Back to School!

I'm trying to get everything organized for our Back to School. We loosely follow the public school schedule, although we don't have snow days or Parent/Teacher days or planning days. That means that we will be having our first day next Tuesday!

I have all the books ready, the pencils are sharpened, the craft supplies accounted for and random ideas are floating through my head. Only problem - getting those ideas down on paper! This is the first year that I'll be schooling 2 kids. I'm not quite sure how to coordinate the two of them and keep them on track and independantly working on separate subjects. Some things they'll do together, like science, french and reading aloud. Other things, like Math or reading lessons, they are at different levels. I have a feeling it's going to take quite a bit of juggling and trial and error to find a system that works.

In elementary school I attended a very tiny public school. There were only half a dozen kids per grade, so the classes were mixed - Grade 1 with Grade 2, Grade 3 with Grade 4, etc. I can't help but wonder how 1 teacher was able to handle all those kids doing different things all at once. Back in the one room schoolhouse days, they used the same system...but with even more of an age gap. And, yet, it worked! I'm sure we'll figure it out.

In the meantime, what are your suggestions for making the day flow? Any ideas that I can use to make our time productive, fun and kept on track?

Writing Wizard

With school just around the corner, I am busy getting books, supplies and ideas organized. I am loving this website to create my own tracer sheets. I'll be using it to practice their printing, all the while learning to write their full names (why did we choose such long names?), phone number, address, spelling words, short stories they'll make up, etc.

I'm going to get lots of use from Writing Wizard!

Miss Geneviève

Here she is!

She's Here!

Richard and I were blessed with a beautiful little girl! Geneviève Anise Patterson was born yesterday, August 17th, at 9:25 am. She weighed in at 8 lbs, 3 oz and is 20 inches long. Her brother and sisters are very excited, and everyone is home and doing well.

Pictures will be coming soon!

Belly Painting

39 weeks tomorrow...I thought it was time to do a last minute pregnancy activity with the kids. We got out the paints and brushes and transformed my belly into a masterpiece! They had a ball!

Summer Fair

It was "Old Home Week" in our town. When I first moved here, it took me a couple years to figure out just what "Old Home Week" was...no one called it "the fair" or "the expo" like the carnivals where I come from. No, it was just referred to as Old Home Week - which didn't strike me as an interesting place in the least. Now that I've figured it out, though, it has proven to be entertaining enough, and the kids like it. Personally, I like Loonie Night - where the rides are $1.

We bought $15 worth of tickets and popped the kids on some rides. Here is Graedon taking Maddie for a ride. He's very serious about the job. He was pretty upset that the ride operator made him get off the ride at the end.



Eva, driving herself.



The girls went on the fastest roller coaster ever!



We visited the petting zoo, which consisted of a turkey, a pony, some fowl, a rabbit and possibly a dog. Graedon was terrified of the turkey.



A $5 bag of cotton candy later, and our evening was complete. Not bad for an evening of family fun!

How To Be Alone

38 Weeks

tick. tick. tick. tock.

It's coming soon! Baby has a very strong, variable (that's good) heart beat. Stubborn as all get out, as he is still resisting getting into position. Those fourth babies...they just do what they want anyway. I've been told to lie on my left side and coax the baby into place as much as I can. He complies when I do that, so really, I think it's just a matter of time before he decides to line himself up. Unfortunately, I don't like my left side and this makes for sleepless nights and a tired mama in the daytime.

I'm anxious to see what this one will be like....boy or girl? Dark hair like me, or strawberry blond like the others? My midwife has estimated at a good 8 lbs, which is a wonderful size. We'll know soon!