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Showing posts from November, 2012
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Ha Lay Lou Ya! All I can say is that I've had a major breakthrough in homeschooling. No, Elly has not become some genius whom can master addition in one lesson. It was the teacher whom was the problem. Righty-O that would be me. But cut me some slack-I've never done this before. The problem: Barbaric Expectations that resulted in yelling, tears and frustration for both of us. I was a hard head with unrealistic demands. Images of a baby Yale student danced in my head. The Solution: Prayer, writing down the reasons for why I was homeschooling and talking to my expert homeschooling friend, Sasha whose kids are super smart. She told me I was doing WAY more than she had when her daughter was five. Needless to say I felt relief and we scaled back- like a lot. Previous Schedule 1)Letter & number Flashcards 2) 6 pages of Math U See Curriculum 3) Three lessons in a row of "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" 4) 10 pages of several preschool m

Thanksgiving is in Session

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Thanksgiving parade in Lansdale.  The kiddos got lots of candy. The older I get, the more I love Thanksgiving.  I love learning about our American history fromVirginia to Massachusets.  I love counting the things and people in my life that I am grateful for: I am blessed to have wonderful parents whom I live so close to, who are always there for me, whom I trust forever, who I consider to be friends and examples.  In preschool we have beein learning about the thanksgiving story through books and crafts.  Here are their pilgrim hats. I am blessed to be in a country where we are free, can vote for our president and have our freedom of speech. I am blessed to have so many relatives close by to get together watch parades, share delicious food,  catch up, take walks and play pinochle-even though I'm still not quite sure how to play it.  Cousins hanging out. I am blessed to have an adorable family, a hardworking hubby, two sweet girls and the ability to stay a

Santa or Not?

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It's that time of the year. You know it, when the stores are filled with sparkling trees, and holiday songs begin to appear on regular radio stations. It's my favorite time of the year, but my it's hectic. Already we have begun building our thankful turkey, cut out hands inked with words of gratitude are plastered in a heap on our fridge. A mess of feathery goodness. Elly has had some good practice time at cutting with this fun tradition. She is getting better everyday. :-) Soon I'll be yanking down plastic fall leaves from the valances and mantle to replace it with plastic garland and tree wooden beads. I'm thinking it be would be fun to go au natural this year-as in REAL tree garland and REAL holly and popcorn string and cranberries. Might be fun and new to do homemade this year. Also, Elly has asked Danny and I if Santa is real. It may sound harsh but we have talked about how we don't like lying to our kiddies. My issue I've been mulling over

Hurricane Sandy: Grateful to Have Light

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Four days without power was enough to remind me of all the blessings electric can give.  Yes we kindled fires in the living room, cooked on the grill outside, even kept the fridge running and lights going with the generator; however having modern conveniences work at the flick of a switch in the comfort of a warm light filled home is priceless.   I don't realize the lack of effort I put into my very survival until I went just a little without.  It is no wonder the life expectancy of our ancestors was soo much shorter.  It feels like magic now, when I press a button and the room swells with light, warm air fills the spaces, burners boil water in seconds, hot showers steam and beat on an aching back...heavenly.  We are lucky, four days was not so bad with wood to heat usand the buzzing of generators chugging along.  No trees have fallen on our house, no flooding in our basement, every shingle on our roof stayed in place, even our flimsy white fence managed to lose only one slot