I so enjoy being a homeschool mom. Our day is what we make of it. We do what we (I) want for the most part. There is so much freedom in that. Recently Andy mentioned an interest in going back to public school. I reminded him of some of the differences in the two lifestyles.
Homeschool vs public school
He just took a trip to Oklahoma. The only vacations in highschool are around
the schools schedule
He likes to spend time at best bud's
Isaiah's sometime during the year.
Andy starts school around 9am. The bus runs by our house about 7:45am
Andy is usually done with school by at least. The bus runs by our house about 4pm
2pm (thats with an hour for lunch)
Andy almost never does school work in We know some public highschool kids and
evenings or on weekends they have hours of homework every day!
There were many other reasons as well and Andy was easily convinced that his life is all good just the way it is. Then he started drivers ed. He was a little irritated that he was given 2 hours of homework every class. He has class twice a week so 4 hours of homework. This week he is doing state testing at the highschool plus drivers ed, and have I mentioned that I have a homeschool geography class once a week?Here is our day yesterday:
7am everyone up
8:10am take Andy to highschool for testing
8:30 I go to curves for my morning workout
9:30 I get home shower, do laundry, and clean
10:30 go get Andy from highschool
11:00 get back home for lunch
11:45 Andy mows the lawn
12:15 lawn mower runs out of oil
12:25 Andy changes clothes from mowing
12:30 Andy works on homework for drivers ed that is due this afternoon
1:15 leave for geography class
3:15 leave geography class for drivers ed
3:30 drop Andy at highschool for drivers ed
3:40 I happily blog my hour away on the library computer
4:40 I head for home and make dinner in record time plus some cleanup around the house
5:20 go pick up Andy from drivers ed
5:45 finish up making dinner
6:00 eat
6:25 get ready for church
6:45 leave for church
Today there is no drivers ed and tomorrow is the last day of testing, but with all of these extra classes and home work, I don't think we are going to have any more public school discussions. Andy is stressed and ready for life to get back to normal. The homework for just one class has been a huge eye opener for him. It has been a good experience.
The life of a homeschooler
yummy chowder
About three years ago I discovered I was allergic to dairy. At that time I made a big change in my diet, with great results: I feel a lot better and I lost weight. That's all good and fine, but I miss a lot of things. One of those things is clam chowder. A few days ago I found a chowder recipe that uses soy milk instead of regular. I was sceptical but also excited to try a yummy bowl of chowder. I proceeded to fix it for dinner last night and at the last minute we had unexpected company. The chowder was a huge success!! I savored every bite! I even had to fight Andy for the tiny amount of leftover chowder today at lunch time. Since it had been 2 1/2 YEARS since I'd eaten any, I prevailed and enjoyed it down to the last drop!
List, files, and folders!
You all know how organization makes me happy, well today I have found something else to organize. I have long avoided putting music on the computer, because I didn't know what to do with it once it was there. Andy has lots of music on the computer, but it is just a huge jumbled list of track 1, track 2, ect.
Today I have successfully downloaded over 6 hours of music into the appropriate files and folders, and I also learned how to create a playlist of my favorite songs. I even taught Mr. Andy how to correctly make a playlist. Yes, I know I am way behind the times on this stuff, but I feel that I have made a big step today!
It gives me such joy to see my hours of songs neatly put in one Moms music folder, then divided into 8 separate mini folders with album names, artists, titles, ect. Andy was quite taken back to see the difference in My music and His music. He got right to work on it, so that mom wouldn't out do him. We'll see who can keep their music "room" the cleanest!!
Souper fast Dinner
Here in the northwest we have been having our share of rain, rain and more rain. One of the few good things about a rainy day is that it makes a hot bowl of soup sound warm and filling. One of my tried and true favorite recipes is this minestrone soup. It is yummy and souper fast.
15-20 minutes!!
1/2 lb pasta shells, macaroni, or even spagetti broken into very small pieces
1 small zuchinni
2-3 carrots
1/4 cup onion (or 1 tsp. onion seasoning)
1 cup cabbage
1 15 oz can tomatoe sauce
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 or 2 cans beans of your choice( I use great northern)
2 tsp basil
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt
pepper
cooked chicken or other meat(opt)
First I get a 4 quart soup pan and fill just less than half way with water. Put veggies into boiling water. I use a different pan to cook the pasta in because it tends to get overcooked otherwise. When the veggies have boiled for about 5 min, add all other ingredients except pasta. Add water to fill up pot. I put the pasta in the soup pan just before serving. A loaf of french bread finishes off this meal nicely.
