:hurray: :party: :hurray: Awesome!

I have no idea how you would only catch the back of the patch on a sewing machine??? DS and I made a deal. I would sew patches onto his shirt (he's worried about ruining his shirt), and he'll sew badges to his sash. I'm going to show him how to use both the machine and hand-stitching.

I seriously doubt I'll get my portion of the list done.. That's more of a wish list. And I do have more energy, in part, because I didn't wake up with a raging headache today. Once I took my meclizine (did wake up with mild vertigo again), I was good. Now I just have to stay active to stay awake.

Happy Birthday Viola! Not only am I tackling Wednesday, I have a plan of attack rather than aimless wandering. Morning chores - DD pick up and vacuum school room - DS litter, trash, recycle - MOM Decide on today's school work School - MOM Math with DS - Kids math, PNW history, botany Lunch - Make lunch and eat (sent DS to store for hot dog buns, kids then made them) - Clean bathroom - DD Breakfast and lunch dishes School - MOM Tutor reading student - Kids Finish assignments After tutoring and school fnished - Add library books read to reading list - Return library books - Office Depot for scouting notebooks Mom's work where fits - Sew badges on DS's uniform - Dig old bookshelf out of garage and set up in school room - Put books piled on dining room table into bookshelf - Start dinner - Vacuum masterbedroom - Help boys declutter their bins - Laundry

It depends on my relationship with the neighbors. I have had and currently have neighbor situations where entering the backyard was/is completely acceptable.

I washed dishes, cooked lunch, ate lunch, and washed dishes again. I swept and mopped the kitchen floor. It was horrid. I used bleach, and I think my mop had some soap residue in it, so I have the fan going and several windows open on this cold and rainy day. Right now I'm catching up on some grading. I just ran into an assignment that was done so incorrectly that I didn't recognize which assignment it was suppose to be.

I'm up...finally. I woke up with a massive headache. Showered, crawled back into bed, got up, got dressed, took massive amounts of naproxen, fed the dog. Need to feed the kids and get moving. I don't have a plan of attack so I'm not sure what I'll get done.

I have walk away the pounds. I've tried to "make" her do the video, but she flat out refused to stand up off the couch. It's most likely going to have to be something we force her to do with consequences if she doesn't.

Bought flowers for DD13's flower boxes. She opted to go to a friend's house instead of go to the nursery with me, and doesn't like what we picked. Tough...next year she can come like planned. While there, I got another tomato plants, a package of pole beans, and a bag of organic potatoes for sprouting. Then I picked up DD. Next up...dishes and dinner. DH is grilling chicken. I'll make sides of some sort...likely salad and something.

The neighbor came home and helped me diagnose the leak. It is indeed the hose. The good news is that it is not leaking when the hose is turned off. So, we won't be using it at all for the time being. The bad news is that they'll need to cut into the walls to fix it. The property management company is waiting to hear back from the owner before they can send someone out. I finished cleaning up and vacuuming in the boys' room. I want to cull some bins they have on shelves to get rid of stuff they aren't using and make room for boy scout and astronomy notebooks. I also did math with DS11 and tutored my reading student. I also spent some time outside so the littles could play a bit. Next up...visiting the nursery for seeds and annuals for the boxes my neighbor made me and the food co-op for organic potatoes to sprout for planting.

The girls' room is all cleaned up vacuumed, and ready for whenever the property management decides to get around to calling me about this leak. All of the width of DD13's bed is wet. About half the width under DD3's bed is wet. The dry area is the area I'd expect to be the most wet since it is next to the wall that is shared with the boys' room, and the boy's room is also wet. I don't understand why there would be a dry area between the two wet areas. The dry area is also the area closest to the hose faucet. Weird. I culled too small clothing from DD3's closet and hung up her clean clothes. Everyone has been fed lunch.

I bought the Oak Meadows syllabus. I think I'll use the links from Elizabeth too. I like the PE ideas. I'll think about them and see what I can come up with. We have a few walking options around here, one of them would allow the littles to play while the big kids and I walk. I need some indoor options, too. We don't like going out in the rain, and it rains most of the school year. Thank you!

I've folded 5 loads of laundry. I only put away those that belong to DH and I. The rest is for the littles, and I'm holding off on putting theirs away until I figure out their room situation. DD3's bed is over the area that I think is probably the wettest. Her drawers are part of her bed, which I may move. I'd rather move the bed with empty drawers than full ones. I might have to move the boys' dresser as well.

duplicate

Definitely tackling today...or more like bulldozing. First priority...We have to get the kids' rooms completely picked up and cleaned. The leak we discovered in girlss room (wet carpet) and thought was fixed wasn't. We discovered that not only is the leak making girls' carpet wet, it's in the boys' carpet much wetter. So, it is affecting an area of about 75-100 square feet. We think there is a leak in the pipes for the hose, because it's right there and because we'd been using the hose right before both times. So we're expecting maintenance out at some point and want to be ready for whenever he shows up. I sure hope it is an easy fix...like reachable from the crawlspace and no major damage. Then the big kids need to do some school...not that I have assignments ready. Need to do math with DS. Need to do other cleaning. Need to start catching up on grading. Need to dig out the bookshelf in the garage and set it up in the school room so I can put away the books I bought this weekend. My tutoring student is coming today. Have to go to the food co-op for organic potatoes to plant. Have to go to the nursery for more seed and annuals for DD13 to plant. There's no way I'm getting it all done.

You're right. I miss being active myself and would like to figure out how to be active as a family. Bike riding is the only thing I can think of that overweight, sedentary adults, a 13 year old, an 11 year old, a 6 year old and a 3 year old can do together. I'm hoping we can buy bikes this summer...a special project for DH might make that a possibility. Thanks for the syllabus link! She just got an IPOD so maybe that will help.

I agree. I'm just weary of the fight. She has tried and ruled out ice skating, gymnastics, swimming, bowling, flag football, and baseball. She hates hiking, because she doesn't like being out in nature where there are bugs (she doesn't like camping either). I am hoping we can buy bikes for the family this summer and bike as a family. She has suggested roller skating though I have serious doubts about her sticking with it as a sport rather than something to do once or twice a year with friends. I think she would rather be grounded than run or do aerobics. Checking on YMCA scholarships is on my to-do list. Sounds fun...there's no way I can pay $540 for a single subject though.

I tackled Once Sold Tales, an online seller of used books who is going out of business. They opened their warehouses to the public to help clear out stock. I brought home 97 books and 1 DVD for $70. DS11 and I picked up DD13 and her friend a little after 9am. We had Chipolte's for lunch on the way back and got home around 3pm. I also went to Costco for a few items. DS11 and DH are now at the theater watching Iron Man 3. I'm sort of watching the littles while they play outside. I need to wash dishes and scrounge up leftovers for dinner.

We did this for DD as well. I took her to Clinique for a makeover so they could show her how to do age-appropriate makeup. Then we bought her some makeup of her own. DD has an 11 year old friend that wears makeup, and she comes from a conservative and modest family. I'm not sure why they allow it, but I assumed it was because "everyone" else wears it at that age too. Obviously, I don't know a lot of 11 year old girls to confirm that.

Washed lunch dishes. Started making cookies because I've been craving them all week when DS11 mentioned coffee. He wasn't buying, but it gave me the idea of going with DH/ to get some. While out with DH, we returned DD13's dress to the rental place, returned some books and picked up some holds and books for history from the lib='ary. I came home and started to make the cookies again, but got distracted by the fact that my neighbor was working on the traffic circle (we have a three household effort to make it look nice), so I got the boys out in the backyard picking up rocks for the dry creek we are making. Helped pick up and delivered three loads of rocks while DD13 worked on the cookies. Now I'm checking in here. In a bit, I'll be leaving to drop DD13 off at her friend's house and taking DS13 to astronomy club.

I've managed to wake up, shower and dress, make breakfast, take the boys to baseball, clean up the shredded paper DS11 dropped all over the ground outside (yes, I've already sent him out to clean it up but his cleaned up and my cleaned up are two different things). We just finished washing dishes, making and eating lunch, and making laundry soap. It's time for me to put away dishes, wash them again, start laundry, and get moving on other chores. I have limited hours today between baseball and astronomy today.

I still feel rather lost even with most of our curriculum purchased. English: MCT Level 4, Trisms Discovering the Ancient World Math: MUS Algebra 1 Science: Science Shepherd Biology, Explore Evolution History: Trisms Discovering the Ancient World Foreign Language: Destinos I've got the basics down. I'm not sure what electives I'll pull out of Trisms. It claims to offer 5 credits but I have no idea how I want to assign credits beyond English and history. She also has no PE; she hates anything that looks like exercise, and I'm considering not requiring PE for her graduation. Anyone skip PE? She may do a health half-credit using Apologia's Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology and some more in-depth sex ed. She may do a photography credit if I can find something to use for it. Suggestions? She'll have use of a Nikon D3100 with the kit lens. She'll be trying out American Heritage Girls with a friend as an extracurricular and social opportunity.

Phonics Pathways might help. It teaches the vowels first. Then when it introduces consonants, it introduces it with each vowel so you are blending from the get go. I think "m" is the first consonant so on that page, he'd learn am, em, im, om, um. Then "s" is next, and is covered with as, es, is, os, and us. After a couple of consonants, a three letter word is added to the mix in the form of a two letter blend he already knows and a consonant that is being taught. And it just builds gradually.

I'm tackling what I can. I've tackled getting showered and dressed, folding and putting away a load of towels, making my bed (which DD3 messed up), breakfast, ortho appointments for DD13 and DS11, lunch, and making a pretty weekly calendar for my wall. Now I'm talking chapter 10 of Art of Problem Solving PreAlgebra.

I agree with everyone else. Run away.