It's that time again...

I am flipping through reviews on curriculums. And checking curriculums pages. And reading blogs. Now I have a headache.
This happened to me last year. Only I had an awesome group of ladies to bounce my list of curriculums off of. They really made it easy since they had used them. And I loved my curriculums.
But now my husband wants something that tells him what to do when he is homeschooling. I did a unit study for my son since I thought it would be awesome. While the curriculum I chose gave lesson plan ideas, it was up to me to put it together.
Our math and reading curriculum tells us what to say making it easy. And they worked. But I just don't know. I feel so lost this year.
It really cannot be that hard to find a curriculum that is Christian based that let's us choose our religion that covers up to high school that is not just memorization that also brings in art and music that are not just Bible verses...
Reading reviews is really what is killing me. I see something that looks okay but then the reviews make me want to run away.
Guess I will be looking some more tomorrow.

Little mamas

My raspberry is starting to pretend with her doll. She has passed the stage of looking it over and is hugging it, kissing it, feeding it.
I like to think I am a good role model.
We will just pretend that when my son started pretending with his doll and hr spanked it, he was watching some horrible neighbors. Just kidding. I think he saw another child spanked once and he does get spanked after three warnings.
But back to what I was saying... little mamas are just the cutest. You learn a lot watching your children play...

Confession Time

I have totally fished out snacks while cooking to deter the screaming fit my toddler has just to cook in a more peaceful environment (it's still not peaceful, but it is a step closer).
I have let my kids fall asleep in their day clothes.
I suck at teaching my kid math. His dad helps.
I haven't done my own nails in about 6 months.
And I generally just feed my toddler off my plate. She hardly eats anymore so it's easier. She does the bird thing where she eats all day long but never in big portions. I figure it's fewer dishes.

Love it when they sleep

Okay. My oldest is six. And I still look down at him sleeping and think, "awww... look at him being so peaceful." Though I admit it is easier to admire the newest baby (who is now 16 months old) when she is konked out since she looks like a baby doll.
But when both the kids pass out and it's a decent hour, my husband and I celebrate. We watch them sleep for a minute than watch a movie or talk about random things or whatever.
I am one of those people who gets the most done past sundown. I run around all day picking up disasters, cooking things, homeschooling one, and playing games. I also still have a milk monster who nurses more when she teethes which seems like a lot.
So when the kids are out, it's easier to convarsate without interruptions, to actually organize something without little hands trying to get into it, to finish a craft involving paint, and to watch a movie about a president killing vampires.
But at least once a night, I watch my kids sleep for a few minutes just to see how much they have changed in a day.

A small brag

Okay. My oldest son turned six a few days ago. In light of his growing older and this whole "one thankful post a day" craze on Facebook, I have been thinking a lot about my husband and how much we have all grown in the last eight years we have known each other.
As many of you know, my husband has TBI amongst other things. Part of his TBI is the inability to remember. I never know if he will remember what we ate for lunch or what day it is or even what movie we watched. We joke about it quite a bit. Everyone we know jokes about it to some extent. Amazingly enough, the only area he has never forgotten anything is medicine. Now he used to write himself reminders to call a patient back or test their blood or whatever else medical assistants did, but the moment I read a post on cafemom that asked about a sick child or got a text from a friend at midnight, he knew what the diagnosis was. Then he would look it up to be sure since he is anal like that and he would be right. The only areas I know better than him are the homeopath areas because they do not teach it in the military AND he had no interest until he saw the affect medicine had on people when they abused it.
Now, it used to be whenever I joked about my husband at all, he would get upset. Common response from your average man. He was taking it as a disrespect and to be honest it may have been. He would also get so upset at me reminding him of things. I never thought anything of it. In fact, that was so hard when he started forgetting things. I used to be so scared that he would take our son to the store then forget he brought him and leave him there. You can ask my husband. Well, he may have forgotten... (see, even the jokes come in here).
But now, while I have to remind him of everything, maybe not everything, my husband no longer gets upset. He really does see it as just reminders.
My husband reallyis my rock. My forgetful and sometimes "duck and cover" rock, but my steadfast rock.
Someday I will write a book about him, or about me dealing with his challenges he had gotten from being in the military, or about our marriage and the crazy road we have gone down...
To the bragging part- he has an interview to medical school! My crazy forgetful husband who has a brain for medicine like Dr. House may be a doctor soon. He still has to decide. Whether or not he goes, I am so proud of him. I knew he would get the interview, but it still validates to the world what I have known all along.
I know, this blog is a little all over the place. But I have been mulling over the news since he told me and have been trying to decide what I should say... Still haven't decided.

Amber Teething Necklaces

I am in love. They are cute and functional and ones made for children are made with safety in mind.
They work wonders.
Not everyone agrees. We were not going to buy one at all. We heard about them but since we had never heard of them before The Raspberry joined us, we were hesitant. But her teeth started coming in and our favorite homeopathic remedies we used with our son were not working. We refused to buy any brands with chemicals because she is our baby and we are pretty anti-chemical (unless it's mohair dye). But then people we knew in real life started having their babies wear them and we asked tons of questions. One friend had a spare to get rid of and our baby girl was happy again within a few hours of it being put on.
So does science back it up? Strictly speaking, no. No one has done any major studies. However, I will recommend this to anyone who hylands teething tablets do not work for.
Sadly, ours has lost it's juice. It happens. Glad to say those teething tablets work now. I still want a new necklace.

Organization

Okay, admittedly, most of my house is unorganized right now. Also, it's always a little unorganized. My husband says it's messy and I say it's lived in... Normally, it's not that bad. I have two or three hotspots as the Flylady calls it. However, since Raspberry came along, my house is always on the verge of us wishing a tornado came through so someone else could clean it. Flylady has been wonderful, but she should teach my baby girl about the fifteen minute rule. Okay, back to organizing... I totally love organizing things. I find peace in seeing a mess, envisioning something, buying the stuff I need, and making it all fit. My hall closet is not very big. It's my utilitarian closet holding everything from meds to towels to shampoo to toilet paper. As I started couponing, my needs of space have expanded. My hall closet used to fit more including sheets and blankets, but alas I moved those. It started getting to where after a shopping trip, my hubs and I threw stuff in there and shut the door quick. Stuff would clatter and fall and I would pray it stayed closed as my raspberry demanded her next meal. So I did it. I opened the closet and looked at my disaster. I stared and wondered how more boxes could help. And I googled it. Once again, hip2save rescued me. She showed how she used a shoe organizer to do create space. I love those things! I have 4 now, and one is dedicated to yarn alone. So a Walmart trip and a morning later, I hung my fourth shoe organizer on the closet door and emptied one shelf. I tossed all things that were expired and not used in years. I started filling my shoe organizer with toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoos, deodorants, etc. I even organized all meds except my husbands which were already in a box. It's awesome. Almost three weeks later and still organized. I want to start in on another area, but am awaiting my hubs orders as to what is next...