Reality Vs perfect picture

Hello All! At some point I had plan to get back to this blog thing but I just haven’t felt inspired to write anything until today. Some people may not understand this but I never want anyone to think my life is perfect or that I haven’t worked or still need to work on things. I strive to be a realistic example of life. I guess here’s where I spill the tea as some would say lol

It has been a hard couple of years. I am a homeschool mom of 4 and 2 that now attend public school. I wish I could really explain how hard that decision was. It was a long time coming I guess. The story behind it is well I’m sick from time to time with nothing that can really be done to resolve it. Duke and Bubbles were giving me alot of trouble with school from the very beginning. They didn’t want to do school or acted as though they didnt know how. It was alot of fighting. More than I cared or had the energy to do. My energy levels seem worse and that made it harder to deal with the two of them. A friend even tried to help me out by taking them to do school at her house but I figured out they just wrote in wrong answers or cheated. It wasn’t the solution either.

After alot of tears on my part and praying so hard I cried more, God told me very firmly that I can’t protect them from everything and that if I love them I have to let them out into the world. I can’t express how strongly I had been avoiding this message. How huge a message knowing that you can’t protect your children from the world even though in the depth of your being that’s all you have ever wanted to do.  I had to fully trust God and the people who now are an everyday part of my two difficult but wonderful kiddos lives. Some days are easier than others but I love them so much that I know that God will keep them safe. He has such huge plans for the boy who wants to be a lizard scientist and a priest and the girl who wants to cure diseases like cancer.

Yes, I am fighting the long battle with my Graves Disease as well. I had Radio Active Iodine to kill my thyroid in November. In January, I had labs that confirmed my thyroid levels were all normal. Well, today I can tell you they aren’t. It’s hard to explain but after the ups and downs over the past couple of years I know when my levels are low. What does that mean? Well I’m hoping that means I will get on meds that I will be on for the rest of my life soon.  Yes, the rest of my life.

There is no cure for Graves Disease or any other thyroid disease. So that means doctors have figured out treatments that are suppose to mean a better quality of life. That better quality of life is what my goal is. It’s no fun being 34 and taking a higher dose of blood pressure medication than your mom. As well as being on the same dosage or Vitamin D as your Gram. What I am trying to say is I am a 34 year old woman stuck in the body of someone much older. Some days its harder than others to keep going but seeing how much my kids need me and knowing that so many are praying for me makes me push myself.

We have no money. Well, we have money but it’s for groceries and bills. We have no extra money. So it’s not that we are bad with money or that we are big spenders. First off living in DC really put a strain on things. Anything and everything there is alot pricer than normal and we are feeling it. The other huge burden  is a house we own in Oklahoma. We decided in Early 2018 that we would finally have the opportunity to put the house up for sale. We have had some amazing family members help us pay to get the house ready as well as help with Christmas money this year. We are very blessed to have such generous and loving people in our lives.

The house was put on the market in June 2018. We have had two deals fall through because of the buyers issues with getting financing. The worst is being 2-3 days out from closing to find out we have to put the house back on the market. I do fully believe we will sell the house, I’m just not sure when. The problem with this is that we are paying rent here and paying the mortgage there. We aren’t sure when we will sell the house so we are trying to put money in reserve to pay the house payment until the end of the year if we have to. It’s really important to keep our good credit especially since George will be retiring from the Air Force in a couple of years. We obviously need him to be able to get the best job he can and having good credit is part of that.

Those are the big things affecting our lives right now. We are saving where we can and spending alot more time at home. We have started a Boardgame Meet once a month and I’m constantly looking for free events. We still make biweekly if not weekly trips to our local library. We are happy to have nice weather when it comes and have been finding  more time for friends. We are stressed, we do have bad days but life is good. Please continue to pray for us on our adventure called life.

 

Not an Ordinary Curriculum Share

Pooh and Baby Kermit- pre-k/k

Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool

Math 1

Getting Ready 1

 

Teach Your Monster to Read

 

Catholic Heritage Curricula

Behold and See 1: On the Farm with Josh and Hanna

 

We also use different workbooks. You can order them on Amazon or buy at Dollar Tree, Books-a-million or even Walmart.

 

 

Pippi and Jem- 7th Grade

Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool

Language Arts 7

Intermediate Language Arts

Reading 1-7

 

Catholic Heritage Curricula

Ever Ancient, Ever New: Art History, Appreciation, Theory, and Practice

Life Science: Catholic Heritage Edition

 

Teaching Textbooks 3.0

Math 7

Pre-Algebra

 

Spellingcity

Prima Latina

 

The Story of Civilization

Vol.1- The Ancient World

 

Code Combat

I will not be including Duke and Bubbles curriculum for this year. We started out doing ok in August but after some pretty hard months we decided to enroll them both into public school.  There were many things that contributed to this decision and I hope that you all will support us as we are now a homeschool/public school family. If you have any questions about what we are using or would like suggestion on what might work for your kiddos please email me at Adventureswithsix@gmail.com or message me on instagram or FB at Adventureswithsix.

 

Apology and Update

U.S. Space & Rocket Center Huntsville, AL

After dropping Pippi and Jem at AHG camp we drove North to Huntsville. We stayed at a new hotel called Home 2 Suites. I think it’s a cheaper division of Hilton. Anyways, once we got into the room I made quick work of cooking pizzas with the waffle iron. It worked out really well. Then we spent an hour or so swimming in the Hotel pool. By day two the kids were a lot more comfortable. It’s odd how easily everyone fell asleep while we were there. Maybe it was our busy day or the fact that I could see everyone from my bed. lol

We got up the next morning excited to learn and see all the space stuff we could. An allergic reaction to sunscreen tried to ruin our fun but I’m a mom and I brought Tylenol and Benadryl. On the short ride we could see some of the rockets standing tall. The whole day I kept thinking this rocket or that shuttle was in space. I would like to point out that this museum is very different from the National Air and Space Museum near DC. The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is focused only on space.

We took some cheesy pics before being allowed into the museum. The museum admission is free for Military families for the rest of this year. The admission price is well worth the experience. There are a lot of fun things that are included in admission such as rock wall, simulation ride, and a free tour in one of the buildings. Bubbles and Duke took advantage of all of the fun things to do. It was also great that Pooh was able to join in on he fun too.

The Space & Rocket Center involved a lot of walking which was good and bad. Good well because I love to walk but bad because little boys hate to do a lot of walking. Baby Kermit was ready to go after lunch but we still had a lot more to explore. I think two days would have been more enjoyable if we had had the time.

It was really kewl to see all of the different space themed things. The kids favorites were the many rockets, the moon rock, and the space suits. There was so much to see. The kids had so much to look at in just a couple hours. It was a great place to visit. I look forward to our next big adventure. I’m really hoping it’s a beach.

Summer 2018

I thought I’d take the time to share a little bit of what we have been doing this summer. I spend way too much of the summer obsession about curriculum and school supplies. But what else would you expect of a homeschool Mom who fully believes this is her calling. The kids have been doing alot of reading. The thought of winning a prize makes them read even more. I was so proud to walk into the room after a library trip and see them all reading. I tried to explain to them that teaching them to read may have been one of the toughest things to teach but it was one of the greatest gifts I could give them. Aside from a love for Jesus and our Catholic Faith of course.

We have also been been spending alot more time at the Natureplex. It’s become our favorite place to visit ( well besides the library and Michael’s lol). We have also spent some time at a splash pad, doctors offices (not as many as the spring) and the commissary.

The kids had the wonderful opportunity to attend/volunteer Vacation Bible School. VBS was something I did alot as a kid and I’m excited that my kiddos have the opportunity to attend too. Pippi and Jem volunteered at 2 church VBS’s. Pippi helping in the nursery and wherever she was needed and then with crafts. Jem helped with the 2-3 grades at both VBS’s. It was great for volunteer hours but more for life experience. Both weeks Bubbles, Duke and Pooh attended. It was Pooh’s first time going by himself and he had a blast. Baby Kermit was able to attend 1 because of the generosity of a friend. The other week he spent with mom and dad. It was great to spoil and spend extra time with the youngest of our bunch. We took him to Toysrus for the last time, out for frozen yogurt, shopping, out to dinner, and played video games with him. It was a really special week.

I bet you’re wondering if we did anything board game related and the answer is yes. We started what I would call a sort of campaign. We started playing Charterstone. It’s a game where you build the board and expound on the rules as you go; unlocking new cards to enhance the game. We still have 4 or 5 games to play before the summer is out. We have a few more really great things coming up soon and I look forward to sharing it with you all. Happy Summer!