Wow, its really been a while

Wow, it really  has been quite a while since I've last posted here on our Homeschooling blog. We've had quite the busy summer. Our summer vacation really started on May 15th when we left for Cincinnati, Ohio with our youngest daughter Maggie. It truly was quite a journey we went on when we decided to go ahead with major surgery that she really needed to have done.  

I'm not sorry we went on this journey. It definitely needed to be done to improve the quality of Maggie's life and we met such wonderful families at the Ronald McDonald House that they will always be part of our family forever. Even if we don't ever really see them again. 

                                                            Maggie and her monkey

                                                          Cori, Maggie and Schwan

The Ronald McDonald House of Cincinnati will always hold a piece of our heart forever. It definitely is one of the wonders of the world. Not all Ronald McDonald Houses are the same, this one is definitely extra special that's for sure.  We were never board that's for sure. There was something almost everyday that made each day special. Whether it was businesses or churches coming in to make breakfast, lunch or dinner , to Girl Scout Groups that would come in for ice cream socials. There were also people who would come in and play musical instruments. To the big guy himself, Ronald McDonald that came in and did a magic show for the kids.  The best thing there was visiting with all of the families.  We met families from all over the USA, and even families from all over the world. They came as far as the Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Romania , Macedonia to Italy. You name it, people come to Cincinnati Children's from all over for their specialties.  The friendships we made there were priceless and we miss them so now that we are home. 


Speaking of being home, now that we are home its been one quite of a transition. Things have changed and we all feel it. Tim, Maggie and I have our ups and downs, our highs and lows. We are trying to find our new normal and its not been easy at all. The hard part is that its already close to August and I'm finding I have to switch from being mom the nurse, that I've been for 2 months , to mom the teacher and its been hard.  Especially when I still have to be mom the nurse, in the transition to being mom the teacher for the new school year. 




Thankfully this year all four of the girls will be home and we will keep it that way from now on. We have learned that homeschooling is what fits us as a family. Not that the school the girls were going to was bad. Not at all it was a very good school, but just that homeschooling fits us and it makes us who we are as a family.  I'm both excited and overwhelmed all at the same time.  I think I have an idea of what we want to use this year but at the same time hoping we can afford what we want to use since our Cincinnati trip was very expensive. Not to mention we have to travel back to Cincinnati next month for a follow up appointment with Maggie.  
I know God will provide, the hard part is the wanting to know how He will provide especially since money is going to be very tight for us. 




I think though the best thing I ever made this year that has been the most cost effective was our wall dry erase board.  If anything , we have this and my girls love it. It cost us  less than $20 all together to get it up on our wall, and of course I had gotten the idea of my most favorite website Pinterest. 

All we used was a $10 drip pan from an auto store , and some of those Command strips. Put them all the way around the back and stuck it to the wall. Its been the best thing we've ever made,  and my girls play with it all of the time. 


I think I will stick with the Christian Light for my younger three girls, and add Apologia science and I'm not sure what for math , maybe Alpha Omega.


 As much as I love the Christian Light . I just couldn't make it work for my oldest daughter. She just is extremely visual and needs color to concentrate.  We'll stick with her Horizon's math because we never got to finish her PreAlgebra with me being so far away and her not being very independent like I wanted her to be. Ace for her Language Arts , Apologia for her Science and I haven't decided on history for her yet as she didn't like the Ace for either Science or History and still add in a spelling program for her because she's the worst speller on the planet. 
 What I do know is I want to stick with more independent curriculum this year so I can work with Hannah and Maggie more , and so that I won't go crazy juggling being mommy teacher and mommy nurse until life gets back to being semi normal once again.