I'm so not good at this ...

I thought I would be able to spend more time journaling our lives and figuring out how to post links and pictures ... I thought wrong. There is simply too much going on everyday to think straight!

I did go to Seattle. It was just the break I needed. What a wonderful way to regain a sense of self, spending 4 days with 4 other women friends! We had so much fun. We didn't get to do a whole lot b/c we spent so much time just talking and talking and talking ... but it was wonderful. I'm ready to move to WA. It's soooo NOT Florida! We went out on a boat in the Puget Sound. Unbelievable. At one point, three of us, in wetsuits, no less, were floating in this tube thing and I look over and there were two seals! Real seals like at Sea World in the water. It was simply amazing.

Mike and the boys did really well on their own. I won't mention Mike falling 12 feet out of the treehouse. Not going to say one damn word.

We are back into school full force. The kids are learning so fast. Even our bad days are really productive! We're into year two of Latin ... I'm studying as fast as I can. I think I'm going to have to go to video next year. I can barely keep up. We are studying History from the fall of Rome through to the Renaissance this year. So far, it's been really fun. I'm getting better at accepting that the boys are more interested in the blood and guts parts of history than they are in the "pretty" side, but they're learning so much. We pretty much finished up physics over the summer and are continuing with our art. We're actually getting pretty good, if I do say so myself.

So...what does Andy do all day? He's actually very into drawing in some old workbooks ... he will tell me he's doing math or spelling or whatever! For subjects that require a lot of my time, Andy will play on the computer or help cook lunch. It gets messy, but he seems to be doing just fine. He loves to color maps while we do history, so it will be interesting to see what he retains over the next few years.

The bigs recently earned their blue belts at tae kwon do. They are officially half way to being black belts. Andy took his first tkd class last night. They have a Lil' Ninja program and it was beyond adorable. I was really surprised that he was able to keep up (most of the kids are 5,6,7) but I guess all his time with the brothers is paying off. My baby isn't a baby any longer!

OK, he's still kind of a baby. He had a meltdown in the library on Sunday. I was so proud to carry him out kicking and screaming "Yer killin' me lady." I thought the older boys would die. What I want to know, is where "Yer killin' me lady!" came from???? I think we're safe though, no visits from CPS yet.

I finished my book on Ivan the Terrible. Yes, a bio geared toward 2nd and 3rd graders. I'm going to submit it to a contest. The winners will get their book published plus a check. I'm proud that I followed through and finished it, it would be even better to be one of the winners. Wish me luck. If I don't win, I'm going to try it again next year with a more kid-friendly historical figure.

We've got so much coming up with school, scouts, tae kwon do and just the general laundry situation ... but I'm going to try to figure this blog thing out and get better at it.

Posted by Amy Jo at 10:39 pm ~ There is zero note [ Add ]

Where was I?????

Can't believe it's been a month! We're back doing part-time school and making huge progress on physics. Unfortunately, I really got into the summer break and am having a hard time getting everything done around here these days. I'm really starting to think there isn't a laundry fairy. My mom didn't lie to me, did she?

We're still doing one car -- revised plan -- pay off van quickly and then buy a gently used Suburban for me and Mike can have the van. Like any well-laid plan, it went wrong. The van (our only transportation) is in the shop til tomorrow getting a new water pump and some other things. (Luckily, Mike's schedule worked well and he was able to use the delivery truck from the warehouse to get to work tonight and tomorrow) I actually broke down and learned how to use the socket wrenches and adjusted the seat on Mike's bike so that the boys and I could leave the house. When you've been house-bound for 3 days, 7-11 is a great field trip. Man, do they know how to make a Slurpee!!!! The excursion was totally worth the fact that I'm now sitting on frozen juice boxes to ease the pain of the seat.

Overheard Saturday night from Danny and Andy's room. Danny "We're going to church tomorrow." Andy "Cool, chocolate donuts!" Danny "I don't think we're staying for donuts." (Gawd, why do they take such joy in tormenting the 3 yo? When have we never stopped for donuts? I've written checks for $1.30 so we could get donuts.) Andy "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING DAN ... we drive to church, we listen to music, we listen to the old guy .... THEN we get donuts. THAT is church."
Donut anyone?

Only 17 days til I leave for Seattle. Anyone know a quick diet that will allow me to grow taller and lose 20 lbs by then? Also in search of a free "cool" wardrobe. Just email me! I'm seriously in a panic now ... my hair is stoopid, my clothes are stoopid and I have pimples. Shouldn't this all have stopped in high school?

That's all for now. Hope everyone is well. And, if you get the time, I REALLY recommend the Harry Potter books on tape. The guy that reads them is amazing ... the boys and I are absolutely hooked!

Posted by Amy Jo at 11:10 pm ~ There are 2 notes [ View ~ Add ]

Happy Fourth of July

Hope everyone has great plans for the fourth ...I'm planning on staying home with Andy while Mike and the boys ride their bikes to our city's huge display. Andy wants to go, but isn't quite up to being trapped in the noise. Maybe next year. For now, I'll enjoy my 11th year of watching the Boston Pops with no crowds. I love the idea of a big community 4th of July ... I just hate being around all those sweaty mean people for hours and hours ... I'm going to work on my attitude for next year!

We're planning on starting school on the 7th ... no kids in the neighborhood are home and we're all sick of Sponge Bob (with no car, our options are limited!) (but, I have to say, we LOVE Sponge Bob -- hell, I have Sponge Bob paper towels) We've recreated series of pages from the I Spy book, we've baked, we've gardened, we NEED a real routine. For the rest of the summer we're going to be doing Math, Physics, Lunch and Art. (Lunch being my personal favorite -- it's the only subject I don't have to study for two days in advance!)

With 4 days a week, we should manage a year of physics (this is grammar school physics, if they come away knowing Newton's Laws I'll be happy) by mid-September and we can focus on history. We're doing the Dark Ages - Renaissance this year so I plan to spend a lot of evenings on astronomy and also time recreating the big discoveries of the time. Having physcis "out of the way" allows us to get more science into a short time and to do a lot in context of the other things we're studying.

For art, we're going to give "Drawing with Children" a try. I LOVE the book and I think we'll all get a lot out of it. I'm going to do some mini-lessons with Andy b/c he LOVES to draw and I'm continually astounded at the detail he puts into his pictures. Wish us luck. I hope the book is right and we can all learn to do a decent job copying and sketching ....

I'm still researching religious texts for the kids. Our church does Sunday School on Monday nights -- which is also Scout night. I'm thinking it should be easy to incorporate a little bit of Sunday School every day ... right?????? Plus, even the most expensive books I've found for teaching Sunday School are $15 each as opposed to the $140 to the church for letting my kids watch Veggie Tales (just imagine how disgusted Danny's face looks when he walks out of that) for an hour each week ... Either way, I have three years til Danny makes his Confirmation ... I just want them to be able to know what they need to know. I think a workbook and the Latin we're learning puts them way ahead ... they all three (and Andy's almost there) know the Apostle's Creed in English and Latin, same with the Lord's Prayer, plus we're learning church history during regular "school" time ... Danny and Ian are gung ho to learn Greek. This is beyond my realm ... we have some REALLY old priests at our church, I'm hoping one of them will be willing to take them on as students ....

I'm sure most of you don't care about any of this, but this is all about me! That's the point! LOLOL -- so what do you think of my hair short and oddly colored?

I'm getting nervous about going to Seattle. Not only have I not left my kids and Mike for any length of time in 11 yrs, I've never gone so far away ... it's really far away. I'm sure, after 11 hours in the air, I'll be fine, but ugh ....

Could use some book recommendations for the long flight! I'm flat out of books. If you could reread some classics, what would you reread? I know Oprah is pushing East of Eden ...

Posted by Amy Jo at 12:27 am ~ There are 4 notes [ View ~ Add ]

Potter madness

Well ... we lasted with one copy of HP until today. Ian and Danny were coming to blows trying to read in hour-long intervals. And I had yet to touch the stupid book. I bought a second copy this afternoon and there is once again peace in the house! I read nearly half the book tonight -- great story. JK Rowlings hit on a perfect formula with this series! I can almost forgive her for making us wait so long for #5!

Posted by Amy Jo at 1:00 am ~ There are 2 notes [ View ~ Add ]

O'Reilly Update

OK -- O'Reilly did not share all the facts last night. The state of MA has legal custody of the kids in this family, but has not removed them from the home. The parents have complied and brought the kids to designated sites to take the standardized test and the kids (young teens) refused to take the test. Here are some links (sorry, they're very homeschool-biased) in case you're interested:

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/davidlimbaugh/dl20030618.shtml

http://www.educationalfreedom.com/pages/bryant.html

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33114


In other news:
It's been raining here -- A LOT. I feel like I'm back in Pittsburgh! The boys and I are on each others' last nerve. Fortunately, there is hope! I was able to go to the grocery store ALONE. The boys stood in the driveway and cheered as I backed the minivan out of the driveway. I'm pretty sure I saw Elvis in Winn Dixie tonight. He's aged, not gracefully, and put on about 100 lbs --but that voice -- even with the Spanish accent -- is unmistakeable.

AND ... Uncle Matt wins big brownie points. I realized this am that Mike would not be home tomorrow night, the night I promised a year ago to take the boys to the bookstore at midnight to get the new Harry Potter. Aaackkkk (and, yes, I know about pre-purchase, but it's not as fun as going to a bookstore at midnight)!!!!! Anyway, I called Matt and he offered/agreed to take the boys tomorrow night while I stay here with Andy. Everyone's happy! And, I still get to read the book first!

Andy is a scream ... we got a tape of the book Danny and the Dinosaur from the library. I had forgotten we have the book here. Well, after about 8 sessions of the tape, Andy found the book. It's too funny -- he's memorized the tape (and the funny voices) and to those who don't know him, it looks like he's reading the dang book. God, I wish we belonged to a 3 yo playgroup, just to freak the other mommie's out completely.

Posted by Amy Jo at 10:34 pm ~ There are 3 notes [ View ~ Add ]

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!

39 years! Amazing, especially when you consider that they've never had a fight. Please send a brief salute or prayer for the two of them that they continue for another 39 years. (Skip the math, that would make me 60.)

Posted by Amy Jo at 1:46 am ~ There is zero note [ Add ]

Bill let me down tonight ...

Normally, I'm a huge fan of Bill O'Reilly on Fox. I like his mean streak. Usually, by the time I see the 11 pm rerun of his show, I'm in just as mean a mood after yelling at the kids to get and stay in their beds ... tonight I was soooo disappointed by his treatment of a homeschool family in MA whose kids were taken away by social services after they refused to have them take the state's standardized test. These are little kids ... I don't agree with the parents using their kids to make their point, but honestly, what point is to be made? I know in reverse situations, I'd back down and be a sheep and let my kids be tested ... but I really disagree with the logic.

Posted by Amy Jo at 12:40 am ~ There is zero note [ Add ]