no motivation and crappy attitude.

Thankfully today was a ray of sunshine... even though outside is completely gloomy, cold, and misty/sleety. We did our grocery shopping (I came in under budget, yeah for me), homeschooling was easy breezy, and lunch was tasty and healthy. What more can a mom ask for? Hopefully tomorrow will be at least half as good as today.

On a near completion front... we only have 23 pages left in our handwritting book... woohoo. I feel so good knowing we are nearing the end of something that we started. Plus I will have the opportunity to shop around for a new one for him to work on every now and again till it is time for his first grade curriculum comes in!! Ahhhhh, sigh of relief. Math is moving forward... and I think we had a break thru with tally marks today. He seems to finally understand the whole concept of a grouping of 5 and how to move on from there. Thank goodness because I was starting to run out of ideas on how to go about teaching it. Phonics was much smoother today. Not that he has any trouble with phonics... it is just that one page at the end of a lesson that has rhyming words. He just wants to shut down. I understand that the concept takes a while for some kids to get, but the meer sight of the page usually brings him to tears... but not today. We went thru it, doing the written part and I tried to make the rhyming part as fun as I could. Boy when we finished that page, I was HAPPY!

Dressed down to my shoes

You know, it seems that there might be something to this theory that FlyLady has. I did what the recommended this morning, I got out of bed, got ready including putting on my shoes (even though I wasn't planning on going anywhere for a couple of hours)... and I do feel like I have had more energy throughout the day so far (of course it is only 1:15, I could crash soon...).

My kids thought it was kind of weird, and immediately asked where we were going, if I was going to take them with or was someone coming over to watch them... much to their disappointment I had to inform them that we wouldn't be doing anything till well after breakfast.

On the homeschooling front, I have rearranged Bobcat's homeschooling time to see if we can have more success and a better attitude. I now have them eat lunch a little earlier, and go down for their nap a little earlier. Then at 2:00 I get Bobcat and Bubba up (they are in the same room), and we do homeschool after a quick snack. Bubba seems to having fun with the idea of school, of course all he is really doing is working on puzzles, looking at books, or coloring at the desk with Bobcat. The main thinking for me to include him in this is the fact that in August/September it will be time for him to start kindergarten with me and I want him to be more comfortable about the idea of focused time... unlike the frustrations that Anthony had (and still has to an extent) with the concept of homeschooling. Already in the two days that I did it, it seemed to go well. Plus this gives Austin a little more time down, with the house quiet... which based on his recent fussiness seems to be warranted!

As I write about our homeschool schedule it really does make me so happy that they are home with me. I mean, it is weird to think that I could in theory be sending them off at the end of summer and only spend time with them in the late afternoon. We do so much during the day that it would totally break my heart for them to be away from me for so long. Sure, like any family we have our frustrating times when we could all use a break from each other, but not enough to warrant them being sent away all day on someone else's schedule. And reading more and more about our future with homeschooling I so look forward to having a close relationship with them. The issues and concepts that I am solely responsible for teaching them is vast, but it is my job... my vocation. We are called to be the primary educators of our children, and with sending them away you begin to loose that role in your childs life... simply because of timing. Ahhh, my boys are special to me, and I can't wait to give them the tools they need to be wonderful men that grow to love and serve the Lord.

Well, as fun and refreshing it is to step away from laundry (the one chore I HATE)... the buzzer is a callin'!!!

Trying a little harder

Well, I consider myself a pretty well organized and clean person. My home is always presentable at a moments notice, and I don't usually have clutter... but everyone keeps talking about how much FlyLady has helped them, so I've decided to jump on the bandwagon and give it a go.

So today is day 1 (after lunch is when I started this new process)... and I am off and running. Two main things that I never do, that I will now: Shine my sink and wear shoes. I clean up my sink after I use it, but not to the point that she takes it... but it is super nice to look at when it is all pretty and shiney... so I will do my best to stick to that. And I never put shoes on unless I'm going some where. But she points out that you will have more energy with shoes on. So on went the shoes, I don't know about more energy but it's not too bad. I will do my best to keep that habit up as well. Well off to do a few more chores before the children wake up and hubby gets home.

Oh quick funny story of the day:

Snookie was fussing at breakfast this morning because "my cheerios keep moving away"... yes, those damn cheerios must be against him... poor little Snookie, he just can't seem to catch a break!

Now i must FLY away!

I'm so confused

Snookie was fussing this morning and here is the reason: his eyes won't stay open. Yep, do I know why... haven't a clue. I asked was he sleepy and needed a nap or were they doing something he blinked or something... he had no answer. Just kept on fussing and then turned and said, "neber mind" and went back to playing. Seriously, is this kid on drugs and I don't know about it??? Three year olds are so weird.

Some mornings your the bug, and others your the windshield!

Do you ever have that feeling in the morning right before you wake up.... that maybe this isn't going to be your morning. That was the distinct feeling I had this morning. But like any person has to do at some point when their kids are down the hall... I got up. And here are my thoughts:

I need to call for my fair freakin' godmother to swoop in and whisk me off to a far away place where I don't have to clean up a pee'ed in bed, a boy crying because I had to give him shower because he was perfectly content to be laying right in the middle of a pee'ed in bed, and then once he is out to be fussing about anything and everything that comes into his line of sight. Not to mention I haven't even gotten to the part where I have to homeschool... and the way the morning is shaping up I think I would best advised to close the door and crawl back under the covers. The whole while I haven't raised my freakin voice only because the pain in my head is so great that I am certain that if I do that my eye balls will shoot out of my face, blood with rush from my ears and my hair will stand on end.

And my friends it is only 9:20 am...

Woohoo it's the weekend!

There is something to be said for having a day off. As a mom you rarely get that time, but I have the pleasure of knowing that my parents will be taking the kids for a sleepover tonight, and hubby and I will be going out to a friends house for a little party tonight. While I already am starting the day with a headache, I don't seem to mind... I just know that come this evening I will be kid free, and enjoying the company of friends and not worrying about what kid is into something they shouldn't be, or running around my feet asking for snacks... Don't get me wrong I love my children very much, but everyone needs a break sometimes.

From one day to the next...

Ahhhh sweet Monday is nothing but a distant memory now. Homeschooling went smoothly, he learned, Bubba got to hang out, and I was in utter amazement of his zeal for the material.

Tuesday he just couldn't focus, but we stopped went to something else then came back to the troubled part... and he pushed thru it.

Today, hump day, day of frustration and dispair (well not really, just a pain in the butt really)... today he heard the other two boys playing and he just shut down. We were nearly done, we had done so well up to that point, but he just decided that wanting to play was more important than getting the last two problems done. Of course we had to sit there and finish what we started, and then I let him up. Not to play mind you... nope to sit in the living room where he could here the boys, but could not play with them. Where he could here the crash of toys, but he could not play with them.... and there he had to wait for lunch.

NAP TIME here we come!