School Notes

• This is the first full steam week of our new school year.  The Goobs hated me on Monday, and that sentiment was returned five times over.  We're cool now, though.  Mostly.
• We're 8 years into this whole homeschool thing, and JellyMan is still poking along like he has all day to finish his lessons.  Which he does, of course.  So why does it make me so insane? 

• Since I dropped my external hard drive, I've given up on trying to keep homeschool records on the computer.  I've gone back to paper.  I tried to make nifty planners using the forms at Donna Young's site, but my printer broke.  ARGH!  I got mad and went out and bought ridiculously expensive student planners at Staples.  And guess what?  I love them.  They're wonderful.  I'm going to buy them forever and ever.  Amen.
• Anemone brought home her dance schedule for the fall, and it looks as though she will have to drop her lyrical dance class.  It is scheduled right at The Man's shift change, and it just isn't going to work.  She is not happy. 

• My Goobs still hate math.  What?  Really?  I am shocked.  SHOCKED.  So we are going half speed this year.  Since we study Monday through Saturday year round (when we're not taking mental health breaks), they can still finish their Saxon books (Algebra 2 and 8/7) if they complete three lessons per week.  So I gave them some rules: they must do three Saxon lessons every week, and they must do math six days a week, whether it is two or twenty Saxon problems or something from one of the supplemental math workbooks we have lying around.  They are agreeable, so we'll see how it goes.
• I was under the impression that I would have more free time once The Goobs were a little older and taking more responsibility for their own educations.  I was so wrong.  Homeschooling just gets more and more time consuming as they grow up, and I'm beginning to understand why so many families take the more traditional route for high school.

Saturday Mom Confession #13

I make gagging noises at my son when he wears facial hair.

Is that wrong?

Here’s a bonus confession for you: I didn’t notice that Anemone was wearing her skirt inside out until she hopped out of the car to attend a drama rehearsal.  And after I noticed, I didn’t say a thing about it.

My, that felt good. I should confess more often.

Sunday Smatterings

• Hamster Sue is no longer small and cute - she’s the biggest hamster I’ve ever seen.  She needs a bigger cage.
• I can’t bear shopping at the commissary on payday weekend, so we’ve been having some interesting meals.  For dinner last night we had homemade hash browns and a long forgotten link of kielbasa I found at the back of the freezer.  This morning I made spelt crackers (topped with peanut butter and honey) for breakfast.  I made rosemary polenta for lunch, and I haven’t decided what we’ll have dinner.  Maybe oatmeal with apples.  Or maybe McDonald’s.  Who can say?
• The Man and I have hit two milestones lately.  The first is that we’ve reached the halfway point through this deployment!  Huzzah!  The second is the 17th anniversary of the day I started telling other boys, “I’m sorry, but I have plans that night,” without having to think about it first.  Oh, my goodness, we were nerds. 

• The dress code for The Goobs’ piano recital is killing me.  I’ve spent $400 on fancy clothes that we’ll wear only once, and I haven’t even bought shoes yet.
• Speaking of fancy clothes we’ll wear only once, Anemone brought home pictures of the five expensive outfits she’ll be wearing in her dance recital. 

• The kitchen fairy visited my house last night while I slept.  I thanked The Goobs profusely, but they only said, “We’re not the kitchen fairy, Mom.  You must have been a good girl yesterday.”  I am so tempted to go buy them something.
• I keep finding pictures other people took of my Goobs on the internet.  Here is one of JellyMan I found on somebody’s myspace page:

• I didn’t feel like dissecting a frog yesterday, so I have to do it today.  That’s too bad, because I still don’t feel like dissecting a frog.

What They Do