Promotions

Here at home, my goal is to work myself out of a job. ;) Some moms struggle with letting their kids do work around the house because they "don't do it right." I, however, will do just about anything to get out of housecleaning, and would rather see dishes in the wrong place than sitting on the counter dirty, hence...

• Shiloh has been promoted to dishwasher emptier
• Elijah has taken over her former responsibilities as silverware sorter
• I am now kitchen manager

Big deal, right? It's a huge deal to me, which probably tells you all something about my life...

However, lest you think I'm overwhelmingly pathetic...I've been asked to join the Ben Franklin Design Team, which means I will be designing scrapbook pages for them to display in the store. I actually dug out my Social Security card and filled out a W-4 for the first time since 1997! This will nicely complement my teaching opportunity there, and I'm thrilled to be working with great people and at a great store that sells great stuff!

Congrats--you've finished the race!!!

This is the 8th and final clue to the knowledge of who our {hip}santaclaus is!! I can't wait to find out myself, she (?) has been beyond generous and has brought some serious holiday cheer to the Pub.

Anyway, this 8th and final picture is supposed to complete the puzzle and reveal Santa's identity. Cut and paste it into your word processing document and e-mail it to hipsantaclaus@yahoo.com along with Santa's name. If you don't know yet, you can pea-mail {hip} for the answer.

Congrats on making it this far--and good luck!!

I *heart* days off...

Dan had to use up some vacation time, so he took a half day on Friday and a full day off yesterday. The best thing is when he takes a day off and everyone else is working, because then we don't make plans with other people....isn't that horrible??? It's not that I don't love getting together with friends, it's just so nice to stay home, get caught up on things here, have him field some of the interruptions, etc.

Anyway, we're back to the daily grind today. The kids have already trashed the house, I'm still in my jammies, have a mile-long to do list. Here's a few things on that list...

• finish apps for 2 design teams
• finish up Christmas cards
• weekly cleaning (I try to do it all in one day)
• make my sister's Christmas present (a decorated journal)
• finish Shiloh's present (a decorated box)
• wrap some presents
• do school

I'd better not add anything more to this list!! I think it's already past what I can reasonably do in a day!

Have a great day, and I hope whatever's on your list is getting accomplished. :)

Homeschooling update

Since this blog was initially about homeschooling I thought I'd give a little update.

1. I'm realizing we've done way more than I've given myself credit for. Shiloh is on letter P, Mariah (who's 2) counts to 13, and Elijah does puzzles like a champ and draws dinosaurs!
2. We've learned about a bazillion random things that really aren't random at all. The Fatherhood of God, properties of light, clouds, flowers, counting, making 10, poetry, comparisons, trees, day/night, seasons (to name a few).
3. I've learned a system that works for keeping a 2- and 3-year-old productively occupied while teachind Kindergarten.
   
4. We take a lot of days off. As in, we've probably only done 2-3 days a week tops for the last couple months. BUT, when I reviewed my monthly calendar last night, I realized I'd given myself 3 weeks off in December that we won't need. So if we do 4 days of school between now and next Friday, we'll be caught up!!!!
5. I need a math curriculum. Shiloh's ahead of the preschool level in our curriculum, but not to the kindergarten level. She has a hard time counting to 20. And the curriculum doesn't give me much for how to teach math. I think she's just not math-inclined. And I am, math has always just made sense to me. So I've got my eye on something with a little more detailed instruction.

I don't love homeschooling the way I thought I would. I know it's the right thing for our family, and I think I'll enjoy it more when the kids are older. My ideal for homeschooling is everyone busy doing something interesting and meaningful, having conversations about what we're all learning about, in-depth Bible study, library trips, volunteering together and talking about it afterwards, sitting around the table working on math problems or some kind of necessary homework together, singing, learning hymns...a lifestyle of learning that has structured times of instruction but isn't about that. A life of strong family relationships, learning in context, and Christ at the center directing, teaching, guiding. I think we're building to that, and that makes it worthwhile.

Published!!!

I got an e-mail this morning that I'm going to be published in a scrapbooking magazine for the first time!! So exciting!! The funny thing is that people tend to think of scrapping as a Mom thing--you know, moms taking pictures of their kids and writing their memories and thoughts about how much they love them. But the page I got picked up is one I made about Dan! Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for the Jan/Feb/Mar issue of CorrespondenceART magazine...probably will be on the newsstands in a couple months or so. :)