Summertime.

Well, it's summertime. I don't know where the time has gone, it just seems to have flown by in the blink of an eye. And I know that it is only going to go faster the rest of the year. I've already purchased some of the kid's curriculum so that we can begin our school year already. So, once it gets here we will be starting, so that we can take breaks whenever we want. And to catch up on a few things as well. I'm going to probably have to buy Meghan's math program new because I can't seem to find a decent used price on it. If I'm going to pay almost full price for something, I might as well just spend the few extra dollars, buy it new and get free shipping. That's how I think of it anyway, maybe I'm wrong. I did get a bunch of the books, like social studies, Killian's math, and Meghan's language arts, and science used, I ended up spending a total of $46.00 including shipping, which is a quite a savings. There are still a few more things I need, but like I said, not too shabby. Waiting for it all to get here is a killer though. I hate how slow the mail is. Anyway, here are some of the books we are going to be using: "Mathematics Their Way" for Killian, it should take him all the way through second grade. It's supposed to be very hands on and give him a good handle on the basics. I really wish I would have known about this book with Meghan. She did Kindergarten and 1st grade in public school and whatever they did, didn't give her a good foundation of the basics, so now we are needing to go back. But, I digress. We are going to use "Social Studies through Children's Literature" for both Meghan and Killian, I'm just going to give them activities that are age appropriate, but the information will be the same. Meghan and I are also going to do a unit study on the Founding Fathers with the book, "Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence". and once we finish that I'm hoping to do the book about the lives of the signers wives and families, if I can get my hands on a copy of that book. Then for Meghan we are going to do our whole Language Arts program all rolled into one, using "Learning Language Arts Through Literature". This is actually the program I'm most excited about. I'm really tired of having to do spelling, vocabulary, grammar, literature, and writing all seperate. This will tie everything together, and in the long run, I really think it's better. Meghan is more likely to retain what she is learning. I'm still looking for some used reference books, but it seems like encyclopedia's and such are more and more on the computer instead of in sets. Like Grolier online and Encyclopedia Brittanica. I'm not sure what we are going to do computer-wise. My desktop is dead and I use my laptop most of the time. Casey doesn't use his daily, but when he needs it he needs it and when he travels he takes it with him. And he is going to be gone quite a bit here and there for more classes and schools and whatnot, so I'm thinking that it may be time to give my laptop to the kids and maybe, just maybe get myself a brand spankin' new one. I'm not real keen on getting another desktop, I don't know why, I do like having a nice big screen to look at, but at the same time, it's just a PITA and takes up a lot of space that I just don't have. They are all eventually going to need their own computer time, and as time goes on they will probably need their own computers. Luckily, as expensive as they are, they aren't as ridiculous expensive as they once were. You can pick up a good one that will go online and do simple things for under $1000. My LCD is messed up in the bottom corner of my laptop, but luckily, it isn't affecting it's functionality, so the kids could still get lots of use out of it potentially. Casey would like one of those little bitty laptops, to make it easier to travel with, so we may be getting him a new one at some point in the near future as well. I guess we'll just see where it all ends up. For now, we are plugging along with what we have. I can't wait to one day have a room just for the kids' school stuff/office/craft area. With lots of storage options.
It's looking more and more like Casey will be taking time off he didn't plan on taking this summer. We are still in the getting it approved stage, but they don't seem to need him at work anymore so, we are hoping that attitude holds over into getting it signed off on. He loved work, he really enjoyed this shop and then he went away for two weeks, came back, and things have just gone to shit with the new command. Figures. I mean we knew it was coming. You can't have a bunch of East Coast guys come in, take over, and NOT have things go to shit. It's that whole East Coast mentality that if it doesn't suck, it's not being done right bs. You may think I'm stereotyping, exaggerating, or whining, but really, I've seen it for myself first hand. I'm not saying it's everyone from the East Coast, and everyone from the West Coast is just smarter (obviously not or CA wouldn't be broke). I'm saying the mentality is totally different in how people handle things. There is a reason the shop out here was one of the best. It worked. I just pray that things work out in September and we get the word we're waiting for OR that we can get the heck out of Dodge another way if it doesn't. And that's all I'm going to say for now.