We talk about this all the time. There has to be something in these girls brains that doesn't warn them the same way it warns other that flipping yourself backwards is dangerous. Flipping yourself backwards on a 4" beam 4' off the floor is insanity. If you go back onto my instagram and look at the last vault video I posted it is hilarious. They vault onto a mat in the pit and she landed at an angle that shot her forward. Last year she was at a meet and performed a beautiful beam routine, dismounted, saluted the judges, turned and tripped over her own feet and face planted into the mat. Sometimes I wonder how she hasn't broken something... Let me see if this direct link to the vault video works: https://instagram.com/p/4ITHs8i9qH/?taken-by=ariekannairb So today so far I have scrubbed the kitchen down and washed my hair. The kids are working on finishing their morning chores before we start school. My mom is coming over in a bit so I really need to get some school done. I can't wait for these busy weeks to be over. I hate the cold of winter but I am longing for the calm days where all we have to do is sit inside and read and be together.

I don't know if this will work but my daughter has been working a back walk over for beam and is landing it pretty consistently on beam and she landed her first aerial (off a mat stack but still) today! The one before the one I videoed was much better but that is always the way it goes. They are the first two videos on my profile. https://instagram.com/ariekannairb/ I did throw out half of what was in the house. Partially because we went down to half the size of what we had, but we have since moved back into a bigger house and it definitely helps to not have so much stuff. I love purging. It is so freeing. I got a big box of stuff we are using next year so I need to inventory and plan out the order of how I want things finished. I still have a few things I need to get but for the most part I am all done! I think I will make a walmart run for some school supplies later.

I think phonics is good to follow through for 2-3 years after a child starts reading. The focus would be less on learning to read and more of learning how to break down more difficult words and it really helps with spelling. At the very least I feel that it can't hurt. Explode the code is a very light, but thorough phonics program and won't add any stress.

You might try asking at your local library. Ours has a fantastic list put together by age/genre/topic/female/male lead. I had them print off a section of it for me the other day and we will be taking that list to half-price.

Well, my daughter just gave me something to add. She is doing a tumbling camp and has been incessantly asked about how she makes friends and whether she wants to go to "real school". So today when one of the girls asked her why she didnt want to go to PS she replied with "Because I don't want to go to prison!" I am pretty sure it was a frustration reaction to being asked the same question so many times, but I think we may talk about being tactful when we answer that question haha.

Sorry about the rough night! Maybe you should consider an afternoon nap. A tired mama is no fun :) I had a decent nights sleep until about 4am. An ambulance passed by the house and worked its way into my dream which of course meant that I dreamed that one of my children were hurt. Thankfully it was lucid and I woke up pretty quickly, however, it took me ages to get back to sleep. That's ok though. K is at tumbling camp. I stayed and watched for a few. She is very close to getting her aerial which she hopes to compete this year. Left the other two at home and came back to a relatively clean house. We are watching a friends baby for a few hours this afternoon and then my K has to go back to the gym for her regular team practice. We all sleep good on days like this.

I took the hot bath hoping it would relax my neck muscles. Problem was I let it run too long and it got cold. I miss my tankless water heater. How old are your boys? I have been debating on when to read Jane Eyre with the girls. I think it is probably a bit too much right now, but I loved it so am eager to get it on our list!

I am so grumpy today. I basically laid into the kids about making sure they keep their stuff cleaned up. I don't know when I stopped being so firm about it, probably during the move at the end of April when everything was all crazy, but it has resulted in absolute chaos in the house recently. Admittedly, I am not a very...enthusiastic housekeeper, but I keep it decent. I didn't sleep well last night so that is also not helping. I have tension headache. Blah, just blah. We have gotten our Bible and history done. L is working on his phonics and the girls are on math and will need to work on science, spelling/vocab and possibly writing today. I just want to soak in a hot bath, but will probably do laundry and at least make an attempt at cleaning my bathroom and bedroom. I also should mop the kitchen floor but that is last and may not happen since my oldest has an art lesson tonight. So busy this week.

Our last week of summer activities is this week! Yay! My gymnast has a tumbling camp each morning from 10-1pm and then turns around and goes to team practice on Tues, Thurs, Fri from 4:30-8:30. She is going to be pooped this week. To top that off both the girls have dental appointments on Friday AND Thursday is take your kids to work day at my husband's office. I think we will probably skip morning tumbling on Thursday so that K doesnt have to miss that. On top of that we still have to keep on track with school so that we finish on time. Thankfully, it looks like we will start wrapping up books and can lessen our work load soon. I apologize for not replying to anyone else's posts. I do read them all. I just generally only have a few moments to actually post.

I need a check list this morning. I don't really know if it has become habit or if the heat is making me lethargic, but I have had absolutely no motivation recently! Then to top that off, just enough is getting done that I don't feel any urgency to kick myself in the behind and get back into routine. So for today: Fold laundry Wipe down stove, microwave and oven Sanitize master bathroom And we need to get a decent amount of school done. We are at a good pace to have what I wanted done before we go to Disney but we have very little wiggle room. I'm also sure that the closer we get to the vacation the harder it is going to be to stay on task. I just don't want to come back to 2-3 pages in a book. I want to come back refreshed and ready to start our new stuff!

Shameless confession: I thought you meant an actual suit shaped like a bee. Yes, that is how tired I am.

I must know, why are you wearing a bee suit this evening?

My kids were so excited to participate in the library reading program and had big plans to turn in a ton of logs to win the prizes. When we got the information it turned out that you could earn 2 hours for every library hosted event that you attended! My kids have no chance of catching up with the kids whose parents drop them at these events (which include things like watching a Hunger Games Marathon). The events themselves are not terrible or anything, but they aren't reading and I find it crazy unfair that a reading incentive would have ways to win without ever having to pick up a book. My guess is that they would just not have the teen turn out if they didn't offer these. Sorry, I guess that was a bit of a tangent rant. My kiddos are readers as well and it blows my mind when concessions are made in a reading program for those who don't want to have to read...

I did not sleep well last night. As a result I have a sore shoulder (or maybe my shoulder is why I didn't sleep) and a tension headache on top of being very tired. We are pressing on though I am not getting much housework done at all and will probably be having a nap before having to drive DD to gym tonight. So we got Bible, Math, History, spelling, phonics for the little, science and vocabulary done. Luke is finished for the day except for reading me a Bob book, and the girls will do their reading for comprehension when I lay down to rest. I have to leave the house around 3 so I can swing by the library and drop off reading logs before having the gymmie at practice by 4:30.

I would ask why and genuinely listen and then make the decision I feel is best. I don't want my children to not feel heard but I am also the one responsible for them so at the end of the day it is up to me to make that decision. I do agree with putting the discussion off until closer to the time though. He could easily change his mind on his own once he is a little closer to the time.

I am sitting here with a full Rainbow Resource cart trying to decide if I am ready to hit the order button. I would really like to have our stuff for next year here before we leave for Disney so I can start getting a plan together for when we get back (that is when we will officially start the next year). We did skip VBS today and all three of my kids got up and asked if they had to go back the rest of the week. I don't think I will make them. I think today we will get some school done and possibly head to the pool for the first time in 2 weeks.

Day 2 of VBS down. I think we are going to skip tomorrow. Going up there and seeing the chaos just stressed me out and while they are having fun, I don't feel like it is doing much other than disrupting our day. I got some basic cleaning taken care of this morning while they were gone and my new dining table was delivered today. I need to get the seats covered with vinyl since they are practically white but is nice not to have mismatched folding chairs anymore. We got a bit of school done. The girls are finishing up their writing assignment for the day and my son has done his phonics and reading. We are settling in for an hour or so of quiet time before I have company tonight. Thankfully my hubby worked from home today and he is taking K to gymnastics or I would also have to worry about getting that in. Have I mentioned how grateful I am for Schwan's right now?

Sports was an accident here, well I was ignorant to how sucked into the gymnastics we would become. It's cute at 7.The next thing you know your gasping and half covering your eyes while your daughter throws herself backwards without a second thought. I think I might be addicted to the Adrenalin shot I get when she competes. The kids are home from VBS. While they were gone I got the kitchen cleaned and a few loads of laundry taken care of. I am waiting on the Schwan's guy right now. Yeah, I know, super lazy. I am on a cooking strike. I don't know why. I am just suddenly burnt out and this works for now. He is supposed to be here by 1 and is is 12:45... After lunch the plan is to rest. I had thought about school for today, but we had a very busy weekend from which I am still recovering and my eldest has art class tonight (at our house thankfully!).

I am always surprised that so many equate getting dressed with uncomfortable clothing. You should never feel uncomfortable in your clothing! If it has straps that are falling or if there is a seam bothering you or if the fabric rubs you then something isn't right. I do a lot of thrifting for my clothing which really helps me not to be as worried if something accidental happens and it gets ruined. I also have clothes that only get worn outside of the house or on days when I know I won't be doing much housework. I have only recently really started caring. Part of it is I have aged and can very easily start to look worn down. I looked at my momma, my beautiful wonderful mamma and she makes very little effort to look nice most of the time. I hate it because it makes her look older than she is and almost like she has given up on looking pretty. I love my momma but I don't want to ever give up on it like she has. Part of it was a good friend reminding me that our clothing gives impressions and I want people to know that I am a happy mom who enjoys her family rather than looking bedraggled. Part of it is that I am always more productive when I feel put together. Part of it is that feeling pretty feels nice and part of it is that, while my husband has never belittled or commented on my looks when I look frumpy, he did come to me the other day and say, I just wanted you to know that you have looked so pretty these last few weeks and I love coming home to you looking like this. It's just nice even if not necessary to hear him say that :)

So I will go ahead and say that TOS is one of the places I reviewed for. We often had deadlines we had to hit. It was not an ideal way to review. We rarely had time to really work with a product. Here is an example of a negative review I was allowed to post : http://moldingmindshomeschool.blogspot.com/2011/09/tos-reviewbig-iq-kids.html But even posting a negative one was hard when I really only had a few weeks to work with the product. Maybe with time it would have been better. Who knows.

I have found that boys especially need a little more wiggle room (pun intended) with their school work. I don't think 10-15 minutes is unreasonable but you may have to let him stand, jump, roll or whatever. My 7 year old still does this while he does his school work. In the beginning all I wanted was for him to SIT STILL because 1 it drove me nuts and 2 I was sure he wasn't retaining anything, but turns out he actually was and now, while it still drives me nuts, I can at least deal with it. As he gets older I have started requiring that certain things be done sitting still. For example he can't really practice handwriting while he is jumping around, but we can skip count while he is jumping up and down. As he gets older and more mature, I will require more and more still time out of him. I like the idea of timers. It gives them something tangible to look at. Oh, also, I always send my son outside for at least a half an hour before I try to school him. He must be active while he is outside. Jump on the trampoline, play soccer, practice "ninja skills", whatever you want but you must be moving. If he doesn't move, I make him run laps around the house LOL. It not only wakes up his brain but helps get his energy levels under control somewhat.

During a period when my daughter was considering moving on from gym I told her that I didn't care what she did but she HAD to maintain her flexibility. I then went on about how she would appreciate me for this once she begins having children. Ha! She looked at me and then slowly walked away without saying anything.

First off, yay me for multi-quoting for the very first time even though I have been on the hive for years at this point LOL! I live in Texas. We get our first 100 degree day this week. I love it though. Gymnastics...I have a love hate relationship with it. If you are talking recreational, you won't have to worry too much about it. Usually recreational gymnastics is only done once or twice a week for an hour at a time. If you are looking to go competitive that is a whole new world. My daughter started at 7 which in some areas is considered a late start. She will compete her 4th season this next year. She tried out for a local team and they did not accept her, but we stayed in the recreational program and a few months later they invited her. At level 2 she could barely cartwheel but it was cute to watch and a lot of fun. She practiced 2 times per week for a total of 4 hours. Level three saw her increase to 6 hours and we changed gyms mid-season to a gym that practiced 9 hours at level 3. Last year she was invited to the level 4 team but chose to take a different route available called Xcel so her hours stayed at 9 with Silver and will be 10.5 hours this year at Gold. The great thing is that our state has several options with competitive gymnastics that allow girls who are super hard core to take that route, but also giving other options to girls who enjoy it but don't want it to be all they do. For example a level 4 USAG girl would practice about 20 hours per week, a TAAF girl 12 hours and an Xcel Gold (level 4,5,6 equivalent) 9 hours. Of course, my daughter won't gain new skills as quickly, but we have no grand illusions of the olympics or even college. She does it purely because she loves it. The other thing you need to know is that it is expensive. A typical season is around $3000 with leotards, tuition, travel, meet fees and so on. Also, it is year round. There are no breaks...at all. Once the season ends, the following week begins training for the next. On the up side, gymnastics has given my daughter some fantastic life experience with learning how to win/lose gracefully, it has also majorly improved her flexibility, strength, balance and hand eye-coordination. Relative to her size, she is stronger than her daddy and can do things like plank for 5 minutes+, pushups and pull ups with proper form and so on. I could never dream to be in the shape she is in. You can see her frickin abs through her 1 piece swimsuit. On the other hand we have had to deal with consistent minor injury. Mostly ankle sprains and her maintenance can be expensive as I want to be sure we don't damage her still growing body with the amount of pounding put on her joints. Anyways, there it is. What she does is AMAZING and it is one of the few sports I enjoy watching, but it does require quite a commitment.

Am I allowed to just jump in here? We had a crazy week last week with tumbling camp for both of my olders. This week we have VBS and then another tumbling camp for my competitive gymnast next week. Add to that regular team practices and school seems to be just something else I have to do right now. However, we have a certain amount that we need to get done before we head to Disney in Sept so we are pressing on. My goal for this week is to get us caught up on where I want to be for our history reading (we loosely use SL) and to press through on math. I think I have set realistic goals for before Disney even with all of our activities. Thankfully, after Disney things will be considerably calmer as we will just have gymnastics practices in the evenings.

I used to do a lot of product reviews. There are a few things that make them hard to give a full review. First, we almost always have a deadline that is considerably shorter than needed to get a full scope of what a program offers. Sometimes I had a few months, other times I had only a few days. I can only once remembering have the time to complete an entire product and it was a lapbook. Second, if we are reviewing for a magazine or blog review sight, while we are asked to be honest, we are also required to be...diplomatic which can make it hard to be as blunt as the reviewer would like. We once reviewed a product for a blog review sight I worked for and EVERY SINGLE BLOGGER hated it. They pulled the review product and we were asked not to post the review (even though they couldn't technically require us not to). Most did not post the negative reviews. There are other variables that go into how a blogger posts reviews as well and you are right, it is very difficult for a paid blogger to post negative reviews. While we always wanted to be honest, we also had to consider that if we were constantly putting up negative reviews, we would likely quit getting review offers. What I did to try to balance out things was give a good description of how we used the product, what was included, what it was intended to do, what type of learner I thought it would suit best and if I thought I would add it to our homeschool permanently.