You ain't gettin' nothin' over on my kids!

Recently we canceled our basic cable service because, well, we don't have time to turn on the TV.

So the cable company sends some guy out to cut some line. Since we live waaaayyyy off the beaten path, any strange car is open to scrutiny by my kids.

And if they are really scared, they hide in the woods and record evidence:


They also took a video of what this guy did...just in case they needed it for incrimination.

I feel pretty safe here in the country with my little sleuths at work. :)

Co-op: Reptiles

Thanks, Dan, for taking the time to tempt these kids with the wonders of nature! You made my country girls' day!

How do you homeschool with a toddler?

Interested people ask me that question more than any other.

The answer is easy: he just does his own thing!

St. Patty's Day 09

(The girls got up early this morning to go pick green clovers and put them in a green cup. Silly me, I didn't know they even knew what the day is.)

From an educational standpoint, St. Pat's Day is the funnest, educationalest (can you tell I have young kids?) day of the year. You can do so many things on this day! Not only can you count by 3s and 4s with clovers, you can also mix yellow and blue to make green and eat all the green m&ms you can handle while doing math drills. Not to mention history is covered with a bio of St. Patrick himself, geography lessons are fulfilled with an overview of Ireland, and you can even throw in some science in the form of snakes--or rainbows if you'd like something less slithery. And don't forget about studying the richness of an Irish blessing or the tales of a leprechaun.
And then there's Irish dance, Irish music, Irish eyes...and this list could go on forever...

So with all of these various options to choose from, I took the easy road: I threw a box of Lucky Charms on the table and called it a day.

Still, the kids learned. My sheltered, deprived children had never had anything so magically delicious. Which then turned into an entire lesson on advertising. My tongue thinks the cereal is nasty, but my brain tells me a tasty marketing slogan from years ago. Besides, 20 years later after all the commercials I can still rattle off the first original charms and you probably can too.

My kids then learned that Frosted Flakes really are Grrrrrrreat! But their response, I'm sure due to lack of TV in their lives, was that they are just good. And I really couldn't convince them that they could have a Coke and a smile.

Lucky for me, and as if on cue, their pot of gold--in the form of a box from Books-A-Million--arrived as the precise moment that my advertising lesson was loosing steam. BAM boxes give the girls a magical giddy-ness, even if nothing is in the box for them. But today, on this special day o' green, they each had a book all to themselves.

They tore away the paper from the box and grabbed their special books. Who needs advertising and marketers, when the innocence of an imaginary world of a book will suffice?

Oh, here's a fun video from the makers of Veggie Tales:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

WARNING: Spring Fever Impedes Brain Function

First it started with forecasters predicting inches of snow for our never-does-it-snow area. And sure enough, as always, the hype exceeded the (no) snow fall.

Then the time change welcomed longer daylight hours and the weather became a heavenly 75 degrees. That's when I completely lost my kids as they trapced through the woods, exchanging their worksheets and textbooks for bird songs, lizards, and the winding yellow jassmine that has decorated our yard.

Spring fever had sprung and life was joyful and grand!

Until we had dinner with a set of grandparents, who are apparently required to ask about what each child is learning.

Kenna holds up 8 fingers and proudly says, "I can name all 7 continents!"

That's when I should have called off this conversation. Mistake #1.

This is my child with mini hand-drawn maps of all 7 continents tacked to her bedroom wall. She loves geography and knows her stuff--until someone asks her.

She then proceeded to forget 6 of them, including her beloved Africa.

At this time I really should ended the conversation. Mistake #2.

But I gave Mabry a chance to answer. I asked her a simple, can't-go-wrong question: What continent do we live on?

"Mom, that's easy!" she proudly exclaims. "We live in South America!"

Um, no.

"Where is South America, Mabry?" I asked, trying to salvage any signs of intelligence from my family.

Her quizzical response: "The Bahamas?"

Strike 3. That's when my humbled head hit the table in shame, creating a new rule as I heared the thud.

My children are never allowed to talk again in public. Never. Ever.

Better late than never, right?

Here are some pictures from our Valentine's Party held many weeks ago. Sorry, gals, that I'm just getting these to you. Enjoy!