We have got some exciting and fun things going on here at our homeschool.  We’ve really been enjoying Time 4 Learning for the main core subjects like Language Arts and Math.  For History we’ve been doing Story of the World, which has been SO MUCH FUN….. even for me!  I have to admit that going into fourth grade with Jayden this year I was a little nervous, but it’s all unfolding together perfectly.  I am seeking out advice in this post though….

Hopefully I get a few homeschool moms to peek on in and shed a little light on if what I’m doing is the right thing.

There’s so much curriculum out there…. like a ridiculous amount that I have a really hard time choosing between.  I have found with Jayden the thing that works the best is Time 4 Learning, because they teach him in a way that he enjoys and it clicks.  I always check to see what things he’s going to be learning on there so that we can discuss it further, or I can have worksheets on that topic printed.

I’m working on vocabulary building mainly just by reading books and getting a vocabulary list from books printed out and now I’ve discovered Vocabulary Spelling City to help with this as well…. I’ve known about Spelling City before, but I just recently learned about the premium membership and have been asked to do a review on it!!!  I can’t wait to see if this helps out with the vocabulary department.

I’m curious what other homeschoolers do for vocabulary?  My son has a communication disability where we really struggle in a lot of areas.  I’m really hoping that I can find a great special needs group to give me advice.

I know having him home is the right thing to do with him, and so far we’ve done okay…. I just hope that I’m covering all my basis here!!

Everybody in my family knows me as the girl who speaks her mind.

The only problem with this little tag on me is that I can’t speak my mind to them.  If you’ve read the history on this blog you might see the continuing issues of me not talking to this family member or that family member.  We have a major issue in our family with communication.  When someone has an issue with another in our family they usually will call everybody BUT that member to talk it out and hopefully have the person who has NOTHING to do with the situation step in and relay the message that SO AND SO IS PISSED or in other words isn’t thrilled with the way things were said/done/whatev.

It’s seriously a problem, people.

So, I’m the girl who has no problem speaking my mind in life except for when it comes to my family.  I fear that if I open up my heart to share how I feel about something that the person will cut me out of their life for a long period of time.  So I keep my mouth shut, brew it up inside and harvest bad feelings.

It’s a vicious cycle, but it’s one that is constantly going.

Here’s a moment that I wish my blog was private from my family and that they didn’t know about it, because I have to release the things that I feel inside and guess what…. that’s what my blog is for.  So I don’t know if these words will be read by anyone in my family, if they even read my blog…. but I have to get this off my chest.

My sister is getting married.

It’s not a secret on here that we went over a year with not talking to each other.  It was stupid and I’d say that we both handled the situation badly, but in the end here we are…. close {really close} and happy sisters again.

My sister has not asked me to be in her wedding.  Hurt doesn’t begin to describe how I feel inside, because I’m her sister….. I’m her lifelong friend…. I’m the one that will always be there no matter what, because THAT’S what sisters are for.  I’m the one that will always be there when the whole world goes out.  A sister is a forever friend, and I’m heartbroken that she doesn’t see me that way.  I’m heartbroken.  There really aren’t any other words.  We started becoming close again 6 months before her wedding, which is PLENTY of time to add me back in…. she just never did.  Heck, even her friend made alterations to her wedding to put my daughter in it after all her wedding party had been set.  It’s NEVER too late to add the people who matter, the people you love into your special day that you will remember forever.

I can’t imagine my wedding day without my sister standing up there by my side.  Had I not had my sister in my wedding, I can honestly say that it would be one of my life’s biggest regrets.

I feel replaced.  I feel like Ella has been replaced.  While this might not be the case, it’s how I feel….. and it’s crappy.

Summer arrived…… time for blogging sortof diminished.  We’re all doing great though.  I completely got myself in over my head with summer term at school and ended up having to drop my science class.  Pictures?  Ugh. I pretty much put myself in a hard spot to where I actually had ZERO… and I mean ZERO time to edit pictures.  I have a lot of personal pictures I need to go through and edit and photo books to create.  I think that the 3 weeks of school I get off I’m going to dive into some MAJOR picture editing and hopefully complete 1 photo book.  Good goal.

I’ve gone through a lot struggling this past month with feelings of overwhelmingness {yes, I do know that it’s not a word}. I realized that I needed to seriously declutter my life, structurize my life, make my home a haven for not only my family but myself.  And I’m not there…. Lord knows I’m absolutely not there, but I’m kicking some major butt up in here.  My garage has always been this place of hoarding.  So, not necessarily new stuff, but stuff I’ve tracked from one house to the next and just didn’t know what to do with it all.  Okay, okay, so I have this ridiculous amount of beautiful new picture frames that I’m hoarding in there as well… you got me!  Back to the stupid crap that follows me everywhere I go…. it’s in the garbage.  Yup.  I tossed it!  The kids room?  Basically almost everything in there was put at the bottom of the driveway with a free sign on it and it was all picked up within 5 minutes.  My niece Sydni came to spend 2 1/2 weeks with me to help me get it all done and we’re still going strong!!

I already feel like 110% better.  I’m on this throwing away kick that makes me think twice now about buying useless crap.

Our homeschool starts back up August 15th; well, Jayden’s does while Ella goes to a week long gymnastics summer camp for 3 hours per day.  Ella’s homeschool preschool starts up the following week.  I feel like with all the decluttering and organizing that’s been going down is going to make it all run so much smoother – or at least my sanity will through it all.

Aliyah is 8 months old.  Those words typing onto the screen make me cringe inside, because my baby is growing up.  But my goodness I love her so much and have soaked in every second out of her chubby little self!  She has 2 teeth, says dada, mama, tries to wave, claps, army crawls, has had her first ER visit {thought it was ear infection, ended up being an enterovirus} has love in her little eyes every time she looks at any of her siblings or parents and is nothing short of pure joy in our lives. I absolutely LOVE this little princess!