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~