Cindy's Life as She Knows It

Yesterday was a very busy homeschool day.  We got alot of work done and accomplished so much!  We wrapped up our second system of the human body by making a Circulation Wheel and coloring the blood red or blue depending on whether it was full of oxygen or depleted.  In Story of the World we began Ancient Africa, which looks to be fun with all the projects to do for this unit like paper beads and musical instruments.  I am hoping to find some kind of food that we can make too that Dakota will actually eat.  We have a short day today and I have to help a friend tomorrow so he will be doing some independent work and then Friday is our 100 days celebration so I supposed the fun stuff will be waiting til next Tuesday, but I am excited about it. Dakota started reading our Little Golden Books Disney classics and began with Peter Pan.  He also read more of his Kindle book about Walt Disney World and played a little MathBlasters.  We did a regular math unit, ...

Yesterday we went for a swim test at the Y in the morning, picked up some Disney music cd's and then headed to the house to get ready for our friends to arrive for our Chinese New Year celebration.  The family arrived bringing friends who are 8, 7, 6 and 4, along with the baby, who is Natalie's age.  We enjoyed a carry out Chinese lunch to kick things off and then sent the little balls of energy out to the trampoline for 30 minutes to get rid of their wiggles...well, most of them :-)  When then came back in we did a coloring page of two Chinese children, did a mapping exercise on China from www.enchantedlearning.com and then read a book on Chinese New Year traditions.  We made a zodiac wheel and talked about which animal each of the children were and then talked about it being the Year of the Snake before making paper chain snakes with googly eyes and party blower tongues.  Big Hit!!  We opened fortune cookies and read our fortunes and then played with tana...

Today I found out that my oldest daughter is going to be giving me my second grandchild :-)  She came early to get my granddaughter and handed me a frappe and a card.  When I opened the card, there was a picture of a tiny bean nestled snuggly in her womb.  I felt my belly do a little flip as the recognition hit...I am going to be a grandmom again!  Lots of thoughts bombarded me....where will we put the new baby when we are fresh out of bedrooms for nurseries?  How will I be able to watch an infant, a toddler and a pre-tween and not pull my hair out?  What?  When?  Why?  How?.....lol.  Then the peace settled in and I realized that it didn't matter...none of it. We will find room.  I will find a way.  All that is important is that there is a new little life forming and a new little family member will be joining our brood this October.  My daughter and her husband have jobs, a nice house, THEY are the ones who need an extra b...

Disney World....there is just no place better to be if you ask me.  It's a place that can bring me to tears when I arrive and take that first walk down Main Street.  I went when I was 10.  Took my three older kids in 1995, again around 2000 and again in 2005, when baby Dakota was only 10 months old.  February was perfect for the lack of crowds, May was hot, but beautiful and great for swimming and July....never again. Every five years.  I lived for it.  I dreamed of it.  I couldn't even watch the commercials in TV because I wanted to go back so bad it made my heart ache.  Literally. Eight year old Dakota has been begging to go to Disney.  He doesn't remember ever going, considering he was only 10 months old when he did.  It has been 8 years since we were there....and I couldn't even really discuss it.  My husband is done with Disney...says he's been there three times and he has no need to go back...but he has realized recently, wi...

Yesterday was Presidents Day and since we hadn't done much by way of homeschooling for the past three weeks I decided that we would be working until lunch time or until Dakota got his work done.  Everything was focused on Washington and Lincoln.  There were books to read, a Mt. Rushmore craft using the presidents' heads on coins, silhouettes, School Express packets, probability math with pennies and some easy writing/word game pages.  We, as a family, get alot done and I know that if Dakota applied himself he could have that work done in 2 hours.  Three and a half hours later, he finally wrapped up most of it in between fits and spurts of crying and carrying on about how unfair life was because it was a holiday and his friends were off school.  I tried to talk to him about how his friends probably thought it was unfair that he got to play legos and watch movies alot over the past three weeks due to his dad's injury, but he just couldn't see it that way.  Of...

The last three weeks have been anything but normal here.  My husband has been off work due to two herniated discs and was bedridden and in intense pain for two of those weeks.  Our homeschooling has taken a hit and our family life has been all about snuggling under covers with dad, watching movies, going to the doctors, more snuggling under covers, lots of food, ice cream every night...  It was actually very much in sync with the cold February weather and has made for a lazy, relaxing time. Dad is better now....and while I am very grateful for his restored health, I am a bit sad that after today I won't have any more excuses for mid day snuggles and movies and saying "family first, so no school today".  I miss our routine, but I will also miss our lack of structure.  I am thankful that I am a stay at home mom and that my son is homeschooled so we could be there for my husband without missing time or assignments and that tomorrow means a return of work for him....

Today we continued our studies on Black History Month and learned about the inventor/scientist Benjamin Banneker.  We read a short biography on him that came with a cloze activity from www.edhelper.com and talked about what it meant to be a slave and what it meant to be a free black man during the colonial time period.  Benjamin Banneker was known for his work in astronomy, for making a working wooden model of a clock that kept perfect time for 50 years, for his work in mathematics and for his almanac.  Dakota thought that the idea of writing the facts you have discovered in a book and asked for a new spiral notebook, on the front of which he wrote in big letters, Dakota's Almanac.  Then he went back to the chapter we read in Story of the World and pulled a few facts from there to start his book.  He enjoyed the chapter we did today on the Shang Dynasty and made some really interesting pictographs of his own.  Math went off without a hitch, as did literatu...

My son asked me to write a blog about the Baltimore Ravens and so, my favorite nineteen year old son, this one is for you! (If I get any facts wrong, I am sure you will correct me and I will edit :-) My husband and two sons are huge Baltimore Ravens football fans.  They watch every game, go to almost every home game and wear their purple and black proud.  Last year our Ravens went to the divisional championship game in Foxsboro and we made the trek as a family, getting to spend the weekend in Boston, seeing some snow and then the guys painted their faces purple, put on their Ravens bling and headed out in freezing cold weather to watch our boys take on Tom Brady and the Patriots. Last year we came up short.  This year was something quite different.  We lost 4 of our last 5 regular season games, but still slid into the playoffs, hearing from our superstar and hero, Ray Lewis, that this would be his last ride...he was retiring.  The magic began.  We had t...

This has been a very trying week here at our house.  My husband hurt his back on Sunday and he's been immobile since then, in too much pain to get to the doctor before Wednesday, when we found out he has a herniated disc.  Thankfully we were able to get him on stronger pain medication and muscle relaxers to decrease his discomfort, but the healing has to take time and it's very difficult to see my strong, active husband down and out. Our homeschooling has taken a hit this week too, but I know that these are the reasons we homeschool...so that when a family crisis arises, we are able to be there for the ones we love.  We have gotten in some reading and math every day except today, a science experiment, history and language arts Tuesday and yesterday and on Wednesday he had art and music appreciation and activities at co-op.  That will have to do. Today we are caring for a friend's children while she has a medical procedure.  Again, being here for friends is hig...