Dear Mommy:

Dear Mommy:

Tummy-time is dumb.

I don't like it at all,

so could you please stop

putting me on my tummy????

Love,

Audrey

Cheap wall decor.........

I have been trying to hang some things in little Audrey's room and came up with some ideas that were cheap..........yay me.....

I didn't really want to hide her blessing dress in the closet so I figured it might look kinda cute hanging on her wall. I like it there.......

I am making her crib skirt out of this dang cute fabric and had some left over. Why not put it in a frame, add a scrap of lace and call it "wall decor"??? I like how this looks. The frame here and below were given to me by a friend, so this truly was CHEAP.

Ok, this is actually the top of a dress I made for Addie several years ago and it started fraying and would not be able to worn again. So, I thought I'd just cut it up and put it in another frame. I like it; it looks kinda vintage or something......

Here is her wall just above her crib (yes, she has one FINALLY. LOL)!!! The sign was already up for Addie (it actually fits Addie's personality better than Audrey's at this point, so I might put something else there eventually). The wreath was from the same friend that gave me the frames. I am thrilled with how it looks. Sometimes the creations I create end up looking not so good and I end up taking it down. But, I do like this and LOVE that is cost me NOTHING!! So if I ever decide I don't like it anymore, I will just turn it into something else!! I love decorating
using stuff I already have. The only drawback to doing this is I don't want to get rid of things..."What could I use this for????"......."I don't want to get rid of this, I MIGHT need it"......oh dear me. If I become buried in "stuff" will you come and save me and make me make a trip to the DI, for heavens sake??? Thanks. You rock.

p.s.

I LOVE Frank Sinatra and have been listening to his cd for days........ahhhh......LOVE that era.

p.s.s.

I am not taking nearly enough pictures of Audrey. She is growing so fast. She goes to bed between 7pm and 8pm but she still wakes up every three hours from midnight on.........What in the world??? I KNOW she can sleep all night, she just won't. Oh well. At least she eats and goes right back to bed except for the 6am-ish feeding. I am a morning person anyway.........I least I think I still am.....???? :)

Throwin' in the towel...

The past few weeks....ok MONTHS have been kinda an adjustment with having a new baby and homeschooling and doing housework and my calling and on and on....Well the kids are DONE with school. The past few days they have fought me more and more each time I say "Let's get some school done". Addie cries HARD which is funny because, hello, she is in preschool and her "work" is like playing anyways. Whatev!! I have been trying to get some sewing done, make jam, prepare for trek (eeeeeee!) and on and on. I am DONE, too! I am looking forward to doing some projects that I have put off for awhile. Paint the bathroom. Sew Audrey's crib skirt. Sew some more. Maybe scrapbook. :)

Plus, I need time to read some books on how to teach my kids according to their learning styles. I recently bought two books and I need to read them before I begin this next school year. I bought: 100 Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy, which is awesome because she helps you figure our how your child best learns and helps you pick a curriculum accordingly. I also bought, Taking the Mystery out of Learning Styles by Carolyn Morrison and Jennifer Morrison Leonhard.

I need to make a GOOD schedule for next year. There is a saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". I agree. I need a plan for next year. Prayin' hard for guidance. One 4th grader, one 1st grader, one kindergartener, and one little buttercup that is 'bout as sweet as she can be. This should be interesting. I will now be adding Addie to our daily mix. Heaven help me! I am nervous but excited. Sometimes I can't believe I am homeschooling our kids. It is amazing and daunting all at once. I am just thankful I live in a land where I am free to do as I wish. LOVE it!

Well, off to summer break we go. Don't tell the kids they still have to read and do an occasional math worksheet! (Insert evil laugh, here!!) Did they really think we would do nothing of the sort ALL summer???!! Happy summer to us all!

Schedule??!!

I have read a few (wonderful) blogs lately and have enjoyed reading how others' homeschooling days go. I have a couple good friends that homeschool and the way their days go are as different as night and day. One is very strict and rigid. The other is quite lax. Their different styles work for them beautifully. Which is one of the things I LOVE about homeschooling: it can be done in so many ways, and can work just wonderfully. I have more contact with the one that is a bit more rigid and I have found myself feeling very inadequate since my day looks nothing like hers. Since I still feel kinda new at this homeschooling thing, I have doubted my ability to figure out what will work for my family. Having a new baby girl, who we all ADORE, btw, has made this worse!! :) The schedule we had going last year was working pretty well. I knew I could improve in some areas, but for the most part, I was feeling great about things. Then I got pregnant....I was sick.....I was tired.......slowly our schedule started going to pot. THEN, I had little Audrey and boy, oh boy, what a ride it has been the past few months. Trying to homeschool with a newborn has been way harder than I thought. Before I had her, I thought to myself, "She will sleep all the time and we will do school then. Piece of cake." But, I didn't count on being sooooooo TIRED. Did I mention I was really tired???? Ok. I did. We didn't have much of a schedule while I was trying to cope with being sleep deprived. We got the basics done. Three days a week. That was all I could muster. The past few weeks have been better. Audrey is getting into a more predictable sleep pattern, which has made our days better. We are finding our groove.....great now that school is almost over for the year! Shhh, don't tell my kids we will be doing "school" all summer long! LOL! You never are "all done" learning, right??!!

Here is a schedule, that is NEW and is working for us....for now!

6am- Audrey wakes up for the morning. Feed her. Change her. Kiss her. Get Will off to work. Get my bed made. Start laundry. Read my scriptures.

7:30-8:30 Put Audrey down for a morning nap. Other kids up by then. Have them eat breakfast. Read to the kids from whatever chapter book we are working on.

9:00-10:00 Let the kids play or watch TV (gasp) or play the Wii (GASP) while I work out on the treadmill. I know, I NEVER used to let them do this first thing in the morning, but I HAVE GOT to work out or I will not be a happy momma bear. (p.s. note that we are NOT starting school by 9am like we used, pre-Audrey!!! "It's OK", I keep telling myself!!!)

10:00- 11:00 Start school. I usually ask Sasha what she wants to do first since she has more to do each day. (I gotta cool off from my workout before I get in the shower!)

11:00-11:30 I get ready for the day. I usually have the kids work on a few jobs while I get ready. Empty and reload the dishwasher. Empty the garbages. Whatever. Audrey is usually up by now. Kiss her some more.

12:00- 12:30 I read aloud to the kids if I haven't already. We just finished "Mr. Popper's Penguins". CUTE book.

12:30- 1:00 lunch

1:00-3:00 School time. Kids read to me. Math. Journaling, handwriting. Whatever didn't get done in the morning. Read our library books. I get a ton of books each time we go to the library and I make sure the kids read\look at them all before we return them. Audrey usually goes back to sleep at around 2pm.

3:00-4:00 Free time. Sometimes I let them watch TV. Usually I don't. They can play outside or downstairs. Crafts are always welcome. Baking. I usually have Sasha practice the piano during the late afternoon. I am probably doing laundry......

4:00- 5:00 Make dinner. The kids take turns picking a meal and helping prepare it. This is a new thing we have been doing and I LOVE it.

Our evenings vary. Both Will and I are gone one night a week for our church callings. We play games with eachother, make treats whatever. Not much structure.

Baby in bed by 7pm, and the rest by 9pm. The end. I still have been doing "school" three days a week. The other days I run errands, do things for my calling, clean the house (with the kids' help, of course), work on sewing projects or spend time at the park. This is how our days have been going lately....not sure how long it will last. :)

What is important to me??

Lately I have been thinking a lot about what exactly is important to me in life. I only have a certain amount of time each day to do things. What will fill my time? What is truly important to me? How can I make time to do what I feel cannot be left out?

At the end of the day, will I feel that what I have done is of merit?

Homeschooling is important to me.

It takes a lot of my time.

There is much I don't do and won't likely ever

do because I have chosen this path.

What will I put off doing so that I can make sure I am doing

a good job at homeschooling?

Serving in my calling is important to me.

Magnifying my calling is a must.

Serve with all my might, mind and strength....at least try to! :)

My family is important to me.

Loving them, teaching them, having fun with them takes

a lot of my time. I am happy to give that time to them.

................................................................................

Having a perfectly decorated house is NOT that important to me.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE decorating, but alas the whole time thing......

I have rooms that might not ever be the way I want them to be.

I won't redecorate for each season......most likely.

I will just read about others doing that! :)

Looking like a super model is not that important to me.

Being fit is, but let's face it, I am not going

to do what it takes to be Mrs. Fitness USA.

Not even a reality. (So get over it, Megan!!!)

LOL. I am talking to myself on my own blog.

Weird. It is late, obviously.

Anyway, may we all figure out what means the most to each of us,

and the rest can just drift away....

I like your blogs....

(The pictures uploaded strangely this time.....just a bunch of words and symbols and I can't put captions under them.....I guess I could delete it all and try again...but not gonna happen...) Anyways......
I like your blogs. I like reading them. I read them and then I don't do anything with my own. I am not updating mine much lately am I? Why? Well, because I am busy with having 4 kids (which I am loving and say to myself sometimes, "I have 4 kids!!" Oh, and I find myself happily counting my kids periodically throughout the day...1...2...3...4!!)

I am trying to be better organized with homeschooling........been kinda hard with the whole 4 kids thing............I am trying to work out..........not going so well..........the kids love it because I tell them to go do something for 30 minutes and they usually go watch TV which is usually forbidden first thing in the morning. I have some things in my closet I'd kinda like to wear this summer. Poop. Will still likes me. Good thing.

Oh, here is something I am doing and LOVE it! The kids have one day each week where they choose what we are having for dinner and they get to help prepare it. I didn't think it would be so welcomed and loved, to be quite honest. They loved it! It was special! Seth put on his apron and made tuna patties. He loves them. A lot. Sasha made pancakes, eggs and hashbrowns. Yum. Addie made spaghetti. Yum. It is something I will be consistent with and we WILL be doing each week. I hope Seth doesn't want tuna patties every week, though. Ugh. Oh, and about the pictures: We have a Wii now and I am really good at bowling and so is Addie! HILARIOUS! So fun! The kids' messy hair cracks me up. Seth's socks are kinda dirty, actually. The weekend we got the Wii, we played it all night and first thing in the morning. Weehee! We are controling ourselves a little more now, much to the kids' disappointment! Oh, and Little Audrey is so cute, if I do say so myself. She is sleeping better and better....although last night she woke up at 2:30am and didn't go back to bed until after 4am. So, she and I watched the Jazz game. Go Jazz! :) I am so thankfull she made it here safely and I don't mind our little middle-of-the-night adventures. She is a blessing. They all are. Happy blogging! I will do better at mine....maybe....