broken nose and other joys

Well the last few weeks have been REALLY busy for us here. Kimmy is now a 4 year old, which is probably the biggest thing for us. That is the age that I've always started working more on beginning phonics so they are starting K sounding out cvc words. So we're really buckling down more on that than we have in the past, and she's getting there slowly. We'll have her reading probably within 6 months, just simple books that we have (we especially love Sonlight's Fun Tales series that goes with their language arts K program, which is what I am loosely basing Kimmy's lessons on right now) I know it will be a great time for her, getting more formal with her school time like her big sisters. She's been after me for a few months now, and we've slowly been building up to mofre formal lessons with her so that we don't overwhelm her or me with it.

Another great excitement is with Melissa. Poor child has GOT to be the clumbsiest kid on earth, I swear. Just before Kimmy's birthday, I was lying down after supper so she helped daddy with the dinner dishes. Nothing major, she was just bringing him the dirty stuff and helping load the dishwasher (she loves doing the silverware basket) So, she's bringing him a plate and stops to grab an empty soda can to throw away as she walked by the trash can (smart kid, already knows how to multi-task) Well, that was her mistake because she can NOT walk well with something in both hands. lol She tripped over her own two feet and fell face-first into one of our heavy solid wood dining chairs. Her nose bled for about 10 minutes (and the screaming got me straight out of bed too despite a crippling migraine) and she ended up at the doctor's office the next morning because it just looked ugly and was still bleeding a bit whenever she sniffled and she was complaining of it hurting a lot. The verdict? A hairline fracture on the left side right by her nose. Poor kid, she's been a real trooper though and is doing schoolwork in short spurts while she's on pain meds for it (we only do a little bit when the meds are kicked in and she's still alert) We've amazingly not fallen too far behind with her lessons, I know that if I were in her spot I'd just be lying on the sofa refusing to do anything until it quit hurting all the time.



She took that herself a few days ago (busted kid! swiping the camera again without asking first LOL) and it looks much better than it did when it first happened. Her entire nose and left eye were dark purpley black with bruising, and it was so swelled up she couldn't even wear her glasses comfortably.

And we're going to be adding another fun element to our schooling that will make time even tighter. I am going to be picking up classes again to finish my Bachelor's in psychology, hopefully I'll be starting again by the middle of March. This will add a VERY interesting element to our homeschool since I'll also be juggling my own lessons on top of their stuff, but Scott is going to pick up the slack where I have to give up doing as much. He's already starting picking up more of the housework and is doing math with the kids on some days. So, I'm planning on reworking our scehdule and routines to allow a maximum of time for me to do my schoolwork and still be able to teach the girls their lessons. Hopefully we can manage the juggle things successfully, we are going to attempt it the remainder of this school year and if it doesn't work then they will enter Newark local schools in the fall, and the preschoolers will go to Head Start so I can have a few hours a day to really focus on my schoolwork without interruptions.

Yep, exciting times here lately. lol Hopefully the rest of the school year goes smoothly, I don't know how much excitement I can take on top of all that has happened so far this year.