Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Dog Gone

Since I mentioned Charlie (our Golden Retriever) in a previous post, I thought I should announce that he no longer lives with us. Charlie snapped at Edie's cheek. Jon & I were devastated. We both felt horrible for bringing him into our home. We were shocked that this happened. We had spent alot of time with Charlie before we officially adopted him. We had him over for sleepovers & took him for walks. Charlie basically didn't get any attention from his owner. I think going from isolation to 5 kids was stressful for him. My guess is that he felt cooped up during the winter months & couldn't get away from the kids. We have a consultation with a pediatric plastic surgeon next week to minimize Edie's scar. Edie is beautiful with the scar, but as parents, we want to do everything we can to help her. Here's Ellory's sleepy picture. They look so peaceful.

Homeschooling

This is what our homeschooling looks like. We originally made an official school space in the basement. Nobody wanted to go down there. I tried dedicating the dining room to our school room by hanging educational posters on the wall. In the end, it felt cold. I missed my warm, home-inspired decorations & photos. I finally came to the conclusion that one of the benefits of homeschooling is comfort. We currently don't need a dedicated space for it. Its comfortable & cozy to do school on my bed or wherever else Madelyn sees fit. Ansley (& Nolan) have been learning letters & phonics via LeapFrog DVD's that we play in the van Mon-Fri. We decided to watch only educational movies while we're on-the-go during the school week. Madelyn wanted to teach Ansley today. She helped Ansley with handwriting, letters recognition, & spelling. It was one of those moments that made my heart sing! I'm so proud of these two. Here's Nolan "playing" ABC Mouse. Love this website & love this kid! Since my cleaning lady was coming at 2:30 & Jon was working until midnight, I took the kids to the children's museum in a neighboring city. Love these photo ops! On the way home, we stopped by Chick-Fil-A. I came home to a clean house. I didn't have to fix dinner. The kids went straight to bed. No time to make a mess. I am enjoying my clean house for the night.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Back to Blogging

I decided to blog again after reading a friend's blog early this morning. Nolan woke me up in the middle of a deep sleep at 3:00 AM b/c he had wet his bed. He hasn't had an accident since I can remember. I was so tired last night, that I didn't make him go potty again before we hit the sack...lesson learned. Bring on my caffeinated Teavana tea (my new obsession)! Its been a busy whirlwind of a year since I posted last. For starters, not only am I homeschooling Madelyn this year, but everyone is home with me, everyday. Yep, that's right, no preschool. Ansley, Nolan, & the twins are busy, crazy, sweet, & sassy. Jon is in the 2nd half of his 3rd year in residency. Oh ya, we are also the proud owner of a 3 year old Golden Retreiver named Charlie. Since we're on day 2 of the new year, I'll post my resolutions so that I will hold myself accountable. Here they are, in order, drum roll please...1. Be a healthier ME by cutting out sweets, eating more fruits & veggies, being more active, & taking more much-needed ME time. 2. Love & appreciate my children & hubby more. We can never do that enough, right? 3. BLOG! Here's to a Happy 2013!