Conference and Curricula

Last Friday and Saturday I attended the Immaculate Heart of Mary Homeschool Conference for the second year in a row. Until last year I had never been to any homeschool conference. I figured I knew what curriculum I wanted to use with each of the boys and if I went to a conference I would just start second guessing myself and overthinking my choices. Now that I have been I wish I had been going for all of my homeschooling years.

There were lots of vendors with some great programs, and it was nice to be able to see and look at the books in person. I was able to find many of the books I need for next year. But what I found the most valuable was the inspiration I got from listening to the speakers and being in a conference hall packed with other Catholic homeschoolers. This time of year most homeschool moms are feeling burned out and overwhelmed. It was refreshing to be reminded of why we choose to homeschool and to hear some great suggestions on how to run the house and teach the children and stay sane at the same time. I know lots of other homeschoolers whose friendship and support have been invaluable, but at our church where we are involved in many things, there are only 2 other homeschool families who we very rarely even see, so it was encouraging to be around other families who share our faith.

I was hoping the conference would help me decide on a math program for Algebra and a middle school science program, but I'm still contemplating these. I'm trying to decide between Harold Jacob's Algebra and Teaching Textbooks. For science I'm really leaning towards The Rainbow, which is a 2-year junior high program with great reviews. What is holding me back is the price, but it includes absolutely everything - textbook, lab book, teacher guide, and all lab supplies. Then I looked up the absolutely outrageous tuition costs of some of the Catholic schools in the area and decided that an extra $100 for a good science program really isn't that bad. And what should I use for 5th grade and 3rd grade science? I have a few different good programs on my bookshelves, but there are so many others out there that I'd like to try! Luckily I think it is fun to look at different curricula, and by the time we begin our next school year later this summer I will be ready and excited to get started.

Not So Extreme Couponing

I've been watching the new television show on TLC called Extreme Couponing. It shows shoppers who are consumed with clipping coupons and come out of the grocery store with something like $968 worth of groceries for $7.43. My first instinct was to think that I would like to try to save that much money. After I put some thought into it I decided that kind of couponing is just not for me. First of all the people on the show spend 30-40 hours a week clipping coupons, organizing, and studying weekly ads. That's like a full time job. Second, they have stockpiles of food and merchandise that takes up quite a bit of room. That's fine, but much of it seems to be things that they will never use (like 800 tubes of toothpaste or 400 sticks of deodorant or 52 bottles of mustard), but they are proud to have it because it was free. And they have to pay for the coupons, either through purchasing a newspaper or ordering them from a coupon web site. Actually I've seen some of them who dumpster dive to find coupons! Finally, most of them have spent years learning all of the tricks to getting so many free items.
So I'm just not willing to go that extreme. I don't have the time or the energy or the interest. But it has inspired me to work a little bit harder at finding coupons, organizing them, and planning to get the best use of them. I probably spent about an hour clipping and printing coupons for my trip to Target today and for my Kroger trip later this week and then matching them to things that were on sale. I ended up saving about $20 out of $100 today, so I thought that was pretty good. I'm going to be content to be a not-so-extreme couponer.

Michael's First Communion

May is off to a fabulous start. After working all school year in preparation, Michael received the precious body and blood of Jesus at his First Holy Communion! Even though we thought spring was here to stay, we had a cold front roll through North Texas, and it was quite a chilly and windy day. He looked so handsome in his black coat and tie. And despite getting annoyed at me for taking so many pictures of him before and after Mass, he had a smile on his face all day. The Mass was beautiful with great music, and he had lots of family there for his special day.

At this First Communion Mass, the parents got to sit with their children. It was neat to get to walk up with Michael to be right there with him when it was his turn. The only twist was that there was no room for siblings in the reserved seats, so Luke had to sit with the rest of the family away from us. We enjoyed not having to wrestle with the one year old, but we saw him leave the church with Nick, Todd, and then Grandma. Then I had to smile when after all of the First Communion kids had received the Eucharist, we saw Nick carrying Luke up to communion.

We went to Chili's to eat dinner afterwards to celebrate. Michael got to eat some of his favorite foods - quesadillas, french fries, and RIBS!

We are so proud of Michael. Now that he has made his First Communion, he can be an altar server. Tonight was his first time serving, and although we were nervous he did great. It was awesome to see three of my boys all serving together at Mass.

April Activities

April is one of the busiest times of the year for our family. Michael and Luke have birthdays, soccer season is in full swing, and we are all itching to finish our school year.

We celebrated Michael's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's with friends. On his actual birthday we had lunch at CiCi's pizza and then came home for his big surprise. Nick and Zack created a scavenger hunt for him to find clues that Corey had made. First was a print out of plane tickets, then hotel reservations, next a certificate for 5 shares of Disney stock, and finally he found a page with Disneyland photos that read "Michael and Daddy are going to Disneyland!" He was so excited! He said it was the best birthday ever, and that was before he knew about the trip. At 8 years old Michael is a great kid! He is generous, creative, imaginative, and makes us laugh every day.

Four days later it was time to celebrate Luke's first birthday. Even his brothers said it was hard to believe it has already been a year since he joined our family. He loved his lawn mower and digging into his cake. I made him his own cake to destroy and an ice cream cake for the rest of us to eat. We took lots of pictures and enjoyed the day with him. He is such a joy to have in the family. He is an active little guy, and it takes all of us to keep up with him. He is curious and is really attached to his mommy, daddy, and brothers. He loves to be outside and kick a soccer ball.

Somehow in the middle of the big birthdays I managed to take bluebonnet pictures of the kids. I want to take them every spring, but the only bloom here in Texas for a few weeks, and it has been several years since we have done it. On the school front, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We only have 4 or 5 weeks left before we take a break for the summer. It's been a good year, but we are all ready for a break. It is a challenge to get school done with a now walking baby around, so it will be nice to just enjoy chasing him around for a couple of months. I have also finished my first month of what I call AW365 - my photo a day for a year project. It has been fun carrying a camera everywhere I go and getting shots of everyday things.