Just a quick update!!
1st: Pregnancy: Well today I'm 14 weeks pregnant. I'm starting to find my regular clothes quite uncomfortable and will probably be transitioning to maternity clothes in a week or two. I still need to shop for a few things. I only kept 1 shirt from my other 2 pregnancies. My mom took me and the kids shopping yesterday, mainly for furniture. She and my Dad wanted to buy us the furniture for the nursery. We picked out the crib and a matching dresser/changing table. I love them both and felt so blessed that they wanted to do that for us. Everything will be ready in about 3 months (they had to order the dresser), so in plenty of time! We haven't decided on names yet. We have 2 or 3 contenders for each sex. We always do Biblical first names, and we're still going with that. I feel like I fall in love with the names the more and more I think about them. Right now the choices are, in no particular order: boy - Joshua, Jesse, Caleb girl - Sarah, Elizabeth (go by Libby), Eden. We won't find out the sex ahead of time, so only about 26 more weeks until we know which name it is!!
2nd: Homeschooling: Our homeschooling adventures are continuing. We had a planned field trip for today, but it was outdoors and I chose to not go considering the rain, wind, cooler temps and I'm sure tons of mud!! I probably would've gone anyway, but Abby has a pretty good cold going and I just thought being out in that weather, wasn't a good choice. We were a bit bummed about that, but hopefully when the weather gets nice again, we can do something similar. We are still planning to go the Reds game next Thursday. At this point they are predicting rain for that as well, but I'm praying that changes! I'm so excited for the weather day portion of the game (before the game, the meteorologists from Fox 19 will be doing special weather presentations and experiments for kids) and I can't wait to see Steve Horstmeyer in person!! (Steve Horstmeyer has been a Cincinnati Meteorologist for just about as long as I can remember and I have always loved watching him do the weather. I love weather in general and I would get up 30 minutes early when I was in middle school to watch him do the weather in the morning!)
The homeschool convention is in 2 weeks and I'm super excited. I LOVE going to convention. There are about 16 slots to see speakers and I've chosen 26 I want to see, so I'm going to have to pare down and make sure I leave time for visiting the exhibition hall where all the curriculum people are. I think I've made most of my decisions about what curriculums we'll be using next year (all except Language Arts/Writing). Notice I said curriculums with an 's' because I'm going to be mixing and matching next year for a change. I'm very excited about that because I'll be able to personalize the education to the child.
Our calendar schedule is going to be a bit crazy for the rest of the year (and next!). We were planning to do all year schooling, with 3 week breaks 3 times a year and a bigger break at Christmas time. But now with the baby coming, we've decided to sort of go all out until the end of September and then break for October, November and December. We'll be actually starting "next years" curriculum in July and then continuing to the end of September and then resuming it in January. We're taking a total of 5 weeks off between now and September. One is for Easter week, one for the week we go to Gatlinburg with my family (mid May) and 3 for the transition from this year to next years curriculum (which will be end of June, early July). I think that will work...hopefully!!
Oh, I almost forgot, I finally found a group to be a part of and I can't even begin to tell you how much of an answer to prayer this is. For so long I prayed to find a group of "like minded" homeschoolers that I could feel comfortable fellowshipping with and having as support. Well I had only been searching for Cincinnati area groups and one day, I did a sort of generic search and found a South Dayton Group. Not only do they hold to the same beliefs we do (Christian, believe in parents right to educate their children, etc..) but I had also prayed to find someone with kids my kids ages and the lady who first responded to me told me she had a son who is 9 (my son is 9!!) and a daughter who is 7 (my daughter will be 7 in 5 months!!), I couldn't believe it. Whe He delivers, He delivers!! They have monthly mom meetings and I'm going to my first one this Sunday. I can't wait!!
3rd: Other News: Not much else is really going on, other than normal day to day living. I'm hosting an Easter brunch for my parents, my mother in law and my brother and his family. I love hosting meals. I'm trying to "do it on a dime" and will probably post how much it all cost.
The kids are doing great (other than the annoying cold we keep passing around and let me tell you, it is no fun having a pretty good cold and being pregnant when you can take nothing for it!!). We're hoping to get a garden going in the next few weeks. The kids are very excited about that. We'll be growing carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, strawberries and later in the summer, pumpkins. We also already have peach and pear trees and are hoping to plant apple and cherry trees this Spring.
1st: Pregnancy: Well today I'm 14 weeks pregnant. I'm starting to find my regular clothes quite uncomfortable and will probably be transitioning to maternity clothes in a week or two. I still need to shop for a few things. I only kept 1 shirt from my other 2 pregnancies. My mom took me and the kids shopping yesterday, mainly for furniture. She and my Dad wanted to buy us the furniture for the nursery. We picked out the crib and a matching dresser/changing table. I love them both and felt so blessed that they wanted to do that for us. Everything will be ready in about 3 months (they had to order the dresser), so in plenty of time! We haven't decided on names yet. We have 2 or 3 contenders for each sex. We always do Biblical first names, and we're still going with that. I feel like I fall in love with the names the more and more I think about them. Right now the choices are, in no particular order: boy - Joshua, Jesse, Caleb girl - Sarah, Elizabeth (go by Libby), Eden. We won't find out the sex ahead of time, so only about 26 more weeks until we know which name it is!!
2nd: Homeschooling: Our homeschooling adventures are continuing. We had a planned field trip for today, but it was outdoors and I chose to not go considering the rain, wind, cooler temps and I'm sure tons of mud!! I probably would've gone anyway, but Abby has a pretty good cold going and I just thought being out in that weather, wasn't a good choice. We were a bit bummed about that, but hopefully when the weather gets nice again, we can do something similar. We are still planning to go the Reds game next Thursday. At this point they are predicting rain for that as well, but I'm praying that changes! I'm so excited for the weather day portion of the game (before the game, the meteorologists from Fox 19 will be doing special weather presentations and experiments for kids) and I can't wait to see Steve Horstmeyer in person!! (Steve Horstmeyer has been a Cincinnati Meteorologist for just about as long as I can remember and I have always loved watching him do the weather. I love weather in general and I would get up 30 minutes early when I was in middle school to watch him do the weather in the morning!)
The homeschool convention is in 2 weeks and I'm super excited. I LOVE going to convention. There are about 16 slots to see speakers and I've chosen 26 I want to see, so I'm going to have to pare down and make sure I leave time for visiting the exhibition hall where all the curriculum people are. I think I've made most of my decisions about what curriculums we'll be using next year (all except Language Arts/Writing). Notice I said curriculums with an 's' because I'm going to be mixing and matching next year for a change. I'm very excited about that because I'll be able to personalize the education to the child.
Our calendar schedule is going to be a bit crazy for the rest of the year (and next!). We were planning to do all year schooling, with 3 week breaks 3 times a year and a bigger break at Christmas time. But now with the baby coming, we've decided to sort of go all out until the end of September and then break for October, November and December. We'll be actually starting "next years" curriculum in July and then continuing to the end of September and then resuming it in January. We're taking a total of 5 weeks off between now and September. One is for Easter week, one for the week we go to Gatlinburg with my family (mid May) and 3 for the transition from this year to next years curriculum (which will be end of June, early July). I think that will work...hopefully!!
Oh, I almost forgot, I finally found a group to be a part of and I can't even begin to tell you how much of an answer to prayer this is. For so long I prayed to find a group of "like minded" homeschoolers that I could feel comfortable fellowshipping with and having as support. Well I had only been searching for Cincinnati area groups and one day, I did a sort of generic search and found a South Dayton Group. Not only do they hold to the same beliefs we do (Christian, believe in parents right to educate their children, etc..) but I had also prayed to find someone with kids my kids ages and the lady who first responded to me told me she had a son who is 9 (my son is 9!!) and a daughter who is 7 (my daughter will be 7 in 5 months!!), I couldn't believe it. Whe He delivers, He delivers!! They have monthly mom meetings and I'm going to my first one this Sunday. I can't wait!!
3rd: Other News: Not much else is really going on, other than normal day to day living. I'm hosting an Easter brunch for my parents, my mother in law and my brother and his family. I love hosting meals. I'm trying to "do it on a dime" and will probably post how much it all cost.
The kids are doing great (other than the annoying cold we keep passing around and let me tell you, it is no fun having a pretty good cold and being pregnant when you can take nothing for it!!). We're hoping to get a garden going in the next few weeks. The kids are very excited about that. We'll be growing carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, strawberries and later in the summer, pumpkins. We also already have peach and pear trees and are hoping to plant apple and cherry trees this Spring.
Abby has lost lots of teeth (including the front two) and Noah has gotten new glasses. Noah is very excited that a Lego store is opening at Kenwood Towne Center this summer.
Oh and 1 more thing, even if you don't believe homeschooling is right for your family, can you please go to parentalrights.org and sign the petition for an amendment that would protect parents rights to choose wheter to send their children to public school, private school or homeschool. As parents we should have that choice and the government is trying to take it away (The UN Conention on the Rights of the Child). So please take just a second and sign the petition so we can maintain the freedoms God has bestowed on us in regards to our children. Thanks!!
3 comments:
That's great that you found a group. It's nice to read your updates too! Everytime I talk to someone who has kids in public school, I thank God that we have the choice to homeschool our kids. There is so much more freedom and less pressure on the kids to fit into a mold.
I am glad the pregnancy is going well, despite the nasty cold! I hope that you are all feeling better soon. I will pray for healthy Howards!
I am also glad that you found a group to join. I hope that you enjoy it and build some wonderful friendships!
I like the name choices for the baby. I am glad you are chosing to be surprised rather than to learn the sex. I think it is so much nicer that way!
I am sure you are happy about your group. I sure wish there was one for me..but mine is even more specific since I need an evening meeting and the whole point of homeschooling is that you can do it during the day.
I wish I could get excited about the convention but I am not at all. I am thinking about not going at all in fact. The whole babysitting, who will keep whom thing is too much for me. I do NEED to go so much so I willl go at least on Saturday since Steve's parents can watch the or one of them..ugh. I don't know. I sound like Negative Nelly today.
Glad the pregnancy is going well. That must make things easier.
One of your names sends me over the edge with excitment...I love it!!!!!!! I love everything about it down to the bible reference. I won't interfere with your opinions by telling you but they are all nice.
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