Well, I did finish the half marathon! (Go me!) I finished in 2 hours and 7 minutes. It was absolutely so much fun. Okay, let me be honest. The huge hill at mile 9 was absolutely NOT fun. Miles 12, 13, and that last tenth of a mile were, ummmm, not the best party that I have ever been to. It was, however, really great to do something that you didn't think that you could do. If your wondering about my husband (who, by the way, ran like six times in preparation for the half marathon) beat me! He finished in 1 hour 59 minutes!
So, I have done the most logically thing that I can think of . . . sign us up for another one in Pensacola, FL on April 10th! WooHoo! Can't wait!
School is just trucking along like always. I noticed the other day that as the school year begins to wind down, I start reevaluating the necessity of all that "extra" stuff I have my kiddos do. You know, we started the year doing two different geography curriculums. Well guess what? We're down to just the one. You know what I mean?
Did you know that I hate standardized tests? Well, I do. However, I have ordered the bigger boys SAT tests and plan on administering it the first week in April. (I mean, if you have to "administer" anything, it's probably not a good thing . . .you know what I mean?)
What other random things can I tell y'all? Oh, I am thinking about switching our History/Science/ Reading curriculums to Heart of Dakota. It is one of those things where I feel like God was just about beating me upside the head with. You know what I mean? One friend ask me if I have ever heard of it. Then a few weeks later, someone totally different ask me about it. Then as we were discussing it in the hallway, this mom stops and says, "Are y'all talking about Heart of Dakota? Because I just started using it this year and I love, love, love, it!" I feel like everywhere that I turn someone is talking about this Heart of Dakota stuff. However, if you know any homeschooling moms, you know that talking curriculum is like our crack. Seriously, I don't know many homeschooling moms that don't absolutely love reading about, researching, and looking at curriculum. And this time of year just really encourages our habit. Anywho. . .
The other big event in our life is that basketball is over and that means that baseball has started! I am excited! The entire weekend before the draft happened, I was getting texts and on the phone with other moms of six year olds (yes, you read that correctly six year olds) making predictions about who was going to go where! And yes, you read that other sentence correctly too. I said draft. There is a draft. Coaches study these kids, and prepare for the draft. One coach told my husband that studying for the draft was like studying for the SAT! He said that is one serious room! Ha, love it!
The draft didn't end until around 10:00 Monday night. Around 9:30 my phone started blowing up with texts. Apparently, one of the coaches was texting his wife about who went where and she was texting me and others! I knew who little man's coach was long before his coach ever called. I don't really have many connections with the older boys age group so I had to wait for the coach to call. All that to say, I am about to be living at the ballpark, eating a healthy diet of concession stand food and/or fast food! I wonder if Dr. Dobson counts it as a family meal if we are all eating in the car at the same time?
What's been happening with all of y'all?
Okay - weird. We use Heart of Dakota!
ReplyDeleteI think you would like it. It will appeal to your love of organization, but it's not so inflexible that you freak out if you skip a day or so. Also there is more room and suggestions for activities. We like the reading (like Sonlight) but Schyler also likes activities. I feel like HoD is a good mix. Also I like that it starts out with American history and has a good grounding of our beliefs before we move into things that may be hard for little minds to understand, like false gods of Greek, Egyptian and Roman times.
Next school year would be when we would or would not start the reading part (is it called something about the heart of reading??) and I would like to hear someone's experience with that, so let me know if you know of someone or have heard of anything.
You're right, though - curriculum is like crack for us. I started looking at other stuff a couple of weeks ago and getting that feeling in my stomach, you know - "what are we going to do" or "is there something better??" But finally I decided to stop. What we are doing is working and it is good, so I'm going to stick with it. A friend told me last year "there's a lot of good stuff out there, but there comes a point that you just have to make a decision and stick with it."
UGH!!! Curriculum kills me. It scares me. I want to love what everyone tells me about. I go search for it with my best friend, google, look through it. Dream about it. And decide against it.
ReplyDeleteBut baseball...I love baseball. We have already had our first practice. I am dying over here to get started. I think eating a meal together in the car on the way to the ballpark totally qualifies for a family meal!
Thanks for the comments!
ReplyDelete@Mrs. Jennifer - You have got to be kidding me . . . you use HOD? Okay, it is like another little swat on the head from God. Which one do you use with Schyler and what grade is she in? I am looking at Little Hearts for my (will be) first grader. And Bigger Hearts for my (will be) 4th graders. I will probably have to order the extension package for them. They have done Core 3 in Sonlight which is the first half of American History, so I hate to just ditch the second half and move on. You know what I am saying? (My friend says that I say, "You know what I mean?" too much so I am swapping it out for "You know what I'm saying?" Oh my. . .oh my. . . DECISIONS!!
@Marcie - I have done that many many times before. I did it with Spelling Power this year. Everybody around me raved about it. I was unsure, but ordered it. Um, I would rather poke myself in the eye than continue with that curriculum. Glad to meet another baseball mom. It's so much fun!
Schyler is finishing first grade and I used Little Hearts. We really have enjoyed it. You know how it is- she has her moments, but all in all she looks forward to our reading and activity. I ordered their Teacher Guide along with the 3 history books and the Emerging Readers set, but got any others from the library.
ReplyDeleteI already had an Apologia science book so I stuck with that and didn't get their science, but I'm debating on that for next year.
Have you got to look at anyone's stuff yet? If you want to meet sometime let me know and you can take a look at mine. I'm not sure if we have any more cover school meetings??
With baseball season coming up - I think Dr. Dobson would say that if everyone is in the car eating dinner - that counts! :)
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