Organized Homeschool Helps Independence Happen

Yesterday, I described in detail how I organize our school year. One of the things I love about this system is that it really helps my kids work independently, releasing me to spend my time on other tasks. I'm always available to stop what I'm doing to help...answering questions or giving an occasional, quick math lesson.

When I say my kids can work independently, I'm talking about the fact that I can tell them to get started on school and off they go, without help from me. They know that their work is in their binders. All they need to do is grab their notebook and a pencil and get started.

Part of being independent is the ability to do their work in whatever order they wish. Often, they'll just start at the first divider and work their way through the dividers. Other times, they'll jump around, working in whichever order they wish. I just have to keep an eye on Sam who will do math to the exclusion of everything else.

The kids know how much to do in each subject. For us, it's usually as simple as "do one side of a page each day" or "do one page, both sides, each day". They remember how much to do in each subject, and if they don't, they can look at how much is in the divider and figure it out. Another option is to add a sticker to the front of the pocket with a reminder of how much should be done in that subject. They also have the option of doing as much in a subject as they want, as long as everything is finished before the end of the week. They are not so good with that option.

The goal is to get everything done by the end of Friday. I don't really care how they get there, whether it is a little bit each day or all of a subject or two each day. On Saturday, any unfinished work is completed. It adds a little motivation to get it done, because the kids don't really enjoy spending their Saturday sitting at the table doing what they should have done during the week. Oh...and they get no breaks on Saturday...you work until it is done.

In the subjects that I've chosen to save for doing together, they skip those until I'm ready to sit down with them. Usually, this is history and science. Sometimes they'll remind me. Sometimes, I'll ask them if they are done and they'll tell me that everything except history is done, and that reminds me to sit down with them to do it. I won't penalize them for not getting this work done by Friday since it is often my fault that it isn't done. Instead, I eliminate some of the extras in these subjects, sticking with the basics to catch up.

Homeschool Organizing

Last year, I wrote about how I found this great organizing method for homeschool organizing and was implementing it for our own home school. Well, last year was our best year, by far! We never got very far behind; a few times, we got a week behind in a subject but it was so easy to catch back up. We finished most of our curriculum early, and the rest was done by the time we were ready for our summer break. Best of all, it required a few days planning at the beginning of the year and that was it. The rest of the year required very little work for me. As the year went along, though, I figured out a couple of small changes I wanted to make for this year.

I've been working on getting this done enough so I could have some pictures to go with this post...for someone who's waiting for it. (Hello, friend!) I'm trying to get as much done before the baby comes. I'll finish up as I receive the curriculum that I haven't been able to order yet. Then we'll be good to go for the rest of the year.

My method starts with a simply filing box. Because I only have two kids in school, one box is plenty. It's about 18" deep, I think, and wide enough for standard hanging files. If you have more than three kids, you'll need another box or two.


Here's a photo. In the file box are 12 hanging files, each labeled with the months of the year. I start with August as that is when the school year starts. If you look closely, you'll see that I have a 13th hanging file labeled "Sam's math"; I'll explain that in a minute as it is an extra piece that is probably not necessary for most people.

Each hanging file is filled with file folders. Each week of the school year, including holiday weeks, are accounted for with its own separate file. Each child has their own set, which is color coded.


Here's a close up of the file folders. Each one is labeled with the dates (numbers only) for the week. For example, you'll see 17-23 behind the August tab. This means that folder is for Monday, August 17th through Sunday, August 23rd. I always start with Monday because that is the first day of the new school week. I always include the weekend at the end because we use the weekend for finishing anything that wasn't done and grading.

If the week begins in one month and ends in the next month, I file it in the month it began. For example, if Monday is the 31th of August and Sunday is the 6th of September, that file will be labeled 30-6 and filed in the August hanging file.

You'll also see that there are two files, identically labeled, right next to each other. The pink one is Sam's work for that week. The blue one is Mika's work for that week.

What do I put in these folders? Everything. All consumables get pulled apart and filed. I figure out how much I need to file by taking the number of pages divided by the number of weeks we are doing school. If the pages are single sided, I'll put that number of pages in each folder. If the pages are double sided and the number I need in each week is even, I'll put the appropriate number of pages (ie. 6 pages to complete equals 3 double sided pages filed). If the number is odd, I'll round up (ie. 5 pages to complete equals 3 double sided pages). In this latter case, we'll work 6 pages each week and finish that curriculum early. If I want to do one chapter/lesson a week, I simply file all the pages that go with that chapter/lesson in each folder. If it is a subject that I don't have a consumable, I'll be creating assignment sheets or logs for those subjects. The assignment sheets can be as simple as read chapter three, or as complete as listing how much to read each day and adding in activities. I plan on using logs for some subjects. These are subjects where I tend to go with the flow and don't have to finish by a certain time...reading logs for reading/literature fit this category well. I'll also have a PE log so we can keep track of how much and what kind of activity they are doing.

The file labeled "Sam's math" has folders labeled "Epsilon", "Zeta", and "Prealgebra". I found out last year that I couldn't file his math by week because he likes to work ahead at varying speeds. He would do anywhere from 1 week to 3 weeks of math each week and it was too hard to keep track of which week I had last pulled from. So, I decided to file his math separately by year. This year, I suspect he'll complete at least those three levels of math so I created files for them and will pull a week at a time from which ever level he's working it. This gives me the flexibility of pulling out what he needs, when he needs it, easily.

That's PART 1: The Filing Box

Part 2 of my system is the three ring binder. Each child has one, color coded to match his/her files. Here's Sam's binder. As you can see, we are reusing last year's binders.

Here's the inside of the binder. Inside you'll find pocket dividers for each subject we are covering during the year. These dividers are plastic and have a pocket on each side. Each Monday, I pull each child's file folder for the week and transfer the papers to their binder. Spelling pages go into the spelling divider, math in the math divider, and so on. We have 16 dividers so that each subject has a separate divider. Our subjects this year are spelling, grammar, vocabulary, poetry, writing, math, problem solving, history, science, logic, Korean (for Sam), Drawing, reading, social skills, PE, and home ec. The work to be done is put in the front side pocket of the divider. When the work is done (whether it is a worksheet, assignment sheet, or log), the page is placed in the back side pocket of the divider. This way, they can't lose an unfinished page among the finished pages.

At the end of the week (Friday), I grab their three ring binders and go through them. Any pages undone are either finished on the weekend. We also go over any missed problems over the weekend. At times, I'll let unfinished work be added to the next week's work. This is especially true if it is a subject that we cover together as a group. It is easy not to get too far behind because you see the pages add up each Monday, which reminds you to spend extra time catching up.

On Monday, I empty all of the finished work from the binders and place them back into the file folder they came from. This gives me ready access to this year's completed work should I need it. This is handy for CVA's monthly reviews as I can grab the folders I need to reference as I write the review. I grab the new week's work and put it in the appropriate dividers.

I love this system. It required very little in the way of planning for the rest of the year. At most, I would look to see what chapter/lesson we were on next so I could grab those library books or experiment supplies ahead of time. If I had the time/energy/inclination (which I don't with the baby due), I might make it even easier by creating a third set of file folders for this stuff. Then I'd just have to grab the list from the folder and go.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

The UN Convention of the Rights of a Child is big news right now. Only the US and Somalia has yet to enter into this treaty, and the Obama administration is pushing for its ratification. Ratifying this treaty is NOT in the US's best interest. I know that a lot of people are thinking it is just us nutty homeschoolers and Christians who are against it, but I say we all should be against it. The treaty threatens to take away the parental rights of everyone, regardless of your beliefs in schooling, religion, parenting, etc. I believe that every parent, and future parent, should look closely at this treaty and ask yourself questions such as the ones I've asked below. Questions like:

Would you be willing to take your child to religious gatherings contrary to your personal beliefs? As an atheist, are you willing to take your child to a Christian church if that's what your child wants? As a Muslim, are you willing to take your child to a Jewish synagogue? As a Christian, are you willing to take your child to a Masonic Temple? This treaty gives your child the right to follow any religious beliefs they wish to, and requires that the "competent authorities" ensure that you provide for them to do so.

My comments/questions are in purple. The black text is taken directly from the treaty document. I did not include and comment on every article of the convention.

Bearing in mind that, as indicated in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, "the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth",

I can agree with this part. I especially like that it protects the child BEFORE birth as well as after. In my mind, this would ensure that those who murder a pregnant mom would be prosecuted for both the murders of the woman and her unborn child. Further, it would outlaw all abortions.

Article 3

1. In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.

My question for this provision is: "Who decides what is the best interests of the child?" What happens if what I think is in the best interest of my child is different from what the social welfare institution thinks is in the best interest of my child? Who's opinion wins?


2. States Parties undertake to ensure the child such protection and care as is necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the rights and duties of his or her parents, legal guardians, or other individuals legally responsible for him or her, and, to this end, shall take all appropriate legislative and administrative measures.

3. States Parties shall ensure that the institutions, services and facilities responsible for the care or protection of children shall conform with the standards established by competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent supervision.

Who are the competent authorities who are establishing these standards? Who is determining what constitutes a competent authority? Is a competent authority someone who is liberal, conservative, socialist, capitalist, Muslim, Christian, Atheist? To what kind of people are we giving the authority to decide just how we can and cannot raise our children?

Article 4

States Parties shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present Convention. With regard to economic, social and cultural rights, States Parties shall undertake such measures to the maximum extent of their available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international co-operation.

What does appropriate mean in this situation? Does this mean that our government can legislate away our rights to parent our children as we determine best, and take punitive measures against us if we don't follow these new laws?

Article 9

1. States Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject to judicial review determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child. Such determination may be necessary in a particular case such as one involving abuse or neglect of the child by the parents, or one where the parents are living separately and a decision must be made as to the child's place of residence.

This provision is a HUGE can of worms. Again, who is deciding what makes someone a competent authority and who is deciding what, exactly, is the child's best interest?



2. In any proceedings pursuant to paragraph 1 of the present article, all interested parties shall be given an opportunity to participate in the proceedings and make their views known.

It's nice that we are allowed to tell the competent authorities our opinion. The child, regardless of age, is also allowed to tell them his opinion.


3. States Parties shall respect the right of the child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child's best interests.


The first section sounds good: the child is allowed to maintain contact with the parents unless those competent authorities decide it isn't a good idea. Imagine your child being taken away from you. Imagine your child traumatized by being taken away from you and wants to at least see and talk to you sometimes. Imagine the case worker saying you can't see each other because she thinks it isn't in the child's best interest per her definition.

Article 12

1. States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.

I can see a child, who is angry with their parents for requiring them to do reasonable chores, being given the right to express views such as their parents being too mean/harsh/punitive/etc., and those views being given due weight in court.

Article 13

1. The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice.

Do you think a young child should have the right to receive information of all kinds? What if your 12 year old wants information about how to use birth control, how to satisfy the other gender sexually, and how to find a wide variety of sexual partners? What if your angry, depressed, and suicidal teen wants information on how to procure a gun?

Article 14

1. States Parties shall respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

What if you are an atheist parent? Will you be willing to take your young child to the church of his choice every week? What if his choice of religion is a well-known cult? Christian parents: are you willing to take and drop your child off at a Masonic, Hindu, or Buddhist Temple? Do you think an 8 year old has enough life experience to make these kinds of decisions? Once this treaty is passed, your child has a right to his own religion, and you must allow them to pursue it, regardless of your beliefs.

Article 16

1. No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation.

What if you suspect your child of using drugs? Does his right of privacy prevent you from searching his room or backpack for the drugs?

Article 17

States Parties recognize the important function performed by the mass media and shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from a diversity of national and international sources, especially those aimed at the promotion of his or her social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical and mental health. To this end, States Parties shall:

(a) Encourage the mass media to disseminate information and material of social and cultural benefit to the child and in accordance with the spirit of article 29;

Who is deciding what information is beneficial for your child? Do you trust mass media to provide beneficial information to your child?

(e) Encourage the development of appropriate guidelines for the protection of the child from information and material injurious to his or her well-being, bearing in mind the provisions of articles 13 and 18.

Who is deciding what information is injurious to a child's well-being? What if you consider the information to be injurious to your child but they decide it is beneficial?

Article 19

1. States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.

States parties shall protect the children from harm done by their parents. Who decides what physical or mental violence is? What injury or abuse is? What neglect is? Is spanking violence? Is use of time outs negligence or maltreatment?

Article 28

1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular:

(a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all;

(e) Take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out rates.

How will this affect homeschooling in our country? We have already seen this be used against homeschooling in Germany, and it is being currently being used against homeschoolers in Britain.

Article 29

1. States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to:

(a) The development of the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential.

This would be great if public schools were forced to do this. Homeschooling has already proven superior in this aspect for most homeschooled children. However, I can see a competent authority arguing for public school placement using this provision to say that the parents' beliefs are not allowing for the development of the child's personality.

(c) The development of respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own;

Would this require the schools to develop the child's Christian values? Could this be used, as it has been in Germany, to outlaw homeschooling? In Germany, the national values are that the child be taught to become good citizens, as defined by the government, and it was decided that this cannot be accomplished properly if the child is not in public school.

(d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin;

In our country, preparing the child for tolerance means teaching that everyone is morally right except Christians.

Article 31

1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.

Will reasonable chores be considered interfering with the child's rights to rest and leisure?

Article 37

States Parties shall ensure that:

(a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offenses committed by persons below eighteen years of age;

There are two parts to this to comment on. The first sentence could limit our ability to discipline our kids. Can you imagine a nation full of teens and adults who have never been disciplined because a competent authority decided that spanking, time outs, restrictions, taking away an ipod, or whatever constitutes cruel or degrading treatment? The second sentence means that a 17 year old can go on a killing spree but not be charged in accordance to his deeds. They are old enough to take automatic weapons into a school and kill a bunch of teachers and classmates, but not old enough to be tried, convicted, and punished as an adult.

(b) No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time;

What IS the shortest appropriate period of detention for a 17 year old who has killed a dozen or two of his classmates?

Article 38

2. States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of fifteen years do not take a direct part in hostilities.

But your 15, 16, or 17 year old can take direct part in hostilities.

3. States Parties shall refrain from recruiting any person who has not attained the age of fifteen years into their armed forces. In recruiting among those persons who have attained the age of fifteen years but who have not attained the age of eighteen years, States Parties shall endeavour to give priority to those who are oldest.

Would you agree with the recruitment of your 15 year old into the armed forces, especially during a time of war/conflict when they have a likely chance of being sent into the conflict?

Article 40

(a) The establishment of a minimum age below which children shall be presumed not to have the capacity to infringe the penal law;

What will this minimum age?

Article 51

1. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall receive and circulate to all States the text of reservations made by States at the time of ratification or accession.

Our country is allowed to ratify this treaty while stating that they have reservations about certain portions of it.

2. A reservation incompatible with the object and purpose of the present Convention shall not be permitted.

However, the reservations are not permitted if they are deemed incompatible with the convention. Meaning, if our country ratifies this treaty with reservations, our reservations mean nothing. We still have to follow the entire thing, even if we disagree with it.

Article 52

A State Party may denounce the present Convention by written notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Denunciation becomes effective one year after the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary-General.

Hey, if our country ratifies the treaty and changes it's mind, it can...but it doesn't go into affect for a year. This would give them time to do something to prevent our pulling out of the treaty.

If you are at all concerned about any of these issues, contact your senators and urge them to oppose ratification of this treaty. You can find their information here.

Summer Reading

Have you signed your kids up for your library's summer reading program? It is a great way to motivate your kids to keep reading and learning through the summer.

The Tacoma Library just had their big kick off for their summer reading program, but it isn't too late to sign your kids up. All kids meeting their reading goal by August 15th, will receive a drawstring bag and 2 tickets (child and parent) to Pt. Definance Zoo, good on August 22nd. The library has arrange for Nanda to perform at 11am...get to the outdoor theater early for the best seats.

In addition to the free zoo tickets, every week there will be a drawing for a weekly prize. Kids will be entered into each week's drawing when they read another book and report it at the library or online. If your child finishes their ten books before the end of the program, they can continue to read to enter the weekly drawings. There is one winer each week.

Meeting the reading goal is easy. All kids have to do is read 10 books at their grade level. Qualifying reading includes any library book, magazine, graphic novel, or audio book. (They request that only library books are read towards the goal.) Younger kids can participate by listening to audio tapes or mom/dad reading books to them.

My kids are well on their way to finishing their goals. Mika is finished with five books already, and she'll be finishing her sixth later today. Sam has finished two books. I'm especially proud of him because his books have been on a sixth grade reading level! Josh has finally shown some interesting in being read to, rather than just looking at pictures and turning pages, and has finished four books. I know we'll be at the zoo on August 22nd. Will you?

22 Days To Go

I have a pregnancy ticker at the top of my blog. It reminds me of how close to delivery I am. Technically, given that I'm 37 weeks tomorrow, I could have this baby at any time. However, I'm hoping the big day waits a bit longer. I have stuff to do, ya know.

I've been in panic mode for a while. I will soon have a newborn, a very active two year old, and two grade school kids to take care of. As of August 17th (our official first day of school), I'll be responsible for taking care of these kids, completing the planning and organizing for the 2009/2010 school year, teaching the older two, cooking, cleaning, laundry, and everything else that comes with being a mom. It's too much...especially when your house is cluttered and disorganized. So, I've been trying to do what I can to make that time easier, namely decluttering, organizing, and cleaning. Soon, I'll be planning and organizing the curriculum I do have and ordering the curriculum I still need to get. I figure getting as much of this done as possible can only help, right?

Part of the problem is that I'm 37 weeks pregnant. My stamina is not what I'd like it to be. It seems for every productive day that I have, I require three or four days of recovery days. It makes getting this stuff done take a lot longer! I also need to consider the needs of my kids and family; I can't just keep them sequestered indoors when the weather is nice. So, I also need to fit in there supervising outside play, going to events/places that are fun and free, and taking care of day to day needs.

I NEED MORE TIME!

Binary Anyone?

I was talking to a mathy adult that I know a week or so ago. Just to give you an idea of what kind of guy I'm talking about...he ran across a fact about the earth's rotation (I think) in his kids' science book that he thought was wrong, so he's been trying to work on a mathematical equation (at a calculus or higher level) to disprove the fact. Just for fun.

Anyway, I was talking to this guy, getting an opinion about a math curriculum I'm thinking/planning on using with Sam for high school math, when he suggested I teach Sam binary and other bases. So I did.

It took about 15 minutes to teach Sam binary and how to covert numbers between decimal (the numbers we normally use) and binary. He spent part of the rest of the day, and several days since, practicing. The next day, he figured out base 3 and base 7 on his own. Then he tried out base 14 but got it wrong. It took about 3 sentences to explain that he was wrong, why, and how it should be done. He can now do hexadecimal (base 16). The kid GETS math.

An interesting thing about this was that I never understood binary myself until about two weeks ago. After thinking about it, I figured out why it was such a mystery, so hard for me, before but so easy now. It's our math curriculum: Math-U-See.

Math-U-See is very strong on teaching place value, something that most math programs don't teach well. I never realized how important place value was when it came to understanding and doing math until we started using Math-U-See. It made so much sense, and made mult-digit multiplication and division make sense. Rather than just following the steps, as taught, you understand (I'm mean really understand) why it works. It is this understanding of place value that allowed me, and my son, to understand binary so easily. After all, binary is no different from the numbers we are used to working with, except the value of each place is different.

And THAT is another reason I like Math-U-See so much. I highly recommend it!

A Little Bit of Everything

As we get busy with a little bit of everything, my posting frequency has gone down. We are still here, just busy.

End of Year
Our school year officially came to an end June 11th. I am so glad the year is over! I was ready for a break and it was getting hard to come up with things to do and report to our virtual academy as we had finished all but our science curriculum.

I spent the last week tying up some loose ends. There were hours to report for the last two weeks of school. I needed to write my end of year review for each student. And I needed to get some clarification for next year's school, as some minor things seem to be changing, and not in ways that will make my life easier.

I still have a few loose ends to tie up and hope to have those done this week. I have reimbursement paperwork to submit for our big Portland field trip. I want to print out all of my monthly reviews for our hard copy homeschooling records. I need to go through the kids' school work and pick a few items to place in our records before tossing the rest. I need to contact Open Arts Studio because, as far as I can tell, they haven't billed CVA for my daughter's art classes. One of them ended back in February; it should have been submitted and paid for by now!

Soon Comes Baby
I've been decluttering and cleaning like mad...well once every third day or so as I seem to need a couple of days to recover from each cleaning day. I've gotten both bedrooms 99% decluttered and clean; they look empty now. I don't want to try to juggle a newborn, a toddler, homeschooling two kids, organizing a new school year, and do every day chores all in a messy house. I think the stress would be overwhelming. If the house is decluttered, organized, and clean, it will make everything that I have to do that much easier.

I'm also starting to worry about other things that need to get done. Baby's carseat needs to at least be placed in the car, if not installed soon. We don't have a single piece of girl's clothing, in case it is a girl. I need to figure out what we'll need to take to the birth center with us and start gathering it; this includes food for everyone. We need to pick some names!

We have 29 days left!

Preparing for Next Year
I still haven't picked out a Spanish program for Mika. I'm looking for something in the middle to high school level...if you have any great suggestions. I don't want Rosetta Stone, but rather something textbook based. I also have to find some cursive workbooks. I'm picky about the style and the only way to choose them is to look at them because I don't know the name of the font/style I'm looking for.

The rest of our curriculum has been picked. Now, it is just a matter of buying it and getting reimbursed or waiting until it can be ordered in August. I'll be getting some of it Saturday at the WHO Convention.

Once I've gotten our curriculum, it will be time to start going through it and organizing my weekly filing system. I've found having everything organized and filed at the beginning of the year makes the whole year so easy and smooth. I'll be posting out the system I use soon. It's wonderful!

Also on my schedule this summer for next year's prep is watching the Institute for Excellence in Writing: Teaching Structure and Style DVDs. I've had them for a while but relied on the Student Writing Intensive (DVDs taught directly to the student) instead. Next year, I'll be taking the lead on my children's instruction. I'm also planning on watching Teaching the Classics DVDs to improve my literature instruction.

Moving Into Summer
We've been anticipating our normal summer activities. Because baby's arrival comes midway through the summer, I feel like we have to get summer done by July 15th as I'll be more homebound for the end of summer. We've already registered for a few of the programs at the library, have the Regal Free Family Film schedule listed on our calendar, and hope to attend a few events that happen to occur right around my due date.

Currently, the kids are enjoying playing with the neighborhood kids after school is out for the day; they are looking forward to the end of the public school year so the kids are more available for play.

We've also signed up for two summer reading programs. Mika has already read three books for the library's reading program (they require 10 to earn a free pass to the zoo), and she is anxiously awaiting the arrival of a few books we placed on hold. Sam has finished one book and is working on his second. We've also completed our first week for Half Price Book's reading program; each week earns them a $3 gift certificate for the store.

So, there you go. That's what we've been up do lately.

Baby names are still eluding us

We're still looking for baby names. We have a few options, but nothing standing out. Some of the options don't meet the criteria we usually look at...but we're getting desperate! LOL

What do you think of these?

Teyla Naomi
Julia Adin (pronounced Aw-deen)
Madelynn Kelsie
Emily Madison
Sophia Abigail

Jonathan David
Jacob Michael
Christopher Matthew
Jonathan Tyler

Any other suggestions?

35 weeks

I had my 35 week appointment today. (Normally, you wouldn't have a 35 week appointment but I'm off a week because I had to reschedule one a few weeks ago.) Anyway, it was interesting and amusing.

First, I was about 5 minutes late so I called ahead to let them know. Then, when I got there, parking was interesting. They only have room for about 3 cars side by side and 1 car perpendicular to those, if you are far enough away that they can get out. So, the easiest spot was taken. The next spot was taken. And just when I arrived some bicyclist pulled into the last spot to talk to the people in the second spot. Even if he hadn't been in the way, my van can't make the tight turn to get into it. So, I took the perpendicular spot, making it interesting to try to get out of the parking lot when we left...5 point (I mean 3 point) turn required...either that or backup into a busy street going the wrong way.

Then, I did the pee thing and went into the room to wait for the midwife....only it smelled...well....ewwww. Not strongly ewwww, but ewww enough. Get it? I asked my daughter if it smelled bad to her so I'd know if it was just me and my sensitive nose. It didn't smell "bad" to her but "weird". I went back into the waiting area and mentioned it. Turns out, I was smelling the people whose appointment was before me. They have dreadlocks, I was told. I wasn't aware that dreadlocks smelled...apparently they do. So, we opened the windows and left the door open. She offered to spray some kind of air freshner...lavendar...but I don't like those smells either. Fresh air is the best.

While the student was checking my belly, she decided that the baby's butt felt suspiciously like a head so she got out the fetal scope to help her check position, I think. I asked if we could call the baby "butthead" then. It just popped in my mind...sorry.

I found out that the baby part that is always trying to poke a hole in my left side is not a foot, but rather a knee. While the midwife was feeling baby, she got a tad bit more into it than usual which was slightly uncomfortable; I have a tender spot on my right side and pushing on baby makes me feel that spot more. She says, "Well, that was fun for me, but not so much for you," and got more gentle. I found it kind of humorous. You probably had to be there.

The student poked my finger to check my iron levels. She didn't poke very hard and couldn't get enough blood out and decided that she'd have to poke me again. Sorry! The second poke HURT as she went much deeper with it. She still couldn't get out enough blood! I helped her. My squeezing was much more effective. LOL

I met a doula who is currently considering midwifery school. She hasn't attended a lot of births so she's offering her doula services for free as part of her learning. We talked. She got a feel of what my normal is. She seemed nice, likes kids, and apparently takes good photos. Since we don't have money for a doula, we'll probably invite her to come along. That makes a nice little party of 7 adults (midwife, student, assistent, doula, friend to care for the kids, hubby, and me) and 3 kids attending this birth. The birth center is going to freak! LOL

What else? Ah, the kids...Mika complained that her ear was hurting again (she just finished antibiotics for an ear infection) so I tried to call the pediatrician for an appointment while waiting for the midwife to come in. She came too quickly and ended up leaving me to finish my call...she understood. The midwife also noticed the math Sam was working on and double checked his age. She was surprised to see a 7 year old doing long division and finding areas of various shapes. Finally, Josh is determined to show them where they need to child proof.

Finally, I figured out which of the two midwives I prefer. That means I must give birth during the weeks of June 29th (38 weeks pregnant) or July 13th (40 weeks pregnant). The weeks of July 6th or July 20th are out. Hear that baby?

We also scheduled all of my remaining appointments through 41 weeks.

What is it with chocolate?

A peculiar thing happens in our house when chocolate is consumed in the house. It is only peculiar because it only happens to the boys and it only happens with chocolate. Nothing else causes this particular problem...



Evidence #1: Josh about half way done with his chocolate milkshake. Notice his mouth. It got much worse before he was finished. Had it been a vanilla milkshake, there wouldn't be a drop anywhere but INSIDE his mouth.



Evidence #2: Here's Sam after consuming his chocolate milkshake. Without fail, it ends up all over his face. Again, had it been a vanilla milkshake there would be no mess.

What is it with boys and chocolate?

And, will they every outgrow this particular phenomenon?

Name the Baby

We are having a hard time coming up with a name for this baby. We need both a boy and girl name, as the ultrasound wasn't helpful to determining baby's gender. My husband posted on his blog that we are looking for name ideas but I had requirements that were more complex than the tax code. It's not THAT complex!

Here's what we are looking for:

1. Decent Meaning...Names like Jackson don't work because our child is not "Jack's son", nor will April work because she is not "born in April".

2. Sounds good together (flows) and with our last name which is pronounced like saying the letters QN. Avoid two K sounds in the first and middle name; it reminds me too much of KKK.

3. Avoid names with bad connotations or nicknames. Funky initials are ok as we already have a SIK and a JAK.

4. Goes together with other kids' names which are Mikaela, Samuel, and Joshua. It would just sound too weird throwing something very different in there. Imagine introductions..."And these are our children Mikaela, Samuel, Joshua, and Garsteaode.

5. Preferably 5 syllables shared between the first and middle name. I don't know what but 5 syllables sounds right to me. It just happened this way and figured out that they shared this feature. This isn't set in stone.

6. Doesn't use names already used in our family. So, JoAnn, Mae, Scott, Alan, Mikaela, Nathene, Samuel, Isaac, Joshua, Aaron, Ethan, Jeffrey and their variants are out. We also avoid names similar to certain people we know (wouldn't want them to think our child was named after them when they aren't). Can't give you that list though.

7. And finally...this is Scott's contribution...nothing too weird or spelled too funky. I like things that are more unique but he always outvotes me on that.


Ok, so there you go.

We tentatively like Madelyn for a girls name, although it doens't fit our decent meaning requirement and we haven't found a middle name to go with it.

Colored Pencil Woes

Crayola, Roseart, and Pentech please hear my plea! Would you please make your pencils worth buying? Unless something changes, I'm done buying your pencils.

"Why?" you ask. Because I'm tired of sharpening your pencils only to find the center broken all the way through to the bottom of the pencil. They are unusable. Sure, I might get lucky and find a couple of pencils in the set that are usable. Or I might find a couple that are only broken in the bottom half. That's not enough. When I buy a full set, I expect to be able to use the full set.

I'm sorry my dear colored pencil makers. I can't live like this anymore. I'm moving on and will be looking for a new partner in our coloring lives. In fact, I already have someone in mind.