Coming Attractions

Just a quick note to share what is coming in the next few (or longer) weeks...

• Where the Wild Things Are unit...but might hold off a bit to actually do it with Josh until closer to the new movie release (mid Oct. I think!)
• My first review! A cool company csnrugs that has a vast line of educational area rugs, including an area rug I will be reviewing!
• A unit on vowels
• A Gratitude unit
• And towards the end of summer a bit of school readiness (shoe tying, etc!)

Looking forward to sharing our upcoming school journey with everyone as well! Please feel free to share any links, ideas, or questions....as always!

Shannon

Hmmmmm

Have I mentioned that life is crazy right now?

Change is good...my new mantra!

Soon, we will be welcoming a 9 month old boy into our home 4 days a week. I have NO IDEA the implications of this decision in regards to Josh and school. But I do know that we will make it work.

Life sure is interesting. See # 10! Sort of a different solution to a barely admited thought...ya know?

Anyway, we are still knee deep in home renovation. And...as I am sure you all know...with summer brings many many activities. So we are BUSY! I so need to make a list...

Have a Great Weekend!

View from our front door!

There is actually a male and female (hidden by male) Duck in the picture and a little bird in the feeder. As a matter of fact, you can not see it but a squirrel was hiding behind the tall grass on the right. I think we may need to start making some more bird feeders!

We are going to have a great summer!
Shannon

Everyone Struggles

First, I want to say that I realize that yesterday was Friday but somehow that did not affect my brain at all about posting for Thrifty Thursday! But I digress...well sort of...

I was just checking out another Momma's blog that I had never read before, and she wrote something that I feel I need to comment on. Please read this and come on back!

Okay, so I do not think I am actually the Mom she is referring to when she says "Reading a blog of one happy mom whose son doesn't seem to give her a moments trouble, they do cool things and she is very creative. " But I also do not want anyone to get that type of impression of our life around here!

Because...believe me, we STRUGGLE. To begin with, I am home alone with Joshy much of the time. My husband works a great deal so that I can be home. (The SAHM catch 22!)
Then there is me...I am a trained Teacher with a concentration in Child development. And I have always excelled in maintaining excellent classroom discipline. I am actually known for it. But apparently, with Joshua, this is my biggest test...and frankly much of the time I feel as if I am failing miserably. Joshua's part in all this...he is an incredibly bright, funny, active boy. Who can also be sassy, hyper, defiant, and cruel. Just a few days ago he told me that I was not as smart as Daddy. Why, you might ask? Because I was turning into a different driveway at the mall then Daddy takes. And...because the sun rises and sets with his Daddy.

I am not sharing all this because I in anyway want you all to know but because I do not want anyone to read my stuff and go away feeling bad about themselves. I have a degree in how to do all this homeschooling stuff, it is easy for me and I enjoy it. Also, Josh is easy to teach. When I began this blog I chose to mostly share our homeschooling experience. But that is only one side.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Shannon

Happy Earth Day!

Your Life is 76% Green

You live a very green life, and you're aware of how your actions help the earth. Of course, it's hard to be totally green. But when you make a tradeoff, you know why you're making it.

How Green Is Your Life?

Not sure about the whole trade off thing! Mostly I did not score higher because I am lazy! We always take the car, I never make it to farmer's markets, I always use the dryer, and I can not seem to remember to unplug appliances not in use!

Nice to have a reminder of what more I could be doing! Have a wonderful Earth Day! If the weather is cooperating, spend some time outside using NO electricity today! Maybe you could even give this a try!

That's my plan!

Shannon

Check out my new sidebar!

I just added "My shared items" from my googlereader! I plan to add stuff there that I am thinking about. Some will be items I want to do or make and others will be just interesting thoughts that I want to reread.

Feel free to leave me a comment if you see something you want to chat about!

Shannon

Blogs taking up too much of your time?

Okay, I admit it! It takes me away from other stuff I should be doing. Not really the writing of this blog but the reading of other blogs! I generally only write mine at night after Josh goes to bed or when he is napping.

So anyway, I kept seeing stuff about a blog reader that saved people time and energy. But honestly, I had NO idea what they were talking about! Then, yesterday I stumbled upon a new-to-me blog http://montessorifreefall.blogspot.com/ and I was reading along, when at about March 20th (?) I read a little blurb Stephanie added about Google Reader she said, quite simply, "Just go to www.google.com/reader and sign up for a free account. You "subscribe" to the blogs that you visit regularly and Google Reader notifies you whenever that blog is updated. You no longer have to check to see if that blogger has posted!"

So I finally tried it! And let me tell you, I AM IN LOVE with this! It makes everything so much easier. I feel like a complete moron for not just figuring this out on my own but I am so grateful that Stephanie shared it. Hopefully, if you have not tried this yet, you will now. It is SOOOO worth the time it takes to copy and paste your favorites.

Thank you Stephanie!
Shannon

Life sure is crazy!

So...I was taking a bath this afternoon (yep, I did say afternoon!) right after I put Josh down for a nap (ah-ha). Anyway, I was thinking of how crazy life is...

When Andrew and I were first married we lived in this TINY little bitty shoebox of an apartment. The bathtub was easily the smallest I have ever seen. (And I AM a bath person!) Then, Andrew graduated and we moved from married housing to our first real chosen by us apartment. The bathtub was very normal and we really loved most everything about that apartment except the fact that it was an apartment!

Now we are living in our first house. It is actually going on 6 years here. We have a fabulous bathtub. It is a Jacuzzi brand, very deep, with jets. And I LOVE it.

But now, I am so completely "all about" not leaving this planet worse than I entered it, that I pretty much refuse to fill it up. Which means that we never use the jets and might as well have that first tub back. You know the one, Me 5' tall Shannon, could not even really fit in.

Which leads me back to the thought...Life sure is crazy! And, I am afraid that this is what it means to really be a grown up!

Shannon