Guesting

I know I've been neglecting you lately, faithful reader, but that's only because I've been slacking off and then killing myself trying to make up for it and a little overwhelmed by it all.

On Sunday, I'm running my very first 5k, which you can read all about on my guest post over at DuPage Mamas.

Hopefully I'll have more time and energy and clever things to say soon!

--------------------------
Daily Gratitudes

• My gym is open until 11 during the week. Phew.


• Diego (also known as Way-woah). Diego, you have saved my sanity, even while you teach my child to make funny animal noises.


• My awesome, amazing, one-year-older (yesterday) husband. Because he helped me scrub walls and do dishes and move furniture. On his birthday. ♥


• Glucosamine chondroitin with MSM. Cause, ow.

Curriculum Plans

We run a very informal homeschool ship around here (partly because Q is still of an age I think he should be playing more than studying and IL's compulsory schooling age is 7), leaning toward an unschooling approach (but don't tell the Doddites that, they'd never believe it!) You wouldn't know that we even try from our "curriculum" which is actually quite comprehensive! It's amazing what you do when you're not looking.

I also like the Charlotte Mason ideals of learning through "living books" rather than textbooks, and Quentin LOVES to be read to. Thus, I've kind of adopted (bastardized) that approach here. Most of the links below are Amazon affiliate links (meaning I get a small commission if you click and buy), but only because I HIGHLY recommend them all. Following are the "subjects" we cover and what materials we're using.

• Music/Piano
  daily practice am/pm, 1 lesson per week with Miss Stephanie)
  My First Piano Adventure for the Young Beginner (Lesson Book B Steps on the Staff)
  and
  My First Piano Adventure Writing Book B (Steps on the Staff)
  
  
• Math
  1-2x per week for Q, daily for me
  Rightstart Level A
  (I'm re-memorizing multiplication tables and starting the "Life of Fred" books)
  
  
• Science
  daily
  (whenever) Bill Nye the Science Guy
  (bedtime) George's Secret Key to the Universe/George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt (these are written by Stephen Hawking and his daughter and are Quentin's absolute FAVORITE BOOKS OF ALL TIME right now, even though they're geared for 10 year-olds)
  and
  Uncle Albert series books
  
  
• History
  daily, afternoon
  The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Volume 1
  and
  Magic Treehouse historical fiction (currently reading A Good Night for Ghosts, which ties into music education as well)
  
  
• Latin
  one day per week for Q, daily for me
  Song School Latin
  I'm using the Dowling Method and Latinuum
  
  
• Independent Reading/Spelling
  twice weekly or more as desired
  Leapfrog Tag Books
  Starfall and PBS Kids web sites
  Step Into Reading series readers (we only have a couple of these but they're good readers, more interesting-and complicated than Bob Books)
  
  
• Literature & Poetry
  daily, am
  various books, currently reading
  Peter Pan (literature)
  and
  Where the Sidewalk Ends (poetry)
  
  
• Mythology
  1-2x/week
  D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
  D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths
  and either
  The Children's Illustrated Bible
  or
  Does God Have a Big Toe?: Stories About Stories in the Bible (thanks to Dale McGowan of PBB for the recommendation)
  
  
• Free Play!
  And of course, this schedule leaves tons of time for unstructured play, as well as engineering (LEGOS! and train tracks!), phys-ed (playground!), health (eat your veggies, they'll help you be strong!), art (crayons!), technology (computers!), creative writing (Mommy, I dreamed...!), civics (voting!), economics (allowances and how to spend them!) and much more. (Can you hear me reading this list? It's funny)
  

The frequency is something I really want to make regular because I think it will be good for us all. For now, it's just a plan. But I thought some of you might be interested to see what it is we "do."

Runnin Down a Dream

Have I already used that title? Ah well, I'm sure someone has.

Holiday weekends are always long. Long drives, long hours socializing with family, more long drives. Even so, I KNEW I could not afford to slack on my 5k training. As you probably know, I am gearing up to race on Oct. 4 in support of my local domestic violence shelter (if you can, sponsor me and help the battered women of DuPage county).

Thusly, I managed to get my week 5 day 1 couch-to-5k run in on Sunday. And, as it turns out, I ran more distance and walked less than I was supposed to according to the plan. This gave me hope for day 2, which increased the distance again.

I completed that run (W5D2) last night, and OHMIGODS did it feel good Great! I didn't end up getting to the gym until almost 9pm, after grocery shopping and feeding the kids. But once I was there, my music on, I started walking and warming up and watching some E! special about Jon & Kate plus 8. As an aside, I never watched that show, and was unaware of just how excellently good-looking Jon is. But then they switched it over to baseball. Sigh.

So the run was supposed to consist of a 3/4 mile jog, a 1/2 mile walk, and another 3/4 mile jog. After I finished my first jog, I was glad for that walk. But about 1/4 mile into it, I was like, "ok... this is ridiculous. Why do I have to walk an entire half mile? My heart rate is back down, my muscles are relaxed, let's DO this thing." so I did. I ran about .2 mile more than I was supposed to, in all. When I was finished, I was glad to be done, but I felt amazing. I felt strong and sure and successful and... other "s" words? Anyway, I was proud of me.

After that, I wasn't about to just get in the car and go home. The gym wasn't to close for an hour, so I stretched a bit then worked on the circuit my PT and I planned out during my free training session. It's mostly arm work, with a little bit of abs. Good thing, because my legs were NOT up for weight training. As I worked my way across the gym, I chugged the last of my water. By the time I was heading to the car, with "Jump, Jive, and Wail" playing on the Shuffle, I was dancing through the parking lot.

Thursday is Week 5, Day 3. This is the day people are terrified of, and I was definitely one of them. But after last night, I think I just might be able to handle it.

-------------

Daily Gratitudes

* The gym is open until 11 pm. This encourages me to get there no matter what.

* My niece!! She reminds me how much I Do Not Want more children of my own while still being adorable and cuddly and fun and enjoyable.

* 21st Century Breakdown. I cannot stop listening to this album.

* Taking pictures again. And, on a related note

* Discovering the Mandie underneath wife, mom, etc. I never feel more like myself than when I am behind the lens, in my running shoes, or in the car alone, jamming.