First Day of Homeschooling!

Today was the day! First day of homeschooling in the Ray household!
The kids were very excited to start, as was I...but I was also nervous. I had to work this morning until 11 so we got started around 1145. We did bible during breakfast before heading out the gym this morning...so when we got home today we started with history/geography which I have them doing together using Abeka curriculum. (M/W/F will be history/geo. T/Th will be science) Then came the chaos...separate subjects with one of me and two of them (I know I know you moms out there homeschooling more children then I am prob think shoot that's a breeze!). Ella is using Saxon math and Skyler is using singapore. In order to be able to focus on one child at a time I had Ella read books to her baby dolls which meant she was getting her reading time in for the day. :) When it came to Ella's turn for math, Skyler went online to play some math games....getting him to read is like pulling teeth so working on that. It seems to work best when he gets magazines or science reading materials and he doesn't think of it as a horrible thing like he does chapter books.
We also had language arts today, which includes reading, writing, spelling, and phonics. The curriculum for that is Horizons. I also use K12 website for their spelling and site words. Oh! I also found a daily journal for the kid on a blog called Confessions of a Homeschooler. They seemed to really enjoy it. http://shared.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/calendar/DailyNotebook.pdf
Overall it was a great first day just slightly chaotic :)
There is an art class coming up we are excited to go try out later this month and some local co ops as well, along with a local homeschool store that also offers different classes...one for both the kids ages is Spanish, which I think would be neat to get her involved in. Next month she can start to participate in the Saturday All American Girl history days as well, she will love that! So much to think about and get excited about :)
As far as the new house goes, we are still getting inspections done at this point. Should all be done by midmonth, headed in tomorrow to sign some paperwork and keep moving forward! We are def ready to have the house and get moved in, but with the husband gone for a little while longer I dont mind waiting to close until closer to his return! Excited for his return, new home and get the homestead up and running.

First flock swap and local farmers market!

Today we had our first experience at a flock swap!!  If it was up to me I would have left with goats, pigs, chickens, and bunnies!! But, left with nothing haha! We wanted to go for the experience and see how it all works so once we get the new house we can start buying the animals and such that we need. They seem to have flock swaps all over, near and far so that will come in handy when are ready :)

After that we headed to a local farmers market. I don't think we have been to one since we lived in Italy! I figure until we can get our veggies and all for ourselves the market is the best way to go when possible. Left there with some veggies and bread. And of course some goodies :)

The kids had a lot of fun at both places. I was nervous we would all be cold and miserable but turned out being outside was def what we needed!! Plus honey sticks, peanuts, and ceramics always keep the happy!! 

Out with the old...

For those of you who move as much we do, you understand that means cleaning cleaning and cleaning!! Getting rid of all the things you and your family never use but have been holding onto!

What a better day then New Year's Eve to get rid of so much!! I have had a closet FILLED with toys and clothes and so much more for months and months! My plans were to have a yard sale which never happened and so I decided to donate to the goodwill which I then never did either! Last night I ended up going through Ella's room and this morning cleaned out the wholes kitchen as well... When I say cleaned  I mean two trash bags filled! 

I decided to load up the truck and get that closet cleaned up and out of the house!! Finally got all this out and to the goodwill! 

My daughter and I managed to get not only the kitchen cleaned out but also the attack and a few closets!! Which is such a great feeling not taking extra stuff to a new home. Plus with down sizing in square footage def good idea to take only what we need and will use... Not that we won't once again acquire more things that in the end sit there not being used yet again! 

Now as I try to stay awake for midnight (which probably wont happen) I am getting some language arts things in order for our first week of homeschooling which we will start on Monday! A good friend told me about a spelling test app which is awesome! I use the k12 website for their spelling words and the app for practice and testing, which the kids really seem to enjoy. 

Well I suppose I better stop so I can finish getting school things organized... And then to bed! 

Happy New Year!!!!

The sun finally came out and the roads dried up... So we ventured out to Tractor Supply for dog food and to wander around a little....and found my first new item for the new house! :) It was on sale how could I not buy it?! Gotta love sales! 

Rainy Day Research

Today has been a gross, gross day! So that meant lots of time to sit and research chickens, chickens, and more chickens! I have narrowed it down to well...7 breeds that I want to try out! I have been trying to look for ones that are more on the calm side and kid friendly since the kiddos are old enough to help clean their coop and collect eggs...don't need aggressive ones scaring them of that chore! So far I have decided I want to try Barred Plymouth rocks, buff orpington, salmon faverolles, blue ameraucana, easter eggers, cochins blue, and black australorp...some of those will lay brown eggs, some will lay blue eggs, and the easter egger will lay multi colored eggs:) Now I don't know that will get all of those to start with, was just saying those are ones I want to look more into and go from there. We have decided we want to start with only egg laying chickens, not raise for meat just yet. Haven't decided if we are going to order chicks or buy local....nice thing about ordering is we can be sure they are female or male :)

I really would like goats, but only because they are stinkin' cute! Although they eat everything...so those may have to wait...I say that now but when I go to flock swap and auctions I imagine I'll change my mind rather fast! I don't think any of us have ever tried goat milk though so not sure what exactly we will use them for other then a pet haha...if we want to get our own milk I have heard Jersey cows are good to start out with..I haven't done too much research just yet there though so maybe there is a better route, we shall see!

Ella has requested a piglet...which is another thing I haven't looked too much into yet...

Oh! One other thing, rabbits! And the husband wants bees. :) See our ideas are coming along...

We will be planting some fruits, veggies, and herbs...Which we start when the husband gets back home. He is much better at that part then I am, I can keep animals and kids alive a lot better then plants...I'm working on that...

I imagine I'm getting ahead of myself here since we don't close on the new house until Feb...and have some work to do out there...and lets not forget we need to move in as well :p 

I think between friends who have been there, done that and books (and lets not forget pinterest!)we will have a good first year in the new home, and learn from our experiences to make it better year after year!

Lots of changes! :)

I guess I should have started this about two months ago when the husband first left for a deployment..but I just didn't think about it until...well today when a friend mentioned it :) Where to start...well I'll start by saying we are back to good ol' Fort Bragg! Funny how that works...started here and will end here. Fort Bragg was my husbands first duty station and will be his last. We met here and had our first child here, from there lived in 4 different states..PA, AL, GA, and WA...and one other country, Italy...well the husband lived in two other countries...Korea and Italy since I stayed stateside for one of his duty stations.
We have been here for about 8 months now, the husband left about 2 months ago...I am group fitness instructor/personal trainer. My children(who are in 1st and 3rd grade) were attending a public school (which they have since they started school).
Before the husband left he mentioned homeschooling to me and I laughed it off! (Crazy man!) Well I thought about it more after he left and brought it up again, we decided it was best for our kiddos right now and we also decided to start mid school year rather then waiting until next fall. (Change number one...ok well two because the husband leaving is change number one)
The husband has been into the idea of homesteading for awhile now (I have been into the idea of cute little chickens, pigs, and goats!) and we knew we would buy again once he came home...but he enjoys looking on zillow and found an amazing place for our dreams and ideas! So I went to check the place out and also agreed it was perfect for us! Has a pool, 5 acres, a creek and yes of course a house! :) We decided we ought to take the steps to go on and buy the house before it was too late....why not buy a house while the husband is away! (Change two...or three depending how you look at it..maybe also four because it will include homesteading...ok I've lost count here...)
It sounded easy....and then the texts and emails from the lender and Realtor started flowing in...the stress and overwhelming started flowing in as well! Luckily I have some amazing friends that have been able to help me figure it all out and its going great! All is coming together...lots of paperwork, lots of phone calls, lots of checks being written...but then when I went out today to explore the property all those overwhelming feelings seemed to be replaced with excitement and peace because soon this part will be over and we will be moved into our home and starting our new adventure!
Some days I will write long, some days I will write short, some days I will write stressed and overwhelmed...and some days I will write "happy happy happy"! (yep I just quoted Duck Dynasty!)