I have been reading a lot of books and articles lately about this topic.
http://www.tunedbody.com/heart-surgeon-declares-really-causes-heart-illness/
What really causes heart disease and diabetes??
For many years, we have been told to eat low fat, high carbohydrates diet and as this doctor in this article said, it's not working!!!
What is the main problem?? too many Carborhydrates!
Carbohydrates convert to sugar once inside our bodies and since we are getting an abundance of them, the excess are actually causing the inflammation in the arteries that leads to high cholesterol (cholesterol is actually a good thing! Cholesterol is like a Band-Aid to help heal the inflammation! High cholesterol = lots of inflammation, Get rid of inflammation = get rid of abundance of cholesterol!!) Doctors are finally realizing this!!
What do we do about it?
Get rid or at least lower our intake of carbohydrates and up our fat intake!
Ok, so these two books could explain it better! I have read them both a couple of times and the material is just fascinating!!!
Wheat Belly
http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609611543/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391194046&sr=8-1&keywords=wheat+belly
Grain Brain
http://www.amazon.com/Grain-Brain-Surprising-Sugar--Your-Killers/dp/031623480X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391194097&sr=8-1&keywords=grain+brain
I am glad I was made aware of this a couple of years ago when Courtney and I had built up intolerances to gluten. It made me become more aware of the problem in our society. After doing much reading on the topic, I only let my kids have one wheat product a day. (I would really like to get that down to one wheat product every other day or less!!) I am gluten-free, but I definitely eat my share of carbohydrates and sugar.
It is something all of us need to be aware of and we really are what we eat!!
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Throwback Thursday!
Since there isn't much exciting going on this week in our house and I don't have any homeschooling information I want to write down, I decided to post a picture for "Throwback Thursday."
Ten Years ago today:
Megan Ruwe, January 30th, 2004 Hanging out in her swing!
I look back at our pictures and we must have had the furnace set high in our house, Megan had a onesie on all the time!!
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Need some sleep??
We had a really late night Sunday night. We didn't get home from a party until about 10 pm, which means the kids didn't go to sleep until around 10:30 pm.
Yesterday, Christian did fine all day and about 3:30, we left to go do errands. When we got home around 6, I noticed that Christian was asleep in his carseat. I took him into the house and put him in the chair. I assumed that he would wake up for supper.
This didn't happen. We tried to wake him up many times, but he wouldn't budge. Around 7:30, Matt just took him up to bed. He was still sound asleep. He didn't eat supper, didn't go potty, and he still had his jacket on.
We all went to bed and wondered if he would sleep all night or if I would have a visitor.
I had a visitor at 1:30 am. Christian was wide awake! He came into my room and wanted something. I sent him to the bathroom and then sent him back to bed. I was not going to entertain a 3 1/2 year old at 1:30 in the morning!
Unfortunately, I think he laid awake in his bed awhile, but he eventually went back to sleep.
I woke him up this morning at 7:45. He slept for about 14 hours, minus what he was up in the middle of the night!
Yesterday, Christian did fine all day and about 3:30, we left to go do errands. When we got home around 6, I noticed that Christian was asleep in his carseat. I took him into the house and put him in the chair. I assumed that he would wake up for supper.
This didn't happen. We tried to wake him up many times, but he wouldn't budge. Around 7:30, Matt just took him up to bed. He was still sound asleep. He didn't eat supper, didn't go potty, and he still had his jacket on.
We all went to bed and wondered if he would sleep all night or if I would have a visitor.
I had a visitor at 1:30 am. Christian was wide awake! He came into my room and wanted something. I sent him to the bathroom and then sent him back to bed. I was not going to entertain a 3 1/2 year old at 1:30 in the morning!
Unfortunately, I think he laid awake in his bed awhile, but he eventually went back to sleep.
I woke him up this morning at 7:45. He slept for about 14 hours, minus what he was up in the middle of the night!
Monday, January 27, 2014
Megan's Homeschool Curriculum
Somebody asked me yesterday what curriculum I used for Megan, so I thought I would just list it here and add the links. I really like what we are using and it works great for now! I think I may have to switch in a couple of years in order to incorporate Courtney into more subjects.
Math: Rod and Staff Math 4
http://www.milestonebooks.com/item/1-134--/?list=Mathematics_for_Christian_Living_Series
Spelling: Spelling Workout F
http://www.christianbook.com/curriculum-spelling-workout-grade-6-homeschool/9781428432727/pd/843272?item_code=WW&netp_id=1111940&event=ESRCG&view=details
History, Geography, Read-Alouds: Sonlight Core E
http://www.sonlight.com/EC5.html
Language Arts: Sonlight Language Arts E (this includes reading and writing)
http://www.sonlight.com/ELG.html
English: Rod and Staff English 4
http://www.milestonebooks.com/item/1-124--/?list=Building_Christian_English_Series
We do these together with Megan and Courtney
Bible: http://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_Bible-Truths-3-Subject-Kit--4th-ed.____2250756 (We do the 3rd edition, not this exact curriculum)
Science: Sonlight Science B
http://www.sonlight.com/BS5.html
In a few years (Megan 6th grade, Courtney 3rd), I may need to drop Sonlight altogether and I am looking to replace it with Heart of Dakota Curriculum. I really like their curriculum! It is more hands on and I can teach to Courtney's level and then add extra for Megan.
http://www.heartofdakota.com/
This is the level I would start with for both my girls.
http://www.heartofdakota.com/hearts-for-him.php
I might even use Heart of Dakota preschool curriculum for Christian.
Math: Rod and Staff Math 4
http://www.milestonebooks.com/item/1-134--/?list=Mathematics_for_Christian_Living_Series
Spelling: Spelling Workout F
http://www.christianbook.com/curriculum-spelling-workout-grade-6-homeschool/9781428432727/pd/843272?item_code=WW&netp_id=1111940&event=ESRCG&view=details
History, Geography, Read-Alouds: Sonlight Core E
http://www.sonlight.com/EC5.html
Language Arts: Sonlight Language Arts E (this includes reading and writing)
http://www.sonlight.com/ELG.html
English: Rod and Staff English 4
http://www.milestonebooks.com/item/1-124--/?list=Building_Christian_English_Series
We do these together with Megan and Courtney
Bible: http://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_Bible-Truths-3-Subject-Kit--4th-ed.____2250756 (We do the 3rd edition, not this exact curriculum)
Science: Sonlight Science B
http://www.sonlight.com/BS5.html
In a few years (Megan 6th grade, Courtney 3rd), I may need to drop Sonlight altogether and I am looking to replace it with Heart of Dakota Curriculum. I really like their curriculum! It is more hands on and I can teach to Courtney's level and then add extra for Megan.
http://www.heartofdakota.com/
This is the level I would start with for both my girls.
http://www.heartofdakota.com/hearts-for-him.php
I might even use Heart of Dakota preschool curriculum for Christian.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Finished 5th grade Spelling...well, kind of...
I haven't posted about Megan finishing her 5th grade spelling book on Friday because she's not quite done. We have been working out of this book for the last year (last half of 3rd grade and first half of fourth grade).
http://www.christianbook.com/curriculum-spelling-workout-grade-5-homeschool/9781428432710/pd/843271?item_code=WW&netp_id=1111939&event=PPCSRC&view=details
I had looked at the 3rd grade spelling books last year, they were just too easy. I then pulled up the 4th grade, again too easy. 5th grade was just perfect! Megan is a very good speller, even though she doesn't know phonics!! Once she sees the word, she knows how it is spelled. You also have to sound it out for her in order for her to know how to say it because she doesn't know how to sound out words. I am not a fan of how she learned how to read and spell at her old elementary school! I am a phonics fan 100%!! But it's too late to reteach her phonics, so we are just working with what she knows!
She hasn't quite finished her book yet because she missed too many spelling words on her final test on Friday in order to make her teacher happy. She needs to redo her misspelled words before I will bring out the sixth grade book! I told her I was going to retest her Friday afternoon, but never did it. It will be done first thing Monday morning.
http://www.christianbook.com/curriculum-spelling-workout-grade-6-homeschool/9781428432727/pd/843272?item_code=WW&netp_id=1111940&event=ESRCG&view=details
http://www.christianbook.com/curriculum-spelling-workout-grade-5-homeschool/9781428432710/pd/843271?item_code=WW&netp_id=1111939&event=PPCSRC&view=details
I had looked at the 3rd grade spelling books last year, they were just too easy. I then pulled up the 4th grade, again too easy. 5th grade was just perfect! Megan is a very good speller, even though she doesn't know phonics!! Once she sees the word, she knows how it is spelled. You also have to sound it out for her in order for her to know how to say it because she doesn't know how to sound out words. I am not a fan of how she learned how to read and spell at her old elementary school! I am a phonics fan 100%!! But it's too late to reteach her phonics, so we are just working with what she knows!
She hasn't quite finished her book yet because she missed too many spelling words on her final test on Friday in order to make her teacher happy. She needs to redo her misspelled words before I will bring out the sixth grade book! I told her I was going to retest her Friday afternoon, but never did it. It will be done first thing Monday morning.
http://www.christianbook.com/curriculum-spelling-workout-grade-6-homeschool/9781428432727/pd/843272?item_code=WW&netp_id=1111940&event=ESRCG&view=details
Friday, January 24, 2014
Finished 1st grade Phonics!!
Courtney was pretty excited yesterday in school! We finished her 1st grade phonics curriculum!
http://www.milestonebooks.com/item/1-111--/?list=Rod_and_Staff_Grade_1
This phonic program was VERY basic, taught the rules very well, concentrated on a rule a day, and gave her plenty of practice. I think she reads as well as she does because of this program. (Plus it is super-cheap!! There are no colors in the book and it is a lot of drilling, but it gets the point across!)
This is also the same program we started at the beginning of last year (her kindergarten year) and it has taken almost a 1 1/2 to get through. There were 150 lessons and we did about four a week.
Her favorite part was the timed reading at the end of each lesson. Every day, she would get a new set of about 30 words using the new concept she learned that day and then the next day, we would need to see how many she could read in 30 seconds. It was a great challenge! This last week, the words were so easy that she got all of them in one day! (I mean, really easy because they were reviewing long vowels!) But still, she got them all and she was jumping up and down!
We finished her final workbook yesterday and now we are going to start the 2nd grade curriculum.
http://www.milestonebooks.com/item/1-112--/?list=Rod_and_Staff_Grade_2
This picture shows the phonics and reading program, but we are only doing the phonics portion of it. She's super excited to get started beginning the lessons at the beginning are SUPER easy. Technically, we are supposed to be using this at the beginning of a school year when kids have forgotten everything over the summer! That is not how it has worked out for us, so we're just going to start in the middle of the year and have some super-easy review lessons for awhile.
This program will probably take us another 1 1/2 years to get through. Courtney asked what we do after that and I said, "You are done with phonics after this 2nd grade program. Phonics helps you to spell and read, and hopefully by then, you will have the phonics rules down and can apply them in your reading and writing. In 3rd grade, we will start English like Megan does, which is out of a textbook." You know what, she was ok with it! She was actually excited!
When I picked out this phonics program about two years ago, I knew it would be a good program. I looked at many others, but I always kept coming back to this one. I was determined to teach Courtney phonics! (Megan learned whole-language in school and it is a challenge sometimes getting her to sound out words because she just doesn't know how!). I didn't know how Courtney would respond to this program. Like I said earlier, it's very black and white with a few pictures and she always seemed to be the kid who needed hands-on activities. I think she has taken to the program and enjoys it.
(If you are curious, the company who makes Rod and Staff Curriculum is a Mennonite community, so there are many "ye" and "thee", and "Brother John" in these books, but it's fun. They also don't have any kindergarten curriculum, so that's why I started her in the 1st grade book last year. We are also doing Rod and Staff Math this year and she is in the 2nd grade book. So she's not technically ahead a grade level, but right where she should be in my opinion. I am pretty sure she is learning the exact same concepts as her public school counterparts! )
http://www.milestonebooks.com/item/1-111--/?list=Rod_and_Staff_Grade_1
This phonic program was VERY basic, taught the rules very well, concentrated on a rule a day, and gave her plenty of practice. I think she reads as well as she does because of this program. (Plus it is super-cheap!! There are no colors in the book and it is a lot of drilling, but it gets the point across!)
This is also the same program we started at the beginning of last year (her kindergarten year) and it has taken almost a 1 1/2 to get through. There were 150 lessons and we did about four a week.
Her favorite part was the timed reading at the end of each lesson. Every day, she would get a new set of about 30 words using the new concept she learned that day and then the next day, we would need to see how many she could read in 30 seconds. It was a great challenge! This last week, the words were so easy that she got all of them in one day! (I mean, really easy because they were reviewing long vowels!) But still, she got them all and she was jumping up and down!
We finished her final workbook yesterday and now we are going to start the 2nd grade curriculum.
http://www.milestonebooks.com/item/1-112--/?list=Rod_and_Staff_Grade_2
This picture shows the phonics and reading program, but we are only doing the phonics portion of it. She's super excited to get started beginning the lessons at the beginning are SUPER easy. Technically, we are supposed to be using this at the beginning of a school year when kids have forgotten everything over the summer! That is not how it has worked out for us, so we're just going to start in the middle of the year and have some super-easy review lessons for awhile.
This program will probably take us another 1 1/2 years to get through. Courtney asked what we do after that and I said, "You are done with phonics after this 2nd grade program. Phonics helps you to spell and read, and hopefully by then, you will have the phonics rules down and can apply them in your reading and writing. In 3rd grade, we will start English like Megan does, which is out of a textbook." You know what, she was ok with it! She was actually excited!
When I picked out this phonics program about two years ago, I knew it would be a good program. I looked at many others, but I always kept coming back to this one. I was determined to teach Courtney phonics! (Megan learned whole-language in school and it is a challenge sometimes getting her to sound out words because she just doesn't know how!). I didn't know how Courtney would respond to this program. Like I said earlier, it's very black and white with a few pictures and she always seemed to be the kid who needed hands-on activities. I think she has taken to the program and enjoys it.
(If you are curious, the company who makes Rod and Staff Curriculum is a Mennonite community, so there are many "ye" and "thee", and "Brother John" in these books, but it's fun. They also don't have any kindergarten curriculum, so that's why I started her in the 1st grade book last year. We are also doing Rod and Staff Math this year and she is in the 2nd grade book. So she's not technically ahead a grade level, but right where she should be in my opinion. I am pretty sure she is learning the exact same concepts as her public school counterparts! )
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Direct Objects
Does anyone remember learning about direct objects when they went to school? It is exactly what Megan is learning right now in English class. She's getting it, but asked if I would find something that we could practice some more with.
I am bookmarking these, so I can use them in English class tomorrow.
http://www.k12reader.com/nouns/nouns-direct-objects.pdf
http://www.worksheetlibrary.com/subjects/languagearts/advancedwriting/directobjects/
I am bookmarking these, so I can use them in English class tomorrow.
http://www.k12reader.com/nouns/nouns-direct-objects.pdf
http://www.worksheetlibrary.com/subjects/languagearts/advancedwriting/directobjects/
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Trying New Food at the Ruwe House. :)
Ever since I took Megan into her 10 year checkup in November, I have been on a quest to get more dark green, calcium rich food into our diets. At that checkup, I was told by a soon-to-be nurse practitioner that I should be giving her TUMS for calcium. She said that since she grew four inches last year, that she really needs her calcium, which I agree, BUT I do not think I need to give my kids TUMS for calcium!! I told her that we eat fruits and vegetables and she has dairy products through out the day AND I would much rather get her nutrients from food than from supplements, but she still insisted I give them to her! Like usual, I nodded my head and we went on with her checkup.
Because of this and Megan's huge growth spurt, I have been introducing new calcium-rich foods every once in awhile here. I got a list of foods that are high in calcium from my chiropractor and I have been trying to serve those foods around here. My only problem is that I have never prepared these foods before!!
As of the last month, I have prepared broccoli and asparagus for the first time! I roasted both of them in olive oil and I don't usually like broccoli, but I LOVE roasted broccoli!! Tonight, I served brussel sprouts. I have never had them before, but I bought some the other day thinking that I should add them to a meal some night, so tonight it was! I looked up online how to make them and I found out that you can roast them in olive oil just like the asparagus and broccoli.
I thought they were pretty good! I also thought they tasted a lot like roasted asparagus. We had to bribe the children to eat them. Matt said they could split a pop between the three of them if they ate five pieces. Well, Courtney and I ended up splitting the pop. She ate more than her required five pieces! Christian absolutely refused to eat them and Megan was trying, but making a big deal out of it. So they didn't get any pop!
I'm not sure what will be next on the list...maybe sweet potatoes? cauliflower?
(I am also trying to get away from eating potatoes or some kind of starch every night! I guess this is also better than the pasta we used to eat on a daily basis two years ago!)
Because of this and Megan's huge growth spurt, I have been introducing new calcium-rich foods every once in awhile here. I got a list of foods that are high in calcium from my chiropractor and I have been trying to serve those foods around here. My only problem is that I have never prepared these foods before!!
As of the last month, I have prepared broccoli and asparagus for the first time! I roasted both of them in olive oil and I don't usually like broccoli, but I LOVE roasted broccoli!! Tonight, I served brussel sprouts. I have never had them before, but I bought some the other day thinking that I should add them to a meal some night, so tonight it was! I looked up online how to make them and I found out that you can roast them in olive oil just like the asparagus and broccoli.
I thought they were pretty good! I also thought they tasted a lot like roasted asparagus. We had to bribe the children to eat them. Matt said they could split a pop between the three of them if they ate five pieces. Well, Courtney and I ended up splitting the pop. She ate more than her required five pieces! Christian absolutely refused to eat them and Megan was trying, but making a big deal out of it. So they didn't get any pop!
I'm not sure what will be next on the list...maybe sweet potatoes? cauliflower?
(I am also trying to get away from eating potatoes or some kind of starch every night! I guess this is also better than the pasta we used to eat on a daily basis two years ago!)
Monday, January 20, 2014
Books!
One thing that Megan and I have in common is that we both LOVE to read! When we go to the library, Megan just doesn't borrow 1 or 2 books, but about 20! This usually lasts her a couple of weeks. We are at the library weekly just to keep her stocked up on books!
This picture reminded me of her. Of course, I stole it off of Facebook. :)
I am the same way! I check out between 5-10 at the library at a time. I don't always get through them all, but I at least skim them! Megan also has been giving me her books lately that she has already read. "Mom, read this one, it's REALLY good!" And I usually do! At the moment, I two piles of books lately sitting beside my bed! My books and Megan's books!
Lately I just feel like I am soaking up any information I can get my hands on! We just finished the Civil War in history for homeschooling and I learned A LOT! (Really, I was a history major in college and I didn't learn NEAR as much as I am homeschooling my elementary aged children!!) When we were at the library last week, I checked out 4-5 books on Reconstruction. I haven't quite got through them yet!
Last night I spent quite awhile on the Internet learning about Martin Luther King Jr. and how the Civil Rights Movement came about in the 1960's. I had always wondered why the African Americans got their rights after the Civil War but there was still rampant discrimination in the 1960's. I figured it out! I also wanted to be prepared to teach it to the girls today.
I am always eager to learn something new and I have noticed that in my children too. I love it!!!
This picture reminded me of her. Of course, I stole it off of Facebook. :)
Lately I just feel like I am soaking up any information I can get my hands on! We just finished the Civil War in history for homeschooling and I learned A LOT! (Really, I was a history major in college and I didn't learn NEAR as much as I am homeschooling my elementary aged children!!) When we were at the library last week, I checked out 4-5 books on Reconstruction. I haven't quite got through them yet!
Last night I spent quite awhile on the Internet learning about Martin Luther King Jr. and how the Civil Rights Movement came about in the 1960's. I had always wondered why the African Americans got their rights after the Civil War but there was still rampant discrimination in the 1960's. I figured it out! I also wanted to be prepared to teach it to the girls today.
I am always eager to learn something new and I have noticed that in my children too. I love it!!!
Monday!
First of all, two quotes from Courtney today. "School is annoying!!" and "Who invented homework??"
I will say though that I have started doing her math in the morning along with her Language Arts, I thought switching a few things around might help the attitude and it did! We have been working on regrouping while adding the last couple of lessons and I think she has it! She also made up a game today to play during math time. It is a version of "Go Fish", we played it for awhile and it actually worked! She was laughing and smiling the whole time, so apparently I need to add more games!
Keeping Christian occupied is another challenge of mine. I have read many other homeschooling blogs/ comments on Facebook lately and many say that I should find something to keep him busy. I should set him up with paint, crayons, block basket, or even let him part take in school with us! HA! This boy cannot focus on something for more than two minutes. Many times he will join me on my lap while we discuss science, but he's usually all over the place and I have to put him down, which makes him mad. But it is very distracting to the girls and to myself while we are trying to learn.
I have tried to give him paints, but this doesn't work, he has gotten out the play-doh lately, but he doesn't play with it! He gets it all out, gets distracted, and leaves the mess on the table! sometimes he wants to get something to eat, but that also interrupts us. He has tons of toys around the house and he used to be so good at playing with them. I'm not sure if he just wants some attention because I'm with the girls, but I really wish he would go occupy himself while we are busy. When I am done and the girls are free, he is great because he has somebody to play with! I may need to find a new strategy with the three year old or find some time during the day to sit down and read him a book or two.
I will say though that I have started doing her math in the morning along with her Language Arts, I thought switching a few things around might help the attitude and it did! We have been working on regrouping while adding the last couple of lessons and I think she has it! She also made up a game today to play during math time. It is a version of "Go Fish", we played it for awhile and it actually worked! She was laughing and smiling the whole time, so apparently I need to add more games!
Keeping Christian occupied is another challenge of mine. I have read many other homeschooling blogs/ comments on Facebook lately and many say that I should find something to keep him busy. I should set him up with paint, crayons, block basket, or even let him part take in school with us! HA! This boy cannot focus on something for more than two minutes. Many times he will join me on my lap while we discuss science, but he's usually all over the place and I have to put him down, which makes him mad. But it is very distracting to the girls and to myself while we are trying to learn.
I have tried to give him paints, but this doesn't work, he has gotten out the play-doh lately, but he doesn't play with it! He gets it all out, gets distracted, and leaves the mess on the table! sometimes he wants to get something to eat, but that also interrupts us. He has tons of toys around the house and he used to be so good at playing with them. I'm not sure if he just wants some attention because I'm with the girls, but I really wish he would go occupy himself while we are busy. When I am done and the girls are free, he is great because he has somebody to play with! I may need to find a new strategy with the three year old or find some time during the day to sit down and read him a book or two.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Stuck in my house!!
This is what I have been the last week or so...stuck in my house and honestly, I was getting a little stir crazy yesterday. We didn't do much last week, except had one big playdate and said good bye to some real good friends (who we will miss tremendously!!). This last weekend, we were stuck at home because my children decided to get sick.
They were still a little sick Monday, but we were able to get school done and honestly, I like to stay home on Mondays and Tuesdays and concentrate on school. I would much rather get a lot done earlier in the week than get behind right away. By Wednesday, I was itching to go somewhere. We were all well and there was a group of homeschoolers going skating, so I thought we could join them.
We were getting our school work done in the morning and I was planning to leave about 12. Around 10, Courtney didn't look so good. She was complaining her stomach hurt and didn't want to do anything but sit on the couch. We tried to do some school work, but she couldn't concentrate, so she went back to the couch. She looked pale and Courtney does not complain much, but you could certainly tell her stomach hurt. I cancelled our skating plans.
Eventually she felt well enough and we were doing math after lunch. In the middle of math, she got this terrible look on her face and I went and grabbed her the bucket to throw up into. She gagged, spit, hollered "but I don't want to puke!", gagged some more, lost her breath, spit some more, yelled some more, and just made this big old scene! Luckily it was just her and I! Eventually I got her into the bathroom by the toilet so she could puke in there. But about two seconds after we got in there, she said, "Hmmm, my stomach doesn't hurt anymore" and she was completely fine! I have no idea what that was all about!
After she got done with this scene and feeling better, she went into this rambling about why she doesn't want to go to school. She informed me that she would like to go back to preschool where it was super easy. She also informed me that she wants some color in her math book!
Here are some snippets of our conversation:
Courtney: Why do I have to go to school?
Me: It's the law. You have to. If you don't go to school, daddy and I will go to jail. The police will come and arrest us and take us to jail. Is that what you want?
Courtney: How long do I have to go to school?
Me: Until you are 18.
Courtney: (intense thinking) But I'm only 7!!!! AHHHH!
Courtney: How long until I go to college?
Me: Well, you will go to college when you are 18 and you are there until 22.
Courtney: That's so long! Do I really have to go to school until I am 22??
Courtney: Why can't I just quit at 1st grade? Why isn't that enough??
Me: There is so much more to learn. You need to know more than 2 plus 2!!
In the end, I hope I won in the conversation. I really don't think she has much to complain about!!
So, this is how my Wednesday went. Matt didn't get home until 9:30 in the evening. It was one long day!
So today, I told the girls that we were getting out- no matter what! We had a couple errands to do and we met grandma, so we were out for about four hours. It was so refreshing for all of us!!! When we got home at 3, we still did a lesson in math for each girl (one extra lesson now means one less lesson this summer!). We will have a whole day of school tomorrow and then we are off for the weekend!
They were still a little sick Monday, but we were able to get school done and honestly, I like to stay home on Mondays and Tuesdays and concentrate on school. I would much rather get a lot done earlier in the week than get behind right away. By Wednesday, I was itching to go somewhere. We were all well and there was a group of homeschoolers going skating, so I thought we could join them.
We were getting our school work done in the morning and I was planning to leave about 12. Around 10, Courtney didn't look so good. She was complaining her stomach hurt and didn't want to do anything but sit on the couch. We tried to do some school work, but she couldn't concentrate, so she went back to the couch. She looked pale and Courtney does not complain much, but you could certainly tell her stomach hurt. I cancelled our skating plans.
Eventually she felt well enough and we were doing math after lunch. In the middle of math, she got this terrible look on her face and I went and grabbed her the bucket to throw up into. She gagged, spit, hollered "but I don't want to puke!", gagged some more, lost her breath, spit some more, yelled some more, and just made this big old scene! Luckily it was just her and I! Eventually I got her into the bathroom by the toilet so she could puke in there. But about two seconds after we got in there, she said, "Hmmm, my stomach doesn't hurt anymore" and she was completely fine! I have no idea what that was all about!
After she got done with this scene and feeling better, she went into this rambling about why she doesn't want to go to school. She informed me that she would like to go back to preschool where it was super easy. She also informed me that she wants some color in her math book!
Here are some snippets of our conversation:
Courtney: Why do I have to go to school?
Me: It's the law. You have to. If you don't go to school, daddy and I will go to jail. The police will come and arrest us and take us to jail. Is that what you want?
Courtney: How long do I have to go to school?
Me: Until you are 18.
Courtney: (intense thinking) But I'm only 7!!!! AHHHH!
Courtney: How long until I go to college?
Me: Well, you will go to college when you are 18 and you are there until 22.
Courtney: That's so long! Do I really have to go to school until I am 22??
Courtney: Why can't I just quit at 1st grade? Why isn't that enough??
Me: There is so much more to learn. You need to know more than 2 plus 2!!
In the end, I hope I won in the conversation. I really don't think she has much to complain about!!
So, this is how my Wednesday went. Matt didn't get home until 9:30 in the evening. It was one long day!
So today, I told the girls that we were getting out- no matter what! We had a couple errands to do and we met grandma, so we were out for about four hours. It was so refreshing for all of us!!! When we got home at 3, we still did a lesson in math for each girl (one extra lesson now means one less lesson this summer!). We will have a whole day of school tomorrow and then we are off for the weekend!
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Courtney a Vegetarian?
Courtney certainly keeps us on our toes around here in more ways than one!
We all know that Courtney does not like to see animals get hurt. She refused to read a story in her reading book the other day because a cat cut his tongue on a can. She was in tears because it was so sad and sat there for at least five minutes refusing to read it! She will refuse to watch some you tube videos I have found for science today because one animal is eating another animal. We had to catch every ant and box elder bug in our house last fall and put them back outside, I would even warn people who came over not to kill the bugs in front of her.
Every night when we have meat for supper, she always asks what animal it came from. Once she figures out where it came from, she sometimes would eat it and other times, she would refuse to eat it (because the animal had to die in order to give us food.)
For about 24 hours, she decided to become a vegetarian and eat no meat at all. (I did make her eat nuts because really, it's all about the protein, right?)
Last night, she was refusing to eat fish at dinner. Matt and I think she needs to eat more than fruits and vegetables, so we pulled out the scare tactics and it seemed to work. I told her, "Courtney, if you don't eat healthy, your hair will start to fall out and you will have patches on your head. This is what happens when you don't get the right nutrients."
It worked. Today at lunch, she was back eating meat. Megan asked her why and she replied, "I don't want my hair to fall out!"
YES!!!
Monday, January 13, 2014
More Science
Tomorrow we are studying the animals of Madagascar (makes me want to go to the Madagascar exhibit at the zoo and have school there instead!)
One of the animals we are going to look at tomorrow is the giraffe-necked weevils.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq7VsIWpAWg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVR6bm2y9Ko
We are also going to look at the sifakas, which are lemurs that dance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64FP3bDr8_U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9ARvGS3mhk
Have you ever seen how an aye-aye gets food? Courtney will NOT like this video tomorrow!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw2DtZYJuiI
And then there are the flatid bugs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mSomw2sHuQ
Images of flatid bugs. They really do look like flowers when they congregate on trees!
And because I'm sure my girls will be done looking at videos of animals on Madagascar, I had to add one more. It's a short, cute video of all the animals on the island.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67HcsAC1oik
One of the animals we are going to look at tomorrow is the giraffe-necked weevils.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq7VsIWpAWg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVR6bm2y9Ko
We are also going to look at the sifakas, which are lemurs that dance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64FP3bDr8_U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9ARvGS3mhk
Have you ever seen how an aye-aye gets food? Courtney will NOT like this video tomorrow!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw2DtZYJuiI
And then there are the flatid bugs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mSomw2sHuQ
Images of flatid bugs. They really do look like flowers when they congregate on trees!
And because I'm sure my girls will be done looking at videos of animals on Madagascar, I had to add one more. It's a short, cute video of all the animals on the island.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67HcsAC1oik
Buying Gatorade
Since everybody else is sick here except for Courtney (and mom and dad), she thinks it is unfair that she does not get Gatorade. I keep telling her that we need to save it for those who are really sick.
She came up with a plan. If I just won't give it to her, she has decided to buy it from us! So we let her.
I charged her 80 cents for a bottle of Gatorade. This is how much I paid for them yesterday at Walmart.
She paid it and now she is happy that she can have Gatorade too!
She came up with a plan. If I just won't give it to her, she has decided to buy it from us! So we let her.
I charged her 80 cents for a bottle of Gatorade. This is how much I paid for them yesterday at Walmart.
She paid it and now she is happy that she can have Gatorade too!
Monday morning
We had no interruptions in our sleep last night! It was great!!!
I figured we would get back to our school routine on Monday morning, so I woke the kids up as usual. After Christian woke up, he really wanted a drink and to go to the bathroom, so I took him. I then brought him back to my office to check my email. While he was hanging out on my lap, he fell back asleep! I stirred him a little and asked him if he wanted to go back to bed and he said yes, so I put him back to bed! This never happens, so I knew he didn't feel good again.
In the meantime, I went and checked on Megan and she still looked pale, so I let her alone and told her to come downstairs when she was ready. About five minutes later, she came downstairs, but landed in the recliner again. She said she was pretty dizzy.
Great, two kids down again!!
Of course, Courtney was fine!
I let them sit in the living room for awhile before getting breakfast, Megan still wasn't feeling right, so Courtney and I got breakfast and got the dishes done.
About 8:30, Christian started crying upstairs, so I went and got him. He was warm and you could tell he didn't feel right. I put him right on the couch and got him some Gatorade.
A little while later, I determined that there was not much I could do with these sick children except to let them sit there and get better. I let them watch "Horseland" and I went and took a shower and got ready. Eventually, I wanted to get some school done today!
After I was ready, I got Christian dressed and put him back on the couch. Courtney went and got dressed and so did Megan. She was still a little dizzy, but not as bad.
It was about 10 by now and Megan was doing better, I asked them if she could do some school and she said yes. I told her we could do her read-aloud, that way she could sit and just listen, so we did. For the next hour, I read to them Across Five Aprils and they played legos! We were making progress!
By 11:15, we were done and were ready to do some language arts, so I brought Megan to the table and we got spelling and English done. I think she was pretty much back to normal!
By about 11:30, Christian decided to get off the couch and walk around. He had some Gatorade and a banana while sitting on the couch, but now he said he was ready for lunch.
By noon, everybody was up and walking around and acting normal again! Nobody looks pale anymore and they had some color back in their cheeks!
We all had a small lunch, yet not too much to upset some stomachs again. Now they are all playing trains during "recess" time.
We will see what this afternoon brings!!
I figured we would get back to our school routine on Monday morning, so I woke the kids up as usual. After Christian woke up, he really wanted a drink and to go to the bathroom, so I took him. I then brought him back to my office to check my email. While he was hanging out on my lap, he fell back asleep! I stirred him a little and asked him if he wanted to go back to bed and he said yes, so I put him back to bed! This never happens, so I knew he didn't feel good again.
In the meantime, I went and checked on Megan and she still looked pale, so I let her alone and told her to come downstairs when she was ready. About five minutes later, she came downstairs, but landed in the recliner again. She said she was pretty dizzy.
Great, two kids down again!!
Of course, Courtney was fine!
I let them sit in the living room for awhile before getting breakfast, Megan still wasn't feeling right, so Courtney and I got breakfast and got the dishes done.
About 8:30, Christian started crying upstairs, so I went and got him. He was warm and you could tell he didn't feel right. I put him right on the couch and got him some Gatorade.
A little while later, I determined that there was not much I could do with these sick children except to let them sit there and get better. I let them watch "Horseland" and I went and took a shower and got ready. Eventually, I wanted to get some school done today!
After I was ready, I got Christian dressed and put him back on the couch. Courtney went and got dressed and so did Megan. She was still a little dizzy, but not as bad.
It was about 10 by now and Megan was doing better, I asked them if she could do some school and she said yes. I told her we could do her read-aloud, that way she could sit and just listen, so we did. For the next hour, I read to them Across Five Aprils and they played legos! We were making progress!
By 11:15, we were done and were ready to do some language arts, so I brought Megan to the table and we got spelling and English done. I think she was pretty much back to normal!
By about 11:30, Christian decided to get off the couch and walk around. He had some Gatorade and a banana while sitting on the couch, but now he said he was ready for lunch.
By noon, everybody was up and walking around and acting normal again! Nobody looks pale anymore and they had some color back in their cheeks!
We all had a small lunch, yet not too much to upset some stomachs again. Now they are all playing trains during "recess" time.
We will see what this afternoon brings!!
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Are we all well?
Today we had no more puking and was I thankful! Megan just laid around all day and the later in the day it got, the better she got. She drank all day and actually ate some food tonight and kept it all down! Yippee!
Christian is 100% back to normal. He was my grocery shopping helper this afternoon. :)
I moved all of his stuff back into his bedroom this afternoon. (He slept on my floor the last two nights.) I cleaned his room and gave him freshly laundered sheets and pillow cases.
Courtney has an immune system of steel and usually doesn't get sick, even if everyone around her is sick.
Matt and I, well, it may hit us yet!
Hopefully we will have no interruptions tonight and we will all sleep the entire night through!
Here's to a new week!
Christian is 100% back to normal. He was my grocery shopping helper this afternoon. :)
I moved all of his stuff back into his bedroom this afternoon. (He slept on my floor the last two nights.) I cleaned his room and gave him freshly laundered sheets and pillow cases.
Courtney has an immune system of steel and usually doesn't get sick, even if everyone around her is sick.
Matt and I, well, it may hit us yet!
Hopefully we will have no interruptions tonight and we will all sleep the entire night through!
Here's to a new week!
Another kid down...
After Christian throwing up Friday night and sleeping most of yesterday away, we knew somebody else would probably get this germ and somebody did! It was Megan. :(
Christian begged to go to bed at 8 pm (after sleeping 11:45-2:15 and again from 4:30-5:30 yesterday), so I put him to bed. At this time, everybody was feeling well. We were all sad from seeing our friends for the last time, but healthwise, we were fine.
Matt and I put the girls to bed and we went to bed ourselves.
About 1 am, Christian was stirring, so I got up with him. He seemed wide awake, which was not cool! He wanted a drink of water and I was too tired to get one for him PLUS I didn't want the puking to start again. He insisted he wanted water and eventually said, "I will get some water BY MYSELF" and went off to the bathroom. Well, this gets my attention because he cannot get the water turned on and off by himself and he will just end up messing around in the bathroom. I got him a drink and tucked him back into bed.
In the meantime, I noticed that one of the girls had gotten up and was in the bathroom, so I went down the hallway and stuck my head into the bathroom. Megan was kneeling on the floor in front of the toilet! She had thrown up too! Poor kid!! At least she made it to the toilet!!!
I woke Matt up and we cleaned up the little bit that was on the floor and got her a bucket and sent her back to bed. I was convinced that she was going to throw up again during the night.
Matt and I went back to bed again and eventually Christian settled back to sleep too. (You know a kid is feeling better when he is arguing with you in the middle of the night. He also insisted it was time to wake up!)
Everybody slept the rest of the night!! I think I woke up around 8 this morning because Christian was asking me for some more juice and was being pretty insistent about it! Megan had not gotten up again either!
Now we are all snuggled on the couch watching "Thomas the Train", I think we will probably lay around and watch TV all day again! Ugh!
Christian begged to go to bed at 8 pm (after sleeping 11:45-2:15 and again from 4:30-5:30 yesterday), so I put him to bed. At this time, everybody was feeling well. We were all sad from seeing our friends for the last time, but healthwise, we were fine.
Matt and I put the girls to bed and we went to bed ourselves.
About 1 am, Christian was stirring, so I got up with him. He seemed wide awake, which was not cool! He wanted a drink of water and I was too tired to get one for him PLUS I didn't want the puking to start again. He insisted he wanted water and eventually said, "I will get some water BY MYSELF" and went off to the bathroom. Well, this gets my attention because he cannot get the water turned on and off by himself and he will just end up messing around in the bathroom. I got him a drink and tucked him back into bed.
In the meantime, I noticed that one of the girls had gotten up and was in the bathroom, so I went down the hallway and stuck my head into the bathroom. Megan was kneeling on the floor in front of the toilet! She had thrown up too! Poor kid!! At least she made it to the toilet!!!
I woke Matt up and we cleaned up the little bit that was on the floor and got her a bucket and sent her back to bed. I was convinced that she was going to throw up again during the night.
Matt and I went back to bed again and eventually Christian settled back to sleep too. (You know a kid is feeling better when he is arguing with you in the middle of the night. He also insisted it was time to wake up!)
Everybody slept the rest of the night!! I think I woke up around 8 this morning because Christian was asking me for some more juice and was being pretty insistent about it! Megan had not gotten up again either!
Now we are all snuggled on the couch watching "Thomas the Train", I think we will probably lay around and watch TV all day again! Ugh!
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Pity Party!!
We went out to dinner tonight with our friends that are leaving town. We took Christian along and he just slept in a chair at the end of the table. :)
After walking out and saying our good-byes, Courtney and I were pretty emotional. We are really going to miss them!
In the car, Courtney started talking about how Miki is her very, very best friend and 50 "plain" friends would not equal one Miki!! She kept going on and on about how her best friend is moving away and how heartbroken she is. (She has not cried about her moving away in a couple of weeks and all of the sudden, it hit her!)
She then went on about how she wants to move to Illinois with them! "Dad, can we move away too? Can we move to where Miki is moving? Please??"
Matt told her back, "If we moved to Illinois, we wouldn't get to see grandma and grandpa."
Christian decided to add his opinion of this all. His response, "Really?" He had caught on to what we were talking about and if you know Christian, you know that he loves his two grandpas! He would be heartbroken if we moved away!
We told her it is ok to be sad and cry about her friend moving away. We are going to see them this summer, but that doesn't help her much!
After walking out and saying our good-byes, Courtney and I were pretty emotional. We are really going to miss them!
In the car, Courtney started talking about how Miki is her very, very best friend and 50 "plain" friends would not equal one Miki!! She kept going on and on about how her best friend is moving away and how heartbroken she is. (She has not cried about her moving away in a couple of weeks and all of the sudden, it hit her!)
She then went on about how she wants to move to Illinois with them! "Dad, can we move away too? Can we move to where Miki is moving? Please??"
Matt told her back, "If we moved to Illinois, we wouldn't get to see grandma and grandpa."
Christian decided to add his opinion of this all. His response, "Really?" He had caught on to what we were talking about and if you know Christian, you know that he loves his two grandpas! He would be heartbroken if we moved away!
We told her it is ok to be sad and cry about her friend moving away. We are going to see them this summer, but that doesn't help her much!
Sad day for Courtney
What do you do with your 7 year old daughter who has begged to have a sleepover with her best friends for months, but never quite worked out until tonight and then we had to cancel it because her brother is sick? The worse part is that tonight is her best friends' last night in Omaha because they are moving away tomorrow.
She is just heartbroken!! What can I do to make it better??
I really don't want her friend puking on a 6 hour drive tomorrow!!! This is so hard for Courtney to understand!
She is just heartbroken!! What can I do to make it better??
I really don't want her friend puking on a 6 hour drive tomorrow!!! This is so hard for Courtney to understand!
Round #3
Round #3, living room couch (ok, he made about half of it into the bucket!), 10: 15 am.
Thank heavens for the Spotbot! This made clean up a breeze!
Thank heavens for the Spotbot! This made clean up a breeze!
Sick Kid!!
We have had a pretty good winter when it comes to sickness, we haven't had any sick kids until last night.
It was about 2:30 am and I heard Christian coughing, which I didn't think was odd, but I really hadn't heard him cough much lately. After he got done coughing, I heard him say, "Mommy, mommy." I was just going to ignore it at first, but then he said it louder, "Mommy, mommy! I spilled in my bed!"
My first thought was, " Oh no, you didn't take a cup of water with you to bed and then spilled it!" As I went in there, he said again, "I spilled in my bed." You know what he did? He puked! BUT thankfully, it was in one contained pile on his mattress!! Great job!
I sighed and then woke Matt up. I cannot deal with puke and it stunk!
I got Christian to the bathroom and put him in front of the toilet and then helped Matt clean up his bed. I got his sheets changed and Matt took his dirty sheets downstairs to rinse them off and get them in the washer.
I took his mattress and put it in our room. Matt then came back upstairs and we put towels all around his mattress and gave him his pillow and a blanket, no stuffed animals. We also gave him a bucket and said if he needed to puke again, to puke in the bucket! We all settled back to bed, but yet keeping an ear open for his coughing again.
4:30 it happened again. He started puking and only got a little on his sheet, but luckily made most of it into the bucket. Round 2! I cleaned Christian up while Matt did laundry, again. Next pair of sheets!
This time the cleanup went a lot quicker, so we were all back to bed within 10 minutes.
We all slept the rest of the night! But I am still tired this morning.
Christian seems fine this morning, but now we're on a watch for the rest of the family....
It was about 2:30 am and I heard Christian coughing, which I didn't think was odd, but I really hadn't heard him cough much lately. After he got done coughing, I heard him say, "Mommy, mommy." I was just going to ignore it at first, but then he said it louder, "Mommy, mommy! I spilled in my bed!"
My first thought was, " Oh no, you didn't take a cup of water with you to bed and then spilled it!" As I went in there, he said again, "I spilled in my bed." You know what he did? He puked! BUT thankfully, it was in one contained pile on his mattress!! Great job!
I sighed and then woke Matt up. I cannot deal with puke and it stunk!
I got Christian to the bathroom and put him in front of the toilet and then helped Matt clean up his bed. I got his sheets changed and Matt took his dirty sheets downstairs to rinse them off and get them in the washer.
I took his mattress and put it in our room. Matt then came back upstairs and we put towels all around his mattress and gave him his pillow and a blanket, no stuffed animals. We also gave him a bucket and said if he needed to puke again, to puke in the bucket! We all settled back to bed, but yet keeping an ear open for his coughing again.
4:30 it happened again. He started puking and only got a little on his sheet, but luckily made most of it into the bucket. Round 2! I cleaned Christian up while Matt did laundry, again. Next pair of sheets!
This time the cleanup went a lot quicker, so we were all back to bed within 10 minutes.
We all slept the rest of the night! But I am still tired this morning.
Christian seems fine this morning, but now we're on a watch for the rest of the family....
Friday, January 10, 2014
Finishg some books!
I love finishing books and so does Courtney! Today she finished her first reader in her first grade reading curriculum. It was "I Can Read It" book 1 and she also finished her second math workbook (There are five workbooks in all) We started her new math workbook today and we will start the "I Can Read it" book 2 on Monday. These both are pretty easy for her.
She has seven lessons left in her first grade phonics book. We started this at the beginning of her kindergarten year, I knew it would take about a year and a half to get through. We are going to start the next series in a couple of weeks. I am totally impressed with this phonics program! (Rod and Staff, by the way)
I don't plan on her finishing her math program this year either, it will probably take us halfway into the next year. It's ok though, it's the joy of homeschooling. :)
When we finished her math book today, she looked at me and said, "Can I have a piece of candy?"
I said, "What for??"
"Because I finished my math book!" HAHA! I should get a piece of candy for teaching her the book!!!
She has seven lessons left in her first grade phonics book. We started this at the beginning of her kindergarten year, I knew it would take about a year and a half to get through. We are going to start the next series in a couple of weeks. I am totally impressed with this phonics program! (Rod and Staff, by the way)
I don't plan on her finishing her math program this year either, it will probably take us halfway into the next year. It's ok though, it's the joy of homeschooling. :)
When we finished her math book today, she looked at me and said, "Can I have a piece of candy?"
I said, "What for??"
"Because I finished my math book!" HAHA! I should get a piece of candy for teaching her the book!!!
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Science Class
Tomorrow we are going to be learning about the Okavango Delta in Africa, it is our last day of African animals.
We are going to be doing an in-depth look at hippopotamuses!
Here are some articles for our research.
http://www.thebigzoo.com/Animals/Hippopotamus.asp
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/hippopotamus/
I may even pull up some pictures of these creatures, Megan will love the baby hippopotamus pictures!
_______________________________________________________________________
Courtney has to write a short essay tomorrow about being a veterinarian. I thought this would give her a picture of what veterinarians do during the day.
http://vetmedicine.about.com/cs/careergeneral/a/dayinthelife.htm
We are going to be doing an in-depth look at hippopotamuses!
Here are some articles for our research.
http://www.thebigzoo.com/Animals/Hippopotamus.asp
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/hippopotamus/
I may even pull up some pictures of these creatures, Megan will love the baby hippopotamus pictures!
_______________________________________________________________________
Courtney has to write a short essay tomorrow about being a veterinarian. I thought this would give her a picture of what veterinarians do during the day.
http://vetmedicine.about.com/cs/careergeneral/a/dayinthelife.htm
Enjoy the day!
Today I called school off.
We have a good reason.
We are going to spend the day with some good friends of ours who are moving away on Saturday. Boo Hoo. :(
The kids are over here playing while the movers pack up the truck.
I want to hear lots of giggling today. I want them to enjoy their day together and have fun!
We are having two other families over this afternoon, so we can have one big playdate before they leave. It will also break up the day a little bit for me and give me some adults to talk to.
And yes, the day may end with a few tears....
We have a good reason.
We are going to spend the day with some good friends of ours who are moving away on Saturday. Boo Hoo. :(
The kids are over here playing while the movers pack up the truck.
I want to hear lots of giggling today. I want them to enjoy their day together and have fun!
We are having two other families over this afternoon, so we can have one big playdate before they leave. It will also break up the day a little bit for me and give me some adults to talk to.
And yes, the day may end with a few tears....
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Going out on a limb...
Ok, I am going to express my opinion on this post.
Don't shoot me down, but this has also bothered me for years. Yes, the phrase "As long as it is healthy." How many times have you heard it or even said it to someone who was pregnant?
I think when I was pregnant with Christian, I would respond, "Even if it's not healthy, I still want it."
What if I had a baby that was not healthy? Yes, it would be heartbreaking and very hard, BUT aren't all things given for a reason? Isn't God ultimately in control of everything? Doesn't He have a plan for our lives?? Are you going to give it back if it's not healthy?? (That is always my first thought when I hear the phrase!)
I take a different slant than this author, but I think we are on the same page when it comes to that phrase.
http://liferearranged.com/2014/01/why-it-matters-when-we-rub-our-bellies-and-say-so-long-as-its-healthy/
Don't shoot me down, but this has also bothered me for years. Yes, the phrase "As long as it is healthy." How many times have you heard it or even said it to someone who was pregnant?
I think when I was pregnant with Christian, I would respond, "Even if it's not healthy, I still want it."
What if I had a baby that was not healthy? Yes, it would be heartbreaking and very hard, BUT aren't all things given for a reason? Isn't God ultimately in control of everything? Doesn't He have a plan for our lives?? Are you going to give it back if it's not healthy?? (That is always my first thought when I hear the phrase!)
I take a different slant than this author, but I think we are on the same page when it comes to that phrase.
http://liferearranged.com/2014/01/why-it-matters-when-we-rub-our-bellies-and-say-so-long-as-its-healthy/
Who wants to clean??
I have two stories here about cleaning in the last 24 hours at my house.
1. Last night I had piano lessons and during school yesterday, Christian decided to dump out the entire bucket of legos. Usually this would be fine, but when I have piano lessons, I like them all cleaned up.
Guess who did not want to clean them up?? Christian!! I worked with him to clean them up before lessons. I had him in time-out and I even vaccumed them up! (I thought this is what Matt would do AND I told Courtney I would dig them out of the vacuum cleaner.) These didn't work. He kept saying, "Courtney needs to help me." I kept responding, "Courtney didn't dump them out!!"
When piano lessons started, there were still half of them still on the floor.
After lessons, I let Matt take over. Christian didn't want to pick them up for him either. Matt informed me that I should have gotten a trash bag out and thrown them away. He said vacuuming them up isn't good for the vacuum cleaner, oh well!! anyway, Christian would pick up a few and say, "You help me." Matt said, "If I help you, I'm going to throw them away." Christian did not want this, but he did it anyway. Matt went and got a trash can and as he picked them up, he put them in the trash bag!! Christian screamed at him and tried to dump the trash can over. He was having a complete fit! Every once in awhile, matt would take the trash can out to the garage and pretend he was dumping the legos into the dumpsters. (He was really dumping them into a play dump truck.)
Eventually between Christian, Matt, and the enticement of going to Hobbytown with Matt, they all got picked up. Needless to say, half of them were either in the vacuum cleaner or in the trash can- according to Christian!
Afterwards, Matt told Christian that he was being too naughty to go to Hobbytown and that he was going to have to stay home. This didn't go over well either! Then Matt started questioning him about what he did wrong and eventually, Christian apologized and he go to go to the train store.
Hopefully he learned his lesson!!
2. One of my goals today is to get the playroom and the girls' bedroom clean. We are having some friends over to play tomorrow and it needs to be done today! The playroom had already been closed for the last week because we couldn't see the floor again.
I thought we could clean after school today, but by the time I got done with Courtney's lessons, it was only 11:30! This was about half an hour earlier than usual. She had given me quite trouble during school , I got the "I want to go to public school" and "This is tooooo hard!" plus some tears, so I wasn't happy with her already. She said one of her stories in her reader was too sad and refused to read for awhile! I was afraid that if I mentioned cleaning the playroom, I would put her into complete revolt!
But quite the opposite happened! Courtney went from mad and crying to happy! What?? She went right upstairs, turned on some music, and cleaned the entire room in 20 minutes!! Singing and dancing and cleaning!!
Maybe we should do school while we are singing, dancing, and cleaning!!
1. Last night I had piano lessons and during school yesterday, Christian decided to dump out the entire bucket of legos. Usually this would be fine, but when I have piano lessons, I like them all cleaned up.
Guess who did not want to clean them up?? Christian!! I worked with him to clean them up before lessons. I had him in time-out and I even vaccumed them up! (I thought this is what Matt would do AND I told Courtney I would dig them out of the vacuum cleaner.) These didn't work. He kept saying, "Courtney needs to help me." I kept responding, "Courtney didn't dump them out!!"
When piano lessons started, there were still half of them still on the floor.
After lessons, I let Matt take over. Christian didn't want to pick them up for him either. Matt informed me that I should have gotten a trash bag out and thrown them away. He said vacuuming them up isn't good for the vacuum cleaner, oh well!! anyway, Christian would pick up a few and say, "You help me." Matt said, "If I help you, I'm going to throw them away." Christian did not want this, but he did it anyway. Matt went and got a trash can and as he picked them up, he put them in the trash bag!! Christian screamed at him and tried to dump the trash can over. He was having a complete fit! Every once in awhile, matt would take the trash can out to the garage and pretend he was dumping the legos into the dumpsters. (He was really dumping them into a play dump truck.)
Eventually between Christian, Matt, and the enticement of going to Hobbytown with Matt, they all got picked up. Needless to say, half of them were either in the vacuum cleaner or in the trash can- according to Christian!
Afterwards, Matt told Christian that he was being too naughty to go to Hobbytown and that he was going to have to stay home. This didn't go over well either! Then Matt started questioning him about what he did wrong and eventually, Christian apologized and he go to go to the train store.
Hopefully he learned his lesson!!
2. One of my goals today is to get the playroom and the girls' bedroom clean. We are having some friends over to play tomorrow and it needs to be done today! The playroom had already been closed for the last week because we couldn't see the floor again.
I thought we could clean after school today, but by the time I got done with Courtney's lessons, it was only 11:30! This was about half an hour earlier than usual. She had given me quite trouble during school , I got the "I want to go to public school" and "This is tooooo hard!" plus some tears, so I wasn't happy with her already. She said one of her stories in her reader was too sad and refused to read for awhile! I was afraid that if I mentioned cleaning the playroom, I would put her into complete revolt!
But quite the opposite happened! Courtney went from mad and crying to happy! What?? She went right upstairs, turned on some music, and cleaned the entire room in 20 minutes!! Singing and dancing and cleaning!!
Maybe we should do school while we are singing, dancing, and cleaning!!
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Back to School!
The Ruwe clan headed back to school yesterday. It was great getting back! I have an excuse to pull myself out of bed in the morning and I am determined to stick to a better morning schedule this semester.
Here is my plan:
My alarm goes off at 7:15. Take 15 minutes to wake up. :)
Pull myself out of bed at 7:30 and wake the three children up.
Go back to my room, check email, facebook, and wait for Christian to join me in my room.
Courtney usually jumps out of bed and runs to find dad and it takes Megan awhile to wake up too and she usually joins me in my room too, so about 7:45 Christian, Megan, and I head downstairs for breakfast. I then have to holler to the basement to get Courtney to come back upstairs to eat!
Breakfast 7:45-8:15
Girls do dishes at 8:15 (Courtney unloads the dishwasher and Megan loads the dishwasher) Here is where we got into trouble sometimes last semester. Courtney often cannot figure out what she wants for breakfast, so she takes forever and once she does, it's usually eggs or something that takes awhile to make. When this would happen, we would wait for her to get done with breakfast and THEN she would unload the dishwasher. This would put us behind for the morning because Megan needs to load it and she usually needs some help from me. This puts us behind in getting ready, which makes us start school late.
My new rule: If Courtney is not done eating by 8:15, she has to do the dishes OR while she is trying to figure out breakfast, she can start putting dishes away!
8:30 Everybody goes gets dressed, brushes teeth, takes showers, whatever needs to be done.
9:00 In the kitchen and ready to start school!
Yesterday, we were right on time! I was so proud of everyone!!
After we got school started, we went right into Bible class and I tried to pick up where we left off in November. We did a Christmas devotional for December, but we had just started a new unit in our curriculum, so it was easy to recap. We did a quick craft on a Bible verse and we were done.
Once Bible class was over, I always do language arts and history with Megan and then Courtney and Christian get to play awhile. Well, Megan likes to say history and THEN language arts. We had some reading for history, so we all got comfortable in the living room. The kids playing legos and I was in the recliner, but apparently, Christian forgot how to be quiet during reading time! It was constant interruptions from him and he was in timeout quite a few times. I just wanted to read!! (Because of the constant interruptions, it took longer than usual!)
After we got done with history, we did Megan's language arts, which went smoothly. When that was done, I let her go upstairs to work on homework and it was then Courtney's turn. Here is where we ran into some trouble again with Christian!! He did not want to go play on his own and I had constant interruptions and again, he was in timeout! UGH! Courtney was also not cooperating very well! She said, "I don't want to go to school. I would rather go to public school!" No, she doesn't. :) She was a wiggle worm through and through and could not wait to get done with her work! She completely forgot what suffixes and prefixes were in phonics and was almost in tears over it. I did give her some slack because it had been two weeks, but really, it's not so bad!
By that time it was lunch and I was ready to pull my hair out!
After lunch, we had science. We learned about the Congo Rainforest in Africa and learned about goliath beetles. Even though I had it planned out, it took longer than expected and the girls were getting restless, again. Ok, plan didn't work so well. :(
Next up was Megan's math. We picked up where we left off before Christmas and things went smooth. Once we were done, she headed back upstairs to do her homework and it was Courtney's turn. Things went much better with math! We went through her flashcards and she remembered more than I expected! I was happy with it!
By about 3:30 we were done for the day! Not so bad! We have some routines we need to get back into, somebody has to remember how to entertain himself, and we need to get our brains focused back on school, but other than that, things went well!
Here is my plan:
My alarm goes off at 7:15. Take 15 minutes to wake up. :)
Pull myself out of bed at 7:30 and wake the three children up.
Go back to my room, check email, facebook, and wait for Christian to join me in my room.
Courtney usually jumps out of bed and runs to find dad and it takes Megan awhile to wake up too and she usually joins me in my room too, so about 7:45 Christian, Megan, and I head downstairs for breakfast. I then have to holler to the basement to get Courtney to come back upstairs to eat!
Breakfast 7:45-8:15
Girls do dishes at 8:15 (Courtney unloads the dishwasher and Megan loads the dishwasher) Here is where we got into trouble sometimes last semester. Courtney often cannot figure out what she wants for breakfast, so she takes forever and once she does, it's usually eggs or something that takes awhile to make. When this would happen, we would wait for her to get done with breakfast and THEN she would unload the dishwasher. This would put us behind for the morning because Megan needs to load it and she usually needs some help from me. This puts us behind in getting ready, which makes us start school late.
My new rule: If Courtney is not done eating by 8:15, she has to do the dishes OR while she is trying to figure out breakfast, she can start putting dishes away!
8:30 Everybody goes gets dressed, brushes teeth, takes showers, whatever needs to be done.
9:00 In the kitchen and ready to start school!
Yesterday, we were right on time! I was so proud of everyone!!
After we got school started, we went right into Bible class and I tried to pick up where we left off in November. We did a Christmas devotional for December, but we had just started a new unit in our curriculum, so it was easy to recap. We did a quick craft on a Bible verse and we were done.
Once Bible class was over, I always do language arts and history with Megan and then Courtney and Christian get to play awhile. Well, Megan likes to say history and THEN language arts. We had some reading for history, so we all got comfortable in the living room. The kids playing legos and I was in the recliner, but apparently, Christian forgot how to be quiet during reading time! It was constant interruptions from him and he was in timeout quite a few times. I just wanted to read!! (Because of the constant interruptions, it took longer than usual!)
After we got done with history, we did Megan's language arts, which went smoothly. When that was done, I let her go upstairs to work on homework and it was then Courtney's turn. Here is where we ran into some trouble again with Christian!! He did not want to go play on his own and I had constant interruptions and again, he was in timeout! UGH! Courtney was also not cooperating very well! She said, "I don't want to go to school. I would rather go to public school!" No, she doesn't. :) She was a wiggle worm through and through and could not wait to get done with her work! She completely forgot what suffixes and prefixes were in phonics and was almost in tears over it. I did give her some slack because it had been two weeks, but really, it's not so bad!
By that time it was lunch and I was ready to pull my hair out!
After lunch, we had science. We learned about the Congo Rainforest in Africa and learned about goliath beetles. Even though I had it planned out, it took longer than expected and the girls were getting restless, again. Ok, plan didn't work so well. :(
Next up was Megan's math. We picked up where we left off before Christmas and things went smooth. Once we were done, she headed back upstairs to do her homework and it was Courtney's turn. Things went much better with math! We went through her flashcards and she remembered more than I expected! I was happy with it!
By about 3:30 we were done for the day! Not so bad! We have some routines we need to get back into, somebody has to remember how to entertain himself, and we need to get our brains focused back on school, but other than that, things went well!
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Goliath Beetle
Back to school tomorrow...back to putting my science lessons on the blog, so I can find them again during school.
If you want to see the biggest insect on the planet, look at the goliath beetle! They live in the Congo in Africa.
http://www.itsnature.org/ground/creepy-crawlies-land/goliath-beetle/
I showed these to Matt and he said, "Can we get one?"
Are you serious??
If you want to see the biggest insect on the planet, look at the goliath beetle! They live in the Congo in Africa.
http://www.itsnature.org/ground/creepy-crawlies-land/goliath-beetle/
I showed these to Matt and he said, "Can we get one?"
Are you serious??
Friday, January 3, 2014
Last Day of vacation!
This is the last day that my children can wake up and not go to school. We are starting back on Monday and then it is full force ahead until the end of May!!
I looked at our school books today and kind of miss school. There are a few things I want to change, add, or do differently and I need to get that figured out before Monday.
1. I might do something different for Bible class. Megan was given a deck of flashcards of different people groups that do not have the Bible in their own language yet. I found some lesson plans that go along with this set of cards and may do that instead of our Bible curriculum.
2. I need some math games to play with Courtney. Flashcards every day is a little too redundant!
3. I want to add some music lessons, not just singing, but actually learning about notes and rests.
4. Megan finally finished her handwriting book before Christmas, so we need to teach her how to type now.
5. I also want to add some more reading with Courtney. She is not one to just pick up a book and read like Megan, so I might need to force her to read some more. I want to find something fun for her.
6. I am also working to try to get some service opportunities set up once a month for the kids at a local retirement home. This is something I have always wanted to do with the kids.
The girls have decided that they are going to take drama at the Homeschool Learning Center this semester, which I think will be great! Courtney is our little drama queen around here and Megan is taking it because she didn't see a better option. Neither one could decide what to take, so I forced them to make a decision. This class is at 10 am on Wednesdays, this is at a time when NONE of our friends will be at the learning center, maybe I will make some new friends too. :) My plan is to go to our class at 10 and then hit the library at 11 and be home in time for lunch. We would then have school in the afternoon.
Megan is going to continue to have ballet class on Thursday at 1:30, but this doesn't start until the third week of January.
Megan also has the option of continuing on with her Greek from last semester. Even though it won't be officially through the learning center, the teacher has offered to meet once a week at the library for a small fee. Megan is still trying to decide!
I am anxious to get started again!!! (Actually I think I am anxious to get back on a regular schedule!)
I looked at our school books today and kind of miss school. There are a few things I want to change, add, or do differently and I need to get that figured out before Monday.
1. I might do something different for Bible class. Megan was given a deck of flashcards of different people groups that do not have the Bible in their own language yet. I found some lesson plans that go along with this set of cards and may do that instead of our Bible curriculum.
2. I need some math games to play with Courtney. Flashcards every day is a little too redundant!
3. I want to add some music lessons, not just singing, but actually learning about notes and rests.
4. Megan finally finished her handwriting book before Christmas, so we need to teach her how to type now.
5. I also want to add some more reading with Courtney. She is not one to just pick up a book and read like Megan, so I might need to force her to read some more. I want to find something fun for her.
6. I am also working to try to get some service opportunities set up once a month for the kids at a local retirement home. This is something I have always wanted to do with the kids.
The girls have decided that they are going to take drama at the Homeschool Learning Center this semester, which I think will be great! Courtney is our little drama queen around here and Megan is taking it because she didn't see a better option. Neither one could decide what to take, so I forced them to make a decision. This class is at 10 am on Wednesdays, this is at a time when NONE of our friends will be at the learning center, maybe I will make some new friends too. :) My plan is to go to our class at 10 and then hit the library at 11 and be home in time for lunch. We would then have school in the afternoon.
Megan is going to continue to have ballet class on Thursday at 1:30, but this doesn't start until the third week of January.
Megan also has the option of continuing on with her Greek from last semester. Even though it won't be officially through the learning center, the teacher has offered to meet once a week at the library for a small fee. Megan is still trying to decide!
I am anxious to get started again!!! (Actually I think I am anxious to get back on a regular schedule!)
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Empty Bottles!
For awhile now, I have noticed that my children have had way TOO many bottles in their shower. I know they each have their own body wash and share a shampoo/ conditioner bottle and Christian has his own, but there were probably 15-20 bottles in their bathtub and on the floor outside of the bathtub.
I have also noticed that there is barely any left in a lot of those bottles and I always said to them to finish those bottles. Well, apparently they had been listening to me.
Last night I asked Courtney to go take a shower and she told me she didn't have any shampoo to use. I told her that there were 20 bottles in her shower! There had to surely be something in there! She repeatedly told me that those were all gone and there was really no shampoo left for her to use.
So I went upstairs to sort through these bottles!
I found 10 EMPTY body wash and shampoo bottles!!
I found two full bottles of shampoo, two full bottles of conditioner, two half bottles of shampoo/ body wash for Christian, four body wash bottles that were half to almost empty, and a couple other odd bottles.
That is at least 22 bottles!
Seriously children! Finish one bottle before you start the next one!!! Oh, and throw the old one away!!!
I have also noticed that there is barely any left in a lot of those bottles and I always said to them to finish those bottles. Well, apparently they had been listening to me.
Last night I asked Courtney to go take a shower and she told me she didn't have any shampoo to use. I told her that there were 20 bottles in her shower! There had to surely be something in there! She repeatedly told me that those were all gone and there was really no shampoo left for her to use.
So I went upstairs to sort through these bottles!
I found 10 EMPTY body wash and shampoo bottles!!
I found two full bottles of shampoo, two full bottles of conditioner, two half bottles of shampoo/ body wash for Christian, four body wash bottles that were half to almost empty, and a couple other odd bottles.
That is at least 22 bottles!
Seriously children! Finish one bottle before you start the next one!!! Oh, and throw the old one away!!!
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