Determination, and knowing when to quit.

Thinking this morning about how determined I was at the beginning of the year. Not to imply I'm not now, but definitely in a different way. I've learned my daughter is the kind of child whom when pushed, will dig in her heels and stop. I'm also this kind of person, which makes it hard to "give in" and not push her.

Home schooling has taught me a lot about my daughter, and also myself. I'm learning that setting a time limit for our lessons is probably the single best thing I could have done to increase her chances of success. About half the time, she'll want to finish what she's working on anyway, and will continue working into the 10-minute break we've instated between each subject. But the nice thing is, she does this of her own choice. Not me pushing. :)

Of course, if it's her idea, it goes more smoothly. Not a real surprise. :) Last week we had fun, we did some science experiments, which are her favorite, because we got done with our work early. Here is what we did:

Milk Experiment: This one is awesome and so easy. Pour some milk onto a plate (one with high enough edges it's not going to go everywhere lol). Drop a few drops of any (or multiple) colors liquid food coloring into it in random places. Take a q-tip and get some dish soap on it, then touch it to the milk. It's a surfactant, so when it breaks the surface tension, the colors go everywhere! So much fun!

We also did some playing with food coloring in water, but that was just for fun. :)

Reflections, and staying with my convictions

Well, today I just wanted to mention how happy I am Stevi is being home schooled again. No, I don't think all public schools are bad. However, I think whenever possible, home schooling benefits the children more than being in a large classroom.

We've just spent the day going to the Library for story time, picking out SIXTEEN books for Stevi (5 of which she's already read lol), coming home and enjoying lunch and reading the books (Stevi found some really cute Dirk Bones books - adorable mysteries for early readers), and then finishing up our school time. We've had really good lessons, talking about the pioneers and early America, we learned the National Anthem (that one's going to take time, I can tell).

We also just had fun comparing double-jointedness on our fingers. :) Not all the lessons are profound, I assure you. It's been a great day. Not remarkable, nothing impressive, just the kind of day I was looking for when I pulled her from school again. I just read a wonderful blog from Homeschool Diaries. I love this lady's blog. She's so down-to-earth and reassuring.

So, the main point of this whole thing was to say how happy I am we decided to stick with our convictions and return to home schooling. I know Stevi was enjoy the more social aspects of public school, but we are more than capable of interacting with others daily. Plus, we just joined a home school co-op, and our first group get together is Thursday. We're taking the kids to the Fire Station! How cool is that?!

How can I tell which nutrient my plant is lacking?

So, you’ve heard about nutrient deficiencies. You might even be able to diagnose them, somewhat. But how do you know what your plant is lacking? Or what your plant has too much of? Well, I’ve looked and found some resources with quite a bit of information. It occurs to me, however, that it would be nice to just get a concise, consolidated answer to the most common nutrient problems. So, here we go:

Nitrogen: Obviously, Nitrogen is important. It’s in the NPK rating (it’s the N), so you want to make sure your plant is getting the right amount. The signs of a Nitrogen deficiency are yellowing of the leaves, which you’ll tend to see begin at the bottom of the plant, and also will start at the tips of the plant and work its’ way inward. Generally, you’ll also see the deficiency when the plant is young, since Nitrogen is primarily responsible for growth. This is nice, because you can correct the problem early. Also, you may not see much growth, or may see spindly stalks or weak root systems.

Now, if you happen to see an abundance of Nitrogen, it will be evidenced by the color of the leaves. They’ll be very dark green – almost black.

Magnesium: A deficiency of Magnesium is very easy to spot. You’ll see yellow leaves, but green veins. You may also see purple, red, or brown spots on the leaves. Magnesium is primarily responsible for supporting healthy veins and leaf production, as well as giving leaves their green color. You’ll notice symptoms first in the older leaves. Leaf tips can also turn upward as they discolor, and may fall off without wilting.

An abundance of magnesium leaves a salt residue, and will kill your leaves. Magnesium abundance can also lock out calcium. There are not otherwise visible signs of a toxicity of magnesium.

Iron: A deficiency of iron looks a lot like a deficiency of magnesium, only you’ll see it on the younger leaves, not the older ones.

An abundance is very rare, but you may see some bronzing, or even spots on the leaf surface.

So what do you do to correct it? Well, for your deficiencies, go ahead and add those nutrients! For a Nitrogen deficiency, I’d recommend our Extreme Blend.

For a Magnesium deficiency, I’d recommend our Organic Cal Mag.

For an Iron deficiency, the best bet would probably be our Micro Nutrient Pack.

EXTREME BLENDORGANIC CAL MAG MICRO NUTRIENT PACK

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, sweet relief

We're back to homeschooling. Soooooooooooooo relieved! DH and I decided, due to Stevi's attitude and snarkiness (which hasn't been displayed in our home before - we are thinking this is due to the influences of the kids in her school), that we are done with public school.

So today has gone really well. We've been working for half an hour on each subject, taking a 10-minute break between each subject, and took a nice lunch break. Now, she's sad, we just talked about her missing her friends, which I do feel bad about. I've messaged our old Homeschool Co-op, and I'm hoping to hear back from them in the next day or two. Also, we went to story time at the library this morning.

Anyway, just thought I'd update! I'm one happy mama!

The faces we wear . . .

Watching an episode of "Face off", the makeup artist competition, has gotten me thinking. As a mother, we wear many faces. Housekeeper, first aid medic, snuggle administrator, audiobook, TV operator, educator, and, yes, window cleaner.

These many faces we wear and roles we play can lead us down many differing paths, some good, some difficult. Looking back over the choices I've made in my life, and the choices I've made for my girls, I can see where I've felt the need to fulfill a certain "role" or wear a certain "face" to satisfy others. Even putting Stevi (oldest DD) in public school was a need to fill a role. The role of a "NORMAL PARENT"(emphasis totally intentional). Now that I've done so, I'm severely feeling the absence of my role as Homeschooling Mom.

I'm feeling the need to examine my motives, and decide which role is more important. NORMAL PARENT, or Homeschooling Mom. And, honestly, it's something I have to consider. I've always hated the fact that my parents were "weird". And, trust me, they were. They didn't believe everything on the news, I wasn't vaccinated, I didn't have a social security number until I was 14 and had to get my driver's license, and, oh yeah, my mom went to jail for 4 years because she fought the IRS and, yeah, the law won. No surprise there.

It's kind of crazy to think of all the ways my childhood has affected me in my adult life. What saddens me is how it's affecting my children. I'm not really cool with that. I have to discern my reasons for what I'm doing, and whether or not they're good enough reasons. I enjoy my break while Stevi is at school. Not gonna lie. I like having quiet time while the baby naps. I didn't realize how much I needed it. I also miss that my daughter is learning things from someone else. And, let's be honest here, she's not really learning much. We started working on place values the first week of first grade. Now she's in public school, first grade, and they just start place values this week. Sooooooooo, I'm struggling with that. I told Stevi she could stay until Christmas . . . but honestly, I don't think she's going back after that.

Well, sorry about the rambling, but this was a post I felt needed written. I don't know how many other homeschool moms are out there struggling with this decision, but for me, I think the face I need to wear is Homeschool Mom. I think it's the best thing for Stevi.

A week off and missing my girl . . .

Well, Stevi had a week off school this week. It's "fall break" apparently. Lol, not sure when that started, but it's cool. We had a REALLY good day Monday, got our school work done, and it was really nice. I am 100% positive I won't be putting her back in school next year, but for now it's alright.

She is still telling me she'd rather be homeschooled. For me, that's very telling. Even with the ability to be socializing with kids her age, she'd rather be here, learning, and going to our homeschool co-op once a week. She said she wants to be home with her family. I'm going to foster that.

Off to do some more schooling! :) I missed having her home. I'm happy she's here this week.

I'm not changing the name yet, dammit!!!

Alright. She's in public *gag* school. Granted, it's a charter and it's Montessori, but still. It's public. I'm REALLY struggling with this one folks. Really really struggling. However, she seems to be doing well, and, I have to admit - albeit grudgingly - I think it's good for her to learn how to behave in a group. I also have to admit that I failed her in that area. If/when we resume homeschool, we'll be living a much more structured existence. I'm forcing myself to adhere more to a schedule myself, so I can be in the routine and prepared for it.

On a lighter, more optimistic note - I started, today, taking Garcinia Cambogia. We'll see if it lives up to the hype. It's supposedly great for increasing your energy - I think I can feel that lol - and it's supposed to be a pretty great appetite suppressant, as well as changing the way your body processes the food you eat, and how much fat you produce. We shall see.

Alright - I'll update more later. So far, I think we'll let Stevi finish out the month at school, as long as she is still liking it. Maybe I'll let her go until Christmas. We'll see.

Bye folks!

Conflicted . . .

Well, last week I enrolled Stevi in Monticello Montessori Public Charter School. We had a really rough week the week before, struggling with getting the work done, focusing on what we were doing, and just getting along in general. However, after having her in school for a week, I'm no more at peace with the decision than I was when I enrolled her.

I spent a very rough night the Friday before, and when I took her to school, was nervous all day. Stevi's feedback on the whole thing is, overall, kind of negative. She keeps getting in trouble because she's very talkative, which doesn't surprise me. What does surprise me (somewhat) is that the teacher seems not to have much patience or liking for Stevi. I do understand, she has 29 students she has to teach in a day, but regardless, I expect my child to be treated well. I also understand no one is going to be as patient with her as I will, and maybe this is good for her to learn early.

However, as I'm contemplating sending her back this week (and I've essentially decided I will. And then decided I won't. And then I will. And then I won't.), I'm really struggling with the decision. Stevi says she doesn't want to go back. Should I really make her? Or has either one of us really given this a chance? Do I want her to like it? I don't think I do, and if that's the case, am I influencing her not to like it? Is that fair? Sheesh.

People keep telling me this will be good for her. It's going to be good for her to learn how to deal with other kids, how to play nicely, etc. But I don't think she plays meanly to begin with. She is definitely strong-willed, and I think this would help her temper just a bit, but I don't know how much of that I want to go away. Not to mention we found this wonderful co-op and only had the chance to go one time before we decided to do the Montessori school. I think that was going to be a huge help to her in getting along with other kids. Not to mention the fact that getting along with kids isn't the skill she needs, it's getting along with adults that will help her throughout her life.

BLEH. That's all I can really say about it. BLEH, I have decided, though, if I do keep her home, we are going to be totally revamping the way we do our school day. No more getting up whenever, starting around the time we lay the baby down, etc. Nope. It will be up at 7:00, morning routine, get dressed, eat breakfast, get started. Then hopefully we can be done by the time we lay the baby down. And I really think we can, too.

Anyway, I'm still ruminating, but I'll write when we make the final decision.

What a slow week!!!

And by slow, I'm absolutely only talking about school - hah! It's been completely insane! We had Stevi's birthday party on Saturday, Labor Day on Monday (so we skipped school), Stevi was sick Wednesday (throwing up all day long, poor thing), and then we finally caught up on Thursday and Friday.

I also had a gal come over to the house for a lesson in gluten-free baking. A friend of mine is a pastry chef who just found out she has Celiac Disease, and hasn't ever baked anything gluten-free before. Poor thing lol. It's been close to 4 years for me, so I'm pretty used to it, but she was pretty thrown for a loop!  So she came over and we made brownies. While they were baking, we did TurboFire HIIT 25, and I just about died. I've been doing pretty well with the exercising, usually working out every other day, at the very least.

Then, Friday, we had to get our cakes ready for Stevi's party, so there was that whole thing. So basically, we missed two days last week and it's her actual birthday today, so i'm not making her do school today either.

We are, however, going out to our homeschool co-op, which I'm super excited for. Stevi is, too, for the record lol. We are going out to one of the gal's homes who happens to live on a farm!!! So we are checking out baby goats today. Woot WOOT! She's gonna love it. I've gotta make some cupcakes today though, hopefully before we get out there (yeah right).

Anyway, I'll do some pictures out at the farm and post later on. :) Yay for Co-ops!!!

New day!

Well, we are just about to head to the last Active Neighborhood Kids' Club for the year. I'm so relieved. I know, I know, it's awful. Stevi has loved it, and honestly I have too! I'm just ready to have that commitment off the table. I'm ready to start focusing on my crochet business again. I'm ready to have a little more time to keep the house halfway decent.

I think it will be nice to be back to a normal schedule. We've got Story Times lined up at the library, so that will be fun. The last one was super-awesome, Stevi loved it. I'm sure the whole "fairy" theme helped lol. But it will still be awesome. I'm going to make sure we go to as many of those as possible. I love it, she loves it, and best of all! It's FREE. Free wins. Every time.

So we are about to transition into our Winter Mode. Hopefully Ryan's work doesn't slow too much, and hopefully mine picks up enough. We'll be alright, but I hate uncertainty.

On a slightly redundant note - http://roadkillgoldfish.com/2013/08/26/dear-daughter-let-miley-cyrus-be-a-lesson-to-you/#comments. I love the way this mom wrote this. I know, I ranted about Miley yesterday, but I really am disturbed. And the worst is, I don't believe this girl even has a clue how awful she just appeared. She'll take the criticisms that have come as "haters" and not realize that most (if not all, from what I've seen) of the adults criticizing are actually concerned for her. This girl is, literally, screaming for attention. So sad.

Makes me happy my girl is home, safe, with me, where at least if I can't prevent her from seeing everything, I'm there to explain it and why it's wrong.

Really???

I'm kinda stunned. I was browsing my Facebook this morning while enjoying my morning coffee when I came across this: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/26/there-is-really-nothing-theblaze-can-say-about-the-miley-cyrus-performance-on-mtv-last-night-that-will-smiths-family-didnt-already-say/.

Really, the Smith's faces say it all, but if you do watch this performance, like I did, please PLEASE keep your kids in the other room. This girl was a Disney star literally like 3 years ago!!! This - THIS - is why my daughter is not and will never be in public school as long as there is a breath in my body.

Folks - I don't have an issue with Miley Cyrus personally. I think she is a sad, mixed up little twit who grew up in Billy Ray's shadow and long ago surpassed his 15 minutes.  Sadly, all she's done since then is objectify herself and make herself little more than something for boys to look at while they . . . well. You know. Sorry to be crude. But she seems hell-bent on making her image more "adult" . . . and doesn't realize she's making it "adult" in the porn sense of the word.

One day she will most likely look back on this performance with embarrassment. Sadly, no one told her that a girl "humping" looks freakin' ridiculous. She's completely un-feminine in this performance . . . it's just sad. I don't know, I hate the thought that these are the "role models" a lot of our young women are growing up looking at. Why can't there be someone who is just confident because she has something to be confident about? Not because she can take off her clothes and airhump a foam finger?

Seems to be too much to ask. I wish there was someone little girls could look at and say . . . "Wow, she's really amazing! She's smart, takes care of her family, has a husband she loves and  treats well, and she's so happy". Instead of "oh, she's so pretty! I want to dance just like her!". I guess that's what moms are for. Hopefully enough of them have moms who care more about them and their husbands than do their careers.

Sorry. Ranted a bit. I just feel sad for the upcoming generations of girls who are out in the dark for positive role models. Hell, half the women/girls today can't even spell "role model".

Here's hoping we're not halfway there in a handbasket.
Bye!

Today's adventures . . .

Today has been pretty awesome, I have to say. We had Stevi's Active Neighborhood Kids' Club this morning. It's this seriously awesome activity our Parks and Rec department had going this summer. The kids get to go play in the park with a big group of other kids for about 90 minutes, and they are doing awesome games. Games we used to play, like Red Rover (my wrists still ache when I think about that one lol!), Duck Duck Goose (awesome), Bubblegum Bubblegum in a Dish, etc.

She loves it. I love it. While she does it, I take the baby in the Moby Wrap and we walk around the park (it's about 3 miles if you go around 3 times). Baby falls asleep, Mom gets Me Time. Then I crochet while we wait for Stevi to get done. I'm working on a blanket right now, since Lando (our pit) loves to demolish ours. Jerk. Lol.

Then we got home, made and ate lunch together, and put the baby down. She isn't feeling very well today, I don't think. She's been asleep now for about 2 hours. Not usual for her. We have done Stevi's math today (we're working on currency), and I'm just about to sit down with her to read Chapter 5 in Charlotte's Web. We are then going to discuss Tenses (past, present, and future), and which one C.W. is written in. Then we'll talk about Author Point of View, and we'll discuss whether C.W. is fact or fiction. I'm so excited to be going through this journey with Stevi.

I met another homeschooling mom at the park today. It feels so nice to be meeting like-minded mamas who know how important it is to be integral in their child's education. I am so happy we made this choice, and while there are definitely days which are harder than others, I can't imagine sending her off to be without me all day long . . . Just can't do it.

On that note, have a wonderful day! I'm off to read with my baby! Oh, and then we're going to the library for a Fairy-themed story hour. Yep. Love this.

Mom time

Can I just say how happy I am that my 6-year-old (7 next month!!!) is such a great kid? I've been feeling for awhile that I needed to get back into working out. Not just walking, or doing my 20-30 minute workouts (which I've stubbornly clung to even when I'm not eating right), but my full-on P90X workouts. I loved how strong I was getting when I was doing P90X before, and I just decided to start up again. So today, I scheduled a P90X/TurboFire hybrid (I love TurboFire because most of the workouts are only 30 minutes, which fits great because of the 17-month-old lol).

Enter Stevi (6yo). She is awesome. As I type this, my fingers are a-trembling because I actually got to finish P90X Chest and Back for the first time in probably a year. She has been playing with Sister, entertaining her the whole hour-long workout. I feel AWESOME.

On a less self-centered note - School is going great this year. I looked up the core standards for 1st grade, and Stevi is well on her way to more than half of them being met already. So we're just sort of moving forward in a natural progression. :) She's great. She has already learned the Pledge of Allegiance (took her a day lol). We are learning about Colonial America, math is going great although I think she is bored, so I think we're going to move on to money today. She has addition and subtraction down pat.

Anyway, I am loving our independent study model. I think, for us anyway, it's well worth not having a curriculum outlined. It's definitely taking more of my time than the online public did, but that's alright. I didn't homeschool so as not to spend time with her - hah!

Also, we are reading Charlotte's Web, and I'm so excited to watch Stevi get into it. She's loving the book, and even wanting to read me the story instead of sit and have me read it to her. I've got a keeper!!!

Later folks! Hope you all have a wonderful day!
Britt

Day one of first grade . . . duhn duhn duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun

Well, it's day one. We did homeschool last year, but it was through the K12 program. This is a public school you do from home, which I consider very different from homeschooling. This year, we are doing an independent study program for 1st grade.

"We" is the Oplingers - Ryan, Brittani, Stevi, and Olivia. Stevi is our 1st grader, Olivia is 17 months old and very likely to be a challenge to the process lol. Stevi is a very smart little girl, very verbal, and very independent. She is going to be fun to teach, and fun to watch learn. As I speak, she is "pretending" to play store with Olivia.

Today is going to consist of our "Back to School" routine. We are going to the park for an Activity Day first (free neighborhood Kid's club here in our community) from 10:30-11:45. We will walk for some exercise first. Then, when we get home, we'll do lunch and get started after the baby lays down for her afternoon nap. This is one of the best things about homeschool. We have the ability to be flexible and do things in the order we want to.

We'll go over some math, spelling, reading, and history just to recap where we left off last year. Then I think we'll watch Lady and the Tramp. Not sure how/if I can tie that in to school, lol, but who knows. It's a classic, right? Call it culture. Lol. We'll see how this first day goes! I'm excited and nervous to be doing independent study with no formal "curriculum". But it's okay, I looked online at our State Standards for the year, outlined it all, and set goals by trimester so we know what benchmarks we have to hit and when. Next I'll look online and see what standard tests there are and what it takes to enroll her in them.

For the record, I don't particularly care what she scores on these tests, I just want an official record in case State requirements for homeschool ever change. Here in Idaho, we aren't required to notify anyone of our intent to homeschool or to keep up with any kind of standard tests. I just believe it's better safe than sorry. I want my girls to be able to go to school in a college if they want.

Well, this was a bit of a rambling post, I'm sorry! Just felt like there was a bit to get off my mind. Wish us luck!!!