Negatory, Good Buddy

We had a list of a few animals that we were going to get once we moved to the "farm". Now that we're here, we've been researching them one at a time. First, dogs. The owners of the house don't really want us to have a dog inside, so we thought we'd get an outdoor dog. Every book we've read says that dogs need to be with their "pack" family and should be indoors except when exercising/playing. So that is a no go for now. Next, Shonee took to bees, so we got a book from the library to teach us the basics of beekeeping. It was all good, until he read that the bees won't produce excess honey until their second year, and that they hate to be moved. Since we only plan to be in this rental house for about two years, it just doesn't make sense to invest in a hive right now, since we won't reap the benefits soon, and could very well lose the hive when we move out. Our next animal investigation is cats and chickens. We've learned that cats will kill chickens occasionally, so if we want the cat to catch the mice, and the chickens to eat the bugs, we'll have to come up with a movable pen for the chickens to keep them safe from the cat. Oy! Alena in particular wanted a dog, so she's pretty bummed out that we're postponing it yet again. I think a kitten will soothe her, though. I'm also contemplating a little goat to eat our blackberries that are growing where they shouldn't. Haven't researched that one yet. Part of our deal out here is that we want to try the typical "country" animals to see if we want them. We've learned in the last month that we definetely love the space and privacy of the country, so it's pretty much for sure that when we buy again it will be a good-size piece of land. But we want to test the animals too, as much as possible.

The Great Homeschool Experiment

Well, we've been doing homeschool for a full two weeks now, and everyone is still showing significant signs of intelligence. They seem to actually enjoy the morning work/afternoon play schedule. They hop down to the kitchen table and gather their supplies for writing, math, and reading, plus grammar for Tana.

We've got a little bell, like you ring at a counter for service, that I ding when it's time for school to start. Actually, we ding it at any random time one of us wants to hear that special sound; dinner is another favorite time to ding the bell.Savannah tends to wander around in the morning. She learned quickly that I will not do much for her when I'm working with the other kids. This morning she got out playdough and had fun near our workspace. All in all, I'm pleased with how things are going, and I think the kids are happy with the setup too.

Homeschool?

When we moved houses, we withdrew the kids from school. We thought it wouldn't be very nice to make them move into a new school with only a few months left, so we decided we'd try homeschooling. I've contemplated homeschool since I had my first baby placed in my arms. Now, almost 10 years later, I've finally taken the plunge. Sort of. We've been doing math, copywork, and reading every day this week, but we've also all been ill, in succession. I think we're finally through that, and I'm searching the internet frantically trying to figure out what I'm "supposed" to teach my Kindergartener, my 2nd grader, and my 4th grader. I don't want them to have holes in their education, because there's a strong possibility that they will be involved in public school later. I've found some benchmarks on the Oregon Dept. of Education website, so I think I may have the bases covered if I can figure out how to teach the concepts the site lists in each area. I've suddenly discovered that I'm not the type to do unschooling, or really loosely structured learning. I need to see a result, the kids need to have results they can show Daddy, so we need to have projects we can write about, or talk about. I know homeschooling is a work in progress, and I'm hoping we'll get ourselves settled into this. So far the kids have all enjoyed it, but I know I can be challenging them more.

I want to instill a stronger work ethic in their little hearts.

Moving Day

We moved house last weekend, actually we've been doing it a bit at a time for the past two weeks. Here's what it looked like after we got done.

This is in our basement, which is going to come in handy this summer when it's hot.

Here's what the living room looked like Saturday night.

We're excited to be out of the center of the city and test out "country" life.

I'm going to try a picture

Hi fans,

We FINALLY got cable internet. Yea!! We're out of the Jurassic Period. If you will direct your attention below, I will now attempt the daring feat of posting a picture... Watch closely!

Ta-Da!!

Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen! *waves and bows to the cheering masses*

No pictures in these parts

I am sorry my blog is so completely dull. I know I am at fault for the literary lethargy, but honestly, I have tried to upload photos lots of times, they just don't go. It's like my photos have anxiety about appearing in public. I'm going to keep coaxing them to stretch their limits and get out there. They are really nice pictures, they're just a little shy.

The Big Shake-Up

The last week of 2008 was quite eventful in our family. On Sunday, we had two different showings for our house. And beyond coincidental, both parties made offers to buy the house. We were stunned on Monday evening to review them both, and accept one that is for the full asking price! As if that weren't exciting enough, we thought we'd put out feelers for a rental house that was on a bit of land, kind of the direction we want to go with our family. We looked at a nice little place on Tuesday. It was surrounded by farmland and had a view of Mt. Hood. The kitchen was miniscule and the upstairs carpet was questionable. Also, there was only one bathroom, and the heat exchanger for the heat pump resided in the master bedroom closet (a serious drain on storage space). Wednesday brought a response from another Craigslist ad we had seen, for a house in Salem, beyond the "city limits". We drove out and were thunderstruck.
It is HUGE and the land is about an acre and it's clean and updated and has 2.5 baths and 4 bedrooms, a full basement, a sunroom, a garage that will actually fit our car (a luxury we haven't had since 2005), a spacious kitchen, and really nice landlords. We are moving forward with securing the lease on that place, and the inspection on our place will be the last major hurdle for the sale, which is scheduled to close before Valentine's Day.
We've got the immediate future well in hand for 2009, and we're totally excited for this change. We're going to start homeschooling in the new house, and have a garden-which will be my personal education for this coming year. We haven't begun to stir up our household yet, because I want to wait until the inspection is passed before doing a ton of work, but we're planning and hoping for the best.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!