Spoiler Alert!!!!! I also thought death because of the necklace. I also wonder why Kate is on the West Coast with Kevin. Especially since in the first episode, she told him she wanted a "real career." Now it sounds like Kevin will be near his family if he heads to New York for his career. So Kate will be the only one far away. Definitely potential for quite a few interesting stories.

Anyone watch the 2nd episode? They did it again! Another twist! I thought the twist in the first episode was just to get the show going with an interesting start. I wasn't expecting anymore surprises!

I love hearing about everyone's pets and farm animals! I grew up with dogs, cats, and birds, but with ds's severe allergies, we can't have animals. We are hoping that after the allergy shots, we might be able to get a low shed dog. But that's probably 5 years away. For now, we enjoy our betta fish! ;) Today's list: -school lessons -piano lesson -lots of housework -in-law's for dinner

Dh had a follow up with the specialist yesterday, so no school since the long drive means it takes the whole day. Dh is taking off work today. He has been overdoing it and Dr said take a few days off and rest. So whadaya know? School hasn't started yet! Everyone wants to cuddle daddy and chat with him and have him read them stories. That's fine by me. The lessons will get done eventually. :) Today's list: -laundry (going) -piano practice, language arts, math, plus 1 content subject of dd's choice -phonics and math for ds -allergy injection -pay bills -lowes return and grab a bag of soil -plant mums (got them on sale for $1.74 each and they are gigantic!) I feel like I'm forgetting something so if I am, hopefully it will come back to me! Eta: I already remember! Exercise! Funny story about that... We were at McDonald's (the only place to go in this tiny town) after dh's appointment so he could get some coffee and the baby could run around the patio area chasing pigeons before the long ride home. Two of the tiniest old ladies I've ever seen were on the patio having coffee and making friends with the baby. Well after they left I was chasing the baby around and saw one of them left her purse. They were rolling out of the parking lot but the patio gate on that side was padlocked. So I ran around to the other gate and had to run across the whole parking lot, across a run-off field, and ran into the road to catch them at the red light! I looked like a crazy lady! My lungs were burning! I have pretty good upper body strength from carrying a huge baby around all the time but man, my endurance is shot! When I got back to the patio, I told dh in between labored breaths, "I... am... exercising... tomorrow!" Off to do that right now while everyone else is enjoying daddy time!

I was intrigued by the ads but didn't think I'd bother watching it. Thanks to this thread, I downloaded the nbc app and watched it. I just had to find out what the twist was you all were talking about! :D

Ds read his first complete sentence today without any help or sounding out! I'm so proud! :) :) Otherwise, it's a typical Friday. Dd still needs to do her piano practice but it's quiet time now while the baby naps. I am catching up on some planning. Have a great weekend everyone!

We did piano practice, morning meeting and ds's phonics lesson before heading out for allergy shots. Dd did spelling and we did our read aloud while waiting after the shots. Dh called and asked us to bring him lunch. (First day back to work!) That took forever because the kids didn't want to leave the job site. Baby fell asleep on the way home so I cleaned out the car and picked up the front porch while he napped in the car. I'm ready for a nap but trying to find the motivation to keep going with lessons. It's so hard to start back up in the afternoon after a huge interuption. I also need to go grocery shopping but the baby falling asleep in the car derailed that. I'm not sure which I'd rather do... school work or grocery shopping? Neither! I still want a nap! Lol!

Today we did piano practice and math. That's it. But math ballooned into this huge thing. A unit on measurement was right up dd's alley, apparently. We ended up measuring all the people in the family, windows, doors, furniture, appliances, everything. She recorded all the measurements and after a decent variety, I had her guesstimate before we measured so she could start "seeing" it mentally. Then we had a whole thing on miles and I taught her how to set up directions on Google maps to see how many miles away from home our regular stops are. Grocery store, library, park, music shop, bff's house, etc. Then we did further things like our favorite weekend trips, grandad's house, etc. Then places we've flown to like Seattle, New York, Florida. She could then understand why we flew instead of driving! Then she did a bunch of word problems calculating total miles, difference in miles driven per day, and more. Although we didn't do any other school subjects, I feel most accomplished about today over any other day so far this year. She was interested and engaged. It was very kinesthetic. We got the boys involved helping her measure things and they thought it was a hoot! I wish all the days could be like this!

That sounds like so much fun! Challenging for you, maybe, but I bet days like this will be happy memories for the boys for years to come. :)

We were off school yesterday so I could drive dh to a specialist that's 2 hours away. Plus an hour at the office, plus the required hang around town for an hour after the procedure, plus the 2 hour drive home with a stop every 30 minutes so dh could stretch made for a very long day. The big kids went to a homeschool mom friend's house so they didn't have to tag along. The kids were handed a can of bug spray before heading to the woods. Dd apparently didn't use it and she is COVERED head to toe in bites. It's so bad that she is nauseous. I have heavy duty cream on her and I gave her Benadryl with breakfast, which put her right back to sleep until lunch. I guess no school for her today. I did our read aloud and she practiced piano before the medicine kicked in, so I guess she got more done than yesterday. Ds did spray the bug spray on himself and he's fine! Lol! The 5 year old has more sense than the 8 year old! Kids! Anyway, he thoroughly enjoyed doing school this morning without any interruptions from his big sister. :) We did morning meeting, phonics, and math. And we read a stack of library books. I did a few errands after ds's lessons and I've been cleaning since lunch. Deep cleaned the bathroom. Dusted, cleaned glass, and vacuumed my bedroom, the boys' bedroom, the hallway, and the living room. Quiet time now. Dinner is leftovers from last night. Spaghetti, salad, and breadsticks. Early bedtime for the kids. They all need some extra rest. After they're in bed, I hope to do some homeschool planning ahead.

I "liked" this because it's reassuring to know that even the pros have crummy days. Sorry it was rough. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Love Poldark! I'm scared for series 2 though. I've heard something might happen that I really, really, really don't want to happen! Hopefully things go the way I want, ha!

I'm so sorry for your loss.

That print is hilarious!!! I would totally embrace it! I'd put it up in the hallway or in the guest bath with a collage of pics of the kids in one eyed monster Halloween costumes or brightly colored handprints and autographs of the kids. Maybe add a Pete Mondrian print to class it up a little. Something along those lines. On my phone so I can't see how old your kids are. People giving artwork as gifts is risky. I have a giant gifted piece in my 2 story entry that is not something I ever would have bought but it's nice at least. :)

I know we got things accomplished today, but sitting here on my bed, totally exhausted, I can't remember what we did. It's been a long week with dh's health issues and I'm actually amazed we did school work at all. Looking for some normalcy, I guess. Dh has another appointment with a new specialist on Monday. No school, since it's a 2 hour drive, which also means his pain will be pretty bad by the time we get there. I am trying to be positive but it's hard. Baby is crying so that's my cue! Have a great weekend everyone!

I haven't looked to see if they are still on store shelves but yes, we ate them probably once a month. I'll really gross you out by informing you that they were individually wrapped in paper to keep them from sticking together right in the can, sauce and all!

We've been busy, busy, busy and now we are finally getting to quiet time. Here's today's list: -morning meeting (done) -piano practice for dd (done) -phonics for ds (done) -independent reading for dd (done) -math for ds, more shapes (done) -science together, activity to demonstrate surface tension (done) -writing for dd, a journal assignment about our betta fish (done) -grammar for dd, subjects (done) -math for dd, still on measurement unit (done) -nachos for lunch (done) -30 minutes screen time for big kids while I play with baby (done) -afternoon quiet time while baby naps (in progress) -2 loads laundry -grocery shopping -post office We have yet to get to every subject in a day. I'm considering the loop schedule. Off to find some hive discussions on the idea! Glad your group is starting to recover, critter! Eta: we also read a chapter in our read aloud and a few picture books. The kids decided that since Bubble and Squeak are girls, our boys should be nicknamed Bobo and Squid. I had to agree. :)

Canned tamales! I would cheer when we ate those for lunch. Now, yuck! We have a Mexican restaurant here that makes delicious authentic tamales, so I'm definitely better off. My mom also put a slice of bologna in a bowl, nuked it in the microwave, then filled the "bologna bowl" with cottage cheese. Gross!

Good morning! We are eating breakfast and waking up all the way. I never have my planner in front of me when I post here so I'm not very specific. I know I am giving ds a numbers break in math and we are going to do shapes for a bit. Reading, language arts, math for dd, and group science are rolling along nicely. Just doing the next lesson. Piano practice for dd, piano lesson, and driving dh to another medical appointment will fill the rest of our day. Oh, our read aloud is Poppy. :)

And here I thought it was an Ikea cabinet. :D Glad you all are safe, mama25angels!

Happysmileylady - I liked your post reflexively because I like all the posts. Sort of like saying, "good to hear from you." But then I realized the post was only crummy things happening to you and your kids! I'm sorry you guys had a rough day! :( I hope today is better. Critter- I am glad you are feeling better and I hope your boys get well quickly. I didn't get everything done on my afternoon list yesterday so we have a little extra school work to do today but that's ok, we are not going anywhere today. We need a day at home, badly. We were at the in-law's late last night, so we are moving a little slowly this morning. Again, that's ok! Not going anywhere! Today's list : - lots of fun schooly things (more details later) - laundry (going) - make a nice dinner - relax

Productive day so far but nothing to do with school work! Deep cleaned my bedroom, swept/mopped/vacuumed whole house. The laundry is going. Dd did her piano lesson and I set up for someone to come mow the yard. Dh is in no shape to do it and our mower is so finicky, I don't want to bother with it. We are at ds's allergy shot now. We should be in shape for a solid school day when we get home. Still to do: -read aloud -morning meeting (in the afternoon, ha!) -Phonics lesson 5 for ds -math lesson 6 for ds -spelling day 2 for dd -something fun for writing for dd -math review lesson for dd -something fun for science for both. I'll probably just do a quick kitchen science thing. I sound really un-prepared don't I? Haha! Actually, now that I think about it, dh has another dr appointment this afternoon so we will probably have to do some car schooling to get it all done. I would like to go to the library sometime today too. Maybe while the baby and dh are napping, I can take the big kids. Have a great day everyone!

Everything you said is exactly what I want out of a big move. What you said doesn't sound scary at all, it sounds wonderful!

We don't really need family for babysitting but it sure is nice to get a break once a month for a date night. Especially with homeschooling, the kids are always with me and sending them to the grandparents for an afternoon so I can have some silence is amazing. I will definitely miss that.

Ok, I looked it up, fearing I used the wrong term. Which, if that's the case, I've been using the wrong term for years. From the 5 or so websites I read, a Foley cath has a small inflatable balloon to hold it in place for a period of time. A urinary catheter is usually a straight cath (no balloon) used in an insert, drain, remove procedure. I am sure mine was a Foley. I saw her test the balloon inflation before inserting it, which is what made my eyes pop out of my head. Then the tube just sat there in front of my business until I was ready to push. The nurse would come open the tube and drain urine into one of those kidney shapped bowls every hour. Horrifying!! The thing for induction is a transcervical foley balloon/catheter. With a name like that I can see why it's shortened to "foley." I've never been induced so I didn't know this existed and I didn't mean to cause confusion. I learned something new today! I hope all goes well with your home birth, I wish I was brave enough to have one!