Monday, August 27, 2012

a day in the life of our homeschool - '12-'13

Our day is incredibly flexible, in the past because of my class schedule, but now b/c of our newest addition, Cuatro.  Our day starts with breakfast and then daily chores.  The girls have daily checklists and they can work on their projects in any order.  When R2 and Cuatro are napping we use that time to do our history story and project (2x a week).  We read a science non-fiction book and they illustrate and dictate what they learned (2x a week).  We work on a keepers badge project, a lesson in responsibility, art project each once a week.  We read aloud a chapter or picture book every day.
The other subjects include vocabulary, math, spelling, phonics, journal writing, Bible reading, and silent reading of their choice.  Most days take us 1 1/2 - 3 hours to complete.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

another new ride

Boo and I went shopping for LE's birthday.  She had something very specific in mind to get her and I would find it at the store that had white walls and the doors swish open.  SO, we did not find that special something and I walked aisles and aisles of girl's toys at 2 different white-walled stores and was pretty disgusted at prices and selections of what a seven year old girl would play with.  I finally gave up and asked Boo if we could take Daddy to help us.  I had selfish motives and don't want any more dolls to pick up.  The girls have been riding 12" bikes for years and we knew they had outgrown them, but didn't realize by how much.  LE needed an 18" bike and Boo needed 16".  LE picked an Hawaiian turquoise and Boo picked a pink and lavender polka dot bike.

Monday, August 20, 2012

seven

I cannot believe my baby turned seven yesterday.  I am not sure why this age was such a big deal to me, but it was a tough one to swallow.  I think it was b/c I taught first grade when I taught private school and the kids always seemed so big when they promoted to 2nd grade.  My baby girl begins 2nd grade (or she has already began if you ask her) in a few short weeks and I fight the tears every time I think about it.
She started the day by waking up to a floor full of balloons and streamers hung from her bedroom door.  Daddy made her blueberry muffins for breakfast and we all got dressed in our best outfits for a special lunch.  One of my ladies from the gym came over to sit with R2 and Harrison while we had lunch at a fancy restaurant, Cheesecake Factory.
The girls used their very best manners.  LE ordered sliders with fries and Boo had cheese pizza.  Afterwards the birthday girl picked a hot fudge sundae for dessert and Boo shared a slice of plain cheesecake with fresh strawberries with Mama and Daddy.
After lunch, we made a stop by Toys R Us for her birthday present.  Separate post coming soon.
Happy Birthday Big Girl!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Monday, August 13, 2012

He's Here!

Benjamin "Harrison" is finally here.  August 7th, 12:35 p.m. 8 pounds 3 ounces (biggest Richards baby), 21 1/4 inches long, and a head full of black hair.

I woke up about 1:30 a.m. with strong inconsistent contractions on Tuesday morning.  After a couple hours of timing the contractions, I was finally able to go back to sleep.  At 6:00 a.m. I woke up and the contractions were still rather strong and were steadily six minutes apart.  I woke Daddy up and I took a shower, by the time I got out of the shower, the contractions stopped.  Daddy went back to sleep, but  I went downstairs and made me some toast and turned on the Olympics.  A few minutes before 8 am I woke Ben up for work and I fell back asleep.  At 8:33 a.m. I was awoken by a strong contraction, I stood up to see if it would stop and I heard a pop, my water broke.  I called Ben into the room and told him my water broke, not sure I have seen him move so quickly after that.
We called the doctor's office, Mimi and Gigi and we were off to the hospital.  They were walking me to a triage room and the nurse asked what number baby this was.  I told her #4, she did a u-turn and said we would not be stopping by the triage and took me straight to a delivery room.  My contractions were less than 2 minutes apart at this point, but I was only dilated to a 5.  After being checked, the contractions really kicked in.  They were by far the worst contractions I had with any of the other babies and it felt like there was no recovery between them.  The nurse who was giving me my I.V. was so sweet, she was coaching me on breathing, I asked her if she was a yoga person, b/c she sounded just like me when I coach restorative breathing to my seniors.  Needless to say all the coaching in the world could not help me relax with the strength and timing of the contractions and I opted for an epidural (I was still a 5 at this point).  The anesthesiologist was amazing, I think I proposed to him.  The epidural worked immediately.  And as soon as I was able to relax I was dilated to a 9.  I honestly do not know how women make it without an epidural, I tried, but they're super women or something.
The next time the nurse checked me I was a 10 and ready to push.  We had it set up for Mom and Dad to drop the kids off with one of my senior friends, Kathi, who has been watching the kiddos for all of my doctor appointments.  At that point they came straight to the hospital and Mom made it just in time, so did the doctor.  I only pushed for a few minutes and our sweet boy was here.  He was so angry, which they say is a good thing.  He had a head full of black hair, and a great set of lungs.  He stole my heart instantly.  Daddy got to cut the chord and they placed him on my tummy.
The kids and PawPaw were in the waiting room and they were able to come see him.  The girls were all smiles, especially Boo.  R2 was not sure what to think of him.  After they left, I was able to nurse him and he did a great job.  They took him to the nursery and he checked out beautifully.  I was able to eat some hospital chicken tenders and gravy and get a little recovery.  We had to stay in the hospital for 48 hours and was able to have some other special visitors.  My cousin, Anna and Abby, friend, Natalie, and Gigi and PopPop also came to visit.
More pics will come soon, having computer issues.

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

remember these?

I had a momentary lapse in judgement, and he is grateful.

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

their new rides


LE has been asking for a scooter since her last birthday (her birthday is less than 2 weeks away).  A friend of ours was upgrading theirs and we were able to score these razors at a great price.  I figured if they outgrow these juniors quickly R2 and #4 can have them soon enough.  R2 is already trying to figure them out.

Monday, August 06, 2012

Our 2012-2013 curriculum

Ben recently told me I seemed less stressed and more confident in my decisions than in year's past about this year's curriculum and school year.  I guess that is pretty true, maybe it is b/c there are too many other things to be stressed about.  Maybe I have had more time with the kids and their learning styles.  Maybe I am just more confident in knowing if I screw them up this year, I always have next year to correct it.
Any who, this year I started ordering curricula back in May and I have had most of the summer to plan, and some things we have already started.  All summer we have been reading, journaling, and doing arithmetic.  I still follow The Well-Trained Mind as my go-to for curricula, but this past year we participated in a home school group and we had a home school brag one evening.  Everyone brought their fave items and I stole lots of ideas from the Mamas and kids who seem to have it "all-together."  I also used Cathy Duffy's website Top 100 picks for homeschool curriculum, which I must be on to something b/c it has been repinned over 750x on my pinterest homeschool board.

Here's the breakdown:
LE (age 7, strong reader):
Math - Horizons
Language - Shurley English
No phonics - she tested out of every phonics program I put in front of her
Spelling - Spelling Workout
Handwriting - we have used ABeka in the past, I told her as long as she journals every day in cursive, she no longer has to do handwriting pages
Vocabulary- Wordly Wise


Boo (age 5 1/2, reads on K/1 level):
Math - Horizons
Phonics - Explode the Code
Language - Shurley English
Spelling - Spelling Workout
Handwriting - ABeka print

I try to combine as many subjects as I can.  These subjects they learn together:
History -Story of the World vol 1
Art - Usborne Art Treasury for Kids
Science- we check out non-fiction books about topics that interest us, then we create journals about the things we have discovered.
Citizenship - Lessons in Responsibility for Girls and Little Keepers of the Faith
Bible - they each have their own Bibles and every morning they have their own 15 minutes or reading/quiet time.  Each week we memorize a new scripture together as a family.
Piano - Alfred's Music for Little Mozarts

Not Back to School Blog Hop




Saturday, August 04, 2012

38 weeks update

I went to the doctor yesterday and there were no changes since last week.  I have had to give up teaching my classes, so I am not nearly as active as I was two weeks ago.  I have put on almost 30 pounds, and he is weighing 6 lbs 10 oz.  At his last sonogram, you could see his hair waving at us, just waiting to see if it will be another blondie.
My mom came into town on Thursday evening and the kids are all entertained.  Every morning, they ask me if today is the day.  Oh, how I wish.

Friday, August 03, 2012

Olympic dreams


I will admit it, I am an Olympic junkee.  And it has apparently rubbed off on the kids, albeit it is only day #6, so we will see after day #17.  We have not been enforcing bed times for the girls, and they have been up till at least 10pm every night with us.
They now want to take gymnastics, I mean what girl in America has not watched the Olympics in their childhood and had visions of being Mary Lou Retton, oh wait that was me.  LE's hero is McKayla Maroney, Boo likes them all, the girls that is.
We also enjoyed watching home town girl, Micah Lawrence in the 200 m butterfly.

Thursday, August 02, 2012

I won!!

My crazy, caffeine-addicted, blogging Mama Friend, Jessica has nominated me for a blogging award.  I am very honored, Jessica.  Thank you.
And since I am too pregnant to entertain myself or children, on maternity leave and not sure what to do with myself, and b/c I like reality-blogging I present you: My version of the Liebster Blog Awards.
So here is the most recent Rules of the Liebster Award:

1. Post 11 Random facts about yourself.
  1. favorite snack- stove-popped popcorn with m and m's
  2. favorite color - yellow, my Paw-Paw had a yellow coat and every time I see yellow I think of him.
  3. favorite city- New York for the sights, New Orleans for the food
  4. favorite food- Pappadeauxs's fondeaux
  5. favorite flower - Gerber daisy
  6. favorite verse - Phillipians 4:13
  7. favorite book of the Bible - James
  8. favorite musician - David Crowder Band
  9. favorite book - Same Kind of Different as Me
  10. favorite tv show - Downton Abby
  11. favorite movie - French Kiss or Princess Bride
2. Choose 11 deserving bloggers and tag them in your post - (it used to be 3-5), really 11? Do I even know 11 people who still blog, everyone facebooks now.  So, in no particular order. Most of these are my favorite friends and stories of their families.  A couple of you need to get back to blogging.

  1. Erica -  http://haphazardhappenstances.blogspot.com/
  2. Anna -  http://journeywiththejenks.blogspot.com/
  3. Pam -  http://livinglifeonelaughatatime.blogspot.com/
  4. Sandra - http://sandrachesterman.blogspot.com/
  5. Mel and Diane -  http://xaixai.celebrationchurchtx.com/
  6. Lindsay -  http://www.awareofafrica.blogspot.com/
  7. Jodi -  http://jjthe1st.blogspot.com/
  8. Cari -  http://mothersmemoirs.blogspot.com/
  9. Marissa -  http://walkinginaboundinggrace.blogspot.com/
  10. Natalie -  http://gumplgang.blogspot.com/
  11. Shileen -  http://princessshileensblog.blogspot.com/

3. Tell them you've tagged them
4. Answer 11 questions the tagger has asked you and give 11 questions to the people you've tagged.
5. No tag backs.


  1. Coffee or Tea? sweet tea, the drink of the south
  2. Most embarrassing moment? having my underwear and bra fall out of my gym bag onto a police officer's feet while I was looking for my wallet (was pulled over b/c my lights were off)
  3. Last time you cleaned your toilet. Monday, yes as in 2 days ago
  4. One thing you really have a passion for. Children of Africa
  5. Favorite decade and why. 80's, the music and movies of course
  6. How long have you been blogging? 5 years
  7. When you blow your nose, do you look at the tissue after? Really, Jessica? yes when I am sick I do, but I think that is the only time I catch myself doing it.  
  8. Low fat or sugar free? neither
  9. favorite techy thingy you have? my phone
  10. If you have a Chick-fila sandwich in one hand and a Starbucks in the other, does it cancel out the stupid drama?  I don't drink coffee and I prefer CFA tea, so wouldn't know.
  11. Do you read my blog? yes.
11 Questions for you: same as above

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

We heart chick fil a

We were in need of sweet tea, playtime, lunch and family values. So glad to see a great turn out at our local chick fil a today.
The line to order was outside the building, the drive-thru line wrapped around the building twice.  We went at 11 and it was quiet, but within 15 minutes, it was packed.
I am so happy for the Cathy Family and our local Chick-Fil-A.