Dropping the ball.

So, I dropped the ball on my September blog challenge over here.  I left off on "E" and then got so busy with our fall school semester starting and keeping up with my second (sewing) blog.  But it's time to catch up!!!  So here we go!

F is for Friends, who are the most awesome people in my life!  We may not always get to see each other all that often, but we're always there for each other.

G is for Gamers.  I have two budding gamers and I am such a proud mama because next week my kids have plans to meet up at a local game/comic store to play Pokemon!  We're hoping to eventually get them into Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.

H is for Halloween, my favorite holiday!!!  It's right around the corner and we are in full costume planning mode around our house!  So far, I have a Dragon Lord and a Vampire Mermaid to make.  Pixie tried to break my heart this year and tell me that she wanted to buy a costume this year instead of me making her one.  Her tune changed when she couldn't find a Vampire Mermaid costume.  Mom for the win!

I is for Independence.  Pixie and Gamer are growing up and that means they are starting to be more independent.  I have mixed feelings about all this independence stuff.  On one hand, I'm proud of how my children are growing and the wonderful choices I see them making on a daily basis.  They are both very caring, very smart, very lovable children.  They have stood up for their friends and also for kids who aren't their friends.  They are reaching a point in their education where they don't need Mom to hold their hand, they are learning how to find the information they need for lessons and they are helping each other.  But on the other hand, my babies are growing up!!!  It's heartbreaking to think that a day will come when they no longer need me.  But isn't that the goal of all parents?  To raise children in such a way that they don't need you as adults?  I guess I'm doing a pretty good job, then.

J is for Jelly, according to my kids.  I guess that's what I get for not coming up with my own "J" word.  They do love PB&J for lunch!

K is for Kids, who continue to light up my life and drive me insane!!!  Right now, for instance, they have abandoned their lessons on computer programming and are trying to jump and give each other a high five at the same time.  Silly kids.

L is for Life.  How are you living yours?  I admit, mine could use some improvements.  I have a few habits that I need to break, such as getting sucked into the computer for hours at a time or my horrible organization skills.  I really do think I have Adult ADD and need to look into ways to deal with that because I do feel like I'm drowning at times.

I think that gets me caught up to the rest of the awesome bloggers who have probably been keeping up with this challenge much better than I have.  I promise to do better!

~*~Freckled Faerie~*~

E is for Education

It's Friday and today, E is for Education.

We are a homeschooling family, so education is a big one for me.  It's important for my children to have a good foundation in their education so they can be successful in whatever they want to do in life.  But educating children has many challenges, especially if the child has something called ADHD.

Gamer has ADHD and we certainly have our ups and downs with his education.  Almost two years ago, we made the decision to homeschool our kids, part of that was because Gamer and Pixie both were bored out of their minds in class.  They weren't being challenged enough and the school district we had just moved to has separate campuses for Gifted and Talented students, which is where my kids needed to be.  But we missed the deadline to get into those campuses and so they were put into a regular school where they were expected to wait for the rest of the class to catch up to the lesson.  That might work well for some kids, but it didn't work for ours.  So, we let them finish the semester with their class and withdrew them at Christmas.  I was nervous and a little intimidated by taking that step, but I faced it head on, knowing that I was doing what was best for Gamer and Pixie.

Fast forward to today.  We've tried a few things that didn't work with us, had to switch gears a few times, and still figuring all this out.  We used to use online curriculum, it was nice and all on one website, I just had to log the kids on their computer and let them go.  But lately, Gamer has been getting a little distracted by things on the computer.  So now we're doing all of our school work off the computer, which means more work for me.

Something that has been a lifesaver in our homeschooling journey has been finding a great co-op.  Every semester, the kids get to take classes with their friends and they absolutely love it!  They're taking classes in literature and performing arts and sciences.  It really helps to round out our lessons for the year!  And it helps the kids form and build some really great friendships with the kids at co-op.

So far, homeschooling has been great for us.  I have been able to help my kids where they needed it and let them move ahead at their own pace.  We've had fun going to the museum on "field trips" while most other kids are in school and have the place almost all to ourselves!  We get to sleep in during the week and not have to worry about being tardy!  We're not morning people.  We get to focus on building a love of learning in our children instead of stressing how important a test at the end of year is.  And most importantly, we get to be there for our children, we get to take part in one of the most important aspects of their lives.  I never thought I would be happy as a stay at home mom.  Now I can't imagine life any other way!

~*~Freckled Fairy~*~

D is for Dolls

A friend of mine recently shared her blog with me and I saw a blog challenge she was part of.  I asked her about it and found myself joining her!  I'm a little late to the game, so I missed A, B, and C, but I'm here for the rest of the alphabet!!!

The letter of the day is D and I choose the word Dolls.  We see them everyday, our children play with them, they're awesome!  My daughter, who is now 7, loves her American Girl doll.  She got Molly last year for Christmas and today, we found a second AG doll for her at a resale shop in our little town for only $40.  She's not one of the historical dolls, but she IS an American Girl and Pixie loves her.  She's already named her Crystal.

I will now be sewing for three instead of just two.  And trips to the American Girl Store will be double the fun and probably double the cost.  At least at the doll hair salon.  But it's not a big deal, Pixie is really good about working to earn money around the house and saving it up to spend at the AG Store, so my wallet doesn't suffer much.  

Lately, some dolls have come under fire from the masses.  Barbie in particular is always being attacked.  People say that she creates unrealistic expectations of body image in young girls.  I had Barbie dolls growing up and never once thought to myself "man, I need to have the same shape body as my doll."  My daughter has played with Barbies before and has never told me that she wants to look just like Barbie when she grows up.  So, where are little girls getting the idea that Barbie has a realistic body shape?  I think it comes from what they're exposed to in society and that means its up to us as parents to make sure they know that Barbie isn't real, that her body isn't a goal to reach, that her doll is just something to have fun dressing up and playing pretend with.  

I guess the American Girl dolls have a little more realistic proportion to actual body shape.  I haven't actually looked into it.  All I know is that Pixie loves her AG dolls and I love that she is learning American history through her dolls.  She loves reading about WW2 in Molly's books.  She's even read books from the other American Girl dolls and has a growing collection of AG books.  I'm excited that American Girl is bringing back Samantha, who was my first American Girl doll, back when they were The Pleasant Company.  My Samantha doll is packed away in a box currently (I still haven't found her since our move two years ago).  I would love to get Pixie her own Samantha doll some day. 

For now, she's happy with Molly and Crystal, going on adventures and learning their history.  And NOT thinking that her body has to resemble that of a toy.  And I'm now off to get Crystal's new bed set up, so she has a place to sleep tonight!  

~*~ Freckled Fairy~*~

Back to School: Homeschool Style!

We are getting back into our school routine this week!  We are going a little old school in our homeschool this year and going offline!  Previously, we were using online programs and now that Gamer is off meds, the computer holds far too many distractions.  Most of them are in the form of Minecraft and Club Penguin.  So, computers are off and pencils are out!  I'm also hoping this helps with handwriting.  Pixie is starting to write in cursive and doing great with it!  Gamer, not so much on the cursive yet, but he's a guy.

We're all excited today because our co-op starts classes in the morning!  I've been seeing everyone's first day of school pictures and I think I'll have to do a "first day" picture in the morning!  I'm also teaching this year at the co-op.  That should be fun!  Hubs told me when we first joined the co-op that I would end up teaching within the year.  I told him I didn't have any plans to teach and look at me.  Teaching during our second semester there!  I'm looking forward to it!

And adding to the chaos in our lives, Gamer decided that Labor Day was the perfect morning to break his arm!  He hasn't broken a bone for two years, I guess he figured he was due.  Small fracture, nothing too bad, but he will be in a cast for 6-8 weeks.  At least it was his left arm.  He's right handed, so he doesn't get out of school work!

I'm excited that I've been able to get a little sewing time in lately, I was part of the Henry Glass Desire to Inspire Challenge last month and also part of the Bundle Up Boys Blog Tour.  Here's a few shots of the kids in their new stuffs.

 

Pixie looking cute in her Whoo Me? outfit and picnic quilt.

Gamer is ready to save the planet in his TARDIS robe!

I had so much fun with both projects!  And now I'm getting ready to start in on some new faerie garb for myself for Texarkana Renaissance Festival and the Texas Renaissance Festival.  

And now we're off to our First Lego League meeting!!!  Busy busy busy over here!  Have a great night!

~The Freckled Faerie~

XL Wings in the Works

New wings on the machine, a new pair almost done, and another new style in the works!  Good things are happening around here!!!

On the machine right now, I am working on perfecting the XL Fantasy Fae Wings.  Since I do have some size limitations with my machine, I took advantage of a recent trip to my parents' house and used my mom's bigger industrial embroidery machine.  I've attempted the XL Fantasy Fae Wings before, but wasn't using the right material.  The first pair was ok, but that was before I started doing double sided embroidery.  The second pair, I did double sided, but with the wrong felt at they ended up not holding their shape well.  But after the success of the XL Elven Court Wings, I think I've figured out the XL Fantasy Fae.

First Pair                                                      Second Pair

The pair I'm finishing up right now is a mix-up of two of my current styles, the Mendhika Butterfly and Mendhika Dragonfly.  I stitched them on white with a dark mauve pink thread.  I'm thinking they will look really good with the skirt I was wearing with the orange wings.  Hopefully I can get some pictures done tonight.

The new style is one that I'm pulling from an unexpected place.  So far, all of my wing designs have been ones that I have purchased from Urban Threads and re-sized to fit my needs.  The Butterfly Wings are from Embroidery Library, which is the sister company to Urban Threads.  But for the new one, I found a wing I really like that is part of a completely different design.  I've had to remove elements of the original design and do considerable re-sizing on this one, but I'm so excited about it.  I can't wait to share it with you all!

But for now, I'll leave you with a dose of fairy cuteness!

Here's Pixie in a cute Tinkerbell set I recently auctioned off!

~*~The Freckled Fairy~*~

Homeschooling Lessons

We have been homeschooling for a year and a half now and I've been learning right along with our kids.  Here are just a few of the things I've learned.

1. Homeschooling does NOT mean re-creating school at home.  It is so much more than that!  Yes, we have lessons where the kids are learning things that their friends are also learning in public school, but we don't need desks and a strict schedule to learn it.  We use computers and workbooks and real life to learn.  Some days we start school by 9am, but most days, it's more like 10-11am.

2. Grade levels aren't really important when you homeschool.  I tried keeping my kids on the same level as kids their age, but sometimes, that just doesn't work.  Gamer is at the end of his third grade year, and is needing a little more time on a few things, but Pixie was so bored with all the first grade work I gave her last fall that I bumped her up to second grade after Christmas.  Both kids took classes together at our co-op and both had different strengths and weaknesses.

3. Just about anything can be turned into a lesson.  Cooking can be used for both reading and math (fractions and measurements).  I'm crafty, so sewing can be a math lesson (measurements).  A game of Scrabble is wonderful for spelling practice!  Brain Quest has a board game where kids have to answer questions from Science, Math, Arts, Reading, and The World (notice the initials spell SMART) in order to collect letters spelling SMART to win the game.  That's a favorite around here!  Yatzee is great for practicing basic math skills!  It's fun finding different ways (i.e. REAL LIFE WAYS) to teach lessons to our children.

4. Summer reading programs are awesome for homeschoolers, too!  We're currently reading for 3 different programs and if I can find more, I will!  Our local library has a great reading program where the kids get awards weekly for 5 hours a week of reading.  Half Price Books will give a child a $5 gift card in both June and July for just 300 minutes of reading during each month.  That's 15 minutes a day.  I have kids that read over a hour a day (and that's on a slow reading day).  Too bad it's not $5 per 300 minutes read.  lol  Also, Barnes & Noble will give a child a free book after they read 8 books during the summer.  We're already halfway to that goal.

5. Not having to follow someone else's schedule is amazing!  Before, we had to plan trips around the school's calendar and family trips couldn't happen during the "school year".  I remember being at Dragon Con 2012 and talking to my fiance about bringing the kids in a few years and how they would have to miss a couple days of school (that was before we decided to homeschool).  Now, we won't have to worry about them missing school because of Dragon Con, because we set our own schedule!  If something comes up and we want to go visit family, the kids and I can take off on a Wednesday and come home on a Saturday.  One day, when we finally plan our trip to Disney, we can go during a month that isn't quite so crowded.  I know, it's Disney and it's probably ALWAYS crowded, but I hear summer is the worst when it comes to crowds.

That's just my top five on the list of things I've learned in the year and a half that we have been homeschooling.  I'm sure I have lots more to learn!  Right now, I'm just enjoying the journey!

Who's the bully?

It seems like everyone these days is focused on the "bullying epidemic" in our schools.  There are stories all over the news of kids attempting suicide because of bullying or kids who stand up to bullied being punished for "fighting" when they weren't even the one starting it!  It seems like a much bigger problem than when I was in school.

I remember being on both sides of this bullying thing.  When I was in third grade, I was part of a little clique.  Other girls wanted to hang out with us, but they weren't "cool" enough.  I don't remember much of those days, but I do remember when I got glasses, their attitude towards me changed.  In fourth grade, we moved away to a different town and I started school at a private school.  I had been in public school before.  All 8 of my classmates had been in school together since pre-school.  I was the outsider.  I had glasses and freckles and I had gone to a *gasp* ELEMENTARY SCHOOL!!!  The horror of not being in private school my whole life!  Some of the other students were nice and friendly, but a few of them were pretty mean.  Especially one of the guys.  He was just a jerk!!!  A year later, I transferred schools to the local public school.  Again, I was the new kid.  But it wasn't as bad as the transfer into the private school.  And once we hit 7th grade, the private school kids had to go into the public school because our town didn't (and still doesn't) have a private Jr. High or High School.  

In high school, I gravitated towards the outcast group.  I got along with the jocks and "preppy" kids, but we never hung out together.  A few people still teased me, but I learned that if I let it roll off my back instead of being bothered by it, they will stop.  Being called "Freckles" once bothered me.  Then one day, I decided to accept the nickname.  There were always those people that would talk behind my back about one thing or another, but I had to learn to just let it go.  

Guess what.  Those people who talked behind my back in High School have no effect on my life today.  Some of them have sent me friend requests on Facebook, I occasionally run into some of them when I visit my hometown.  They've changed.  We all have.  That's what happens when  you leave High School.  You change.  You grow up.  Well, most of us grow up.  The world tests us and those who were on top of the HS popularity chain find themselves in a different place out here.  The ones who dealt with bullies in school and learned how to handle those hard situations went on to face life and they are winning out here!  

Fast forward to schools today.  Such a big deal is made out of bullying.  Everyone wants to put an end to bullies, we need to teach all children to be compassionate.  I agree, we need to teach children compassion.  We need to teach our children that its not ok to be mean to someone just because you can.  Let's teach them that calling someone names can hurt them.  We need to teach them that some people are going to be mean and that dwelling on it isn't good.  Teach them that it's better to ignore a bully than to sink to his/her level.

But us parents also need to remember that children are sponges.  More is caught than taught.  We need to lead by example, whether our children can directly see it or not.  The internet has brought out the bullies in the worst possible way.  Every day on Facebook, I see adults resort to name calling and bashing of others.  I see it on different fan pages and in the various groups.  One person posts an opinion that doesn't match the majority of whatever group they are in and the sharks come out!  And it's not limited to just one type of group, either.  I see it on the political pages, the sewing pages, the cloth diapering pages, the special needs pages, all over the place.  Adults being bullies and their children are watching.  Why do you think we have such a big problem in the schools?  Because of the examples being set at home!  I know we can't change everyone's behavior, but maybe if enough of us parents start to stand up and make a change, then we can start seeing a change in the schools.