Our dogs speak what?

While encouraging my girls to clean their room (with a timer and a garbage bag) I heard the dogs going crazy barking in the living room.

This is the conversation that followed:

Me: "Oh, my. What are they barking at?!"

Jorja: "Don't ask me, I don't speak dog Spanish."

Jonah: "Dog Spanish?"

Jorja: "Or dog English...or whatever. I don't know what they are saying."

I had no idea our dogs were bilingual.

TA-DA!

I have finished this year's format of our Weekly Homeschool Record. I've broken from the "time/day" format to the subject format. Pray for me...this is a huge break away from my usual way of doing things. I'm trying to be more flexible. Let's just hope I don't bend too far and snap!

So here it is.


I have also uploaded our daily schedule for those of you who had asked to see it.

Let's hope it's worth more than the paper I printed it on!

Back at it!

We made a brief attempt at getting back into the swing of things this morning. It ended with me confiding in a friend that if things go this well all year, the girls will be in public school with a quickness. Of course, that feeling passed eventually, but I can see that morning chores and sitting quietly at the school table will take some time to get used to.

I did get some time to get our weekly schedule going. It still needs tweaking, as we do not have a dance schedule or a firm day of the week for history or some of the other activities we hope to enjoy.

But for your viewing pleasure...

There is still much tweaking to be done...such as toning down colors and adding more chores. And probably more chores. And there is a serious lack of time allotted for laundry washing, folding and putting away.

But, I must say, all in all, I am cautiously excited about this year and what it will hold for us. Maintaining my sanity will be goal #1, of course.

The only fighting we allow is... pillowfighting!

And we are training them well. Jason had a blast beating his children with pillows, chasing them around, and occasionally being hit himself!

We did it!

I just sat Jorja down with a Bob book to see what she could sound out and I was so surprised with what she was able to read to me. And she picked up the sight words "the", "a", and "has" quite quickly.
So I guess I have no choice now but to start kindy with her early so the poor child can learn to read. AND I have to get all of our early readers out of storage. Yikes. That means that our dining room remodel has to be fast tracked. Which also means a trip to Orlando to buy the new table, and getting someone in here to quickly (and economically) put in the wall unit.
Hmmm...that is a lot of work all put into motion by one little 5 year old eager to learn.

Things I've learned while doing yard work...

1. My girls are not nearly as good at yard work as watching TV. They need serious encouragement in the weed-pulling, leaf-raking and mulch-spreading departments.

2. 80-anything degrees and higher are too hot for re-mulching. Or sitting in a chair eating a Popsicle. Or being outside.

3. I NEVER buy enough mulch. I will henceforth go to Lowe's, tell them how much mulch I need and then add the words "times 2". That should get me close.

3.5. And speaking of Lowe's...they never take me seriously. Anytime I ask for something they always hesitate and seem as though they are waiting for my husband to walk up and take care of things. This only fuels my stubborn nature and makes me ask A LOT of questions about things I don't really care about as punishment. "Soooo...this chigger stufff...does it really work? Do you have organic ant granules? Can you ask your manager just to make sure? Where are the posies? Can you take me there? Do I need to pay for the mulch first, or can we just see how many fit in my van? Do I need to back my van up over here to get the mulch, or can you just carry it there for me?" See...I am a much nicer person when you don't judge me for the lack of testosterone.

4. After 30 minutes of work I will inevitably stand up and black out. I must always remember to have a chair or pillow near me...concrete hurts.

5. Drink water. And then drink water. And a little more...

6. If I find a millipede, frog, lizard, worm or any other "cool bug" I have lost 3 workers indefinitely. Their new task is to make it a house and feed it lunch.

7. I should never, never, never try to spruce up the back yard the day before a party when I already have 3 days worth of to-do list looming overhead.

...

The end is near...

And we can't seem to get a darn thing done.

We only have two weeks left of curriculum, and for some reason, we just keep finding reasons not to finish it. I know we could just skip it, honestly. Everything we do from here to the end of the year will be reviewed ad nauseam at the beginning of the next school year. But I'm not a quitter. Am I? And I'm a rule follower. When I want to be. And what kind of example would I be to my children if I just quit now.

So we keep chugging along. (barely) And we will complete all the lessons and tests...and then we will swim and play and sleep in and stay up late and totally and completely enjoy summer for about a month until we get bored and are ready to start school again.