Right Wing Mom

Wow - did I fall off the blogging bandwagon or what?

I am blaming it all on Facebook! Seriously, It’s just so easy to jump on and write out a quick note, that I have become lazy.

But, as much as I love facebook, I miss blogging. Blogging had been a nice way to get my thoughts down and ramble a bit… and as we all know, I can ramble!

So, what has been going on?

A part of me wants to say not much… but saying I have been taking it easy and relaxing is so far from my reality! I guess it would be more appropriate to say a whole bunch of everything.

As I had mentioned in my last post, gymnastics meet season started. Kaitie and Mandy have been doing wonderful and making Marc and I so proud! They have improved so much over last year and have placed high at every meet so far this year! I am still truly amazed at the awesome things they can do. Last month we had 3 meet weekends in a row - which took its toll. Most of the meets so far we havent been getting home till 11pm, way too late for this Momma! But, as quickly as it started, it is going to be winding down soon. We have districts next weekend and then (hopefully) South State and States will follow!

Homeschooling has been going well too. Although I have hit the October slump. We were running hard for about 6 weeks and then anemia induced fatigue hit me hard! Although the anemia is now in check, its been difficult to get back in into our routine. We’ve been doing what needs to be done, but it feels more like the minimum - you know? We are missing out on some of the fun stuff.

The pregnancy is going well too! Not sure if I shared, but we are having another boy Jake is one happy big brother! We are still thinking about names, although at this point we have settled on Luke Daniel. Nothing carved in stone, but everyone seems to like it.

The other big news is that we have decided to forgo a hospital birth this time in favor of homebirth. We have hooked up with a wonderful midwife, Cathy, who I am really loving and she is keeping me accountable with my diet and supplements, something I usually weasel my way around. Not this time

I hope to get some pictures up and some more details about our goings on Just hang in there - I have not abandoned my blog!

I promise!

What a great start to the New Year! I managed to drag my butt out of bed and to the gym for a 6am start. It was a great workout, but what a wake-up! I’ll hopefully talk a little more about that tomorrow.

But for now - its home school time!

2008 was a good year for us as far as school was concerned. We finished our English, Math and History books - what a relief! This year I am planning on buckling down a bit more and becoming a lot stricter in both our schedule and expectations.

There have been far too many weeks that we take a day off here and there. We always make the work up, but I am really starting to despise the inconsistent schedule and habits that I have been passing on to the kids. But, no more!

I have worked out a rough lesson plans that takes us into the summer. If followed, we will be able to complete our English, Math, History, Latin and Science books. What is awesome is that we just started new English, Math and History books today! We will need to follow a 5 day schedule, so if we take any “days off” or field trips, we will need to make it up on Saturday. The girls understand this and are excited about implementing the new schedule!

I am also giving the girls more independent study type activities. Take for instance, math. They are required to do a full lesson a week with 5 worksheets. I don’t care when they get done but they must work on math daily, doing flash cards at a minimum if they have finished their worksheets. They will have a test on Friday and not passing is not an option! Latin will be done in a similar manner.

As far as school with Jake goes, its pretty much more of the same - consistency. Another big change for him is that their is no computer, Wii or tv time till all his school work and chores are done. He is not too happy about that rule, but he managed to get everything done today with minimal whining and was quite proud of himself!

Time for bed… this fat chick needs to hit the gym bright and early!

How sad… a weekly update?

On a good note, the lack of posting here is from a whole bunch of things getting done at home! That is always a good thing

School is going well, for Kaitie and Mandy at least. Jake? Oh boy… I was telling Marc this morning that is Jake makes it to his 5th birthday, it will be a miracle (btw - tomorrow is his birthday!)

Seriously - he amazes me with his intelligence, when he decides to use it. Our days usually go something like this:

Mommy : “Time to start school Jake”
Jake: “ok, what are we doing?”
M: “Reading first, than we can do some fun stuff!”
J: “How about fun stuff first?”
M: “Nope, reading first than fun stuff”
J: “No”
I usually ignore this and start anyway, he will follow along for about 5 minutes, then he crosses his arms, clenches his jaw and shakes is head no. I try to urge him on, with him not budging. I don’t know where he gets his stubbornness from.

The rule is then, Jake doesn’t get to do anything (except looking/reading books) until he finishes reading.

How long does this go on? Well, today, we are working on close to 3 hrs. Can you see my eyes rolling?

Now - before you start rolling your eyes and thinking I am just pushing the poor dear to hard and that he isn’t ready, let me clue you in on what happens when he finally gives in a decides to do his reading. He will finish all his words (5-20 depending on review) and 3-5 sentences in about 5 minutes. He flies through them, almost so fast that it seems to easy for him.

Sigh… why are boys so different from girls?

Oh, and the other day in the car, Jake says to me “Mommy, I know what 4+4 is” I reply “Really, what?” Not knowing what what in the world he is going to come up with. He, of course, says 8. Well, I decided to push it a little and start asking him his double math facts. Do you know that little butthead knew his double facts from 1-5? Hmmm - I guess I need to bump up the math a bit… I am still trying to teach him counting and number recognition.

Teaching Jake is making me take all I have learned with Kaitie and Mandy, crunch it up into a little ball and chuck it out the window.

Sigh… Lets see if I can get him to do his reading before lunch.

Lots of pictures on Friday!!!

We had such a great time at the home school convention, I have a ton of things to talk about. But, I first want to talk to you about a very special meeting that took place Saturday afternoon.

Two years ago at the convention I was introduced to a wonderful product from a good friend of mine. It is a series of CD’s put out by Greathall Productions, that are narrated by a man named Jim Weiss. The girls got a few from the convention last year and a bunch more for Christmas. They have fairy tales from around the world and some classic stuff like Sherlock Holmes, 20,000 Leagues and Tom Sawyer. They absolutely love them!

Friday, Marc and I were walking along with the girls when we saw the booth and noticed that he was going to be storytelling later on in the day. We asked the girls if they wanted to go and of course they jumped at the chance! We swung back around the booth to see what room it was in and I spied Jim Weiss. I pointed him out to the girls who immediately got all giggly and well… weird. It was really funny to see! Marc and I were almost stunned, we had never seen act that way before. Sadly, we found out that the storytelling was only for the kids that were in the kids program. So, we didn’t get to hear him.

Saturday, as the girls and I were walking past his booth again (oh yes, lots of shopping was done!) I saw him there and told the girls… blushing and giggling ensued. I encouraged them to go and talk to him. They bravely went over to the booth and quickly looked down at the piles of CD’s, too shy to speak. Yep - my girls were speechless… first time for everything! I was standing behind them as Mr Weiss walked by and started up a conversation with me. I told him what huge fans my girls were and he started talking to them. It was so cute! Their eyes were as big as saucers and their smiles were just priceless!

He ended up having a very nice conversation with them and even gave them a CD, autographed, of course!

Kaitie and Mandy showed all their friends they saw that day their autographed Jim Weiss CD.

I am so thankful that my almost 10 year olds got giddy over a storyteller. Yep - a plain old storyteller. Not Paris, or Lindsey or even Hannah… but, Jim Weiss.

We had a busy and yet relaxing spring break. Sorry I haven’t been blogging much in the past week. But, with the stuff we had gong on and fussy baby for a few days, it was just hard to find the time. 

So - let’s get to up dating!

St Patrick Day dinner was fine. The cake didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted, but it was still yummy. You can’t go wrong with lemon curd Here are a few pictures from dinner. Although I neglected to take any pictures of the stew (which was delish!) or the cake… bad me!

A little starter for Marc and I. Wine (not Irish, but good) and Dubliner cheese, one of my fav’s!

Soda Bread and Cabbage with Bacon (oh so yummy!)

This week Marc and I started our makeover of Kaitie and Mandy’s room - what do you think of this color? Honeydew… yep - the room is a giant square honeydew now It’s going to be a garden room. I am still trying to figure out some stuff for the walls, I keep changing my mind. But - so far it looks good! Can’t wait to show it off when we are finished!

Awhile ago, Marc and I designated Saturday as family day, but gymnastics got in the way with Saturday practices. Thankfully, we are on a new schedule now and Saturdays are back to Family Day! This past Saturday we went geocaching. I think we may have started off with some hunts that were a little too hard. We found one… but had a really hard time finding another! But, it was in some tall grass near the edge of the woods and the park it was in has cottenmouths in it… so we were a little timid about tromping through the grass as Marc and I both had shorts and tennis shoes on. Anyway, it was still fun! But, I do feel the need to slightly tease my wonderful Hubby! Just to let you know though, if he reads this… I am in for it :)Quotes by Marc: “There is too much nature” “I hate nature” “There is no internet in nature” Now - in his defense - he was totally joking! But, it was funny!!!!

Kaitie, Mandy and Jake have spent Monday afternoon and all morning Tuesday “playing” Knight. We are studying the middle ages and Monday we read about Knights and Samurai. So - the girls opened up a knight school and Jake was their first student! It was great! They taught him all about horse care, chivalry, jousting, punching (lol), and daggers. He had a report card and everything! All A’s of course. He started off as a page, graduated to squire, then in his knighting ceremony, Daddy knighted him Sir Jacob the Hawk. You know, it’s times like this that make me want to stand from my roof and yell about how much i love homeschooling. The kids just had a great time playing, perhaps not realizing that they were reinforcing what they had learned and teaching Jake too Love it!

Getting Knighted by Daddy (with a lightsaber of course!)

“Arise Sir Jacob!”

Sir Jacob the Hawk
One thing I loved about this was the attention to detail. You see we learned about what the knights wore in their knighting ceremony. Red for the blood they would shed. White for purity and brown for the earth they would be buried in. Do you see what Jake is wearing? Cool huh?

I’m sure many of you have seen the news story regarding a homeschool family in California that was recently taken to court. Here is a brief synopsis from The HomeSchool Legal Defense Association.

A California Court of Appeal recently decided that homeschooling is illegal in California unless a parent is a certified teacher. The case arose in a confidential juvenile court proceeding. The family was represented by court-appointed attorneys and HSLDA did not become aware of the case until the Court of Appeal case was published on February 28, 2008. The Court could have restricted its decision to the facts before it, but instead, it issued a broad ruling that effectively outlaws home education in California. The Court also certified its decision for publication, which means that the decision can now be cited as legal authority by all other courts in California. The family and their California counsel are planning to appeal to the Supreme Court of California, which could result in reversal. Another option to keep homeschooling free in California is to petition the Supreme Court of California to “depublish” the opinion. If the opinion is “depublished” then it cannot be used by other California courts and this threat to homeschool freedom will be neutralized for other California homeschoolers. HSLDA will be formally petitioning the California Supreme Court to depublish the opinion. We would like to show that many other people, both in California and across the country, care deeply about homeschool freedom in California.

Please take a moment to sign this petition

This goes beyond weather you homeschool or not, or even if you think homeschooling is a good thing or not. This goes to the heart of the matter that parents should be able to make decisions regarding their children’s education. The judge stated that parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children. This statement comes from the same bozo’s judges that stated that parents have no right to control what their children are taught at school or what questions they are asked. This latter remark comes from the case where parents were a little upset over a sex survey given to 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders. The survey had questions like “How often do you think about sex?’ FIRST GRADERS! The court said that parents have no “fundamental right” to be the exclusive provider of sexual information to their children.

Here is a great article about the situation.

I know this is California, and you may not think it affects you, but it just may in the future if we do not take a stand and let our voices be heard now.

Thanks!

I keep fizzling out with my workouts and subsequently my food and water. For me they seem to go hand in hand.

No excuses, but, as I have done so often in the past, started out WAY too strong, which resulted in me having a little injury. Nothing major, but my left knee had been killing me for about 10 days (Thank you Marine Corps for the jacked up knees and back ) Anyway, instead of taking it easy and keeping in check with my food - I chucked in all out the window! Please, someone… slap me.

So - new week - new start. Marc has been struggling too and since we are both so darn competitive, we have challenged each other. KInd of Biggest Loser style. Largest percentage lost for the week is the winner and gets one hour of whatever form the loser. I am going for the one hour massage Cause you know I am going to win!!!! (Oh, I hope he reads this, cause there is nothing I like more than a little trash talking!)

But, to show how serious I am… I am going to divulge my starting weight (Lord, help me!) 204.8. My goal this week is just one pound lost. I can do that!

Ok, what else on the accountability front?

School - we are still going strong! We skipped Friday. The girls and I had a little mini girls day. Emma’s pictures at the mall. Some window shopping and lunch. So we have a little to catch up with this week, but not much. It will be easily done. Going to the library today. First time in a long, long time. Lets hope this library does not have the Most Wanted list from our old library. I think I single handedly keep libraries open with the fines I rack up. So sad. Jake’s schooling will get a big boost this week. We tried last week - but I took an approach with him that did not work so well. Let’s pray that what Marc and I have worked out this week for him is a better fit.

House - Catch up with the laundry! Not to hard, just need to be consistent.

And finally my food and such. I hate to say this, but I am going to cut out my best friend this week - Good Bye Sugar! I love you, but this abusive relationship we have, has got to stop.

So, what are you going to hold yourself accountable for this week?

That’s a question I have been asking myself. It’s been a week since I last blogged and I don’t know why! LOL. Actually I do… I have been busy scrapping when I usually blog. I mentioned a few posts ago about I contest I entered from a scrapbooking club I belong to. Well, for those that really know me, you know the best way to get me going is to make it a contest. Man, why am I so competitive? Weird.

So - what been going on? I have been very involved reading about a trip to Uganda that a bunch of bloggers took for Compassion International. Wow! What an organization!!! Check out two of my favorite bloggers as they talk about their trip. Shannon and Carlos.

School has been going great! I can’t even tell you how many days in a row we have actually homeschooled - but its a bunch! Definitely a new record for us And I have found that when you homeschool on a regular basis you have do do much less review - amazing! LOL!!! Just wanted to add too that I love homeschooling because of history. Seriously one of my favorite subjects when I was in school, but I am learning so much more than I even did in school. We read about The Battle of Hastings today. DO you know what it was? I, of course, was familiar with the term, the name of the battle. But, I couldn’t tell you who was involved and why. But - I can now! And if you don’t know - I am not going to tell you! Look it up!

Have you seen this? The 30 Day Sex Challenge. Guess who signed up for this… It’s actually rather neat, not just all about getting freaky with your spouse for 30 straight days. They have a real cool devotional to go with it… check it out, I am sure this is one devotion your hubby will love to take part in! LOL!!!

Hmmmm - what else? Emma turns 12 weeks old tomorrow which freaks me out! I need to figure out a way stop my kids from growing up. Not permanently, mind you, just a little bit.

We got her pictures taken yesterday - so cute!!! I am going to see if I can take some pics and get them loaded for you to see! Its really freaky how much all 4 of my kids look alike. Very freaky!

I use this term often to describe my children and of course children of my friends who also homeschool. Keep in mind that this is truly a term of endearment. But, to back up my case:

Overheard at the breakfast table this morning… a yelling conversation between Jake and a sister. The were arguing about who is the President. You see Jake overheard his sisters talking about Mitt Romney and John McCain andobviously heard the word President. He started yelling that George Bush is the President! The only President! Hmm, I’m not sure if I should be thrilled that my kids were talking about politics at the breakfast table or slightly weirded out that my 9 year olds and my 4 year old were talking politics  at the breakfast table.

Now, if that wasn’t freaky enough… I just overheard them (yes, all 3 of them) playing at the Thomas the Train train table. I have no clue what they were doing or what they were playing, all I heard was “Ok, this one will be Barrak Obama and this one will be Mitt Romney” Can you see why I refer to them as freaky little homeschooled kids? I love it! Lets just all pray that whatever was going on at the train table, the Republicans won

Off to get school done, I think we can skip the civics lesson for the day. 

Its been a great week here so far. We have been getting actual work done! Amazing! I totally work so much better when I have a to do list. So the big questions is why do I not use one all the time? Sometimes I am so weird.

Speaking of weird… did ya’ll catch Bronie’s Haiku  in yesterday’s post? LOL! I love you girl, you make me laugh so much and for the record… I miss you too Let me know when we are coming for a visit LOL!!!  

Jake’s eating plan (He informed us that he is not on a diet, so we can not use that word anymore) is going great. I received all my material that I ordered from The Feingold Association. So much to look over, but its been great. We got this awesome book that has detailed lists for the grocery store. And a nifty little fast food guide. Hello SUBWAY! He had no reaction there - YEAH!!!

Emma is doing great as well. Her face looks pretty bad though. Poor thing, its itchy too, so we started using some hydrocortisone to help her out. I hope it clears up soon.I love the reactions on her pictures. She really does look like Jake at that age. I need to get some pics up of both the girls and Jake so you can compare them with Emma’s. Its really funny to see how much the look alike. Marc has some super strong and obviously reliable genes

I am going to be speaking to Kaitie and Mandy’s speech class this afternoon. They are doing a radio unit and since I did a little radio work while I was in the Marine Corps the kids get to hear me yack about it. LOL, I hope I dont bore them.

Alrighty, break time is up Hopefully I will find time to post later. And, I hope that post is not so random and blabbering… but hey! Stick with what youre good at right? LOL!!!

Oh, and if you get a chance check out Andrea and Adams blog - Super cool post!!! I wont tell you what it is, but its very interesting!