Tivo the Dowg

My brother was over today with his awesome new camera and took these great shots.

Happy Birthday Andrew!

I can't believe you are 19 YEARS old. It's seems like moments ago you were just 19 months old. . Each day you become an even more amazing human being. I am so honored and proud that God picked me to be your mom. I will love you forever and always, my sweet boy.

Mom

Thank you, God, for giving me such a wonderful child. He is a continued gift and I am so grateful he's mine.

Rachel

He's HUGE!!!

Here's Tivo at 11 weeks and he has more than doubled his weight. When we got him at 7 weeks he was a little over 9 pounds and now he is close to 20!!! Isn't he just gorgeous?

Okay, now I have to walk the dog and then it is really time for bed! :-)

Attempted Homeschool

That should be the title of my blog, but I have changed it so many times that I won't go there. 

Before I launch into my 'attempted homeschool' I must say that I am writing to the wondrous tones of the pupster, Tivo, wailing behind me in his crate. I took him out for a walk and, in his inimitable Sibe style, he walked and plopped down, all four legs spread out (no kidding), head down and looked up at me with those striking blue eyes as if to say, "When it snows I'll go anywhere but, at this moment, you can forget it b**ch." So, we walked home. Okay, I walked home and he swept the sidewalk as I dragged him by his harness.  He likes doing that at home. He's kind of like a really cool cat hair sweeper. Anyway, I digress. We get back to the yard and I unhook his leash and he hauls ass across the yard to a basketball. I love watching dogs try to get basketballs in their mouths. Cats would never stoop so low as to do something so ridiculous, right Toonces?  (My kitty is nodding....from the basement... because he's too much of a pansy to come show this dog who is boss.) Well, I wanted to wear the Tivo out so he would stop using my arms as rawhide bone substitutes. Since he wouldn't walk and wanted to come in, he started to play: let's eat mommy. I don't like that game,so I told him he needed to relax and go sleepy in his crate. It's an odd sense of liberation to let a dog cry it out because I wouldn't have been caught dead letting a baby (human) do that. I guess I am an Attachment-Style mom and Ferber-Style dog owner. Hmmm???

Back to what this post was supposed to be about...attempting to homeschool.  Yes, I am an unschooler. That is me in my soul. However, what worked for Andrew doesn't seem to be working for Autumn (and was a dismal failure with Ben...thus his attending a private school). Therefore, in an effort to try and get Autumn to put forth some effort, and with a little help from Aesop and the story of the Ants and the Grasshopper (moral: there is time for work AND time for play) , I have devised a little lesson plan. Autumn has OK'd this plan.  And here it is:

English:

Stuff we read together. 

&

Listen, Read & Learn (very cool books which I got from Sam's, for $7,  that have a CD which reads classic stories. Autumn follows along and at the end are phonics, comprehension, writing, etc all related back to the story. It goes without saying this is great in the car.)

Math:

Mostly life

Progress In Mathematics (a very cool and colorful work/text)

History:

Whatever the heck we want to talk about

Science:

Cool stuff on Discovery channel

Catholic Stories from Science 2 from Catholic Heritage Curriculum (We both love this book!)

This is what she has going on during the week.

Tuesdays Home School Art class at the Parks & Rec, from 1:30-2:30pm, then we pick up Ben from school and go back to the Parks & Rec for Homeschool Park Play Day until dinner time.

Thursdays Home School Clay class at the Parks & Rec from 1:30-3pm

Saturdays Figure Skating Lessons from 12-12:30 (she is super excited about this and it starts tomorrow).

I am going to try and find more cool field trips to take and we will hopefully join our local TORCH group for some too.  (The name means Traditions Of Roman Catholic Homes).  Of course, I want to include as much fun, unstructured time with friends as I can too...oh, and squeeze in a Daily Mass once a week...at least. Oh yeah, and speaking of Mass, Autumn wants to take Alter Server training. I know for some of my more traditionally minded Catholic friends this might not sit too well. But hey, if it will draw Autumn more deeply into the Sacrifice of the Mass then I am all for it. Neither Ben nor Andrew showed any interest. Yet, when Autumn found out, after receiving her 1st Communion, that she would be able to be an Altar Server she begged me to let her. Mother Church says it's fine so Tumnal is on her way. 

Now all I have to do is find the time to make all of this happen....hmmm....how am I gonna do that?
Here is Tumnal and her new 'do' after she cut out a brush which she got stuck in her hair. Pretty cute, huh?

New Dog = No Blog

Here's Tivo a week later. He has gained 1.5 pounds. He is doing really well on the leash and with crate training (which, btw, is exhausting...and the reason my email inbox is bursting and I haven't blogged!) I have signed us both up for Puppy training at Petsmart. It starts a week from Saturday. To be honest, I can not wait until he's able to hold his pee through the night and has gone through Puppy, Intermediate, & Advanced training. We got a puppy so we could integrate a dog with the cats, but man, puppies are alot of work. By December/January when he is 6-7 months, we should all be in a better place and I will have a running buddy!