My guys

I took this last night while supper was in the oven.  We do this every night, Scott cuddles his boy while I make supper and PJ typically falls asleep on his daddy's shoulder.

The end of a season

Today my children lost a bit of that innocence they have had.  This evening at 8pm we buried their pet hamster, S'more.  He had been ill for a while now, and slowly declining, so we had been expecting him to die.  This morning he appeared to be doing a bit better; however, that was just his honeymoon health before he passed this evening.  Now I have a little grave in the back yard, and Lydia crying in my ear and refusing to believe that he has indeed passed into the big hamster wheel in the sky.  He was our pet for a little over a year before his passing, and while he wasn't the easiest to get along with (he had a habit of biting the girls if they messed with him too much) he was loved by all 4 girls and they will miss him.

Until we get a rabbit that is........ stay tuned for that blog post coming in the next couple months.

tough decision with a child

I only have a few minutes before we have to leave for VBS so I will keep this short.

Jojo will be 5 on September 3rd.  The cutoff for a child to start school is September 30th, and school starts this year on August 22nd.  She technically passed the K screening but has some areas that we need to keep working on, and I question her maturity at times.  We have full-day K only around here, I don't know of any half-day options.  So I'm about 90% sure that she won't be going to school this fall with her sisters.  I'm thinking she would benefit from another year at home with me, working casually and gently on things that she struggles in and maturing a bit more before she starts the next year.  But Scott wants me to send her and at least give it a try to see how she does.  She doesn't really have an opinion either way.

If we keep her home, I'll get her reading and start addition and subtraction when PJ naps.

VBS week and life's crazy fun stuff

This week is VBS week for us.  In case you don't know, VBS is Vacation Bible School, and every summer the kids who are old enough go to the program at a church near our home.  This happens to also be the church they go to Awana at and the host church for the homeschool group we've been a part of the past 4 years.  We enjoy the children's activities there, and it is just a few miles away, so they go there for activities even though it is not our home church (it is a half hour drive each way, we can't spend that much on gas for activities there outside a few special events and going to the service on Saturday nights).

This year Jojo is old enough to go, so I have all 4 girls going there from 8am-noon this week.  This is the first time I've had all 4 of them off like this for an activity, and it is also good practice for me to see what it will be like this fall when they are all 4 off to school.  Yesterday I spent the time making all the important phone calls I needed to make, and this morning I went to the grocery store and did a little bit of tidying up.  Tomorrow's VBS time I will be taking PJ to his 4 month checkup and shots, and the rest of the week is likely going to be me doing some of the chores I have to get done and taking my laundry over to a friend's house to get some done.

Yes I said taking laundry to a friend's house.  Our washer blessed us on Saturday morning when I was washing PJ's clothes by breaking down in mid-wash.  The pump quit working while it was draining the spin after washing, and then we had it fill to rinse and not drain that water.  Scott got the dryer unstacked last night so that we could tip the washer back for me to get the clothes out and scoop the water out into my mop bucket.  Next weekend he is hopefully going to order the parts we need and then he and I will try to fix it ourselves (if we can't do it ourselves, we have a reputable locally owned repair place that will put it in for us for $109 labor).  Hopefully it isn't down too much, because I don't want to do too much laundry at my friend's house and what I don't do there I am hand washing in the bathtub.  I really do NOT like hand washing dirty laundry, especially when I am dealing with diaper poop explosions because I have to use disposable diapers instead of cloth on PJ until the washer is fixed.

PJ and the milestone

I thought I'd do a little blip here about PJ's latest milestone.  I think I'll share a couple pictures first and then comment with what exactly is going through my mind now.

Nom nom nom!

PJ and the wubbie

He has started putting things in his mouth this week to chew on them.  Yes he is teething.  Yes he is starting to grab at toys and bat things.  No I am NOT prepared for the amount of heavy cleaning that this means I need to do and keep up with.  I've always kept things tidied enough to pass here, as life is just busy with 5 kids.  But now that he's starting to grab at things and is putting them in his mouth, I need to be extra diligent about keeping things picked up.  I do not want to have to deal with him getting something small in his mouth stuck there.

So today I started cleaning.  Nothing like having a baby who chews everything to force a "flight of the bumblebee" style deep cleaning.

Summer plans

This summer is going to be a very different one for us.  Scott and I made the decision to enroll the girls in a charter school this fall, so in August they will be getting on the bus and headed off all day during the week.  We are both in agreement that this is the path we need to follow at this time, and are confident in this decision.  This does not mean that I will no longer be teaching my children.  We plan to continue to supplement the school with our own materials at home on weekends and school breaks in history and science, and daily as needed with math and language arts.  This is going to be a new experience for me, as it means that I will be home with just PJ during the day.  But I have a feeling it will be exactly what our family needs right now, and give all of us an opportunity to grow in a new way.

So, that means that this summer we are going to be focused on preparing the girls to attend school.  Missa and Liddy are *slightly* behind the school so we will be spending time daily getting them caught up and even a bit ahead in math.  Missa also will get a crash course in cursive and spelling, in hopes that she will improve noticeably over the summer.  It is going to be an interesting and busy summer here, but I have faith that we can pull it off.

And I have to rework our budget to allow for us to purchase uniforms for the girls to wear.  That will be the hard part I think.

wrapping up the school year

We have had a very eventful school year here, and now it is June so we need to wrap up things at some point and take a bit of a break.  Originally I wasn't going to take a break here due to the time we had to take off with my pregnancy complications, but even I am wanting a little time to relax and enjoy.  Plus, I need to free up some time to focus on getting my plans for this upcoming school year figured out in a couple areas.

We have made a lot of progress this year despite the things that came up.  The girls had a chance to learn through my pregnancy, about keeping healthy and making good choices along with learning about the development of a baby before it is born (science and health both right there).  They learned the importance of working together and helping out when needed, and gained some additional independence this school year.  We did keep plugging away in academics of course, completing most of our goals in history and science for the year plus making great progress in math and reading.  Missa finished her math book and moved up into Beta back in October I believe, and yesterday Jojo finished her Singapore Earlybird math book.  Liddy should finish her math book in the next few weeks and move on up to Beta as well, and Kimmy will finish her math book probably by fall.  Overall, I am happy with how the school year has gone for us.

So we shall wrap up this year over this month and take a bit of time off, then pick up with grades 4, 3, 1, and K in late July or early August.  We will keep up with doing some math and reading most likely over this summer, but at a more relaxed pace.  But officially, I'm calling it over with by the end of this month and just taking it for what it is.  I didn't get as much done as I would have liked in history or science, but they still got a LOT more than they would have in our local public school.  We have many years still to finish up the history we did this school year, and I am looking forward to the US geography study we will be doing this fall.  I have even decided to expand it to include science by studying earth science (identifying landforms in each state, like mountains, canyons, and such) and some plant/animal science (studying different plant and aminal life that is in each state, such as tumbleweed and cacti, scorpions, birds, and such).  I need to take a bit of time to rework the plan I originally had obviously to include this, as I was just going to keep plugging forward in science with what we have here (finishing the Real Science 4 Kids books that I got for this school year).  I also need to take some time to create a basic intro to music theory for the kids, as I would ideally like to have the oldest girls reading music a little bit next school year, and come up with something for art.

3 months old, and May wrap-up

This has been a good month for us.  PJ turned 3 months old, Liddy is now 8, and Scott is spending more time at home with us and less at work (of course, this is also a negative, as it means they cut his hours at work so he has smaller paychecks).  The girls are making progress in their schoolwork, and getting along better.  They also are starting to listen to me more about helping out.

Here's a few pictures from this month's activities.

 PJ has decided that he LOVES tummy time, and gives big grins and squeals for about 20-30 minutes at a time twice a day.  I took this picture this morning because he was being so stinking CUTE about tummy time.

This was early this month, PJ's first time on our swingset.  He wasn't too impressed with it but tolerated it pretty well for long enough to get a picture.

A math lesson this week.  In case you didn't already know, my oldest 3 use Math-U-See and Jojo will start it when she's ready as well.  Right now she's focusing on motor skill development and using pattern blocks to make pictures, and she adores the Mighty Mind game we have.  It is a part of Sonlight core P3/4.

finding time for me

This is something I've not really done much of the last several months.  I am especially finding it difficult with a new baby that needs to be with me at all times since he doesn't take a bottle.  So, I have to really make an effort to find time to do things for myself.  Right now the girls are playing happily and leaving me alone for once, and PJ is hanging out in the playpen and talking to his animals on the mobile above him.  I should really get out my sewing machine and do some sewing for the kids, but instead I am here on the computer typing a blog post.

I need to force myself to be more diligent about taking time for me daily.  I have many activities that I enjoy doing and the things I need to do them, but I don't take the time to do it.  I have about 20lbs to lose, and I have workout DVDs plus access to free workouts on Netflix and on my cable's OnDemand collection.  I have a large supply of fabric and patterns for myself and the kids, and a long list of things to make for us (mainly we need skirts and dresses, and PJ needs more diapers).  I have yarn and knitting/crochet needles/hooks plus patterns for things I want to make.  I have 2 books of music that I can learn to play on my flute or the piano.  I even have almost a dozen books on my Kindle, just waiting for me to read them, and a couple games for the Wii and Playstation 3 that I haven't played in a long time.

As I said, I have a lot of great stuff that I can do, and yet I do not take the time to do any of it.  Instead, while Scott reads to the girls at bedtime, I watch tv and rock PJ to sleep before I head off to sleep myself, and I get up with the first child in the morning every day.  The free time I have, in the past I've spent at the computer playing games and reading on chat forums.  I need to rekindle that spark for my hobbies and do it.

So, I am going to set up a plan.  Yesterday we had our first quiet time after lunch, and today I plan to do it again after Lydia's yearly checkup.  During that time, I am going to finish the shirt I have waiting for Jordan and then start making skirts for us all (the girls each need 4 or 5 at a minimum and I need 3 or more, that is a LOT of skirts) if PJ will let me put him down.  If not, then I will get out my yarn and start making dishcloths or I'll read a book on the Kindle.  Quiet time is 90 minutes that I can spend doing what interests me, so I'm going to do it.

And yes, I do consider making clothes for the kids to be fun and relaxing to me.  I have always enjoyed sewing, and I have wonderful high quality machines to do it.  Anything is fun for me to sew no matter what it is and who it is for, so I will be taking advantage to make some clothes that we need anyway and just continue to enjoy the sound of the machine humming away and the feel of the fabric in my hands as I work it through my machines.  It is a highly satisfying thing to start with a pattern and a pile of fabric and then see it transformed into something useful and beautiful.  Blankets, pillows, clothing, toys, you name it I'll make it.

Yes, I need to remember to take more time out for me.

fasting

I have come to the decision that I spend too much time on the computer.  It is very easy to sit down just to read a friend's blog and then end up spending a couple hours playing games on Facebook.  So, I have decided that I am taking time off this machine.  For at least a week, the only times I will be getting on the computer are to check my friends' blogs (I have a few that I read regularly), to post on my blog, and for homeschool purposes (printing off materials, finding something to add to the lesson, stuff like that).  So, if we talk on a chat board, are Facebook friends, etc. you will not see me around much at all for a while.  I do access on my phone a couple times daily, but I get irritated easily with the smaller screen.

My family is going through a lot of changes here in our dynamic, and the girls need more of my time than I have been giving them because of this computer habit of mine.  I started this yesterday, and will continue definitely until Scott gets paid on Friday.  It is time to get back to the family, and spend more time living and loving with them.  I have 5 amazing children and a wonderful husband, all of whom are being neglected by my time at the computer.  It is time to stop this and get back at life the way we are meant to live it.

The kids are also being limited in their computer and television time as well, which is a new thing for us.  This should be interesting, to say the least.

Saturday fun

Scott has a thing he likes to do with the girls.  On the first Saturday of every month, Home Depot has a free kids workshop.  He takes them up and they get an apron, popcorn, and build something.  Today he took them for the first time since PJ was born.  They built little planter boxes, and the store gave away free plants to the kids as well so they all came home with strawberry plants.  The girls also got to meet Chester Cheetah (the Cheetos character).  I have to figure out how to get the pictures out of my texting inbox and onto a computer first, but as soon as I do that I'll edit this with pictures he took.

And while they were at workshop, PJ and I went grocery shopping for a few basic necessities.  I really am happy that we splurged on the carrier that we got me last month, he hung out in it on my chest the entire trip and then got mad at me when I took him out again at the car (Scott took the van) so I could buckle him into his seat.

May goals

Well, it is a new month, so it is time for new goals.  I like setting goals for a month, it helps me to get some focus going on and motivation to get it done.

Homeschool goals:

Liddy finish her level of math
do spelling at least twice a week with Missa
Get Kimmy reading to me at least 3 times a week
keep working with Jojo on her letter sounds

Household goals:

stay more on top of the housework than I have been
catch up the laundry fully
plant shrubs out back

Personal goals:

daily time with my Bible
finish reading "Love and Logic"
exercise twice a week on purpose
go to bed by 10pm every night
smile more often

Yes, I think that is enough of a goal setting for now.  I have a lot of places I need to improve as a wife and mother, so my plan for this month is to start working on the areas that need the most help.  One day I may take the time to share all my shortcomings that I need and want to work on, but I rather like the idea of just posting a couple to work on each month instead like this.

And just because I can, here's my first picture this month of PJ and me together.  Please try to ignore the smears on the mirror, I know I need to take some Windex to it.

I can't believe how big he is getting already.  He will be 3 months old here in just 16 days, and in 9 days Liddy will be 8 years old.  I am NOT ready for this month.

ornery kids

Look what they taught my sweet little baby boy to do.

The girls taught PJ to stick his tongue out when they stick theirs out at him........  And Scott helped with that lesson.  Darn ornery girls and daddy!

But he is starting to laugh now when you get him excited enough.  I love getting him going real good with the kicks and the grins and squeals until he gives out a little chuckle.  He's also starting to blow raspberries during those times too, which just increases his cute factor.

Yup, I am definitely going to have my hands full soon with him, especially since he's starting to do pushups and can already propel himself forward by wiggling his front end and pushing with his legs and feet.  I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet.

9 years ago

OK this is a couple days late, I should have posted it on Saturday, but hey better late than never, right? :-)

9 years ago, I was 21 and clueless.  I also became a mom for the first time ever on April 14th at 4:30pm to a 6lb 14oz little baby girl.  I had never held a baby before in my life, and was from that point on expected to take care of and train this baby girl to be a beautiful independent woman.  I had to ask the nurse at the hospital how to change a diaper and bathe my baby, I was that clueless.  I felt like I would never figure out this who parenting thing.  All I knew was that I didn't want to give up and leave like my own mom had done when I was little.  I was determined to give that baby girl both a dad AND a mom, and a life that I never had.

And now today, that guinea pig baby girl I had at 21 is a beautiful and kind, compassionate, caring girl who is growing into an amazing young woman.  She has an independent streak almost as big as her stubborn streak, and makes me proud of her every day.  She has her struggles with learning differences, but her determination to push through and master her lessons is something to admire.  I can't wait to see what the next 9 years of her life will bring, she is an amazing person.

Happy 9th birthday Missa.

lookie what I got in the mail today

That, my friends, is an Action Baby Carrier (ABC).  I love wearing my babies, and I find it increasingly needed as our family grows.  I've never actually purchased a baby carrier before, as all ours were either gifted to us or I made them myself.  I had 4 different carriers (2 wraps, a sling, and a mei tai) but PJ didn't care for any of them, so Scott and I decided to try purchasing a soft structured carrier and see if that would be any better.  He loves being held upright, but none of the other carriers I had would give him the support he likes to have (trust me I seriously tried).  So, I did some looking and asking around before deciding to purchase an ABC to try.  This one is the Deco Dots print, which is the lowest priced clearance carrier they have currently at $65 with free shipping in the US.

It was ordered on Saturday, then on Tuesday I got notification that it was finished.  Today is Thursday, and it is at my home.  I ordered direct from ABC instead of through one of the retailers, and this is the standard size carrier.  The girls helped me open the box it came in, then I took PJ into my bedroom to try putting him in it (I always do the first couple times with a new carrier/kid combo on my bed in case I drop the baby, soft landing spot is a good thing).  It took under a minute to get him in it and the thing perfectly adjusted, and then we put on my shoes and coat before heading outside with the girls to play before lunch.  He stopped crying as soon as I got him in it, then fell asleep within just a couple minutes.  He stayed asleep for an hour and a half, which allowed me to play with the kids outside, make lunch and feed them, then load the dishwasher and get it running before having a bit of computer time.

I think its safe to say he loves it.  I love it too, my back didn't bother me one bit the entire time he was in it and I'm about to get him back in it so that I can unload the dishwasher and refill and run it again.  I wish I had gotten one of these when Missa was a baby.

a kid on crutches

What a crazy time its been here the last couple days.  Missa managed to fall and hurt herself on Tuesday, so we had an unexpected trip to the doctor.  The official diagnosis is a couple bruised bones and she pulled/stretched muscles and other goodies in her left foot.  I was told ice, Advil, and keep her off it for at least a few days.  Well, yesterday I couldn't keep her off it at all, she kept getting up and running around with her sisters whenever I wasn't watching her, so last night we put her on crutches to keep her weight off that foot.  Hopefully we can get her back on her feet by Sunday, we have a special trip planned for a birthday gift for her (she'll be 9 on Saturday).

She is soooo like her momma with her coordination.

next school year's social plans

Ahhh yes, the social aspect of schooling.  Many people love to ask about socialization when it comes to homeschooling.  Well, I thought I'd give a peek into what we are planning for outside activities to show you exactly how a homeschooler does things.  Now remember, I have 5 kids and I attempt to get as many kids as I can convince into a single activity so that I'm not doing 2 million different things at once.

American Heritage Girls (similar to Girl Scouts, but with a biblical and family emphasis)
Awana (2 in T&T, 1 Spark, and 1 in Cubbies)
weekly park trips as long as weather allows
regular grocery store trips
a million checkups for kids with doctors
church Saturday nights (including Motion City)
maybe 4H if we can agree on what they will do
regular library trips

And this year we also are adding hopefully a couple of trips out of state for history-related field trips.

One of the best things is that we are able to provide a social moment pretty much every time we go out in public.  It is impossible to go somewhere and not interact with anyone at all, so we are blessed to have such a variety of ages and personalities and so on with public outings for social moments, instead of being locked up in a classroom all day during the week and only interacting with your age-mates and teachers during designated times.  This is something I really am looking forward to, I know that I will be incredibly busy with the things that we have planned for the school year as far as running around for the various activities and all that may entail.  However, it will be worth it to provide the kids with such a valuable real-world application of the social lessons they are getting with all of this.

Take that, socialization myth.

American history 2012-13 school year

Yup, that's what I'm doing this upcoming fall.  Our *plan* is to either get Sonlight core D (the first part of a 2 year US history study) using the 9 month time payment plan, OR to create my own thing.  Since we can't apply for the payment plan until after April 1st, I am spending this week's free time looking over resources to buy for us to create our own thing.  I'm going to just post this as a reminder of what I'm liking as of right now.

History Pockets- love these, we did the grades 1-3 ancient civilizations one alongside our world history studies this last couple years and it was great.  I'm going to be purchasing some of the ones that go with US history to do as the starting point for our studies, and we'll lapbook them instead of making the construction paper pockets (how we did the ancient civ. one)

Smithsonian Children's Encyclopedia of American History- I am pretty sure this is the US history reference book we'll be going with, but I'm still exploring the different ones available.  It is going to be difficult to find one that doesn't have an obvious political slant (either liberal or conservative) but this one appears so far to be fairly neutral.  I need to take this search to the local public library this weekend to see if I can find this one to look at closer, as well as look over some other reference books that they may have. (feel free to comment if you have a suggestion for a good book to fill this spot, it will be one of my big tools for teaching this subject)

library books- an ever-popular resource, I'll be finding a lot of books at the library to add to our studies.

Not too much set up yet, but I'm working on it.  In fact, if I get a good feel of what I'm doing before we can try for the payment plan, I may just opt to go this route instead of buying Sonlight.  I'm actually having fun trying to come up with something to do on my own like this instead of just buying the next core package in line, although I can 100% guarantee that I will be buying Sonlight's core F in a few years for the girls to do while PJ does a core (either the P cores or core A, depends on how old he is when we buy it)

the Kindle

Yes, we finally bought one this month for me.  I swore that I'd never own one, as a book lover one of my favorite things about reading a book is the rustling of pages and being able to twiddle the side of the pages as I read to help me focus.  However, books are horribly impractical for reading when you are spending hours a day stuck in a chair while the baby is latched on to nurse.  A traditional book is a little too heavy and big to hold with one hand and read easily, and turning pages is a chore.  So, Scott and I agreed that a Kindle would be the way to go.

We were initially going to get the Kindle Fire because I like gadgets like that, but we decided to go instead with the classic and continue to save up for my iPad that I've been wanting since they first came out.  That iPad will come in VERY handy at managing my life with some of the apps I can get, but that's a completely different post for a future date when I actually GET the iPad and can share all the things I will be using it for.

But anyway, the Kindle.......

It was a breeze for me to get set up and charged, and get some books on it.  I have about $24 in Amazon gift certificate money loaded to my account still, and I want to spend it on books for me to read.  I have many free domain books on the Kindle already, sorted into collections based on who and what they are for (kids' history, kids' read alouds, mom's reading, and such).  OK so maybe many isn't the right word here as I only have about 30 books loaded on it.  But it feels like a lot of books to me.

So now I must ask for some suggestions.  I am in need of some new reading material for me personally.  Most of the books I have already on it I've read in the past and enjoyed, or they are the entire 6 volume series by Charlotte Mason (dry as heck).  I'm looking for new reading material.  I'm especially interested in books that may help me as a parent, wife, and/or homeschool parent, and total fluff (I rather enjoyed the Ann Rice books I've read in the past and plan to get a couple more).

What do YOU like to read on your Kindle?

Planning the new school year

Yes, I know its ONLY March.  However, it is that time that I like to look over where we are in each subject and start getting real solid ideas for next fall.  We typically call our first day of school officially at the very start of August, and I would *like* to take July off most lessons if possible so that we can enjoy some street fairs and summer weather.  July is the month that is usually slowest for Scott at work, so we get to spend more time together as a family before it picks up again in August with all the kids getting glasses for school to start (in case you don't know, Scott makes eyeglasses for a living, a lot of his work is actually for children on Medicaid in a few different states).  So, during his hours off work we do field trips on weekends and go on picnics and stuff like that.  It is something we always look forward to, even if the paychecks are barely enough to cover our bills during the slower season.

So, I'm looking now and figuring out fall, mainly to ease the amount of work I have to do when Scott is at work less.  If I plan now, then it is ready to go before he's no longer working 70 hour weeks (that's the busier times, during summer he gets 45 hours a week if we're lucky).  So here's what we have figured out so far.

This fall I will have an infant still, which I hear that the infant year is easiest to do this.  I've never schooled kids with an infant, Missa didn't start K until Jojo was a year old, so this is a new experience for us.  I'm learning as we go with it.  Anyway, this fall I will also have all 4 girls going formally.  Jojo will be of K age by cutoff date, so we will begin K with her and plan to stretch it out over 2 years on paper for maturity.  So she will be a Junior K and then her sisters will be in grades 1, 3, and 4.  Sounds fun, don't you think?  Lots of juggling, and not a lot of independent work with a couple of them.

So, here's what IS working for us this year, which will follow us into next year:

Math-U-See (I will have to get only 2 workbooks, the middle girls went slower than expected this year)
All About Spelling (Missa is working her speed and Liddy will start level 1)
Real Science 4 Kids (not finished with the books we got for this year so we'll finish them up and go into some unit studies)

That right there takes care of half my requirements easily.  Now for the fun part.  What didn't work so well, or what we're changing out of necessity because it just is a bad fit for our situation with all the kids going at once.

The biggest change for us will be that we are taking a year off Sonlight.  I'm feeling a need to spend a year doing geography and some US history and state studies, so I'm working out the kinks in this one now.  I already have "Geography Songs" that we are going to do to cover the basic geography stuff, from our Sonlight core (one of the things we got then dropped early on because of the pregnancy when I started lightening my load in teaching back in I think October).  I also have some free domain books on my Kindle that we will utilize, as well as 11th grade A Beka US History to refresh my own memory before I start working this out.  I will need to use as many free resources as possible to cover this year's history, we just don't have the money to buy all the consumables I need for 4 kids AND the US history program I was originally wanting (I had originally decided on Winter Promise American Story 1 for this fall, then Scott had to get a car and we decided on one about $1500 more than we planned so my homeschool budget went down from $1200 to $300 and I spent part of that on a Kindle).

I also am dropping Handwriting Without Tears, and getting a couple of dry-erase handwriting practice books they have at a store here locally.  This year, I simply cannot afford to buy handwriting workbooks for all 4 kids to go through as fast as they do, so they will use the dry-erase variety and take turns practicing.  I also am going back to regular copywork instead of the copywork and journaling books we did this year, also because of cost.  Thankfully, I only need to buy 2 math workbooks for Missa and Jojo to do this fall, and a friend blessed us with the teaching materials for all the Math-U-See levels we didn't have up to Algebra 1 so I am set there for several years.

And that's about all I figured out so far.  I am hoping to make it to the CHEO convention in June this year, but I'm not sure I can do it with the cost for the person we have do our portfolio reviews for reporting.