Crash course in parenting - Life as a foster mom

I'm pretty sure this baby is going to make me pee my pants before this thing is over. I do not remember feeling like this with Ben but oh my goodness, she is always kicking, or punching, or whatever, my bladder!  I wouldn't be the first pregnant lady to do that and I am sure I wouldn't be the last. But I really just hope that if it does happen it's at home. Also, my kids have been sooooo sloooow about picking up toys. We were going to the zoo, or the park, or just somewhere today (I was going to let them pick!) so I told them, and said to get the toys picked up. At this time they had been playing for maybe an hour and a half, actually probably less than that, so it's not like the house was a complete disaster.  Before they started playing the toys were picked up, so all they had to pick up were the Duplo legos and the play kitchen dishes and pots and pans.  Fifteen minutes later I said well, it doesn't look like you guys want to go anywhere so we'll just s...

I think there is a misconception that homeschoolers look down their noses at parents who allow their children to attend public schools. I'm a product of the public school system. So is my husband. My dad was a public school teacher for a long time, my granddad and grandmother were both public school teachers.  I loved, LOVED several of my teachers that I had over the years. Some of them I didn't like so well but that's just life.  :) We've decided to try this, for our family, because we think it will be what is best. Will it be what is easiest? No way. It would be so much easier to send the kids to school every day. Hey, in 6 or so years I would have my days completely to myself! Bliss! Alone time in abundance!  Grocery shopping in peace, my home would probably be the cleanest it has been in a long time, I might have some time to do some things that I love like building stuff or gardening or ...???!!!  Will we always homeschool, for the next 19 years? I can't sa...

We're considering dual enrollment for Yusuf and Cassius at our local elementary school. Really it's just music and PE, and it's only 1/2 hour four days per week. And they'd be in class together which would be pretty convenient. I'm having a hard time finding social things that a) I feel I can get us all to without wreaking havoc with our schedule and b) do not cost an arm and a leg. This seems like a pretty good option. It's also from 8:45 to 9:15, which should be before baby's first nap (once that time comes, which won't be for a while) and early enough that it shouldn't really interrupt anything else, it would just delay our start of the school. And hey, it's free. And Cassius would get to maintain some of the friendships he's made, hopefully.  And during the winter the opportunity for them to burn some energy would be nice! My conundrum is, what the heck are the rest of us going to do for thirty minutes? It's not really long enough...

Can I just say, having a teenager is so much harder than I thought it would be.  I think it's especially difficult having one who was raised with a completely different value system for the first 11+ years of his life, who has difficulty trusting authority figures in general, and who thinks you are insane. Yes, I'm pretty sure our son thinks we are crazy. Without going into details, I'll just say we are very, very tired of being lied to and deceived (not outright lied to but you know what I mean). It's so ugly, it's so terrible, and I am sure that it is very normal but AAAGGGHHHH.  We have some serious thinking to do to figure this problem out because it really is a problem. Really.  We're to the point we need to start relaxing on rules, giving more freedom...and yet we can't trust him so how can we possibly do that?  We only have a few years left. Now. Onto homeschooling. I'm making a list of books to check out from the library to go along with ou...

We had our anatomy scan yesterday. I accidentally drank too much water. Well actually what happened was, I followed the directions that they gave me. The tech had me pee before the scan, then during it she had me go again because my bladder was too full. Then at the end I went again. Seriously, how can one person produce so much urine over 45 minutes?  I was apparently very very well hydrated! The baby looked perfect. 44th percentile (I think Ben was 52% at his 20 week scan), the amniotic fluid looked good, placenta looked perfect.  And I actually have an anterior placenta (where the placenta is on the front of the uterus).  It's not a problem but it just makes it so you can't feel the baby as well.  I feel this baby move a lot but it's always down really low, so that must just be below the placenta. The tech commented that the baby was kicking my bladder during the scan. Yes, the baby likes to practice soccer skills on my bladder which I just love, especially whil...

It's getting to be crunch time around here! I've scheduled our first day of school for July 7. Which still seems like a long way away, honestly, but it's close enough that I feel like I need to start getting my year planned out a little bit. I browsed online for what felt like FOREVER looking for a good way to organize things. I stumbled upon a website, which I can't find now of course because I didn't bookmark it, with all kinds of free forms. I browsed and settled on some that made the most sense for me. (edited to add: I found it!  http://www.tinasdynamichomeschoolplus.com/free-printables/7-step-curriculum-planner/ ) I am planning on schooling 4 days per week, with Friday (or whatever day) as a catch-up, field trip, library, whatever day. This may not work, but that's what I'm trying for now. We might need to do 5 just to fit it all in, we shall see. Regardless, it's nice to ease into the school year a little bit.  I also have read about some peop...