Homeschool Update!

I know I said I was going to start posting more about homeschooling, but I haven't! Things are going very well :)

Jade is still really enjoying it, and is also excelling at it. Out of the 5 Math tests she has had so far, she has gotten 93 - 97% on all of them! She has also finished up her "Mexico" lapbook, and is now working on a "Deer" lapbook.

She has enjoyed Art class, and Swimming lessons, both of which will be wrapping up in the next few weeks. She has been expressing an interest in guitar lessons, so I think I will start to look into that for the new year.

I am still very glad we made this decision, especially as the weather gets colder and snowier, and we DO NOT have to leave our warm and cozy home! ;)

Front of Mexico lapbook

Inside of Mexico lapbook

What a Day!

Yesterday was high on my list of "Least favorite days"! lol! Yesterday I painted the boys room. It was supposed to be a quick little project. I had prepped as much as I could the night before. I was supposed to get up, finish prepping, start painting by 9am, be done by mid afternoon, and hopefully even have the boys bunk beds moved in before night time. I had planned for the boys to sleep down in the girls room for a night, just to let the paint fumes air out. Things didn't exactly go as planned.......

I got a late start, because Gairod got up with the kids, and let me sleep in for once! I got up at 8am, and we got all of the furniture moved out of the room. I fed the kids breakfast, got Sage down for a nap, and was ready to start by just after 10am. All I needed to do was tape the baseboards and trim. I did NOT realize how long it would take me to tape! After about an hour, I was FINALLY ready to start painting. I was 2 hours behind schedule, but I figured that wasn't too bad, especially considering Gairod was NOT helping out with the kids like I had planned!

So I started painting, and right away I thought there was something wrong with the paint. It just seemed kind of thin and weird. But I figured it had just been a little while since I had painted, and it was probably fine.

I painted the whole first wall, and was NOT happy with the results! It was very thin and streaky, and there were tiny air bubbles all over!! I was trying to be optimistic, and figured it would look better when it started to dry. So I started on the second wall. I got half way done the second wall, and it was looking just as terrible as the first!! I got Gairod to come in and take a look (he was out in the garage butchering a deer - he was supposed to be watching the kids!), and he didn't think it looked right either. I tried calling my parents, to see if they would know what the problem was, but they didn't. So Gairod called the paint store. They said that we might not be letting all of the air out of the roller, and to try a different way. So we did, but it was still full of bubbles, and even in the corners where I had used a brush it was full of air bubbles. So he called the paint store again, and they said to bring the paint in, so they could have a look at it.

By now it was 12:30pm. I had originally been planning on having the entire first coat done by now! So I took the paint back into Airdrie. They looked at it, tried it, and couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. But they thought it looked weird too, so they gave me a free new can of paint, this time a different brand. They said to let the first stuff dry, and see how it looks. They said I might need to sand it down before I can repaint it. Great.

By the time I got home and got back to painting, it was 3pm. I was supposed to be DONE by now!! So I painted the remaining 2.5 walls, and the first ones looked okay to just paint over, so that's what I did. By now it was after 4:30pm, and I had to stop to get supper for the kids, get them bathed, and into bed. I should mention that Gairod was hunting at this point, so I was on my own with the kids, trying to get the stupid painting done!

By 7:30pm, I was ready to get back to painting. I still had 2 coats in the closet to do, and a second coat on the rest of the room. I kept plugging away (I should probably mention that Gairod was socializing over at a buddy's house at this point - yeah. I was NOT impressed!!), and by 11:30pm, I was FINALLY done everything!! I had also decided by that point that I was NOT going to paint any other rooms for a LONG time! LOL!

I will post "before" and "after" pictures when the room is all put back together! :)

Putting up the Tree!

Sorry I've been so bad at blogging lately, I have seriously just been SO busy!! I will try to start posting more regularly again. :)

Last weekend, we put up our Christmas tree! I love having the tree up, it just seems so pretty and festive! I wish we could leave it up ALL year! LOL! Now that the tree is up, and the weather is very wintery (snow and cold!), I really need to get started on my Christmas preparation. I JUST started my shopping on Monday, I need to do cards and baking, and then I will have to wrap the presents once they are all bought. I am REALLY trying to limit the amount of presents I buy this year, as we really don't need a bunch of stuff, and I have been trying so hard to de-clutter, I don't want to mess it all up by getting a bunch of new stuff! Haha!

I have cleaned out the boys room, and now I need to paint it! I am hoping to get paint on Friday, and *possibly* paint this weekend - we will see!

Girls Room! :)

This past weekend, I finally got the girls room done! :) Really, this was the easiest room of the house, as there wasn't much to do in it! We just had to clear out a bunch of Jade's stuff (to make room for Kadance's stuff!), and get Jade a new dresser, so that we could fit 2 dressers in the room. Then I had to wait for Gairod to put together the dresser. That was the biggest hold up of the room! lol! But he finally go it done, and I was able to finish the room!! Here are some pictures of Jade's room before, and you will notice that really, not much has changed except for the dressers! lol!

Kadance has slept in her new room for 2 nights now, and she has done fine! Last night, at around 10pm, she even stumbled up the stairs, half asleep, and went to the bathroom! Since she is doing fine, I am going to start working on the boys room. My goal is to get their room done by Christmas! :)

Game Plan!

Okay. I have come up with a game plan to help me organize/de-clutter the house! I have decided to declare November a month of purging :) I am going to go room by room, and clear out, organize, and fix things up. I am starting in Jade's room - because it will be the easiest! It was just done shortly before Sage was born, so it doesn't need any fixing up - just de-cluttering! So we are clearing out a bunch of Jade's stuff, and preparing it for Kadance to move in. Once we get Kadance moved in, I will move onto the boys room - since it will already be partly done from moving Kadance's stuff out! I would really like to paint their room, since it hasn't been painted since we moved in - almost 5 years ago! I will continue on like this - room by room - until the whole house is cleaned out and fixed up!

I am trying to focus on the small jobs, and not let myself get overwhelmed by the whole thing! I often look around are house at ALL the stuff I want to do, and then it just frustrated me, because I feel like I will NEVER have the time to do it all! I also really want to make sure I complete each room before I move onto the next. I am notorious for getting something partially done, and then stalling out, or getting sidetracked by something else, and abandoning my original project! lol! There are a bunch of little things, like curtain toppers and paint touch-ups, that would make each room look so much nicer and pulled together!

So that is my game plan! We started on Jade's room on Saturday, and have a good chunk of it done! Now I need to get into Ikea, to get Jade a tall dresser to replace her long dresser. We can fit two tall dressers in the space that her long dresser takes up, and we will need two dressers when Kadance moves in! So if I can get that this week sometime, I am hoping to have Jade's room totally done by next weekend! :)

Some Days.......

Some days, I want to just sell everything we own, including the house, and just run away!

I get SO overwhelmed sometimes, by the seemingly endless list of stuff to do! I am constantly trying to de-clutter, I am constantly trying to deep clean, I am constantly trying to keep up (or catch up) with my regular cleaning. This is of course on top of the 3 meals a day - plus snacks, that I have to think up, prep, make, and clean up after. Then there's getting everyone bathed and dressed. Oh, and HOW could I forget the CONSTANT refereeing of fights and arguments!!

I want my house to be clean and clutter free. I am convinced that if I can get it cleaned out and majorly pared down, it will be much easier to keep clean. The problem is actually finding the time to do it!!

I need someone to take all of the kids for a week, so that I can have the house to myself, to pull apart each room, and PURGE!!

Jade and I are reading the Little House on the Prairie series for school, and I am honestly jealous of how "simple" their life was. They had very few possessions, and managed just fine!

Christmas is coming up, and I know that we will be getting MORE stuff. My in-laws are infamous for getting the kids TONS of stuff, no matter how many times I ask them NOT too!! So I really want to at least make a dent in this place before then, but it seems almost impossible!

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun (and of course busy!) Halloween this year!!

Saturday (Oct. 30th) morning, Gairod had to work, so the kids and I "gutted" the pumpkins! Gairod was home from work around noon, and we headed to his mom's annual pumpkin carving party. The kids had fun, and of course had WAY too much sugar! LOL! :)

On Sunday (Oct. 31st), I had mini pumpkin-shaped cakes for the kids to decorate in the morning. In the afternoon, I got everyone in their costumes, and took them into my mom and dad's house! I knew they wanted to see the kids in their costumes, so I thought we would surprise them!! :)

Sunday evening, we went Trick-or-Treating, of course! The kids had a blast, and got WAY too much candy! On Monday we were all tired from a busy weekend, so I decided to take a day off from homeschooling. I let the kids have as much candy as they wanted, so of course they were bouncing off the walls! The day after Halloween, I always let the kids have all the candy they want, and then after that it gets put away, and they can only have a few pieces for dessert after lunch and supper. Monday afternoon I decided to take the kids swimming so they could wear off some of their energy!

"Gutting" our pumpkins!

Jade and Cole ♥
Kadance and Hayden ♥

"Black Cat" cupcakes I made for the carving party!

Jello pumpkins I made for the carving party!

Gairod's pumpkin!

Jade's pumpkin - she designed and carved this ghost all by herself!!

Decorating their pumpkin-shaped mini cakes!

Princess Kadance ♥

Spiderman Cole ♥

Spiderman Hayden ♥

Zombie Bride Jade!

Ladybug Sage ♥

The Fab 5! ♥

Change

I have really started to notice lately, how uncomfortable I am with change.

Prime example: I haven't gotten a new cell phone since I started my plan, in 2004. Yes the phone company offers me a new phone when my term is up, but my old one has always worked fine, so I have never seen the need to get a new one! My old one is a basic LG flip phone - no camera, no internet, and I have never texted (is that the proper word?!). A few weeks ago, I started looking at iPhones, Blackberries, etc, and thinking that it is probably time for me to upgrade, and catch up to the times. Especially since I am homeschooling, it is going to be important for me to make sure my kids are technologically competent, and preferably, confident. I am NOT technologically competent or confident. I know the basics when it comes to computers and the internet, but that is about it. What makes it even more frustrating, is that Gairod doesn't know any more (possibly less!) than I do. Neither of us has ever had a job where we have needed to know any of this stuff, and we both finished highschool just before all of this stuff started coming out (ipods, mp3's, text messaging, etc) so it has just passed us by!

SO, Gairod didn't have to work yesterday, so we decided to go and get me an iPhone 4! Almost as soon as we stepped out of the store with it, I started to feel kind of sick, wondering if we had done the right thing. I liked my old phone. I knew how to use my old phone. There was nothing wrong with my old phone! Now I had a new phone, that was worth lots of money, that I didn't even know how to use!! What had I gotten myself into?! I seriously felt panicky last night, as I started trying to navigate my way through my new phone, looking at the different features, and figuring stuff out. Pathetic, I know. Seriously, who gets anxiety over getting a new phone?!

I am feeling much better about it today, but it has really made me realize how much I don't like change! I like routine, I like to know what is happening, I like to know where I am going. Change/unknown is scary to me. Why? I try to avoid going somewhere in Calgary, if I haven't been there before. When Gairod suggests putting something somewhere else, or doing something differently, I instantly shut him down, stating that it's fine the way it is. Yet, I like change when I feel like I am in control of it.

Why am I so resistant to change? Is it some kind of an anxiety issue? Is it normal? Is it just part of my lack of confidence in myself? Is it a control issue?

Our First Lapbook! :)

I know I haven't posted in a while, I am still here, we have just been SO busy!

This past week, Jade and I finished up our first Lapbook!

If you are not a homeschooler, chances are you don't know what a lapbook is. You can read about them here.

Originally I wasn't very keen on the idea of doing lapbooks, simply because I am not very artsy/creative. I would rather just do a report or essay on something. But, Jade is VERY artsy, and I figured she would love to do lapbooks, so I decided we would try one out!

Quite surprisingly, I really enjoyed helping her with it, and I LOVE the finished product!! I love how bright and colourful it is, and how easy it is to find the information (as opposed to reading through a report). She wants to show it to everyone, and therefore is constantly reviewing the information!

I am sold on lapbooking, and I can see many more in our future! :)

The front cover of our Giraffe Lapbook

The first page - All of these things open up or unfold, and have information written in them.
The second page - again, they all open and have info.

Mmmmm, Pasta!

Apparently Sage likes pasta! lol! A few nights ago, I made tortellini with pasta sauce for supper. I stripped Sage down to her diaper, and let her try it. She LOVED it!! She also got it EVERYWHERE! lol! I had to put her straight into the bath afterwards to get her all cleaned!

I read the blog of a mom who has a baby just 3 days older than Sage (you know who you are :) ). I have noticed in pictures that she doesn't have a cover on her high chair, and I always wondered why. They are vegetarians, and eat a lot of pasta. NOW I understand why she doesn't have a cover on her high chair - one less thing to clean all the time!! lol!