Just kidding! It's been such a long time since I posted. And so much has happened!
We went to FL, moved into the new house. Slept on mattresses on the floor for 2 weeks until we could find beds we liked. Lived out of an ice chest for a week until we could get appliances delivered. We enjoyed the beach, we spent time with the grandparents. Rick and I had a date almost every week!!!! We even went to the Hard Rock casino and 'pretend' gambled! LOL
A & B had an OK time. It was hard on B not being in her usual habitat. A, on the other hand, is completely adaptable. He just gets bored if we're not 'doing' something ALL the time. The days we were physically working on the house were tough. But we managed to do learning almost every morning and we completed his standardized test for the NC requirement. So that's very exciting and I'm proud of him for doing so well:)
We also joined the local homeschool group! What a diverse, interesting, fun group of moms and kids. We went to a couple park days and an ECO Nature Class. Both A & B made new friends and look forward to spending more time with them in the future.
The next trip will be at the end of April. A is going to the UK with his grandparents for a month. We'll be seizing that opportunity to get some more work done on the house. One kid is easier to entertain in that situation than 2. We have some really ugly wallpaper to take off, we have a bathroom to pretty much gut and start fresh. We want to enclose the carport so it can be utilized as a storage room. That requires permits from the city and the headaches that go along with it!!! But we're taking that all in stride and it'll get sone when it gets done.
In the mean time, we're here in NC enjoying the beautiful weather. The dogwoods are blooming, the bees are going NUTS!!! It's amazing. Thank you bees for pollenating my blueberries!!!!:)
Plotted out my veggie beds yesterday and look forward to planting seeds very soon.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Heading Back to Florida!
Yay!!! We got the house!!!
We're heading down to Florida this weekend to start moving things in, paint, and hopefully work out all the logistics for Nanny and Poppy to move in as well! My hope is that we can help them rent out their condo while they live in the house. It's unfortunate that they didn't try to put the condo on the market a couple years ago when they first wanted to. Trying to sell anything in FL now is next to impossible. Since we've owned a number of rental properties and we know the ropes, we think that this may be the best option for their situation.
So, it's on the road again for the family! We love it, it keeps things exciting and fresh!
Keeping the family together, experiencing what the world has to offer, doing what's best us at this very moment. That's what it's all about!
We're heading down to Florida this weekend to start moving things in, paint, and hopefully work out all the logistics for Nanny and Poppy to move in as well! My hope is that we can help them rent out their condo while they live in the house. It's unfortunate that they didn't try to put the condo on the market a couple years ago when they first wanted to. Trying to sell anything in FL now is next to impossible. Since we've owned a number of rental properties and we know the ropes, we think that this may be the best option for their situation.
So, it's on the road again for the family! We love it, it keeps things exciting and fresh!
Keeping the family together, experiencing what the world has to offer, doing what's best us at this very moment. That's what it's all about!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Ups & Downs
Let me preface this by saying -- I REALLY DO love homeschooling, REALLY!
But why, oh why, does it have to be such a struggle some days??????????????
Honestly, days like today make me want to throw in the towel. But then I tell myself, this too shall pass. The benefits far outweigh the risks! haha
Granted, A has been sick with some kind of bug for the last week. On those days, he enjoyed coloring, making paper airplanes, watching Animal Planet, and a lot of other stuff too! It's not like he didn't learn anything.
So today he felt better and I wanted to get back to some learning time. After we all wake up, have breakfast, get washed up, etc. we usually sit at the table and do some lessons. We're eclectic home learners, so it's not like I have stacks of curriculum that I demand he finish.
I pick out a few things, or I even let him pick what he would like to do.
Towards the end of our time, (mind you, it's only been about 45 minutes) he was doing his times tables video game and he LOST IT!!!
I eventually told him to get of the computer for a breather, have lunch, go outside, get some energy out!!! I was going to have him try again later in the day, but I figured, give it a day.
My struggle with this times tables thing is this...I've tried drills, I've tried flashcards, I've tried songs. When I found this video game, it was something I thought would really work. He LOVES computer games!!! He was very enthusiastic about it ---UNTIL he reached level3! He also realized that he had to get all the way throught the 12's!!! I think he feels this is going to go on forever!
I'm torn between giving him a break and making him stick to it!
AAAHHHH, the joys of homeschooling:) Tomorrow's another day, right?
But why, oh why, does it have to be such a struggle some days??????????????
Honestly, days like today make me want to throw in the towel. But then I tell myself, this too shall pass. The benefits far outweigh the risks! haha
Granted, A has been sick with some kind of bug for the last week. On those days, he enjoyed coloring, making paper airplanes, watching Animal Planet, and a lot of other stuff too! It's not like he didn't learn anything.
So today he felt better and I wanted to get back to some learning time. After we all wake up, have breakfast, get washed up, etc. we usually sit at the table and do some lessons. We're eclectic home learners, so it's not like I have stacks of curriculum that I demand he finish.
I pick out a few things, or I even let him pick what he would like to do.
Towards the end of our time, (mind you, it's only been about 45 minutes) he was doing his times tables video game and he LOST IT!!!
I eventually told him to get of the computer for a breather, have lunch, go outside, get some energy out!!! I was going to have him try again later in the day, but I figured, give it a day.
My struggle with this times tables thing is this...I've tried drills, I've tried flashcards, I've tried songs. When I found this video game, it was something I thought would really work. He LOVES computer games!!! He was very enthusiastic about it ---UNTIL he reached level3! He also realized that he had to get all the way throught the 12's!!! I think he feels this is going to go on forever!
I'm torn between giving him a break and making him stick to it!
AAAHHHH, the joys of homeschooling:) Tomorrow's another day, right?
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Learning to let go and move on
The entire last post was for nothing!!!
The house we were so excited to get ended up being a complete mess! The inspection report revealed that there is extensive mold, termites, plumbing and electrical problems. The 'cosmetic' work that had already been done, was so good that you would never suspect these kinds of issues INSIDE the walls! Thank goodness for inspectors!
It really is a blessing, because major remodeling is NOT what we want or need!
It's been a very good lesson for me. Sometimes I get so caught up in the planning. I had the paint and the floors picked out already! I was starting to put my heart into it. Not a smart thing to do in this kind of situation:)
Oh well.
So thankfully while we were in FL we had looked at another house, to have for a back-up in case this very thing might happen!! It's gone very smoothly so far. They accepted our offer, we've signed the contracts and the inspector goes in this Tues. I'm keeping my fingers crossed but I'm not holding my breath!!
I'll start picking out paint colors once it's actually OURS!:)
To update the homeschooling adventure:
A has been doing a lot of sketching and playing guitar.
Working on a lot of Language Arts too, including silent letters, pre-fixes and suffixes.
He loves to do science on the I Know That website.
He's been taking a break from his times tables. Frustration was becoming a problem, so I told him to come back to it when he's ready.
The house we were so excited to get ended up being a complete mess! The inspection report revealed that there is extensive mold, termites, plumbing and electrical problems. The 'cosmetic' work that had already been done, was so good that you would never suspect these kinds of issues INSIDE the walls! Thank goodness for inspectors!
It really is a blessing, because major remodeling is NOT what we want or need!
It's been a very good lesson for me. Sometimes I get so caught up in the planning. I had the paint and the floors picked out already! I was starting to put my heart into it. Not a smart thing to do in this kind of situation:)
Oh well.
So thankfully while we were in FL we had looked at another house, to have for a back-up in case this very thing might happen!! It's gone very smoothly so far. They accepted our offer, we've signed the contracts and the inspector goes in this Tues. I'm keeping my fingers crossed but I'm not holding my breath!!
I'll start picking out paint colors once it's actually OURS!:)
To update the homeschooling adventure:
A has been doing a lot of sketching and playing guitar.
Working on a lot of Language Arts too, including silent letters, pre-fixes and suffixes.
He loves to do science on the I Know That website.
He's been taking a break from his times tables. Frustration was becoming a problem, so I told him to come back to it when he's ready.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Will it happen?
Who knows! I'm referring to the closing of our (but NOT ours) house in Florida!
We were supposed to close on Jan. 15. Well that obviously didn't happen! There have been a lot of glitches with the electric meter. For one, it wasn't there!!! It was vandalized or something. So the owner had to have a new one installed, which required pulling a permit with the city! After that was accomplished, they had to get an electritian our to hook-up the electic and get it turned on with FPL!!! For some reason this takes 3 weeks!!!!
Anyway, the electric IS ON as of yesterday. We hope to get it inspected in the next couple days,
get the paperwork to our lawyer and hopefully close on Wed., the 28th. And we're trying to accomplish all this from 800 miles away. Thank goodness my husband is a very organized person:) And he doesn't get easily frustrated.
The plan is to have Rick's parents move out of their tiny condo and into the house. They need more room to 'be' happy! If we can help them do that, then we'll be happy as well.
Keeping our fingers crossed and saying a prayer.
We were supposed to close on Jan. 15. Well that obviously didn't happen! There have been a lot of glitches with the electric meter. For one, it wasn't there!!! It was vandalized or something. So the owner had to have a new one installed, which required pulling a permit with the city! After that was accomplished, they had to get an electritian our to hook-up the electic and get it turned on with FPL!!! For some reason this takes 3 weeks!!!!
Anyway, the electric IS ON as of yesterday. We hope to get it inspected in the next couple days,
get the paperwork to our lawyer and hopefully close on Wed., the 28th. And we're trying to accomplish all this from 800 miles away. Thank goodness my husband is a very organized person:) And he doesn't get easily frustrated.
The plan is to have Rick's parents move out of their tiny condo and into the house. They need more room to 'be' happy! If we can help them do that, then we'll be happy as well.
Keeping our fingers crossed and saying a prayer.
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