No words

Back from a great week at Disney. Husband layed off today. ISn't that great timing?!!! Hopefully a school update coming soon. We are still on vacation for the rest of this week and I"m glad, I need it!

Quick Updates

Why can't I seem to find time to update this blog? Here are a few tidbits about what we have been doing. In Geography we learned about Italy. We made Venetician Carnival masks, read about Da Vinci, and colored our maps and flags for that country. Princess Poodle also read a mystery about Rome. Triple H seem to be progressing with his reading. We are moving slow but I am very proud of his progress. He wants to read like his sister but I keep reminding him to be patient. Truth is I want to read like his sister. She is a reading machine! I'm beginning to think she reads to get a break from him. ha ha
We will start our co-op in a few weeks and I know the kids are ready for that.

This coming week is family vacation. We are off to our favorite resort at Disney World. Coronado Springs here we come! This vacation is needed so much right now. The kids and I are exausted and need a change of scenery.

Finally, I am still continuing to paint when I can get a chance. And I feel fall in the air. Yeah!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and sorry for the lame post.

Bonjour!! With Pictures.

Crepe filled with chocholate! Yummy

Triple H making crepes.

Princess Poodle making crepes.
Monet water lily tissue art.

Just a few pictures from our time spent in France. We have also started French lessons. Our local library has Rosetta Stone on the computers for free. Why French? Why not Spanish which would be much more practical. I don't know. We are just doing what we want to do. Triple H works on math and reading while Princess poodle and I take French. What fun! Off to French lessons. Au Revoir

Update on Hazelnut Academy

I wanted to post a few pictures of some of the things we have been working on in addition to our curriculum basics. I won't bore you with posting math sheets or cursive writing practice (oh the torture!). We spent two weeks "visiting" England in our countries and cultures portion of school. My goal is not to have the kids walk away being able to quote the type of government or the population total of each country. I want them to get an idea of where in the world these countries are, how life can be like in some of these areas, but mostly to just enjoy the sights, sounds, tastes, etc. of a place different from their own. Who knows what or how much of what we teach will stick. History and geography and culture are not like math facts. I did almost fall on the floor when Triple H came to the office and asked me in his still very toddler sounding voice, "Momma, how do you spell Joseph William Mallord Turner?"((the four named artist was said so speedily and with slurred sounds that only a Momma could decipher) and then , Momma, what do you think about him? He was attempting to write about him in the Hazelton Sunday News, or at least his copycat version of what his sister was doing. She was writing about Shakespeare. For Princess Poodle, my literary minded child, Shakespeare was right up her alley and she is begging me to buy more kid versions of his plays. This past week school was put on hold for a four day long art camp in our small town. The kids got to spend time learning from a painter, fabric artist, photographer, and basket weaver, and got to make projects in each discipline. The kids had a good week. Tomorrow its off to France. We will be studying Monet and Degas for our artist focus. We plan on making crepes and at the end of the second week having a mock tour de france. Note to self: must purchase cheap gold medals. Hope you enjoy the pics. Thanks for stopping by.

Paper mache globes. One earth is a bit crooked. We are beginners at this.

Art project for our Turner study. Stormy Seas by Triple H

Storm seas by Princess Poodle. Travel Log entry below.

Princess Poodle's Turner information page for Travel Log. We place all our maps, artist focus, country informational pages etc. in travel logs for each of the kids. At the end of the year we should have a documented trip around the world!

Jingle Bells...Jingle Bells

Am I the only one out there that has Autumn fever and has started singing Christmas carols in the shower? They just come out of nowhere, I promise. One minute I'm shampooing my hair and the next I'm belting out "oH the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful..". I think I must be crazy. It has got to be this GA humidity. Seriously, there have been days when I thought I was melting, just like the witch in The Wizard of Oz. I am known for being a holiday nut in my family. I love it all but the Autumn/Winter holidays which include for me, Halloween, my birthday, and Christmas, are the very best of the year. My Christmas "itch" usually starts in late August, and yet it has come sooner this year. I don't know why I rush things like this. This autumn my Princess Poodle turns eight, I am horrified and still not over my baby boy turning five on me. But the carols and visions of colored lights are flooding my mind and today as I watched 10 pine trees being cut down and chopped into mulch, the smell nearly sent me into fits of joy inside! We have much school to accomplish. My big goals for the kids this year. ..For PP I hope to see her math facts solidified and her writing progress. For Triple H, I want to see him come to love reading and move beyond, Al has a fast cat. I would also like to see some improvement in their chores around the house and in my own as well. (gotta be honest) Mostly I want to see us find a rhythm to our schooling and our days. I hear others talk of such a rhythm but we have yet to find it and I feel that is my own fault. As for school, we are studying Great Britian and next week I introduce Princess Poodle to Shakespeare for the first time. We will be reading childrens versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet. Triple H is loving memorizing poetry which suprises me a bit. Princess Poodle is working on The Violet. Math is new to us and so we are working on a level that is a bit easy in order to transisition into the new program. WWE level 2 has introduced dictation. This is somewhat new, especially in the length of the passage dictated. For spelling I think I am going to go for a combined approach of a workbook and real life application. PPoodle writes all the time. She is working on an infomational "book" about space. I think we will work through Spelling workout and also add words to our list that I find her misspelling in her fun writing. I won't make her correct her fun writing, I'll just put these words down in some type of list/folder/etc. Triple H is working in the Kinder part of SIng spell read and write. I would love to finish the Kinder portion this year but I will move at his pace. He won't officially be a Kinder until the 2010/2011 school year. We will do some ETC pages along with this. He also enjoys much of our math and sits in on our countries and cultures lessons most of the time.

I'm off to check on dinner and maybe sing a little Silent Night as I finish it up.

Christmas Morning 2007 Kids still love the boxes more than anything!

First Week of School, Spelling Impaired, and a painted Friend.

We finished our first week of school here at Hazelnut Academy. I now have a second grader (oh I see a rabbit in our yard!) and a K-5 boy! Hard to believe. For the most part school went well. We started our geography unit which is the kids favorite part of school. They are making paper mache globes which are an experiment to be honest. We studied maps and they each made a map of a local nursery/art studio including a map key. Tomorrow we head off to Europe with our first stop being England. I really need to update my curriculum link with the full story of what we are doing but time hasn't permitted it yet. I have noticed that I have let Spelling slide and Princess poodle, being an avid writer and wanna be journalist, really needs me to kick this subject into high gear. I guess I was just hoping that it would come naturally. Hopefully a better weekly update with pictures will come soon. I'm still here but swamped from trying to get into the routine of things. As usual the house and meals suffer when school is in session. Why can't I have enough money for a maid and a cook? ha ha Also I have discovered a new passion, or hobby, or maybe just a release. I'm not sure what to call it but I am enjoying playing with paints. I am not an artist. My sister is the artist in the family. But at the age of 33 I have picked up a paintbrush and I like the way it feels. Here's a picture of a recent, really my first real, painting. Its very simple really but I enjoyed painting her and now she is somehow my friend. Thanks for stopping by.

A new Hair Style and New way of thinking

I am undergoing quite a change in my life. It has been coming on for some time now. Part of this change has been learning to relax and take life a little more as it comes. To savor all that is sweet and beautiful and smells good. I am no longer blowdrying my hair. Perhaps I never will again. I am wearing it in its naturally wavy state which is a bit messy but that is ok. So here's to tossing the blowdryer and flatiron and embracing my true self or at least my true hair. What are you embracing these days? What are you tossing?

Sinapore Math is shipping!

I just received an email that my backordered sinapore math is shipping. Yeah! I am excited and a bit nervous about the change. School for us starts in a few days and I can't believe that I am about to have a K5 and a Second Grader. I am very blessed for these two kids to be in my life. Their spirits are unique and quirky and sweet and just what I need. Triple H is standing in the bathroom talking to me. He is wearing his vote for pawpaw t-shirt that was mine when I was a little girl, an old cowboy hat, a robe he is holding over his left shoulder and is tapping dancing in his new flipflops (his very first pair). He just said" Momma thank you for my flipflops, I love them"). Princess Poodle is still fast asleep but will soon be up and will have The Silver Chair in her hand the moment she awakes. She is now in my lap giving me special hugs and holding her lovey that she has had since she was 6 months old. How the time goes by? Why so fast? And I try not to drown in the sadness of them growing up. Their spirits are eternal and they are growing up at just the speed God wants them too. I however would do things a bit differently.

This post is quite random but that seems to be my life these days. I do have good news. We made it into a co-op which is a miracle because the waiting list was 70 families long. It is called Explorers and we will meet one day a week for six weeks. There will be three six week sessions. each six weeks we will cover a new topic, a unit study type of thing. I think the kids will eventually love it but it will be hard on all three of us at first. We are all a bit shy in new places and around new faces. But this is ,I am sure a blessing and a challenge from God. A way to stretch our characters. I know He will have somthing there for each of us to learn.

Here are a couple of pictures from a recent fieldtrip to Spruells Bluff. We are still enjoying our summering and hope all who read this crazy blog are having a magical summer as well.

What is going on at Hazelnut Academy

We are still on Summer Break. I am in the process of organizing our school room. Thank you Steven for the perfect IKEA bookshelves. I have our first two countries for our geography study planned out. I decided to add in a short study on William Shakespeare, Princess Poodle is wanting to learn about him. I am in search of good children's versions of some of his plays. Our math curriculum is still on back order and therefore I can't plan for that. I have yet to decide what my notebook will look like and what type of lesson plan forms I will use. The kids will each have a Semester Notebook and a Geography notebook. As well as their poetry notebook which will go through 5th grade. Here is a breakdown of what I think our curriculum will look like.

Countries and Cultures Study: this will incorporate geography, science, art, music, literature( I am piecing this together myself)
Writing with Ease Level 2
Singapore Math
Abeka Cursive
Poetry memorization
First Language Lessons for the Well trained mind Second Grade
Bible?
For Triple H: Sing Spell Read and Write K level as well as Explode the Code and math games.

I am probably forgetting something. I may add in mindbenders for Princess Poodle. I have not thought about a plan of action for our days yet. We still haven't heard from the co-op we are waiting to get into. That's ok. It will work out. How do I want to structure our days. Do I want to save our countries and cultures for Fridays or do a little each day. Hmmm. I know Math and Writing must be everyday. I just don't know how I want things to flow this year. Still thinking....

A Day at the Beach

I Want to be a funky, turqouise, velvet couch

I have a couch. It is a camel back couch that belonged to my Momma and Daddy. They bought it new when I was a young teenager so it is pretty old. Plus its pink and that won't do. My plan is to sand the wood legs and refinish them in an ivory antiqued finish. But what to do with the fabric. I will have to pay someone to reupholster it I know but what fabric to choose. I am not a decorator. Oh how I wish I were. I know what I want. Something slightly funky. I want this traditional couch to have some flare. I want it to be tourquise and velvet. The problem is that the rug in my living room has all brown, burnt reds and oranges in it. How can I incorporate a funky, tourquise, velvet couch. Hmmmm....

That dilemma will go on for awhile because I do not have the money to fix it up yet. Maybe christmas. But it got me thinking. I've been doing ALOT of that the last few months. Trying to figure out who I am. Who God made me to be. How my need to please others has held me back from being who He wants me to be. I'll have to post more on that journey later. But I do know that I want God to make me over like that couch. I know the "bones" are there. He made me after all. But I'm faded, from being selfish, I'm tattered from sinful choices, I'm just not shining and making the statement I could make; all because I have feared man instead of God. I want to be a funky, tourquise, velvet couch. I want to me who God made me to be, which will glorify Him all the more. I don't want to be this shell of a person, a robot going through the motions. I want to be Sheryl and to be a Sheryl that is in touch with her Father. And something tells me that this person that God knit together for a purpose; will be some shade of tourquise. (pardon the horrible spelling; I am quite sure that I spelled tourquise wrong, it looks wrong but I am too lazy this morning to go find my dictionary.)

Update on Lost Curriculum

Ok..I have now officially lost my MIND; not a math curriculum. The missing SAxon 3 kit is missing because I never ordered it. It must have been a dream. So now I am going to order math this week and I'm seriously thinking of swithcing to Singapore. I think I will order Singapore 1b and 2a; that way Princess poodle will have some review with the new method of teaching etc. Why is switching a math curriculum so scary?

Also, we enjoyed the first little tomatoes from our garden today. Yummy and homegrown!


Udpate: I ordered the Singapore curriculum today. Somehow buying an 80 dollar math curriculum feels like signing your life away. I know that's a bit crazy . But I did it, I pressed the complete order button and I pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming this time.

Update #2: new curriculum is all on backorder. That's why I ordered the math curriculum months ago.... so I thought!

Fieldtrips Coming Up and my own version of LOST

Summer is in full swing her at Hazelnut academy. I know this because my legs are covered in bug bites and my back and chest in this strange red color that only shows up as Spring fades and the first real heat of summer catches me off guard. I also know that summer is here because I found myself buying a book from Publix. I mean really, how good of a literary masterpiece can come from a grocery store. But summer reads have a place and it had been awhile since I had read something so, saucy and quick witted. Finished it in one day and now I feel guilty about the 1o bucks I spent on it. I have no want to keep it on my shelf and would be slightly embarrassed to pass it on to someone else. lol
This week we leave for a long weekend trip to visit my sister and her family in Charleston, SC. We are hoping to hit the beach one day, downtown Charleston one evening, and then hit Columbia another day. We have reservations to go see the Turner to Cezanne art exhibit that is touring only 5 US cities. Princess Poodle is beyond excited to be visiting a real art museum. She has been jealous ever since I got to visit the Lourve last summer. I cannot wait to get my toes in the sand, feel the ocean breeze on my face, and get lost in a little VanGogh, Turner, and Monet. Fieldtrips are so much fun! I also got some time to get away tonight and read up on next years writing plan and finish planning out our "trips" to England and France. Also, am I the only crazy, absent minded homeschool mom that has ordered curriculum and then LOST It. I mean an entire SAxon 3 kit cannot be found. Now I am wondering, "Did I really order it or was it a dream?" This has been known to happen to me, confusing reality with something I dream. I will search the house from top to bottom this coming week and if it is still unfound I guess I will have to order, "again"?.
So until my next post which will hopefully include pictures of our Charleston trip, a FOUND ad for my lost curriculum, and hopefully less bug bites and a golden color replacing the garish strawberry red that presently exist on my skin.

Happy Summering! (not a word, but Oh it should be!)

The Planning has begun...

I have started my planning for next year which for us starts in July. Today I picked out three of the poems we will learn for next year and printed them out ready to be illustrated and go into the poetry notebooks. I will need to find easier poems for Triple H to memorize and he really wants too or I wouldn't bother. I have also just about finished my planning for the intro as well as England and France units of the countries and cultures study I am working on. I am excited about how it is coming together. We are going to create travel diaries/logs from our trip around the world this year. What will these include? A passport page where we will place a stamp (flag sticker) before each journey, maps of each country, a flag coloring sheet, dictation/illustration from some of our living books, artis info and activities, composer info, words to songs we learn, pictures of our cultural experiences ie english tea, mini tour de france, jap. hibachi grill etc., printed pictures of famous landmarks or people etc. What a notebook this will be at the end of the year!!! I might be jealous not to have one myself. I have already printed out the maps and flags for most of the countries we will cover. I still need to check which books are readily available on interlibrary loan. I need to find directions on how to have an english tea. Of course I will need an ongoing supply list. I would like something that we could color or print to put up on our world map for each country but not sure what yet. Why can't I get this excited over the three loads of laundry I need to fold? I would like to update the lesson planning page but don't have the time to type it all out right now. Hopefully that will happen eventually. So July we will do some stargazing and dreaming about the vastness fo God's creation and the diversity of His world. We will start off with an intro to geography covering hemispheres, continents, oceans, time zones etc. Then we journey over to England and France for the month of August. But first, summer break the month of June. I have to make plenty of time for icecream, swimming, playing barefoot and other adventures. Oh and hopefully a trip to IKEA for the bookshelf I am needed to hold all these wonderful, lovely books!!!!!
Thanks for stopping by.

Welcome Summer!

Leaping into summer.
Running into summer.

Its good to be a boy in the great outdoors.

My little man turns five this summer. sigh


Feathered friends and girly skirts.

Barefoot days.




Pure joy.

Not sure what to say about this one. But I like it.

Bashful beauty.


My little island man being a monkey!

Hazel NUTS for sure

This month we are living up to our name Hazel"nut" Academy. Today we had school in the van, while eating tacos. Really, we did. We have had school outside, school in the library, anywhere but our school room. I just can't sit around a table in a room with four walls right now. May is our month of insanity I guess. Things are winding down. We finished WWE this week and now our main focus in on math. I am not really happy how Saxon has saved all the new material for the end of the year. Teach new concepts then have a four week break. That makes no sense at all. Why not teach the new concepts earlier and review at the end of the year. But I don't write the curriculum, or at least not the math one. So we will continue to have school this month but its a school for oddballs. We are reading Little House in the Big Woods as part of our pioneer studies. Studies which are really loose ended right now. We will cover reptiles and amphibians over the summer months but all in a very relaxed way. We will probably have school in a number of strange locations over the next couple of weeks because I just can 't be blocked in or tied to a chair right now. So we will sit under trees, read great living books, learn some math but not be pressed by it and maybe get in another session while eating tacos in the van. And for those of you wondering why we didn't go into Taco Bell to eat and have our lesson. Call me a freak but I just don't like eating in there.
Hope you have a wonderful and weird May everyone.

Just Playing Around

Momma,

These are some paintings I wanted to share with you. I can't seem to go back to a painting so each of these was done in one sitting. Once that time is over I can't seem to want to go back and add, fix, anything. Hmm...wonder why that is? What do you think? I know I don' t have the talent that Jobo got but I do enjoy how it makes me feel. Love you.

To My Momma

Happy Mother's Day to my MOMMA.

I am thirty three years old. The older I get the more things I notice about myself that are much like my Momma. Some of these are good, some not as good. I guess that is the case with all of us. Recently I have discovered a longing to be free, to be moving and tasting life around me. Its as if I want to drink it all in and have my kids do this as well. I think there is a "gypsy" like quality in my spirit, a longing to be free to roam that I didn't know was there. I think it has been hidden underneath multiple layers of fear, rules, and a need to please others. I have many things to thank my Momma for. My love of nature, wanting to be close to God's creation, is from my Momma. My ability to leave dishes in the sink while I paint with my kids and not to freak out when the house isn't perfect...that's from my Momma. My love of the written word, how poetry makes my blood feel warm...thats from my Momma. The ability to be still and to really see things and more importantly, knowing the necessity of that...its from my Momma. Having a child-like spirit and not caring what others my age and older think of my eccentric nature when I climb a tree with my daughter; in a skirt, ..thats from my Momma. so whether its from sharing her genes, the ones that God chose me to have, or whether its from the years I spent being near her; I have much in common with this young-hearted, brave, somewhat of a misfit, mother of mine. And I thank God that I do.
I love you Momma.
Sheryl

Recent pictures from life

Partial view of the garden. We have tiny green tomatoes on the vines. Yeah!

We have been observing a Canda Goose nest at a friend's house for the past few weeks. We went for a visit on Tuesday and to our surprise....gosslings! They are adorable! We will be writing about our experience in our nature journals.

Here is princess Poodle twirling the baton in her co-op musical Amerikids.

Here she is holding her first place ribbon for her art piece "Lady Listening to birds". both of her pieces are on the table laying flat behind her.

She also got first place for her science exhibit. I was happy for her. She truly worked very hard on the project. Can you see the joy in her face? Priceless.

Random Tidbits

1. We have tiny, green, baby tomatoes in our garden!!!
2. I also shooed away two large does from our garden yesterday morning!!! Must get up fencing.
3. Only a few more weeks of first grade for Princess Poodle. The year has flown.
4. Even though I am sleeping so much better, I feel run down lately. Why is that?
5. We have started reading about the westward expansion and pioneer. This will be kept simple with living books and some videos.
6. The kids and I washed our dirty van yesterday.
7. After budget crunching and being willing to give up some other things, we are going to get to go to Disney world again in the fall. We are so excited. This trip does wonders for me and the kids mentally. After schooling in July, and August, the trip in September will be a welcomed break.
8. We are going in early June to visit my sister in Charleston. I have never been. Also we will be going to columbia to see an art exhibit that will have some works from the greats like Monet, van Gogh etc. Princess Poodle is very excited.
9Princess poodle got first place in her science fair and first in the art fair. She got third in the photography fair. Will post pics later.
10. God loves me even though I am hopelessly flawed, a sinner, and stubborn beyond measure at times!

Thanks for stopping by.
Sheryl

I love the outdoors BUT...

I am an outdoor girl. I love having our garden and spent time there this evening teaching my kids the proper way to weed i.e. Don't pull up our dahlias that are just coming up!!! I tended to my iris bed and potted some plants for the back porch. I have dirt under my nails even after my shower and my nails are WAY short because of my pottery classes. I am taking Triple H to feed ducks tomorrow and I never feel as at peace as I do when outside. With all that said there are some things I hate about the outdoors. Two main things to be exact....mosquitoes and biting ants. I loathe them. They make living in shorts and barefeet misery at times. Well, as of this week I can now add a third bug to my hate list. No its not spiders, I kinda like them as long as they aren't black widows. (Spiders eat insects remember and remember I hate mosquitoes. Anyone guessed yet my new arch enemy?
I won't keep you in suspense any longer. TICKS! AGGGGHHHHHH. Just this week I have removed one from myself, two from Princess Poodle and one from Triple H. We have never had ticks before and my kids have been playing outdoors their whole lives. But for whatever reason, be it rainfall, or lack of harsh winters, or location; we have a tick problem and we don't have any animals! Unless you count backyard deer and turkey. Blast those beautiful white tail deer and proud looking turkeys!
I won't go running for the tv remote and computer screen. We must be outdoors. So I will have to find a way of dealing with the ticks. Right now my only line of defense is a nightly tick check of their entire bodies. And I do mean entire. Those ticks have a way of getting in some not so great places!
With summer fast approaching I guess I need to stock up on ant poison, bug spray with low deet, anti-itch creme, benedryl, citronella candles, and new tweezers. I'll just add all these along side the pool towels, sunscreen, popsicles, bubbles, and sidewalk chalk.

What a list!

From the Garden...

Our garden is complete. It has tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, blueberries, and flower bulbs. We are starting small, hoping not to overwhelm ourselves. We made stepping stones with Mimi and placed them in the garden to have a path to walk on. I still want to paint the raised bed but that will have to wait for now. We also have to put our lovely signs up. Need to go to home depot for stakes. Enjoy the pics.

Mommy and Princess Poodle planting our tomato plants.

Look at those dirty hands. A true sign of a job well done!

This is Crinkleroot. He is the protector of our garden.
Here is Triple H. I took this picture from a distance. I think he and Crinkleroot are having a deep conversation about the meaning of life. What do you think?

A few pictures from Easter.

Here are a few Easter pics. Husband is absent in pictures because he hates having his picture taken. He always looks drunk in them. Really he does...

A Hodgepodge of a post

This week has been a week of trying to get back into reality. After a week devoted to a science fair project and then a week of spring break, we are a bit off kilter. We have hit math heavy this week, moving quickly through many of the easier lessons. We got back into our Writing with Ease and have a few more lessons to go in that curriculum. Princess Poodle has practice everyday this week adn next for her co-op's spring musical and that is keeping us on the road! Triple H is a mystery as one day he wants to do school and the next day doesn't care and is way too silly. I'm so glad I haven't felt the need to push him this year.
My pottery classes are about to start back and I'm excited and nervous. I haven't been on the wheel in four weeks and hope I haven't forgotten everything. Our garden is now complete with tomato plants, pepper plants, and dahlia bulbs; thanks to my two best friends. (Are you laughing Karrie?) My iris bed is planted and I want to add some lamb's ear for a silver touch. I have a growing interest in all things grown lately. (Can't imagine why..stop laughing Karrie!) I am also starting to play with painting and have a picture of a little girl I am dying to paint if I can ever find the time between the laundry and the homeshooling. (ok, go ahead and laugh Karrie, I deserve it!)
We have a few more weeks until our 4 week summer break in June. I am trying to talk hubby into taking a few days off to go to Charleston to visit my sister and then hit columbia to see an art exhibit that is coming there that I really want to see. It will have paintings from some of the great masters! I really want to go to Disney again, but seeing that we have no stimulus check coming like we did last year, I don't see that happening. I guess Mickey will have to do without me this year. I also need to finish planning our geograpy/world tour curriculum for next year.
This crazy posts sums up what has been going on with us lately. I'll post new garden pics soon.
Thanks for stopping by.
And please pardon the references to someone named Karrie. I just couldn't help myself and only she will know why.

Upcoming Art/Science/History Festival

Princess Poodle's Art Entry: Woman Listening to Birds is what she titled it.

Princess Poodles Photography Entry: Theme was Inspiration: Things that inspire you

Its a picture she took of one of her best friends. She says that he inspires her to be courageous, brave and adventurous. I think the picture shows that really well.

I'll post pics of her Bird Exhibit once it is finished.

In other news, we are on Spring Break. Next week we will be hitting math and writing hard in order to get caught up. We will also be starting Pioneers in May. All is well as long as I keep my laid back attitude going. This festival takes alot of time but I think it is worth it. As far as co-ops for next year we are on a waiting list and hopefully will get a call in June.

Everyone have a wonderful Easter!

Change is annoying!

Do you ever wish things were settled? Lately nothing with us seems settled. The co-op Princess Poodle has been going to for two years is not going to work out next year. Its a long story as to why but basically after a visit I payed today I don't think it will be a fit for Triple H. And what we do has to fit both kids. Two kids that are vastly different not only in gender but personality. So the search is on for something else. Change is scary and my little girl cried today at the thought of it. She is like her Mommy in so many ways. I cried today because I had next year all planned out in my head including Tuesdays off for me since both kids would be in co-op from 9-2:30. Today I feel like Ive hit a wall. Compared to the stresses others are enduring my wall is probably more like one brick and not a whole wall of them, but still hitting a brick doesn't feel so great either. We are also going to be making some changes with church. This doesn't mean leaving the church we are at, but we will be pulling out of a program they have on Wed. night for the kids. This program is huge in Southern Baptist churches but its not working for us. So now I have two homeschooled kids that need some interaction with other kids, no co-op for next year, and no Wed. night children's program at church. Unsettled! I know God loves them and will be taking care of them and their needs but I just don't feel this right now. Is that ok to say? I hope so. Change stinks and I just want things to be settled for awhile. And that's all my venting for today.

Random Tidbits

It is March...how did that happen? The end of the school year is coming up. We finish in May. Princess Poodle is busy with her, If I Was A Bird , science exhibit. I am trying to memorize my drama for this Sunday..my memory is not what it used to be thanks to some medicine I have to take. Darn side-effects! The sun is warm and good for the heart and soul. Princess Poodle is going to be a baton twirler in the America musical at her co-op. I have just about decided what my plan of action for next year will be with the kids and co-op. Triple H is doing well and would be reading in a big way if I had spent the time with him I should be spending. But we have another year of PreK so I'm not stressing.
I am hitting some sort of mid-life transformation...not sure if I'm changing or if I'm not changing for others so much that the true me is coming out. Something to think about. I love, love, love my pottery class. I am playing with paint. I am excited about our garden. It will be titled
"Les Jardin D'Enfantes" spelling may be off, my paper is not with me, but it will mean Children's Garden in French. We continue to do all our subjects. Princess Poodle just finished memorizing her last poem of the year, The Beech Tree. She has learned 7 this year and I am so proud of her. She remembers them all. We review each week and I love this part of her education. The kids art education is going well. The other day we were at a friends place and met another little girl named, Georgia. PP immediately spoke up and said , "There's a famous artist named Georgia and she painted flowers and dead bones". I was happy about her connecting this and I thought to myself..aren't all bones dead ones" lol . Triple H is learning as well and although he mixes up alot of the info in his head, I am hoping that little brain markers are forming that he can use later on.
Some changes for next year. I was planning on doing science with our geography unit. However, the co-op science is going to be much more in depth next year, with homework included, so I will only touch on biomes here at the house, and will concentrate on her "school" science for next year.
ok..enough random tidbits. I doubt anyone read all the way through this brainstorm of mine. Hopefully pics will come soon of the bird project in progress and some other work we have been doing.
Happy Spring!

Children's Garden 2009 Update

Mommy and Princess Poodle after finishing our first row of potatoes.

Princess Poodle and Triple H...why can't they always be this sweet.

The kids covering up a seed potatoe.

Mommy and Triple H digging together.

Our seed potatoes.

Triple H standing in a hole dug for a blueberry bush.

Papa and Triple H digging the holes for our four blueberry bushes.

We are still working on our garden signs for each vegetable. The kids are doing a great job with the painting. Triple H is my biggest helper so far. He loves to water the blueberry bushes. Both the kids were beyond excited to put our potatoes in the ground. Let's just hope that we actually get potatoes so we can make mashed potatoes.