Friday, July 21, 2006

Enuf With Da Pitures!

Are you tired of all of the pictures yet? I've been doing an awful lot of picture sharing and not enough typing. Life has been crazy here. I think I've been living in a whirlwind the past two weeks with running around! Finally I can sit back and relax...well, not really, but I can dream, right?

So, H had swimming lessons every day for the past two weeks. She did wonderful. Her teacher, a 15 year old, was so good with her! Turns out she has horses and she even invited us to her house so H can see and ride the horses! She bought H a gift too! It was so sweet. Today was her last day of lessons, but yesterday was the last day with that teacher. I could have cried! I was really holding back the tears for awhile there! Yesterday was the first day that H jumped into the water by herself too and I almost started to cry! I am an emotional wreck at times lately. I even cried watching the movie Annapolis!

I was assigned a doctor I did not want to see, but they were nice and changed it to the doctor I want. I have less than 2 weeks to go to see him. I seriously don't remember waiting so long to see the doctor. H and J keep telling me I'm having two babies. I think they just hope for a girl and a boy. I just want to know how far along I am! It is driving me crazy not knowing! I still haven't puked yet, but I sure get to feeling nauseous at times. The joys!

I drove up north an hour and a half to a curriculum fair for
Bob Jones. I knew what I wanted, pretty much, but I always like to try to look at what I am buying before I buy it. I also had the opportunity to look at some Christian Liberty Press materials. I really like the fact that their stuff is so Christ based and nicely priced. If you want to homeschool but don't have a lot of money, you can totally afford CLP. Bob Jones is Christ based too, but it seems like CLP has Jesus interwoven into everything, which I really want! I think it is so neat that I can teach my children anything (reading, History, science, math) and Jesus can be taught in it all. I only wish I had an education like that! I am still undecided about what to do with science and history. I really like the looks of CLP's but I also like the Bob Jones. So, any advice from anybody that has used either one?

Can you believe that school down here starts in 2 weeks?!?! That is SO crazy! I am NOT starting THAT early! I like my summer vacation. I meant to do a bit of this and that with the kids this summer, but really haven't had a chance. I may as well enjoy my 'time off' while I have it! I am sure it will get much busier with another child on the way!

Speaking of school, I am going to start doing little things with J this year. I am looking at either
Little Hands to Heaven or Bright Beginnings. They are both very affordably priced books and have a wealth of things to do. It's not the sit down kind of work either, but fun things to do. I think even G will like some of the activities. These are also very Christ-centered. It's not like I want to sit down with him and bore him with school, but I do want him to learn various things, especially about God, manners, good character, things like that.

Tomorrow I am having a garage sale with my neighbor. I am pricing things very cheaply, but I hope to make some money so that I can use it toward books for the school year. I know when I go to garage sales I don't like to pay a lot for used things, so I try to mark it to what I would pay. Sometimes you hit a sale where they want an arm and leg for things. I went to one last weekend and they wanted $2 for a Nicholas Sparks book. Well, if it were about .50$ I would have bought it, read it and sent it to my mom to read, but I can get it for free from the library!

That's about all I can think of to write about for now. I've got some thoughts floating in my head but just not the time to form them into something coherent!

8 comments:

Amie said...

I hope your garage sale is going good. I hear you about pricing, some people just don't get it!

We will not even think about starting school until after Labor Day. I find the whole homeschool curriculm choices to be overwhelming. Everybody I talk to tells me something different. Its impossible to research every option, and its not like you can keep changing curriculms every month if you don't like it. Very stressful for me.

Jamie said...

Amie, Thanks for the well-wishes. I made a measly $27! There was a sale down the road and I think when people saw our signs they assumed that one. I went down there (I met the lady a few weeks ago) and asked her to send people this way too, but she apparently didn't. Boy, was I mad! Yeah, there is no way I am starting school soon! The choices are extremely overwhelming, just like the different methods of homeschooling. Have you come up with what you are going to do this year? Didn't you use CLP last year? Did you like it?

Amie said...

We did decide on Christian Liberty last year, but we had a change of plans and didn't do a curriculm. Just a phonics program. We are going to do CLP this year though.

Christine said...

Curriculums and methods can definitely be overwhelming. Sometimes I wish there weren't quite so many choices. Though my children are 1 and 3 years old, I have researched curriculums since my oldest was born. I have fluctuated so much on what I have thought was best for my children. I get a lot of advice from the moms at my church. (all of them homeschool) Most of them say not to stress oneself or the children and to relax. They mainly say it is best to wait rather than to push the kids. I don't want my kids to be behind. Sometimes I love the idea of workbooks and textbooks. Other times, I think they sound too rigid. I know a lady who used CLP with her 5 children and she liked it. Her husband left her, so she definitely needed a curriculum which was pretty much self teaching.I like the ideas of unit studies too, though I don't know if I could exclusively depend upon them. Have you looked at the Weaver curriculum by Alpha and Omega? It was created by a homeschool mom so she could teach her children at the same time. It weaves bible themes into your child's learning. It really looks fun and hands-on. I think reading lots of good,classic, and godly books is so important.Rod and Staff Publishers have really godly books for littles. I pray that God will lead you regarding the curriculum/methods He wants you to use. The following article helped me a lot: http://www.kevinswanson.com/Articles/
TheBox/Index.html

Jamie said...

Christine- And every child is so different that one may require a workbook while another doesn't. I go back and forth (in my head) on workbooks, unschooling, unit studies, etc. But, for me (right now) I found the best method. Down the road, add more children and the changes of life and I may change my ways! I have heard of Weaver and I have a friend who tried it, one who is trying it, etc. I am afraid with unit studies that I wouldn't want to be running all over looking for this or that to study something. But, maybe from time to time it would be good. Thanks for the article. I will have to check it out.

Choppzs said...

Gosh, I need to have a garage sale. I just went through the house and garage and found more stuff to add to my "sale" pile!! I was thinking of going in on one with my neighbor too, but I never seem to do well with sales!!

Oh and yes, we do live in the middle of the desert! I don't care for it at all. At least our neighborhood has green lawns and trees. I am just sick of the brown and the heat!!!

Anonymous said...

just stopping by. I am not tired of the pictures. Hope you do well on the garage sale.

I have been blogging more lately but NO comments... I think we are all very busy with no time!

I enjoy seeing your precious children!

Bethany said...

I like the pictures!