Why I blame Mother Goose

I think that everyone has heard of Mother Goose, right? Hard not to have heard Mother Goose if you grew up in the US. 


Part of our current 1st grade curriculum has Mother Goose as part of our daily reading. They (writers of said curriculum) wanted me to purchase this new book and follow along with which poems I was to read each day. There is no activity that goes with it, just poetry and nursery rhyme introduction.


Soooo, since I'm not a complete follower...


I pulled out the Mother Goose book that I got when I was 3. Suffice to say, it is older than 10 years old. Maybe even 20. (ya, just checked the copyright...1954...but that's not how old I am thank you..)


But you can't actually change MG, right? I mean Nursery Rhymes DO remain the same right?


So, when it says to read page 9, I can just pull out a random poem and read...RIGHT???


Someone agree with me here, or it will totally blow the image I have of myself as a somewhat responsible person.


Today, I flipped the book open to find something on the fly that I recognized.


Here was what we read:


"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children she didn't know what to do (I hear ya sister!)
She gave them some broth without any bread;
She whipped them all soundly and put them to bed"


If you don't see the part where I may have gasped, you just don't understand me at all. 


Had nothing to do with her house, I'll give you that one for free.


And I'm not saying that her kids didn't deserve it either.


I'm saying that all 3 of the kids just sat and stared at me when I said "She WHIPPED them all soundly and put them to bed". 


Then I caught myself - "I mean wiped. She cleaned up their faces".


Not that I am opposed to letting my kids in on the simple fact that the Old Woman felt overwhelmed and the kids needed a good whipping or anything. I mean, she was OLD. And she had A LOT of kids (the picture shows 17 ages 10ish and under).


I just wasn't quite prepared for that right after our morning devotion about how it makes God happy when we are in charge of things and take care of them (such as animals, children, trees and flowers).  


Because I don't think that is what God meant as a lead in to the Old Woman's naughty kids.


I think I might actually need to hand pick (pre-read more like) my Nursery Rhymes and Mother Goose Rhymes. 


Or get a good therapist.... because here is another one you might like.


"Little Nancy Etticoat,
With a white petticoat,
and a red nose;
She has no feet or hands, (focus on this line as what I would have to explain to my peeps)
The longer she stands
The shorter she grows."


I will stick with Little Miss Muffet I think...

School and Unschool

So, because I'm frequently, usually, always behind on posting things when they actually happen, I should let you know that school started....over a month ago. Oh the life of modified year-round school and that quick as the speed of light 7 week summer!!


I know you are thinking "really Stac...you are just NOW telling us?" 


I know. 


I can feel the disappointment dripping thru the Internet from each of you. I apologize. It was short sighted of me and I should not have kept you all (three) waiting for the amazing update of SCHOOL! (BLECH!)


I mean, was I not just enjoying the much cooler weather in San Diego and the consistent schedule of eat, sleep, beach, repeat?


And now here I am, speaking of SCHOOL? Getting up early, asking about homework, getting up early, buying school supplies...did I mention getting up early?


Trust me, my summer flies by all too quickly!


A-Dog started his final year of Middle School (aka Junior High for those of us who went to school when it was called Junior High). 8th grade. He has a busy year ahead of him with school - which includes Geometry, NJHS and a new program called WEB (a mentoring program aimed at 6th graders).

And then next year off to High School? How on earth is that even possible?


and then Agent P.


Well, Agent P will be doing school at home this year. First grade.


Of course, it still warrants a photo...

As usual, it can't be a normal picture. He has to be doing something in the photo...not standing still.


We decided that this year Agent P would be home-schooled instead of going to school. Our curriculum is currently an online state supported school, but by next year it is likely that we will have a different one. 

We have gotten a lot of different reactions to our decision to home school. While we live in one of the state's best school systems, it just wasn't the right fit for Agent P. With so many other alternatives, this was the best solution for right now. 


I will openly admit that the first few days were tough. We did school a couple days a week prior to the official start date. It helped us work the kinks out so that when we had to start full time on Aug 3, we were ready and are slowing finding a nice rhythm. 


The most difficult part is Mini P.


Oh, bless her little over achieving heart!

She loves to sit and watch her brother do his school work! (and shout out answers)


And she constantly wants her own school work and worksheets. 


And then there is Monkey.

He's happy taking the magnets and loading them into his semi truck trailer.


Oh the joys and differences of twins. I love each and every day of it!


Agent P is doing very well as we hit the 2 week mark of school - and is flourishing at his own pace!  


The best part? He gets to play with his brother and sister everyday. 

That time of the year...

when school starts and everyone at the stores are fighting over the last pack of loose leaf paper (until everyone realizes that they are bringing another box).

When the lazy days of summer are replaced by alarm clocks and routine. 

I hate this time of year.

I suppose that hate is a very strong word. I really tend to dislike the end of summer. The end of any break really. I enjoy break, a LOT :- ). I mean, I have a child of the age that I can utilize for a very large array of chores - what's not to like???

But there are more changes than school starting, but why don't we start here. (OH, and friends, I am still editing the vacation photos. I use "burst" mode to try to capture at least 1 decent photo in an array of 12ish, so, let's be patient shall we?? PLUS, I STILL don't have good photo editing software on my Netbook - but let's not start with that again...)

1. ADog is my new 7th grader. He's such a nice poser. Basically every "first day photo" since Kindergarten looks like this. Some have teary eyes, but this one doesn't. Same pose, same smile, different length of hair. He's good like that!

2. Then there is my new Kindergartener Agent P. Also a nice pose - however, not necessarily 'framable'.  All 5 I took look like this, or crazier. The kid was coming out of his skin for 3 days before school started. It's a miracle he I survived.

Agent P is in afternoon Kinder - but really, it's only like 3 hours. He rides the bus home with ADog and it is the sweetest thing!.

On day 2 of Kindergarten, he asked me why I was walking him to his class AGAIN. He KNEW where it was. I told him the school requires I do this, sorry. So he says "can't I just ride the bus to school?" So, now I don't make the 15 mile round trip journey, I let the bus do it. He just loves the independence - and it's all about him. (we won't go into MY feelings of rejection tho..)

3. I now drive a minivan. We knew we needed another vehicle that held all 6 of us - my sweet husband suggested the minivan. I personally was not a fan, but it works.

Pretty sure I was boon-doggled into this one.  I didn't realize that I would be driving it until we got it home and my sweet husband says "do you want help putting the car seats in there?". I mean we did trade in his car, not my suburban. Now the twins call the minivan mine and the Suburban mine. So sweet!

4. Our twins now sleep in toddler beds.

Personally I would have kept them in their cribs until at least 2nd grade, but one of my girlfriends is having a baby and I told her I would give her one of the cribs. So, since during vacation, the twins slept on the floor and that went decent ("well" would be overstating), we decided to bite the bullet.

Mini P has been ready for this for quite some time. We were waiting for Monkey and frankly, if I could have gotten away with him in a crib still, I would have. He is the worst at nap. While she stays in bed reading and goes to sleep - he plays loudly with trucks (siren and all), drops them on the wood floor, kicks the wall and gets out of bed for more toys. Yet, somehow, she sleeps thru it all for the most part.

Notice on the photo, where he has several letters from his name missing? Those were removed a few weeks ago. They are out of reach - so he must have used a book, truck or just banged the walls so violently hard that they fell down (and he subsequently destroyed them). Now I just call him "ike" :- )

5. I applied for one of my kids to join the circus. The Freak Show specifically. I'm sure Grandma would be super proud of this kid - but it is just wrong.

The question "why is he putting crayons between his toes" will just have to remain unanswered. Sometimes, there are just no answers.

Keep hanging on to the edge of your seat - vacation pictures will be up soon!

Somewhere in the Middle!

Middle School that is. Or, if you are from my generation, Junior High. I have no idea when they started calling it "Middle School" or stopped calling it "Junior High". Either way, I now am the proud owner of a Middle School-er!

I always try to make a point of taking a picture of him on his first day of school every year. Something of a tradition. Today was no different :- ), except that we almost forgot and had everyone loaded and the camera was in the house...we made a quick stop, got the camera - hopped out, snapped the photo and we were on our way! Like I said, it was no different - lol!

Here are the last 7 years of photos :-)

First day of 6th grade

First day of 5th grade

First day of 4th grade

First day of 3rd grade

First week of 2nd grade - no clue where the first day pic is.

First day of 1st grade (smiling with tears)

Kindergarten. Missing the pic from first day - I KNOW I have it...must find it!

Next year I will have a kindergartner again, but for now, just 1 in school! Luckily, I have the *star student* and I will not be making trips to the school for meetings with Principals or Teachers. Next year, that may be an entirely different story.

He was so excited today and I can tell you I am proud to be his Mom! A new chapter in his life has begun and he can't wait to dive in and live it!

Cheers!