Please Vote!

If you are reading this, please vote. Even if you don't usually comment or don't know us or whatever. Jacob, my 4th grader, is writing a report about polar bears. Part of his writing process was to write two or three good introduction sentences or "hooks" and then ask people to vote for the best one. So here they are:

1. Most people think polar bears are white, but they aren't.

2. Here are some facts about polar bears.

3. Polar bears are big yellow bears that live in the Arctic and are close to extinction.

This will help make the writing process more fun for him, which we need because he really doesn't like to write. Just leave a comment telling us which number you think is best. Thanks!!!!

School Thoughts

I have spent the better part of my afternoon pricing curriculum options for next year (when I should have spent it writing my 2nd quarter report for THIS year). And it seems that, just like everything else, these kids get more expensive to educate the older they get!

What I dream about doing is ordering a complete curriculum from Sonlight, so I don't have to make library runs all year for school books... but our library has so many of this years books that it would double the cost of my core curriculum. Grrr! I know, I should be grateful for all the books that are available to us. But I know that most of them are really, really good books that Jacob would read over, and over, and over if they were on the shelves of our house.

It strikes me as odd that while I am feeling burned out about this year, I am all excited about next year. Why is it so much fun to by new school books???

Actually, I guess I am a little excited about what we're doing right now, too. We are breaking from the curriculum to do a more in depth study of the French and Indian War. Of course, I thought a field trip or two would be in order, since much of the battles happened within a days drive of us... but wouldn't you know that most of the forts in the northeast (including the one we have a membership to) are closed until mid May, by which time we will be well past the Revolutionary War.

And speaking of bad timing, I (and, consequently, my children) totally missed what will probably be one of the most significant historic events of my lifetime yesterday. I was shopping for running pants while the rest of the world watched Obama take his oath. Ooops! Can you believe they let me homeschool my kids????

A taste of my life...

I realize I have once again gone far too long without a post. It's just that this whole parenting/homeschooling thing can be rather draining. But I thought you might like a little taste of what my days have been like lately, so here you go.


My little ones have been trying to kill each other all morning. Unfortunately, this is becoming rather common. Every few minuets one of them comes down and tells me about the injury received at the hand of an evil sibling. But sometimes they tell on each other for other things, too. I tolerate tattling, because most of the time someone needs to know what Cadence is doing - the child is super devious.

At one point this morning, Gabe came down and announced "Cadence had something in her mouth and she says it's candy."

This concerned me for two reasons. First of all, Cadence is forever putting little things in her mouth, and that could be dangerous. Second, Cadence is devious and has been known to sneak candy on several occasions. When I called her down to question her, she promptly explained herself to me.

"It wasn't candy, mom! It was a booger."

Oh, okay. Crisis averted. Carry on, then.