Our 2017-2018 Homeschool Year Has Officially Begun...

I have not blogged about our homeschool adventures in a long, long time.  So, how about some catching up?

We started this year on July 10th, with Preston doing 7th grade and Callen doing 3rd.

What the boys do together:  We are still using My Father's World - this time going through 1850 to Modern Times as our core. That includes our Bible devotions, verse memorization, hymn study, history, science and read alouds. I recently discovered Easy Peasy All-In-One Homeschool, so we are using that for Art, Music and PE/Health.  We are continuing Etiquette Factory Intermediate and Spelling Power.

Math on computer

Preston only: This year we are trying out Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra. He is also continuing IEW U.S. History, Fix-It Grammar Robin Hood and Spanish for Children. Twice a year he will also do a Progeny Press Book Study (he already finished the first one during summer!).

Callen only: Callen is doing Mammoth Math Grade 3 and Easy Peasy Language Arts for Grade 3.

Josie is still not quite two years old, so the main goal with her is keeping her from being a distraction to the boys.  Good luck!

Josie is in pre-pre-pre school.

We are still a part of ECCHO, and enjoy doing field trips and Enrichment Classes will start back up in September.  Also, I am looking into getting Preston enrolled in 4H Arts (Callen isn't quite old enough for this group yet).

Waxahachie Courthouse 

Summer 2017 Recap with an Announcement...

Our official summer vacation was pretty short.  The boys finished school mid-May and started back up on July 10th.  In that little window we managed to squeeze in quite a few fun summer activities...

The boys participated in two different Vacation Bible Schools, they went to MRBC's Sports Camp again this year, and had Swim Lessons.  We took part in free Slurpee Day and Cow Appreciation Day.  They played tons of video games and watched way too much Netflix.

Who can say no to a free slurpee?

Entirely FREE meals for looking silly, we're in!

We also were able to sell our Saturn Vue, which lacked A/C, and buy a new-to-us Dodge Grand Caravan!  Which is good, because... turns out, we also need the extra room.  Read on...

Our first ride to church in our van!

It's so pretty!!!

Yep...we are expecting Baby Clark #4 due early December!  Back in April I had been feeling crummy from a cold, but on Easter I realized that I was feeling strange and all of my clothes fit a little funny.  I took a test, and WOW - can you say shocked?!  It took quite a while to get over that feeling (and honestly, we're still a little blown away by it!).  We told our parents that evening.  And announced to the "world" when I was about 9 weeks along - we kept letting it slip, so figured we might as well just tell everyone.  We're not good at secrets.  The exciting thing is several friends are due around the same time as us!  And most of those are complete surprises, too!  Haha.  I had morning (all-day) sickness up until about 16 weeks, and will find out if we're having a boy/girl in just a few days!  So exciting!

Silly Easter Bunny left us a surprise!

Facebook announcement photo.

Her shirt says Little Sis, haha!

Introducing Josephine Lilly Clark...

I have done a poor job of blogging about anything in a long, long time, but especially about the new kid on the block!  I'd hate to look back at this blog with her years down the road and there be such little about my pregnancy.  Especially since I was such a detailed blogger for Preston and Callen's pregnancies and early years.  :( 

So, a super quick catch up...
We found out she was a girl, and could barely believe it!  Over the months leading up to her birth, we stocked up on all things purple (ok, and some pink), kicked Uncle Daniel out of her room and turned it into the sweetest little nursery for her, and eagerly awaited her arrival.  I had severe morning sickness until about half way into the second trimester.  Lost at least 20 pounds and had many days were I could barely function.  I had what seemed like a gallbladder attack a couple of times, and my iron count was very low - causing the midwives to ramp up my iron intake in hopes that it would allow me to have my planned home birth.  I took all kinds of supplements by the handful, drank chlorophyll and black strap molasses by the buckets.  Ugh.  Finally, right towards the end my level reached "fine, good enough!"  Woo hoo!  Now, if we could just settle on a name!  We went through every list possible, and just could not pick one together.  I came up with Josephine and instantly felt like that was it... Michael, not so much.  He still isn't completely thrilled with it, lol, but Josie it is!

Josie's ultra-abbreviated birth story...
She was due August 25th, but that date came and went with no hint of her arrival.  Finally, on Sunday, August 30th, I started having contractions that were about 30 minutes apart.  We decided to go to church anyway, because maybe staying active would get things going.  They stayed at 30  minutes apart until that evening, then moved closer and closer.  My parents came over and stayed for a while, then my dad took the boys home with him.  Things progressed slowly, and around 1am, I finally asked the midwives to come.  They showed up at our house around 2am, and by then contractions were 3-5 minutes and strong, getting stronger.  Apparently, her head was a little crooked and wasn't descending as it should, and that's what caused the hold up at the end.  It felt like she was ready to come, but she just wouldn't.  I know that if I was at a hospital I would have caved in easily to whatever they offered me, I was so tired and in so much pain.  But the midwives, Michael and my mom kept encouraging me and cheering for me, and after what seemed like forever of pushing and laboring, Josephine Lilly Clark arrived with a burst (lol, my water didn't break until right as she was coming out) at 7:17am on Monday, August 31st, 2015.  The cord was wrapped tightly around her neck, though I wouldn't know that till later, but she was great.  She was placed on me, let out a tiny cry, and was perfect.  I couldn't believe how beautiful and tiny she was, but turns out she was nearly 8 pounds (just as Amy, the midwife, had estimated she would be the week before).  7 lbs, 14 oz, 21.5 inches long. 

She is now 5 days old and doing wonderfully.  She wakes up a lot at night and sleeps most of the day, as most babies do.  She is nursing like a champ, which is good!  My tail bone is badly bruised from labor and changing positions is still excruciating at times.  The boys are adjusting to life with a baby in the house... trying to be quiet and calm (though I'm sure you know well that works).  They both enjoy gazing at her.  Unfortunately, they both came down with colds or something the day after she was born, including fever, cough, snot and all that fun stuff.  Michael was able to take Monday-Thursday off of his daytime job, but had to work Monday and Wednesday evening at his teaching job (yes, the night she was born!).  My mom and dad have been over several times, and Aunt Leah came to visit yesterday.  Jill will be coming on Wednesday and spending a week in town to see her grandkids.  We are settling into our new life as a family of FIVE!

Halloween 2014

We had a pretty easy-going Halloween this year, as I just was not in the mood for much.  I was being a bit of a humbug, and the boys couldn't decide on what they wanted to be.  We purchased a Bilbo Baggins Hobbit costume last year on clearance for Preston to wear this year, only it was STILL too big for him.  And Callen kept saying he wanted to be "a Wolf again, no.. Mario, no... a wolf," etc.

A few hours before our little town's Trick Or Treat Around the Square began, the boys finally decided.  Preston would be Clark Kent - not Superman, mind you.  And Callen would be Fireman Small (one of our favorite books!).  Easy enough!  We had all the stuff to put Preston's costume together, and Callen wore an old costume from when Preston was 3 years old, haha.  And they ended up looking great!

Clark Kent

Fireman Small

Posers.

In front of the firetruck!

Even Daddy got in on the dressing up while working on the yard!

We spent the rest of the evening watching Garfield, Charlie Brown, etc.  Didn't get a single trick or treater at our door this year, even though we were prepared!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

While it's still pretty warm around here, we're doing the best we can to take advantage of the fall!  My mom and I took the boys to Country Critters Farm in Alvarado today.  We had a lot of fun petting animals, doing a maze, picking out pumpkins from the patch, bounce house, hay/tractor ride and such!

End of Summer 2015

I just realized I haven't posted the blog in a while, though I post them often on Instagram.  Here are a few from our summer to get you caught up.  ;)

ECCHO (Ellis County Christian Homeschool Organization) had an end-of-summer reading celebration at a little splash pad/park in Corsicana so we took a bit of a road trip to check it out.

We started Enrichment Classes with ECCHO here in Midlothian.  Preston is taking Scooby-Doo Mysteries, Singing, P.E and Board Games.  Callen is doing Storytime Activities, Scissor Skills, Creative Play and Little Builders.  And so far (after one day), they LOVE it.

I took the boys to the American Airlines/C.R. Smith Museum for the Lego Castle Adventure Exhibit.  We had the place to ourselves for the most part, and the boys had a blast!

The boys have had a great time just being creative and playing.

Our little town was in the spotlight for a little while, when a hate group demanded the local elementary schools take down their dedication plaques because they mentioned God and has the words "Soli Deo Gloria" on them.  There were several prayer rallies and peaceful protests, and, for now, the plaques are back on display.

Homeschool Recap, Year 2013-2014

So, we are officially done with school for this 'year.'  Preston finished 3rd Grade and Callen did a few preschooler type stuff, but mostly he just played and tagged along with brother's stuff.  This school year did not go at all as I wanted it to, but we tried to make the best of it.  And all in all, we accomplished what we needed to. 

It was off to a rocky start because I didn't start us when I normally would have since our house was on the market.  We hoped it would be a quick sale, so I kept hoping we would be able to start when we were moved and settled.  But it wasn't, and we didn't.  And then, since we got a later start than I wanted, I felt like the rest of the year was rushed.  I didn't HAVE to do it this way, but I did.  Because I wanted to get back on track with the next 'school year.'  Anyway, we survived, and truthfully, that's what matters, right?  Lol.

Starting with Callen... I intended to do Before Five In A Row with him for the whole year.  But, we really only ever got through about three books (Yellow Ball, My Blue Boat and Jessie Bear What Will You Wear?), and he just wasn't ready to sit and have his own projects.  His 'school' became coloring and sticker books and watching PBS Kids most of the time.  He did learn about the continents a bit since he was around while I was teaching Preston, and he really enjoyed working on the big felt world map, moving the animals around and such.  He recognizes all of his letters and numbers, he knows what most of the letters sound like, can spell his name or recognize it when it's written on something, he has a great vocabulary and uses big words in sentences correctly.  And he finally learned how to pronounce his c's and g's, that was a major breakthrough right after his 4th birthday in March!

Coloring a continent!

On to Preston... we used My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures and we (I say we because I was learning geography right along with him!) learned about a lot of countries in the world.  While I don't expect him to have them all memorized and tons of details about each one, he got pretty good with the Geography Game, so I call that a win!  He got good grades in math was we went over multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, and more.  He learned how to form letters in cursive and they look great (while often his print is horrendous!).  We read a bunch of missionary stories and learned that so many other places and people in this world need prayer!  We also learned about animals from different countries and ecosystems in various part of the world, too. 

All done with 3rd Grade!

 Even though we're done with school, in June we are doing a lapbook as we read through the easy version of Treasure Island.  And we will start up our new school year in July!  We will be doing My Father's World Creation to Greeks, and I will once again try out Before Five In a Row with Callen.  Looking forward to getting back on our year-round schedule so we can take plenty of breaks during the year and not get burnt out!

I Am That Stark Raving Lunatic...

This is my life.  Mostly with my kids, though... at least my husband is a little more understanding.  The boys do not seem to respond to me unless I am screaming and flailing my arms about. Or possibly throwing things.  I constantly find myself in absolutely uncontrollable monster mode because I was ignored the first twelve times I calmly asked them to "stop."

I want to be a gentle mother.  I want obedience.  I want pleasant attitudes (mine and theirs).  I do not want my boys to look back on their childhood and remember their mother screaming at them.  But right now, I can't muster an ounce of respect or submission to my authority without going ballistic.  I don't want them to be scared of me... I just want them to know that they are to obey me.  Silly me, I was under the impression that kids were built to understand that their parents are in charge.  I mean, I feel like Michael and I have made this pretty clear over the past 8 years... but, they don't get it.  They continue to push everything past it's limits, to push ME past my limits.  And I feel like a parenting failure.  I keep thinking, OK, it'll sink in soon, they'll realize that they can't get away with this behavior because the consequences always catch up with them.  But, no... the very next day it's the same exact routine, they don't LEARN.  

As a homeschooling mom, there is no break.  I'm with them, basically, 24/7.  And that's tough when I'm spending about 12 of those hours each day saying "No. Stop. Don't do that. Come back here.  Put that down. Stop picking at each other. Listen to me. Pick that up. NO NO NO NO NO NO!" and they're NOT EVEN LISTENING TO ME.  I admit I am NOT the most patient person in these situations, but I try to give them a chance.  And they poop all over those chances.

From Preston (8 years old) I get: "But I didn't know" and "I tried to do the right thing."  He did know, and it wasn't the right thing in any way, shape or form.

From Callen (almost 4 years old) I get: "I'm going to do it anyway" and "No!" because he does not think I have the right to tell him what to do, apparently.

I've read a lot of things and I've tried a lot of approaches, but nothing has worked in gaining any ground in this fight.  Prayer, lots of prayers for patience, the right words and approach to use, that they'll somehow just "get it" and be GOOD.  

Why am I sharing this?  My children are not bad, and I am not a bad mother.  I have a feeling there are a lot of other parents in my shoes.  But I hope that one day in the near future I can look back at this blog and I will have figured it out and I can laugh at how silly I was for not knowing then what I know now.  And my two boys will be caring, respectful, upstanding, obedient men of God.  For now I will enjoy those moments where they do the right thing, where they snuggle with me for a few minutes, where they play nicely together, where I handle the situation correctly, where they learn their lesson and where I see that spark of hope that this phase of our lives will end.  I don't want to rush their growing up, I'd just like to be able to enjoy it a little more.

[Edit: Added 01/29/14] I just read these two articles.  Dear Lord, I needed these two articles!
5 Ways to Overcome the Yelling Mom
I Don't Want to be an Angry Mom, so I threw away my coffee pot

First Day of School 2013

Today was the official kick off for our 2013-2014 school year!  Last night we took a few photos because the boys were still in their "nice" clothes from church.

Preston, 3rd Grade, 7 years old

Callen, Preschool, 3 years old

Teacher with her students.  Haha.

Yep, they are a hand full.

As far as today, it went quite smoothly!  I woke up, grabbed a quick shower and breakfast so that I would be ahead of them.  I had their school stuff ready and waiting:

Mobile school since our house is still 'staged.'

Preston was the first to wake up, so he ate his dry cereal as we got started (taking advantage of Callen not being a distraction, lol).  We started off with his beginning of the year questionnaire we have done for the last several years.  

Use your best handwriting!

It asks things like favorite food, favorite tv show, what do you want to be when you grow up, etc.  It's funny looking back at these over the years to see how answers have changed... or not changed.  Then we quickly jumped into the various tasks ahead of us and got A LOT accomplished in that hour that Callen slept in (he never does that, it was awesome!).  We used a bunch of the My Father's World ECC books so that Preston would be familiar with them from here on out.  Callen woke up and demanded breakfast and then did some coloring while we finished up the work.  I didn't start with his stuff today, just wanted to ease into a routine this week.  

We needed to run some errands (bank, post office, take movies back to the video store) so I gave the boys their Travel Notebooks.  

Looks like fun, Mom!

These are for when we are running around, they can write or draw about what they see on the way.  It worked for a while as we out and about, then Callen threw his notebook and pencil at Preston and that was the end of that.  Sigh.  I should know better.  Anyway, after our errand we came home and had lunch and then the boys were getting rowdy, so I sent them in the backyard to play in the sprinkler.

Sprinkler fun in the backyard.

After that, they played inside a while, then we had quiet time.  It was SUPPOSED to be nap time, but SOMEONE (ahem, Callen) wouldn't nap for anything.  Ok, it was PROBABLY because he slept in so much this morning.  Oops.  Oh well.  While he played, not so quietly, in his room, Preston took his Chapter 1 Math Mammoth test over the lessons we just finished up.  He got an 88%... mostly because he just didn't read the directions or pay attention to the signs (both of which I reminded him of before he started, lol).  The boys played, built forts and things with the couch cushions, then played outside some more in the front and the back after dinner because they were just crazy bundles of energy.  They were TV-free till 8pm, and Callen only even asked ONCE if he could watch TV and didn't put up a fuss when I said no... but I had a training call to do, so I let them watch some cartoons for a while.  Let's hope they got all that energy out and fall asleep easily tonight and that tomorrow's school is just as smooth!

In Limbo...

Our house has been on the market for nearly three weeks.  We've had about 25 showings or so.  Most feedback has to do with it being "too small."  Not much we can do about that.  Just need to find the right young couple or empty nesters, I guess.  It is an interesting experiment in keeping this place tidy.  Getting out the door with two kids is hard enough, but now I have to do a full sweep of the house anytime we wanna go out to make sure it's pristine.  This evening I was in the middle of cooking dinner, and got a call for a showing for 6-7pm.  Problem was, it was already 6:05 and dinner was only half cooked!  We had them give us till 6:45, wolfed down our food, tidied like fools and got out.  Lol.  Such an adventure!

We've looked online at a list of houses for sale that our realtor gave us.  Narrowed down a list of about 125 to about 35.  There's not a lot of use going to look at these places until our house has some interest.  So, feeling a bit in limbo.  Waiting for something to happen.  The homeschool mom in me wants to start planning out school... normally, we'd be starting back up in a few weeks.  But, that stuff is in a tub under everything that's been piled and stashed in the closet. So, trying to let that go and not worry.

Preston has been doing Cub Scout Day Camp this week, and has been LOVING it.  I was freaking out on Sunday night.  This was our "kindergarten moment."  The first time I really took him somewhere, dropped him off with people who weren't family or super close friends, for SEVEN HOURS.  But he did great, I didn't cry, and all was well.  He has really had a great time out there, despite the 95-degree temps.  He's gone swimming, done archery and shot BB guns, and all kinds of fun things.  He's in heaven!  I'm really glad that he's doing well and enjoying this experience.  It's probably going to be one of the last scout activities he'll get to do.  The recent decision regarding openly homosexual scouts is just a bit too much.  I understand that at this age it's not an issue, however if that's the case, why did it have to be an ISSUE?!  I can only see it going further, and don't really want to have my child in the mix.  I love people of all sorts, but I do not agree with their lifestyle if they choose to live like that.  And I do not appreciate it being forced into places it doesn't even belong.  No, it shouldn't be an issue... but it is now, isn't it?  I'm very sad about it all.  Michael was an Eagle Scout.  My dad was an Eagle Scout.  And all Preston got was Tiger and Wolf?  It's been a hard decision, he doesn't even know yet - and I am not looking forward that conversation.  Mergh, it's just all so sad, really.  "Duty to God" is the scout motto... sigh.

Anyway, we finished up AWANA at church.  There is a new program going on starting next week called Art & Soul and I think the boys will enjoy that.  And, of course, we'll have VBS in July.  Hoping to do some more fun things while we're having our break.  And, Lord willing, we'll MOVE before the summer is up.  Lol.  My UBAM convention is next week.  CAN'T WAIT!!!

Spring Turns into Summer...

Well, we're on break from school.  You'd think I'd have more time to blog... but not really.  I still need to upload the pix from my real camera of our camping trip several weeks ago.  Oops.  And lots of other this and that's on my to-do list as well.

We are busy getting ready for a garage sale this weekend.  Trying to de-clutter the house.  Why?  Well, I'm sick of the clutter and everything collecting dust.  No more "maybe I'll need this someday..."  Ugh, no, get rid of it!  But, also because we are planning to put our house on the market and move.  Like soon.  CRAZY.  We've been here over 10 years.  And it's just time to get out from under it... find a bigger place in a different area and start over a bit.  Obviously, we don't want to go too far.  We are very connected to our church near here, our friends and my parents... obviously, can't wander off to far from them.   So, we're in full-swing to make this happen this time.  Talking and meeting with realtors, seeing what our options are, having a foundation company come out and fix what they can.  It's overwhelming, and honestly... terrifying.  But exciting as well.  Just praying that we are truly guided by God in all of our decisions with this.  Both of us really feel it's time to move, so... we're doing what we can to get that ball rolling.


The kids are going through their phases.  Callen is still in his "terrible two" mode despite having turned three in March.  He is challenging, and it's just a real good thing he's so darn cute.  Sheesh.  Preston pesters him like crazy and often completely lacks common sense, so he has his share of trouble.  I'm doing my best, but I often feel like such a huge parental failure with them so far.  Preston cries about everything.  Callen destroys everything.  I'm sure that most kids their age are like this, and I'm expecting too much on them and myself.  It's just hard sometimes to see the same mistakes day after day, and no real sense of them "learning" the right way to act/react.  I keep looking at myself and realizing that I'm the same exact way, though.  God must face-palm Himself a lot regarding my actions, too.  Lol. On a positive note, the boys and I have met a new family in our area that we have just fallen in love with.  They travel a lot so we have to take advantage of them when they're around, but The Stauffers have been a great addition to our friend circle in the short time we've known them.  April and I get along really well, as do Preston and her son, who is 8.  They have two girls, too... and Callen enjoys all of them! Another random, but positive, note is that the boys and I have enjoyed having smoothies lately.  Getting in our veggies where we can.  The boys have loved them all, so it's really easy to make us a quick drinkable lunch packed with fruits and veggies (spinach!).  I am loving having that option instead of always trying to come up with a lunch that they'll actually eat.  Whew!

Michael finished up his teaching semester yesterday and won't be taking on a Summer class since they wouldn't fit his regular full-time job schedule.  Hopefully he'll get to return in the Fall.  His full-time job seems to be going along just fine, no real news to report there apparently.  Other side things are going ok, and he only does pizza every once in a while when they need an extra hand and he's able.  His earache, migraine, hip/leg pains are all still present and bothersome.  As are the many medical bills arriving constantly for the things we've tried to do for those particular ailments.  I just want him to feel good again.  Is that too much to ask?  He works so hard to provide for his family, it just isn't fair that he always has to be so miserable.  The boys have enjoyed utilizing Netflix with him and they watch episode after episode of superhero cartoons.  I'm glad that Michael is good at deciding which ones are appropriate for their ages, 'cuz I have no idea.  But they're quickly becoming experts on all things superhero and comic books, haha.

I was able to accomplish this year's Connect4Challenge with my Usborne Books & More business.  I am going to convention in June for FREE!  That'll be such a blessing.  A chance to get away, learn more about making my business successful, meeting a bunch of people I only know via Facebook.  I'm really looking forward to it!  After the last four months of steady action, taking a bit of a break in May and then I have a bunch of events lined up for June to hopefully get right back into the swing of things.  Getting the commission checks for those months was definitely a nice thing, plus... now I don't have to spend out-of-pocket money and feel guilty about going to convention!  Woo hoo!

That's about all I can muster at the moment, as far as an update goes.  I do have several things on my to-do list that need to get knocked out over the next few months, so... prayers that those get taken care of easily.  And prayers that this moving business is a smooth transition for all of us.  I'm a natural worrier and get extremely stressed out with big change like this.  I'm TRYING to take it easy and go with the flow, but that is just not how I'm wired.  

Homeschool Recap, May 3rd (Week 34) DONE!

In our lives this week...
Just gotta say, so glad to be DONE for a little while.  We've got some crazy stuff up in the air, and I need a break to focus energies elsewhere.  However, the boys NEED activity, so can't sit still for long.  We'll see what can be done with our brief time out.

Even at 7, still an adorable sleeper!

In our Homeschool this week...

Tot School: What tot school?  ;)

Enjoying a good book and some sunshine.

Bible:   This week's name of Jesus was "The Alpha & Omega" and Preston's memory verse is Revelation 21:6. We looked up verses in The Discoverer's Bible that explained how Jesus is the first and the last!  Put our final picture up on the branch.  Isn't it awesome?

Names of Jesus Branch

Reading/Writing: We finished Spelling by Sound & Structure. Did a few final reviews/tests of words Preston has struggled with over the year. 

History: This week Preston learned about Alaska (read and watched the movie Balto) and Hawaii (read The Island-Below-The-Star) to close out the 50 states.  The boys enjoyed listening to the audio book The Scrambled States of America.  We also learned about the White House, and wrote a letter to the President and finished out our wall time line.  Reviewed some of the things in the History Notebook.

Working on White House facts and worksheets.

Math: Preston is finished going through comprehensive reviews of each chapter using Math Mammoth worksheets, and took his year-end test.  He did great.  Really, the only questions he missed was because he didn't read the instructions and/or pay close enough attention to the signs. 

Science:  This week's we learned about a few more birds in Birds, Nests & Eggs. And used First Encyclopedia to talk about electricity and computers.

Music/Art: Done.

Spanish: Did a Spanish alphabet review and read a few easy reader books in Spanish.

We did it.  ALL DONE with 2nd Grade!!!

We are using Adventures in My Father's World. See our curriculum here.



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