Exhaustion

Everything seems to be starting at once. Today was my middle daughter's preschool orientation, which I had to bring four children along for the 'ride'. I started watching a little one two days a week, which also started this week. The day overall went well, but now the pure exhaustion of the day is setting in. I haven't even thought about dinner yet!! And I am fighting my eyelids from shutting for more than a quick blink, because this fatigued body will end up on the floor sleeping.
Next week, my daughter actually begins her preschool journey and I start back to my part time job, all in the same day. This is in the midst of homeschooling and babysitting. Not to mention my everyday job of taking care of my own children and keep a house semi clean and functional. I don't want sympathy here, I am just venting is all. I am blessed with a great family and wonderful husband, which makes life a little easier. I just need to remember that I am not super woman nor will I ever be. I just need to do what I can when I can--wow if I could only take my own words and put them into action life would be a whole lot easier.
I feel like this short lived homeschool journey is taking on a 'worksheet' only approach, which in my mind is the farthest thing from how I wanted this to evolve. My daughter loves them and in the chaos of live right now, that is how I feel I am at least helping her learn. We did make homemade banana muffins for her science/math/pure fun activity. She measured all the ingredients and mixed everything together. She even filled a tray of muffin tins. The house smelled delightful and it was perfect timing for our afternoon snack.
Signing off now to go figure out what to make this family for dinner, before I head off to work some hours for my part time job, which hasn't officially started yet.

BLISS on a school day--who would have thought!!!

Okay, what a fun day in the relm of homeschooling. Today we 'exercised' in the pool. It is amazing the journey the girls have taken in the way of water abilities and attitudes since late Spring time 2010. I am so proud of all of them. They have proven to themselves that they can learn to swim, enjoy jumping in, and being splashed (which would have been a pure crime in the eyes of my eldest, who is 5, just a few short months ago). After a morning of this, we then ventured to Hershey Park for the evening.
Once again, fears of the unknown were shattered. Roller coasters were riden, heights were conquered, and pure joy was experienced. We had so much fun together as a family. My only regret is I did not bring my camera to capture these vivid moments, as I always do. They will have to remain memories. The girls did so well tonight, they made us very proud parents.

Unknown, Unplanned, and UnSchooled Journey

Well it's official, we are starting our homeschooling journey. Today I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders as I try to navigate in my head all of the things that should occur, might occur, and won't occur.
The homeschool world out there seems overwhelming and frightening today. The more I am pulled into complete unschooling, the stronger my sense of knowing what to do and how to do it, slithers away.
The journey fascinates me, yet mocks me in my face. I am excited, yet petrified. I know what I am doing, yet I know nothing. All I know is God has called my family to do this and He will guide me through the process. This is alot easier to type and read than to apply and believe.
I really am excited to have started this process. The memories to come, the knowledge to be attained, and the freedom to explore are so enticing its almost intoxicating. I probably will never pick one style completely. At this point, Unschooling will be our base, with project approach and some others mixed in. I feel I need to get not just my feet wet in this process, but completely and utterly soaked in the fullness of what it all entails to be a homeschool mom.
Well girls, hold on tight the rides about to start----wwwwhhhheeee!!!!!

Moses Parts The Red Sea

This was our cute little craft, I'll have to get the site up here of the printouts. We used this with our lesson on how God is always our provider and no matter what our circumstance is we can always go to Him for guidance. The characters depict Moses and his people crossing over the dry ground after God had parted the Red Sea.
My oldest really enjoyed this project. All the pieces to color and glue on the little dolls was right up her alley. My middle daughter liked doing this too, without as much detail. And my youngest who is two, she liked the story and just the coloring the assembly part for her was to intricate.

Fun In The Sun

We are totally taking advantage of this unseasonably warm weather. The girls have been asking to go swimming for the last week with all the warm weather we have been having. I kept putting it off, like a good mother would. Well, this week it got up into the 80's, yes and it is only the beginning of April!! Anyway, my husband hides (and I use this term, since I can't get to the stuff) all the seasonal items in the rafters of our rather large pole building. So I improvised, with no swimming pool in close proximity of my reach, I used an oversized bin. We also added a few other small bins and some dishes, contiainters, etc. The fun was just the same--cooling off on a warm day--you can't really go wrong no matter what items you use. The giggles and laughter were intoxicating. I can't wait for summer to arrive for good!!

Easter Hands

This was the repercussions of painting Easter eggs this year. All 3 girls were dyed with dark shades of reds and purples. They had so much fun getting to this point. Towards the end they just dumped the dye into cups and used their hands to fish out the eggs, hence the colorful fingers, hands, and arms. This looked very stunning Easter morning at church with their fancy Easter dresses on. Oh well, you are only a kid once, so might as well live it up. Although a few of us adults, had some stained hands too. Any suggestions on how to get this off, before Easter church service let me know?

Easter

As Easter approached us, we studied each phase. The triumphal entry, Jesus dying on the cross, and the resurrection. This was our craft for the death of Jesus. The girls talked alot about how it wasn't nice that the men wanted Jesus killed. It was a great lead into talking about why Jesus had to die and how we can ask for forgiveness of our sins so one day we can enter heaven. It was nice listening in on their conversations and take on the whole concept of Easter and what it really means.