Sometimes you just can't win!

I know it has been a long and trying week. You can tell that by my previous blog. But I was faced with a situation with one of our local public schools that you could not win.

It begins with my daughter attends her bi-weekly Daisy meeting at a local public elementary school. I am not a fan of this school. I spent time in this school while in college for my observation hours for the education program. That was all it took to know I would never let my children attend there. But I thought it would be harmless for my daughter to go to a Daisy meeting there. The Daisy leader is a wonderfully sweet lady who Poogie adores. She really looks forward to seeing all her little girl friends, too.

So the problem with the situation is actually being able to get to the meeting. There is one street that leads to the building and parking lot. You cannot enter one end of the street until after 3:30 in the afternoon and the other end is blocked by the car line. The meeting is right after school so those two options would make us miss the meeting. I was driving up the do not enter side of the street (about 100 feet) to enter the parking lot. But last time the ladies at the school gave me not so nice looks. So this time I followed another driver who by passed the car line (who were parked against the curb not on the road) and parked. I hadn't even gotten out of my car when the principal made an announcement that "no one should pass the car line even if they are going to Girl Scouts". One of the other moms waited in the car line (she was meeting her daughter who was coming over from her classroom). She was chewed out by the car line ladies for being in the car line and not picking up a child. You cannot win.

This is just a reminder to myself why my children do not attend public schools in this county. When we were coming into the school lot it was 20 minutes before school was dismissed so no children were in the area. And the closest place to park away from the school is quite a ways away.

I am going to have to work on what to do about finding a way to get to our next meeting. I feel better now that I shared this with you all. I guess it was just the burr in my saddle this week.

On a much brighter note, Poogie and I spent a girls day out. We ran some errands, ate lunch at her favorite place McCallister's Deli, and got haircuts. Then we went off to ballet.

To end a good day my hubby came home from a work trip and all is well. Now we only have to survive the cold tomorrow night when TT will be in the local Christmas parade with his Scout troop.

Sometimes I wonder, "What was I thinking?"

That has been the question I have been asking myself for the last week or so when it comes to my son, TT. I know I choose to homeschool and love doing it, but man it can be hard spending every waking moment with your children. This last week we took off for the holiday and because my hubby was on vacation. We spent all but 4 hours with the little darlings.

Please don't get me wrong I love family time, but TT is going through this stage where he acts goofy about everything. He makes corny jokes or lives to aggravate his sister and me. I guess maybe I need to plan a little me time in there somewhere, but that will take a miracle in itself.

I know I am not alone in this. I have read countless accounts of wonderful mothers who have the same feelings on homeschool message boards. But I feel so guilty feeling this way.

That being said I have to admit that I spent my evening in the company of about 8 young boy scouts and their parent at our pack meeting and enjoyed it very much. I enjoy seeing TT having such a good time and forming friendships that will last with these boys. And when I sit back and look at them they are all goofy and annoying at times like my son, and it warms my heart to know that he is not alone in his goofiness.

Happy Turkey Day!

I hope you had a great Turkey Day, I know we did. In fact I am know contemplating whether I really need to go and eat that wonderful cobbler in the fridge or should I just stop now before I explode;)

Our holiday actually started yesterday. Santa made an early delivery to our house. My hubby decided to buy two new four wheelers for our rug rats. Poogie has been riding an old ancient 50 4 wheeler for a while and it was in such bad shape it was a pitiful sight. TT has sold his dirt bike earlier this year and was waiting for another ride. So we ended up with two new ones. And here they are.

Don't they look cool in their gear and on their new rides!

What was so great was that this was a huge surprise to Poogie. TT went with his dad to get the 4 wheelers, but Poogie stayed home with me. This photo was taken when she was still in shock. I couldn't get a good photo of her first reaction but I have to say I thought her mouth was going to hit the floor.

TT couldn't wait until the 4 Wheeler was off the trailer he had to pose for a picture.

Needless to say they bundled up today and rode until darkness drove them inside. At least Thanksgiving dinner was waiting for them. So we ate dinner and then completed our yearly traditions. We decorated the Christmas tree, ate pie, and then watched Chevy Chases Christmas Vacation. It just isn't Thanksgiving with out Chevy. It is the start of our holiday season.

I hope all of you were blessed with a wonderful time spent with family and the one's you love.

Happy Holidays!

Hey, leave a comment if you come by!

Hey! I know I have been MIA for a few days. Between Boy Scouts, ballet, and life in general I have been quite busy.

We have took the week off for Thanksgiving since my hubby is off this week to spend with us. We have spent most of the days out and about shopping and having fun. I am trying to complete all of my Christmas shopping this week, or at least buying most of the major stuff. I hope to only have to buy small odds and ends after this week.

Tomorrow I get to take my mom grocery shopping. She has to go tomorrow can you believe it the day before Thanksgiving. I must be insane. Please keep my in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow;)

I miss hearing from everyone when they drop by so leave me a quick comment and let me know you were here.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Contest! Contest!

One of my favorite bloggers over at www.homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolingmommaof4 is havin a contest in honor of her blog receiving over 155,000 hits. This huge number wouldn't surprise you if you visited her blog. It is an awesome collection of homeschooling ideas, unit studies and links to everything you can possibly need.

The prizes for winning the contest are a $20 giftcard and a $10 giftcard to CurrClick (formerly known as Homeschool EStore). All you have to do is go to her blog, follow the rules!

You may want to take a look at her Grinch unit study! It is Great!

What a Weekend!

I don't know what I was Woo Whooing about Friday. This weekend has turned out to be as busy or busier than the week.



First my hubby has to go out of town on an emergency for work. So there goes my extra hands and help.



Then my mom decides that she has to do some of her Christmas shopping Saturday no matter what. You may be able to sympathize with me if you have an aging parent. She wanted to go to Sears of course at the mall. Now, I don't mind going to the mall but with my mom+ my two children= a lot of walking and total chaos. After 4 and a half hours, thousands of steps and 3 trips to the van with packages we finally leave the mall. She also kindly wanted to purchase my children some new clothes. Which was great, however after working with both of them to try on what seamed like hundreds of jeans, shirts and skirts I was a mess. I looked like I had run up and down a small mountain.



So we get home and Poogie wants to build a tent after supper to lie in while she watches The Grinch and The Wizard of Oz. So mom is now an engineer (also a popcorn chef). Here is a photo of my work.

Today I spent the morning sewing on boyscout patches so that TT would be ready for a Veteran's Day ceremony he was in. The ceremony took up most of the afternoon. We came home and watched Flags of Our Fathers, ate dinner and had quiet time. The quiet time was so that I could plan lessons for this week. Whew, I am tired and ready to turn in!

Wooo Who it is FRIDAY!

That says it all for me! It has been a long and trying week at our household. Let's just say our academic progress was non existent. Beginning Monday my hubby left for a work trip and I had to recover the house from our weekend away. So that took up day one.

Then Tuesday was our field trip and shoe fitting at dance. Day two was gone. Wednesday house work, Daisy's and well, life, day three over. Thursday, hubby is now home, we meet him for lunch and then we drive to town to get my son's glasses. However, we could not get the glasses because everyone was at lunch for an hour and a half (long story). Then we have parent's night at dance. ( I have to note here how well Poogie did, she picked up like she never left. I was so proud of her, and she was so happy to be back.)

Friday I took a little me time and went to lunch with a fellow homeschool mom and her daughter. I had a wonderful time eating sushi and chatting with the girls. I have truly been blessed with wonderful women to share this homeschool journey with.

It hasn't been a "bad" week, just a not so normal one around here. I hope to start fresh next week and get back to learning.

Field Trip!

Yes we took a field trip today. My local homeschool group took a trip to an art museum in Memphis and the IMAX theater.

The art museum featured the art of Babar the Elephant. Poogie really liked it. It was cool how the artist took famous paintings and did them using Babar with watercolor and ink (for example he did Whistler,s Grandmother using Babar).

TT liked looking at the American Impressionist collection. He was amazed by the layers of paint and how those crazy looking brush strokes made up a picture of something. I was really amazed how interested and how much TT liked the paintings. We even saw two Monet's and a Degas.

The IMAX experience was our first, but won't be our last. The film was of the Deep Sea. It was awesome. I can't believe we've never been to one.

OH, and just to share my joy, a little family information! Poogie decided to return to ballet class! We went tonight to sign her up and get her shoes. She is excited and so am I. I love to watch her dance. Now if I could only find some reasonable art lessons for TT. Till next time.

Okay I have to brag a little...

I have a wonderful husband. You may wonder what has brought on this sudden feeling of pride. Well, my dear hubby took me away for the weekend for one night and a day of romance and fun.

We had wanted to go for our 12th wedding anniversary but then we found out that we would have to go Saturday instead of Sunday night because of hubby's work schedule. We needed to go Sunday because my dear youngins needed to play their last soccer game that was suppose to be played last week but delayed because of the weather. So when my hubby's work got in the way of our plans the kids told us that we could go Sat and they wouldn't mind missing soccer. They were sooo ready for it to be over a few weeks ago.

So off we went to the same city we spent our honeymoon, Nashville. It was really nice. My sweetie surprised me with dinner at my favorite spot, Demo's and a carriage ride after wards (something we had never done). Then we had a late night snack of Jack in the Box taco's. I was in heaven. But wait there's more.

The next day my hubby took me to a Sephora store in the mall and I got a complete Bare Minerals makeover and the make up to take home. I had wanted to try it for ages but with Poogie always with me it is hard to get a full makeover.

It is hard to believe we have been married 12 years. To me it seems like we just said I do yesterday. If the next 12 years are as good as these have been all I can say is I am one blessed wife!

What we did in school last week...

Last week was busy but fun. We moved along in our Ancient Greek studies by investigating Greek Architecture and the Olympics. We also viewed an excellent DVD of the Ancient Civilizations series about various cities in Ancient Greece. TT identified the different types of Greek columns, and wrote and article about the Acropolis and the Olympic Games. Our plans for having our own Olympics was sidelined due to a park day with our homeschool group. But, that is what is great about homeschool there is always tomorrow, or in this case next week.

For science we had a grand time collecting leaves and identifying the various species of flora in our own back yard. TT and Poogie made posters of thier identified leaves.

This is TT's Collection!

This is Poogies!

We had so much fun with these simple activities.

Of course, we had Halloween, Boy Scouts and more school this week. Here is a photo of my little Helper.

Poogie making Cookies! Love the outfit!