The last four nights have been shear hell on earth!! I have never had one of my girls' go through so much trauma and drama during the teething stage. Ela is beside herself due to what we are calling the two part dilemma. One she is teething with a minimum of 3 teeth ready to erupt and two her sinuses with this back and forth weather. So that when we lay her down at night her guns are bothering her then her sinuses start acting up. We are taking turns in the rocker recliner till we just have to stretch out from cramping up holding her in her desired position. This afternoon I was supposed to take all the girls' and the neighbor friend of Katie's to soccer practice. But the heat has risen back up so I was dreading taking Miss Crab out into it and having her teeth and sinuses start acting up. I called the team mom who is a fellow home schooler and her son is on Katie's team to see if she could get a ride. She said she would pick her on her way home since she works like a block from our house and she would gladly feed her too. What a jewel she is......love being able to help out a fellow mom myself so it is nice on occasion when it happens to me. Girls' got to school at 8:30 this morning because we had barely slept by the time the alarm went off so they missed the bus. I get there and Dani just trots off to class but Hellie wants me to walk her of course. So I do and as we get down the hall her class is coming back from a bathroom break. The teacher proceeds to tell me I need to be practicing her name and cutting with her. This is as if I am not practicing this with her, the cutting she failed to let me know what they were trying to cut out. Also as far as her name goes I am doing it with her but she isn't liking it so that may very well be why she isn't doing it without balking at school. I feel like they put way too much pressure on these little ones who are doing just fine to achieve perfection and to be this anal about it after only 14 days of school blows me away. She has a whole year to learn this stuff. So I am gonna keep doing things the way we have always done it and humor her with "oh sure, thanks for letting me know". She did say behaviorally she is a pleasure to have in class and very sweet so that was good to hear. Tonight we will have beef and noodles with brown gravy and salad for dinner I think. Plus if the President doesn't take over to t.v. waves for too long I will get to watch Big Brother YAY!!

last night and it was really nice.  They provided dinner that was mocked up like an upscale adult version of the snack lunch.  We all got name tags and were told to decorate them with stickers at the door.  Plus many many families bought their almost brand new yet used materials.  I got Katie a Spanish book with a workbook within it, an older version (but I am sure will be super helpful) driver's ed book, and a huge Grammar workbook.  Each of the tables were strewn with new school supplies.  The colors of the stickers that could be used to decorate your name tag with were called and if you had that color you got to pick a supply. I ended up sitting at my own table alone and used many stickers so I came home with a huge box of push pins, paper clips, a new super nice pen, some grading pens, and a huge post it size pad of colorful paper.  I also came home with a box of free materials....got Dani two English books and printed worksheets for a unit on sea life.  I got Hellie two play and sound books, a Thomas the Tank Engine storybook, a story book on ducks, a Peanuts coloring book, and a Cars sticker/activity book.  We got info on what our one year membership would give us, we voted on several motions, we set a date for our menu planning party, we discussed several field trips, and filled out an information sheet so we can meet other families.  It was 2 hours and so nice.  It was held at the new beautiful state of the art senior center which is all of 3 blocks from my house.  It is also where my oldest and the resident home schooler as we call her volunteers.  The lady Katie goes to for her assignment when she arrives gave a talk on Katie and what a treasure she was to them.  That she had come to give her time and do something good for others hoping to learn from them and one of the things that happened is they have learned from her.  Of late it is one of the best things that is happened to me as a mom.  I have spoken with this sweet lady several times on the phone but hadn't been able to officially meet her yet.  I took the opportunity to introduce myself and let her know that I have Monday mornings free and would also love to give my time in another area of the center if she was in need.  She said she was and would call me with details.

home schooling.  My oldest daughter is 14 and just started the 9th grade.  We began home schooling due to a serious bully problem that we could not get help with.  This area is small and full of close minded administrators.  We were told by people on the outside of our situation that our area has a Good Ole Boy system and that we did the right thing by removing her.  She is thriving and loving that there are more freedoms for extra after school activities of our choosing as well as studies.  I am hoping to meet other families and share ideas and experiences.