I Am So Proud!!

Sarah just took her final exam for the whole year of Math and got 100%!!!!  We have struggled so much in Math with her since the second grade that I am amazed how well she has done with the online/home school curriculum.  Next year introduces Algebra and we may have to get a tutor to help since I did not do very well in Math either.  We can have one provided by the school that will come right to our house.  We are coming down to the end of the year and I cannot believe how fast it went.

We're still here........

I know I have been pretty quiet lately.  We have really been hitting the books so that school will be finished on May 6, a full month before the official end date.  They are ahead in progress as well as the number of hours required for the year.  Alex and I had an online conference with his teacher and she is very happy with his progress and my oversight of what needs done on a daily basis.  He is finished with Spelling, Grammar, History, Art and Analogies so all we have to finish up is Math, Literature, Composition, Science & Music.  Sarah has completed Art and will finish up with Math next week.  Being in 6th grade she has more lessons and most of her classes are all year.  They have both worked very hard and I am very proud of them. 

This whole process has been an adjustment for all of us.  Are there bad days when I get frustrated beyond words?  Yes.  Are there days when I wonder what I was thinking? Yes.  Are there days when they are frustrated and wondering what we were thinking?  I am sure there are for them.  But for me those days are fewer than the good days so I have decided to re-enroll them for next year.  Kevin and I talked it over and he told me that the final decision was mine since I have the work on a day-to-day basis.  If I didn't feel up to it for next year he wasn't going to insist I continue.  We did discuss how we are unhappy with the level of education they were getting in the local school district as well as the social/moral/influence issues that led us to pull them out in the first place.  We still feel as their parents that we have a duty to protect them from what we can and if educating them in the safety of our home helps eliminate some of the bad influences at the local school, then I will take the bad days.

Now if I can just get Sarah to take her time and stop rushing through her lessons and get through re-teaching long division to Alex without having a stroke we are looking forward to a great summer vacation!

Atwood Lakers 4-H Club Elect Officers

Below is the article in our local paper regarding the first meeting of our 4-H Club. 

ATWOOD — Members of Atwood Lakers made cards when they met in Good Hope Lutheran Church. Fundraisers and field trips were discussed.  Members discussed the purchase of new shirts and questions about the project books.


The following positions were filled: Mikala Metzcar, president; Taylor Allen, Vice President; Abby Ackerman, Treasurer; Barbi Boyd, Reporter; Nate Ackerman and Alex Adams, Phone Committee; Shay-Ann Twyman and A.J. Johnson, Refreshment Committee; Sarah Adams, Health Officer; and Anna Thompson, Safety Officer.

The next meeting will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 12, 2011 in the church where members will also make more cards for nursing home residents.

Copyright 2011 The Times-Reporter. Some rights reserved

New Shoes, Sort of.....

While trying to put on Jake's tennis shoes over the weekend I realized that he had grown out of them.  I went down to the bin of hand-me-downs from when Alex was little and got out the next size.  When I took them to Jake he was elated!  You would have thought I gave him a million dollars cash and told him to go buy candy.



Here he sits, in his new shoes, playing the Leapster while we have classes.



Spring, Please!

We are SO ready for spring.  I am getting so anxious to get out there and start cleaning up the leaves from my flowerbeds.  As I walk around I see a few little green leaves just peeking out of the soil.  We saw what flowers came up here in the summer & fall but not spring.  Every walk in the yard shows me something new.    The curse of living in the woods is that there is not much sun for flowers or a vegetable garden.  I have a side flowerbed that will be the best I can do for some tomatoes and cucumbers.  I have been researching all kinds of shade plants.  Daisy's do well in shade & I love African Daisy's.  Hostas do well also, though I am not real fond of them.  I did find an heirloom variety that gets up to 4 feet tall & 6 feet in diameter.  I have some large areas with nothing in them so I will try this hosta there.  The seeds have been ordered so when they arrive I will get them started.

As for school, the kids have been working very hard these winter months.  They have worked ahead so that they should be done on May 6th, a full month ahead of schedule!!!   Even with Spring Break and the two days out for State Testing at the end of April.  Once this testing is through they will only have 1 week left.  They have been playing outside alot lately.  Bundling up if needed, they see the sun shining and just can't wait to get out there, can't say as I blame them.  I got out the scooters but left the bikes hanging up.  Seems like once they are down all we do is trip over them.

4-H has started up again for this year.  Alex is now old enough to join and will be doing the Gun Safety project.  Sarah is doing what is called Party Planner which covers cooking for large groups, planning dinners, food safety, etc.  They are excited as am I.

We have made it through the winter without illness...........almost.  Kevin was sick last week with what I think was the respiratory flu, missing 2 days of work and Sarah had a bit of a head cold.  Monday I got something in between the two of them, maybe a hybrid bug.  Alex now has alot of head congestion and so far Jake seems unscathed.  I really cannot complain, another benefit of not having them in a traditional public school, less germs.