Get Your Groove On

I feel like I've found my groove. Generally, I'm not an extremely organized person. I need some sort of outside motivator to organize myself & household, sadly. Homeschooling has put us on a "schedule" of sorts which has helped our family function; immensely, dare I say. This concept of "menu-planning" I thought was for the birds! Well, I am alive and well to report that I now partake in this crazy concept. I've heard rumors that it makes lives so much easier. Consider the rumor confirmed! It's so much easier than scrambling around in a mad-dash at 4:30 every afternoon wondering, "What's easy, nutritious, thawed and can be consumed when my Dearest comes home from work in 1 hour?" To the delight (or is it dismay?) of my children, this erratic behavior has, for the most part, ceased.

The End of the Third Week

Ah, how awesome this is! We've completed our third week and things are going along just swimmingly! We've sped ahead in Phonics, Reading, & Math. Cursive seems to elude him a bit.

Sometimes Ethan says, "Mom? I think Homeschooling is boring..." I respond neutrally with, "Oh, really? Is cursive really that hard?" With all seriousness, he responds, "Yes, Mom. School would be better than homeschool." I can't help but point out, "Do you like being done with school by lunchtime? If you were in school, you'd still be there and cursive would still be there!" To which he says, "Oh, yeah! I forgot. I guess as long as I can be done with cursive soon." Precious moments, indeed.

Isaac is learning his phonics sounds. Due to his lost tooth, his pronunciation is somewhat creative on certain letters and sounds. Being at home has really helped with his pronunciation ~ he's able to watch my mouth form the sounds and he's better able to pronounce the sounds correctly. Yay!

Last Sunday, at church several people asked me how this homeschooling was going; knowing what my attitude was before I started, they were keen to know what my feelings were now that I was in the midst of it. Well, I can clearly say that it is the best decision we've ever made for our family! I know there are skeptics out there just lurking on my blog. I won't even say that homeschooling is for everyone, but it is for us. At least.... for now. :-)

What a first week!

Woohoo!!! We have successfully completed our first week of homeschooling!!! It was a little challenging, but we made it - Ethan is learning, Isaac is learning and we're all still sane! It may not always be like this, I know. Some days I will need to adopt the idea that "I'm homeschooling today." (Thanks to Sandy's friend in London, Ont -??? for that insight. I'm so sorry I forgot your name.)

If we can live through days like yesterday, I think we can make it! Friday was going to be a tough day, just because of our schedule. I was going to take a meal to my CTMH friend Nina, who had given birth to twins a week and a half ago. I also had a strange rash on the back of my leg and had a Dr's appt at 11:15 am. SO, we started the day with Bible, phonics, writing, and poetry at home, got packed up to go to the Dr's and finished math, reading and seatwork there. I predicted that the Dr's would be packed being Friday and all. After the Dr's we got home about 2 pm, started dinner (for us and for Nina's family), finished around 4:30 and went to the pharmacy to drop off the prescription, then drop off the meal, then head home. On our way home my phone rings - my Dearest wondering where we were. A full day, but schooling was completed! BTW, strange rash not diagnosed - if this cream clears it up, we won't know what caused it. Helpful, huh?

From my friend Mary:

Mary's Awesome Pork Dish

Combine:
1/3 c flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Use flour mixture to dredge:
2 lbs pork loin, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
Sear pork in skillet, place into ungreased 9x13 pan.

Saute:
2 T. butter
1 c chopped celery or onion (if you don't like onions, celery works well instead)

Add and boil:
1 garlic clove, minced
2 c applesauce
¼ c brown sugar
¼ c soy sauce
¼ c apple juice
½ tsp ground ginger

Pour mixture over pork into 9x13 pan. Bake @ 350* for 1 hour. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes or rice and your choice of veggie.