Doing a Friday Dance!

So this has been a pretty awesome, if tiring at some times, week. Gymnastics changed, schools started, CAP, my job added too...
First Bear DID move up. (Of course we knew he would) SO there goes my bank account and then some lol. He tried it Tuesday and LOVED it. Its longer times, and he knows starting in a few months he will be competing in front of lots of people. His uniform is ordered. We are trying to raise money to help cover fees. 2 different booster clubs plus meets and travel costs and I do believe we have to pay to even get into his meets to watch LOL. Let us hope we can raise enough to keep going until everything is settled down for us.

School officially started yesterday although they have been working for the past week and half. They like it. Im sure it will get harder as time goes on but the first days are pretty slow. We are starting to get the hang of it. I dont think we are missing anything yet

CAP should start getting more going as well. They like to do things when temps get cooler. So we are watching and waiting on that one. Of course now that Bears gymnastics has moved... One is the same day as CAP so its been a scramble to rearrange things.

Ugg on my job. I was REALLY enjoying my 3 day weekends. And well they were just ripped from me lol.  I guess the person on Friday was not doing a good job..Ok I dont guess it.. I KNOW. And I was already irritated from having to pretty much double my Mondays to fix what she didnt do. ANd now.. well Im stuck working it.. But I wont complain much.. It is a lil more money(which as you can see we need right now)

After around March hopefully things will be a lot better.. I hope to have the car paid off. And stuff caught up. Hubs will have hopefully moved up at his job by then. I think even after he moves up Im going to stay working for a lil bit to make money needed for the activities. And try to start saving because each time he moves up the more expensive it is. And the further we will be going for meets.

And now Im off to make my menu and grocery list. I have put it off all week and thats not good lol. Bear has a class at 9 he has to sign into and they have some work to do today, And I have got to get this done so I can go shopping after work tonight(Im sure we all want to eat tomorrow...And yes the kids have said uhhh moommmmmmm.... When are you going to get more milk(theres like a inch left in the jug right now lol) )

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. :)

New day New decisions

Wow.. The changes in the house keep happening. Papa Bear is really liking his job and Im super glad that this is working out.
Mr B turns 13 next week. (AKKKKK) and... drumroll...
We are pulling them once again from the public school here. We have not been happy. We have debated since placing them back in the district whether we did the right thing or not. And most the time it was not. The structure.. is fine. The curriculum.. not so fine.. The bullies.. way not fine.. I find it nuts how little learning they actually do. I hate seeing my kids depressed almost everyday over the environment. Mr B, well hes sad about losing band, but we will get involved in the homeschool band. (as soon as funds permit) And Lil bear will even get to start playing at his age rather than waiting till hes Mr Bs age. We are choosing the K12 program for this endeavor. I for one worry about them getting the credits needed to finish. The boys many times in the last year and a half have stated how much they miss the friends they had when homeschooling. And doing activities with them.  Missing being accepted. Public school has been such a issue. If your pants arent sagging, your not doing drugs, having sex.. etc your not cool. And these are YOUNG kids. If you are smart and have goals.. you will not be accepted. This has been a major roadblock. These kids are more concerned with making people like them, than making decent grades and having goals that are past tomorrow. I talked to people at the school, I tried doing what I needed to do. But.. even I have to admit defeat. I am one of very few parents who give a crap about my kids education, and what they do, who their friends are etc. I am a minority in this. And I cant fight a system full of people who really dont care. For every 2-3 students trying to learn there are 10-15 pushing them down. Its a losing battle. And when I have to admit defeat because, myself as a adult, cant fight the system to make changes there...How is my child supposed to win??? Im disappointed in watching how the system is repeatedly failing. We gave it a shot. We tried. We gave the benefit of the doubt.. And were failed. We were given excuses. I feel sorry for the teachers who give a crap. Their hands are tied behind their backs. These unsupervised un parented children..are running the schools. They are running the streets. And they are terrorizing whoever they can. We are watching it happen on our street. What used to be a good neighborhood is turning into a awful place to live. And the school is full of these. Its a no win situation there. I feel better now that I made this decision and the children are extremely happy to be back into a comfortable learning situation. ANd Mr B is back to making his goals and striving to them, when he was starting to give up. :D

Another homeschool Ah Ha moment

There are days I am unsure. Many of them. When things just seem like they are not going so well. Stress is at its peak. And you feel your failing in some way. Of course we all have these days in every bit of our lives. And then you have those....Ah Ha moments. The ones that tell you, your on the right track and everything will be fine. Today.. this day started as one of THOSE mornings. That you really go WHY am I doing this? WHY do I continue with the madness? And of course the WHY DO THEY NEVER LISTEN?? Well this continued...Until around lunch today. When I think we all were worn out. Then at around 1:30.. Space Shuttle launch. And thats enough to bring us all out of our bad moods. We LOVE watching the space shuttle. Everything about the shuttle makes us happy. NASA is our favorite site to be on. And after we sat waiting for the count down to begin. Then watch the count down. Then watch the lift off. And then.. watch until the feed ends. (hehehe talk like a kid there huh..and then and then and then) Afterwards, Lil bear finds Mr Bs space shuttle toy. Its a model of the space shuttle on a launch pad, with rocket boosters and fuel tank. And reenacted the whole scene. From siting on the launch pad all the way till it lost the last tank. Including the flying upside down until it was at the right spot to turn over. And thats when you have the AH HA moment. And know.. This is why I do it. The smile..The knowledge of the event that took place. and the excitement. Excitement you normally don't see, when they are gone all day. sighhhhh

Our friend..The tree frog

Isn't he cute? He came to visit us a few times. We have never encountered a tree frog in our backyard. Despite the many trees behind the house. I picked him up and he was all sticky, and did not want to be held. Tried to get him where the kids could touch him, but he wanted no part in that.

He came back for 2 days. And we have not seen him since(I think he got tired of me trying to hold him) Of course I did have to get him out of the garage. Clovis the attack cat does not like intruders..

Links List, update and lots of ramblings

I have been doing a lot of updating to links. If you are looking for something specific, let me know. Almost everything I list is a free site. I do not get paid to put those links here. They are links I have personally used with my boys. There might be a couple that have free trials, or free sections. The Germany site was sent to me by one of my faithful followers and you can check out her blog HERE
My sincere apologies for not posting that much. I have been quite busy. We are still hoping for changes, and at this point we are just waiting. The boys are doing great. I am still struggling with my schedule. I have finally sat and discussed it with myself.(and then a friend, because who really wants to admit they are talking and discussing matters with themselves) And I realized, I am still thinking like I was a year ago. Trying to live on a schedule I created for myself a year ago. So now its time to go back to the basics, start over, and make it work once again. This time remembering my life became a little more busy.
The workboxes are going great. Eventually I will have to get a picture of our modified workboxes together. We are using your basic file box, and hanging file folders. Only 10 per kid. Mainly because adding 2 more to hit that 12, might just overwhelm them. Each folder holds a assignment(yes A as in 1) So 10 assignments a day. And so far so good. I thought it was going to be a ton of work. Until I realize when I do my planning on Sunday and write down the weeks assignments to do, It will only take me about 15 minutes to fill both(yes both) boxes. At 9am the kids grab their boxes and go to the table. I do sit with lil bear a lot. Because after all he is only 6. And Mr B is doing great using help cards to ask a question. That is one of the biggest things we are working on. After a particularly hard day. I found him crying. My first instinct was to actually tell him to suck it up. But I took a step back and asked him WHY. And he broke harder telling me he didn't remember HOW to do it. After explaining to him, this is another reason why we homeschool. He does not have to feel stupid asking a question, or wait in line behind 20 plus other kids. All he has to do is ask. And the help cards have helped this. I give them 3 each. But of course...if they have more than 3 each questions I still tell them to ask. And since then, he is actually asking on things he does not understand. They both have learned so much. I am shocked. We have moved Chase into 2nd grade stuff, well because there has been nothing in 1st grade stuff that he didnt already know. If I am repeating anything here, sorry. Scatterbrain has a hold on me this week.

I do hope to continue to add stuff through the week. Trying to get everything to where I should have had it awhile back.

Bye Bye Butterfly

Sad news to report,As of Day 2, The Chrysalis was no more. No sooner than I posted the last blog, My darling hubby said it looked like it was dripping. And well, long story short, I guess lots of time in the "wild" flies or wasps will inject their eggs into a caterpillar, and when it forms its chrysalis, the maggot will emerge..And thats what we had happen. Very sad for the poor thing. Next year I do believe I will buy the habitat and eggs and so it from the beginning so that there are no chance of this again.
On another note, we are taking a sorta off week. Just kinda taking a week to relax, and enjoy just being. The boys have done great with their schooling. And its a well deserved break. Of course they are bored now! I spent today trying to clean the house really good, since I have really been more maintaining lately. Finding my balance. And really happy I got it done. By the end of today, I did make them help. But ya know...they really need to help a little more. I don't want them doing the laundry themselves, or anything like that. Mr B takes out Trash, they both deal with the animals(the cat and dog) but its just feeding and changing water. Once a week they help gather laundry. Other than that, Just their Jr Chef Jr Host. Well and Mr B also puts away dishes. And they are to clean their room and the playroom. on occasion lol. So really not much. Today, Mr B had to help scrub the bathroom floor..as to why, anyone with boys KNOWS why....And Lil Bear helped me clean the AC/Heater filter cover. And that took forever. Plus he help scrub out trashcans. Other than those couple things today, they played. All day. Until doctor appointment.
Now on the doc appt. Lil Bears skin, well his bumpys as he calls them, are nothing. Just a normal thing for a kid with asthma and allergies. And we have meds for his nebulizer for the JUST IN CASE winter weather that seems to get him every time. Mr B will have to have one scheduled to discuss his hernia again.. Have a bad feeling the other side is trying to present itself finally. And that he also possibly strained the already fixed side.
Whew that was alot to spit out today! Until next time....

End of Day 2...

If you look at the top, you will notice its getting darker. Just over the course of the day, its gotten darker. I am excited to see what we wake up to tomorrow!!!

Day 2...

Such a cool day! After a rough start to our morning, we had a couple homeschool moms who were kind enough to offer a ride to us to go to do Monarch tagging. We went to the park, and it was really neat! The kids(and us adults who had no idea) were entranced with the little facts about a Monarch Butterfly that I would have never known otherwise. We now know how to even tell if they are boys or girls! We made a butterfly net(I will have to take a pic of that later) and we have some tags to tag any Monarchs we find. And now we know which is a Monarch and which is a FAKE Monarch!
Ok onto day 2 of our chrysalis..which could be WAY past day 2. Our Chrysalis surprised us this morning with a black streak(see picture) So it looks as if we will actually have our butterfly in the next few days. And we will tag him and release him.(or her hehe) And next year. I will be planting a milkweed! I am determined to attract many more!

Science came to us....

Today while the boys were going outside, they noticed something. Next thing I hear..MOM MOM MOM LOOK! COME LOOK!!! WE FOUND A CHRYSALIS!!!!!!(They LOVE that word) Normally I don't like to disturb these things. But, in all honesty. I want to watch the miracle! I love butterflies. They are the prettiest things in the world. And to have the chance to watch it grow and change and emerge. Wow. So we took him off the gate, and made him a crude home LOL. Yes very crude. Wish I had one of those habitats. I will most def have to get one soon. Did a little online research, and found it to be, a Monarch chrysalis. I am giddy with excitement.. So here we are DAY 1(for us) and I do not believe it was there yesterday.. But not often I look at the bottom of the gate. The picture is a little blurry. We will be documenting the growth and changes. Mr B actually got so happy, even he said he can use it as a science experiment and chart its changes and growth. :) He is my little Science nerd(and yes thats said in the most loving of terms) He makes others excited about science. Anything related to it, he loves.
Speaking of Chrysalis's, just the word being said makes me remember how the boys LOVED to wrap up in their chrysalis(blankets) and emerge to be butterflies. I hope they stay this excited forever!

Lil Bears Flat Stanley has come home

Lil Bears Stanley went to San Diego, California. He had fun visiting the San Diego Zoo, A park in Coranado. And he even managed to stay out of trouble even though...


He had a blast and came home with tons of stories to tell. He was soo excited that he even got to pick out a new kitten!!


So Lil Bears Stanley will be leaving us again this Monday.. He is ready to visit....AUSTRALIA!

Another busy week

Just another busy week around here. My loving husband has been on vacation this week, and we are LOVING spending this much time with him. We didn't go anywhere or do anything, other than spend time together. We had some attitude with Mr B. but worked through that with no problems. I think he wanted to take vacation with Papa Bear. lol. We had Lego Club this week, which is THE highlight of the month. And the boys have found friends that they want to have over for a sleepover, so that may happen in the near future.
We also decided this week that we will move Lil Bear up to 2nd grade. Yes its very early in the year, but like his brother, 1st grade holds no challenge. The workboxes are going wonderfully, and one day soon, I might actually take a picture of it. Right now we are just using Fileboxes. And only 10 folders. They love knowing how much more is left. And seeing that they are making it to 10 quickly makes for more fun. Most the time we are done with school stuff by lunch, and have half the day for fun stuff. I try to make sure in their workboxes there is a couple fun things in there.
Also today, the boys found that its better to go to the store during the day lol. Its WAY less crowded and...Yup you guessed it. MORE SAMPLES! They love the sample carts.
What once seemed so scary...Now seems so normal. The first time we homeschooled, we were scared we were not good enough, smart enough, or anything enough, to be doing this. No one around us did, and wee felt very alone in the journey. This time...SO MUCH different. over a month and a half later, its normal. We don't feel like we are out of place, or that we are not smart enough. The boys are loving it. They have met SO MANY other homeschooled kids. They love that when we do stuff during the day, its WAY less crowded. (of course we still don't like the stares like why are those kids not in school) And explaining LIFE is school...well most people don't understand it. A trip to the grocery store is ALWAYS a learning experience. A trip to the gas station is too! (they like to see exactly how many gallons there are in 15 bucks LOL) The boys love the fact they can interact with people of ALL ages. Young and old. They don't care. And in a month and a half have learned more than they would have in a year of sitting at a desk in a big overpopulated classroom of bullies. Ahhh we love our life :-)

Lil Bears Stanley

Well Lil Bears Stanley made it to California! And his host was so kind to show us that he arrived safe and sound. As well as she already made sure he got something into his belly. Hey it may be flat, but still needs nourishment.

Mr B's made it also. Hes in Indiana. But hes gonna take a different kind of trip. Hes starting there. And in a little while he will be flying(yep again) this time NOT in a mail plane, but with another host all the way to New Zealand.

Our Stanleys will continue to travel for as long as they are having fun. Every time he returns, we will spend a couple days with him, and send him out again. While Stanley is out visiting a new host, we will be learning about where he just came from. So soon, the boys will start with the States of California, and Indiana. And New Zealand. During the times hes gone again Im sure we can cover the areas he comes from.
Hope our Stanleys are enjoying their trips and bring us back some good information! (and goodies too hehehe)

I love K'nex

I called off "school" for the day.. And yet my kids decided that they wanted to do learning stuff anyways. I love these boys. This is a oil pump. They worked long and hard on this, a windmill, and a thing that actually looks like those swings you ride at the fair that go round and round and round........
They were given to them for Christmas from a guy at Papa Bears job. A great gift I must say. They like to experiment to see how they can make stuff move.
So our called off day, ended up with Solar power discussions, and how its renewable because your using a natural resource. And Now we are watching RUSH. lol. If its anything music, They are all for it.
LAst night they made No Bake cookies. With very little mommy help. Lil Bear Read ingredients. While Mr B gathered. The lil Bear read how much and Mr B measured and poured. Lil Bear mixed. And YUMMY! Everything in life can be turned into a wonderful learning experience. And on top of that. They had fun. And isn't that what really matters?

Attitude...Attitude..Attitude

Ahhhh.. so it is, yet another one of THOSE days. We have had a semi busy week(which is surprising since I am such a hermit) From Lego Club, then HOM Picnic, To my friends to mow and weedeat, to visiting the OKC bombing memorial, then going to see the Disney A Christmas Carol Train Tour(yep CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST!)
Lego club was fun. I enjoy sitting with other mothers, and discussing what life has brought with the past month. And actually having people to share the daily struggles and triumphs with.
Then onto the picnic the next night, where in all honesty I acted just like the kids, shaving cream fights and all. But it was fun. The boys had a blast and it wore them out.
The next day we thought ohhh sit at home relax...nope. Friend said she was going to try to mow(hmm bad lungs and lawn mowing DO NOT go hand in hand) So off we go to do it for here before she had the chance to THINK about it any further. We spent a good few hours over there. Its always nice to visit with her.
Today we decided to go to the Train tour. And we all know hoe most DOWNTOWN areas are. You pay anywhere from 3-7 bucks JUST TO PARK! So we drove a ways away looking for a place to park NOT costing money. Gave up for a little bit and went over to the Memorial. That place is a very humbling experience. You look at all of the chairs and remember where you were the day it happened. The kids were reading all of the little plaques. And then Papa Bear noted to them about how part of that wall, it the original wall that was there. The survivor tree is huge and beautiful. After spending a little while looking at things left behind. We decided to go ahead and TRY again to go to the train. Finally we parked about 3 blocks away. And walked all the way over there. lol. After getting there we waited for quite a while. Finally got to the train. It was very interesting. I highly recommend if it comes nearby, go look at it. And it was FREE! When we were leaving the line was VERY long to get into the train. I'm talking AT LEAST a 3 hour wait. If it comes by. GO EARLY! Sorry no pictures were taken on the train(I for got my camera) More pics to come of the picnic. And when we go back to the Bombing Memorial, there will be pictures. We are going to study about it. Then make something special to bring and leave on the fence.

LEGO LEGO LEGO

I gave Lil Bear my camera phone yesterday. The camera part on it still works LOL. But let him have fun. I figured heck why not. We were at Lego Club with a LOT of other families. And he had a fun time going around taking pictures of the various things being built. And people having fun. That picture you see, he says is sideways. But ya know. I was more proud that he even THOUGHT to do something like this! I expected just walk around click click click...lol. And he did do a lot of those. But when I went through. I could see he THOUGHT on a lot of the photos. I might be seeing a camera in his hands in the near future.
Now again on LEGOS! The homeschool lego group is pretty big. And getting bigger. I am loving meeting others. There was a ton of kids. And its funny to watch my kids jump in the mix no problems. And the one thing, everyone used to complain about my lil bear..He doesn't participate, he doesn't talk blah blah blah....Guess what.. during Lego club he has come out of a shell. Hes walking up to people he has never met before and initiating conversations. He goes and sits and participates in conversations AND SHARES. So obviously it was more that he didnt like the company before. LOL. Because if Lil bear don't like ya.... He is very apparent about it. I am really glad we joined. On top of having other adults around me I DON'T feel so alone. And the boys know now for sure . They are NOT the only ones.
And tonight.. HOMESCHOOL PICNIC!! Love the activities. Will have to let lil bear take some more pics. Mr B says he wants to take some and show off his talent also.

And so we all change

After a particular frustrating day. I took a step back. I mean the beauty of homeschool is, if it don't work, change it...right?? After reading another homeschool moms blog(would link it but didnt ask permission lol) and talking to her. I realized. Im going about things ALL wrong. Kids already were doing lots of paper stuff. But Ya know, it was to much like public school. And then to find that the school failed my oldest. Was a hard blow. When I have been told over and over how ahead he was. TO find some basic stuff he was left behind in, and no one ever said it. I was hacked to say the least. So anyways, after having a heart to heart with my friend. And myself. I got paper out, and the boys sat down to write what THEY want to learn about. And here it is.....
(yes a lot of wars but they are obsessed with the aircraft more than the war lol)

WWI and WWII
Cold War
Revolutionary War
Korean War
George Washington
Lewis &Clark(I know this is a event also)
Elvis Presley(dont ask me)
Van Gogh
Mozart
Picasso
Mosaics
models
Chemical reactions
Elements
Weather
Natural and Manmade resources
Planets and Stars
Fossils
Dinosaurs
Prehistoric times
Ice Age
Different instruments(ok they listed almost EVERY instrument)
Types of music(they listed classical, rock, jazz,folk, country,blues...)
cooking
Sewing


I left some off the list because they really coincide with others so its kinda a mix. I was REALLY surprised at this list. I guess I expected a rather short list, without specifics. And honestly The list was GREAT!They want to make volcanoes and we were also discussing Flat Stanley. That we will be hopefully doing next month. Our homeschool group is a great one. And we are adding things daily to our calendar. The boys are excited to see it fill up with all kinds of fun things. And don't realize how much they learn in each activity. I am very proud of my boys. The changes everyday are amazing. The love of learning is returning. And its nice to see them interacting with kids and adults alike. In ways that I thought were lost. The way they interact with each other is even more dramatic.
For the people who know me personally, know the past couple years have been filled with a lot of arguing and fighting between the boys, lots of negative. Its like they really did hate each other. And hated everything around them. We took our oldest in after a incident that shocked us to no end. To find that he has aspergers syndrome. Now, we did not go through the absolute diagnoses. We didn't want that stamp on him right now. Because well, honestly, we didn't really believe them. I still have my moments that I don't. But somethings do make sense. BUT- In 3 months. I am seeing my old boys again. The ones from before a couple years ago. There is caring and compassion comping back. Cooperation. They are holding conversations that most people look at them like WHAT do you teach those kids(and not in a bad way) Talking about rocket ships and the deep space. And about why Pluto is no longer a planet. Im talking NOT your normal kid talk. Don't get me wrong. They will also hold hour long conversations about Bakugan. They spent 2 hours one day with Play Doh. 2 HOURS!! Not once did they fight over the colors. Not once did they yell I want that toy. I listened to them with tears in my eyes, as they ASKED when your done with that may I play with it.....OMG IS THIS REALLY MY KIDS!?!?! May I???? When your done??? Your kidding me right. I have played referee for a couple years over EVERY single little thing. And the only thing I have had to deal with lately...Some backtalk. A lil attitude. But its only when I want them to do a chore. LOL. They still get a little rough with each other. They are boys after all. They still have some spats. Its not get along 100% of the time. But ya know 90% is fine by me.
My kids are happy again. And that is all I could ever want.

A frustrating day...

Today has been one of THOSE days. you know.. THAT day that should have NEVER happened. NOTHING goes right. Nerves are SHOT.
I woke up ok. Drank some coffee. Kids got up got brekkie. Asked for schoolwork. And then..I swear everything just flipped. The bear became a needy grumpy bear. Just decided he didn't like anything and didn't know anything. It has become apparent. I will be taking a hiatus from everything during school time. I will be focusing straight on teaching and getting back on track. Then, reality of public school hit. Mr B.....is behind. This is something I have never stated out load. Because its never happened. He has always been ahead. Well, in reading. He supposedly was on track with math. NOT SO. SO heres a big thank you to the public school.(totally wanna be inappropriate here) WHO LIED and said he was doing great. I am thinking its pass and pass and don't care. My 5th grader, we have to take some steps back with. And I am very frustrated with it. I really wanted to cry this morning. Realizing we are taking a few steps back to go over certain subjects. THAT I KNOW were taught to him before, and never knew there was any problems, I am going to be reteaching. Thank you to a no child left behind, My child can read and comprehend 10th grade stuff. But guess what. He passed in Math. And all they were worried about was how fast he couldn't multiply! Grammar....yup going over that again too...Science.. His fav subject.. Yup that needs some work... Ohh need we mention SOCIAL STUDIES???

Onto other stuff I am going to apply for a job tomorrow. Part time. It would be nice to be able to help get us out of debt. Somethings gotta give. My poor husbands been working so hard for so long. And I am sick and tired of him not getting the appreciation he deserves. I am soo proud of him for all he does. He is a great husband and father. And I hope one day he will be able to sit back and just enjoy life. and his family. Without wondering all those thoughts, that cause some major stress.

The school year is upon us..

The summers flying past and we are looking to starting our school year on August 3. I have pretty much everything. Except the history. Hopefully I will get that soon. Deciding that we are going to do things in 5 week spurts. That way we don't burn out, and we also don't stop to long that we forget everything. Kids are ready. Or at least they say they are. Right now, the heat is so bad outside, its kinda hard to think to go out and enjoy anything. 105 degrees is NOT fun. So hopefully by the end of this week, we will be able to play outside without having a heat stroke!