God Bless the Library

One of the biggest assets to a homeschooling family is the LIBRARY!

I actually don't like hauling five kidlets to the library all that often, but that makes them love it all the more.  Ours has an awesome little kiddie library with toys, games, a Thomas the Tank Engine table, weekly story hour/craft time/snacks, etc.  Sometimes we get to go see Ronald McDonald or puppet shows or other neato stuff. 

My library has an awesome website; and I am forever using it to see if they have books that I am interested in (from perusing online), to check the activity calendar, and to check my account/renew books.  I declare ~ that site has saved me a ton in overdue book fees!  I don't know how many times I've checked my account and said, "Oh my goodness!  I have 37 books due tomorrow!"  CLICK.  Thank you.  $3.70 saved.

A great thing about homeschooling is that you can go to the library during school hours when all the other kidlets are in public school, and your kids can totally rule and reign over the place.  I have even been known to let mine loose at the Thomas table while I sink into a plush chair with a book and a little suckling latched to the front of me.

My other "favorite thing" about the library is that, when my boys are bouncing-off-the-walls-driving-me-insane-full-of-energy (which is typically right about the time hubby is due home from work), I can put down my spatula and butcher knife and holler, "KIDS!  Sit your rear ends on that couch RIGHT NOW and BE QUIET!  Michael, go get the library bag and read to your brothers!!!" 

The library is such a wonderful, wholesome place for families.  ☺

Girls Night Out!

My hubby & 7 year old son headed out to a Men 4 Christ retreat this afternoon, and the "little boys" spent the night at Granny & Papa's to soothe their spirits after getting left behind... so I have just had two little ones to care for since 2:30 p.m.!

I've been thinking about (and laughing about!) how I used to be so flustered and frazzled at having to care for TWO children all the time, scarcely two years apart.  Today I've been enjoying my 1 year old and 2 year old and hauling them all over town, thinking it was so much easier than taking five kidlets on errands with me!  ☺

We went to the big feed & seed store and just looked at plants, garden stuff, etc.  Then we went to WalMart to actually buy garden stuff (it was much cheaper there), along with soccer pants for the boys, a few groceries, and some other odds & ends that keep getting shoved to the bottom of the list.

Then we came home and took a late afternoon nap ~ all 3 of us!  (Well, I didn't go to sleep, but I did lie down with the 2 year old for a while and rest.)  Then we ordered expensive take-outs with a B1G1Free Ruby Tuesday coupon.  We got Ruby Tue Go ~ Chicken Florentine and Chicken Bella.  YUM!  We ate at home and saved one of the entrees for hubby tomorrow (although we totally scarfed all the yummy mashed potatoes, broccoli, and snow peas), and then... THEN... we loaded everyone *back* into car seats and went to Dairy Queen for an Oreo Brownie Earthquake!!!  My husband will never believe my frivolity (and willingness to haul two babies back and forth to town that many times)!

It was so fun... but I'm really glad my little dates had a 7:30 bedtime.  ☺

Homeschooling Aggravation

Homeschooling with several small children underfoot can be very... challenging at times.  My first course of action and general plan is to teach my 7 year old (2nd grader) and 5 year old (kindergartener) while the little ones are napping.  But those boogers are getting worse and worse about staggering their naps!  The 1 year old and sometimes the 2 year old just can't hold out until the after-lunch nap, but the 2-year old has outgrown taking two naps a day.  Sometimes I can't get the 3 year old to wind down at all!  What's a woman to do?!

We just have to do our best and use our creativity to our advantage.  Today we brought Language Arts and Math into the living room and gave the toddlers a clipboard and colored pencils to "do school" while we caught up with our trickiest subjects.  All the read-aloud stuff won't be quite as challenging, so we'll do it after lunch while everyone listens:  Bible, history, missionary story, chapter book, and the boys' readers.  Then we will satisfactorily call it a day! 

My 7 year old has been interested in Roman numerals lately, so I printed him a chart this morning that he's been using to make complicated math problems.  The 5 year old likes to draw in his notebook, and we will all mess around in the garden later this afternoon, if it warms up.  So goes the life of a homeschooling family!  Some days are easier than others, but my children do have wonderful opportunities to learn much more than just readin', writin', and 'rithmetic.  They started their morning helping me with stuffed French toast, housework, and laundry; and they got to earn some money for their "zoo jar," too.

Now they are jumping all over my bed, acting like a bunch of monkeys, while I try to update my blog!  So goes the life of a homeschooling family...

The Boys' Play House

My 7 year old and 5 year old got the notion the other day to begin "building" a tree house.  Their progress so far:

 

They are quite proud of their work.  I'm not really sure if this is going to be the roof or the floor.  They were discussing with Daddy last night their need to borrow some of his roofing materials.  Hmmm...

At any rate, hopefully they'll know how to manage a saw and a hammer by the time they are about 10 and 12.  We'll need all the help we can get.