Thanks for all of your notes of concern over my allergic reaction. It is a pretty scary thing and I probably shouldn't have been so blase about it. I didn't mean to frighten any of you at all; I suppose it is years of living iwth incidents like this that I take them in stride. I have come to look at the cookie swap as both a blessing and yet another funny example of life imitating an episode of Seinfeld.
The blessing is that I was forced to step off the treadmill of my life this week. The physical reaction was pretty serious, and my body needed a few days to recover fully. Which meant crossing all the extras off the calendar, and just relaxing. We did no schoolwork beyond the algebra midterm; and I did no lesson planning, nor any co-op administration.
Instead, I sat an unwrapped ornaments, while Buzz and Honey decorated the tree. The kids cleared the pictures off the mantle to be replaced by stockings and candles. We did a lot of pleasure reading by the fire, and I slept in until at least 7am all week long. (huge for me...that's an extra three hours a day!)
We've all been a little giddy, in fact. The holiday spirit has indeed snuck into our home...we just needed to slow down enough to notice it. We all have been making plans with friends to do some special celebrating. Yesterday, I had a great day out with my girlfriend that deserves it's own post, with pics.
There is snow and sleet coming in today, so we will do some baking and wrap some gifts to place under the tree. I think I will even find hte time to get those holiday cards out-better late than never. Wishing you all some holiday joy!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Cookie Swap Horrors...
Cookie swaps sound like a great idea. A group of friends all decide to get together, each baking the mother lode of their favorite cookie, and then everyone gathers at one person's house to socialize over coffee and exchange adorable little packages, recipes, and taste test the goods.
I had tagged along to one in New Jersey with a friend a few years back, as a slot had opened up in their extra large one. I suppose that I was at another time in my life, as my memories were wonderful.
Some of my homeschooling friends decided to give it a try this year. I decided to make my newly discovered best cookie ever: Andes' Creme de Menthe cookies. Last year, I found the manufacturers sold those delicious thin mints as chopped bits for baking. I made four dozen for Christmas eve, and they were gone within an hour.
Determined to share this find, I signed up in October to make this unique cookie. As soon as the stores put out their holiday baking displays, I was searching for my bags of mint bits. I couldn't find them anywhere. It seems that this year, Andes' decided to make a different bit: white chocolate with candy cane bits. This would not do.
As the swap drew nearer, I recruited friends in searching for the bits at their grocery stores as well. My best friend called eagerly sharing that she didn't find the bits, but she did find a display with the recipe using the plain mints, and dropped off two boxes and the recipe. Adding the chopping of the mints really wasn't that big of a deal, right? Relieved, I bought eight more, and set my baking for last Friday morning.
I got started around 8am, figuring I would have enough time to get the 16 dozen batches finished before needing to get ready for the Christmas dance later that evening. I opened the first package and realized I had forgotten a simple fact in my time calculations: each mint is individually wrapped. Ten packages and an hour and a half later, all the mints were opened and chopped.
HoneyGirl came in, wanting to help with the baking. We quadrupled the recipe, and got it all mixed. I remembered mid way through that my MIL had my extra large mixing bowl, so we had to back track and divide the recipe in half into two large bowls before adding in the flour. It seems I wasn't done misjudging my time, as I had forgotten that the dough needs to chill for at least an hour before spooning to bake. I only managed to get eight batches baked and put away before I ran out of time. At least this dough chills well, and I popped it away to bake the remaining cookies later.
Once baked, I filled holiday chinese take-out style boxes with a dozen each. I printed out recipe cards, and tied them to the handles with curling ribbon bows. I decorated each package with a mini-Christmas ball, and filled my basket with my goods as we left for the host's home on Sunday afternoon.
The hosting family has a large family and extra large dining room that was ideal for such an event. Except that a week before, I discovered that they hvae numerous cats. Not a big deal, except to people with cat allergies. I made arrangments to make a quick exit and popped a Benadryl on the way there, but went hoping for the best.
We arrived and the holiday dishes were all laid out, and the cider was warming in the stove while the coffee brewed. Within fifteen minutes, my throat was tickling. A half hour in, I was wheezing. I did my inhaler and drank some strong coffee, and everything seemed to subside. I was having a lovely time visiting.
Once we began the taste testing, I asked each person if there were any nuts in their cookies. these are all friends who know of my allergy, and I told them to just let me know which cookies were for my family, and which I could eat as well. Some were so wonderful to make special batch just for me.
I returned home after being gone only two short hours, feeling a little wheezy but not bad. We watched football, and the fmaily began sampling the cookies. I nibbled on some "safe" cookies as well. After a bit though, I began feeling very ill. I went out to check the recipes, unable to figure out what I had ingested that was making me react so strongly. One of my dearest friends forgot that "almond extract" was actually from a nut, and I had eaten a half dozen of her little Swedish spritz cookies.
Needless to say, I spent SUnday night very ill, over-medicating and purging, to get the nuts out to my system. Luckily it was almond, my least reactive nut. I still was feeling the effects on Monday, as I did Honey's algebra mid-term review from bed, and napped all afternoon. I was able to manage working somehow last evening, but I kept having to sit down and had these flashes of the sweats. I woke today still feeling pretty sick, and decided that after her mid-term, we will just watch movies by the fire. I don't have the time to be this sick.
Of one thing I am certain....I am done with cookie swaps. Maybe this is God's way of mentally preparing me for my upcoming diet in the new year. I can't even look at a cookie now without cringing!
I had tagged along to one in New Jersey with a friend a few years back, as a slot had opened up in their extra large one. I suppose that I was at another time in my life, as my memories were wonderful.
Some of my homeschooling friends decided to give it a try this year. I decided to make my newly discovered best cookie ever: Andes' Creme de Menthe cookies. Last year, I found the manufacturers sold those delicious thin mints as chopped bits for baking. I made four dozen for Christmas eve, and they were gone within an hour.
Determined to share this find, I signed up in October to make this unique cookie. As soon as the stores put out their holiday baking displays, I was searching for my bags of mint bits. I couldn't find them anywhere. It seems that this year, Andes' decided to make a different bit: white chocolate with candy cane bits. This would not do.
As the swap drew nearer, I recruited friends in searching for the bits at their grocery stores as well. My best friend called eagerly sharing that she didn't find the bits, but she did find a display with the recipe using the plain mints, and dropped off two boxes and the recipe. Adding the chopping of the mints really wasn't that big of a deal, right? Relieved, I bought eight more, and set my baking for last Friday morning.
I got started around 8am, figuring I would have enough time to get the 16 dozen batches finished before needing to get ready for the Christmas dance later that evening. I opened the first package and realized I had forgotten a simple fact in my time calculations: each mint is individually wrapped. Ten packages and an hour and a half later, all the mints were opened and chopped.
HoneyGirl came in, wanting to help with the baking. We quadrupled the recipe, and got it all mixed. I remembered mid way through that my MIL had my extra large mixing bowl, so we had to back track and divide the recipe in half into two large bowls before adding in the flour. It seems I wasn't done misjudging my time, as I had forgotten that the dough needs to chill for at least an hour before spooning to bake. I only managed to get eight batches baked and put away before I ran out of time. At least this dough chills well, and I popped it away to bake the remaining cookies later.
Once baked, I filled holiday chinese take-out style boxes with a dozen each. I printed out recipe cards, and tied them to the handles with curling ribbon bows. I decorated each package with a mini-Christmas ball, and filled my basket with my goods as we left for the host's home on Sunday afternoon.
The hosting family has a large family and extra large dining room that was ideal for such an event. Except that a week before, I discovered that they hvae numerous cats. Not a big deal, except to people with cat allergies. I made arrangments to make a quick exit and popped a Benadryl on the way there, but went hoping for the best.
We arrived and the holiday dishes were all laid out, and the cider was warming in the stove while the coffee brewed. Within fifteen minutes, my throat was tickling. A half hour in, I was wheezing. I did my inhaler and drank some strong coffee, and everything seemed to subside. I was having a lovely time visiting.
Once we began the taste testing, I asked each person if there were any nuts in their cookies. these are all friends who know of my allergy, and I told them to just let me know which cookies were for my family, and which I could eat as well. Some were so wonderful to make special batch just for me.
I returned home after being gone only two short hours, feeling a little wheezy but not bad. We watched football, and the fmaily began sampling the cookies. I nibbled on some "safe" cookies as well. After a bit though, I began feeling very ill. I went out to check the recipes, unable to figure out what I had ingested that was making me react so strongly. One of my dearest friends forgot that "almond extract" was actually from a nut, and I had eaten a half dozen of her little Swedish spritz cookies.
Needless to say, I spent SUnday night very ill, over-medicating and purging, to get the nuts out to my system. Luckily it was almond, my least reactive nut. I still was feeling the effects on Monday, as I did Honey's algebra mid-term review from bed, and napped all afternoon. I was able to manage working somehow last evening, but I kept having to sit down and had these flashes of the sweats. I woke today still feeling pretty sick, and decided that after her mid-term, we will just watch movies by the fire. I don't have the time to be this sick.
Of one thing I am certain....I am done with cookie swaps. Maybe this is God's way of mentally preparing me for my upcoming diet in the new year. I can't even look at a cookie now without cringing!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Our Christmas Dance
It was a Friday night in December, so everyone would expect all the homeschooled kids to be home reading physics books, right?Someone forgot to tell our teens that this past weekend! A dear friend and homeschooled mom organized a wonderful Christmas dance especially for homeschoolers in our area. She rented a lovely reception hall for the 60+ kids that signed up this year.
Our gang surely didn't waste any time getting the party started, and the dance floor was full almost as soon as the DJ switched from background music as we arrived to top 40 hits. HoneyGirl is dancing with friends in the front row in the above pic by her long dark blonde hair and plum colored dress!
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The dance floor looked like this all night...packed with teens having the time of their life. But it was very different from the ones I remember as a teenager. There were no "cool" guys leaning against the wall laughing at others. There were no couples sneaking outside doing things they shouldn't, and not one incident of under age drinking. The ownership and staff at the hall were gushing over the amazingly uncharacteristic behaviour of our kids...and invited us back for the spring prom with open arms.
The smiles and energy were amazing, and I felt so lucky to be one of the chosen few to chaperone (only six adults were there...as this was a party for the teens). The floor was packed until the end. I can't thank this mom enough for all she does planning these events for our homeschoolers.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Unexpected Gifts...
Last day of co-op before Christmas break is always a cheerful time. This year the spirit of joy was overwhelming. My Bah Humbug flew out the window in the midst of so many special hugs and handmade cards. A few of the teens had the idea to come dressed up like funky elves and reindeer, and handed out candy canes and chocolate to everyone at lunchtime.
The biggest surprise was how much giving was going on there. These families really chose to show their appreciation in a way I have never experienced before. There were lots of gifts being exchanged; some were precious and homemade, while others were thoughtful and unique.
The children, many who I've never had as students in my own classes, were coming to hug me with holiday wishes. The most adorable was one little second grader who told me that our co-op has made this "the best year of her entire life."
Can you imagine a better gift than that? I didn't think it was possible, but then I had forgotten what an amazingly thoughtful gift-giver my dear friend and partner in this venture always manages to be. She surprised me with the most precious gift: a large framed collage. She has a candid shot of me in the middle, with the quote "Education is the not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire." (Our motto). Underneath, she wrote "Thank you for being our spark. Surrounding this is a photo of almost every student and teacher who is a part of our group. I cried it is so beautiful!
You can only imagine then, that my spirits were quite high after a day so wonderful. These families had not only reminded me of the intrinsic value of all the work I do for co-op, but had actually found a way to share their contagious holiday joy. Both kids went off with friends after the day; one for a major biology study session and the other to just hang out and play a bit. I kicked off my shoes and sat down to read through the mail, and found that there was one more unexpected gift waiting for me.
Buzz Boy's PSAT scores were in the mail. I had been anxiously awaiting them after a call from the local high school's guidance counselor on Monday. The scores had been sent there , as he had taken them with the group there. The counselor had told me that Buzz had done "extremely, extremly well" and that he in fact scored second highest of anyone in their school that year. I was able to review each section and was thrilled with how well he had done. He did so well, falling just short of National Merit scholarship numbers. (Remember that the "second best" is relative to that school's population, not all students nationally) .
I was so thankful for the quiet house then, to sit and reflect on this homeschooling journey. Certainly, this test is not the end all proof that homeschooling has worked for my kids. I can look at them as such unique and capable young people and have pride on any day.
But what this test shows me is that success in the traditional popularly- recognized ways is readily possible as well. Buzz is certainly bright, but is by no means a self-motivated student. But his world was filled with quality literature and adults who have a passion and excitement about education, and it rubbed off. I'm not brilliant, but I am resourceful and admit my limitations. If I couldn't teach something well, I found someone else who could. We were able to find that nice balance when we hit the high school years between delight- driven studies and plowing through the harder, sometimes boring stuff for the mere learning of it.
I told Buzz that he was going to have to let me present him as "the poster child for success of normal homeschooled teens " on my blog, and he agreed with laughter. He likes that label a great deal. He is rightfully pleased with himself. He surprised me to mention that he wants to get an SAT study guide, hoping to increase his scores at least another hundred points. A friend had told him that the better the score, the better chance for scholarship money.
The best gifts are sometimes take a while to arrive, but boy are they worth the wait!!
The biggest surprise was how much giving was going on there. These families really chose to show their appreciation in a way I have never experienced before. There were lots of gifts being exchanged; some were precious and homemade, while others were thoughtful and unique.
The children, many who I've never had as students in my own classes, were coming to hug me with holiday wishes. The most adorable was one little second grader who told me that our co-op has made this "the best year of her entire life."
Can you imagine a better gift than that? I didn't think it was possible, but then I had forgotten what an amazingly thoughtful gift-giver my dear friend and partner in this venture always manages to be. She surprised me with the most precious gift: a large framed collage. She has a candid shot of me in the middle, with the quote "Education is the not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire." (Our motto). Underneath, she wrote "Thank you for being our spark. Surrounding this is a photo of almost every student and teacher who is a part of our group. I cried it is so beautiful!
You can only imagine then, that my spirits were quite high after a day so wonderful. These families had not only reminded me of the intrinsic value of all the work I do for co-op, but had actually found a way to share their contagious holiday joy. Both kids went off with friends after the day; one for a major biology study session and the other to just hang out and play a bit. I kicked off my shoes and sat down to read through the mail, and found that there was one more unexpected gift waiting for me.
Buzz Boy's PSAT scores were in the mail. I had been anxiously awaiting them after a call from the local high school's guidance counselor on Monday. The scores had been sent there , as he had taken them with the group there. The counselor had told me that Buzz had done "extremely, extremly well" and that he in fact scored second highest of anyone in their school that year. I was able to review each section and was thrilled with how well he had done. He did so well, falling just short of National Merit scholarship numbers. (Remember that the "second best" is relative to that school's population, not all students nationally) .
I was so thankful for the quiet house then, to sit and reflect on this homeschooling journey. Certainly, this test is not the end all proof that homeschooling has worked for my kids. I can look at them as such unique and capable young people and have pride on any day.
But what this test shows me is that success in the traditional popularly- recognized ways is readily possible as well. Buzz is certainly bright, but is by no means a self-motivated student. But his world was filled with quality literature and adults who have a passion and excitement about education, and it rubbed off. I'm not brilliant, but I am resourceful and admit my limitations. If I couldn't teach something well, I found someone else who could. We were able to find that nice balance when we hit the high school years between delight- driven studies and plowing through the harder, sometimes boring stuff for the mere learning of it.
I told Buzz that he was going to have to let me present him as "the poster child for success of normal homeschooled teens " on my blog, and he agreed with laughter. He likes that label a great deal. He is rightfully pleased with himself. He surprised me to mention that he wants to get an SAT study guide, hoping to increase his scores at least another hundred points. A friend had told him that the better the score, the better chance for scholarship money.
The best gifts are sometimes take a while to arrive, but boy are they worth the wait!!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
A Much Deserved Break...Free of Obligatory Family Functions!
Today is the last official day of co-op until the new year. As much as I love the kids and teaching, I am beyond ready for a break from it all. My own two have opted to finish up any assignments and their math/science mid terms, and then enjoy a break themselves.
I have really been struggling to find a little Christmas spirit this year. I have been so out of sorts that I have yet to get out the Christmas decorations or even go for the tree, something I always did eagerly Thanksgiving weekend. I've gotten a lot of shopping done, but have found myself in a rather depressing dilemma. You see, I will find absolutely perfect gifts for my mother, or any of my four grandparents that I can become genuinely excited about for a few moments, imagining their joy. The irony is that they have all passed on.
Which brings me to the core of my Bah Humbug mood--the ones I would really enjoy celebrating with not the ones that are left. The reality is that I am left trying to find obligatory gifts for other living family members that I don't like or enjoy very much due to their dysfunction. The obligatory gatherings are filling me with dread, because I have reached a point where I value my time more than the rules of holiday etiquette.
King Bee and I have been having some great conversations about this and are trying to come up with some solutions that work for our family. He has never known anything but his selfish and dysfunctional family , and I lost most of mine within the first five years we were together. I appreciate that he is now valuing our core families happiness over "what is expected", and hope that we can start building our own traditions.
Oddly, the most fun I have had all season is finding the gifts for my children's teachers at the co-op. Even with a very small budget, I was able to smile at finding unique gifts for all. I was thrilled to find lovely Lenox ornaments on 70% off, and we got them as thank you gifts for the teachers and helpers as well.
While I sat up last night wrapping them, I realized that a feeling of Christmas joy had finally crept in. I was singing carols and smiling, as I realized that these people are the family I have chosen for myself at this time of my life. It is with them that I share the joy and trials of homeschooling; it is with them that I find camaraderie and support.
It is with them that I find acceptance, despite all our differences.
This chosen family , then, is the gift I have given myself. My friends in blogland, too, give me that feeling of joy and celebration. And while I won't be getting together with you all to share cookies and cocoa, please know that if I could, I would love nothing more than to have a huge holiday party with all of you and your families. Just the thought has me humming carols!
I have really been struggling to find a little Christmas spirit this year. I have been so out of sorts that I have yet to get out the Christmas decorations or even go for the tree, something I always did eagerly Thanksgiving weekend. I've gotten a lot of shopping done, but have found myself in a rather depressing dilemma. You see, I will find absolutely perfect gifts for my mother, or any of my four grandparents that I can become genuinely excited about for a few moments, imagining their joy. The irony is that they have all passed on.
Which brings me to the core of my Bah Humbug mood--the ones I would really enjoy celebrating with not the ones that are left. The reality is that I am left trying to find obligatory gifts for other living family members that I don't like or enjoy very much due to their dysfunction. The obligatory gatherings are filling me with dread, because I have reached a point where I value my time more than the rules of holiday etiquette.
King Bee and I have been having some great conversations about this and are trying to come up with some solutions that work for our family. He has never known anything but his selfish and dysfunctional family , and I lost most of mine within the first five years we were together. I appreciate that he is now valuing our core families happiness over "what is expected", and hope that we can start building our own traditions.
Oddly, the most fun I have had all season is finding the gifts for my children's teachers at the co-op. Even with a very small budget, I was able to smile at finding unique gifts for all. I was thrilled to find lovely Lenox ornaments on 70% off, and we got them as thank you gifts for the teachers and helpers as well.
While I sat up last night wrapping them, I realized that a feeling of Christmas joy had finally crept in. I was singing carols and smiling, as I realized that these people are the family I have chosen for myself at this time of my life. It is with them that I share the joy and trials of homeschooling; it is with them that I find camaraderie and support.
It is with them that I find acceptance, despite all our differences.
This chosen family , then, is the gift I have given myself. My friends in blogland, too, give me that feeling of joy and celebration. And while I won't be getting together with you all to share cookies and cocoa, please know that if I could, I would love nothing more than to have a huge holiday party with all of you and your families. Just the thought has me humming carols!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Planning Styles Need to Reflect Lifestyle
My dear friend JoVe emailed me a great link yesterday that became a topic of great thought in our home. Camp Creek has an excellent post on Project Based Learning. In many ways, we have used this technique sporadically, but I always maintained a core framework for us throughout the year.
Still, I have often fancied how this sort of learning would work with my daughter. She is much more akin to developing her own interests and actively trying to learn more about them. A few weeks ago, she mentioned that she wanted to "be inspired" by her learning next year.
I shared this post with HoneyGirl, thinking she would jump at the chance. She surprised me by telling that it just won’t work for us, especially not through high school. She summed it up quite nicely…”Mom, if you don’t lay some sort of planned groundwork, nothing will ever get done. We both get too busy and distracted with other things.”
Kinda scary when your kid can analyze the situation so well! I hate to admit it but I am just not in a place where I even want to be that constant side-by-side teacher any longer. This sort of "plan along with them" is just nothing that I could manage on a continual basis. There is too much life getting in the way. I was struck with such a wave of guilt about this reality, until Honeygirl yet again set me straight.
She loves her independence as a student when she can open up a planner and plot out her week using the syllabi's for her various classes and subjects. Our co-op gives her active teaching in a variety of subjects, and I am always right there while we do math. But I have to admit that I enjoy not feeling tied down to hand-lead through all her lessons anymore. I selfishly enjoy the freedom I have gained !
While I do love this in theory, I also have a very practical child. She wants to attend college, and knows that with her learning difficulties, she needs some practice with traditional curriculum in subjects like math and science. She feels that all the experiments and hands-on will parlay any monotony of the text, and she wants to willingly trudge through to get practice in taking notes on reading.
So I have been brainstorming to come up with a way to make a traditional high school science curriculum less monotonous for her , without making it totally drudgery for me. You see, I have another confession to make. As much as I love other sorts of projects, science experiments are one of my least favorite things to do. Too much prep, too time consuming, too messy, and often they don't work as they should and I feel all the time is wasted. I am certain that there is something from my past lingering here...but I can't shake the feeling of major dread.
This is where it pays to have lots of homeschooling friends. One of my girlfriends is a former nurse and loves experiments. We have both been searching for an alternative to the Apologia Physical Science curriculum, which unfortunately is the favorite of the science teacher at our co-op.
Last week, I was lucky enough to be given an older Prentice Hall set, with teacher's edition and all the teacher's guide books and testing materials for each chapter. The two of us decided to share ...photocopying enough of everything for all three girls, and we will get them together on Friday afternoons to science lab and then just hanging out to play music together.
In turn, her girls will take my classical mythology class, to help her with English (her least favorite subject).
My point here, is that planning styles really need to reflect lifestyles. There was a time when I was fully "there" for my kids and all their school work. But as they age and develop their own abilities, they don't need me to be involved as much as before. This independence has been a good thing, when I moved from teacher to supervisor. I am enjoying standing on the periphery a bit, watching her create and learn, and then come to me to share her success.
Still, I have often fancied how this sort of learning would work with my daughter. She is much more akin to developing her own interests and actively trying to learn more about them. A few weeks ago, she mentioned that she wanted to "be inspired" by her learning next year.
I shared this post with HoneyGirl, thinking she would jump at the chance. She surprised me by telling that it just won’t work for us, especially not through high school. She summed it up quite nicely…”Mom, if you don’t lay some sort of planned groundwork, nothing will ever get done. We both get too busy and distracted with other things.”
Kinda scary when your kid can analyze the situation so well! I hate to admit it but I am just not in a place where I even want to be that constant side-by-side teacher any longer. This sort of "plan along with them" is just nothing that I could manage on a continual basis. There is too much life getting in the way. I was struck with such a wave of guilt about this reality, until Honeygirl yet again set me straight.
She loves her independence as a student when she can open up a planner and plot out her week using the syllabi's for her various classes and subjects. Our co-op gives her active teaching in a variety of subjects, and I am always right there while we do math. But I have to admit that I enjoy not feeling tied down to hand-lead through all her lessons anymore. I selfishly enjoy the freedom I have gained !
While I do love this in theory, I also have a very practical child. She wants to attend college, and knows that with her learning difficulties, she needs some practice with traditional curriculum in subjects like math and science. She feels that all the experiments and hands-on will parlay any monotony of the text, and she wants to willingly trudge through to get practice in taking notes on reading.
So I have been brainstorming to come up with a way to make a traditional high school science curriculum less monotonous for her , without making it totally drudgery for me. You see, I have another confession to make. As much as I love other sorts of projects, science experiments are one of my least favorite things to do. Too much prep, too time consuming, too messy, and often they don't work as they should and I feel all the time is wasted. I am certain that there is something from my past lingering here...but I can't shake the feeling of major dread.
This is where it pays to have lots of homeschooling friends. One of my girlfriends is a former nurse and loves experiments. We have both been searching for an alternative to the Apologia Physical Science curriculum, which unfortunately is the favorite of the science teacher at our co-op.
Last week, I was lucky enough to be given an older Prentice Hall set, with teacher's edition and all the teacher's guide books and testing materials for each chapter. The two of us decided to share ...photocopying enough of everything for all three girls, and we will get them together on Friday afternoons to science lab and then just hanging out to play music together.
In turn, her girls will take my classical mythology class, to help her with English (her least favorite subject).
My point here, is that planning styles really need to reflect lifestyles. There was a time when I was fully "there" for my kids and all their school work. But as they age and develop their own abilities, they don't need me to be involved as much as before. This independence has been a good thing, when I moved from teacher to supervisor. I am enjoying standing on the periphery a bit, watching her create and learn, and then come to me to share her success.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Losing A Day
We often joke about needing an 8-day week to get everything done, or to find time to relax properly. I realized that from last Tuesday to yesterday, I had worked 24 hours. I will be doing so again this week. In reality, I am losing a day each week. No wonder I feel so busy! I do however, enjoy the mindless nature of the job...no major responsibilities or decisions to be made is a nice switch!
Thanksgiving was a major bummer. No need to drone on...just a whole lot of work for my husband's ungrateful family. It makes me miss my mother and grandparent's so much more. At least this year Dh noticed that I not only did all the cooking but all the cleaning up after the meal as well, with my MIL only trip out to the kitchen being to snatch huge portions of leftovers. Next year...I am insisting on inviting friends or no one at all!
I did partake in some Black Friday shopping in the wee hours of the morning, but not in the typical way. Being the craft geek that I am, I was at Joann's fabrics at 6am, and then made a quick trip across the street to Michaels crafts before heading home to get ready for working all day.
Things were great at co-op yesterday, something I greatly needed. A crew of teachers sat together laughing and sharing stories at lunch to the point of screams and tears. It is so nice to have such great homeschooling moms as friends, and sharing the venture. Even more fun was having some of the teens teach me some new dances. Watch out world, I now know how to "drop it like it's hot." Ho!
This morning I took the time to finally catch up on my blog reading, which always puts me in a good mood. So many interesting and inspiring ideas out there that I would love to try. Sigh! I sure could use that day back ...
I didn't take the time to do much commenting, forgive me, but it was lovely to peek into your world and see that all was well.
One more week of co-op, then a few weeks off (for the kids at least). I can take some time for grading papers and finish up the lesson planning for the second half of the year. There is lots of crafting and baking and fun to be had! We still are unsure of KingBee's departure date for the Virginia job, but we are excited that he might be home the entire week before/during Christmas.
Thanksgiving was a major bummer. No need to drone on...just a whole lot of work for my husband's ungrateful family. It makes me miss my mother and grandparent's so much more. At least this year Dh noticed that I not only did all the cooking but all the cleaning up after the meal as well, with my MIL only trip out to the kitchen being to snatch huge portions of leftovers. Next year...I am insisting on inviting friends or no one at all!
I did partake in some Black Friday shopping in the wee hours of the morning, but not in the typical way. Being the craft geek that I am, I was at Joann's fabrics at 6am, and then made a quick trip across the street to Michaels crafts before heading home to get ready for working all day.
Things were great at co-op yesterday, something I greatly needed. A crew of teachers sat together laughing and sharing stories at lunch to the point of screams and tears. It is so nice to have such great homeschooling moms as friends, and sharing the venture. Even more fun was having some of the teens teach me some new dances. Watch out world, I now know how to "drop it like it's hot." Ho!
This morning I took the time to finally catch up on my blog reading, which always puts me in a good mood. So many interesting and inspiring ideas out there that I would love to try. Sigh! I sure could use that day back ...
I didn't take the time to do much commenting, forgive me, but it was lovely to peek into your world and see that all was well.
One more week of co-op, then a few weeks off (for the kids at least). I can take some time for grading papers and finish up the lesson planning for the second half of the year. There is lots of crafting and baking and fun to be had! We still are unsure of KingBee's departure date for the Virginia job, but we are excited that he might be home the entire week before/during Christmas.
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