Starting homeschooling

So we will be beginning schooling on Sept 6th :) We are using an oline curriculum through time4leaning.com. Im anxious to get started lol. I also applied for a job, not sure I totally WANT to work but  think Im just getting cabin fever kwim? I do have someone who wants me to babysit her 6 yo so thats something ive been thinking of doing instead of actually working, just to bring in a little more cash

Nothing is new here with us, we're not preventing but not trying for baby#4 still !
Car shopping......................ugh!~! I hate it!!!! We have a few week befor we're able to get a new to us van but itll happen soon and im excited to have something decent for a change!!!

We are cloth diapering still. and I LOVE it!!! Its very very addicting!! Ive also switched to Mama Cloth as well and that's becoming addicting a well!! Im trying to find a sewing machine so I can make my own cloth and diapers :)

McKenna i doing well, growing like a weed! She was 17lbs4oz at her last appt and 27" long!! big girl!she is in 12m clothing!
Illl try to update more often! Its hard sometimes lol

Thoughts

So we're thinking of relocating out of state. I dont know if that will ever happen but we're looking lol. Thiings are going good here. McKennas getting big and Im waiting for my BJU consultant to contact me so I can order our curriculum.

I gave up on the hcg diet I was getting lightheaded. So I moved back to weight watchers :) So far so good!!! Im still down only 12lbs but its better than gaining weight!!!

been a while

So its been a while since i posted :) Things are going good here. I started the hcg diet a few days ago and am down 4lbs!!
Yesterday we went to the pirates festival in Olcott, it was a fun time!! We're trying to plan some fun day trips this summer since we dont want to go away with the baby until next summer.

Oh yeah and I went to a Bob Jones demo the other day and have decided to sell my curriculum to get the Bob Jones DVD set :)  So I listed all my stuff on Ebay for CHEAP!! (only because I got it for cheap lol)

A no go

So after several days of doing everything possible, Ive decided to stop pumping :(  Its not making anything happen and I cant get McKenna to latch on even with the shield I bought shes just playing with it lol. SO I decided I would focus on losing the 110lbs I need to lose and bought some hcg drops :) Im going to do something called the hcg diet and hopefully kick start my loss

Found some Fenugreek!

I found some Fenugreek today!!!! hoorah!!! it should help me boost my milk supply so I can at least pump for McKenna again! I still have a few drops coming out so it's not all dried up thankfully!! So pump pump pump that's all I will be doing now LOL!!

Allissa has been going to VBS all week! She LOVES it!! Its not at our church but the people there are so warm and welcoming just like at our church!!

Relactating

So I decided I would try relactating again!! J is getting me some fenugreek to help me out :) idk why i stopped nursing in th efirst place :(

Sunday

So yesterday's fishing derby had a GREAT turn out for it being a first year thing! Almost 100 people registered and they raised over $700 for the area food pantries!!!
Allissa  stayed the night at her nana's last night, giving us some much needed alone time! The
J let me sleeping today............until NOON!!!!!!!!!!!! I woke up and couldn't believe I had missed church!! :(  but I got some much needed rest.

Then today we went to our friends farm and hung out for a bit. We always have fun there. So much fun that Allisssa throws a fit when we leave. Not sure what to do about her fit throwing lately. Any advice? we've given altimatums but they dont work, we've tried positive reinforcement but its not working either..........*sigh* maybe it's just a phase? It just started in the last few months since we had McKenna.

So on the homeschool front, I got Allissa's geography book yesterday. Still waiting on her health book to get here. I have to start going through and making lesson plans now..........yikes!!  NY law states she has to attend school a certain amount of days and hours so I hope the huge box of books I have will get used lol.

The mess is gone!

For now at least!! I got Allissa to clean up the entire living room and take things upstairs where they belong!
Tomorrow is going to be a long day! My husbands step father is running a first annual carp fishing derby to benefit local food pantries :) it runs ALL day!!!

What's for dinner?

I don't know really.............maybe french toast and eggs? I hate having J and Allissa being such picky eaters!! LOL it's aweful! We have company coming soon so I'm trying to get Allissa to pick up her mess but it's slow going! Why can't she just pick up after herself??? I did the dishes and washed the kitchen floor but man........the living room is still messy!! I hate it when people come over and it's not clean, I mean yeah I have 2 children BUT that's no reason for it to be so messy coincidentally when people come over. I feel like no one ever gets to see how nice my things are because of the mess ya know?

On the bright side, I got my wireless adapter working again on my laptop. YEAH! So excited I don't have to be attached to a LAN cord anymore haha!

So I got more of Allissa's HS books today, I may have gone overboard but at least I will have a lot of things to keep things switched up here and there. I have books mainly from BJU and A Beka but I also found some first grade books at walmart for her to work on this summer when she's board and to kind of keep on top of things. We're definitely working on our reading! If there's one goal I want her to accomplish by the end of the school year is for her to be a good reader for the age of 6. I have things to help with that, books, sight word cards, phonics books, and I think I will buy some A Beka readers as well.

My goal list is something I'm working on. First obviously is the affore mentioned, reading. Second would be for her to be able to tell time third would be for her to know money and it's value. I was thinking of setting up a bank account for her so she can take any loose change she finds and put it in an account and have her save it until she gets to so many $'s then she can spend it on what she wants maybe?

Aside from Homeschooling, I got a LOT done last night by going through McKenna's and Allissa's clothing and donating about 3/4 of what they owned. Let me tell you I have about 15 bags of clothes, thats GARBAGE bags of clothes! One bag is mine, all my smaller cclothes that I won't wear again for a while, jeans especially since I mostly wear skirts now, they're comfy. But anyway, I still have to go through Allissa's toys and clean them out. Her b-day is coming up in September and I don't like the mess her toys are making (or the clothes) which is one reason Im donating so much. The "and a mess" may just turn into "2 kids" LOL

If you haven't noticed by now, I love to talk!!!! Doesn't matter the topic, I LOVE to talk so that being said I'm actually out of things to say for now :)

blah!!

Its going on 7am Im exhausted!!!! At about 5:30 this morning my neighbors decided to end their party which woke me up as people got in their cars and left! ugh nothing like a bunch of 21 yr olds being obnoxious!

So anywho, I got almost all of Allissa's curriculum done and put together, just need to buy some tests for each subject and we're all set!

I've joined several local groups online so hopefully we can have some field trips next year as well to help take care of someof the things that can't be taught from a book or is better taught first hand.

Brought me to tears!

So I just got finished watching the 19 kids and counting: welcome grandson episode and it brought me to tears. Anna is such a strong woman for doing this twice at home and for laboring so long!
My labors were all quick! Allissa was 7, Trevor was 4, McKenna was 1 hour. I love the Duggars! They are everything I aspire my family to be and MORE!!!

She rolled!!!

McKenna rolled from her back to her tummy today!!!! I'm so happy!!!
So the house is pretty much cleaned, I just have to get laundry put away which will happen tonight when James gets home. We're having a good day today so far!!! It's been wonderful!

Father's day

So it's been a few days since I've posted. I forgot my login info LOL!!
I've ordered almost all of Allissa's curriculum for next year, even got some from walmart!!
The sources I've used are Ebay, Christianbook.com, homeschoolclassifieds.com and walmart. I've even found some stuff at Goodwill!
I think I've bought every subject required by Ny, the only thing lacking is music and Allissa is highly expressing the want to play violin! Looks like I will be finding a violin teacher around here!
McKenna's doing GREAT! She just tried rolling over in her carseat lol
the house is a huge mess still!! I've had no ambition to fix it either but maybe I will tomorrow.

Allissa graduated K last Thursday! YAY! I can't believe we're starting the first grade!

I've also joined some local homeschool groups on yahoo and they have frequent field trips and get togethers so that should be fun! I'm so excited!

Emergency room visit

So I got a call from Allissa's school saying she couldn't concentrate, she was having UTI symptoms. So off to the ER we went as her Dr was not in today :(  Well her urine came back clean and it's most likely just an irritation going on from a developing rash which I have to watch for the next 6-8 hours and treat with cream only if necessary. $250 down the drain from that ER visit!!!

On the up side of things, I received my college books today! yeah!!

"and a mess" is back

Another day another mess to clean lol. What else is new?! I have an appt today. Fun fun. Tomorrow night Allissa graduates Kindy. I can't believe it! Where has the time gone?!

We're trying to break her of throwing fits if we don't go to  well anyones house. Any tips? She throws a major fit if we don't go here or there to so and so's house :(

I saw a family last night going into walmart. Pretty sure by the looks of them they homeschool :)  they had on homemade outfits, well, the girls did. A bigger sized family and all the girls were wearing skirts/dresses. I don't know if it's because of a coincidence or if my eyes are more open since we decided to HS that I'm actually seeing families that DO HS!! Pretty cool to see there's quite a few families in this small county that HS.

Cleaning the "and a mess"

So I spent this morning cleaning the messy living room. McKenna sat nicely in her stationary walker for the entire time! yay!!
I told my mother in law we're homeschooling, she didn't seem to mind, if she did she kept it quiet which is what I want for people to do. I really don't need people telling me how to raise my children!

My mother in law is a very nice woman! I'm very lucky to have both her and my husbands step mom in my life as well as my own mom. They give great advice on things!

On another front, I start college once again on 6/22. I tried ordering my books today and low and behold somethings wrong with my financial aid apparently. When I went to check out it said my student account was $0 it should have said $700. Luckily I have a great financial aid advisor who just emailed me a copy of what was said and they should be inputting $700 into my bookstore account sometime soon here :)

Ordering or homeschool curriculum

So, I searched around and talked to some wonderful women about hs'ing and I went on to Ebay and ordered some materials!!!!!!!! YAY! I ordered a mainly Bob Jones University materials, however I did order some ABeka as well. I also found this lovely site called homeschoolclassifieds.com and bought some curriculum materials from there as well!

I hope I start getting some more support in our decision to HS. It's tough when family is discouraging it.

The start of a new "beginning"

To start things off, my name is Carrianne. I have 2 beautiful daughters. Allissa is 5 going on 6 in Sept. And McKenna who was born 3/3/11. We also have a son who passed  away on 2/15/08 at the age of 5.5 months old to a rare heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. His name was Trevor.

So I decided to start a blog about our up and coming homeschool journey. Right now, Allissa attends our local Christian school, and while we like it, it's just not for us right now. I feel a calling on my heart to homeschool and have for the last year and actually I feel terrible that I didn't start her off in kindergarten. She is starting homeschooling in the first grade.


Right now, I am searching for different homeschool curriculums. It's a lot of work and a lot of information is available. It can be overwhelming but I have a lot of support from my online friends on facebook :) The worst part is understanding NY state laws on homeschool. LOL.
Well off to bed here I will be posting everyday, sometimes maybe even a few times so check back as we start this new journey :)
Bless all!