Home...I mean Roadschooling

Ahhh homeschooling, what can I say? In my head it's all sunshine & roses, but in reality it's quite stressful for me. It's mainly fear. Afraid I'll mess up. Afraid I won't be up to speed on what they should be doing. Afraid I'll screw them up. I tried the homeschool thing a couple years ago with my oldest when she was in 1st grade & although it started out well, my sweet child decided she didn't want to cooperate. I know what the problem was. I was too busy & preoccupied with other stuff to give it 100% & she got lazy & uninterested. Thankfully she's a smart cookie & the mommy plea of "please just read for 30 minutes every day" was a huge plus because she went into 2nd grade reading on a 4th & 5th grade level. Whew! Thought I totally screwed her up. Of course her math wasn't up to par, but she bounced back & was right where she needed to be by mid year. Going into 3rd grade her reading again was fantastic & her math up to par. Her recent benchmark test scores was a 97% in reading & a 90% in math. I think she's doing just fine. So now that I've dropped everything off my plate with no distractions, except the great outdoors, & we're ready to roll. I will have all kinds of time to homeschool....I mean roadschool. This time I'll have a 9yr old, 5 1/2 yr old & 4 yr old to school as well. Oh boy. Prayers are always welcome & much appreciated :-)  I have all their curriculum ready & a schedule as well. I decided to piece it all with some of this & that vs going with one company's curriculum. Honestly it was just too pricey & I know my kids & what will work for them so I wanted to pick & choose. This is what we'll do in case anyone is curious:
Math: Math U See (Primer & Gamma). LOVE the use of those little blocks & the videos blew me away! Gonna have hubby watch & learn to because I was impressed.
Reading: 30 min of daily reading for the 9 yr old with book reports when she finishes a book & 15 min of reading for the littles along with different reading programs (Hooked on Phonics, Reading Eggs, Reading Bear, Teach Your Monster To Read, etc)
Writing: Cursive for the oldest & different daily fun writing ABCs & 123s for the littles (writing in shaving cream, using bingo daubers, paint, watercolors, worksheets, etc)
Language Arts: Grammar Ace from Sonlight (uses School House Rock Videos)
Science: Magic School Bus videos & Young Scientist Club bundle with 60 different experiments!
Geography: As we go we'll learn about the state, capital, state bird, flag, flower, facts, etc (Brain Food Doodle Map)
History: Liberty Kids videos with discussion
Government: Tuttle Twins book with discussion
Music: Learning all the notes (whole, half, quarter, etc), FACE, EGBDF then hopefully as a family we can learn the guitar
Art: all the time, we love creativity & will use the great outdoors in our projects
Life Lessons: cooking, budgeting, saving money, giving, etc
Bible: Daily readings from their children's bible, discussion, memorizing verses

I know it seems like a lot, but we won't be doing all these every day. Each day will be bible readings, life lessons, math, reading, writing & language arts then we'll do science on Monday, History on Tues, etc. I plan on having several breaks so we can walk the dogs & get the wiggles out so they can come back & concentrate better. Studies show that kids who play more & are outdoors often have better concentration on their school work. Total opposite of what public school is like now. I'm nervous, but excited to see how we roll with this. No choice really since it needs to be done & we're committed to full time wandering for a couple years. Let the teaching begin!

Selling a Home is a Nightmare!

Gah! Talk about an ordeal it was to sell our home! We had agreed to close sooner than the set date because hubby was anxious to get on with our move, but we had to have our septic tank inspected & certified before closing. Oh boy that's where the nightmare began. Well let me back up a bit. First the home inspection was to take place. We waited & waited while a week went by. I texted our realtor & told her we were having our estate sale that weekend & hopefully the inspector wasn't planning on coming on the weekend during the chaos. (Side note the estate sale was CRAZY & we sold everything except a few items that were later picked up & donated to a new thrift store that would benefit the local high school & food pantry. We made almost 3 times more than I expected. Woohoo! I'm sure several items also walked off & jumped into someone's vehicle, but whatever). Ok where was I? Oh yes so the realtor contacted the inspector & he stated he had already been to the house. Uh, wait what? No he was either confused or went to the wrong house because he never came by. Good thing I said something or else our wait would have been longer. So then the realtor messages me back & said the inspector will be there in 30 minutes is that ok? Uh no it wasn't ok since I was getting kids ready for school & the house wasn't in tip top shape, but at that point we were tired of waiting & needed to move the process along so yeah I guess I could be ready in 30 min. Of course he deactivated the alarm over an hour later. Grrrr. So that went well & only a few minor repairs that the buyers agreed to let hubby fix. Done. Next was the septic inspection & certification. We lived in that house for 2 yrs 9 mo & never had any septic problems & never had it pumped out. So the guy comes out & pumps it all out (peee-uuuu) and tells us we have a bunch of tree roots growing into the pipes & it was going to cost like $150 or whatever PER HOUR for him to cut them out. Seriously?! That was unexpected & we rolled our eyes at that. Oh how I wish that was the worst, but no it kept getting worse. Upon inspection he says he can't get to the filter, it's jammed or something & needs to be repaired & up to code. Gah! Then he discovers the whole top of the tank is cracked & we needed a new top. NOOOOO!!! He called his sub-contractor to come take a look & thankfully the company they got the tops from had one in stock, but oh sorry they couldn't deliver that day & the next day they had deliveries in Phoenix & they don't work on the weekend & oh yeah that Monday was Labor Day so no work on that day either. Good grief! So Thursday turned into Tuesday & the top arrives, but that guy says the tank isn't draining. Seriously? It was draining just fine before they started farting with the whole thing. Can't certify it if it's not draining. But oh wait the first inspector guy documented on the invoice that it was draining just fine. When asked about it he claims he told us differently. Umm no you didn't & he documented it himself. Hmmm so who's lying? Anyway so they have to dig up even more of our yard to find the problem. Turns out they had to replace all the pipes. So our $600+ estimate turned into over $6000!!! At this point we were just ready to be done & out of our money pit of a home.What was probably the most irritating was that the guys working those little Cat diggers were the owners of their company & guess they didn't like working past noon & one day past 2p. Oh c'mon! Finally after digging two 30ft long trenches, laying all new pipes & hooking it all up it was all done (2 weeks later). They had to put our yard back together as well. I was so grateful that we were at the end of the cul de sac with an empty house on our right & the house next to that one was also empty & the house across the road from those 2 empties was also empty waiting for the new buyers to move in. All that was near us was our neighbors to our left who worked all day, but I still felt bad because those darn diggers were in our side yard next to them for 2 weeks. I did apologize to them for the mess & he was nice about it. Probably glad to see us go with our noisy kids & dogs...hahaha! Anyway so when it was all said & done we closed on our house with very little profit in our pocket, but it was done. Hope they don't hear the little critter on the roof who stops by now & then at 1am. Our new 5th wheel sat in our driveway (thankfully we had a huge driveway) for almost 2 weeks & we were more than ready to get outta there. Yes it was a nice house with a great backyard, but it was simply too big & the mortgage, ugh don't get me started. So my advice to you is do NOT buy a house with a septic tank & beware of the trees that are near that tank. Nothing good will come out of it & it'll leave a hole in your wallet.

Flexibility because we CAN!

I've been meaning to write the last week & have just been busy researching. Researching 5th wheel trailers, home I mean roadschooling, campgrounds, workamping jobs, etc. You see our plan has taken on a life of its own it seems, but that's ok (Emry-ism). We initially planned on selling our home & downsizing by buying a piece of land & putting one of those manufactured homes on it (smaller in sq footage) so we could lower our cost of living overall & put some real savings into our account. The more hubby thought about it he felt it was pointless to invest in land if we didn't plan on staying in Arizona for a long period of time. He said "let's just go then". Hey I wasn't about to argue with that, but the question was "and go where?". The plan changed to moving to Texas to be close to my family. Simple as that. Then an idea got planted into our head & has taken off since then. The plan of getting a trailer and hitting the road. At first it was lets get the trailer & move to TX then live in it until hubby finds a job & we find a place to put down roots. Well then it changed to why not just live in the trailer & travel? Heck ya! We've done it before & we know what it entails so why not do it again? This is where the to do list has begun. The first step was sell the house. Thankfully after almost 2 months we are under contract & the home inspection was yesterday. I pray there's nothing major that comes up so we can move forward with our open road plan. Next step was to buy a newer, more powerful truck to pull the trailer. Check! Hubby did that about a month ago & he can now beat on his chest & grunt with pride of owing a man's man truck. Whatever. It makes him smile & Lord knows he needs to smile more. We have researched & researched & looked at many 5th wheels & have finally agreed & found the one we want. It's bigger than I thought we'd get, but hubby said if we're going to be living in it full time for who knows how long then he wants to be comfortable & have some space. I agree, but the price tag is not appealing to me. *Side note. This is where being debt free comes into play & makes life easier* We've decided on a Highland Ridge Open Range 3x427BHS. It has a bunkhouse in the back for the kiddos & both slide outs come out, which I wanted to maximize their space back there. We have tracked a couple of them down in southern CA & in Las Vegas. Both about the same distance drive from us so it's who can get us the better deal at this point :-) So from here on out all we have to do is buy the trailer, sell everything in our house & move out.....all by September 5th! Yikes! It's ok it's ok we can do it. We're motivated & excited about this so where there's a will there's a way, right? We have a local campground in place & we have both applied to Amazon for their seasonal distribution jobs in Kentucky (Texas & Tennessee are already full). So it all seems to be lining up, but get this. My idea was to stay & let the kids finish out the school year so hubby could continue to work & we could save save save. Our expenses would be minimal without all the mortgage & utilities, but hubby says nope. He's ready to leave now! Uhhh wait what? (Emry loves saying that). Thus our clock is ticking fast. We should be driving outta here by mid September if all goes well with the house sale. I can already hear that National Lampoons Vacation theme song in my head.

Ballerina Girl

My Emry girl loves to dance even when there's no music. Tonight as I sat in the office on my laptop she was dancing in circles singing a tune she made up. She was telling me she learned that song when she was a baby and when she grew up and was 9 years old something or other happened. I thought..."ummm you're only 3 you haven't been 9 yet" but I don't want to stomp on her creative stories. She told me to sing it over & over again while she danced & when I stopped she promptly told me to "keep singing mommy". Her little arms were in the air & she would gently kick her leg out as she twirled. Oh my heart. She wants to be in ballet class & I keep saying yes but haven't done it yet. I must get on the ball & just enroll her. She would be so beautiful in her ballet outfits & I can just see her all serious yet a huge smile on her face while in a dance recital. Yes I must enroll her this fall. I know most places take a break in the summer then start new in the fall with a recital scheduled in the spring. Dalton still wants to do Taekwondo so I'll get him in that & of course Annika wants more horse lessons. Why must she pick the most expensive activity? They all have their likes & I want to encourage & support them.

Just Keep Swimming

2 months ago I finally put my 3 kiddos in swimming lessons. This is something I wanted to do when they were babies, but something always came up. The fear of them drowning was real. 2 years ago we were swimming & I put my son on the side of the pool sitting while I took his floatie off. I was sitting next to him when I turned to my right to throw the floatie to the side of the pool. My son was on my left. As I turned back around I see him jump into the pool. It took me a second to remember he didn't have a floatie on. I jumped in after him & grabbed him. When I pulled him out he said "I swimmed" and I replied "no you sunk". He scared the crap out of me & I can only imagine the worst if I weren't right there next to him. Hubby was on the other side of the pool & he saw him go in, but was further away. I got to him first.I couldn't help but think of my daughter's classmate who drowned 3 years ago. That sweet boy's face flashed in front of my eyes after this incident. I told my hubby we had to teach them to swim asap even if we didn't have a pool. He wasn't as motivated as I was. So fast forward 2 years (with constant worry about them drowning when near water) to their first lesson. I had already assumed my 2 youngest would take to swimming fast & my oldest would not. My oldest didn't even want to get her face wet in the shower/bath so swimming underwater for her was going to be rough. Well I was so wrong. My youngest decided she did not want to get her face wet (this was after she already experienced it once in class) and my oldest decided she loved it. She learned the fastest & is like a fish. I don't worry about her so much, but still keep a good eye on her always. My son is a daredevil & loves to dive for toys on the bottom & can hold his breath for a really long time. He still worries me & I have to set rules for him, which he loves to test. I am glad he isn't afraid to learn, but dang he's just over confident. Must be a boy thing. My youngest is getting there & the more she's in the water the better she gets. Today she put her whole face in the water many times to get diving sticks & she practiced her swimming kicks. I'm amazed by them & ever so thankful they are learning & loving to swim. They want a pool so they can swim daily & if it weren't for us selling our house I'd get a pool. I would love for them to be on swim team when they get a bit older, but one step at a time. I remember telling my oldest not to be afraid & how awesome it'll be when she knows how to swim because she'll have so much fun. The smile on her face tells me how right I was. I told her "see didn't I say you'd love swimming?" and she said "yes". I use this as a teaching thing whenever she's afraid to try something new & I use it for myself too. I tell myself "if she could do this after being terrified then I can do _____". She has inspired me. I was also so moved & emotional in a good way when I saw my oldest daughter helping her younger sister at the pool yesterday. I've bee taking them on base after my fitness class so they can get more practice. Keep in mind these 2 do not always get along, but my oldest was helping her sister "dive" into the pool while sitting on the side. She praised her & gave her pointers too. I was loving it & thought "why can't they be like this all the time?", but I'll take what I can get. I just look forward to many new water fun memories to be made.

Payson Mogollon Monster 5k Mudder

Last weekend I was at my in-laws house ready to compete in my first ever 5k mud run. I had no idea what to expect, but I did look at the video posted from previous years https://youtu.be/OEb1UK3GIJ8  I was both excited & nervous. This 42 yr old mother of 3 didn't have a whole lot of confidence in herself, but I thought it would be fun & something to check off my list. I knew I had to do my best because my kids, hubby & father in law were all watching & recording. I remember waiting for my heat to start & I had serious cotton mouth because I was so nervous. I made sure to place myself towards the back of the pack so I could watch everyone else & get an idea where to go & how to tackle the obstacles. They advertised 30 obstacles, but actually had 46. Woah! There was no turning back so I headed out & did my thing. Now let me tell ya I'm not a fan of heights so when I came to the first jump into a muddy pit I hesitated......for a while. Yes there's video, but I did it & ooohhhweee that water was cold! If there was ever a time to pee in the nasty water, that was a good time to do it....hahahaha! Anyway after that I had to climb a wall, but thankfully there was an A frame on the side I was able to step up on to get myself over. From there I had to pick up a tire & carry it then there was climbing over a metal rail fence, picking up a sand bag & walking with it then carrying it thru a muddy pit. There was also hopping in & out of tires, walking up a big rock hill (smelled like hot asphalt), sliding down a water slide into nasty muddy water, running, climbing over a tire wall (needed a bit of technique since they are flexible), army crawling under barbed wire, trail running, walking (hunched over) thru a metal tunnel thingy where I gashed my finger & thumb (bled a lot). There was also a big jump into more yucky water that smelled like either horse or cow poo (yes I hesitated again) and mud so thick I almost lost a shoe. I had to pick up a fireman's hose, toss it over my shoulder & walk up bleachers (I ran!). Then there was the maze of rope to duck under, climb over. I also scraped my forehead going under a log (there was about a 4" gap between the log & water I was floating thru). Many more obstacles, but my oldest asked me which one was my favorite. I thought about it & it had to be the 2 sets of monkey bars. Why? Because I thought for sure I wasn't going to be able to do it without falling. I thought my arms weren't strong enough. I thought I wasn't fit enough. I saw the lady in front of me, who looked pretty fit, fall after 3 bars so I assumed I'd do the same. I scooted over to the side where it wasn't as wet on the bars & proceeded. I was shocked that I made it all the way thru without falling. There was a break in between then another set of monkey bars. I had a little more confidence at this point so I proceeded & again I made it all the way thru without falling. I blurted out "I can't believe I just did that!" I know for some it seems ridiculous, but I was so proud of myself (I haven't been able to do that in years) & as I came to the end of the mudder I was all smiles because I not only accomplished what I set out to do, but I did it without quitting & I was having the time of my life. I was on a "runners high" and ready to do it again. Who needs an expensive mud spa when you can do a mud run? I'm already planning on doing it again next year & any others that pop up in the mean time. Of course as the day went on the soreness started to set in (& lasted 3 days or so). The next day all the bumps & bruises surfaced & I counted 18 bruises & about half as many scrapes. I was asked "did you learn you lesson?" Why yes I did. I learned I should have done one of these years ago & I learned I needed to do it faster, but most of all I learned that I should believe in myself more because I CAN do whatever I set out to do. The ultimate best part was when my kids said "congratulations mommy" and "you did great mommy". They held my medal & jumped up & down all excited. My heart was full

Back at it again

Well well it's only been 3 years since my last post. How pitiful is that? As a mom most of you can probably relate. Time is not on my side. All of my posts since my last entry have been on facebook (not nearly enough in my opinion), but you can't really go into depth on there so here I am again. This is mainly for my sake so I can look back & remember because as my 5 yr old son asks "did you lose your memories?" Yes, yes I have. Seems like I can't remember squat these days. They say having kids does that to your brain. Mommy brain never seems to recover. I initially started the blog to document our cross country travels after my hubby's retirement & I'm so glad I did because I forgot so much of what happened on our journey. This time around it'll just be to document all of my kid's funnies, accomplishments, milestones & whatever else strikes my fancy. So let's get on with it.