curriculums for sale...

thought i'd put it out there that we are selling the two Calvert curriculums we purchased this year...we have both the 4th and 2nd grade 2009/10 curriculums complete without the math course. they are in excellent shape. no writing in the text books, and about 10% of the workbooks with pencil or erasable ink markings that can be erased.

the 4th grade is 295 and the 2nd grade is 285...postage is included in the prices and i do accept paypal.

peace.


UPDATE: sold the fourth grade curriculum, as of 2/5 we still have the second grade. weeee!!!

dia de los muertos...

the beginning of our little project to honor the dead...

curriculums...

so after much debate and research and quibbling in my own mind about the financial stresses of buying curriculums, i have done it! ordered them...and they are on their way.

i think getting some work of my own made me feel more comfortable with the cost factor. last winter was hard on us financially and the idea of overburdening us with expensive materials that we might not need felt idiotic.

but, i found the best products for what we wanted as a family and luckily for us they both offer payment plans. Calvert Homeschool for 4th and 2nd grade both without math (because we already have a wonderful math system from our school district.) and also Rosetta Stone Japanese for homeschoolers.

So, we will add to our math, herbology and all the art and writing and reading we are doing with some serious structure. i feel this is most important in learning a language. i had pieced together several books and dvd-r for learning japanese, but it is very disjointed. having a full, well organized system for learning to speak and read and write a language is by far a better idea. the other materials we have will still come in hand for enrichment, too.

and the academic curriculum is welcome. it is J's idea. a piece he needs to feel comfortable in the boys' schooling. a piece he feels people benefit from, routine. i can't really argue that point either. i had looked for a more progressive curriculum, however, along with progressive comes more work in organizing the materials and finding them, etc... with the new work project i have going on i am going to need all that time for making money... thus the ultimate decision to go with Calvert. we'll see how it turns out.

it's so exciting. the materials should be arriving any day. i can hardly wait to chat with my father-in-law in japanese!

Powwow

this monday began quite turmoiled. it felt like the sour taste one has in the mouth after vomiting. seriously it was rough.

J was home sick all weekend. sick to the point where he couldn't hold baby D or be too close with the kids so that he didn't get them sick. and of course they wanted to be near him so badly it hurt them. his being home, in essence, it felt more like having an extra child.

though i love being around my husband, this weekend was exhausting. especially after the long week i had had with new work, sending my jewelry off to a new shop for consigning, homeschool, and my general mommy duty stuff...oh boy...and of course the kids were sure to use poor behavior that was not normal to them, and well, to sum things up, i felt as though i am a very unsuccessful mother for sure.

this morning, monday, was no different...J was home and i began school only to have the boys completely not listen to me and putting up a fight over everything i was asking them to do. J just kept looking at me and trying to tell me how to handle it, but to me it just sounded like, "this is what you are doing wrong, pam...this is your fault because, pam"...and i nearly broke down in a fit of tears that in other times of my life would have put me out of commission for a good day or two.

i felt as though my efforts were in vain, like a horrible tired wreck of a woman with no more strength to muster. i don't get a break from my kids these days, ever. and well...i woke up from a longnight's sleep feeling completely exhausted the moment one of my sons opened his mouth.

but i am a mom. and there is no room for break-downs, melt downs, tantrums, tears, or being tired.

instead i pulled myself together, i forced myself to ignore the feeling of wanting to crumble and sat the kids down with me as their dad left for work. we had a Powwow. we gathered our strength.

we sat down cross-legged and talked to each other about the issues we have with each other, areas we need to improve on, like i need to be more patient and more kind when things go wrong...and Boo needs to be more vocal about things when he is asked questions and more present, more focused, less distracted...Bones needs to be more positive and do his work with less of a negative grudge and not create distractions. we also talked about our many strengths and the things we love about homeschooling and why we want to work on the things getting in the way of it. we want to homeschool, all three of us. we want it work we are willing to work on ourselves to make it work...and well, we left our little powwow feeling empowered.

thankfully.

it is a huge and wonderful task to school my children...but i do need to insert a place for myself to be able to breathe. i need a few moments a week to myself. and the plan had been for J to have the kids for cooking classes on saturday mornings so that i could kickbox and get out my stress and steam, but that isn't working. i need to find another way. sigh. this is a big task in itself.

xo

work stuff.

work stuff.. ha! that sounds like such a droll boring statement. but really when i entitled this blog post i was writing those words with more than a glint of excitement. WORK STUFF! YAY!

i have work brewing. work for this wonderful local artist/entrepreneur designing and putting together a cookbook which is also a family history...i met with her today. hearing about her project today has gotten me so excited to do the work. and the idea of making my own money, money that is per hour and not per chance like selling artwork, well...the crescendo of this coming my way is simply stifling...i don't want to breathe until it is in the works.

but i am breathing. and happily i have run into another fortunate outlet for my artwork, at least for my jewelry. Beth Fowler is opening up an amazing little eclectic marketplace in connecticut called Loam and has asked me to put some of my work in her shop. it is perfect for this to happen right now. it takes a lot of energy to sell my work...and if she is doing it, well, i can concentrate on creating and working on this book.

and mostly, being able to work from home on both my own art and this book i get to concentrate on my kids and their schooling, which is going so well. i have learned that lots of kisses and eye gazing helps me to get them feeling focused and feel appreciated. i love my kids so much. they are amazing, try so hard and they love me.

i have to add that i love being an at-home mom. so much. i am so thankful to J for working so hard so that i can be there consistently for Boo, Bones and Baby D...but there is also something to be said for earning a bit of one's own money. 'nuff said on the subject.

xo

a cacophony of joyful noises...

Boo got his alto sax in the mail today...the day before lessons begin at the public school. i was so nervous...i thought it wouldn't get here in time. i thought i wouldn't be able to find one we could afford...but it all happened harmoniously and joyfully. luckily it WAS on the day before lessons begin. i don't think this excited boy could wait longer than 24 hours to start his learning!

i have never seen him so excited. he was abubble...kept saying..."i feel so good, mommy!" "i am just so excited!!!" it was so wonderful to witness. i knew he would love it. i imagine the band director handing him the diagram of how to play the notes...and i tell you he will learn them all in a matter of one day. he learned to read music in one half hour lesson...he will learn to play that sax in one evening alone with it and the information. i am so excited to watch it go down.

sigh.

i love my kids and their eagerness to learn and create. Boo played that sax as best as he could muster today and Bones played a bit of the songs he and Boo have been working out on the piano while Baby D wailed like a dying seal trying to mimic Boos' sax playing. Rontu (the dog) and i sat trying not to wince. it was horrifically beautiful and i am so excited for my children to know the gift of music.

i do have the endurance to last through their learning years. hell...i was teaching myself violin when i was J's neighbor...talk about aural pain. and he still fell in love with me. :) i owe it to me kids to meditate through this time period. :)

yay! music!!

autumnal goods

i finished ginging's fall sweater jacket today...i had to show it off...i just love it so much. well, him in it sooo much i should say. i made the pattern up...it was my first hood. i think the bumps are kind of charming. only problem is the two older, much larger brothers want them now, too. looks like handworks are in order for homeschooling! they can make their own. with all i have to do i'd be done in the summer!

yoga...with the kids and all...

we do yoga.

we LOVE yoga.

i do yoga most days, my own little practice. i don't have the time alone without kids, or the funds to actually take steady classes with someone at the present time. and anyway, i find myself feeling pretty satisfied with my peaceful time on my own in the mornings before the kids get up, or in the evening when everyone has quieted down. i would love to take a class...but i actually really like leading others in yoga. so when the kids join in my sessions i am the happiest.

because we will have such a structured first part of every day once our schooling adventure begins, i have decided that i am incorporating yoga into our routine. J. has asked that i make it happen early early in the day so that he can be a part of it, too. i love that. family yoga every single morning first thing. and then breakfast together...what a way to start the day and feel connected as a family and grounded as an individual.

out on a date with the boys last week, i found "Yoga Pretzels." and i bought it. :)

it's a card game similar to "Dinner Games" which my children already love. we've played a few times, and it's fun, practical and gives everyone a chance to lead the little group's yoga session...i plan on using it along with my own favorite poses to fill the little 45 minute morning sessions.

we chose our path...and have begun whacking the weeds on it down!!!

so...we have made our decision to go ahead with our homeschooling plan. it is done. we have settled it in our hearts.

the final thread hanging to the normalcy of school as most people know it was cut when Big J. and i, in a discussion about life, basically came to the conclusion that life is short, and that there is nothing more important to us than our children. we want to spend as much healthy time and energy with them as possible and give them all we can. our two chosen occupations allow us to do this, so why not take advantage of that and live the way we want to??? neither he nor i have ever taken the worn down path in life. living by our guts, our instincts, works for our family...and i believe teaching our children that they don't have to be like everyone else, that they don't need to squish themselves into some box, is going to benefit them and help them keep their unique sparkle in the long run.

so we have begun the configuring of our school room...refinished an old desk and painted the top with chalkboard paint for endless figuring out of stuff. we still need to find one more desk to do this to!!!

we bought all of the basic school supplies we'll need, like pencils, chalk, pens, paper, notebooks, rulers, etc...the acquisition of these materials was way too much fun. we felt like supply addicts. Little J, who generally shies away from writing has already filled pages in one of the journals we bought him. :) handwriting can be fun when it isn't work. his teachers at school found getting him to write to be like trying to get a pig to fly...

the kids are almost finished completing the placement tests for the Calvert School...once that is done and the kids' grade levels and math levels are determined we will order their curriculums. i think we have found our japanese program which is the language we have chosen to learn as a family. we are all so excited about this and hope to travel to japan when baby D is a little older. it makes sense as a perfect excursion and foreign language choice since we have family that speaks mostly japanese...and we have family and friends we can visit in japan.

on the arts fronts we have designed our program which will combine all of the arts into a giant project for the first half of the year. the program is basically a puppet show production that will involve the design and creation of puppets, a set, a play with musical accompaniment and then the actual performance. we are hoping to get other folks involved in this because we imagine it to be way better way bigger. :)

we got our piano tuned. still trying to figure out if we will continue on with our regular piano lessons or venture out into something new. R is showing a strong interest in the guitar and he will attend music class at the public school. we have sent the old saxophone in to get restored for Little J to take sax and band at the middle school, too.

i found a really cool robotics workshop at the local library for each of the boys in november. they screamed with joy when i told them about it. R has mentioned that when he grows up he wants to design robots, specifically for the purpose of helping moms. :) i'll help foster that dream!

we have two september adventures planned...both the blue hill fair (which is the fair charlotte's web was written about...big sis K will actually be singing there this year!) and MOFGA's common ground country fair. hoping to camp out for each! nothing like overnight field trips!

and lastly we have outlined our physical extracurriculars. Little J chose archery and R chose flag football to start the year. they will both play their beloved soccer as well. they both will take karate as a constant throughout the year and we are joining the YMCA as a family so we can all swim together (and so i can undeniably have a chance to shake my groove thing as well).

so we sit in the middle of august, poised and ready for this coming challenging adventure! so thrilled for all that lies ahead.