Hubby and I are strongly considering putting all our boys in public school next year. As I consider this I want to "nut out" all my fears and thoughts on this idea.
So far my biggest concerns are that my 10 year old is likely to be "behind" so he will have some struggles with work until he catches up, my 14 year old is a typical teenager thinking he knows everything and he will be in for a severe shock, and I am worried that my little 4.5 year old may cope with being away from me. Sob!
I am going to call the schools today and find out the procedure. Bit scary having to deal with public servants who will likely think they are better than me, and with regards to education do know a lot more than me, but I know my boys and I would say I have done better than they would have with regards to shaping their character and morals.
Best wishes
Jen
Monday, November 12, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
So, how do you eat vegetables?
I come from a family where vegetables were eaten either of 2 ways. And a limited variety! My dad wasn't so big on different things.
For dinner we would have peas, corn, carrots and potato, boiled and mashed where appropriate. I think we had broccoli every so often and cauliflower. Pumpkin too. I do remember a little zucchini on occasion. The other way we had vegetables was to have a salad which consisted of iceberg lettuce, tomato, grated carrot, corn kernels and beetroot. No dressing, not tossed, just in piles on a plate with your barbecue meat or whatever.
When I left high school I was studying at a Natural Therapies college and I got introduced to vegetarian food. I loved it although lentils and chickpeas were a bit hard to handle at first. I still like vegetables now.
If I have been having a big junk food run I just love steaming up carrots, broccoli, zuchini, sweet potato/pumpkin, peas, corn and cauliflower and eating them plain, maybe white sauce if I have the energy. Always fixes the dragging tiredness of not eating well.
My family now are not as big on vegetables. I can serve them more variety than I had as a kid but I would love to know how you eat vegetables.
Best wishes
Jen
For dinner we would have peas, corn, carrots and potato, boiled and mashed where appropriate. I think we had broccoli every so often and cauliflower. Pumpkin too. I do remember a little zucchini on occasion. The other way we had vegetables was to have a salad which consisted of iceberg lettuce, tomato, grated carrot, corn kernels and beetroot. No dressing, not tossed, just in piles on a plate with your barbecue meat or whatever.
When I left high school I was studying at a Natural Therapies college and I got introduced to vegetarian food. I loved it although lentils and chickpeas were a bit hard to handle at first. I still like vegetables now.
If I have been having a big junk food run I just love steaming up carrots, broccoli, zuchini, sweet potato/pumpkin, peas, corn and cauliflower and eating them plain, maybe white sauce if I have the energy. Always fixes the dragging tiredness of not eating well.
My family now are not as big on vegetables. I can serve them more variety than I had as a kid but I would love to know how you eat vegetables.
Best wishes
Jen
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Keeping busy with my Avon
I have done Avon a few times over the years. The first time was when my eldest was about 2 years old and I remember putting him into the backpack and delivering books. It was much harder with him on my back to pick up books but I think my customers must have noticed because I would often find my books on window sills or on top of wheelie bins. :-) I made President's Club in my first 15 months that time.
The second time I did a very small territory in a small town with 3 children, 1 in a pram, and no footpaths. That was certainly "fun". It was a great way to meet people though.
Now, my 4th time, I am doing essentially 3 suburbs. It is harder and easier with 4 children. With my oldest being 14 years old I can leave the kids at home together (easier) and go out in the afternoon or early evening to do my Avon. At home though I now have the responsibility and care of 6 people and the education of 3 (harder). That takes some juggling and time management.
I am glad of those previous years of experience though. I have a method that it has been easy enough to re-implement and things are going well.
My first campaign was good, over $800 sales, but a lot of profit went on purchasing enough catalogues to cover at least 2 suburbs well so only $60 in my bank account. My second campaign looks like having sales of $1400 but again in this busy lead up to Christmas I need to make sure I have catalogues. I think I could end up with about $300 profit for 3 weeks work.
I am quite pleased with that amount of earnings. Avon is much more flexible than working at a supermarket so I am glad to have this option. And it looks like I will make President's Club again, which means free lunch some time down the track and presentations of awards. I like that bit! lol
Best wishes
Jen
The second time I did a very small territory in a small town with 3 children, 1 in a pram, and no footpaths. That was certainly "fun". It was a great way to meet people though.
Now, my 4th time, I am doing essentially 3 suburbs. It is harder and easier with 4 children. With my oldest being 14 years old I can leave the kids at home together (easier) and go out in the afternoon or early evening to do my Avon. At home though I now have the responsibility and care of 6 people and the education of 3 (harder). That takes some juggling and time management.
I am glad of those previous years of experience though. I have a method that it has been easy enough to re-implement and things are going well.
My first campaign was good, over $800 sales, but a lot of profit went on purchasing enough catalogues to cover at least 2 suburbs well so only $60 in my bank account. My second campaign looks like having sales of $1400 but again in this busy lead up to Christmas I need to make sure I have catalogues. I think I could end up with about $300 profit for 3 weeks work.
I am quite pleased with that amount of earnings. Avon is much more flexible than working at a supermarket so I am glad to have this option. And it looks like I will make President's Club again, which means free lunch some time down the track and presentations of awards. I like that bit! lol
Best wishes
Jen
Monday, October 22, 2012
Peek a Boo!
Yup, it's me! I am still here. Just not posting much as life has been much busier.
As if being a homeschooling mum of 4 and dropping junk mail twice weekly wasn't enough I have also taken on a few Avon territories. It isn't easy juggling the needs and wants of a family this size on an average single income. I am very grateful for the extra money the Australian government gives to families but still I want to do more for my family.
I used to do Avon years ago and did very well with it. Even though I have definitely had to improve my time management skills and it can be a lot of work I am very happy to be back selling their great products. And I am getting more exercise. Yay!
With my extra work load it seems I am getting better at prioritising and we have "found" time to go camping. We found a great National Park just an hour away on a large lake that is safely shallow for the kids to play. It isn't very costly, about $25/ night. The costly part is gradually buying all the bits of equipment that are needed because the esky you use for picnics doesn't cut it for a 3 day camping trip and 6 people need a bigger barbecue than the one we bought back when our family was only 3.5 people. I am also needing to cook ahead as I am really not a barbecue all week kind of girl.
On the school front things are improving. I still need to get a bit more gumption in making sure the boys are not slacking off in their work but we are definitely doing better than a year ago.
So that is my update, hope to back again soon.
Best wishes
Jen
As if being a homeschooling mum of 4 and dropping junk mail twice weekly wasn't enough I have also taken on a few Avon territories. It isn't easy juggling the needs and wants of a family this size on an average single income. I am very grateful for the extra money the Australian government gives to families but still I want to do more for my family.
I used to do Avon years ago and did very well with it. Even though I have definitely had to improve my time management skills and it can be a lot of work I am very happy to be back selling their great products. And I am getting more exercise. Yay!
With my extra work load it seems I am getting better at prioritising and we have "found" time to go camping. We found a great National Park just an hour away on a large lake that is safely shallow for the kids to play. It isn't very costly, about $25/ night. The costly part is gradually buying all the bits of equipment that are needed because the esky you use for picnics doesn't cut it for a 3 day camping trip and 6 people need a bigger barbecue than the one we bought back when our family was only 3.5 people. I am also needing to cook ahead as I am really not a barbecue all week kind of girl.
On the school front things are improving. I still need to get a bit more gumption in making sure the boys are not slacking off in their work but we are definitely doing better than a year ago.
So that is my update, hope to back again soon.
Best wishes
Jen
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Things are looking up!
I know I had a bit of whinge last post but it seems that just being aware of potential problems is enough to make you think of solutions and to be proactive in your attitude.
For this being my "worst" time of year I seem to be doing a whole lot better than last year. I track our school days in Homeschool Tracker Plus. Only the more formal type of school days get entered there. I just don't have much interest or time to do journal type entries when more natural learning is happening. And in review I can see that my 7 year old has done 3 times as many school days this term as compared to late last year, the 10 year old has doubled his school days and the 13 year old has gone down by 50%.
Why does this look good overall? After all the teenager is doing less. But it is good, because the 7yo and 10yo have me work with them for everything whereas the 13yo is supposed to be working independently. Just shows I am getting better but he still needs a lot more nudging (nagging?!).
I have been almost gobbling my sinus tissue salts and have drunk Coke before a headache gets really bad. And I am talking to myself nicely too. Amazing the difference in life when we treat ourselves better.
I am looking forward to even more improvement as I get the hang of being successful. :-)
Best wishes
Jen
For this being my "worst" time of year I seem to be doing a whole lot better than last year. I track our school days in Homeschool Tracker Plus. Only the more formal type of school days get entered there. I just don't have much interest or time to do journal type entries when more natural learning is happening. And in review I can see that my 7 year old has done 3 times as many school days this term as compared to late last year, the 10 year old has doubled his school days and the 13 year old has gone down by 50%.
Why does this look good overall? After all the teenager is doing less. But it is good, because the 7yo and 10yo have me work with them for everything whereas the 13yo is supposed to be working independently. Just shows I am getting better but he still needs a lot more nudging (nagging?!).
I have been almost gobbling my sinus tissue salts and have drunk Coke before a headache gets really bad. And I am talking to myself nicely too. Amazing the difference in life when we treat ourselves better.
I am looking forward to even more improvement as I get the hang of being successful. :-)
Best wishes
Jen
Monday, September 10, 2012
Pirate themed day
Of course you all know International Talk Like a Pirate Day is coming up, don't you? Oh, you don't! Well it is on 19 September and I would hate for you to miss the fun so I am sharing what I am hoping to do for the day so you have time to prepare.
We will start the day with a craft project, making eyepatches and pirate hats from black cardboard. Treasure maps will then be handed out with each child having a map to help them find their treasure. Treasures will include little wooden doll pirates to match our pirate ship, chocolate, gold coins, candy jewellery, a wooden initial letter with a pirate on it and a toy. The toys include a sticker book of pirates, a snap card game with pirates, a wallet with a boy pirate on it, a box of pirate puzzles and a nest of pirates (a manoushka doll style toy).
After finding our treasures we will be playing outside on the treehouse pirate ship which will have a pirate flag on it and sharks circling between it and the "beach" between the mango trees.
When the pirates need some down time we will be viewing Pirates of Penzance, with Jon English and Simon Gallagher. Or they can play with the new pirates and the pirate ship on a play mat I am going to make out of blue, green and yellow fabric. Maybe they can make palm trees and hide a small treasure?! Or play a pirate game that we already own?!
Are you planning anything?
Best wishes
Jen
Free pirate lapbook pieces here for preschoolers.
We will start the day with a craft project, making eyepatches and pirate hats from black cardboard. Treasure maps will then be handed out with each child having a map to help them find their treasure. Treasures will include little wooden doll pirates to match our pirate ship, chocolate, gold coins, candy jewellery, a wooden initial letter with a pirate on it and a toy. The toys include a sticker book of pirates, a snap card game with pirates, a wallet with a boy pirate on it, a box of pirate puzzles and a nest of pirates (a manoushka doll style toy).
After finding our treasures we will be playing outside on the treehouse pirate ship which will have a pirate flag on it and sharks circling between it and the "beach" between the mango trees.
When the pirates need some down time we will be viewing Pirates of Penzance, with Jon English and Simon Gallagher. Or they can play with the new pirates and the pirate ship on a play mat I am going to make out of blue, green and yellow fabric. Maybe they can make palm trees and hide a small treasure?! Or play a pirate game that we already own?!
Are you planning anything?
Best wishes
Jen
Free pirate lapbook pieces here for preschoolers.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
That Time of Year Again!
Can I please be different to everyone else and say I would prefer the dreariness of Winter over the springing of Spring? This is the time of year I hate as the winds whip up, blowing dust and pollen everywhere and the weather warms up making grass happy and my sinuses block up quickly so that I can't breathe and am too tired to think.
Well, I guess there is one "good" thing about this season this year over past years. I am aware that I will be totally useless unless I keep on top of my symptoms. I am well stocked on sinus tissue salts and Coke. Coke?! you may ask. For some reason I haven't been able to figure out Coke, the brand name stuff (drat it!), kicks a sinus headache within a few mouthfuls and clears phlegm if I have it. I have tried the cheaper brands but they just don't do it.
I am not a soft drink drinker at all. Even as a kid I preferred juice or mineral water with juice. Now I have a fridge with Coke in it and a bulk box of them ready to go. I hate the bubbles but I hate the headaches even more. At least it is safer than most over the counter remedies for a breastfeeding mother.
School has been going well otherwise. The house... not so well. But most homeschooling mothers would understand that. :-)
I hope your spring is doing you more good than mine.
Best wishes
Jen
Well, I guess there is one "good" thing about this season this year over past years. I am aware that I will be totally useless unless I keep on top of my symptoms. I am well stocked on sinus tissue salts and Coke. Coke?! you may ask. For some reason I haven't been able to figure out Coke, the brand name stuff (drat it!), kicks a sinus headache within a few mouthfuls and clears phlegm if I have it. I have tried the cheaper brands but they just don't do it.
I am not a soft drink drinker at all. Even as a kid I preferred juice or mineral water with juice. Now I have a fridge with Coke in it and a bulk box of them ready to go. I hate the bubbles but I hate the headaches even more. At least it is safer than most over the counter remedies for a breastfeeding mother.
School has been going well otherwise. The house... not so well. But most homeschooling mothers would understand that. :-)
I hope your spring is doing you more good than mine.
Best wishes
Jen
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