Playroom-slash-Schoolroom

After we got the kids' shared bedroom moved upstairs, it was finally time to tackle her old bedroom! The lavender had to go; I was envisioning something much brighter. The room has two big windows and lets in quite a bit of light - perfect for a learning and creative play space. I decided on a honey-cantaloupe-type color, and four coats of paint later (yes, FOUR) I'm really happy with how it turned out!



The kids have really enjoyed having the playroom set up. It's been great to be able to do school in the same place where David is playing; we all are able to spend more time together that way. (And David isn't off in another room using glitter glue as chapstick...not that he's ever done that before.) We'll need to change some things as the kids grow, but for now we love this room!

When Good Planning Goes Bad

When we decided to homeschool, I did a lot of research on planning and organization. I would love to live in an organized house, but I lack the follow-through to really make a success of many organizing projects. I knew my time would be limited, what with teaching a kindergartener and wrangling a toddler at the same time. I decided to devote a week (which turned into two) to plan out the entire year, make library lists, tear apart workbooks, and file all papers into weekly folders. It took hours and hours of work, but at the end of it I felt confident that we were well prepared for our school year.

Well.

The major flaw in the plan was that it didn't allow much wiggle-room for unexpected things. Because history, Bible, copywork and unit studies were all coordinated with holidays and seasons and trips, it wouldn't take much to upset the balance of things. (The math curriculum is pretty forgiving; with 160 lessons spread over 180 days of school, we have quite a bit of flexibility.) I was so careful in my lesson planning. Things would overlap beautifully, creating a perfect opportunity for maximum learning and retention.

Well.

Then we started working on some projects.
Then we got behind on those projects.
Then the kids got sick.
Then I had a two-week headache. (Ouch.)
Then we had family visiting.
Then I got sick.

Which brings us up to date. Because my beautiful, intricately-woven schedule didn't allow for flexibility, I had to make some major changes. I reworked all of our lesson plans for November, and we will be caught up by Thanksgiving. We'll have to double up here and there, but we will still focus on the important things and enjoy ourselves.

Today we learned about the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, were introduced to subtraction, and practiced handwriting. After Wendy takes a much-needed nap, we'll work on reading. We're going to keep plugging along, day by day, and we will make it work!

NaBloPoMo 2011

I've decided to participate in National Blog Posting Month, known as NaBloPoMo, again this year. I've tried it in the past with limited success, but I'd really like to get back to writing regularly. I'm not sure what I'll write about.

A list of possible topics:

• Thanksgiving traditions
• Thanksgiving recipes
• Teaching kids about Thanksgiving
• Homeschooling updates
• Anecdotes about the kids
• Interview friends/fellow blog writers (email me if you're interested!)
• Anything else that comes into my very-distracted brain

Doesn't that sound exciting? I'm sure you can hardly wait.

Questions about NaBloPoMo? Here's there list of FAQ.

Writer's Block

So much for NaBloPoMo...

It's Hard to be Two.

From Wendy's room, I hear pitiful cries of, "More waher, peese! More waher, peese!" I might actually take her seriously if it wasn't punctuated by random singing. She's supposed to be going to sleep - it's way past her bedtime.

Two is a hard age, apparently. I know (oh, BOY, do I know) that it's hard on the parents, but apparently it's quite tragic for the child. Only true, deep anguish could cause the kind of drama we see on a daily - no, hourly - basis around here.

The most common thing we hear from her these days is, "Oh, NO!!" Usually when she says this, something truly heartbreaking and profoundly sad has happened. Like the cat jumped off the couch. Or Momma dropped a book. Or the "Elmo's World" segment on Sesame Street is over.

I've heard that three is a very dramatic age. If it's worse than two, we're really in for a rough time!!

WFMW: Coping with Morning Sickness

If you have read my blog at all lately, you know I suffer from persistent, all-day-long, awful morning sickness. Some days are better than others - some days I can successfully fight it off and eat almost normally. But some days...some days I know that I'm going to lose the battle; it's just a question of when.

On those bad days, I do a few things to help me cope with the sickness. Some of them are probably common sense, and some may be TMI, but in any case, here they are:

• Pull back my hair. I don't want to worry about hair dangling in my face when I'm getting sick. Pulling it roughly up into a clippie helps a lot.
• Dampen a washcloth to have at the ready - if I have time.
  
• Have an empty bladder - again, if I have time. Because pregnant lady + full bladder + violent vomiting = could get messy. Ew.
  
• Use a trash can/bucket/whatever, not the toilet. Curling up on our freezing cold bathroom floor & caressing our questionable toilet is not fun. It's so much nicer & more comfortable to sit on the toilet or on the edge of the bed & use a trash can.

I've probably lost some readers forever for posting something like this...but if it helps anyone out there, than it's worth it.

For more great (and hopefully less gross) tips, visit Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer.

Printer Giveaway

Hey - Blissfully Domestic is giving away an Epson Artisan 800 wireless printer! Read more for details.

I would LOVE this printer because it would make it so easy to print out the pictures that are trapped on our hard drive! It's wireless, too, which is just awesome.

Genius

If you know my husband, you know he is intelligent. Very. As a fairly intelligent person myself, it's sometimes hard to admit that he's smarter than I am in several areas. He's a mechanical engineer, an occupation that suits his personality and type of intelligence perfectly.

His latest brilliant idea involves Wendy sleeping in a "toddler bed." You may remember that we gave the toddler bed a try back in July, and it worked for about a week. Then we had to deconstruct the toddler bed & change it back into a crib, and it's been that way for the last four months.

When we were told at the doctor last week that I'm not supposed to lift more than 20 pounds, my thoughts immediately went to getting Wendy in & out of the crib. She's 30 pounds. There's no way to get her in & out without lifting her pretty high.

Enter my brilliant husband. Instead of messing with deconstructing the crib & converting it back into a toddler bed, he just took the front off. The front panel is leaning up against a wall in the living room. If Wendy is bad & gets out of bed, the panel gets put back on & she gets a scolding & we explain to her that she has to sleep in a baby bed since she can't be a big girl.

It works great! I've had to put the panel on three times in the last week, and those times were when her schedule was off & she was having a hard time anyway. She's adjusting quite well to her toddler bed, hasn't fallen out once, and is proud to be a big girl!

Now if James can just figure out a way to make potty-training painless & quick...

(James & Wendy about 14 months ago)

Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble...

...and that's just in my tummy. Yuck.

In other news, I had a really, really strange dream during my nap today. I remember from being pregnant before that the hormones make me have very vivid, detailed, convoluted & strange dreams. They aren't all nightmares, but they are certainly weird.

Today I dreamed I went to a jewelry store to pick up an order. Apparently, I had gone in last week to check out a big sale they were advertising. I looked at all of their sterling silver jewelry, and picked out several things, because it was 50% off. I ordered the pieces & signed my name, saying that I would buy the pieces when they came in. The total was $153.33 - more than I should have spent, but I somehow justified it in my mind.

Anyway, today I went in to pick up the jewelry. The nice saleslady brought it out in nice little black boxes, and presented me with the final bill - for $15,333. I was shocked!! It turned out the nice sterling silver jewelry I had ordered was actually white gold. And wasn't on sale. I tried to cancel the order, to say that there was no way I could pay for this jewelry, but they (very nicely) said that I HAD to buy it - I was legally obligated.

There was much weeping & gnashing of teeth. I told them I was a SAHM with a 2 year old & a baby on the way, and had NO income. I said we'd probably have to sell one of the cars - which is strange, because we only have the minivan and a very old junker truck that's worth about $50. I asked if I could apply for a job there, and they could garnish my wages until the bill had been paid.

I woke up around that point, covered in sweat, trying to figure out how I was going to work when I'm so sick all the time, and who would watch the Girlie, and if I'd even have the bill paid off before May, when JellyBean will arrive...

I am so glad that was just a dream.