less than 4 days..

until i have surgery to remove all (yes, all) of my teeth and get dentures. it sucks, but my teeth have been getting worse since having my kids, and its affecting my health and my smile. needless to say, i'm so excited to get a new smile and be able to feel confident and take loads of pictures with my boys, instead of being the one that's behind the camera all the time. i know the FireBird isn't going to know what to think when he sees mommy with new pretty white teeth. i will be posting before and after pictures after the swelling in my gums go down.

*meaghan*

Phone problems

Well...well...well...well... That's all I can say y'all! My youngest son...My sweet, precious, lovable, baby boy...has done it AGAIN! He has ruined another cell phone. In his very short four years on this Earth he has managed to ruin two. very. expensive. cell. phones. What do I get stuck with...my hubby's old busted phone. Thankfully we both had the same kind of phone...and maybe...just maybe...he might be able to fix it by switching the screens. I sure hope so! I was able to get my pics off of the phone even after I had no screen :) The first phone he broke wasn't entirely his fault. The buttons were messed up and he ended up locking the screen. This phone...well....it wasn't completely his fault either. He was trying to bring it to me and it fell into the pool. This phone has no access to the insides unless you dig out the screwdriver and try to pry it apart. There was just no saving it. None. At. All. 

I started to look for a new phone online...and let me just say this much...there is no way....that I will EVER pay more for a phone than I would for a car payment. It's crazy ridiculous! I can't even begin to imagine what phones will cost years from now. You can't even get a cheap Go-Phone anymore...at least not that I've seen! Hopefully the screen swap will work. It seems to be the only decent solution. I really don't want to buy another phone. 

BTW...I am so frustrated over phones, the fact that my computer mouse isn't working right...when it rains it pours??...and the fact that my house looked like a tornado ran through it that I refuse to even check this post to make sure that it makes sense. I love you all...all four or five of you. I am sure you can forgive me for it :) right??

 Anywho...time to get kiddos to bed :) Have a great night y'all!!

*hugs n love*

Grace  

2014-2015 Curriculum Choices

I got myself a printer for Mother's Day. It's the Epson Workforce Pro WP-4530. I couldn't be more happy about this. For one...the printer was on sale...Half off!! Two...I needed a new printer! I have already printed about 350 pages!!

I have decided on our curriculum and really needed to get started planning. Before too much longer we will be starting back up. I have to have plenty of time to plan! I am seriously on cloud 9 though!! All those decisions that I had been worrying about just seemed to disappear. Price had been a bit of an issue. I have a really hard time paying for something that we may or may not like. Call it the cheap-o in me. I dunno. I just couldn't bring myself to doing that.

So....before we invest every little penny we have on elementary schooling, I figured out a wonderful way to make it happen for us...on the cheap!  My state doesn't have many requirements...not compared to some!

 This is what the Texas Home School Coalition says: To home school legally in Texas, you must follow three state law requirements:

• The instruction must be bona fide (i.e., not a sham).
• The curriculum must be in visual form (e.g., books, workbooks, video monitor).
• The curriculum must include the five basic subjects of reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics, and good citizenship.

Well...I got that down! 

1. It's definitely not a sham

2. It is in visual form

3. I have the five basic subjects PLUS Bible, Science and History/Geography :)

Reading will be done together. They will simply have different assignments to go along with the reading. Little two can draw pictures and the bigger two can write essays and reviews aka book reports :)

Spelling will consist of words from k12 Reader. We will find our definitions on Monday. Tuesdays will be for making sentences. Wednesday will be a fun activity with our words. Thursday will be test day.

Grammar will be done daily with two lessons on Monday, two lessons on Tuesday, one lesson and a review on Wednesday, and a quiz on Thursday. I found Grammar lessons here: Daily Grammar

Mathematics-Making Math Meaningful. I still need to order the books...then I will know how to plan there.

Good Citizenship- a combination of discussions and A salute to our flag TM and A salute to our flag SM

Bible Studies from Easy Peasy

Science from Easy Peasy

History and Geography came from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I ordered the Expedition Earth and Road Trip USA for $30 :) This is the part of our curriculum that has us ALL really excited!! The whole curriculum is very well planned out. I started to build my own, but the price was right and Erica did such a lovely job on it!! I can promise you that if you decide to purchase either one, you will not be disappointed! She has them as a combo pack for $30...I think it's the best 30 bucks that I've spent in a long time!! 
Here's the plan:
We are going to begin with Road Trip USA. We will not be doing two states a week. Instead, we will be doing just one and spending more time on it with some extra activities and reading materials :) Of course this means we will be doing History and Geography all year...but it's worth it :) Next year we will do Expedition Earth. 
Here is a link to the Confessions of a Homeschooler Store :) {Can you tell by all the smiley faces how excited we are??} :) 

It has taken me two hours to make this post...my kiddos are being a handful today. Hopefully after lunch and a good nap we will be able to turn the afternoon around!! Hope you all are having a beautiful weekend!! 

*hugs* 

Grace

4 months already gone

its been 4 months since i gave birth to my little Mockingbird, and i cant believe it!! my Firebird turned 2 in january and ever since bringing the baby home, he looks so much bigger than before i gave birth to his brother; how is that even possible? Firebird got his first haircut (yes, at 2 years old, i didnt want to cut his beautiful curls off we decided it'd be better for the hot texas summers), and he looks more like a toddler now than before. his hair still curls and its adorable. Mockingbird can roll over to his side and somehow manages to curl up into a ball and roll in circles to move around his playmat, yet cant roll to his tummy yet. also, tummy-time is a nightmare with this child! if hes flat on the floor, forget it, hes done and you better roll him back over before he screams! put a bobby pillow under him, and hes fine for about an hour. my neighbor gave us her sons old bimbo seat since Mockingbird LOVES to sit up and see everything that's going on, from his big brother playing to the disney junior cartoons that are playing constantly on the tv (doc mcstuffians, anyone?) to me getting up and chasing the big brother around. 

Firebird also has a pretty bad hearing loss (runs in my side of the family, usually it hits just the women but Firebird is the first male in 5 generations to get it) and has hearing aids to help him hear, plus we have a speech therapist that comes 4 times a month to work with him. hes been getting better about talking and asking for things he wants. he can say all 5 of his favorite fruits,  3 of his favorite drinks ( milk, juice and water) and when he wants to watch Mighty Morphing Power Rangers (think 90s) he'll say "its time!" (we're still working on 'morphing') when its time for bed, he automatically gets his cup and will call for his stuffed wolf by howling and signing 'wolf'. cutest thing you would ever see! he may not be able to hear most of the world around him, but hes definitely a pretty smart kid.

this is all for now, im going to try to get in a better habit of posting. let us know what you enjoy about our blog so far or even tell us what you'd like to see!!

*meaghan*

Math Curriculum

Choosing curriculum for your kiddos is NOT an easy process! I mean, Geez! There are loads of options out there. I have been hunting for a budget friendly curriculum. It also has to be easy to use for the kiddos and us. I started searching for math first. I found something that I think will work for our family. It's affordable, explains why, and seems user friendly. Making Math Meaningful. I don't personally know anyone who has used it. BUT we are willing to be the test subjects for this math course. This way we can report back to our friends who are curious about it. There are sample pages on the website...added plus since some of the choices I found did not have them. It goes to grade 8 with Algebra and Geometry being taught early on. I tried to find a 1-12 program that I thought we would like, but didn't find one...yet. I think I will be ordering it by the end of next week. Once it comes in the mail I will get started on lesson plans for next year. Have you chosen a math curriculum yet? IF so please share it with us :) We would LOVE to hear from you!!

*hugs*
Grace

The absent blogger

I have been away for a little bit. Between kiddos, home responsibilities, and disabilities it has all just taken everything I have to get it all done and together. I have been a busy little bee though working around the house to kick start spring cleaning since February. I'm not done. I don't know if it will ever be completely done. Every time I get a room completely cleaned and organized someone goes back in there and destroys it again. Except my laundry room. Which I am proud to say is 95% clean. By the end of the day it will be at 100%...even if it kills me. I have to finish do the laundry (it's never-ending, right?), wipe down appliances, and sweep/mop. Then it will be done :)  I plan to do that this evening. Next will be the kiddos bathroom and then my bathroom. I'm starting with the little rooms because I feel much more accomplished when I can see a room go from a disaster zone to clean in no time at all. I am hoping by May to have the majority of the house in some sort of order. I'm also working a little each day in one of the bigger rooms until I have very little to do in there. I did not realize the amount of junk we have accumulated over the years until we moved here. I have donated around 60 13-gallon trash bags worth of clothing, bedding, and toys. Probably another 6-10 medium sized moving boxes that had shoes, cleaning supplies, toiletries, and home decor. And yet...I'm not done. I will not be finished until everything has a proper place in this house. 

We have a project this weekend to complete. We are going to sand our homemade chalk board and hang it. It has been just sitting there. Looking lonely and being unused. I am beyond ready to get it taken care of so we can write on it...without having to write over the little bumps. 

The big boys and I are taking a working lunch to get caught up on their school work and my research for the next school year. This summer we will be doing some history/geography and science unit studies. I am also trying to get those items together. 

I ordered books from Barnes and Noble last week. They will be here today!!  We have been working on the Easy Peasy All In One Homeschool curriculum. We find it difficult to completely follow the curriculum on the computer. Sooo I have ordered the reading books, since reading takes the majority of our time.

On another note...tomorrow is my oldest sons 10th birthday!!! Happy birthday Bubba!! We love you so much!! 

That's all the time I have for my random thoughts. Work time for this gal!! 

 

*hugs*

Grace

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