We're back from our long weekend! Laundry going, slow cooker going (chicken, buy one get one free??!! I saved 10 bucks!!!) coolers cleaned, car cleaned out. DD is working on math right now (happily, too, I might add.) Ds is playing with K'nex and baby is napping. I feel very pleased at the moment and am trying to savor it before the next disaster strikes. :p Another thing that is making me happy is dropping everything but math. I am just done. Sick of forcing it. Sick of arguing. Done. Done. Done. I don't want to be burned out (or dd to be either) before next school year even starts. We need a break. She wants the training wheels off her bike (finally!!!! I've learned this is a kid you cannot push. It has to be her heartfelt desire or things will not happen.) She wants to go swimming every day. She wants a summer break, really and I don't blame her. Plus, she is a great reader and we read for pleasure around here daily, so I'm not worried about that. Her language arts issues all surround writing and I have a plan for working on improving in that area this coming school year. Such a relief to let it all go. Math alone is totally doable with our hectic summer schedule. Bzymama- you found a place!! I hope you like it and your family will be happy there. :)

So this surgery should resolve all issues? If that's the case, what a relief for you both. Hopefully he'll start packing on the pounds!

North & South is the only one on your list I've seen. Its a love story but they are trying to hate each other. I don't remember anything inappropriate. Its been a while since I've seen it but i remember horse and buggy transportation and impossibly huge dresses. I don't thinks it's WWII. I hope you get more input!

We were posting at nearly the same time! Sounds like we are both equally grouchy. ;) I didn't even whine about all the appointments, but I thought about it. Dd has braces too. Appointment next week. And ds was allergy tested this week which was, as you can imagine, super fun (snort). Now he will be doing twice weekly allergy shots. :( I want my own parking space at the medical center. Well you have my sympathy. Sometimes just the normal junk sucks.

Last day of school for us this week. We will be travelling out of town for an all day, 3 day event this Fri-Sun. This is the 1st of 3 long weekends in a row out of town. I'm not sure if I like how things landed on the calendar here. :/ I am not enjoying the amount of school work we are having to do this summer. Prior years, we just read lots, did some fun math games to keep skills sharp and did a little science that naturally comes up during the growing season. I am realizing that we travel so much in the summer, we just want to chill when we are home. Getting actual school books out is so hard. Off to slog through math! Have a great day everyone!

Yay, Jean! Congrats to your son and to you! Good job, mama! Day 2 of babysitting. We did not get all of dd's lessons done yesterday. :/ This sweet little girl has issues with listening, to put it nicely. A good chunk of my day was spent cleaning up messes from her getting into things and putting out fires when she hits and pushes. Today is already better, which just goes to show, imho, how effective consistency truly is. ;) Anyway, same school list as yesterday since it didn't happen. Spelling and piano are done. The little ones are napping now, so I'm going to get off here and see how much more we can knock out. Have a great day everyone!

Our county extension office gave a local hs mom an incubator and they hatched chicks. They gave them a cage with a lamp and everything they needed to care for the chicks when they were little. I hope to do this in a year or 2 with my kids. All she did was ask. They've also helped a few relatives of mine get started with beekeeping. Its an extremely helpful resource.

Babysitting dh's sub's toddler again today and tomorrow. It looks like I'll be watching her 1 to 2 times per week when she's in her dad's custody. Really heartbreaking situation and we know how much money he makes (since we're the ones paying him) and how much of it is going to child support and lawyers. So I feel good about providing child care when I can/he needs it. All that to say my test today is to get dd's summer school work done today with the extra little one here. If this is a long term thing, I'm going to have to stay on top of my game and not get derailed. So we'll see how we do today. Math, spelling, summer poetry unit, motor skills builders, and piano.

Hello everyone! We were on vacation the last couple of weeks and it was very much needed. We relaxed, left our routines and work behind and spent time together as a family. Glad to be home, though. Its nice to be back to the comforts that home offers. We are wrapping up morning chores and getting ready to start lessons. Math, spelling, and art are scheduled for today. Then we are off to the "big" city for allergy testing for ds1 (finally!!) and I am fairly nervous about how its going to go but keeping it cool on the surface for ds. Wish us luck!

So constant road work isn't normal?? I've lived here all my life and never batted an eye at it. Thought it was like that everywhere!

We were 5 people in 800 square ft 2 bedroom house and now we are in a 1800 sq ft and I really miss our old house. It was fun to come up with creative storage solutions and maximize the space. (Hello, Pinterest!) I was more vigilant about cleaning and tidying because we could quickly be overrun with messes. It took me an hour to clean the house and now I have to do this house in chunks every day. I feel like I'm always cleaning. I voted look for something else but after reading all the comments and reminiscing about our old small house, I'd go for it! Sounds like it will be better for your family's health and a safer neighborhood for your kids. I hope you get it!

I voted 5-10 years ago. Dd was a runner and extremely social. Everyone was her best friend. So at 2 & 3, when Mommy's very upset that she darted ahead to the horse stables at the animal sanctuary, she didn't understand why. No matter how clear our explanation of safety was. It just did not compute for her. So monkey backpack harness it was! Ds (4) is a climber and always has been and hates holding hands but he likes sticking close by us. I almost always feel his hands or shoulder brushing against my legs while we are out. Never had to use it for him. He still goes in the stroller at almost 5 on long days because when he gets overly tired, forget it. Nuclear meltdown. Ruin everyone else's fun. He's small for his age and has to take twice as many steps as others for his short legs to keep up so we give him a pass, let him ride in the stroller when he needs to and we all enjoy the day.

Thanks for posting!

I wanna join the QFC!!!! :) Permission to brag on my kids, eh? I'll take it! Dd is very deeply emotional. The joy and pain of others touches her. I admire that. She's very smart but doesn't lord it over others. She loves to surprise those she loves with notes, pictures, treats, and breakfast in bed. And, not that this is important at all but she is truly beautiful. Since she was probably 2 years old I thought, she doesn't look "cute" or "adorable" but really beautiful. People have approached me to say the same. "Your daughter is beautiful." Me: "Thanks." Them: "no. Really." Then I have to say yes I knew what you meant or I've always thought so, too. I never talk about it with her or with others, but if I'm allowed to brag on a relatively anonymous forum, then this is the one time I get to say it. :) I've always been homely and I am definitely self conscious about it so as long as she radiates inner beauty, I'm happy for her that she is attractive. We talk about inner beauty A LOT. Lol. Ds, the first is awesome. He's very clever and always finds a way to keep up with kids his age that are twice as big as he is. And he takes his small frame in stride. He's quite a comedian and is always making us laugh. He's got some good zingers. He's very passionate about the things he loves and very hyper-focused for a 4 year old. He loves to snuggle and must have healthy dose of snuggle time with both mommy and daddy daily. In line with the snuggling, he has a blankie for every occasion and if he is sitting anywhere or wandering around the house he is wrapped in a blanket or its over his shoulders or perched on top of his head. I love his blankie obsession. :) As for ds, the second, I love that he's still a baby. He still needs me in a way the others don't. He pulls on my shirt when he wants to nurse for comfort, he reaches for me when he falls. I love that he understands me but can't talk yet. I looove the jabbering. I love it when he gets a hold of my phone and imitates me talking on it. Every time he hears music, he breaks into a dance. Most of the things I love about him would be true of any 14 month old but that's where he's at and I am enjoying it.

I'm late to the party this week. We are schooling through the summer but there will be days throughout that are full of summer events and we don't get to lessons. This week has had those days. Today will be our first day with lessons. And the baby is getting his first haircut today. :( To answer the year end wrap up questions: Math Mammoth went well for us this year (no surprise there. ) Ditching science and history curricula part way through the year and just exploring what we are interested in went very well. Morning meeting needs to improve next year. Nature study and time spent outdoors needs to increase. Writing is a big area we are and will be working on. Yes, I've chosen my curriculum. Math Mammoth, Bravewriter, MCT Island level, Sequential Spelling, interest led again for science and history. Kindy ds will start with 100 Easy Lessons (very willing to change if it doesn't work for him. Its not for every kid.) I have a Saxon math book on the shelf to use as a guide for myself but I'll tweak it so he can transition nicely to MM grade 1 the following year. He'll join us for science and history as he pleases. I am definitely a planner. I probably won't get to it until July though, June is packed with activities. How am I preparing for next year? Good question! That depends on a few things that are up in the air for our family right now. I will share when things are decided and settled. Sahamamama- your stories always crack me up and brighten my day! They remind me of my childhood with my 2 sisters. :) We made little shoe box size mailboxes for exchanging notes and telling secrets. When the boxes were full, mom made us part with some of the random slips of paper, lol! My sister was a pack rat for sure. I remember my mom yelling, "you are not a squirrel!!!" when she'd find acorns and pinecones in her underwear drawer. :D

Dd says ax instead of ask. We will say it one letter at a time. Aaaa ssss k. Good now say it fast. Ax. Every stinking time. :) She also says "front door neighbors" to describe people that live across the street.

This is us. Word for word.

Aww, sorry you feel silly. I'm glad you posted the question. Ive been reading answers all day and enjoying this thread. :) My legs could be one of my best features if I put some effort in. After reading this, I plan on getting an exfoliating... cream? is it? and the jergens bb body. Off to hop in the shower and shave my legs!

Off to check out ARC and Wunderlist! Thanks for the suggestions. :)

Oh my goodness, you guys. I completely forgot my dad used a Daytimer when I was a kid! That thing was his baby and he got giddy when the catalog came in the mail. :) All good suggestions. Thanks everyone!

Dh is starting school this fall. He will still be working full time and he has a few volunteer responsibilities for our congregation. The latter doesn't take up much time but he does have to be organized with phone calls and emails and some paperwork. I mentioned him needing a planner to schedule his time and not forget anything and he really liked the idea. Mine is pretty girlish, big, and uses a daily layout with big blocks for morning afternoon and evening. I think he would do better with a weekly layout. Maybe Monday-wednesday on one side and Thursday-weekend on the other. Monthly calendar pages would be nice too. But nothing too big. ;) He's fairly techie so I've thought about a digital planner but I have no idea where to start on that. I need to physically write it out or it won't get done. I think he would do fine with digital if he could have reminder alerts or alarms for upcoming deadlines. Any suggestions? TIA

Got my new nightstand set up and I'm loving it! I should clarify that its not actually new, just a piece that was elsewhere in my house that I've repurposed. And it was used when it first came to be in my possession! Ha! Anyway, that was Monday's project. Tuesday's was scouring the bathtubs. Check. Today is cleaning ceiling fans and cleaning out the under stairs closet. The fans are done already but i might not make it out of that closet alive! Dd is done with most of her schoolwork already and is just waiting for the baby to wake up so she can practice piano before her lesson this afternoon. Ds and I did some exploring with phonics using bananagrams gearing up for learning to read this coming school year. He really enjoyed our little lesson. :) For the rest of the day we are down to piano, dry cleaners, and the closet (shudders) oh, that closet...

What did you do??!! I mean, how did you get it out of your house??

Good Monday morning! I didn't make it here last week. I wasn't feeling super accountable. I kept the kids alive. That's about it. Weddings overtake everything. Even when your 4 year old is just the ringbearer, somehow there is still a million things to do for the wedding. Well, it's done now. Whew! This week is another busy one with shopping and food prep for a party I am co-hosting this weekend. Today is the usual reading, language arts, math, science, piano practice and outdoor play for dd. PreK activity, snuggles and reading, and outdoor play for ds. Shopping, errands, laundry, clean out fridge, and organize my new nightstand are on my list for this afternoon. Have a great day everyone!

At 9:30 this morning, I was doing a math lesson with dd. The 4yo and 1yo were playing with toys all around us. Typical Thursday morning.