Work hard and get what you want!

I just wanted to blog about something that I feel VERY strong about... working hard to get what you want out of life. To me, no one gives you anything in life unless you are extremely lucky to have someone willing to help you out. But even if you have EVERYTHING handed to you  (money,trips,cars,job,etc) , you still don't have everything. You have to work and learn from your mistakes,otherwise you will never grow!  I have been lucky enough to have a loving husband for over 18 years now, that supports and helps me. We have learned many things together.. for better or worse. Our childhoods were both hard in different ways but we are hard workers and dug ourselves out!

It's just like homeschooling...I don't think it comes easy for most but the rewards are so amazing and rewarding. When Anthony learning his math facts, he struggled for a bit then he dug in and now they are no problem!! Our results from our end of the year testing, was positive to me, both boys are doing really well. Alex is out of the high school range for his reading fluency and comprehension and Anthony is 8th grade in his math! Of course, we have our weaknesses just like in everyone's life but we are getting a plan together to BEAT them this next year! I am trying to show my boys who haven't had an extremely hard life that even when your bellies are full and you have a roof over your head.. that working hard is the only way to live your lives!

Enjoying the weekend..and thanking the vets

It looks like it gonna rain but that's ok with me!! We are all having a relaxing time reading,playing and enjoying each other on this Lazy Sunday:) Since it is a three day weekend, I am sure all of you are doing the same.

 I just wanted to tell all the AWESOME vets out there, THANK YOU for risking or giving your life for my freedom. I found this great site that helps vets who were injured and I wanted to share it Wounded Warrior Project. It asks for monthly donations but you can also give a one time gift as well. There are tons of great people out there with loved ones over seas, (like my sister) who are celebrating Memorial Day without their loved one. So take the time and make sure to tell a soldier or his/her family "thank you" the next time you see them.

Unschooling it!!

After our end of the year testing, we are doing something different this summer.  For the summer, I am doing what most would consider unschooling and this is a perfect example of the boys doing just that!! We just got back from the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live Show and I can only say that it was a humbling experience to see all the artists' work. We even saw Phil Hale  a personal favorite since Shane and I began dating!  The boys really enjoyed seeing the artist of their fav card game "Magic" up there getting a few incredible artists signature on their playing cards, including Brom:) While we were there they also got to see the Bat Mobile from the movie!! Check out the picture below for the car at the show!! It was so much fun and hard work but totally worth it. Hubby did an awesome job and I am SO proud of him for putting himself and his artwork out there!! Who says that school can't be fun!!! NOT ME!

I can see it!!

I can see the finish line just around the corner... finally scheduled our EOG tests for next week. This week we (Shane and I) are getting ready for the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live Show in Kansas City, MO. So for school I have been a little relaxed in adding new things to our schedule, the boys have some review sites and worksheets that they are doing right now. I just want to make sure that they remember things that we did last summer. Since I still have tons to do for the art show, to help hubby out, I have them go onto sites that help them review everything. They are doing everything from some typing games to making flashcards for those things that I can't find sites for OR for personal favorites that they want to quiz themselves on. I personally use our EOG tests as a guideline of what we need to work on... the last couple of years it has been spelling and writing. So I am interested to see how they do this year.


I have something else to share.. Anthony was telling me about the Titanic the other day. Things about the boat that I remember talking with him about that first year of homeschooling. He was very interested in why boats sank that year, we went over a ton of them and found out all we could about different ships/boats. As he is talking I can hear Shane coming home from work and I feel like this is going to be my moment to shine.... cuz you know I need to know that they are actually listening to me right??? So before Shane comes inside I said, "Do you remember us talking about that? Wasn't that fun?"

Wait for it... "Mom, I learned that on Time4learning the other day." Then he continues to tell me everything he learned. So while I am happy that T4L is teaching him things I am wondering why oh why they don't remember us doing that together!!  HOPING that the thing special things that we are going to be doing this summer will be remembered as something they did WITH MOM!

Happy Mother's Day

Love this cartoon and wanted to share it!  For all those days when you wonder if your kids really appreciate ALL you do! Because lets face it WITHOUT  MOTHERS NONE OF US WOULD BE HERE!

Hoping my boys never have to use this chart..

Otherwise this will be what happens,LOL

I love my life and every Mother's Day that I am able to be here with them is a GREAT DAY!  Now off to eat my Mother's Day breakfast of yummy french toast!

But before I go ...

Now let me clarify something..

I was laughing by one of the comments I received from my last post about summer lessons. YES we homeschool year round, this year I am giving the boys a month (yes a whole month off) after we take our state required tests. (which I have yet to schedule, I swear its on the to do list!)  I can't believe that it is already the second weekend in May!

That month off from "school" we do camps, trips to the beach and hanging with friends ... (well from most of their lessons~music, sports, unreal engine for Alex are still a go);  then we are doing some (hopefully) fun things that we didn't get to during the school year. One is geography, which I am hoping to post about at least once a week, posts will include the geography lists for spelling, books and sites I am using, pics of how we are doing, etc. My plan is to make an unit study for other homeschoolers to use because it is always a  help to me to search for an unit study and one be already made up:) Not that I don't add my own touches to it BUT sometimes its hard to know where to start.

Ok enough rambling for one day..
off to play in the dirt!

Getting it all ready for summer classes

Are you in need of some online homework help? Especially in the area of writing? Well I am on the search for a bunch of different fun ideas for writing for the boys' summer school. I found some really cool sites with links to other sites and other resources that we will be using. Sharing them with you below... let me know if you find any others that worked for your family. ESPECIALLY any fun games..

http://www.teachkidshow.com/teach-your-child-to-write/
http://www.teachkidshow.com/teach-your-child-how-to-keep-a-journal/
http://www.cardamompublishers.com/CardamomPublishers-Teach-to-Write.pdf
http://thecurriculumchoice.com/2012/04/silly-sentence/
http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/vocabulary_games/parts-of-speech.html
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/contents_writingfiction.htm
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource_topic/teaching_writing?gclid=CJDq6Yjq668CFY_J7QodIHzy2w
http://www.funenglishgames.com/writinggames.html

Keeping my sanity.....

a rock on the path?

Nope a tiny turtle:)

where's Bambi?

There he is!!

To keep my sanity, I began jogging about 2 years ago. So when I feel cooped up or can't find what I am searching for online, I go for a run. Nice amount of nature all around me here in NC, on my run one morning this week I saw a cute little turtle and some deer grazing (and unafraid of me running by). These types of things always make me run faster "around the loop" and back to tell my nature loving kiddos about what I saw. I get bombarded with questions about the tiny turtle, hinged or not hinged, shape of his little head, etc.
I love homeschoolng my nature loving boys!!

So thinking that I am not doing enough with them that is purely physical.. Ok so the song "Lets get Physical" just popped into my head,LOL. I did do a search about homeschoolers and how they incorporate P.E. into their daily lessons. I really was impressed with everything that I found others were doing! I think that you will be too:) SO what are you doing to keep your family fit??