Homeschoolers ‘R Us August 15, 2008

We have officially survived our first 3 days of homeschool. The girls seem to like it and I do too. My only complaint is trying to entertain Izzy (with something other than Dora and Max & Ruby) while the other two work. 

Jackie is doing a bit of review work in math.  We need to get a better handle on multiplications and a better understanding of division before we move forward in her math. She is doing really well in her other subjects. She is really enjoying “A Child’s History of the World”…she likes the way the stories are told and in the process she learns about history. And the art is tied to the history so as a result we are getting ready to make our own cave paintings….we read about cave people and looked up photos of cave paintings  on line.

The reading is technically too easy for Katey, but we are working on endurance (so she can read longer books) and comprehension.  We talk a great deal about very short stories.  And we are learning about  order…what comes first, next and last in a story.  She really likes her science and just sat beside me to make a chart about different lengths of different bugs.  I didn’t know that a 1st grader needed to know about predictions, infering,  and communicating information but apparently she does.

Jackie came up with idea for us to have a pajama day once a week.  I think its a good idea but I want find a day we don’t  have to go anywhere.   I love the fact that we can get up and eat a good breakfast without being forced to eat it in the van. I enjoy not spending hours a day in my van waiting to drop kids off at school and then pick them up. I’m more flexible with Izzy’s nap too.  I’m sure every day will not be as peaceful as these last few have been but so far, so good.

So Close yet so far…. August 7, 2008

So this past month has been really busy. You would think it would have been more quiet with school out, but it wasn’t. I made a trip out of town to help a family member and in the process, met a new one.  Meeting Chris was a high point of my trip.

Then the day after I got home, I received an interesting phone call.  Months ago, I convinced Jason to apply to be on The Amazing Race. I think we make a great team and we problem solve differently but well together.  We heard nothing….until late July.  But they weren’t interested in Jason and I together, they were interested in a military spouses team and they wondered if I had a good friend I would be willing (and could convince) to travel around the world with.  I told them about 2….KC and KL. I’ve been friends with KC longer but they were interested in KL because we had become good friends when we were stationed together in GA.

So I call KL and manage to get her to go along…I think she was pretty unsure but she went anyway.  We made a video andfilled out a 15,000 page application.  we faxed, we scanned, we uploaded and we waited for a phone call…every time my cell phone rang, I dropped what I was doing and ran to that phone faster than a 16 year old waiting for her crush to call.  That video wasn’t what they were looking for so we made a 2nd one. Now remember….we were trying to get both of us on camera and we live over 1000 miles apart.  I’m in LA and KL is in VA.  Look…I can cook, crochet, cross stitch, run, change a diaper one handed, survive over 7 months with a hubby in a combat zone….but I am not technologically gifted.  Thanks to my dh, we were able to get the video together.

We got another call from casting on Monday and were asked many questions…most of which related to things that could have been liability issues for the show. We knew we were being “pitched” and we waited for the call that might send us to finals in Los Angeles.  Well, today the call came and we weren’t selected to go to LA for the finals.  That stinks.  I’m disappointed and wish we would have been selected to race around the world for 1 million bucks.  Mostly its not about the money but more about doing something for myself.

But two things happened during this whole experience.  The first is that 2 husbands earned some mucho points.  Jason and ML were very supportive of us trying to get on the show. They may have thought it was a long shot, but they were willing to help us find childcare for the kids and helped us get our computers set up for the video. They also lasted through long phone calls of us wondering about the “what ifs”.  But I also learned about friendship.  All I can say without getting too gushy–’cause KL isn’t a big fan of that –is that it takes a special kind of person to be willing to leave her family and, literally, be willing to travel around the world with you.