Cindy's Life as She Knows It

We have had quite the week/ten days with deviations from routine around here.  Snow kept the kids home (my granddaughters and daycare baby) for a few days and then illness kept my granddaughters home the rest of the week.  This weekend it was my turn, something that rarely happens.  I started with regular cold symptoms and by Sunday had a fever, chills and an upset stomach.  I didn't want to spread the germs so I cancelled daycare today, but my oldest granddaughter is still sick, back to the doctors and now diagnosed with pneumonia.  By tomorrow I am thinking I should be fine and her antibiotic is changing so hopefully she will be improving too. We are schooling today by watching Gladiator for history and beginning a family unit on the Winter Olympics.  Everyone is still in their comfy clothes and the house is quiet as we relax together.  I sincerely hope that neither of my sons nor my husband comes down with this next.  I am ready to get back to school and work and play in norma

Here in Maryland we had a double blizzard, back to back, around 4 years ago and ever since then, we have had pretty dry winters.  We always have these cycles here, so we knew we were due for another snowy season. It started with lots of little storms in December.  We don't usually get much then.  It had snowed enough by mid January that we weren't surprised to see it, but we had been told over and over that we would get "a lot" and never did.  So as recently as Sunday of this week there was mention of flurries, but nothing else.  When I put the news on Monday morning, however, we were getting a "significant winter weather event" on Tuesday!  Where did that come from?  Sure enough, as the day went on, we were told to expect 6-8" of snow.  I am not sure anyone really believed them, but when the flakes started on time Tuesday morning at 10am, that was one point for the weather forecasters. As the day wore on, the flakes stayed small, the wind blew and

One of the many perks of being a homeschooler here in Maryland is that local businesses have embraced us for the most part and have offered many types of deals and special days for us to enjoy. The Maryland Science Center in downtown Baltimore has three weeks in September devoted to Homeschool Days with quality classes for all ages and opportunities to see the IMAX and Davis Planetarium shows for a discounted rate.  All homeschoolers are free to tour the museum and enjoy the regular exhibits in addition to taking the classes. This year, the Science Center also opened up two weeks in January for us to attend classes and see the exhibits.  This was a great opportunity to liven up an otherwise blah, cold, dreary month. Wednesday I took my son and granddaughter and our daycare baby into the city and while Dakota attended two classes, one on robots and other on circuits and electricity, the girls and I went up to the kids room and played with all the wonderful hands on exhibits there.  It

There wasn't too much today to make it special, but it was an average, ordinary Monday.  I got my granddaughters and both daycare girls, took one to school and got the other three girls and my son fed breakfast and settled.  Dakota got started with a story he wanted to create on the computer.   It's a Mine Craft story and he spent almost an hour typing it and I would go over and help him edit it occasionally, correcting his punctuation and grammar. After doing his morning work folder and daily prep book, he helped me by making a sample snowman puppet for the girls' craft and then got his math started while I read them their story and we created their craft.  They were in a good mood and willing to do a bit more, so Dakota and I took turns singing with them and doing fingerplays. While the girls had lunch, Dakota took his spelling pre-test and then headed off for his own lunch break, which lasted quite some time.  By the time I pulled him back, he had been "at lunch

This week has been a crazy week for weather and it has thrown everything off.  On Monday night and all day on Tuesday, many schools were closed due to the intense cold and no one wanted to venture very far from home.  We had the blinds closed and a blanket over our leaky back door to keep the winds outside and not inside!  We were under covers and watching movies, enjoying our time as a family.  I didn't have my daycare baby on Tuesday and then W/Th/F I haven't had my granddaughters.  Wednesday and Thursday weren't bad out, but today we woke to a covering of ice on everything that caused even more school delays and my son in law is just keeping the girls so my daughter has less of a commute in slick conditions. I am not a winter weather hater....mainly because I am a homeschooler and telecommuter with my job so usually if the weather is bad, I don't have to go anywhere.  I worry about my son commuting to college, but not this month, and my husband and daughters commut

Today was a record cold day here in Maryland and while some schools closed in the northern and southern part of the state, the ones near us all opened and some of them opened two hours late, which was the case for the little girl I take to school on Mondays and Tuesdays.   Why two hours late?  I don't get it.  It didn't get any warmer.  It was 3 degrees at 8:30 and 6 degrees at 10:30 when she had to leave. Thankfully my older son was home to watch my granddaughters and younger son so I didn't have to take them out. Since we had another child here this morning, I allowed Dakota to watch a movie with her and then they played Disney Infinity.  After she left, Dakota got dressed, made his bed and got his spelling done.  I was hoping for more, but somehow we never got it together and I was making lunch.  My sons decided to play a video game together so we didn't even get back to work until 1:30.  We snuggled up in the chair under a blanket and read together.  We read a kid

On Friday, my twenty year old college sophomore son was driven to Towson's campus on snowy, icy roads by his dad so that he could board one of seven buses that would take over 600 Towson Tiger students to Frisco, Texas to support their football team in their quest to win the FCS Championship game.  I tried to get him to follow a few common sense precautions and tried to get him to take more food than he did, a blanket, medicines.....  My son, however, was nonplussed.  No worries, Mom.  This bus ride won't be that bad. They departed at 7am and at around 1pm they were in southern Virginia, at a mall, to get something to eat.  He called and was in a good mood, but already tired of riding on the bus.  I have never gone 1300 miles on a bus ONE WAY, but I knew it wasn't going to be too much fun.  Later that evening he was miserable and hungry....not wanting to wait in line to get real food, he opted for a cinnamon roll.  Okay.  Now I know he won't die from a poor nutrit

Yesterday we were all ready to dive back into school and had a very productive day, despite my youngest granddaughter's arrival and quick departure when we discovered she had a stomach bug.  I have made Dakota a work station at the desk in our diningroom with my old laptop set up there for him and room for him to have his supplies there or he can easily turn around and sit at the table and work with a little more room. Today's special was, of course, Happy New Year and he learned quickly to say Happy New Year in sign language.  His morning work was online, at www.kidblog.org, where he journaled about his wishes for the year.  Then he created a Biography Poem from www.lauracandler.com and typed and printed it before visiting Wordle.net to make a personal description Wordle.  This is a fantastic, fun site that I recommend you visit with your child.  Even by yourself, it's great fun! Continuing with our 2014 trend to incorporate more computer/technology into our homeschool