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....
Thursday, January 9, 2014
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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