Home School the New Adventure

Back to school for us was August 9th for a half day. Austin began middle school (6th) and Cole home school in the 4th grade. I was not sure how things would go for us. I was excited about all of our new adventures and yet a little hesitant at the same time. Was I really going to let my oldest baby walk the halls of a middle school...its so big? Yes, I did let him go all the while telling him that home school was an option for him if he wanted it. You see he is my strong willed child and if I had said to him he had to stay home to do school the would have made the year miserable on all of us. Cole really needs my help this year and we do not need to be distracted by someone who would rather not be here.

Cole seemed really excited about being at home. I was not sure because he loved school for the socialization only. We are going to join a home school group, a hip hop dance class, and basketball in the fall. So I think he will make lots of new friends. He seems to be doing well at home with me and the little ones. We have our first field trip this week with my cousin and her kids that she is home schooling. Cole and her son are the same age so we may try to get them together for more outings.

I have had the most trouble adjusting to our new adventure. I believe I will get all of the kinks worked out. Soon I hope before I lose my mind. I am just trying to work out a routine that works for all of us. The little ones still need me too. And my house... it looks like a zoo. Or maybe it is adding a fourth child to the mix...things seem to have been crazy around here since last October. 

Our first two weeks are going great. Here are some pics over the last few weeks. I think I only have one of Austin. For some reason he does not like to have his picture taken. I try to seek a few anyway but he is too quick for my slow camera.

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He loves books...to chew on.

Well I had more pics but the computer is aciting goofy so guess I'm done for the night.

Summer Fun

Alyssa has decided to get in the pool this summer. She still does not like splashing and sometimes when the boys are with us she will not get in or stays at one end of the pool. They where at their dad's this weekend so it was just her and Andrew. Andrew loves the water while Alyssa takes after me... I am not a fan of swimming. My little niece loves the water she just finished swim lesson and she is nine months younger than Alyssa. I am so proud of her.

Fun was had by all and my little "beaver" enjoyed swimming and chewing on everything in sight.

A Look Back at Summer

We had a busy summer well really everyday is busy for us. The boys slept in alot this summer and of course Andrew had two to three naps a day. It was like everyone was on a different shift. When the boys would finally get up Andrew would be going down for a nap. Needless to say there were not many outings. It was also very hot this summer. I normally don't mind the heat and do prefer summer over winter. However, when you have a very heavy baby that you are lugging around and a three yr. old hanging on you the heat is so much more intolerable. Our big event for the summer was a trip to visit my sister and family. They had gotten the boys tickets to see Toby Mac in concert. It was their first concert and my first in a long time. While we were their John and I took the kids to the zoo while mom, Stacy (pregnant/ semi bedrest), and Andrew stayed at the house. We had a great time. Ellie goes to the zoo all the time but it was Alyssa's first trip and the boys haven't been in a long time either. Fun was had by all and we only melted a little.

I ask everyone what animal they wanted to see: Austin the snakes, Cole the monkeys, Ellie the seals, Alyssa the pumas and me the gariffe. I can't remember what John wanted to see, but we saw almost all the animals. The girls were beginning to wear out in the heat so after the pumas we called it a day. We headed home for a quick swim and John, me and the boys had to get ready for the concert.

I have to say the concert was the best I have ever seen. There was lots of energy and God's presence was defnetly there. It was very loud my ears hurt for a couple of days after and I can't believe that some people brought little ones to the concert. They may have had earplugs in but it was still way too loud for little ears.

What is a post without pics so here they are:

Back to School and a New Adventure

With this new school year comes a few changes in our little world. Austin is going into his first year of middle school and I will be homeschooling Cole for 4th grade. This is my first year to home school so we will be learning together. I am very excited about him learning at home. He learns differently, was falling behind and  picking up bad study habits. I have told him that we will catch up and if he wants to go to middle school that he can. I really don't think he will ever want to go back to public school. He is enjoying the freedom that schooling at home is giving him. I was afraid that he would give me a hard time about doing his work like he did for public school, but no he is doing great. He still doesn't want to read but we are working through that small detail.

I am so proud of Austin and the maturity he has shown in the last few weeks. Normally I would have to drag him out of bed to get to school. Not this year...so far. I did tell him if he could not get to school that he could home school with Cole. He has not been tardy yet. I get to meet his teachers tomorrow and I am very excited. Mom is going to come down and stay with everyone else so it will just be me and Austin. He was very relieved.

Alyssa loves having Cole at home and she is learning with him. She likes to call me "teacher-mama"...I love it. I would really like of home school her and Andrew as well but I have not completely sold my husband on the idea yet. I guess I am not 100% sure I have it in me either. I have two more years before Alyssa is ready for Kindergarten so I think I will concentrate on Cole right now and let everything else fall into place. I am not sure if Andrew has noticed any changes in our routine, altough he does miss the others when they are not aorund. He is growing everyday I can not believe that he will soon be a year old. He is trying to walk and learning to feed himself. Oh, the mess that comes with self feeding but it must be done. They grow up way too fast, before I know it he will be middle school.

We are working out the kinks of our day and beginning to get the hang of home schooling. I have found myself in need of advice and encouragement from time to time. I like to turn to a couple of my friends that are homeschooling and I also enjoy reading the blog thehappyhousewife , Toni has such good advice. I hope to be a good source of encouragement for other homeschool moms out there as I gain experience and knowledge. I will be posting our curricumlum soon. Looking at other curriculum helped me narrow down what I wanted to use. There is so much information out there I just did not know which direction to go. All is well now and we are well on our way to a great year.