It's been just over a month since I've blogged. We've been busy!
Dave was home from Iraq for two wonderful weeks. We got to spend a lot of quality time together as a family, and Dave and I got to go deer hunting a few times. Two deer and two weeks later, he had to go back to Iraq but we have some great memories.
Now, what about Legos? The girls have become obsessed with them! They lurk online looking at new sets, they look at them in the toy isles, and they want new sets for Christmas. We never had any Legos till this year when they got their first set last Christmas, and they were hooked.
I like Legos for several reasons.
1. The girls have to follow detailed directions to put together Lego sets.
2. After initially building a set, they use their imagination and rearrange the sets in hundreds of different combinations.
3. They use their imagination in playing with them and making story lines. They even have political discussions between the characters (apparently our Legos are conservative).
4. They use a camera and take stop-motion photography pictures to make "movies." They even write on the white board to make captions, like in old-fashioned black and white movies.
5. They are (mostly) durable and last for years.
What I don't like about Legos are the price (I consider them very expensive) and how they get spread all over the room (they really hurt when I step on them). Are they worth it? At this point, I'm saying yes. It falls in line with our unschooling philosophy and creativity.
This had been the year of the Lego, and for that I am glad. Webkinz were really starting to get on my nerves.
Showing posts with label Iraq. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iraq. Show all posts
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Vacation's Over
My vacation is over, and now it's time to get back to "work." I say "work" in quotes, because we're just getting back to our daily homeschool routine and enjoying a great life.
We had two wonderful weeks with Dave while he was home from Iraq. We went to Holiday World, the pool, and just plain-old hung around the house and snuggled. It was great to have Dave home to just spend time with. We all hated to see Dave leave and go back to Iraq, but we are a strong family and we will get through this as a family. When he leaves, we go through a few days of "mourning" and depression before we can feel normal again.
The girls and I are starting a new homeschooling year today...as soon as they get out of bed. I'm going to continue primarily unschooling this fall, with some math inserted here and there. I'm going to concentrate on having the girls read, reading to them, and having stealth learning opportunities available (keeping books laying around, interesting activities to do, nature exploration). We keep the TV and computer off during the day, but there are exceptions for learning games or documentaries.
This will be a year of experiments for me, as I am still learning what makes my girls tick and what inspires their passion of learning. I want to keep that learning fire going, and not dampen it with twaddle and workbooks (they get so bored with those). Wish me luck!
We had two wonderful weeks with Dave while he was home from Iraq. We went to Holiday World, the pool, and just plain-old hung around the house and snuggled. It was great to have Dave home to just spend time with. We all hated to see Dave leave and go back to Iraq, but we are a strong family and we will get through this as a family. When he leaves, we go through a few days of "mourning" and depression before we can feel normal again.
The girls and I are starting a new homeschooling year today...as soon as they get out of bed. I'm going to continue primarily unschooling this fall, with some math inserted here and there. I'm going to concentrate on having the girls read, reading to them, and having stealth learning opportunities available (keeping books laying around, interesting activities to do, nature exploration). We keep the TV and computer off during the day, but there are exceptions for learning games or documentaries.
This will be a year of experiments for me, as I am still learning what makes my girls tick and what inspires their passion of learning. I want to keep that learning fire going, and not dampen it with twaddle and workbooks (they get so bored with those). Wish me luck!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
School Homed
"The Onion" web site had a funny article about children being school-homed. If you have a minute, it's worth the tongue-in-cheek read. http://www.theonion.com/articles/increasing-number-of-parents-opting-to-have-childr,17159/
Yesterday we had a productive school day. The girls are getting over their snippy week, and they did their school work with minimum complaints. Sami is getting over the idea that she needs to do "perfect" work (darned OCD). Megan is learning not to use her whiny voice when doind school work.
My parents came over to visit the kittens (they are nearly 3 weeks old). Mom is trying to get Dad to bond with one so they can take it home when they are big enough. Good luck with that, Mom. We had some home-made pizza, and we split one beer three ways. We're such light-weights. It was so nice out that we spent some time out in the garden swing, where we got to watch a C-130 fly low overhead several times while making runs over Camp Atterbury.
Dave was still in Baghdad as of yesterday, but as I am writing this he may be at his new site in FOB Delta. Looks like a nice place to be. http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60536
Yesterday we had a productive school day. The girls are getting over their snippy week, and they did their school work with minimum complaints. Sami is getting over the idea that she needs to do "perfect" work (darned OCD). Megan is learning not to use her whiny voice when doind school work.
My parents came over to visit the kittens (they are nearly 3 weeks old). Mom is trying to get Dad to bond with one so they can take it home when they are big enough. Good luck with that, Mom. We had some home-made pizza, and we split one beer three ways. We're such light-weights. It was so nice out that we spent some time out in the garden swing, where we got to watch a C-130 fly low overhead several times while making runs over Camp Atterbury.
Dave was still in Baghdad as of yesterday, but as I am writing this he may be at his new site in FOB Delta. Looks like a nice place to be. http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60536
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Time to Start This Up Again...
Since my DH is in Iraq now, I thought this would be a good way to keep him up to date on what his homeschooling family is doing back home in Indiana. Life has been so busy, that I just haven't taken the time to add to this blog since some time in 2008. I hope this isn't the only one in 2010!
I Facebook a lot, and that has taken the place of blogging for me. The trouble with Facebook is that it leaves very little room for detail. And some of those details just aren't Facebook material.
So what has happened recently?
1. Dave has taken a civilian job in IRAQ. He will be gone about a year, but does get to come home every four months for leave. He will be working along side American soldiers. Why would someone work so far from his family? After much praying and discussion, we think that this is what God has intended for us to get us where we need to be financially, and by extension, emotionally. Stress about money is a terrible thing, even if we don't fight about it. Money stress is always lurking over our shoulders and is keeping us from being in an emotionally secure place where we can just relax and enjoy life. So temporarily we are trading our financial/emotional stress for just emotional stress. While money isn't everything, this job will get us where we need to be for the rest of our lives. If you know ANYTHING about Dave Ramsey, you know exactly what we are talking about.
We have a strong and loving marriage. We are looking at this next year as an adventure and we are not feeling sorry for ourselves. That's not to say that we won't miss each other. We definately will. But we will get through this.
2. The girls miss their Daddy (he's a real hands-on kind of Dad), but they are strong and they are adjusting well. They stress out a little easier right now, and things that normally don't bother them have been causing emotional distress ( small meltdowns). All in all, they have done remarkably well.
3. Homeschooling will continue, but I don't know if I want to continue as normal. If you know my family at all, we are half unschool/half traditional homeschool. I think I am going to kick it up a notch and see just where we can be. I dont' want to impress anyone else, or keep up with anyone else, but I think we can be further than where we are today. It will be harder, because my honey-do list is now my own to-do list, but we'll get it done.
I Facebook a lot, and that has taken the place of blogging for me. The trouble with Facebook is that it leaves very little room for detail. And some of those details just aren't Facebook material.
So what has happened recently?
1. Dave has taken a civilian job in IRAQ. He will be gone about a year, but does get to come home every four months for leave. He will be working along side American soldiers. Why would someone work so far from his family? After much praying and discussion, we think that this is what God has intended for us to get us where we need to be financially, and by extension, emotionally. Stress about money is a terrible thing, even if we don't fight about it. Money stress is always lurking over our shoulders and is keeping us from being in an emotionally secure place where we can just relax and enjoy life. So temporarily we are trading our financial/emotional stress for just emotional stress. While money isn't everything, this job will get us where we need to be for the rest of our lives. If you know ANYTHING about Dave Ramsey, you know exactly what we are talking about.
We have a strong and loving marriage. We are looking at this next year as an adventure and we are not feeling sorry for ourselves. That's not to say that we won't miss each other. We definately will. But we will get through this.
2. The girls miss their Daddy (he's a real hands-on kind of Dad), but they are strong and they are adjusting well. They stress out a little easier right now, and things that normally don't bother them have been causing emotional distress ( small meltdowns). All in all, they have done remarkably well.
3. Homeschooling will continue, but I don't know if I want to continue as normal. If you know my family at all, we are half unschool/half traditional homeschool. I think I am going to kick it up a notch and see just where we can be. I dont' want to impress anyone else, or keep up with anyone else, but I think we can be further than where we are today. It will be harder, because my honey-do list is now my own to-do list, but we'll get it done.
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