Home Schooling Motto

I have a friend Christine, who has home schooled now for a few years. She never once said, "aw Anne, you know you want too, just home school, you can do it!" Because I would have freaked and ran a thousand miles away from her and cowered in a corner shaking uncontrollably.
Home schooling is now my life also! I search catalogs, web sites, listen to others victories and note their complete disasters in my ever growing memory banks.
Christine has this nifty picture for Home School Lounge on her website...(I'm not publishing her homeschool site, as I don't know if it is public, if she gives permission I will link it). I clicked it and what a marvelous place. I have the pic on the sidebar, but have placed it here with a nifty keen-o link so you can play there too!
They have LIVE chat! Now with homeschooling moms, this means tears, fears and encouragement! I seriously have gone in this chat room after kicking the cat, throwing the grammar books out the door and yelling school is out...go somewhere other than here! (okay, I didn't really kick the cat...because I can't get my leg that high, she sleeps on my bed)
There are ladies there with so much patience, and direction for homeschooling!
You see, my kids were public school their whole life. I was a public school advocate, I was schooled in the public schools. So when it came time for me to homeschool, all I did was move my kids location, not their focus.
Now, I hear of home schoolers that say, "oh well, we get up and eat and when we feel like it we start school." My compulsive organizing, schedule your life genes scream in rebellion.
Oh no, we start at 8am. Pledge, prayer, math, spanish, english, break, chores, science, social studies. Change on the hour, 1/2 hour and march with a good posture. My kids were doing fine, I was exhausted. I wanted to read books to them, have them read to me. I wanted to do science experiments, make cookies, go thrift shopping, play games, laugh, and listen to them. This school stuff kept getting in the way....
I babbled to a few ladies on how my girls were struggling in math, my one son was having a hard time getting something, and my oldest was breezing thru faster than I could give him work...what was going on!?! I had appointments come up, phones rang, ants infested my pantry, my husband was still sitting in the living room(why??)...didn't everyone know I was on a schedule??? If they didn't get it in the allotted time we had to move on???
or what??
they would have homework???
I had the same word pop up over and over...be flexible Anne. Go with the flow.
Now this is hard for me...very hard. I crave control, but had to change. so my logo:


I love this~Thursday, only two worked on math, and we worked together and had fun getting it...no stress.
Friday we were back to the schedule, but not with the insane...Time, move on regime I had going before. I even skipped lessons and had Gman do a test before he was officially there...gasp...he missed one!
Mr. E went t his standards there and pulled out the work needed to fulfill his grammar for 8th grade. We are gonna do what we have too, and put that book away. (This is the one that took the flight out the front door).
So just a little update on homeschooling!

Golden State

I am not a big picture taker of nature, but sometimes things just grab me, like the walnut groves here as they change in each season...but the one HUGE thing that gets me is the sunsets of California.
When we were in New Mexico, the sunsets were one of my favorites also, because of the pinks and swirls of clouds with the setting sun. There is something about the hue of gold that covers us as the sunsets here in California that makes me just very happy!
Last Wednesday evening we were picking up one of the ladies for church and I saw this as we were in the left hand turn lane on the hiway! Mr. E (my oldest) was in the front. I grabbed my camera and fiddled with it and had E lean back, roll down the window and this is what I got! woo hoo! I love it!
I have been on a sabbatical from a few designers while life gets more in a grove with homeschooling, and Lyndsay Ritchie over at Scrap Orchard, was one of the more patient ones...Thank you Lyndsay!! I enjoy playing with her kits, and this is my debut back with her team!

I have a secret!

I'm real bad at keeping them, but I have to until after Halloween! It is gonna be hard...but I'm excited!
I am also pondering doing some ATC's~so if anyone out there has helpful sites, hints or nifty thoughts, please let me know!!

home school update

This has been a weird week of schooling, we went to a Walnut Orchard field trip Monday, and then yesterday went to a fellow homeschoolers house to make scare crows!
My brain is slowly unwinding from public school, set times, test on everything and rigid schedules.
So last nite, at 3am, we all piled out of our warm beds and bundled up to stand outside to watch the Orianid meteor shower...it was cold, my slippers got soaked, but this morning, alarms were turned off and we all slept in...I awoke to Abby in her undies, giving me a big kiss! this is a big first and she ran off in a fit of giggles! I lay there and smiled, this is home schooling!
The rain last week, with super high winds...see those ominous trees of my neighbors? His whole house is surrounded by these huge things...very scary to me! But rainy weather is always good for science projects!
this Abby making a series circuit! I tell you, we had watched utube and discover education videos of this same experiment, read the book over and over and the girls could not grasp electricity, loads, paths or any of it. That bulb went on and Abby explained to us, that the path of electricity was complete! It was beyond awesome!!Okay, Eric is now fixing lawn mowers and small engines in the footsteps of my dad!!! I told him he had to keep his area clean and we would keep an eye out for a dresser or something...oh Mom, I know where one is!! Off they went down the street with our other find and old grocery cart to load up the free dresser! They are so hilarious with their treasures!

This is from my heart!

Some of you know that my in real life friend; Christine also known as Alamama is now designing. She has come up with a kit about the trials, pains and ups and downs of wanting a child and going thru it. This kit so touched me, as Christine always, I mean every Mother's Day I knew her before I became a mother, seemed to put me first before herself.
Our church would hand out roses to the mom's as they came in the church, and it seemed like I was running a gauntlet that dreaded Sunday in May. I would try and keep my normal cheery attitude, but some times my emotions were running deep and strong.
Christine kept hope in God and His plan for my life at times when I wanted to just blubber and scream!
I opened this kit, and pulled up all the precious pictures of us picking up all 4 of our kids. Pics of us before kids, pics of us with the kids, and I kept coming back to this picture of Christine.
I tried to put in words the thankfulness I have for the people God has surrounded me with. (eek, ending sentence with preposition).
This layout was done in gratitude for a woman who has jumped into the designing arena at a time that there are 100s of others doing the same. I hope you see just how much she shines above the rest!
Go buy her kit...you will love it! If Adoption isn't something that has touched your life, buy one of her other ones...go..go on...ScrapMatters....she is Pressed Petals, and she is good!
Here is the full kit:She also has this perfect word art, that captures the angst of adoption:

yeah I know, no pictures

I have them on the other puter, but always forget to bring them over here! Quick update, I am sick...blah, intesteinal weird stuff and post nasal drip to add insult to injury. I called a sub for my classes, so I had to go in, ha ha I'm the substitute teacher too...wow! I want a raise!
We are struggling to get thru persuasive essays. I think my children are just not persuasive beings, they are so easy going, they don't argue!
It is raining so hard and the wind is blowing so that the rain is sideways...pretty cool actually! I am up later than I wanted, but this way I will fall into bed and crash (that is the game plan).
My cursor has disappeared, so I am pondering where it went.
We went to the library today during regular school hours, wow, being homeschooled, really has some perks, no other children, it was marvelous!
Okay, that's all from me tonight, where is my medicines?

pic from the vault of memories

Carolyn Rose Kite, (I love to use her full name, sounds so glamorous) has a new kit. She is real people, glamorous in my eyes! lol
As one of her creative team members, I am given her kit for free in exchange for making a layout and uploading it to a few galleries.
I put the layout here in my blog, because I make layouts of my memories. I don't get the kit because I blog, or because I talk about CRK. I do this because I love the kit, and am especially proud of the layout I have done and want to share it with the folks (the 8 or 9 regulars and occasional google hits) that come by my blog.
There is a big brouhaha (that is a real word btw), about the FCC and blog endorsements...well, come on over to my house and enforce it! In my little town, we have a new born buried yesterday, that has no name because it was found with it's umbilical cord and placenta attached in the river. Drugs are rampant, and crime is at an all time high, if the FCC wants to shut down my blog because I got a $5 kit for free and then blogged about it...come on down, but I'm tellin' you, you had better pack a lunch!
I step down off my soap box, excited that I am studying the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence with my 8th grader.
That said, this is the layout of our Abby, so proud of the helicopter that saved her life. I pulled this picture up, as soon as I saw Carolyn's kit; Planes, Trains and Automobiles ~I couldn't believe how small my children are...this is 5 years ago! I just stared at them...they have so grown...
I hope you enjoy this layout...if you want the kit, pop over to PickleBerryPop or Elemental Scraps(ES has a better sale right now!!).

wonders wonders wonders!

First off thanks to all you who left such encouraging comments, and sent emails in regards to my dreading of soccer!
It wasn't bad, I kept a good attitude...aka corn nuts!
This morning, my precious girls came to me rather serious, and said, "mom, we aren't having much fun with soccer, and just have no idea what we are doing out there" I said, well what do you want to do? They said, "not go anymore. " I tried to keep from doing the jig right there in the kitchen...
So we tonight, only had Gman at practice and I can leave him, no probs! Eric's is Friday evening, and then two games only on Saturday! Joy, joy, joy!

Free Template and challenges galore!!

Over at Creative Victorian, I am hosting a few challenges this month, and would love to have some of ya'll come on over and join them. I am doing a quote, font and sketch challenge! Come on over and pick up this free sketch template, made with my little fingers...

The template is free here!

I would love to see what you do with it!! Post it at the gallery at CVD and in the forum and you will recieve this part of a beautiful kit! It is one of 6 parts of a full kit called Hunter that you can collect if you participate in 5 of the other challenges. This kit will go into the store for sale on November 1st and will no longer be available as a posting bonus.
This is the whole kit, together, it is huge, so huge it needed two previews (they are pretty too, huh?)
I hope ya'll pop over to CVD and play, would love to see you there!!

Dreading tomorrow

You know years ago, when David Q was a young lad (now he is a father of one and hopefully one on the way..think girl) I would watch his soccer games. I mean I was into them...I would yell loud and furiously for the game, each play and be almost exhausted by the time the game was over.
I didn't have 4 kids in soccer. I think I might despise this game, the whole kit and kaboodle! My sons are good...they play hard! My girls enjoy the socialization...I mean, like chatting with the team theirs and the opposing team about their shoes, their hair tyes, and the nifty little things that hold the sleeves up. Their coach can't tell them apart, so he just lets one play for 10minutes and then has the other one sub for her sister. It is hilarious. They run real fast out and then watch the game. Anna got the ball once and scored...oh did I mention she is defense...she plays off sides by the other teams goal...yeah...I am not yelling on the sides, I am sitting in a chair listening to the other parents try to get her attention..."your off-sides!!" as she waves to me...I do a little finger wave and wonder what the snacks will be.
So, tomorrow we have one game at 9am, another at 9:35 and then...another at 12:15. Did I mention that about 5thousand other people are all jammed into this soccer complex? Oh yeah, it's a parking nightmare..it makes conference parking seem tame.
I drop the kids off and park in Nevada and hike back in to California. We bring enough snacks for us to make it thru the 5 hours away from a fridge and microwave. Sunflower seeds, sandwiches, Funions in hopes that they will breath on their oppenents, apples, and gatoraides. We have my chair, a blanket for the athletes to relax on, a phase 10 game for the 2 hour wait between game (remember the parking situation...oh yea, we wait inbetween games), soccer balls, my umbrella because only 3 of the 25 fields have shade!
So, tomorrow, think of me....smiling at the kids going back and forth eating every thing in our cooler!