Rain, rain go away.......

Many of you know that last year we bought a camper. This move was purely selfish on our part. Due to our transfer from overseas to the States, we had a three month time period of being homeless due to my husband attending school between duty stations. We could have lived in hotels and become bankrupt. Our housing allowance comes no where close to paying for hotel rooms, plus we'd have to get two rooms for our family size and find one that takes the dog. So in order to avoid bankruptcy and save my sanity from hauling stuff in and out of a car every night, we purchased a camper.

Not any camper, a 34 foot four bunk camper, with a slide. Did I mention we lived in here for 3 months-its a pretty small space when its rainy and cold out for seven people and a giant dog. I guess I could leave the dog out in the rain but eventually he has to come in and then smell like wet dog.

We're actually thrilled with our purchase. It allows us the flexibility and affordability to go on vacations and weekend trips! Yeah!! I will tell you that we've NEVER had a family vacation because we're always heading home to see family. I love my family and treasure every moment with them, but it will be really nice to take a family vacation this year. We're planning on heading to OR to see Crater Lake, LaPine Forest, and stopping at Mt. St. Helens and Mt Hood during our traveling.

On the weekends, we've been exploring our back yard, I guess you could say. WA is gorgeous and has alot to offer. My only problem is that several weeks ago, it was warm and sunny. Starting last weekend, its moved to cold and rainy. And the forecast is extended into this weekend. And we're going camping again. Its supposed to clear up some tomorrow and more on Sunday and I'm praying it does or the forecaster is totally wrong. The good news is that next weekend will be sunny and gorgeous-cause we're not camping you see!

Preschool

I just realized that next year, we'll have an official preschooler in the mix. Four different grades. I'm not sure how I'll do this without going crazy-well, actually I do. I need to be organized.

So, because of that, I've decided to go ahead and plan a preschool year for Little Miss Trouble. I know, I know. What's wrong with just letting her play and reading to her?

Well, she wants to do school. The big kids are, so why can't she? So, I've decided to make a poster board and we'll cover a letter a week, color or shape, and a number. We'll read and do crafts. Why do I have to actually plan all this out? Well, I'll forget something-like a book I need, or printing something out, or worse, the ever important item needed for a craft.

Little Miss Trouble can already count to five and say some of her abc's and loves the itsy bitsy spider. She loves to read and loves to cut things with scissors-even her own hair which thankfully hasn't been touched in a while.

I find that the more organized I am, the better my day goes. I get a little crazy when I'm not organized. Some crazy lady comes out of my body and her head starts spinning around, her eyes twitch, and she can't remember stuff. I don't like when she visits.

I'm off for today.

For all you '24' fans. The ending was spectacular and I loved it. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

I am truly Lost!

What to do? What to do? My two favorite tv shows are ending this week. Last night was the finale of Lost. It was fantastic!! I love the way they reunited everyone together-I cried when Claire and Charlie and then Juliet and Sawyer were brought together again. I loved the writing of Lost. A truly remarkable show that had you always guessing. Who was the smoke monster? Where did the polar bear come from? Will Jack and Kate ever be happy together?

Tonight '24' ends. I must admit, this show is totally wild and crazy. I'm not thrilled with the turn that Jack Bauer has taken this year. His actions are pretty outta character for him, but with all he's been through, he has a right to crack, right?

I love tv shows that created unexpected story lines, twists and turns. Jericho was another fav of my hubby and myself, but they took that off. Northern Exposure was another huge favorite of mine. I have almost every season and pop it in all the time.

I don't watch alot of tv. In fact, I only watch three other shows-Castle, CSI:NY, and Criminal Minds and if I don't catch them its not a big deal. Lost and 24 were the only ones I HAD to watch every week. We do watch alot of History channel and I guess since I start school full time next week, its good that my shows are ending.

Still, I'll miss them terribly.......

Our next literature year

Right now, I'm currently setting up the books we'll be reading aloud and TL will be reading next year. I think I've decided on the following:

Girls Read Alouds

• Betsy books
• Betsy-Tacy Books
• Little House in the Prairie books
• Boxcar Children series

Trey's Read Alouds

• Continue with the Frank Peretti series
• Redwall
• The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings series

We will all read together Christmas Carol

Trey will read and do literature studies on the following:

• Wrinkle in Time
• Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiller
• Phantom Tollbooth
• How to Eat Fried Worms
• 21 Balloons
• Wind in the Willows
• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimph

We will also be doing a lot of reading for history this year. We've always done alot of school reading, but I've really been getting away from reading good literature with the kids. I guess, because a baby and toddler in the mix make it very difficult.

You're probably also wondering about the differences in read alouds. TL is the only boy and could use a little one on one time. Plus, I don't want him being bored with books I read to the girls and the girls not enjoy what I'm reading to TL. And, as I stated, he's the only boy and is interested in totally different things.

How's your year planning out?

These past two weeks have gone by in a crazy tornado whirlwind. My mother arrived for a visit for the first week. We only get one week together a year. School is cancelled and the kids get to play with Grammy. The girls get their nails painted, hair done, learn to knit, swing on the swings, the boy gets good conversation and some one on one time. My mom is working two jobs, so we hung around the house most days. Its more relaxing and she got some much needed rest. We did go to Deception Pass so she could see some of our island.




As you can see, my mother and I don't look much alike. She has American Indian in her line (so the family story goes). Her great grandmother liked to "entertain" outside her marriage. I'm trying to get her grandmother's birth certificate to see if the real father is listed or her husband is listed as the father. That's a story for another day.

I also completed my class, thank goodness!! I was teetering between an A and B, so we'll see how I did later this week. I have to start reading for my next two classes. I'm taking two classes at a time for the next eight sessions and finishing my degree by next Christmas. It will be really hard and I hope to be able to do it and do it well (my type A of course). My classes start on the 31st, but I have six of the eight books already and so far there's 2400 pages of reading-so I'm starting early. Plus, we go on vacation, so I want to be ahead anyway and get it all done before I go and just study for my finals while we're traveling.

We went camping this past weekend. KOA's all over were offering a night free this weekend, so we went. I'll post pictures later. It was a lot of fun, although crowded. We backed up to the pond, so it wasn't so bad where we were. We're off for the next two weekends too. Should be fun!

And we have a field trip this week to a miniature cattle farm and park days start. And we're off!! Have a great week everyone!

Worst paying degrees

I saw an article on Yahoo news yesterday stating the top ten worst paying college degrees. What I saw verified what I've believed for a long time: teachers are underpaid.

Education was listed as number seven on the list, but the saddest is that Elementary Education is listed as number TWO! That's horrible!! There are so many wonderful teachers out there that are bogged down in the system of teaching the tests, oversized classes, not enough resources, and now they get to add low pay to their long list. Its sad that so many wonderful teachers are being forced out because they're not getting paid what they are really worth.

Not to mention the fact, they children are with them all day long. Does our society not deem teachers or children important enough to solve this issue?

I think I'm going to snuggle with my kids now and be thankful that I homeschool.....