State of the Union.

So obviously I haven't been using this space as I intended. I wanted to document the process of virtual school in a positive and commemorative way, only for me this experience has been less than positive and I'd prefer not to commemorate it at all. I don't want to get into all the negatives feelings I have about this educational route, I do believe it can work for some people, and it's working for my children, just not for ME. So I plan on changing up this space a bit. I'm still fiddling around with a few ideas I have but you'll see things changing around here...bear with me.

Work Samples.

I cant believe it's almost the end of the first quarter and I can't believe it's only the end of the first quarter! This year is not flying by but yet we are making it. We are on pace and we are all still breathing. It's time to gather and turn in our work samples for the quarter and, although we have covered and completed all the assignments for all three grades, the task is overwhelming me. Concrete deadlines give me anxiety no matter how menial the task. I need to have all of the work collected and it must get to the BVS offices by snail mail no later than Friday. I'll be working on this the next few days as well as keeping us on pace with our assignments for this week, so if I'm slow to answer emails, texts, and such don't worry I'm just buried in workbooks.

FOOD | Pesto Egg Salad

When I reach a certain level of stress [home school is stressful, ya'll] I want carbs. Bad carbs, mostly pasta if I were to be specific. Some people are good at moderating themselves when it comes to pasta but I am not one of those people, and lucky for me, my body is super sensitive to carbohydrates.  Just one carb heavy meal can make me to gain two pounds. No joke. I've come up with something that works for me. I call it "Keep-Me-From-Eating-A-Pound-of-Pasta-Pesto-Egg-Salad." It's super simple, it's just three hard boiled egg whites, two hard boiled egg yolks, and some homemade pesto. I don't use a recipe for pesto, as I prefer to wing it in the kitchen, but if you Google it you'll find a million. I swear that when I eat this my brain thinks it's pasta and my body really prefers the protein. Oh, and a couple of my kids will eat this too.

Faith and Multiplying Mixed Numbers.

Last Thursday Faith hit her first roadblock while multiplying mixed numbers. We did the curriculum lesson and although she got an 80 percent, which is the minimum requirement to move on, I knew she didn't really get it. On Monday, she had her eClass with Dr. W. and that lesson was also on multiplying fractions. The entire class was given an additional assignment on multiplying mixed numbers from Dr. W. using a different online program. She got a 60 percent, so I made her do it again. So at 'Terrific Tuesday' I spoke to Dr. Weaver about it and she gave me another online resource to use that would present it differently. Before I went to the online resource that Dr. W. suggested, I went to my personal educational reference site Khan Academy. I could get lost for days if not weeks at Khan Academy--this blog isn't called Unabashedly Nerdy for nothing. Anyway, she GOT it immediately, took the test and moved on to dividing fractions. Here is the video we watched, however the lessons on Khan are seemingly endless so there are no limits to what you can learn there.

STYLE | What's Fall?

Switching my summer polish palette for a fallish one is about all the fall wardrobe transitioning I can do. Hello, ninety degree October. However, I'd like to note that I can still only paint my fingernails, I have yet to have grown even a millimeter of big toenail . Meanwhile, my hair has grown three inches. Guess the doctor was serious when he said a YEAR.

My 'Floridian Fall' palette from left to right: sew psyched, playa de platinum, and tart deco.

Watching This Was An Assignment Today.

"I've looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, 'If today were the last day of my life would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'no' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

"Stay hungry. Stay foolish." - Steve Jobs

STYLE | Worn

glasses: Rx Ray Ban // tee: J.Crew (similar) //  jeans: Gap  // ballet flats: Gap // watch: J. Crew  //  bracelets: Stella & Dot

Someone forgot to tell me that I'd be completely brain dead by 12:21PM. I'm teaching a total of TWENTY SEVEN different subjects this semester. I switch from teaching one kid about past and present participles, to teaching another how to multiply fractions, to teaching the last kid what an exclamatory sentence is. That's just within the span of ten minutes. Any conversation I have with an adult outside of the house goes a little something like this:

Anonymous Adult: "Your children are beautiful, what are their ages?"
Me: " UH, WELL, UM, Let's See, UH..."
Anonymous Adult: "What does your husband do?"
Me: " UH, WELL, Gee...I don't know...It's hard to explain... He kinda works in Marketing!?"
Anonymous Adult: "Where do your kids go to school?"
Me (mumbling): "We home school."
Anonymous Adult (with a forced grin): "Oh, isn't that great!"

I used to feel smart but now UH, WELL, UM...