Those Wacky Kids!

So, today feels like it started about 12 hours ago, even though it is only 7a.m. Don't think I have had more than 4 hours of sleep. My highschool aged son, had an evening Math competition and had to be picked up from school at 9:30p.m. That meant, he had to rush in and eat something, go to bed, wake up at 5:30, bathe, iron clothes, eat breakfast and be out of the house by 6:30 in order to be on time for his 1t period MATH EXAM! Gosh, you would think they would schedule a math test the day after a grueling competition. But, it goes along with the territory.Work hard and then work hard some more.

My 8 year old was just discussing the differences between the Rolling Stones and the Beatles over his morning pop-tarts. He called the Beatles, an "evolution of color". We both agreed that we preferred the music of the Beatles over the Stones. But, I have a sneaky suspicion that Rock Band Beatles Edition played a part in his choice.

We are planning to go on a homeschool  field trip this morning. Some friends of mine have a wonderful dance troupe called, M.A.D.D. Rhythms. They are dynamic tap-dancers and always put on a wonderful show. I hope the boys enjoy it.

Gotta keep moving.

When I first started this blog, I wanted it to be filled with all the fun and stories that my family of 6 provides on a daily basis. I didn't count on being sidetracked by the return of symptoms from a condition I have called Chiari Malformation. Apparently, when i was a baby my skull fused to quickly, leaving part of my cerebellum outside of my skull. These cerebellar "tonsils" as they are called, took up permanent residence in my spinal column. There they cause all kinds of problems. My biggest problems are bad headaches and vertigo. The headaches and vertigo are cause by cerebral spinal fluid being trapped in my head. I had surgery to relieve the pressure 8 years ago, but about a month ago, I started having trouble again. This has really taken it's toll on my energy level. I only have a few pain free days a month, but my energy is very low. I am scheduled to have an MRI on Friday and I hope more surgery will not be required. I can't do much homeschooling from a hospital bed. Okay, I got that off my chest. Now, on to my happier stuff. I signed up online on Houseparty.com. it is a pretty cool site where all these different companies list opportunities for people to host parties featuring their products. I was able to score a Folgers Coffee and Land O' lakes Half and half party. They sent me a box of great stuff. Coffee, free coupons for the half and half and some "party favors" to pass out to my guests. My party will be held this Saturday and I hope we have a really great time. I also signed up for a "Just Dance 2" party for the Wii. That would be hilarious!

So, I am staying positive about my test and hoping that I can do what I need to do to get my energy back. My boys are finding creative things to do when I can't teach them because a ad headache. Believe me, that is not always a good thing.

The Anatomy of a Grape

This morning, my little guys decided to dissect grapes. They were very large Red Globe Grapes so they were perfect for splitting in half. They got out their plastic knives and split them down the middle to check out the seeds inside. needless to say, they left seeds all over my kitchen table. I am afraid of what they will do with the pomegranate I bought yesterday.

Breathing Easier Now

I have been a complete wreck for about a month now. Since, I started homeschooling my two youngest sons. I had this wonderful idea about how I wanted things to be. We were going to explore the world from our little urban setting. I was going to enrich and inspire them and we were going to be a unstopping learning machine. That was until I got in the way. I was so worried about making sure that I was teaching them several subjects everyday that I forgot about why we decided to homeschool in the 1st place. Instead of fueling their creativity I was squashing it. So, worried that I would be judged if i wasn't teaching exactly what the school I took them out was teaching. if that was the case, I should have kept them in school. I didn't take them out of school because they weren't being taught. They were both straight A students. I took them out because I wanted them to have a childhood. I wanted them to be able to not worry about grades and standardized tests and kids that wanted to spit and hit them just because. i was going to bed almost in tears because my children were beginning to dread the lessons of the day. We were all frustrated and not really getting anywhere. Just as i was about to plunk down $400.00 for yet ANOTHER curriculum, I paused. I decided to wait just one more day and see if I really needed to make that purchase. I was online going through a homeschool parenting forum when I came across a blog of a woman who "unschooled" her children. They were allowed to let their interest be their catalyst into what they learned that day. I knew this wouldn't work for me because, I figured my children would only want to watch television and play video games all day. I was definitely not going to let that happen. I read on in the blog and my stress started to melt. I wondered what would really happen if I let my sons pick what they wanted to learn. Well, this morning instead of sitting down for formal lessons, we let them choose. To my surprise, they wanted to play chess. Not video games or Spongebob. They only wanted to play chess. So, we let them. Then they started to ask questions. Not about chess. They wanted to know about square roots and percentages. Why the sky was blue and who invented ice cream. It was a good day today. Tomorrow lessons will include, how to play a card game called Phase 10. How long will we continue this new way. I am not sure. A big part of me still believes I should be teaching more formally. But, i must admit, it feels good to breathe a little easier now.