Cindy's Life as She Knows It

True to what the weatherman said, Sunday started a new trend of cooler weather.  Dakota's friend Dominic spent the night Sunday night and left around 10:30 Monday morning.  I had hoped to get a lot of work in after that, but my son was not in a very good place.  His focus issues were maximized and he was grumpy and whiny.  We got some schoolwork done, but not nearly as much as I would have liked.  He had a 90 minute EcoAdventure class from 4-5:30 and then with football practice moved to Tuesday this week we got a night in.  Again, a family favorite thing! Tuesday was cloudy and cool.  Dakota was in a much better mood and we spent the day working hard.  While a pizza was in the oven cooking for lunch I introduced him to the Beatles and their music.  We are doing a unit study of the United Kingdom so this fit perfectly.  He couldn't understand what the big deal was, lol.  After lunch we got a lot done and even made the sensory (colors and smells) playdoh that I needed for my pr

September and October in our family mean lots and lots of activities on the calendar and the second week of school was no different.  Monday started off with Dakota working for EcoAdventures at a Turtletacular Camp at KinderFarm Park in Millersville, MD.  He had to be there by 9 and then I had the three little girls here all day while he was there.  It was glorious out so I decided to put up the bounce house.  Things went downhill from there.  The three adorable angels turned into three little devils.  There were meltdowns, tantrums and worse.  By the time I picked him up I was completely wiped out and not at all in a good mood. Tuesday was our only day home all week so we got in lots of schoolwork.....wait.  No.  I am looking at my planner and we got in very little.  How did that happen and what did we do?  Who knows.  It's a week behind me at this point. Wednesday was a great day.  Dakota and I got to go to the National Aquarium in Baltimore for a homeschool

The first week of homeschooling for this, my 16th homeschooling year, was a huge success.  Did we get tons done?  Nope.  Did we follow my "plan"?  Nope.  Did I even have a well written schedule with daily times and subjects to follow?  Nope!  Finally, after 15 years of trying to be on top of everything, following a tight schedule and worrying about the "big picture" I got with the program.  Which program is that, you may ask?  The one that says relax and enjoy your child.  Take it outside.  Stop to jump on the trampoline.  Veer off task and watch a great history video that captivates your child.  Let him ease into the change of schedule and he'll be a much happier camper. The start of a new school year is exciting for me.  I love the new books, clean planners, fresh ideas.  I can't wait to start and I usually have big ideas.  At the table by 8:30.  Getting in all the subjects.  Big projects started.  I literally burn my kid out by the end of the week, espe

Today is the first day of fifth grade for my youngest child.  The last year I will ever have my own child in elementary school.  He doesn't like that he missed the cutoff date for 6th grade by 3 days, but I am happy to have him here with me an additional year to homeschool. I started off the morning oversleeping.  UGH.  He also got to "oversleep", although for him no amount of sleep can be too much.  I finally got him to the table for breakfast a little before 9 and at 9:55 we are still on morning work, but I am not going to push him and make him a grouch.  We moved our morning out to the deck and it's enjoyable sitting here with him, stopping to talk, watching the crazy cat do flips on the outdoor carpet.  There are no granddaughters making noise this morning.  No daycare baby running around.  Just Dakota and I, the way I like it best, sitting on the deck watching the world go by.    The trashmen just came by.  Young and shirtless.  I mentioned that I thought that