tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30466465828832835782024-03-05T00:39:50.150-05:00Growing Into MeLife. Love. Family. Our Perfect Imperfection. Living life as a Catholic, homeschooling family with three amazing, unique boys, a too-oft serious, frustrated and anxious but also loving momma, and a fun-loving, hardworking dad.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.comBlogger190125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-49589849884941806192017-08-13T13:50:00.001-04:002017-08-13T13:51:05.404-04:00My problem-solver husbandJust need to share this:
A couple of weeks ago I bought a new, larger whiteboard for our school room. Jason had to travel two weeks (5 days gone, 2 days home, 4 days gone) in a row for work. Due to that fact, we finally got an opportunity to hang it yesterday. In the process of removing the packaging, it was discovered that a piece of double-sided tape was on the surface of the board near the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-82417415755227859612017-07-29T11:06:00.001-04:002017-07-29T11:06:13.149-04:00Family Game Night and Birthday Plans
We played a couple of card trivia games last night which both fit in perfectly to the history time period we are going to be starring to focus on! Professor Noggin's Medieval Times covers 1066-1453, and our history syllabus this year covers 1066-1700. We also played Professor Noggin's Explorers, which obviously many explorers were during that time period as well.
I always find it Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-24373481023490896582017-07-27T10:25:00.001-04:002017-07-27T10:38:06.107-04:00Pardon the tears, my kids are growing up...Who knew getting rid of toys that have been in our home for nearly 13 years would be so hard?
It's not even about the toys, it's about the memories made with them and the little boys who are now young men (or just bigger boys on Jackson's case at only 5).
The trains and Bob the builder duplos were some of the first real toys E ever had, really connected with and brought us into his world with. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-9409183337156207562017-07-21T15:07:00.001-04:002017-07-21T15:30:48.735-04:00PerspectiveSometimes it's hard not to dwell on things or focus on the bad or rough things going on in our lives. Sometimes it's hard to find the positives in the situations. But today, I'm looking back on a few things from the last few days, attempting to do just that.
Last week, Brutus (our year and half old pup) swallowed a bouncy ball whole - leading him to need abdominal surgery on Friday. He had all Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-84077371931058899262017-02-15T13:51:00.000-05:002017-02-15T13:51:07.489-05:00Homemade with love
For Christmas, I got a bread machine from Jason and the boys. Well, truthfully, I didn't ask for anything and just ordered it for myself because I knew what I wanted. But Jason totally would have bought it if he had known and so it was from them.
Ever since we started following the Feingold diet, we have had a hard time finding approved bread. In fact, only two stores near us - one of the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-72415940170361773382016-09-22T08:18:00.001-04:002017-07-21T15:21:32.636-04:00Today, the boys and I are going to see Disney on Ice for the first time. We are heading out in just about 15 mins! It's the Follow Your Heart show. All three boys were up, have eaten breakfast and are either showering or getting dressed before 8am! This is significant because lately we've been very lazy in the mornings. Partly because we are still.on break and partly because we can 😂
When we Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-2873334718235656102016-09-06T00:12:00.000-04:002016-09-06T20:08:40.242-04:00Our Curriculum Plans for 2016-17
This year, we are keeping some of our favorites from our first year, adding in some new subjects, and changing out some things that weren't a good fit for us.
For starters, we enrolled Ethan and Alex in Kolbe Homeschool Academy using their homeschool courses. With the flexibility they offer, we will be using some of their courses and some of our own choices, while also taking advantage of Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-10354559623186705912016-08-08T11:17:00.001-04:002016-08-08T12:13:20.017-04:00Why I am Calling It Quits.I quit. I can't do it any more. I'm tired of thinking about "must finish every page, every lesson, every unit." I'm tired of hearing "Is it September yet?" We need a break. And I tell you truthfully, it is a well-deserved break! These boys have worked hard and learned so much this year. They have tried different curriculums to find a good fit and read countless books. They did math almost daily Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-4251505222825482482016-08-06T14:48:00.003-04:002016-08-06T14:48:41.483-04:00Success - Delicious Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs
A few weeks back, on Amazon Prime Day, there was a great deal on this Instant Pot (affiliate link), so I decided to snag one. To be honest, I was a little nervous to try it for the first time. I've never used a pressure cooker of any kind before and didn't want to ruin a meal, especially baby-back ribs!
After going on a Facebook group for fellow IP users, I took some suggestions shared Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-775472159615086992016-07-04T12:42:00.003-04:002016-07-04T12:58:33.174-04:00Happy Independence Day! (and a menu plan, too!)
Happy 4th of July, everybody! I hope today is a great one for you! We are ending our first full year living in South Florida today and it's been interesting to say the least.
The boys and I have all made some great friends in our homeschool community, including the family that lives in our neighborhood currently. We've almost finished up our first year of school - just 8 more weeks, as we Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-54501657689614538632016-06-25T12:18:00.001-04:002016-06-25T12:18:27.160-04:00Feingold Diet ahoy!
Today is the day. After having a terrible back ache yesterday and barely moving from the couch or bed all day, I'm finally sorting our pantry!
We are changing over to the Feingold diet fully and starting from scratch. Stage 1. That means:
Getting rid of or using up any unapproved items (mostly still "ok" in terms of dye-free but have/might have other ingredients that we will be avoiding) and Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-1528974256977241092016-04-17T17:52:00.001-04:002016-04-17T17:53:05.500-04:00
I love being able to send my 13 and 10 year old sons to the park with friends without me breathing down their necks the entire time. It is hard for this very anxious mom to give them freedom to roam they deserve, desire and NEED! Especially if you know my oldest, who is awesome but has had trouble being aware of his surroundings and safety issues.
Sadly, this may have to stop due to silly rulesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-38124612292466226062016-03-01T12:16:00.002-05:002016-03-01T12:16:57.839-05:00Murphy's LawIt never fails. We take a trip and something "exciting" happens 😂😱😫
We are having fun visiting with Jason's mom, aunt, sister and her friend in Orlando and decided Sunday afternoon to stay until Wednesday instead of leaving today.
Since Legoland has homeschool days when they offer low ticket prices to homeschoolers, we took the boys yesterday as planned. They had a blast, and while I Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-29213399504255818822015-10-17T11:53:00.001-04:002015-10-17T11:56:38.726-04:00It's definitely a journeyIt only took almost twelve full weeks of us homeschooling to (I hope) find our groove. This week has been good. We've gotten most of the things done I'd like to cover each day. Some days it takes longer than planned, or we need breaks. On Thursday, we decided to try a new order or schedule.
I've been having the boys do their individual things first (two days a week after a grammar lesson, and Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-43791308168381306892015-10-17T10:04:00.002-04:002015-10-17T10:27:48.174-04:00Science and swimming! What a day!*originally written back in September! Forgot to hit PUBLISH!*
Our first official homeschool field trip was AWESOME!
To be honest, I was dreading the 2 hour drive. Right up until the morning of, in fact. But I really, really wanted to take the boys, and they really, really wanted to go. So after breakfast, packing some lunch, and loading the car, we drove to Juno Beach to meet up with some Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-67796231724600569502015-08-11T09:00:00.000-04:002015-08-11T09:00:02.061-04:00More of our July
One week after arriving, I decided to take the boys to Biscayne
National Park, the one Jason and I spent a couple of hours at in April.
It's close to the house, and so worth it. It was really hot that day,
and the skies were clear. You could see across the water for miles!
If you look closely, you can JUST make out Miami in the distance!
The three boys sitting on a rock, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-42640724557394061472015-08-10T09:00:00.000-04:002015-08-10T09:00:07.049-04:00The first week in pictures
The nearby park, swimming lagoon and in the background Biscayne Bay. Our view at dinner.
A little friend (lizard) that made me jump out of my socks the second day in the house!
Alex and Jackson looking for lizards, butterflies and who knows what else.
Lizard in our yard
Movie night in the new house
Jackson digging in the sand at our first homeschool group beach day 7/10
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-32992382637170997682015-08-09T15:45:00.001-04:002015-08-09T16:11:41.430-04:00The ACTUAL move, or our summer adventure ;)
What can I say? I think I like it here. Sure, we miss our families, and our friends. On the other hand, it is absolutely gorgeous here!
It's only been 5 weeks today since we all moved into the house here in FL, but it feels like a lot has happened!
I should start at the beginning though. After we had our fiasco with the moving truck, went to closing, and Jason left with our Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-49711992284642880812015-06-30T22:04:00.003-04:002015-06-30T22:13:47.726-04:00Six stinkin' feet!The boys and I have been staying with my parents for the last 2 weeks while waiting to close on the sale of our house. It was either that or sit there with boxes surrounding us, little food to eat, and no internet or TV. Thankfully, my mom and dad didn't mind us barging in too much ;)
While here, I decided we should start a reduced schedule for school, officially kicking off our first year of Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-86540733231632137392015-06-04T13:22:00.000-04:002015-06-04T13:22:32.488-04:00And we are off!
Taking some time for myself lately has entailed watching some TV shows, and printing off lots of paperwork!
It's been quite a while since I sat down and written anything. Far too long. My laptop is still on the fritz, so I'm sharing Jason's (turned-family-computer) laptop.
So much has been happening for us. Jason started his new job last month, but has been training up here in MI while we haveAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-64694434565104206592015-03-20T14:50:00.003-04:002015-03-20T14:50:52.844-04:00Why we are choosing to opt out
Paraphrasing one of our favorite teachers, "I'm a tester, not a teacher."
My sentiments exactly.
Mind you, the truth behind this statement is not by choice but by necessity, forced by the state and federal governments due to the near-constant standardized, or otherwise, testing.
My sons do have *some* amazing teachers, who are unable to do what they should be able to do (truly TEACH our kids)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-61063446572596420282015-03-02T08:30:00.000-05:002015-03-02T10:56:23.524-05:00Menu Plan Monday: 3/2 - 3/8
It's a no-frills kind of week around here. Lots of simple meals that (mostly) everyone will eat with no complaints. The only ones I'm a bit hesitant about are Wednesday and Saturday. Jackson (our 3 year old) doesn't really like creamy or cheesy sauces, so I will probably keep some chicken breast separate before mixing in the alfredo sauce on Wednesday. He's never had steak florentine, but Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-1736274674845368692015-03-01T14:15:00.000-05:002015-03-01T15:01:53.239-05:00Words, words and more wordsIn honor of March being National Reading Month and Dr. Suess' birthday tomorrow, we plan to do a lot of reading this month. Usually the boys' school has some type of reading program or activity for the month of March. Alex always has a set amount of days and minutes to read each month (minimum of 20 mins a day for 20+ days, and he has to fill in a calendar with book and pages read with a parent Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-57569553114955813662015-02-28T08:35:00.000-05:002015-02-28T08:35:26.727-05:00It's been a long, cold monthand honestly, I forgot all about our goals! And my blog!
Looking back at our list for the month made me a little sad, because we had some good ideas on there.
As far as our family goals, we did watch a couple of movies together, even if I don't remember which ones. There were no new recipes tried, but we did eat a lot of good food this month ;)
The boys played Minecraft together a lot, and we Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046646582883283578.post-49691810851335906532015-02-01T16:08:00.000-05:002015-02-01T16:16:32.283-05:00As promisedhere is our January update!
As far as the family goals, we didn't really fulfill them but did do some things together. We watched 3 movies together, and played paw patrol a few times, and Jason and the boys played Minecraft together several times. We only went to one family outing, which I shared about (the water park) but have had fun this month.
It's been so cold most of the year so far Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866222144325532286noreply@blogger.com0