Things I Won’t Miss About Living in a Condo…

We are gearing up for our sixth move in nine months…this one is exciting though because prayerfully, it’s the last one for a LONG while.    With that in mind, here are some of the things I will not miss about living in a condo…

• Having to pay to do laundry – this should save me about $50 a month. 
• Having the smells from the neighbors’ cooking permeate the hallway and our condo – I’m not sure what they cook sometimes, but the smells are not so pleasant.
• Having to deal with poop from dogs other than our own – if folks cleaned up after their dogs, this wouldn’t be an issue
• Not having a yard for the boys to play in – refer to the point above for the reason why
• Hearing cackling, giggling, loud TVs, and other noises from neighbors – these are women who are a good bit older than myself, but they throw a lot of parties.  LOL!  They’re quite loud and seem to really enjoy themselves.
• Having to park next to women from other generations who are not very good at parking their cars.  -- I’m not the best at parking my car all the time, but I really try.
• Sharing ONE bathroom with THREE males – I love my husband and sons, but I do not enjoy sharing a bathroom with them.  Enough said…
• Not having access to all of my beloved kitchen gadgets, supplies, and belongings – they’re in storage, and I’ve been limited as to what I can cook and do in the kitchen.
• Not having access to all of my school supplies and educational materials – these are all in storage, and again…we’ve been limited as to what we can do when it comes to schooling, art, etc.
• Asking my children to be quiet, quit running, and stop stomping for fear the neighbors will complain – you can hear a pin drop in this place, so noise travels.  Suffice it to say that my boys aren’t the quietest, either, so it’ll be nice not having to constantly fuss at them for the noise they enjoy making.
• Dealing with water issues – it seems the water gets shut off at least once every few weeks for whatever reason.
• Carrying groceries and other items up a flight of stairs – the boys won’t miss this either as they’ve had to step up and help with this so that I can avoid the multiple trips it would take me if I had to do it alone.
• Walking up/down stairs just to walk the dog – yes, it’s only one flight of stairs, but when you have to walk the dog 5-6x a day, it’s not fun.
• Not having the space to entertain friends – granted, we don’t entertain often, but we haven’t even had the opportunity because there’s just not enough room.  Having playdates hasn’t been an option either due to the noise issues.  So, we’re ready to be able to invite friends over for fun times.

I think that’s all I can think of for now…don’t get me wrong, we’ve been blessed to be able to stay in this condo, and for that…we truly are thankful.  We are just more than excited to have our own space for a change.  After living in a house all of your life, moving into a condo is a big adjustment.   

We’re also excited that we’ll have enough room for friends/family to come visit…so who’s first on the list??? 

Weeks 38-40 of Learning 2013-14

I made the executive decision that we are officially done with 5th grade and Kindergarten today.  We’re gearing up for a move next week, and I need to focus my attention on packing.  So, with that said…the 2013-14 school year comes to a close.
In lieu of the traditional review I’ve been doing, I’ll end by saying that the boys have both done GREAT this school year.  They’ve both excelled and learned so many new things.  I’m amazed and in awe as I listen to Micah reading…it just warms my mommy heart.  Caleb continues to do well, and he’s growing into such a wonderful and bright young man. 
We will take the next three months off from our “normal” homeschool schedule; however, Caleb will do one math lesson daily.  Micah will also do a daily phonics lesson.  Then, we’ll commence the 2014-2015 school year in August.  This will be the first time we have taken such a long and extended break, but it’s very much needed. 
I want to give us all time to just enjoy being a family and settling into our new home and new city.  We will spend lots of time swimming, riding bikes, walking, and just doing fun things.  We’re all looking forward to what the future holds for us down in Port Saint Lucie!

Week 36 of Learning and Week 37 of Learning 2013-14

Well, here we are…just three more weeks of school for the school year.  YEAH!!!!  Here’s how week 36 and 37 went…
Micah, Kindergarten Bible – Micah continues to work in his AWANAS book.  He finished the 1st book, so he’s now in the review phase.
Phonics – Micah worked on the sounds for b/d, sh, ch, and wh.  He also worked on the verbs to be, to have, and then he worked on contractions.  We reviewed all of his sight words he’s learned thus far.
Poetry – Micah’s poem for Week 36 was ‘Spring Planting.’  We used it to review punctuation and uppercase letters.  His poem for Week 37 was ‘The Caterpillar.’  We used it to discuss syllables and punctuation.

Math – Micah worked on using tally marks to make groups of five and counting by fives.
Caleb, Fifth Grade Math – Caleb worked on adding and subtracting on paper; surveys and tally marks; rounding and estimating with two-digit numbers; addition with carrying; adding more than two; adding and subtracting with three-digit numbers; rounding and estimating with three-digit numbers; and adding and subtracting word problems.
English – Caleb worked on using good and well; using negative words; synonyms and antonyms; and homonyms.
Yes…we are nearing the end of the 2013-14 school year.  We’re going to just focus on math and phonics for the remaining three weeks b/c we’re gearing up for another move on May 1st.  My goal is to be done with schooling before the last week of April…so math and phonics it is. 

Week 35 of Learning 2013-14

We finished up week 35 today, and we’ve already moved into week 36…I can see the end!  YEAH! 
Micah, Kindergarten Bible – Micah continues to work in his AWANAS book.
Phonics – This week Micah worked on plural words and the short ‘u’ sound.  His sight words for the week were ‘do, did, what, do, get.’ 

Poetry – This week Micah’s poem was ‘The Rainbow.’  We used the poem to discuss commas, periods, exclamation marks, and rhyming words.

Math – This week Micah worked on solving for an unknown.  Much to my surprise, the exercises matched the lesson this week, so it was much better. 
Caleb, Fifth Grade Math – Caleb began working on Teaching Textbooks 5 this week, and since it’s mostly review at the beginning, he flew threw 7 lessons.  He worked on number patterns; the way numbers work; numbers and words; millions; greater than/less than; addition basics; and subtraction basics. 
English – This week Caleb began working on adverbs.  He worked on adverbs, adverbs that modify adjectives and other adverbs, and degrees of adverbs.
We’re looking forward to a trip to the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens this week with some fellow homeschoolers.  We’ve never been, so we’re excited to see the zoo and all it had to offer.