Weighing heavy on my mind, like the impending noose about ones' neck, were the many photos I took from our week away. I decided to be rid of them once and for all, so I rid myself of them by putting them on my blog. Now I don't feel so weighed down. SO much to do.
It's my own fault, I know. If I didn't take so many blasted photos, I wouldn't have to worry about when to post them. If I didn't START the telling of our love story, I wouldn't have to FINISH it. If I didn't WANT to do laundry, I shouldn't have gone away! Right? Right.
So this is me...taking responsibility for my actions. Bad Rebecca. Bad Rebecca!
Perhaps I am being a grumpy Mama bear because all my digits are frozen solid. Is anyone else FREEZING out there?! Or am I the last foolish soul trying in vain to keep warm without giving in to the oil companies?
I always have a competition with myself to see how long I can wait to turn on the heat and today was the day. I turned it on, in the KITCHEN only. Does that COUNT? ;)
I look forward to the day when we can have a home where we can burn wood. When that house becomes a reality, I will for the FIRST TIME, be able to be WARM in the winter-and ALL winter long (joy of JOYS!). Until then, though, we will just continue to try to scrimp by in order to save money.
I LOVE the smell of burning wood.
I LOVE the big strong, chiseled arms my hubby gets from chopping wood.
I love the snap crackle and pop of wood burning, and of standing near the woodstove until it feels as though my jeans are going to burst into flames at any second.
I love how being REALLY snug and warm just makes you want to fall asleep-and often you give in.
I love seeing a woodpile all stacked nicely-ready and waiting. Woodpiles represent SUCH hardwork. Determination. Responsibility. Foresight. and WARMTH. :-)
Tomorrow it is going to snow, or so they say. That should be interesting. (ick.) I am not looking forward to wintering in this home for another year. The windows are horrible (you SEE the breeze in the curtains.) It is a large house and will steal us of all our hardearned money.
Funny how I was sure we were going to be OUT of this house by now and yet, here we are. :-) I wonder what the Lord has in store for us...and when?! It would be fun to think about, if my body wasn't convulsing with shivers presently. I am seriously considering inventing some sort of nose clip that will clamp on your nose to hold a hankie in place. Is there are market for that?! Oh golly. I just gave it away. Now I just KNOW someone will steal my idea... ;-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ok. That's enough grumps for one day. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The good news of the day is that we completed our first official day of homeschool today. I presented Corynn with a book called My Mommy, My Teacher in honor of her first day. She did really well and I was very pleased. I, on the other hand, have a L-O-N-G way to go. :-)
For all you homeschooling Mama's...I have a question. Or two. If you please. What time do you homeschool? Do you all finish before lunch or do you work afterwards to? I am referring especially to young children who don't obviously require many hours of work each day? Also-when do you go GROCERY shopping or run errands? My husband likes me to do that during the day so that he can REST when he gets home-not go to town...so I am struggling with the best suited time for us to work each day. I would like to have the same set schedule each day so that I make sure to FOLLOW it and not 'forget about school' for the day. Just curious and hoping for some advice....
I am still working on catching up on laundry and cleaning from our week away. I purposely avoided those things this weekend, so I could enjoy myself. Oddly enough-I have been strangely exhausted each day since our trip. I feel sort of lazy going to bed without reading anything or working on any project-but it just feels so divine to lay in flannel sheets up to your ears and warm up for the first time all day. I can't help but close my eyes, and before you know it....
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I guess winter is upon us. Yes. Once it gets blustery-it is winter. Weather the calendar says so or not. At least in my book.
Stay WARM!
12 comments:
Children are so fresh in the morning, so that is usually the best time. Just don't make it so early that it's not a good fit for you. You should be done before lunch, leaving the rest of the afternoon to run errands. Oh yes... use your crockpot. If you don't have one, consider it. It's a homeschooling mama's best friend.
I think the most important thing is to find the time that is best for the child. If they need some morning time to wake up and get ready, then wait until they are ready. Honestly, for us, we start later. My son loves to watch Peep in the morning (yes, he's 12, but he still loves it - LOL!), so he doesn't start until 9am. He gets a little TV and it is then out of his system.
When my kids were younger, we were done by noon and I ran errands after lunch. For the most part, I still do that, but the errands are just later in the day since our school day often runs until 3pm or later.
Generally, we do our schooling in the morning and errands in the afternoon, but we have also been known to do the reverse when situations determined it best. ;)
I have to agree that crockpots are a woman's best friend. :)
I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading your blog. (Not to mention seeing your great pictures you take!)
Where I live it seems I attract the sort of people that aren't good for me and my family to have as friends---and reading your blog is one of the things that remind me that the sort of people I'd like to have for friends are indeed out there!
We do our homeschooling in the morning. I really try to keep it short and to encourage fun learning all day. With Lily only being 4, she doesn't need it too structured. Blessings!
We also do our schooling in the morning. We usually start around 9:30 or 10 and spend maybe an hour. With a 5yr. old and a 3yr. old who wants to berightthere, it doesn't take that long. We're concentrating on 3Rs right now, so it saves time. Piling on all the subjects with the youngins tends to overwhelm. I find that my kids pick up other subjects just through asking questions or us reading to them.
When do I shop? Ha! Sometimes I save it for a Saturday morning, other times I take all of them in the morning (get to the store by 9 when it opens), then do school between the time we get back and lunch/naptime.
Following a strict schedule with such young children is probably too hard to do at this point. I always find that "something" comes up to mess up the schedule that I so carefully tried to draw up and implement. School doesn't get forgotten, though, it just might get bumped up an hour or so.
We also do most of our lessons in the morning. usually I save art, science and history for in the afternoon while the littles are napping. Grocery shoppingis done (usually) on Monday late morning after I've made a menu for the week ahead.
I've found that having a losely followed weekly schedule helps keep my sanity. I think that kids like the structure too and knowing what to expect.
Our goal is to start by 9 a.m., but it's usually around 9:30 a.m. My kindergartner, 2nd and 6th grader are definitely done by 12:30, but my high schoolers (I have 2 of them) have to do a little more after lunch.
I am certain that mornings will work better for us because we are much more motivated and ready in the AM. On a side note-I would rather get right to schooling and THEN play rather than having to convince Corynn to STOP playing for school.
The problem is, that BECAUSE we are motivated in the morning-and BECAUSE we live SO far from shopping that the task swallows nearly an entire day, I am accustomed to DOING my shopping in the morning.
Still don't know the answer to the shopping dilemma. After lunch is rest time, since my children are all still very little...and after rest is nearing time for Papa to come home...
I did like your answer Michelle. On shopping days...school later.
Tracy and Devildogwife...crockpots sure are handy. I am one guilty of not using them up to their potential. I am sure that WILL be changing though! :-)
Kris~Thanks for commenting! It was really nice hearing from you! It is fantastic that I am even WONDERING about this. I love that homeschoolers can dictate the time that they devote to schooling regardless of their reasons. :-)
Christine~I Love to hear all about your school days because I know we are right along with one another as my Corynn is four also. This is our 'trial run year' where I teach her to read so that she is ready for first grade. It is also the year where each of us gets in our respective school routines each day.
Michelle~As I said on your blog, I am ever so happy you came here and visited. I am glad that this blog is an encouragement to you. I know exactly what you mean about not having any likeminded people around. I think that is precisely WHY I began posting on this blog so frequently. I find the feedback from likeminded women INVALUABLE! PLease do come again-often! ;-)
Barbara~What an encouragement to me you are! To have so many children of different grade levels and to still have a 'typical' not-too-overbearing school schedule! Your comment made me breath a HUGE sigh of relief! Thank you for that!
I guess I go against the grain... we homeschool between the hours of 4pm and 6pm. I do this for several reasons:
1 - It's naptime for my 2-year old.
2 - If baking/cooking is part of it, we do it so it smells nice for when my husband walks in the door.
3 - The morning is free for errands, should there be any... and I'm home between lunch and supper for nap, so that's reliable.
I home educate my 7 year old and 4 year old, and because we never know what's coming our way in any given day, this works best for us. I'm not as structured as I thought I'd be...!
Hi Rebecca! We do most of our work in the mornings. Or when the baby is napping :-). If you want to keep a day for shopping just have school 4 days a week. You'll still get done way more then they would in the public system. I'm switching to doing Mon, Tues, Thurs and Fri school. We work year round though and take brakes when we need it. We are normally done before lunch, but if it's a day were the youngest are fussy then it can take longer. Normally I would stop and pick back up when they are napping.
Grrr.
Our homeschooling is presently in shambles. We've been gone since last Wednesday and really need to get back on the wagon. This is a depressing post.
BLAH, said Toad.
How's that for advice! :)
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