Smooth Re-entery

We started back to school today. Things got off to a rough start. Zach has it in his head that things are suppose to a certain way. Well, his agenda sheet varied from what he thought was the schedule so he decided, I don't have to follow it. So he was five minutes late starting school and his room was a mess.

Well he flew through everything today. And got his room picked up before daddy got home. So he saved himself. I was worried.

Shay did good today. She felt a bit overwhelmed and asked if she could carry over some work to tomorrow. Her language class is pretty intense. She is reading Pride & Prejudice and has to take the book apart chapter by chapter, analyze the characters, write a research paper, along with vocab sheets and spelling sheets. She struggled with it today but I told her she could work on some of it tomorrow too.

Tuesdays are our short days. They have sewing for 2 1/2 hours with Grandma Jean. So they oly have math review and penmanship to do on those days. Shay is also going to be taking a Digital photography/journalism class starting Thursday. That will be lots of fun for her. Zach and I will have to figure out something to do at that time.

Well, it is late and I am off to bed. I have been fighting a migraine for a few days now. My FMS is flaring because we are having cool nights and warm days. When the temp rises and falls like that my FMS flares. Not fun at all.

Have a good night all.

Trying new tactics

Well, we have been on vacation for almost two months now. So I decided it is time to start getting back into the swing of things. We are starting with math reviews. Both of the kids are very good in math so they tend to blow it off. So mommy came up with a plan last night.

Starting today my kids have to earn their video games/computer time. Zach hasn't realized that I didn't lump tv time into that. So he is deducting for tv time he wants tonight. Well here is what I am doing. I made up worksheets for Zach and took all of his systematic reviews from his math book and put them in a folder. For every problem he gets right the FIRST time around he gets 1 minute of play time. If he does 3 pages a day that will last us 31 days. Well, today he has completed four pages and got all 100 questions right. So he has 100 minutes of playtime.

I know that seems like alot but he has to save time for rainy days and weekends. Like tomorrow we are having company over and he wants to cash in his time for tomorrow night when his friend is here. I thought that was a good deal. He is learning time management with this.

The same thing goes for Shaylin. But since she is doing Algebra honors review she gets 10 minutes per problem. We figured that was fair since she has less problems per page and they take her longer to do. Zach did 100 problems in the time it took Shay to copy and complete 6 problems. So we are compensating them accordingly.

They are currently out riding their bikes. I know most of you are all freezing up north but it is a beautiful day today. Its about 78 outside. Too warm to have the AC off. But perfect for the kids to be playing outside. Although the AC has hardly kicked on today. So its not costing much to have it on. Its set @ 77 and the house is currently 75. If I open the window the humidity makes the floors sticky. The down side to having wood floors in Florida.

I hope you all and a safe and happy New Year's. We will be having dinner with some friends and watching a movie an maybe sneaking in some Halo. We are pretty boring people. LOL. But Steve and I will be celebrating 9 years of marriage on the 1st. Time sure does fly by!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I just want to take a moment and wish all of you a wonderful and blessed Christmas. We celebrate on Christmas eve so, we get open our gift tonight. You should see the kids. They are just strung out with excitement.

Zach can barely contain himself. He is frantically cleaning his room so he has a place to put all of his gifts. Shay is sick again so she is dragging her feet. We baked 28 dozen cookies between Friday & yesterday.

I hope you all are feeling as blessed as we are. What a wonderful season to celebrate with friends and family!!

Merry Christmas!!

A wonderful evening

Tonight we went to a live Nativity put on by our church. It was so nice. It was held at our youth pastor's home. There was a bonfire, goodies, and lots of fellowship.

The kids had a great time. Zach ran around with some of his friends and Shay bounced from one cluster to the next visiting. What a great way to spend an evening.

It was the perfect weather. Just a bit chilly but a clear night. It was probably around 74 out. Did I mention I had a great time? LOL I love my church. We brought some friends with us and they liked it too. They are kinda searching for a church home. I would love to see them join our church. We have a great youth program that their son loves to visit.

What a great way to start off the Christmas week. May you all be blessed this week.

Linville Falls, NC 11/08

Linville Falls, NC

The kids holding ice from the falls.

Another shot of hte falls from the Gorge outlook.

Zach being the typical boy and breaking the ice puddles. ;-)

Steve & Shay taking pics of the falls from a high outlook.

We had so much fun in North Carolina over Thanksgiving.
This day was cold but fun!! We got to see snow flurries.
The snow was melting as it landed on us and the ground.
The hike was fun. By the time I got to the top I was sweating and taking
off my jacket. We had like three layers on. It was 32 degrees out and the
wind was really blowing.

As you can see the kids had a blast too. Zach had a toy in his pocket
and every time he jumped down from a rock or stepped hard
to would start playing music. It was funny.

Forest City, NC

We are finally on vacation!! My in-laws own a home here in NC. Its in a nice little town called, Forest City. My in-laws live across the street from us in Florida. But we came to NC to have Thanksgiving with them. hehehehe

It is beautiful here. The weather is mild winter weather. It is currently 34 degrees outside. The sun is shining and the wind is blowing. We left at 1 am this moring and got her about 11am.

I will take some pictures tomorrow and get them posted as I can. I am so excited to be here. The kids have already been swimming the pile of leaves in the corner of the yard. Jeannine and I enjoyed a few trips around the block. Now I am ready to crash. Long night of driving.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Green Medows Petting Zoo

On October 16th we went to Green Meadows. I am just getting around to posting the pictures. This was our first homeschooling field trip. We had a GREAT time.

Shay and Zach with the chickens.
The one they are holding is coined the "Easter egg" chicken.
It lays pink & blue eggs.

Zach milking a cow.

Zach sharing a chick with a "chick". LOL

Shay holding a chicken.

Shaylin with a duck.

Zach struggling with his duck.

Zach kissing his duckling.


Shay has the mother's touch.
Her duckling is sleeping.

This is a Zorse.
If you look closely you can see the strips.

A hey ride to end a fun day.

The kids got to go to a pumpkin patch after this but I didn't take pictures of that. Iwas tired by the end of all of this. We had a great time though.