Update time again!

Well, I guess since it's been TWO MONTHS since I posted last, I should give a quick (or not so quick) update!

When I posted last, we were just beginning our 6 week long flu fest here at our house! Chris came down with it on his birthday, February 1st, and was out for a week. The next week, he had to go out of town on business and guess who got it next- me! Thankfully my mom was spending the week with us, because I didn't get off the couch for three days and during that time Luke and Zach got sick. The next week, Chris and I and the boys were still recovering when Katelyn started coughing and being fatigued. The fatigue was the worst part of the whole thing. You had absolutely no energy. Then when you'd get up to just go to the restroom, your legs felt like jelly and your head would spin. It was bad. Katelyn had it probably the worst and she ended up on antibiotics. Chris also went on antibiotics for strep throat! FINALLY, towards the end of February, things started to get better but then Chris felt bad again for a few days. All of our coughs seem to hang on and on. I didn't get a cough the first round but then I started coughing about two weeks ago. It is still hanging on but other than that, I think we are all on the mend. It was a crazy couple months. It was rough but God got us through it, and all I can say is COME ON SPRING!!!

Homeschool is going well. We had to take quite a bit of time off here and there because of sickness but overall, we stayed on track. I've also made a few changes. Zachary had started to struggle in math and even with continued practice, he just didn't seem to catch on to a couple of topics. Technically he is in 2nd grade but has been doing the 3rd grade curriculum since September. He did great with 2nd grade math last year was doing fine with 3rd at first so I figured I'd just keep going. Well he hit a roadblock with division. The curriculum starting flying through it so fast that he barely had his multiplication facts down and then was thrown into long division. Abeka teaches multiplication and division simultanteously so it was just too much for him. A friend suggested just backing off from the worksheets for a while and doing some of the activities I had been wanting to try with him. So I did. I found some games and resources that focused on just one topic at a time, say the 6 multiplication family, and had him do that. No division for a while. It seemed to work and he learned things alot easier. Things were also a lot less stressful since we weren't worrying about him completing a whole worksheet every day. I think it was just too overwhelming for him. Long story short, we did that for a couple months and the other day I went back to the worksheets and had him do one. Lo and behold, he did great! He even did the long division problems! I helped a little but there was no fussing or struggling! I am still going to back off on the worksheets for now, but I will probably still have him do a couple a week because I do think they are good practice and it can't be all fun and games all the time, right? (:

The other change is that we are doing all the schooling in the afternoon when Luke is taking his nap. Before, I was teaching Katelyn in the mornings because she got so tired in the afternoons. So I'd work with her in the morning when she was most alert and Zach in the afternoon when the lessons were longer and I needed to give him undivided attention. Well, this worked well but I started to feel like I was doing school from 10-5 every day. I didn't have alot of time for chores or free time for myself. I was starting to get stressed and feeling behind in everything. One day I was working around the house and didn't get to Katelyn's lessons in the morning so I did them with Zach's in the afternoon. It actually went pretty well and she didn't even seem to get tired out. We are still using workboxes and it's working out great. The only thing I have to do is probably stagger the boxes so both boxes, say #2, is not math for both of them because I can't give two lessons at once! I need to do it where the first box is a lesson for one child and the other child is working independently. This is probably how you are supposed to do it anyway! LOL! Anyway, we will see. They are still at the ages where they need my help on things alot or need me to work with them on things like spelling or reading. So I have to work that out but I'm sure I will figure out a good schedule eventually!

As for family life, we are getting into birthday season with the first one- Katelyn's 6th birthday- tomorrow!! Zach's is next month and Luke's is 3 weeks after that. Throw in two garage sales and a ballet recital and you have our life for the next two months. I love this time of year but it can be hectic. Hopefully it will be less stressful this year since I am cutting out one sale I usually do plus we are combining the kids' birthday parties again this year for a big bash sometime in June. I am so looking forward to the summer!

Well, that is probably good for now. I am thinking about trying to write a post every day about things we did that day or just other topics I think of. I don't know if I will keep it up every day but I want to try. I haven't been writing in my regular journal either lately so I need to start getting back into writing SOMEWHERE. We will see. Either way, I hope to be writing here alot more!