my room?

A few of my facebook buddies know that I cleaned and vacuumed my room last night.

Well....
it didn't last.

Apparantly the bad guys (Japanese) captured a good guy(American) and the mission is to save him.

The captured guy is hanging on my treadmill leg.

I just moved the base over so I could get to my computer.

We cleaned Cassie's room tonight so I still got to vacuum something Donna :)

Instructing?

Jared had several things on the board and he was explaining them, he told me it was college.

This is what Cassie wrote on the board.

December 11

Today was warm and wonderful, the kids played outside and wore shorts. We have had our windows open for the past 4 days, all night even. I am really enjoying our weather, I know the cold is coming, well it won't be anything like up North but it is cold nonetheless.

So many states are experiencing ice storms and power outages and snow that it just reminds me of how thankful I am that we moved :)

Why?

We need to examine why we say what we say especially to our children.

Why is our first reaction, no.

When the child wants to do something messy like play-doh, painting, crafts, putting barbies in the sink full of water, playing in the mud and on and on.

I realize that it's the process that is important and to look beyond the result which is usually a mess.

There is a little girl who comes here often and each time she is here she wants to paint or play with play-doh. Last time she did that plus got out the puzzles, she left quite a mess for me...

I have a feeling that she isn't allowed to do that stuff at home.

Why are so many afraid of letting kids play and be kids? That includes playing in the rain and the mud. Guess what? Kids and clothes are washable, no really they are.

Sometimes I get that first reaction of not wanting my kid to do something because I may not be in the mood but I get over it when I see the fun they are having.

Traditional parenting rears it's ugly head in so many homes, so many kids aren't allowed to play in the rain, or play in the sink or paint or create and just be a kid.

Why can't they have a cookie BEFORE dinner?

Who made that a law?

Why do they have to go to bed at 9:00pm even if they aren't tired? My mother has told me time and again that she had to go to bed at 7:00pm each night. PHOOEY!!!!

I vow that my kids CAN be kids, they can play and laugh and create and get wet and muddy and imagine all they want.

Loosen up just a little and when your kids cover the kitchen in flour or come in covered in mud from head to toe, take a picture :)

Have fun with them and watching them, let your kids have fun!

Lego Baseball

What to do on a rainy day?

Bat legos around...

What spurs imagination?

So many times you see people post that all their kids do is play video games or watch tv, when will they get up and DO something?!

In our house tv and games actually promote many things. It is not uncommon to see my kids acting out a game or something they saw on tv.

Lately my kids have been playing Runescape outside, they dress up and they play it.

We just recently saw the Apple Dumpling Gang and the kids loved it, I have been getting older movies for them through Netflix

Last night and today they are dressed up as outlaws and playing like the guys on the movie.

Jason always says that Jared lives vicariously through a video game. He is always acting, and everything he does is a game. He has been playing Club Penguin and so now he tells me that I have to check on my pet. He being my pet, he makes faces and tells me how much rest, health and energy my pet has.

My kids have learned so much from playing games and yes it does lead to research and gaining more information as their questions arise. There is a vast amount of information to gain, we just go with our interests and find out answers to our questions. So many questions... One thing leads to another, it's a natural progression when learning isn't forced or coerced.

You can also learn *subjects* by playing games, it has helped my kids read, type, spell, draw, do math, history, geography and on and on just by having an interest and playing a game or watching a movie.

I do not do subjects, I don't separate our life, we live and learn period.

A few weeks ago Kieran was doing work for someone on Runescape where the guy paid Kieran to collect so many herbs(or whatever it was) Jason gave him the idea to hire someone else to help and pay them a little less then what he is making. So he did just that, got the job done in less time and still made money.

There are so many examples of real learning that takes place everyday in so many ways, I could never document it all. I just know that my kids are learning what they need when they need it. I am here to facilitate and help and stay out of their way when necessary.

Quick example, Jared asks me how to spell words that he is writing down but he tells me not to spell the ones he knows how to. So he says wait mom, don't say anything I know this one.

Smashing Pumpkins

Isn't it fun to be a kid :)

Neighborhood mom

So today I didn't feel like being neighborhood mom I just wanted to clean my house.

I made so many attempts at vacuuming I lost count before I finally got it done.

The neighbor girl kept asking me to do this, get this...

I asked all of the kids to play outside, the weather was beautiful, I just wanted to do some cleaning :)

Then they went out and rode bikes through the mud puddles, then they wanted towels...
I told them to hose off because they were covered in mud, good thing it was warm :)

Well my washer has been slightly broken for a few months, well it washes but doesn't spin... I'll have you know that my biceps are shaping nicely, don't mess with the woman who has to wring out her laundry...

So then they want me to be the usual nice person who lets them be kids and paint and play and create and eat in her house...

Actually they did draw with markers and play and eat, we got pizza and they ate over. It was just a really stupid, hurried day. We had a birthday thing to go to in the evening and still hadn't been shopping until 6:oopm and Jared had several outbursts and the boys bickered about the computer and Cassie had too much artificial dye...

All I wanted to do was clean my house...

Little funny here... Brenny came in and asked me why I was cleaning, he asked me if I needed something to do. LOL! Like I don't have anything to do. I said because the house is a mess, I have really let go of my *standards* my house is lived in and I do have extra kids here daily. But I still *need* to clean once in awhile, right!?

So here it is 3:00am and Jared is asleep, woohoo, but Cassie is awake. I just need a little quiet before I go to bed.

So one of those days where I was hurried and stressed, not good, not fun, let it go woman, move on, tomorrow is another day. No rushing, I hate schedules and time constraints and it's much better on days that flow naturally. Let go, breathe in breathe out, have a drink :)

Fun in the living room

It's still 90 in Nashville

Just a few pics from this week of sunbathing and water play.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Cassie's room

Friends

Silly girls playing around and having fun.

Street Ball

Cassie question

Mom, what is it with all these parents not letting their kids out to play?

UMMMMMMMMM........

I don't know... maybe because they go to school all day and then have chores and homework and no time for play because they have to go to bed at 8:00pm so they can get up and do it all over again.

Cassie says I have one homeschooled friend, when will I see her again?

I'm working on that :)

Weird Al

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-gi4Nt_xxg

My kids love Weird Al, they play his songs everday and watch the videos on you tube. I have to admit that the man is talented, I can't even sing the original songs without mixing it up with the parody. Funny stuff.
Jared absolutely loves music, last night he was playing the guitar and singing The Saga Begins, a parody of American Pie, *bye bye Mr. Anakin guy maybe vader some day later now your just a small fry*

Hockey in the living room

It's been cold here lately so the kids improvised.

74 and Sunny

It's beautiful here in TN, the kids are having fun playing in the dirt.

What to do on a rainy day

Get wet of course! They were painting mud on their faces and running around doing an army scene. My other pics turned out blurry, it rained quite a bit today.
We just made peanut butter cookies and the house smells nice and the kids are full of smiles and praise. They said I'm the best cookie baker :)

Clue

The last couple days we have been playing Clue, Cassie and Brenny are not reading yet but they wanted to play. I showed them how the cards match the rooms and weapons and suspects and they did really well. They are marking their own cards and recognizing the words on the sheet and matching them to the words on the cards. They are really getting the hang of it and doing quite well for just starting out.

Last week we were playing Rummy a lot and they did very well and they also wanted to keep score. This was new as I realized they weren't used to adding 2 and 3 digit numbers, I showed them how to line it up and carry over.

Tonight we just started a Monopoly game, we are taking a break from it but hope to finish before Jared starts throwing the pieces around.

So we have been playing lots of games lately and having a good time together.

Imagination

Imagination is abound in my house... The kids are constantly playing and acting and making things up. My oldest son has been completely into all things military for quite some time now and it has rubbed off a bit on the others. They play army and make up battleplans and fight the Germans, it's quite amusing. One day I heard them yell *We can't get to the Germans because the dog is in the way*

Someone is always getting shot or something is getting blown up. They are quite the little actors.

My youngest Jared acts out his favorite video game Ratchet and Clank, he does this throughout the house and every where we go. He is quite the active one in the stores, rolling around on the floor and acting.

Right now Brennan is dressed up as a hunter and he has built a tent in Cassie's bedroom. Kieran is always inventing new weapons. Cassie is my princess who loves to dress up pretty but she also gets down and dirty with the boys.

Every day is a new beginning for their playing, they feed off each other or something they read about or saw on TV.