Mom vs. the Dot: Making it COUNT!

Every year, I start out with high hopes for our homeschool year.  You may recall this pic from my school supply bargain-shopping post . I order curriculum, wait for it in the mail, and with bated breath, open the orange bubble mailers that arrive at my house one at a time.  I organize each child's workbooks and school supplies, then stack them on the homeschool shelves and wait. While counting down the days 'til school, I hop on the internet to find more resources.  I find a couple new websites to use to further learning without mom's help.  www.abcya.com, www.pbskids.com, and www.starfall.com are our three favorites. After that, I sashay over to YouTube, saving interesting videos and subscribing to new channels I think the kids will like.  Music, science videos, How Things Are Made, history videos - you name it!  YouTube may be my favorite free homeschool resource.  Netflix also has some great videos - my girls like to watch the Bob Ross vid...

A puppy has brought many new things into our lives. Chewing, barking, going potty on the carpet - all that fun stuff. I thought I was a total genius when I decided to make my own pee pads by recycling some waterproof crib mattress pads.  I just cut the elastic off, and voila!  Free piddle pads for our pup. It worked really well for a while, and I'd wash them once or twice a week. I promise I'm getting to the point.  Stick with me.  It'll be worth it. In our effort to further potty training, we moved the pads outside, so he could smell the scent on the grass. This was good in theory, but one thing I didn't expect was that sun and rain would set the stains and smells in the fabric.  No problem.  I've washed cloth diapers before.  No problem.  I can handle this. Except after a month or so, my dryer-fresh laundry began to smell.  Smelled bad.  Like a pet store. Pet store scented laundry.  Great. Maybe if I keep wash...

So we started off the morning with the death of our first family pet, the beloved Frodo the Fancy Hamster, master of all things fluffy and cute.  He entertained our family for 2 1/2 years, which I think is pretty long for a hamster, and now he has gone to "hamster heaven," as my oldest daughter put it.  He is actually out in the garage awaiting burial because we had heavy rains all day today.  There was some weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. There were many, many tears and lots of wadded up kleenexes. I was most surprised by our 6-year-old daughter's response - she was just as heartbroken, even though it wasn't "her" pet.  Our oldest saved up her own money to purchase Frodo, thereby giving her full ownership of our furry friend. I think this was the first death our kids have experienced.  It was rough...but it's a part of life.  They didn't want to hear about that, so I told them something comforting while putting them to bed last ...

(Here we are, waiting for the sun to set for our drive-in movie) I try. I try so hard, every day, to be content with what I have. To be cheerful in every circumstance.  I want to be, and generally am. When school ended, I was elated - I felt the burden of school responsibility lifted off my shoulders.  I was ready for some serious relaxing.  Cheerful was my middle name. This summer has been epic - so many great summer memories have been made. Trips to the drive-in movie theatre.  Playing frisbee while waiting for the sunset and eating giant buckets of popcorn shared between snuggly kids setting records staying up late for the second movie. Swimming, swimming, swimming!  Learning to swim, trying new skills, diving for dive sticks, making it all the way across the pool - a super summer achievement for my littles. Hot, hot weather - too hot to go outside unless it was to swim or to go somewhere air-conditioned. Our cute little...

Half way through summer The kids are an inch taller and several shades browner (or covered in freckles). The well-manicured fingernails and hairstyles have long since grown out. The brand-new summer clothes and swimsuits have faded from being dried in the sun many times. The kids are sun bleached, too.  Their hair is lighter, their spirits are lighter.  They are unencumbered, free! I love this part of summer. The mad rush to "fit it all in" has passed in the form of June.  Picnics and water-parks, graduation parties, vacations and VBS - all the planning and packing and mass cooking is done. Now we enjoy what I think of as summer. Endless days to "do nothing."  I think this is really what kids look forward to...and if not, it's what I look forward to ! A playdate here and there, a backyard swim party, popsicles on the porch, catching lightning bugs at night.  Flip flops, bare feet, and drippy footprints in the house from swim-suite...

Let's see...it's been a 3 day weekend, so that means...it's been at least 3 days since I've washed the dishes. I know - eew, gross.  But sometimes it can't be helped.  There's swimming to be done and lightning bugs to be caught.  An all-day family reunion in Ohio with lots of trampoline jumping and pond swimming must be enjoyed.  A full day of church activities followed by a delicious, delightful nap. When I woke up and came downstairs, there was a SMELL. A no good, really bad, terrible smell. Like a garbage dump or something rotting or poop.  It was definitely all three. First line of defense?  Take out the garbage. Garbage dump scent eradicated. Rats.  The smell is still there. Second line of defense?  Doing the dishes. Ugh. I try to have a good attitude about the dishes.  I am thankful for the food we eat and the dishes to put the food on, but wow - do we make a lot of dirty dishes in just a few days. In one...

We don't need backpacks or lunchboxes. We have no supply lists. Basically, my fall prep is bargain hunting for fun stuff my kids will love.  Yay!! Here is what I've done to get ready for school. Goodwill trip - $15.00 for 20 chapter books, Berenstein Bears, logic puzzles and games, craft books, etc.  They're listed as 25 cents each, but some were marked higher.  If only I'd known there was a 50% off sale at the end of the month, I could've paid only $7.50 for all this goodness. ( I know not all 20 books are here, but I couldn't fit them all in the frame .) Ollie's Bargain Outlet ("Good Stuff Cheap") - drawing books, roller coaster science, art, history, a big, colorful U.S. map, chapter books (choose-your-own-ending and comic book style = big win!!) Most items were for my 4th grader, but I found sight word cards and a large bucket of sidewalk chalk for my littles.  Total price?  $20.00! Add these supplies to my already e...