Celebrate a Day!!

A little while ago, I realized there were quite a few interesting "national days" lately. Loyalty Day, Burger Day, and Iris Day was just this month. How did you celebrate No Socks Day? You didn't? Well, you missed it on May 8th. I'll send you a reminder card next year. I started noticing these days more and more last year and thought to myself what it would be like if we celebrated these bizarre national holidays. Well.... CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!

I am going to attempt to celebrate at least one "holiday", and bring you the information on what I did to celebrate it. It may be as simple as eating a piece of fruit or taking a picture with something, and it may go as extreme as finding an extreme way for Make A Difference Day (in October). Whatever it is, you'll see it right here.

Each month has several monthly holidays. While I won't "celebrate" these for the entire month, I will mention them on the last post of the month for the next month. Here are the days for June (as cleverly pictured above):

Aquarium Month
Candy Month
Dairy Month
Fight the Filthy Fly Month (what???)
Gay Pride Month
National Accordion Awareness Month (okaayy.....)
National Adopt a Cat Month
National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month
Rose Month
Turkey Lovers Month

That would be a lot to celebrate every day for a month... so that's why I am only celebrating the daily national holidays.

This should be fun!

First Open Mic Night!

So, with as many shows as Deven has done, he was nervous singing at an open mic night. It was great to hear him sing, and hear the warm reception afterwards. He was so nervous that he forgot to sing his favorite verse of the song. But he did a great job covering it - you wouldn't know that he did it by accident. I thought he just shortened the song...

Here's the video:
Jesus Jesus by Noah Gundersen

Let me know what you think!
We're so proud of him!!

Until next time!

Under the Sea!

Deven was Sebastian the crab this weekend at impACT Theatre's production of The Little Mermaid. He did a great job! Here are a couple of clips:

Under the Sea - I was sitting in the second row... didn't realize how close it would be...

Kiss the Girl. This was Saturday night, and we sat in the 4th row...

Anyway, we had a great time. The show was good, and everyone is excited about Legally Blonde in the summer. 

What else is going on - well, I'm still healing. It sucks. 

Deven is performing at an open mic night this Friday. 

Iyana is graduating on Saturday!! 

Dianna is getting ready to go to Nebraska next month for The International Thespian Festival. 

Ahja and Janiyah are still trying to figure out what they want to get into. I think I'm sending Janiyah to track practice. She's a great runner, so I think she'll do very well. 

I think that's it for now. Let me know what you think of the videos. 

Until next time!

ADOPTION!!!

So, as you all may know, our adoption is officially final! We are very excited about it, and we're going to have a party!

If you haven't seen this service - it's called Paperless Post. You can send very nice invitations out using this service. I made some for the party. I've used eVite before, but I like the delivery of Paperless Post.

Other news - which isn't much:

I had shoulder surgery. Not fun. I'm over the pain, and I'm ready to get back to work. Physical therapy sucks, and I can't even sleep on the side of the bed that I want. Boo...

Lawrence is working hard, and treating me like a baby. He acts like I can't even feed myself... it's cute! He was out with me last week, but now he's back at work. He checks on me often, although I keep telling him I'm fine. I hope he can stop worrying... just for a little.

Iyana is inching closer and closer to graduation: May 18th! She wants to attend UNCC after this. She's interning at a bakery right now, and still working. She even saved her money to get her car fixed (Yaayy)! Now we'll never see her...

Dianna is working on Footloose, the high school musical for NWSA. She's stage tech and lighting. It opens this weekend... I hope I get to see it...

Deven landed the role of Sebastian in The Little Mermaid at impACT Theatre of Gastonia. It just started, and will open in May. Driving back and forth to Gastonia... again.

Ahja went to the JROTC Millitary Ball - and decided she was going to go back to JROTC next year! I know you saw the pictures on Facebook, but here's another...

Contrary to the way she looks in this picture, she had a great time! 

Janiyah has all As on her report card! Her behavior, however... ugh! We're working hard on changing it, letting her know that no one wants to work with an evil know-it-all. Hopefully she's getting the picture. 

Coming up:

The family trip, Homeschool Historical Ball, Deven's birthday, graduation, and when we'll be in Philly again. 

Oh... and if you love yourself, you'll make some of these:

Brownie mix, Oreo cookies, and peanut butter. Pour a little brownie mix in, add the cookie, add a little melted peanut butter, cover with brownie mix. They are DELICIOUS!! 

Alright, that's all for now. I hurt. 

Until next time! 

Soup's on!!

First, for the people that clicked on the picture on Pinterest... here's the soup recipe:

Island Kale and Sweet Potato Soup (recipe from Food and Wine)

2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (I used a tablespoon of jar jalapenos)
3/4 lbs kale, stems removed, chopped
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1 1/2 quarts low sodium broth (I used vegetable broth so my vegetarian can enjoy it)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk

1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and jalapeño and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
2. Stir in the kale, sweet potatoes, broth, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add the coconut milk and just heat through.

This was absolutely delicious!! I'm definitely going to make this again!

A little bit of other news:

Dianna is going to Nebraska in June. It's for The Thespians Festival, and only select schools are asked to perform. Northwest School of the Arts is only the second school in North Carolina to be asked on the Thespian Festival's stage. They are very excited!! 

The cost of the trip for each student is $400. She is trying to raise money for it, and has been doing well so far. I'm going to raffle off an afghan to try and raise money as well. Pray for us as we try and get this together! 

I threw a birthday party for Dianna last weekend. All of the info and some pictures for that event are on my other blog, We-doevents. Go check it out; get some party inspiration!

I've had a shoulder issue, so I'm laying low. In the meantime, I'm working hard, planning weddings, crocheting, and just being a mom. 

Let me know if you have any questions or comments. 

Until next time!

It's been forever...

...since the last time I blogged. Why, do you ask?

Well...
I thought about this question several times over the weeks. I was feeling bad about not blogging as much as I want, but then I realized that I'm just a very busy person. Here's a list of what I do:
Girl Scouts Assistant Troop Leader (every other Monday)
Work full time at Habitat (Tuesday - Saturday, but sometimes Mondays get thrown in there)
Volunteer Coordinator for NWSA TAG group (when needed)
Food and Beverage Coordinator for Homeschool Historical Ball group (when needed)
Crocheter (almost every day)
Wedding and Event Planner (weekly right now)
Photographer (when needed)
Update three blogs (when I can)
and most important -
Wife and mother of 5 (25 hours, 8 days a week)

I AM going to try and do better. I want to do much better.
Anyway... on to household news.

Last time, I said there would be big news coming real soon... it's taking MUCH longer than I thought, and now it's probably not going to be news until about February. When it happens, you'll definitely know... but until then, we all have to just hurry up and wait - as they say. Who "they" are, I don't know. But they do say it.
Updates on the kids:
Iyana has put in her application for UNCC for her Business Admin degree, and her graduation from Johnson and Wales is set for May! We are so proud of her - she's made the Dean's list every term! We hope she gets into UNCC... she can then live on campus - which will make several people in my house pretty happy... hahaha!

Dianna is actually going to audition for another show! She's been excited by being backstage and hasn't really cared about being on stage. She's auditioning for Footloose... we'll see what happens. In the meantime, she's been asked to assist with backstage work at a local Theatre company here in Charlotte. We're also going to visit UNCG and UNCW because they have pretty nice Theatre programs from what I hear.

Deven was just cast in another play - Big River, which is going to be at CPCC the end of February. I'll update as it gets closer. We've also re-registered him in NWSA for 2013 - we'll see what happens. He's doing great at home, but his attention is still an issue. The home atmosphere allows him to get up and move when he needs to, but that's going to change if he goes back to school. Something we're still working on.

Ahja did not want to be in JROTC, but now she's warmed up to it. She still has the great report card she's always had... except for one grade. She wanted so bad to take French, and she has a C (gasp!). She hasn't had anything lower than a B in 4 years, so she was shocked. I told her it would happen - 9th grade is a BIG adjustment. I know she's trying hard, so I'm not stressed about it. She'll do great.

Janiyah is amazing us in school! Her attitude has improved, and she has A's and B's! She's excited about her progress, and we're happy for her.

Lawrence and I are about to celebrate 15 years of marriage.
15 years. I still vividly remember meeting him, our first time hanging out, and our first date. We've been together for 18 years now, and I actually couldn't be happier. We've been through some serious rough patches... and I think if we can get through that, we can get through anything thrown at us. God has given me my perfect mate. I don't know what I'd do without him.

So now that you've been updated, I'll make sure I update you again soon after Christmas.

Until next time!

Football fun, travel, parties, and duets

Hello all!

Sorry it's been a couple of weeks without updates, but I've been so busy that I can barely update my Facebook - and I have that on my phone and with me at all times! Anyway...

Deven and Lawrence sang their first song together at service on Sunday. They did a great job!! 

I'll get back to that later. Let me tell you about the BUSY weekend we had. 



I attended my very first NFL game! I won the tickets at work! We had a drawing, and I was waiting for our CEO to pull my name. Told him exactly that. He mixed and mixed and mixed the names in the construction hat, and I actually won! I was so excited, I knocked his glasses off of his face! Lawrence was able to take the time off, and away we went!

It was Giants vs. Panthers... unfortunately (not surprisingly, though) the Giants SMASHED the Panthers. Replacement refs weren't even an issue in that game. They were losing so bad, we left at the beginning of the 4th quarter.

We then headed home to finish packing for our trip to Philly. I wanted to leave no later than 5:30am, but the rest of my family was not on my schedule... ugh! Lol! We did leave at a good time, though. The weather was beautiful in the mountains - well, other than the pockets of dense fog I drove through... I picked up some nasty coffee at SH Mart - yes, that was the name.. don't know why... and we had a very pleasant ride. By the time we got to Philly (around 3pm) there was SO much traffic we ended up driving through Norristown instead of continuing on I76. It was a great choice, because we got in at a great time.

After resting for a moment, I went to see my little cousin, Jordyn (aka Tinka), in the hospital. It was nice to finally see that strong little princess. For someone to go through 3 heart surgeries and is still not 3 herself... wow! Her mother is strong, too.... but they are now struggling. I mean, she's not working because of all of the surgeries, and the money that does come in doesn't cover most of the bills. She finally gave in and started a fund in hopes to collect money to help pay bills. Pray for her. And if you can help in any way... please let me know.

Saturday was the big birthday party - Lawrence, Sr. and Lawrence, Jr.'s surprise party at Lawrence's sister's house. They were both in on the planning of the party - only they didn't know that the party was for them! It was fun the way it came about, and we had a wonderful time.

Sunday, we went to service. It was Family and Friends day, and my old friend Tamisha and her crew (minus 1) came to church to join us. Lawrence and Deven sang, the church Arts ministry ministered in many different ways, and Pastor gave a great service about how to behave like you ARE part of the Royal Family - because we are.

After service, we ATE! Went home, took a nap, watched the game, enjoyed a visit from Nicole and the boys (yay!), and started packing for the trip home.

It was such a wonderful weekend, and I wish we could do it more often. Next up, what we're going to do for the holidays, preparing for Nebraska (?) and when will the BIG THING finally happen?!? Lol!

Until next time!

School, work, travel, and cars.

School is in full swing, and it's going pretty well.... with a couple of little issues:
The DNC is affecting us in so many ways... Law has been working 12hr days since last Saturday, I work until 5, so Deven has been schooling on his own. We'll see how well that went when I give him his tests today and tomorrow.
Janiyah is in an all girls class, and her teacher teaches differently from what she's used to. Her teacher actually does something that I do at home - she tells the kids that they cannot have help with their homework.  I love that, because how is the teacher supposed to know that the kid is struggling if the parents are always helping them?
Ahja is happy - I think. She has French, which is the language she wanted, and she has gym... I KNOW she's not happy about that. AT ALL. But we'll get through it.
Dianna is getting ready for The Color Purple, so she's at school very late. She's also had about six schedule changes, but she's dealing with it well.

This Sunday, we are having our annual homeowner picnic, which I am in charge of. I have been ridiculously busy, so I can't wait until Monday. I am going to SLEEP! Other than that, my job is going pretty well. So although the title says "work", there's nothing more about it...

We're supposed to go to Philly. We really want to get there, but it's going to be hard - we have car trouble again. I'm going to make Law ride a bike! I don't know what's wrong with the van, but I do know it happened when Law was driving it... yes, I'm throwing him under the bus - or the van, as the case may be...
So... if we don't get this van fixed soon, we're not going. And we REALLY want to go. Can you help us? We have lodging, we just need help with gas. If you want to know why it's so important, I can email it to you... it's a surprise!

Hey, a closed mouth doesn't get fed...

Pray for us, fam. We need it!

SCHOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL!!!!!!!!

WOOO HOOO!!!
I am so excited about school starting tomorrow! Although I'll have one here, it's still nice that the others will be out of my hair on Mondays - my day off. I'll have food in the fridge, a clean living and family room, no complaining... it's going to be nice.

Janiyah is starting the 4th grade. We hope that she'll focus more - we're working on it hard, so we'll see. She wants to be homes chooled - well, she THINKS she wants to be home schooled, but I keep telling her that she will have much more fun at school. She told me tonight that she knows she's good at 3 subjects - gym, lunch, and recess.
We ARE working on it...

Ahja starts 9th grade. She's in all honors classes and has some great electives, but she's already complaining that she has gym. She also has JROTC, which also has exercising... she's not an active kid. I hope she has a good year... I really do...

Deven also starts 9th grade tomorrow (woohoo!). Because of the test that he took at the end of the year, we decided to push him a little more. He's going to do more 10th grade than 9th grade work. He can handle it. He's also going to learn more songs and study more plays through the year. He started off with The Merchant of Venice, and he's going to work on reading Death of a Salesman next. He has another test to take to make sure he's ready for the transition back to traditional school next year.

Dianna is starting 11th grade. I can't believe she's almost done. She's working more on tech work in theatre, she has some AP classes, and she's even teching at community theatres for training. This is now her career. I'm excited she found what she really wants to do. It's hard not to know what they want to do, because you don't know which way to point them or where to get help from, so it's nice to know where she's going with her future. Next step with her - college visits.

Iyana is a sophomore in college! WOW! She's looking for a job and an internship... anybody? Lol!
After this year, she wants to transfer to another school. Don't know where yet, but she wants to stay close to Charlotte. maybe I'll just double up on the tours...

I think that's all the updates for now... the big news is still coming... you'll hear it soon!

Until next time.

Travel, Big Gay Dance Party and other plays... and what's up with the hair?

So, I think last time, I was whining about my car situation. Well, maybe not "whining", but I was determined to do something about it... 

Well guess what? We did!! We were able to get the Malibu fixed, thank you, God! Having two cars is soooo much better - gas prices are crazy right now, and us trying to drive the one car only was getting ridiculous! Especially when we had to go back and forth to Gastonia for this play...

Speaking of...

Have you seen my boy? Well, most of you haven't... even the ones that live in Charlotte *side-eying you all*. It was a great play. Sorry you missed it - you missed some wonderful singing from some hard working teenagers.

After the finale, I dropped Dianna off at her new gig... I'll talk more on that later... 

We then went to a cast pool party, where Deven has been dubbed "Blelvis". He pulled out his guitar and started playing poolside. Suddenly, there was a crowd around him. Blelvis. Yeah.  

Dianna's gig. She's a stagehand for Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party. With a name like that, how can you NOT go see the play. From the little that Dianna has told me, the play is hilarious! I can't wait to see it. It's at Duke Energy Theatre at Spirit Square, 345 College St.. The play runs from 8/16 - 825. This is what Dianna wants to do now. She'd like to be on stage once in a while, but she's excited about backstage and lighting. I'm trying to get her into as much as possible. If you know anything she can work on...

So the hair.

In 2002, I started locs. LOVED them. They grew so long that it was ridiculous. When I moved to Charlotte, my hair was so long that I couldn't use a shower cap, I had to use a grocery bag. It would smack Lawrence in his sleep, and it was just heavy. So, I cut them down and combed them out.

And was happy.

Until I couldn't do anything with my hair. Nothing. No amount of straightening worked. So I put a relaxer in it. And hated it. So I got it cut. And wasn't happy. And my hair started thinning...

In 2010, I went back to locs. LOVED them. Was soooo happy.

But I can't do them as often as I want, and I couldn't find a stylist that I liked. So last month I decided to start combing them out again.

It took about a month, but I finally finished combing them out on Monday. Iyana told me about a stylist she went to that is VERY reasonable and she got a blow-out and style. So I went there.

Salon of Evidence at 5th and Tryon in the Ivey building. Charles was Iyana's stylist, and Stella was mine. They are great. My hair is chemical straight, but has no chemicals in it. I plan on keeping it that way. And I think I look pretty good.

I didn't realize my hair was so long! I have to get used to this tickling my neck.

So. Upcoming for us.

Well, we still didn't announce the "news", that's coming soon. Dianna is "teching" The Color Purple. The DNC will be in town so Lawrence has to work 12hr shifts soon. And we'll be in Philly 9/21-9/24.

I guess that's all for now.

Do you like my new hair?

My life with one car

If you know us, you know we have 3. A Malibu that's paid off, a Neon that was paid off in December, and an Uplander that we purchased in December. However, only the Uplander works.
There are three people here that work. There are 3 that go to camp. We all have crazy shifts.

We can't get around. And it's wearing on all of us.

We need a second car fixed. Don't know what's wrong with either of them. Don't have time or money to get either of them fixed. I don't want to wear out the new one...

So... what do we do? Well, my kids are going to be pissed, but we have to buckle down and just work it out. It's going to be tough, but paychecks are going to go to bills and car. ONLY. I need more sleep and more freedom. In order for that to happen, we need to get another car fixed.

So no traveling, no eating out, not extra anything until I have a second car. They're just going to have to deal with it. They'll be happier when I accomplish my goal and we have another car.

They will, right?

Next week is the play!

Well, the first play of the summer - Beauty and the Beast, Jr..
Yes, he was Cogsworth at the beginning of the school year, but this is at a community theatre. He doesn't have a big part - he's just the hat seller, and he's in some other scenes here and there. Even with that, it has been a good experience for him.
In two weeks, Deven will start rehearsing for Les Miserables. That's at another community theatre. We're not sure of what to expect, but he's pretty excited about it. 


In other news... things are going to change a little around here in the Ginyard household. I don't want to really start talking about it yet, but there's going to be a couple of celebrations here very soon. We're all excited about the new changes..... oooohhhhhh!!!!! I can't wait to tell you guys!!

Well... let's change the subject, lol!

We decided to start going out as a family every Sunday afternoon. We haven't done much of anything - mostly because of Lawrence's schedule, but we're going to take advantage of the fact that in July and August he will have Sundays off. Nothing is going to cost too much money - we're going to go swimming, hang out in the mountains, and before school starts - go to the beach. I'm tired of sitting in this house, and I know the kids are as well... even after Lawrence works on Sundays again, we're going to go out.

Anyway... I think that's all for now. I'll update you soon on all of the exciting stuff.... YOU might not think it's exciting, but we do!

Until next time!

The BIG Audition

So, as most of you know, Deven auditioned for - well, I don't know how long we're bound into not saying the name of the show or the "results", or if these results even matter - so for the purposes of this post --- he auditioned for the "show". Also, as most of you know, he didn't make it far at all. We're okay with it... he's only 15, and this is his first big audition. We had an AMAZING time. AMAZING!

First, let me tell you about Sunday. We arrived at 3am to an already growing crowd for 7am registration. He brought his guitar, so there was definitely something to do. It became a huge conversation piece, and we ended up with our own little group of "friends". Singing, being silly, learning new things about the guitar... nice way to spend 4 hours with strangers. Deven was interviewed on the news, and he made up a song about "the show" for the cameras. Registration was VERY quick, and we were home in time to celebrate Father's Day with Lawrence before he went to work.

Tuesday, we got there at 2am. There was a much smaller crowd, and we got to sit comfortably. Deven saw Matt (in the video), and he pretty much hung out with him and a few others while waiting for the doors to open. I made Deven schmooze it up for the news cameras... hey, why not?

Then it was time for all the crowd cheering you see at the beginning of the show. We did all the "Welcome to Charlotte" and some other phrases they made us say. Then the Host came!! He is SOOOO nice! I was so close to him that I COULD HAVE kissed him... I wouldn't have, but I could have... lol!
Then we did he cheering with him. Then we went to our seats and cheered... then it was time.
There were 12 tables in the middle of the arena. You go to a table as a group of 4, and your group sings one at a time. Then the producers tell you whether you went to the second of 3 rounds or you went home. Deven held his shirt, folded his arms - tightly, twisted his lips... he was visibly very nervous.

His review after he sang: You have a phenomenal voice, but you are too timid.
His nerves did him in.

We both just shrugged and schmoozed for the cameras again. There's definitely always another audition... this experience ends nothing.

One great thing that came out of it - he is now going to rehearse weekly again!! He didn't want to do it anymore, but now he's decided to rehearse with me recording him again! He needs to get over those nerves. He's going to be great!!

Of course, this is the CONDENSED version of the story... but if I went into details, there would be too many pages!

I'm TIRED... 5 hrs of sleep in 2 days... tomorrow's going to be interesting.

Thanks for following our mini-journey!

Until next time!

True Love

I've been thinking about marriage these days - more than I have in a while. With so many marriages in turmoil, it makes me think about mine just so much more.

If you know me, you know that Lawrence and I have had struggles in our almost 18 year relationship. Everyone has struggles in a marriage. If you haven't, then you need to sit and think about that.

Anyway, back to Lawrence and I. We've had some serious struggles. There have been times that I have wanted to leave. I've told others I was going to leave, I've told Lawrence I was going to leave. I know he has had times where he was fed up with me. But even with everything that has happened in these years, we've stayed together.

Most couples would break up. Most people - if I told everyone what we've gone through (no, we're not physically harming each other) - would call us both stupid for staying together. We are that man and that woman that you whisper to your friends about... "Giiiiiirrrrrlllll, I don't EVEN know why they still together! Did you hear what he/she did to him/her? If that was my man/woman, I woulda been left." *insert random neck roll and teeth smack wherever you see fit*

I can't really speak for Lawrence, but you want to know why I stay? Love. True love. God has given me my life partner, and I have learned to treasure that. It's not loyalty, it's not stupidity, it's not selfishness. It's not even the fact that neither of us believe in divorce. It's just love.What I feel for Lawrence is something I don't think I'll feel for any other person.

I think it takes more strength to stay than it does to give up and go. Not that I don't understand others when they have to end a relationship - especially if it's a toxic one - but it really says something about the love you feel when you can forgive and continue to love each other as much as you did the day you fell in love. If you know our story, you know Lawrence and I fell in love hard and fast. So fast it scared us. But now that we're old, married, and with kids, it still scares me how much I'm in love with this man.

There. I needed to get that off my chest. I'm praying for marriages every day, and I hope you pray for ours.

Until next time!

I'm a Mother's Day brat

Well, I'm a "celebrate me" day brat. I've had very few celebrations turn out like I want them.
I used to want a special birthday - like something really exciting - but every year, no matter if my husband tries or not, it doesn't work like I would like it to. And I feel like a spoiled ungrateful brat. But then, sometimes I say, "you know, I try my best to give what I know people want, why shouldn't I want that in return instead of a last minute thought"... so I'm a little torn.
This year however, Mother's Day was nice. I received a nice present and planted a garden, with the kids help. I even got to take a nap! If you have heard me talk about how tired I've been, you'd understand why I was so happy about a nap. All in all, a great day.

Anyway - what's been happening around here...
Well, not too much. Deven started guitar practice again, and we're pricing keyboards because the others would like to learn. I like that everyone wants to learn music.
As far as his learning, we're doing lots of review work for the finals. He has to take a national standardized test, so it's not like I can make something up, give it to him, and say he passed the 8th grade. He REALLY has to pass the 8th grade. He's great with math and language arts, so now we're working on social studies and science. He'll be ready by the end of June. I'm happy about that.

Next week, I'll talk about Deven's auditions and future theatre work. I'll also update you all on the Blumey's - the high school musical theater awards. Dianna will be all dressed up for the awards, so I'll have pictures of her as well.

Until next time...

The ball

Ahja's first dance

So the kids went to the homeschool ball on Saturday - none of them danced!! Lol!
Well, Dianna and her friend (who we met there) danced. They learned some old English style dancing - it looked fun.
I didn't stay. I took Janiyah home... she wasn't behaving well all week, so she was grounded. Which unfortunately meant I was grounded as well. We will definitely go back next year - and I will stay.

Last week was quiet - other than Janiyah getting caught lying to her teacher and me. Struggling to keep her on timeout is real... man! You can easily tell there was a lack of structure for 5 years. We hope it breaks soon.

Dianna

Deven and Kate

Next week, Deven starts guitar lessons again. He's trying to play a song for his final. He's really close, but he needs a little help. The studio is right down the street, so it's very convenient. He had one lesson there and liked it. We'll see what happens this time.

I'm trying to record him singing and playing. He's so nervous singing in front of people... he needs to get out of that. Dianna sings as well, but she just doesn't feel like it. It's annoying to have such talent surround you and they don't want to use it. I've asked them to perform a song together... it hasn't happened yet. They don't even rehearse. It's going to happen....

Anyhow - I'm tired, and I have a LONG day of work ahead of me tomorrow.

Have a great night!

How's homeschooling going?

It's coming to the end of the second week of homeschooling, and I have to say that it's going surprisingly well. Deven is really enjoying himself - we get down to business at 7:30am starting with bible study, there's no ten to fifteen minute break between classes, and he loves the lessons. We are doing a lot of work, but he has time to think about what he's doing and we know what he needs to work on. These are the subjects we're teaching him:

We have learned that he didn't absorb much Algebra, so we're teaching refresher lessons; which is fine for me, because I actually enjoyed Algebra in school (well, Algebra 2... my Algebra 1 teacher was an ass, and I had to take it in summer school, where I passed with an A). He should be back on track and ready for Algebra 2 in the fall.

Social Studies - he was working on the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark in school, so that's where we're picking up, and we're going to trudge right on through the 1800s.

In Science, we're going to complete small experiments and he's going to start studying the periodic table.

Language Arts - we're finishing a refresher course on punctuation. He also has vocabulary, journal entries to complete, and stories to read. He finished reading Flowers for Algernon (by choice) before we pulled him, so we gave him a test on that. He'll start a new book next Monday.

Spanish - there's this GREAT conversational Spanish website that Deven LOVES! It's Conversational Spanish - Basics for Beginners. It's really fun... I might even work on it, myself! We're not that worried about how he does in Spanish, because he'll have more structured lessons in the fall.

Music Appreciation - Deven is learning to play the guitar. He has to learn and perform a song for his final.

Home Economics - We're teaching Deven basic cooking and baking skills. He has to prepare a dinner and dessert for final.

Health is about nutrition and healthy eating, and he has Physical Education twice a week.

He also has drama. We want to make sure we keep his love of the arts alive. He will be in two plays this summer, and he has to also see and write a summary about another play. This will also help with his social life.

Speaking of social life, we're attending a homeschool historical ball on Saturday. Deven, Dianna, and Ahja are going - we're all excited about it.  I might allow Janiyah to go, but she was just in trouble for something, so I may not... we'll see.

I think that's where I'll end this. I'll update once a week, and of course, I'll post pictures of the ball...

Thanks for reading!
 

So what’s this thing…

…about homeschooling????  Gotta give you lots of “back story”. My friends know how I am…

Well FIRST, let me tell you my kids’ names. If you’ve read this blog before, you know that I disguised my kids’ names. I didn’t want to expose them to too much on the internet when they were younger because I was trying to protect them from internet dangers. Now that they’re a little older, I’m giving them a little more rope…

Anyway. “Nate” is my 15yo boy, Deven. “Renee” is my 16yo, Dianna. “Bri” is my 18yo, Iyana. I also now have Ahja(13) and Janiyah(9). They’re new additions – they weren’t part of the blog in 2008 and 2009. They also had their own internet identity before they moved here, so there’s no use disguising their names.

So Deven has been struggling with school since… well, since they stopped stapling his work in his composition book. He can’t keep anything together, he’s busy, talkative, and it hard for him to concentrate on one thing at a time. He’s already failed 5^th grade. If you’re a specialized teacher or a therapist, I know what you’re thinking. Don’t worry, we think the same thing. I’ve been running into road blocks, but I’m working on it.

Last year, Deven STRUGGLED! I mean, he passed 7^th grade by the skin of his teeth. He is extremely smart, but he would not turn in his work. He would DO his work, but not turn it in. Talking to him, grounding, rewards, spanking – none of that helped. I took him to school at 7am every day for the last quarter to even get him to pass.

This year – SAME exact thing. His math teacher called me in the beginning of the school year to tell me he was not doing well. I explained to her that I was not at all surprised. She wanted to take him out of the class and put him in a lower class. She said he’s capable of the work, but he’s not completing his assignments.

Same story I heard before, and I told her that. I told her it makes no sense to put him in another class, because he’s going to do the same thing – no matter what class he’s in. I wanted to pull him from school earlier, but my husband didn’t. It’s a creative arts school, and he was flourishing in his major – musical theatre. He didn’t want to ruin that.

Skipping to the end now…

When I found out he was definitely NOT going to pass the 8^th grade, we decided it was time for drastic measures. There was serious talk about moving him to another state, moving him to his home school, or keeping him in his school and let him fail. The other options would have given him a possible chance – keeping him in his school would have guaranteed him repeating the 8^th grade.

After much debate, talking to friends, and prayer – we decided to keep him home. I create his lessons and teach him on Mondays, Lawrence teaches him Tuesday – Saturdays. He has bible study, Language Arts, Algebra 1, Science, Social Studies, Spanish, Home Economics, Drama, and Music Appreciation.

We’re very serious about his work. We are going to finish this year and all of 9^th grade. We don’t know yet what we’re going to do after that. We DO know before we make any decision, an evaluation is necessary. We’re keeping all options open.

So that’s all for now… tomorrow I’ll talk about how it’s going.

Until then!

Helloooo.... anyone out there??

*blows dust off this blog*

Good morning!!
Soooo... what made me break this thing out again???

Well, I blog weekly about my adventures with crocheting (Crocheting All Day), and when I log in, I see this sad blog looking back at me. I thought it needed some updating. Plus, BIG things are happening in this family, and I need to make sure I keep everyone in the loop.

Today, I'm not going to post much... just wanted to let people know the blog is back.
Tomorrow's topic - homeschooling. Yes, we are now homeschooling. Check back to see what it's all about.

So yeah, it's been a minute...

...I'm so sorry, friends and family. I've been working, doing schoolwork, on Facebook, and just plain old not paying attention to this site. I'll change that.

Well, what DON'T you know? Lol!
We had a good Christmas - everyone got what they wanted, and more. We played games and had a nice small meal. Just a nice relaxing day.

The kids are out of school until 1/4/2010, but I have 2 more days of work this year. It's not bad - I love my job. We do lots of good stuff for good people. Since the office will be pretty much empty - only 2 of us in our department - I'm going to get alot of work done.

We just adopted some soldiers. We're sending care packages, cards, and letters. I'm thinking about starting a FB group so others can help... I've asked for help with other charitable causes, but I don't get too many responses. Doesn't matter, I'll still do what I can.

Well, that's about it. If there's anything you want to know, please contact me - I'll let you know!

Be blessed!

Leslie