Meet Me, Greet Me, I'm a dog store Diva

Today, Sadie, the greyhound Diva, and I went to our first Meet & Greet with the rescue group we adopted her from. GPA Electric City is a small organization that just started up this past summer. They have already placed 11 dogs in their Forever Homes! You go GPA EC! Whoo-Hoo!

I had a greyt time! I love talking to the volunteers, they are so funny! And I enjoy talking to others about being a first time Grey owner. Sadie, on the other hand, dosen't really care for the whole thing. She kept giving me "the look", trying her best to coax me into heading for the front door. Then, when she realized that I wasn't going to do what she wanted me to, she plopped down in the middle of the main thouroughfare and took a nap! I am a total pushover when it comes to my pets, and they wrap me around their paws pretty quickly. Everyone there got to see that in all it's glory! I could not get her to get up for anything! The only time she would, was when one of the other Greys would step on her. It was a little embarassing, I must admit, but other than that, I really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to helping out with the group when they need me, and bringing Sadie to many more Meet & Greets.

Oh, and I've already found my next Grey, but he does have a application on him already. Dang!

February, Dread-uary

In the world of homeschooling, February is a hard month. Actually, January wasn't all that easy either, but it's not in the title of my post.

When we started this year, I thought that it would be more fun if we didn't use a curriculum. Note to self: Maybe you shouldn't think without supervision. We would be interest led, and use the library all the time. I mean, we were there every week anyway, right? Right! Wrong!! Well, not about the library part, we were there every week.....but the other stuff, not so much. It started off great, but as the months past, it began it's downward spiral. Books on my book list were checked out, so I was forced to come up with something on my own. Believe me, that isn't good for anybody. It's been way more work that I thought it would, which means alot less fun for everyone. My stress level is hovering near critical mass, and the kids' patience is wearing thin.

I don't want you to think that I thought homeschooling would be a breeze or anything. I knew that it would be work. Especially for me, seeing as how I'm organization impared, but I don't think that this is supposed to be this hard. We aren't having fun anymore, and homeschooling should be fun. For the kids, and for me. Yes, they are learning things... But, not in the way I had pictured. They are learning things in a public school way, and that defeats the whole purpose of bringing them home. What I mean is that they are just sitting here, learning the basics out of their workbooks like they would in school. I had pictured tons of field trips, doing our work outside in the yard, wonderful art projects that were not only fun, but educational as well, etc. It ain't happenin' people, and the only one I have to blame is myself, and that stupid little voice that told me I didn't need no stinkin' curriculum! Too bad the dog muzzle won't fit on the mouth of that stupid little voice.

So, we will keep chugging along with our work during the day, and at night I will be researching curriculums to see which one might fit us best. And on Monday, we will officially say goodbye to the dreaded month of Dread-uary! We might even have party hats and cupcakes!

A little about us

Hi there! I'm a first year homeschooling Mom with two crazy kids, a wonderful hubby, a blind Basset Hound, and a newly adopted 2 year old Greyhound! I love blogs...although why I thought it appropriate to start my own, I don't know. I guess it isn't enough to talk to myself around the house, now I can do it via the internet!

We began our Homeschooling adventure two summers ago. Through a wonderful hobby called, Letterboxing, we met a gaggle of Homeschool families. I was intrigued right away. Our public school experience wasn't horrific, just so you know, but I was having a hard time "cutting the apron strings", I guess. I honestly think that I was meant to be a hardcore Stay-at-homer. Call it scared, lazy, whatever, but even on the days that I could scream for hours, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I missed my kids, now aged 8 and 5, and mornings were horrific! No matter what time we got up, we were late! And every afternoon, my son(the 8 yr. old) came home in the foulest moods. My daughter is the social butterfly, and likes to talk. She isn't ADD, she's 5, and enjoys being a kid. That dosen't mix well with the public school system. She was the one that I was the most worried about. My son is a fabulous public school kid. He is able to sit at his desk and do his work without a problem. She, on the other hand..... So, I talked to the hubby..alot..and we decided to try it out over the summer. Things went well! I realized I could do it, and was excited. Then, the notices started coming from the school. Open House was coming, and the voices inside my head (the good ones, not the weird "maybe you should talk to someone" kind!) went into overdrive. I freaked. I fretted. I begged the hubby to tell me what to do. He said, in his glorious wisdom, "It's your decision, you are the one that will be the teacher." Ugh! That didn't help at all! I caved and sent them back to school for another year. The boy (Computer Monster) went to 1st and the diva went to 4K. I regretted it the first week. Although, we were extremely blessed to have a wonderful first year teacher for the boy, and glad we got to know her. The diva (Moongazer) got notes sent home about her talking and playing, and visions of notes filled with the word Ritalin danced in my head. Then there came the "Shot incident", and ohhhh was I mad! I came close to yanking them that day! My doctor was just as upset with the school as I was! I love, love, love our family doctor! But, I let them finish out the year. That was the thing that pushed me to my final decision. We haven't looked back since! This year has been tough, and I've learned alot of lessons along the way, but that's what the Adventure is about, right?!