I won!

I won!! I did! Wow!!!  What a blessing! $25 towards Jared's curriculum!
Look Here!!

Yes, I love exclamation marks and I'm not going to stop, you might as well get used to it! lol!

*Does the happy dance* ;)

PWL- $25 gift card giveaway!

Awesome! It was suggested to me by a sweet friend to check out PennyWise Learning for discounts on whichever curriculum we decide on using for J for next year...and check it out! They're giving away a $25 gift card, closing day for the giveaway is tomorrow!!! Dash over there quickly and get your entires in!

PennyWise Learning Gift Card Giveaway!!! Click here!!

Good luck!

Beach day!

Yesterday was "Beach Day" with the base homeschool group! I'm ashamed to say how few times we've been to the beach since we moved to sunny SoCal, but this year I'm going to make sure we take advantage of the wonderful on-base beach we have here.

There are actually two beach areas on base, but thankfully the one I like the most is the one closest to my house!

There was a big military ship anchored off the shore: (I'll ask the hubby for the details on the exact type of ship later, I'm not good at remembering those things, lol!)

Jared was in and out of the water, splashing, digging and have a great time with all the kids in the group.

He doesn't know how to swim yet...we need to sign him up for lessons this summer. A few times I had to remind him to to go too far into the little waves as the big ones sneak up so quickly, but for the most part he played nicely and stayed in the shallows.

Mia was on my back in my buckle-tai carrier from Two Mommas Designs for a good while before she demanded to be let down, only to come to a shocking realization that she was now standing on cold sand that was touching her! Oh the shock and horror, lol! After a little while of standing without moving a muscle in her legs, I managed to loosen her up enough to gingerly toddle around talk to a few of the mothers. Once she figured out the sand wasn't so bad she was toddling all over the place, checking out everyone's beach bags and chairs for possible treasures!

So exited!

There Mommy! I go get it!

Come here birdie birdie!

The wind was icy cold, especially when the sun hid behind the clouds, and of course I'd brought the kids jackets, but I didn't bring one for myself. I need to remember I'm not quite as tough as I used to be "back in the day" when it took snow falling for me to put a sweater on. I'm getting old....okay not that old...just old enough where I find myself thinking that I need to "take care of myself" a little better... And it's obvious I wasn't doing that yesterday because today my throat is a little sore...whoops!

Seagull tracks....they look confused ;)

Isn't he a beaut! 

Our new Adventure: Homeschooling!

Meet the newest homeschooling mama on the block: Me!

I'm not going to go into details except to say that public school was not a good fit for Jared.We didn't like what was going on and we decided enough was enough, things had to change...and chnage they did!

He's been at home for slightly over a week now, woohoo!

We've been spending our "school" time doing revision, meeting other homeschool families at park days and just trying to re-figure out what some sort of daily schedule would be for us. The initial schedule I had in mind went up in flames (figuratively ;) ) when I realized that waiting for Mia to go down for a nap to start was not an option. Jared is ready to start most mornings right after breakfast. This morning he's plotting something out on paper "for when he's bigger", so I'll let him finish that before we get started.

But he also tires and gets frustrated quickly, so we need lots of breaks and we have to be wary of distractions....and if you have ever had or been near a 1 year old, you know they're a walking distraction leaving a trail of disaster, lol! Lots for a little boy supposed to be doing work to watch! ;)

I also need to work on my patience. (Where's an embarrassed smiley when you need one?) I've become short-tempered and impatient over the past few years and I'm pretty sure homeschooling is another way of God knocking on my door reminding me that patience is a virtue...or something much more profound. ;)

Last week, after a few days of being home, Jared pulled out his paints and brushes during one of his breaks and tore off a large piece of paper from the giant roll I found at Ikea last year (gotta love that place!). He did half of his project before we had to go and run some errands and I'll admit I asked what the last half was going to say...he told me and when we returned from our missions I let him finish because I really wanted it done, lol!

I was so proud of him and it helped quiet down those first week of homeschooling thoughts that run something like: "Oh my gosh, what am I doing? Will he learn from me? Will he resent us for pulling him out of PS? Will I go crazy? Will I ever figure out what curriculum to use?" and so on.

I fought the urge to trim the edges neatly for him and instead just enjoyed the poster as-is...a self inspired work of art that makes my heart swell with pride and happiness!