Full-Swing

Typical chaos is in full-swing at our house.
The mornings start off with lemon water or iced coffee.
The evenings often end with foot massages and heating pads.
Somewhere in between, we're soaking up life.

The boys are doing well with school.
Although, I get a bit of whining when it's time for Latin.
And Goober's most popular question with math is, "Why do I have to show my work if I already know the answer? It seems like such a waste of time."
My oldest is now taller than me...and he points that out every single day.
He seems to be enjoying science again this year. I never know what I'm going to find on my counter.

Tootsie finds things to do when I'm working with the boys, but she's asking to participate with school activities a lot more than last year. That means Mama has to step it up. I take her to story time at the library on Tuesdays, and she absolutely loves it. I can't believe she's almost through the preschool group, though. Not sure what happened to my baby.

I have painting goals and cleaning goals and sewing goals...
But for now, I'm living in organized chaos...
And I'm good with it.

Bubblegum Blessings

The public schools in our area started back up today. The school bus zoomed by our house as my little bedhead monsters stumbled down for breakfast.

We started our school year last week, so the significance of the day did not immediately hit me...not until the day was smoothly in motion, with Tootsie watching Sesame Street and both boys quietly working on grammar and silent reading at the kitchen table.

In that sweet controlled silence, it happened. There was a sound similar to the pop of an air gun, followed by cackling and chaos. Apparently, my youngest man child was trying to blow a bubble when he literally shot his bubblegum from his puckered lips onto his reading book. He quickly returned it to his mouth, but the quiet order of the room would not return.

 I realized that while some mothers were shedding tears because their babies were spending the day in school, I would be a complete idiot not to embrace the splendid immature antics in my kitchen classroom. And so begins our year. May it be full of unexpected simple joy and interruptions and smothered in snorts and belly laughs...

Wrapping It Up

School in the House of Chaos is winding down for the year. {insert "whoopee", "woohoo", "yay"...} We'll be finishing up math, geography, and science this week. Grammar and writing will go a little longer, but I have a feeling that when the boys taste freedom...they'll charge through the remaining school work in no time!

Yesterday was such a beautiful warm and sunny day. 

I decided to let the dishes rest in the sink and fight my type A, list-making tendencies with everything I had...

We packed up the math and grammar {I didn't say I completely conquered those tendencies} and went to story time at our library. Tootsie was so excited! We haven't been there for story time in a while. The boys worked on their school work while she sang, listened to stories and shook her rhythm eggs like there was no tomorrow.

Then we took our lunch {and borrowed books} to a nearby park, and the kiddos played and increased their vitamin D levels.

Just in case you were thinking that I use my boys as baby sitters and subject them to childish activities they do not enjoy...

They had fun, too :)

One of my favorite things about homeschooling the boys this year has been watching them just be themselves. They can be children one minute, and then hold an adult conversation the next. They don't worry about fitting in or standing out. Their peers aren't the driving force making them who they are. And if their "peers" do become a problem...well, I have the power to ground them from their evening free time ;)

G'day, Mate!

We're studying Australia right now in our homeschooling adventures. Yesterday, we were talking about The School of the Air. (Many outback children, due to their remote locations, receive their lessons by high frequency two-way radios instead of attending traditional school.)

So...today, we dug out the walkie talkies.

The boys ran upstairs with their notebooks and pencils, each to their own room. Each with a walkie talkie. I stayed downstairs with my own walkie talkie...and the spelling list. They were each assigned their own channel, and I read the spelling words to them, alternating between boys. When they were finished, they sent their work down with the little mail person of the house (Tootsie). I corrected it and sent it back to them.

This was definitely the happiest spelling lesson we've had all year. 

I have a feeling we'll be doing this again;)

Conquering Mountains

The boys took a 2 1/2 hour hike with their gym class today. 

They hiked {literally climbed at some spots} to the top of a mountain in our area. 

I stayed behind with Tootsie, although I'd love to hike that trail someday. 

Dutch took his camera along and snapped a few shots of their surroundings. 

They came home with dirty jeans, scraped hands and legs, 

and the knowledge that they truly can conquer a mountain ;)

You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd

We went roller skating today. 

It was only the boys' second time out on wheels.

  It was the very first for Tootsie.

We had the entire place to ourselves for 2 1/2 hours.

I didn't fall.

But I have a feeling I'll be questioning that tomorrow.

 {Tootsie snapped this pic!}

Field Trip Friday...State Museum

We took another field trip today. While we won't be doing this every single week, we are trying to get a couple in a month. It's one of the reasons I really wanted to homeschool the boys, so it's about time I get 'em out there!

Those who truly know me will understand what a big deal today's trip was. We went to the Pennsylvania State Museum. In the city. Yes, I know Harrisburg is a far cry from New York or D.C., but trust me. It's city enough for this simple country girl. I'll take beat-up back roads over one way city streets any day! When we go downtown, Hubby drives. Unfortunately, Hubby can't take off work every time I want to take a field trip. So, I packed up my crew and headed into another dimension;) It actually wasn't that bad. We circled the block 3 or 20 times and found a sweet parking spot right beside the museum. We didn't even have to cross the street!

 After checking out the exhibits, we stopped in at Curiosity Connection. It's a discovery area within the museum designed for 1-5 year olds. Tootsie had a blast! She's already asking when we can go back. Okay, we all had a blast. {That's me down there, sitting on a pig. It wasn't real. Give me some credit.}

We just finished studying China this week, so we ate lunch at a Chinese buffet. Authentic? Not really. But the food was decent, and it was a lot of fun. All three munchkins loved it.

This is the kind of day I need to remember when I'm having a meltdown difficult day of homeschooling. :)

Have a great weekend!

Field Trip Friday

Betcha can't guess what we did today...

We decided to make it a field trip Friday. 

I packed up the old mini van with my favorite munchkins, the best mama, and my trusty camera, and we embarked on our very own bowling adventure:)

Between turns, Tootsie enjoyed "tap dancing" with her new favorite shoes and letting the blower whip through her hair.

It was a day full of smiles...

A few of these...

And a couple of these...

We came home to temperatures in the 70's, which greatly reduced our ice and snow build-up, and this amazing evening sky...

Have a great weekend!