Back in the Game

  I have been gone for oh- so-long! Why? Because shortly after starting this blog I discovered that I was Pregnant! I developed severe morning sickness that lasted 24/7 for 6 months! Then the 3rd trimester brought extreme weakness and lethargy (probably due to the high blood pressure I developed during pregnancy and ultimately I had to be induced for) rendering me an almost useless human living life on my sofa! I figured meh, after I popped the baby out (which I did April 29th) then I would be able to get back to business....WRONG! Now I was rendered incapacitated because of caring for a helpless infant, plus I am now a milk bar for  not only my baby but my toddler.

 Anywhoo, that is what was going on this past year. But like I said, now I am trying to get back to my blogging, so bare with me. Today's topic is finding time to do anything, namely housework and being creative for my business. I have tried to print out an organizer but I don't find joy in filling it out but I absolutely love the idea of it.

 I have found that breaking chores up throughout the day and quickly cleaning up after everyone really helps. For example, sweeping after every meal takes less than 5 minutes, after making lunch quickly wipe up the crumbs and put things away. This helps from acquiring more to clean later, and helps keep away ants etc. Also, every morning I make all the beds and tidy up all the rooms before going downstairs with the littles to start the day. Have I mentioned how much I detest wet sink areas? So after washing my hands I'll reuse the paper towel and wipe up the area, it's even better if there is a bit of soap there, because then it becomes a mini clean. I did these kinds of things already but after reading some of the flylady's suggestions I persisted. I don't go so far as cleaning my bathroom everyday, because no one has time for that! ;)

If  I am feeling particularly creative I work on my projects here and there throughout the day while the baby naps. When my hubby gets home then I hand baby over and finish up the harder/tedious part of a project. I also use this time to finish up the rest of my chores so that we can have the rest of the evening together relaxing and watching tv together. I hate to have to do chores when I could be spending time with my husband, I really cherish our time together. I tell him that everyday I look forward to him coming home to me. He jokes that it's because he can take over baby duty, but he really has no idea how much I love his fathead :-).

My next goal is to do what a much older friend told me she did many moons ago: Set aside one day a week and make the whole weeks dinner and then freeze it all. Then every day you simply defrost the meals and you don't have to scramble around cooking. Wellll, maybe not do a whole weeks worth , but a couple of days. I have made a couple pounds of hamburger before, one night making meatloaf and then the next having spaghetti. It was wonderful because I only had to make the noodles.

What do you all do to make life a little easier?
 

On the Cheap

Remember in my last post I mentioned for history I wanted to use little passports? Well although it is a cool option I don't want to shell out the $18 + with shipping. I figured I can do it myself! I might even go so far as to mail it in a pretty package for my daughter every month so she has some mail to look forward to. Here is what I have so far, I am debating if I should do one state a week and cover the whole USA in a year for 4th and 5th grade.The first pic will be part of her introduction package, I will be laminating the map of the USA so each month she get's the card of the state she can find it on the map. She will also get stickers and maybe questions and games, and little knickknacks pertaining to the state to help the learning process. Here's the pics:

I was really wanting to use kiwibop for science since the postcards they send was about animals and the earth, but their ordering site isn't working. I informed them of the problem and they apologized and gave me a deeper discount so that I would be paying $2.99 a month for 4 postcards. But the link to get the deal wouldn't work. SO that is up in the air, I am very upset because I wanted to make sure I had my first order for the new school year. I don't want to get behind, but it looks like I might have to find something else now. I will keep you all posted. Scrambling to get this all perfected and ready to go. I'll either have to go out and buy more things for the extra two states or get real creative and do it myself.

How are you all coming along with school prep?

Homeschooling a 4th/5th Grader and a Preschooler

So that time of year is here again...prepping for the new school year, and let me tell you I am not the only one. We went to Wally World last night and ugh! Everyone and their momma was there, holding the school list and blocking the aisle, soooo annoying. If you think you can go shopping for school supplies at 10pm at night and beat the crazy train of peeps you are soooo wrong! LOL! So after a few items we are pretty much set.

My goal for this year is combining 4th and 5th grade for my child since we got a little behind, so we will be spending 5 months doing each grade this year. This will leave her 2 months off during summer, and guess what? It's totally fine! Why? Because I am in charge for once, we dumped the private home school we were using. I hated having to be accountable to someone else over what to teach and how many pages to do. The book that was being used had a lot of out dated and useless pages that were repetitious in an unhelpful way. I mean having my daughter use an adjective on 50 pages over and over isn't learning in my book, especially once it has been mastered. Now we can cover the material I feel matters and that helps her to actually learn! I still have to find a science and social studies curriculum, but so far I have an idea for science kiwibop postcards seem pretty cool! And since a lot of social studies curriculum for 4th grade is learning about geography and the state the child lives in I was considering Little Passports.

A friend of mine is going to use time4learning which is $20 a month, for her daughter. I looked into it and was pleasantly surprised at what was offered. But since I already invested in 4th grade, I won't be able to try it out until February when she starts 5th grade. It offers online learning, lesson plans, printables, and games. You are the teacher and can pick and choose like an educational buffet!

For Preschool I am going to use a lot of dollar store items mainly flash cards which I have laminated to help my toddler learn shapes, numbers, and colors. I am into laminating (of course) so I will make more file folder learning activities (check out the one I made below).I will also buy items to help reinforce this learning process. I am also looking into making a circle time board. I love the concept of circle time (Did I mention I used to be a Preschool and Toddler Teacher?). The only issue is getting little ones into the routine, and having them on a schedule, because let me tell you I am not an organized person! I go with the flow and have to make too many changes to a schedule since we have a lot that goes on in our life. I do know having a routine is important, so my goal is to have "school" early on the days we are home and then at 1pm the days we need to go and do errands etc.

I have a lot of field trip ideas to help reinforce what will be taught this year so I am really stoked, and excited for my kids!  This is how it is looking so far for my curriculum, this isn't all of it, but just to give an idea:

So that's it! What are your plans for the school year? What kind of curriculum are you going to use? :)