School All Summer!?

Ice and Snow!

Oi!  The weather...  I'm not really sure what I can say about it, that hasn't already been said over the last few months.  This Winter has "seemed" to last so long! 

We had the temporary thaw which was pleasant, while it lasted, but now the snow and ice is back with a vengeance! 

My boys have now missed so many days of school that we are about 2 weeks further into the summer!  Our date was already pretty late (June7th), but now I think we've missed so much that we are going to be there until the 16 or 17th!  If we miss another day or two, we could be jumping into that next week! 

My son Austin is already afraid that we are going to be having school over his birthday (June 23rd!).  And we might not be too far off that!

Weather for the next 2 days show that we could have some more potentially bad weather on the way!  Snow and ice mix for Thursday and Friday.... 

I wonder if the school would just let us homeschool our kids so we don't have to miss half of the summer... 

Anyone else missing a lot of school this year??? 

First Day Back to School!

Today was the big day, the day every little child waits for all of their 5 years... The first day of school! Caden was the happiest!

Today was Caden's first day of Kindergarten. Austin is now in 3rd, and Deklyn is in 4th. Austin and Deklyn were a little LESS enthused about school... though I think they were excited to sport their new shoes and book bags...

Here are the boys getting on the bus!


And here is my favorite picture from this morning, Caden saw the bus coming and ran to the end of the porch and back, so excited! BYE, MOM AND DAD!


I started off years ago homeschooling, but put them into public school when I was having trouble getting my oldest (possible ADHD?) to concentrate. I didn't want his education to suffer, so I put them in school. I loved being able to teach my own children, BUT the break that I am getting right now is allowing me to get SO MUCH done...

Including a successful day (so far) in potty training!

Have your children started school yet? DO you homeschool or do they attend public school (or other)? Were they excited? Were YOU excited?

Things I Love Thursday- Back-to-School!

Thursday! I am so glad you stuck with me through our 2 week camping trip! And I am grateful you are here on this wonderful day.

It's Thursday, the day we all share what we love! Today, the thing that I love is Back-to-school! I not only love the quietness in the house, and the attention I am able to give my little one, but I love that we live in an awesome country where things like education are free (or relatively free, I guess). I love that our school teaches a Bible class, right along side gym and music! I am thankful for my boy's teachers this year, and am excited to see how much my boys bloom and grow!

Speaking of, here are my precious school boys this morning on their first day:

Caden had his first day of preschool, he is going 2x's a week. Austin is in 2nd grade and Deklyn is in 3rd grade. *sniff, sniff*

So, it is YOUR turn! What do YOU love today??? Please share with us by linking directly to you blog entry for today on what you love!!! Can't wait to read them all!

"Back-to-School" for Mom

Yes! It's Back-to-School time, and I love it! I love all of the school supply sales, and I love that the house gets a little more quiet!

But, when the boys are off to school, I am going to have to change gears once again. Going from the "all the time" entertainment and referee, to the 1 hour chaos followed by 7 1/2 hours peace! So, I need to reconstruct my "free" time to get more done while the boys are gone, so I can pay all attention to them as soon as they get home until they hop in bed.

One thing I am going to get done is some baking and canning from things we have in our garden. I recently got another freezer, and now it's time to fill it with all of our homegrown goodness! I also want to reorganize some areas that I have been very relaxed with, including my desk area (which tends to be a "throw all" spot for the boys. I also want to do a bit of a clean up and organize in the kitchen. With a lot of help from the wonderful hubby, we were able to get the boy's rooms and clothes reorganized (can you believe they have grown out of clothes since we did our Spring Cleaning???). I also need to reorganize my coupons! This is one area that I have let go, in order to make time for the hectic summer lifestyle... One thing I want to kick back into gear is getting myself on a schedule. Scheduling computer time, Bible time, cleaning time, etc. Do any of YOU do this? I have found in the past, it actually helps me get a lot done. I am able to space out my chores on different days, and get more done in a day! Believe it or not! The calendar and chore schedules are my BFFs... (I know, I AM a nerd).

I am soon going to be getting my three sheep and I want to be ready for them, so I am going to take more time to study up on this new "adventure" also.

So, what are you doing? Are you gearing up for back-to-school YOURSELF? Any great ideas? Do you NEED to get organized???

Back to School!

I am so happy it is back to school time! I look forward to the peace and quiet, once again. =)

I for a year and a half homeschooled, and actually really liked it. But I had trouble with my oldest son. We couldn't draw the line between mommy/and teacher, very well. So he was getting disciplined for not paying attention/ messing around when he was supposed to be doing school work. And the fits... oh my. I don't miss those. But he has adjusted very well to public school. And my second child is also in school. My third will be attending a preschool 2 days a week.

So, I was wondering today, do you homeschool or do you send your child to a public or private school?

Please take the poll on the left sidebar, so we can see! Thanks! Polling ends Friday at 6 PM!

Off to School...

Well, today was the big day. The first day of school. I only shed a little tear... oh, the boys? They did great. They were excited!

They wanted cereal and cinnamon rolls for breakfast. They were sooooo excited to wear their new shoes. They were slightly perplexed as to why they were taking an empty backpack to school (the PTO is great and provides all of their supplies!). But I kept a very positive attitude, because Deklyn doesn't get too excited about change. So, things went very well.

Caden, on the other hand, keeps trying to argue with me... Next, I expect him to start arguing with Koen. But I've been trying to keep him busy with "Preschool". We made play dough this morning (see recipe below), and it turned out very well!

Caden helped mix ingredients. We counted out cups, teaspoons, how many times we stirred ( repeating 1-20, over and over & over! Not bad for a 3 1/2 year old.)

So he played with that for a while...

Then he got bored and whiny...

So, here we are just waiting... for boys to come home and the excitement to begin.

Starting School

So, it's school time. I started off the year last year homeschooling, and in January we put the boys into public school. That was our best choice for the boys, especially Deklyn, at the time. We had a small business, homeschooling, baby on-the-way, etc and we just couldn't fight another day with homeschooling. So all of this first of the year stuff is new to me, as a mom. Although, it is very nice with our school system, we do not need to buy anything but a backpack and gym shoes. No folders, no paper, no pencils.... So I think we are pretty much ready! This year Deklyn is in 2nd grade and Austin is in 1st. On Wednesday night we go and meet their new teachers. Deklyn was a little apprehensive, but the more we 'talk up' how great this year is going to be, the more he is getting used to the idea. Austin, he's ready.

Caden is also ready. But we aren't going to take him anywhere for preschool this year (too expensive!), I have all of the stuff to teach him from home. Plus, with the promise of making play dough, he's all ready. I found this great recipe, and I have all of the stuff right in my cupboard already! Here it is (in case you wanna try it!):

2 C. water
1 C. Salt
4 tsp. cream of tartar
4 Tbsp. veggie oil
2 C. flour
Coloring: use food coloring, liquid water color or kool-aid
In a large pot, start with water coloring, oil, salt & cream of tartar. When mixture is warm, add flour & mix well. Might be slightly lumpy but keep stirring until it forms a dough and pulls away from the sides . Remove from pan and cool.

I'm doing this with kool-aid, I have an abundance of the stuff, plus it'll make boys smell good!