Today was a rather down day.
Got up latish, after 8. Took a while to get everyone up and going. I started at 9:10 a.m. and I was still nagging and pushing at 10:20. We got out the door with gerbils in tow. We took them to the pet store and then went on to St. Mark where I had my unsuccessful meeting with the RE directors. I had a thumping headache as I left. It got worse as we visited McDonald's for lunch. The food was awful. We stopped again at the pet store to get the live feed fish for R's lionfish. Came home, I was feeling sick to my stomach. I shooed the kids off to various screen distractions while I took Advil and tried to not throw for the next couple hours. B went over to the neighbor's to play during this time. After I felt better, I took a shower. Then I had to talk to M. about the RE/spiritual adoption stuff. During all this H and W came home along with their friend J who hung out here for about an hour. I spent an inordinate amount of time just reading blogs and surfing the net. I meant to do some subjects with J but didn't.
He did finish The Cay yesterday which was good. He also practiced piano tonight. S has been talking obsessively about skateboarding his new passion. People got hungry around 5 and I realized that the dinner I was planning was not going to be welcomed by anybody. So I went to the Noodle company and got carry out. Came home, ate, cleaned the kitchen, read The Little White Horse to J, S and B. Then S put on Oliver (the movie musical). I vegged in front of my laptop in a most unproductive and lazy manner. I am really in a slump. R came home, very, very tired. He started to put together my Bible stand, read Henry and Ribsy to B and S.
W is writing a letter to some protestant youth retreat leader he met at the ski trip. They are arguing apologetics via the internet. Ooh, boy!
H went to a dance at Trinity. I want to go to bed early and finish Children of Men.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Thursday 1/3
A.M.
Woke before 8 even though I stayed up late reading and then had to deal with acid reflux during the night.
Got up, got tea and then started writing my book. J came down and asked if he could play on the wii until 9, a few minutes later S came down and followed suit. I wrote and wrote until I realized it was 9:20! Uh oh!
It took about 20 minutes to get B to stir. R was showering and getting ready for work. W and H and on their ski trip.
Had cereal and yogurt for breakfast.
Gathered kids and books and went downstairs to stage. Sang songs: Father Abraham and Rise and Shine. Fun songs but I have a feeling they'll get old quickly. B wanted to do All Around the Mulberry Bush as well.
Mental math - B was just adding and subtracting in her head. S was learning the difference between A.M. and P.M. J had one which involved multiplying huge numbers, figuring out how many possibilities for letters and numbers on license plates. All our brains felt rusty from the break.
B went on to write up her own addition and subtraction problems on the little white board. J worked on Saxon worksheet for fraction-decimal-percentage conversions. He got 3/4's through and gave up, now he's working on a Lesson 109. He's having trouble focusing.
B wants to play school. I keep having to give her assignments. I assigned her 5 spelling words which she printed out in a new notebook. She wanted me to grade her. I gave her a B+ and told her she'd get an A if she remembered to keep the letters lower case.
S did very well in LLATL. We review spelling words: follow, swallow, pillow, etc. Then he read through a little assignment where he reads rows of words and picks out which doesn't fit. This is a really good exercise for him and he thinks it's fun. After that he practiced cursive U's and S's for about 2 minutes.
He was doing his music theory homework and writing up a little melody he's just come up with. B wants me to come down again to teach her reading, must go!
VT is at 12:30 today.
10:01 p.m.
Made chix nuggets for lunch and we ate them on the way to VT. J stayed home and played vg's. Came back, B and S watched Arthur while I showered then worked with J on Classical Writing. Long, slow afternoon. I had to do stuff for Spiritual Adoption so I worked on that. I don't even know what J and S were doing. B was playing on pbskids for a long time.
By the time I finished the Respect Life stuff it was too late to go to Curves and make the dinner I wanted to make.
Cooked dinner, roasted veggies, meatloaf and rolls.
Read a lot of The Little White Horse aloud. J practiced piano. B and S played with playdoh for a while, then we said prayers.
B is listening to Beatrix Potter stories in bed. S is up in his room now. J is reading some more of The Cay, the book I assigned him yesterday.
R is working late. I'm supposed to go to holy hour at 11:00 p.m. I hope he gets home soon. I don't like to go out with just J and the little ones here.
Woke before 8 even though I stayed up late reading and then had to deal with acid reflux during the night.
Got up, got tea and then started writing my book. J came down and asked if he could play on the wii until 9, a few minutes later S came down and followed suit. I wrote and wrote until I realized it was 9:20! Uh oh!
It took about 20 minutes to get B to stir. R was showering and getting ready for work. W and H and on their ski trip.
Had cereal and yogurt for breakfast.
Gathered kids and books and went downstairs to stage. Sang songs: Father Abraham and Rise and Shine. Fun songs but I have a feeling they'll get old quickly. B wanted to do All Around the Mulberry Bush as well.
Mental math - B was just adding and subtracting in her head. S was learning the difference between A.M. and P.M. J had one which involved multiplying huge numbers, figuring out how many possibilities for letters and numbers on license plates. All our brains felt rusty from the break.
B went on to write up her own addition and subtraction problems on the little white board. J worked on Saxon worksheet for fraction-decimal-percentage conversions. He got 3/4's through and gave up, now he's working on a Lesson 109. He's having trouble focusing.
B wants to play school. I keep having to give her assignments. I assigned her 5 spelling words which she printed out in a new notebook. She wanted me to grade her. I gave her a B+ and told her she'd get an A if she remembered to keep the letters lower case.
S did very well in LLATL. We review spelling words: follow, swallow, pillow, etc. Then he read through a little assignment where he reads rows of words and picks out which doesn't fit. This is a really good exercise for him and he thinks it's fun. After that he practiced cursive U's and S's for about 2 minutes.
He was doing his music theory homework and writing up a little melody he's just come up with. B wants me to come down again to teach her reading, must go!
VT is at 12:30 today.
10:01 p.m.
Made chix nuggets for lunch and we ate them on the way to VT. J stayed home and played vg's. Came back, B and S watched Arthur while I showered then worked with J on Classical Writing. Long, slow afternoon. I had to do stuff for Spiritual Adoption so I worked on that. I don't even know what J and S were doing. B was playing on pbskids for a long time.
By the time I finished the Respect Life stuff it was too late to go to Curves and make the dinner I wanted to make.
Cooked dinner, roasted veggies, meatloaf and rolls.
Read a lot of The Little White Horse aloud. J practiced piano. B and S played with playdoh for a while, then we said prayers.
B is listening to Beatrix Potter stories in bed. S is up in his room now. J is reading some more of The Cay, the book I assigned him yesterday.
R is working late. I'm supposed to go to holy hour at 11:00 p.m. I hope he gets home soon. I don't like to go out with just J and the little ones here.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Back to journalling the days! 1/2/08
2:53 p.m.
Woke after 8 a.m. to the sound of construction. The builders took Christmas week which was very nice, but it looks like they are back on the job!
Said rosary; W joined me for the last decade. H got up early and was watching House on the pc. She's on a real House kick lately.
Got other kids up. J and S took showers. Made toaster waffles for everybody. J was cute and asked her permission to play videogames by standing at attention and saluting smartly. "Permission to play videogames, sir!" So I said yes, but he said he was going to tidy the sitting room area first since he made a new years resolution to do more good deeds.
Both teens packed and got ready for the ski trip. Their friend Joe came over around 11 a.m. He's going with them. They ate lunch and played with B. Then they left to caravan up to Seven Springs with another family who's also going. it's the annaul homeschool ski trip for high schoolers. I prayed H would drive safely and get them all there in one piece. It's a 4.5 hour drive.
Before they left they were watching Are you Smarter than a 5th grader on the pc. Tony Hawk was the contestant. That got S on a jag about skateboarding. He got 2 skateboard video games for Christmas. So he put on his helmet and went outside with the skateboard and tried to teach himself an 'ollie' for a while. I overheard a dicussion about prime numbers and factors and such. There's math for the day!
J played lots of wii boxing. I had to cancel VT because J wanted to start up guitar lessons and both teens were gone. I didn't want to leave J home alone with the guitar teacher. He's getting his first lesson right now.
B is watching Dora right now. She's been coloring off and on all day. She got lots of coloring books for Christmas. She loves to color.
I've been trying to type out my thoughts on Catholic Unschooling down for myself. Spent a while on that this a.m. Also showered and tidied kitchen. And feeding and interacting with kids over various things. S has been trying to make up card tricks and I'm the guinea pig.
Rest of day: need to tidy up stage area of basement so we can start our regular routine. meant to do that today but forgot that the teens going away would take up the morning. Also, S and B have their gymnastics class tonight.
Dinner with be frozen fish fillets/scallops, rice and steamed frozen veggies. Since H isn't here I don't have anyone to take J to chess club, though frankly I"m not sure if it is on today.
Tonight: at dinner, read The Little White Horse. R is reading Henry and Ribsy to B and S. J has been reading comic books for the past 3 weeks, I'm going to assign him a book to start on today.
Woke after 8 a.m. to the sound of construction. The builders took Christmas week which was very nice, but it looks like they are back on the job!
Said rosary; W joined me for the last decade. H got up early and was watching House on the pc. She's on a real House kick lately.
Got other kids up. J and S took showers. Made toaster waffles for everybody. J was cute and asked her permission to play videogames by standing at attention and saluting smartly. "Permission to play videogames, sir!" So I said yes, but he said he was going to tidy the sitting room area first since he made a new years resolution to do more good deeds.
Both teens packed and got ready for the ski trip. Their friend Joe came over around 11 a.m. He's going with them. They ate lunch and played with B. Then they left to caravan up to Seven Springs with another family who's also going. it's the annaul homeschool ski trip for high schoolers. I prayed H would drive safely and get them all there in one piece. It's a 4.5 hour drive.
Before they left they were watching Are you Smarter than a 5th grader on the pc. Tony Hawk was the contestant. That got S on a jag about skateboarding. He got 2 skateboard video games for Christmas. So he put on his helmet and went outside with the skateboard and tried to teach himself an 'ollie' for a while. I overheard a dicussion about prime numbers and factors and such. There's math for the day!
J played lots of wii boxing. I had to cancel VT because J wanted to start up guitar lessons and both teens were gone. I didn't want to leave J home alone with the guitar teacher. He's getting his first lesson right now.
B is watching Dora right now. She's been coloring off and on all day. She got lots of coloring books for Christmas. She loves to color.
I've been trying to type out my thoughts on Catholic Unschooling down for myself. Spent a while on that this a.m. Also showered and tidied kitchen. And feeding and interacting with kids over various things. S has been trying to make up card tricks and I'm the guinea pig.
Rest of day: need to tidy up stage area of basement so we can start our regular routine. meant to do that today but forgot that the teens going away would take up the morning. Also, S and B have their gymnastics class tonight.
Dinner with be frozen fish fillets/scallops, rice and steamed frozen veggies. Since H isn't here I don't have anyone to take J to chess club, though frankly I"m not sure if it is on today.
Tonight: at dinner, read The Little White Horse. R is reading Henry and Ribsy to B and S. J has been reading comic books for the past 3 weeks, I'm going to assign him a book to start on today.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Wednesday 12/5
This is a recap. I forgot to journal.
A.M. It snowed yesterday.
B - played in the snow a lot and came in for hot cocoa a lot. She also did lots of gymnastics off the couch in basement and watched TV. She was happy all day. I gave her a hot bath in the evening after she came in freezing. She helped H bake chocolate chip cookies in the evening.
S - was in a bad mood most of the day. He went out and played in the snow in the afternoon. He played piano, did gymnastics, watched TV, read Calvin and Hobbes. He played some Spider solitaire on the computer. He's getting quite good at it. I read him the next chapter of The White Horse which he is really loving.
J - stayed in his pjs all day. In the a.m. he finished up the last book in the Hitchhikers "Trilogy" He was in a fog from his marathon reading of that this week. He spent much time on the xbox upstairs or playing addicting games on the web or listening to music from itunes. In the evening I made him work on his history workbook. He did it and liked the fact that he had to draw a scimitar.
W - I can't remember what W did in the a.m. I think he just wandered around. He's doing very well with his Advent ban on games. He's reading a lot at websites like Catholic Answers. He practiced guitar a lot and then had a very long lesson with the guitar teacher. Mostly he played guitar! In the evening, he did 45 minutes of Latin. We said a rosary together around 9 pm. He was so bummed because he couldn't go to CLC due to the snow.
H - was trying to finish up with preparations for our St. Nick show which we wound up cancelling due to the snow. She intrepidly went out in the snow and ran all kinds of errands but then got stuck on the hill by her friends house where she was picking up table clothes. R had to go get her. She had to abandon her car. She made choc chip cookies in the evening but accidently put too much baking soda in them so they were okay but had a sort of metallic, salty aftertaste to them. She was heartily bummed!
R worked from home yesterday. We did our Advent calendar at lunch. And our Jesse Tree and Menorah at about 8:00 p.m. I made tacos for dinner which everybody loved (except R who hates Mexican food!).
A.M. It snowed yesterday.
B - played in the snow a lot and came in for hot cocoa a lot. She also did lots of gymnastics off the couch in basement and watched TV. She was happy all day. I gave her a hot bath in the evening after she came in freezing. She helped H bake chocolate chip cookies in the evening.
S - was in a bad mood most of the day. He went out and played in the snow in the afternoon. He played piano, did gymnastics, watched TV, read Calvin and Hobbes. He played some Spider solitaire on the computer. He's getting quite good at it. I read him the next chapter of The White Horse which he is really loving.
J - stayed in his pjs all day. In the a.m. he finished up the last book in the Hitchhikers "Trilogy" He was in a fog from his marathon reading of that this week. He spent much time on the xbox upstairs or playing addicting games on the web or listening to music from itunes. In the evening I made him work on his history workbook. He did it and liked the fact that he had to draw a scimitar.
W - I can't remember what W did in the a.m. I think he just wandered around. He's doing very well with his Advent ban on games. He's reading a lot at websites like Catholic Answers. He practiced guitar a lot and then had a very long lesson with the guitar teacher. Mostly he played guitar! In the evening, he did 45 minutes of Latin. We said a rosary together around 9 pm. He was so bummed because he couldn't go to CLC due to the snow.
H - was trying to finish up with preparations for our St. Nick show which we wound up cancelling due to the snow. She intrepidly went out in the snow and ran all kinds of errands but then got stuck on the hill by her friends house where she was picking up table clothes. R had to go get her. She had to abandon her car. She made choc chip cookies in the evening but accidently put too much baking soda in them so they were okay but had a sort of metallic, salty aftertaste to them. She was heartily bummed!
R worked from home yesterday. We did our Advent calendar at lunch. And our Jesse Tree and Menorah at about 8:00 p.m. I made tacos for dinner which everybody loved (except R who hates Mexican food!).
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Tuesday 12/4 Happy Hanukkah (at sundown!)
R got up early to take his car in to be tuned. Woke up and read article on Paradise Lost. Very interesting and really made me think about Philip Pullman and Calvinism, etc.
H and W got up early and went to Mass and then took Chem exam. W got 87 and H got 99.
I basically let B and S play all day. They are getting pretty bored with no structure for them for most of the day.
J practiced piano, read next chapter in history and went over questions in his catechism. Then he played lots of computer games.
I finished reading essay. Never said rosary. Got lunch going and then had Brit Lit and Hist. class which we haven't had for two weeks. Had a really interesting discussion about Milton. Watched next in dvd on Brit Hist on Charles I. Then we made scones, discussed Milton more and then listened to the first 15 minutes of book I.
Now I need to run to store to get latkes! I can hear W picking out the carol of the bells on the guitar. He's good!
H and W got up early and went to Mass and then took Chem exam. W got 87 and H got 99.
I basically let B and S play all day. They are getting pretty bored with no structure for them for most of the day.
J practiced piano, read next chapter in history and went over questions in his catechism. Then he played lots of computer games.
I finished reading essay. Never said rosary. Got lunch going and then had Brit Lit and Hist. class which we haven't had for two weeks. Had a really interesting discussion about Milton. Watched next in dvd on Brit Hist on Charles I. Then we made scones, discussed Milton more and then listened to the first 15 minutes of book I.
Now I need to run to store to get latkes! I can hear W picking out the carol of the bells on the guitar. He's good!
Monday, December 3, 2007
Monday 12/3/07
R got up very early to drive to Baltimore to see his mom and brothers while dad is undergoing operation.
Things to do today:
Lots of prayer
Follow morning routine
Grades tests
Plan for RE
Curves - must go to Curves!
Laundry - boys especially
Math tutor this a.m.
Advent stuff
Chanukah stuff
Buy little candy canes for St. Nick
Have B and S go over play roles
Have H go over whose already signed up - how to make program
Need to plan for Chanukah dinner, early
Need to plan what to make for St. Nick potluck
10:55 a.m.
Said rosary for Grandad, all except W who had lots of math homework to finish up.
J didn't finish math homework before tutor arrived because he was too busy reading Douglas Adams book. W is in study alternately doing math and playing guitar. H took a shower this a.m. No idea what else she's been doing.
B and S - we sang Chanukah songs and recounted the story of Chanukah which S had mixed up with Passover. I read Zlateh the Goat which is a lovely story. Did mental math. B acted out number sentence of 6 - 1 equals 5 using pebbles then I wrote the sentence both ways. S did lots of fancy counting by 100s, 25s, tens and 5s with big numbers for example count by 5's from 135 to 250. Then we did 5 new spelling words, follow, pillow, shadow, etc and a little bit of cursive practice. B set up her playhouse as a grocery store and we played store for a bit.
Need to remember to do : Advent calendar and Jesse tree which we didn't do at breakfast. Also, do paradigm sheets for Latin with J. I think we'll focus on that for Advent. Also want B to read to me and S as well.
J and I went over all the conjugations, declensions and pronouns we've learned so far. We are just going to fill out the template pages during Advent to get this stuff drilled into our heads. B brought the little tv up stairs and wanted to watch movies in her room. I told she could now but tonight instead of watching a movie while mom and H are at RE she and S would have to listen to their story cds then.
Did Advent calendar and Jesse Tree at lunch time. I am very grouchy and sleepy. I think I am going to lay down for 20 minutes then get up and plan my RE class for tonight.
Things to do today:
Lots of prayer
Follow morning routine
Grades tests
Plan for RE
Curves - must go to Curves!
Laundry - boys especially
Math tutor this a.m.
Advent stuff
Chanukah stuff
Buy little candy canes for St. Nick
Have B and S go over play roles
Have H go over whose already signed up - how to make program
Need to plan for Chanukah dinner, early
Need to plan what to make for St. Nick potluck
10:55 a.m.
Said rosary for Grandad, all except W who had lots of math homework to finish up.
J didn't finish math homework before tutor arrived because he was too busy reading Douglas Adams book. W is in study alternately doing math and playing guitar. H took a shower this a.m. No idea what else she's been doing.
B and S - we sang Chanukah songs and recounted the story of Chanukah which S had mixed up with Passover. I read Zlateh the Goat which is a lovely story. Did mental math. B acted out number sentence of 6 - 1 equals 5 using pebbles then I wrote the sentence both ways. S did lots of fancy counting by 100s, 25s, tens and 5s with big numbers for example count by 5's from 135 to 250. Then we did 5 new spelling words, follow, pillow, shadow, etc and a little bit of cursive practice. B set up her playhouse as a grocery store and we played store for a bit.
Need to remember to do : Advent calendar and Jesse tree which we didn't do at breakfast. Also, do paradigm sheets for Latin with J. I think we'll focus on that for Advent. Also want B to read to me and S as well.
J and I went over all the conjugations, declensions and pronouns we've learned so far. We are just going to fill out the template pages during Advent to get this stuff drilled into our heads. B brought the little tv up stairs and wanted to watch movies in her room. I told she could now but tonight instead of watching a movie while mom and H are at RE she and S would have to listen to their story cds then.
Did Advent calendar and Jesse Tree at lunch time. I am very grouchy and sleepy. I think I am going to lay down for 20 minutes then get up and plan my RE class for tonight.
Weekend 12/1-12/2
Pretty good weekend! Sat. was very low keyed. But I managed to do some laundry, put up Advent calendar, Jesse Tree and get out Advent Wreath.
H took the SAT in the a.m. and then spent most of the afternoon and evening hanging out with friends and Christmas shopping.
J and S had their piano lessons. We are trying to hook up the keyboard to the computer downstairs so S can compose.
W played lots of video games. It was his last hurrah because he's giving them up for Advent.
B hung out and was her usually busy self. She entered a contest on tv to make the wackiest sandwhich. She had fun compiling it and enlisted me to take pictures of it for her.
R slept in, fooled around on the computers. Ran errands. At night, he took the kids to dinner at the diner. I stayed home, for some reason my stomach was uneasy. I watched The Jewelers Shop. It was okay. I bet the play is better.
Sunday - I cleaned out the fridge. We went to breakfast. R watched news shows. We are starting to be interested in Mike Huckabee. Watched Redskins lose.
I went grocery shopping. H went to 8:15 mass, breakfast with friends. Came home for a little bit. Went to see friend in ballet, went to youth mass music practice. Hardly saw her all weekend.
J and W reluctantly did math homework.
Gerbils had babies. Oh my!
R sent in B's photo to the contest. Had dinner then rushed to mass. Afterwards J, W and H stayed to pack stuff for Iraqi children.
W had to do more math until 11:00 p.m. because he'd procrastinated so.
R went to bed early because he's going to see Dad at hospital Monday.
H took the SAT in the a.m. and then spent most of the afternoon and evening hanging out with friends and Christmas shopping.
J and S had their piano lessons. We are trying to hook up the keyboard to the computer downstairs so S can compose.
W played lots of video games. It was his last hurrah because he's giving them up for Advent.
B hung out and was her usually busy self. She entered a contest on tv to make the wackiest sandwhich. She had fun compiling it and enlisted me to take pictures of it for her.
R slept in, fooled around on the computers. Ran errands. At night, he took the kids to dinner at the diner. I stayed home, for some reason my stomach was uneasy. I watched The Jewelers Shop. It was okay. I bet the play is better.
Sunday - I cleaned out the fridge. We went to breakfast. R watched news shows. We are starting to be interested in Mike Huckabee. Watched Redskins lose.
I went grocery shopping. H went to 8:15 mass, breakfast with friends. Came home for a little bit. Went to see friend in ballet, went to youth mass music practice. Hardly saw her all weekend.
J and W reluctantly did math homework.
Gerbils had babies. Oh my!
R sent in B's photo to the contest. Had dinner then rushed to mass. Afterwards J, W and H stayed to pack stuff for Iraqi children.
W had to do more math until 11:00 p.m. because he'd procrastinated so.
R went to bed early because he's going to see Dad at hospital Monday.
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