Life Lessons: Time Management for dummies

     Do you ever have days where you feel like the White Rabbit? "We're late! We're late! We're very very late!!" says the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. Yeah, that white rabbit. Not the Easter Bunny. 
     These days I find myself contemplating time and how I spend it. A typical day consists of us leaving the house at some point with me saying how we're running late, spending chunks of time in the car because we live in the middle of nowhere, most likely eating out because I wasn't prepared or forgot something in our haste, and then feeling frustrated that I haven't taught the kids the things I wanted to on any given day. I could use a hand in the time-management department, obviously. 
     I've been making small changes, trying to bring our thermos's when we leave the house for example, in hopes that small changes become habits for us all. Having cool water and a cannister of grapes got us from today's activity to home without complaints of thirst or anyone actually dying of hunger. Only being 11 minutes from home also helped -  the kids didn't even have time to annoy each other on such a short drive :) 

March 2011 Reading List

Sometimes you get what you want. And sometimes you don't! How true. Such a simple story with a big message. I think I'll find myself saying this phrase instead of the standard "Life isn't fair" that has already been beaten to death and lost it's meaning to my children. 




A Place for Zero proved to be entertaining for both kids, which kind of surprised me but in a good way. Zero doesn't know where he belongs, he feel useless and is unsure of where he fits in. Count Infinity helps him find his place if addition, but he still thinks that there is something else out there for him. He tromps off to the castle to see Kind Multiplus and asks to be multiplied. He finds a new use for himself, but still looks for more. In simply standing next to another number, he sees how big he can really be. He can change a 1 to a 10! Great book about both math and belonging. 

I liked this book so much that I'm putting it on my Amazon shopping list. It combines art with math, giving kids a sample of several famous artworks while asking them to count. Creating several combinations to add to the same number was not as easy at it looked from first glance, as Nic can attest to. This author is a new favorite of mine and I'd like to have all of his math books on hand for the kids!

I really enjoyed reading this one aloud. The repetition was fun and also kind of a tongue twister. The artwork was also really vibrant and I would definitely consider framing some of the pages, if this weren't a library copy. 

The Magic Tree House is a series, but we started on #2, The Knight at Dawn. During last months bookclub we heard all about #1 and it reminded me that I had this book, purchased a couple of years ago and left to collect dust on the bookshelf. Nicholas had said that he wasn't interested, that he had read one of these books back in public school days. I know they are beneath his grade level now, but it made for a fun read-aloud book for both kids. The sentences are simple and the story is short with just enough new vocabulary and educational stuff thrown in to make it appealing to both kids. We have the next 2 books in the series on reserve at the local library, and I'll try to just stick to the order from here on out.

Here is our current chapter book. This story is told from the viewpoint of a 10 year old boy, a fictional character named James, who is onboard The Beagle with Mr.Charles Darwin. Nic seems to enjoy listening, but Sydney insists that she doesn't like this one. She still listens though, just while she plays with puzzles on the floor, and jumps up for an opportunity to see the pictures. I like that the story is told from a child's perspective but deals with true events. 

On more book related news, both kids participated in what I am deeming the "Book Report Club". Nic and I worked on writing an actual report for one of his club penguin books, and this helped IMMENSELY with his confidence in speaking in front of others. His report was short and sweet, much like his book choice, and he also added a picture to help explain his book. I was really proud of him!! Sydney made a Fancy Nancy picture to go along with her report on Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy. Once we were there at the meeting she decided to "read" her book to the group. She has the whole thing memorized because she chooses it as her bedtime story so often! I thought they both did great and I'm planning on going back for more meetings. Great practice for speaking in groups, I think that's a pretty good life skill :) 

Making Our House Feel Like HOME

This is not my house.

(picture from http://ourhomeoncountyroad39.blogspot.com)

This is also not my house. 

(picture from Pottery Barn catalog)

But I could picture myself living this way. Peaceful. Calm. Organized. I'm not asking for a showroom of perfection. Far from it! I want my fridge to have my children's art hanging from it, I even welcome the window paint drawings on the backdoor. I want a house that feels like HOME. One that welcomes me in and makes me feel as ease. I just want a place I can sit back and read in comfortably, and not first have to hunt down the book I was reading, finding it 20 minutes later after digging through various "piles" around the house. I want to be able to find what I am looking for within a shorter amount of time that I plan on using said item. 

My first step was to join in the "project simplify" on Simple Mom, as I've mentioned before. I'm working on hot spot #3 currently, the kids' toys and clothes. I've already tackled the papers around the house and the Master Closet. I'm like a little tornado, just quietly whirling about the house, making messes as I organize. 
Living in the middle of the project makes me want to run away. I don't like the uneasiness I feel when I see these unfinished projects, and I am tempted to throw everything back into a closet, have a cleared table and declare it a losing battle. But I won't. I will keep plugging away. I will donate more boxes of "stuff" than I ever expected, and I will remember to be mindful in my future purchases. I will fill my home with things that I love, and not just things that were on sale and "would do for now". It's getting there, I just need to keep plugging away. 

Life Lessons: Being Mindful and Simplifying the Home

     The more I read about mindfulness, the more I run into the term "simplify". It makes sense that they go hand-in-hand, but I had never taken the time to think about it before. I'm joining Simple Mom in her challenge to simplify the home. I'd like to enjoy my home, in this minute and the next, instead of having the feeling that I am drowning in stuff. Clutter.

     This might be a good time to admit that I am a thrift store junky. And as the saying goes, I am the kind of woman to spend $1 on something I don't need when a man spends $2 on something he does. If it's on sale, it will probably come home with me because I swear I can find a use for it. I have lots of "projects" started an piling up as well. I'm ready to to tackle the clutter and decide once and for all to use it or lose it! 

     My intent is to have a home that is welcoming to both my family and friends, a home that doubles as a schoolhouse that invites my children to learn and explore, a home that energizes me for the day instead of holding me down. I just joined project simplify, so I'll be starting with hotspot #1 - the bedroom closet. If I don't blog again after this post, it's quite possible that I'm lost in said closet. Or I've run away, because my closet is where I dump all the unfinished projects, all the things I *might* use one day, and its beginning to become reminiscent of the talking trash heap on Fraggle Rock. The haul out to goodwill should be a good one when I'm done! I'm too shamed to post a picture of the "before", but I'll come back and add a picture of the stuff I'm letting go of :) 

Update: I survived! Here is the van all loaded up, 95% of this came from my master closet...the rest *was* in the closet at one point but had previously been moved to the garage. There's a baby gate, car seat, 2 laundry sorters, worm ride-on, organizing drawers, baby toys, and of course clothes. 

Life Lessons: It's all a balancing act

     There are days where I wonder if we'll ever find our flow. It seems as if the thing I love the most about homeschooling, freedom, is also the part that causes me the most grief. We don't have an exact schedule, and no two days look the same. Instead of a schedule, we fit in lessons around other social activities, field trips and events. The upside to this freedom is that we can have an impromptu day at a hidden zoo when we were only planning on a grocery store field trip followed by a picnic! (Here are some of the animals we got to visit, an owl and some turkeys)


 
The downside to our days is that they don't always feel completed. Nicholas is definitely a "to do " list kind of kid. He likes to know the day's plan and what needs to get done. Sydney is more of a "fly by the seat of her pants" kind of girl. She gets inspired and runs with it! I'm somewhere in the middle, and I am trying to find a balance that works for the both of them.
     I don't expect to find a regimen that works for us all the time. Just this week we've added in karate lessons and a science co-op! Our lives will remain a juggling act, a process, and I think we will all have some good days as well as some bad. But more importantly, I think we will learn through them all. 
 

February 2011 Reading List

Arithmetic Village is a whole series of math fairy tales that we were fortunate enough to win. I excideldy tore opened the package and was pleased to find the books simple and charming. Sydney loves the stories and has since gone about the house playing "Polly Plus" counting jewels. 

Charlie an Lola are favorites around here and this was another big hit. Our library system just got a bunch of new titles in, yay! 

This was a cute story, albeit kind of hard to read outloud! See, the vowels are missing and are added back in as the family gets new members. At least the kids got a kick out of me trying to say words without vowels :) 

 

The Month Might Be Milk was on a friend's list from last month and looked like the sort of book we would like. We read it, and it was. S had the cool idea to make the cookie recipe but I had enough girl scout cookies laying around here to tempt me ;)




Sydney loves this book! We read it together many times. MANY times. She also chose this as her book-club pick an gave a great little report on it. 

Junie B. reminds me of Sydney. She is a wild child, full of love and creativity and also loudness. Nicholas used to enjoy this series, but has since grown out of it. This is now a bedtime series for Sydney and she seems to enjoy reading chapter books.





Our new family time reading adventure, brought to us by my childhood favorite author Judy Bloom. This is still what we are currently reading and it is proving to be a bonding book for us, as we can all relate to the characters and their wit. 

Life imitating art

    When I came up with the idea of a kids arts show, I had no idea that the many children in my life were SUCH a creative bunch. There was no way for me to guess what a mix of projects would line my living room wall and cover the tables! Our collective gallery featured photography, pencil portraits, abstract paintings, clay sculpture, a collection of paper doll dresses, a collage, a cave wall rendering, a large sculpture and even a stop-motion film. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. I think this may just evolve into an annual event!