As if the last three months haven't been FILLED with them already. Strider has finally gotten a full pay check from his new job.. and oh boy, was it NOT what we were hoping/expecting/NEEDING! We're talking literally half of his previous paychecks... and then once tax comes out, and over 100bucks a week fuel (which is clearly required to drive parcels around)... the amount left is barely twice our rent :S I've looked, and applied for jobs hoping to find something for nights and weekends.. with no luck. I have applied for night fill jobs with supermarkets, no luck yet. Clearly something has got to give.

And sadly, homeschooling is going to have to be it. At least for now :( It's nearly the end of the school year here (about 6wks to go I think) so we are going to TRY to limp along until the new year starts in Feb (Goddess help us, I don't know how!?!) and then my little men... at least 2 of them... will be off for their first 'school' experience. We've talked about it with them.. and surprisingly they don't seem bothered by it. They both have lots of questions and I'm going to try to arrange to visit the school they will most likely be attending so they can get a feel for it. Mr. Sam and I will spend this time really hammering reading.. he seems MUCH more interested (and seems to retain more!) lately.. so I'm taking advantage of that. Frodo's focus will be getting those multiplication facts down. There will still be other bits & peices, but Frodo is way ahead in all things language... and Sam is a slow starter at reading.. so those are the two priorities for the next few months.

On to job hunting... it sucks! I have looked at all kinds of positions in my most recent field (disability care) and they require 2-3 sleep overs a week PLUS day work (one place even does 24hr shifts, with paid sleepover time... like I want to spend 24hrs away from home at a time?) The shifts are sometimes starting at 630am... others not ending till 530pm. Great for traffic... not so much so for picking up kids from school at 245pm! I started thinking that they were going to be at school from the time they woke up, until dinner... that's just not acceptable.

Then came the idea... I have, in the past, been licensed as a Family Day Care provider in several states (in the US).. why not look into that here? So at this point in time, I'm awaiting permission from my landlord, and I'm booked into an info session next week. I gave thought to trying to do this AND keep the boys at home... but in all honesty, I am admitting my limitations.. it would just be too much. And someone would end up missing out, and that would end up being the boys in the dept of homeschooling I'm sure. And I would rather them have an education at school (although we'll still read cool books, go to neat places on weekends etc) than a home education with a mum that's too busy, too harried, and just plain too overwhelmed.

So as much as my heart wants to keep them with me to learn full time, I'm accepting that 6hours a day is not the end of the world. This option will at least give me the ability to meet them to walk home with a smiling face, and have afternoon tea with them as they tell me all about their day. My head has just been forced to admit that it's just the way it is going to have to be... at least for now.

In a year, after I'm settled into a 'work' routine I may offer them the chance to home school again if they would like. Or.. I could win big in the lotto on the 30th.. one never knows!


*I'll definitely still post here occasionally during this transition time. After all I WILL still be home schooling until then ;) And I'm considering starting a new blog for my new adventures with little people next year. So I'm not goin' anywhere!

Ok.. not that *exact* tree... but I saw a Jacaranda in full bloom. It was spectacular, if a little early! I am fairly sure that Jacaranda season is normally in November... which means the local Jacaranda festival may not actually HAVE blooming trees to match it's name this year. Unless of course the organizers are paying attention like I was ;)

Here's to a wonderful October, friends! I've added a button to Mrs. B's 31 days of Halloween again this year.. so if you're inclined, pop over for some October fun!

It's been a hell of a month... and honestly I'll be glad to see October. DH has started a new job that he seems to love, he txt'd me earlier this week saying " loving it so far, it's just like questing in WOW" (for those of you that don't know it, we are serious World of Warcraft players LOL) He likes that it's something different every day ... once this week he went to both coasts for work.. in one day! lol

With all the stress in the house (new family member, dh losing his job, etc) things have been rather hit & miss in the realm of schoolwork, but we're getting back on track. Our co op activities on Monday are finished for the year, but the group has other great things planned and we're looking forward to it. The boys will be finishing up their swimming in November, and in a week or so we'll start tennis lessons with the home ed group. The hobbits are VERY excited about that! I really considered the ice skating lessons they have planned, but Frodo is not overly coordinated ;), and Merry would not be tolerant of hanging out for an hour. Maybe next year I guess!

At our last co-op, I purchased the next TWO levels of Math U See for Frodo (gamma & delta) and he pestered me for days to start Gamma instead of finishing boring old Beta hehehe. I've never seen a kid so excited about multiplying ;) The Teen is sure I've ruined them, no kid should ASK to do math! lol Sam is just finishing Primer now, and will start Alpha this coming week.

A week or so ago I got a discount voucher in the mail from Learning a-z for their writing program and checked it out. It looked really great, and for 20bucks even if it wasn't it still wouldn't be much of a waste. So far I really like it, I think it will help Frodo with his 'creative' writing a great deal. He is good with the mechanics of writing, and can write sentences with no problem, but grouping those sentences together into an organized, related, collection of thoughts... not so much! They have some neat exercises, and good printables, like a 'graphic organizer' for writing a personal narrative. They have them for various levels, from a beginnging/grade 1 writer (generally expected to be able to write one paragraph with 5 sentences) to a more advanced student (grade 3ish, where they 'should' write 3 paragraphs with more developed sentences) We're going to give slot that into our days this week and see how the hobbits like it. They DO have a free intro lesson as well, that includes some of these things, available for download from the site :D

I also got sucked in by the raz-kids reading site (also on learning a-z) and we're doing their 7 day free trial membership. I'm thinking we may pick it up (well, once dh gets regular pay! 80bucks is not in the budget at the moment!) The boys are really enjoying it. There are tons of levels (all the way up to about age 9-10) .. Sam is doing aa for the second time, his choice.. and Frodo is doing level Q which is a lot more involved and even has web based 'quizzes'. Bonus is that it is paid for by the 'classrom' so I have one classroom, and my two students at their own levels.... so no purchasing the program twice :D

There's a noticable lack of photos today, sorry 'bout that. A couple of garden ones to come, but I haven't been great about keeping the camera handy lately! Sam on the other hand, is becoming quite the shutterbug according to the memory card heh... maybe I'll share some of those in the near future.

This last couple of weeks has been... unusual, to say the least. Our home & family is in the middle of a big change, which I'll share in it's own post... cause it's just that awesome. It's led to things being a wee bit scattered in the formal learning department though, and I've been busy with all manner of things and just haven't had a chance to post really.

Here are some pics of what we've been up to lately. Frodo has been drawing like a madman, he loves to draw anything related to his favourite video games... but the other day he was looking at the world map on the wall, and suddenly HAD to draw the Egyptian flag LOL. I was very impressed.

*** For some reason this did not post on July 25, when it was originally posted, so I'm guessing it got 'eaten' into the drafts folder when my IE threw a dummy spit.  So for your amusement, here it is today lol.  I am rather having a laugh at myself at the leve of frustration a stupid scone caused!***

Oh for the love of all that is holy (or holey for that matter) would  someone in the universe reveal to me the secret of SCONE making!?!?!  I have just made a batch using a recipe from Australia's MasterChef's cookbook... and while they tasted great... they are about half an inch tall.  Seriously! 

Frodo & I followed the recipe just so, measuring everything exactly.  Kneaded 'lightly' as the instructions said, baked and voila.  Flat arse scones *sigh* 

This is not my first epic scone failure either.  Everyone says 'scones require a light touch'  fine, I barely touch the bastages and they STILL DON'T RISE!!!!!  Don't think I could get much lighter than that, could I?  

I refuse to be defeated though.  I have found another recipe and am trying again.

*** Added upon posting... Yes, I DID finally create edible scones that actually LOOKED like scones (somewhat, anyway)  So I can claim victory in the battle of Caz vs. Scones!!

We have had the best couple of weeks around the Hobbit household.  We're gearing up to start our Monday Pcyc classes this week, but the boys have been a bit stir crazy with the lack of THEIR things to do so when a park meet was organized last week, we were ON it!    

This was a newish group, and is more of a side shoot group really, as it has a few members of other groups we're part of.  The only difference is it is purely secular in nature... and oh wow, how nice was it to not have to worry about saying something that might offend, or make uncomfortable,  the more religious home educators.    The other group I attend IS an inclusive group, but sometimes you just don't want to have to screen what you say at all times ya know?  

We met at a GREAT park, never even knew the place was there.  And directly across from the cop shop, so you're pretty guaranteed to be safe from wandering hoodlums and such ;)   My friend and her hubby & kids came, and to the boys delight, they brought their DOG!  

Oh MY, Merry was just in LOVE with Sammy the dog.  He NEEEEDED Sammy (lol his words, no kidding)  and the kids were so good with the pooch.  My gf's kids, despite being 12 and I think 14, were more than happy to play with my guys and help keep an eye on them.  I told C that I might have to start paying her kids for park days LOL.   Here's Sam walking Sammy (lol) and loving it!  

We also had fun with science this week.  We made Craters!  Totally loving the experiments from this science curriculum .  We're finishing up the 'space' section and moving on to the Earth science end of things now.  For this experiment, I filled a baking dish with about 5cm of flour, and then had the boys use the sifter to 'dust' the top with cocoa powder (ok, so we used el cheapo home brand chocolate muffin mix, it was 1/6 of the cost of cocoa ;) )   Then we took marbles and recorded their diameter,  then dropped them from varying heights (knee, waist, then shoulder) to see how that affected the size of the craters they made.

Here's dad getting in on the home ed fun for a change, helping with the crater measuring.   The boys then documented their measurements and we discussed why they thought the meteor (err.. marble) dropped from the heighest position made the biggest crater. They quite enjoy being little scientists when we get out the lab reports.  

We also had a great little 'poem' activity to help the boys remember the difference between Meteoroids (just orbiting out in space, minding their own business),  Meteors (entering our atmosphere and burning their way through), and Meteorites (the bit that's left over IF any of the meteorite doesn't burn completely up and something actually hits the Earth!)  They thought it was quite amusing that the same item has three different names just based on WHERE it happens to be at! lol

 Really, we didn't vanish off the face of the earth... honest!   More in just a moment!

 
Well the hobbits & I have been busy busy the last few weeks... and obviously mama hobbit fell off the blogging bandwagon lol.  I did TRY to come post a few times, only to get interrupted or distracted, so I gave up *sheepish*    

The Uncles were over from New Zealand for a few weeks, and we spent a fair bit of time hanging out with them.  The boys dragged them along to swim class, played mah jong on the ipad with them, (Uncle M and Sam were on the ipad... Uncle N and Frodo were relegated to the 'old' laptop lol.  Old being 6mos old... but not new & sexy like the ipad)  and bubbles were blown & paper airplanes made.  They're back in NZ now, so hopefully they are enjoying some peace & quiet... cause they didn't get a whole lot of that when the boys were around!

This week we headed out on an epic journey, 1.5hours each way!, to the Abbey Medieval Faire Kids Day.   It was just me & the boys and I was a bit concerned, but in the end we had a fabulous day!  Mother Nature cooperated nicely with the weather... last year it was dreary & drizzly off & on all day.  This year, mostly sunny with a cool breeze... perfect!  Prepare for pics!

The boys had a ball!  There was junior jousting (sans horse, of course!), sword fighting, shield painting, cardboard sword making, animal petting and archery... among other things.   They got a kick out of all the people in costume and the 'funny' speech they used.  

  There WOULD have been a pony ride, and the boys were very disappointed that didn't happen.  That's the only thing I would say really needs improvement ... the company hired to provide pony rides was WOEFULLY ill equipped.   They had 2 ponies for 1000 or so kids!  I sincerely hope that those poor ponies got to take good breaks during the day... but with 60odd families in line at a time?  I'm kinda doubting it  :(   I've already made a 'suggestion that they plan for that more next year so children aren't disappointed, and more importantly, the animals aren't mistreated! 

There was no doubt they enjoyed the day, especially when the next morning I woke up to a mini tournament in my family room lol!

This is gonna be a photo heavy post,  (but I'll keep them small) be warned ;)  We met up with the kids Uncles (who are visiting from New Zealand) and MaMa (great grandmother) at the local Botanical Gardens today for a wander around.  Uncle Nigel arrived before us and had maps in hand for the childrens 'Hide & seek trail' and the boys were stoked.   Basically it's a marked trail through part of the gardens with numbered things for children to discover as they walk.  I think there were 17 items in all, sculptures and various neat peices of art, and the boys found them all.  Without further adieu.. pictures!  

Blogger isn't wanting to cooperate with formatting here, so we'll see what comes up where LOL.    Pics are in no real order, as that's where blogger & I did not see eye to eye and I can't strongarm it much!  But they show a (mostly) lovely day. 

The boys got to see a real sundial.. and as the winter solstice was yesterday, it was right on time, showing a perfect 11am to match my phone.   The boys enjoyed hanging out with the uncles, and MaMa (they just dote on her.. up above is a shot of Merry and her, hand in hand, marching up a path :)    The funky fruit bats hanging on the tree,  panda  sculpture and the koala were items the kids had to 'find' on the trail.  I loved it.. the pandas were in the bamboo garden, the koala near the eucalypts etc.  

The first two pics are the kids in the Japanese garden.. they all loved the stepping stones across the water and went on about how 'treacherous' it was hehehe.  

The BEST item in the whole garden (aside from the natural items of course;)  was the Xylophone.  It was near the fern house, and was a fern shaped bench.  It had an assortment of mallets and the boys (and uncles) had a great time making music with it.  It had a lovely, deep sound.. not the obnoxious tinny clang of some.  

The kids have not stopped talking about it and have ticked off all the great things they 'found' during our trek.    It would have been a little bit nicer had Merry not had several meltdowns over not being allowed to run wild *insert eye roll here*  but ah well, such is life I guess??  

The last week has been a long one.  Both Frodo & Sam had the cough a couple of days... then Merry wasn't so well (poor guy was sick on his birthday, that's just UNfair!) Then it happened, as you know it must when everyone else has had it... mum eventually succumbs.  

Not being one to do things by halves, I came down with a whopper of  a case of the flu.  Fever, chills, aches, sinusy stuff... oh yes, I had 'em all.  I'm FINALLY coming round a bit (although I confess that's due to sucking down cold & flu tablets for the last 24hrs) but it's led to a null & void week here pretty much.

Frodo & Merry were content (ok, thrilled) to get to enjoy a week with predominantly media based learning.  Frodo has gotten into TimezAttack, so he's getting a headstart on multiplication (which we'll start in about a month) and he spent a little time on skwirk and the nasa spaceplace website :)  Sam did a few lessons of Reading Eggs, and tried out his cool new file folder game.  It's matching the upper & lower case alphabet and has the added benefit of having small pictures of items that begin with that letter sound.  He quite enjoyed that one.  

Both boys watched a documentary (via computer, if I didn't mention we have a new superfast net plan with 25G worth of downloads....oh it's sheer bliss!) called Voyage to the Planets.  This was episode 3 I think, and it was Uranus & Neptune.  Something about space and small boys, but they are drawn to it like nothing else!  They both sat here in my chair and oooh'd and ahhhh'd over the amazing pictures and the interesting little tidbits of information.  

We had some particularly windy weather, and the winds obviously went fairly high because we got THIS amazing picture (well, amazing for my crappy little camera anyway lol)

  And we ALSO had a real, honest to goodness, FROST!  It was -1C very near where I live just before daybreak yesterday... BRR!!!!  It still warmed up to about 20c though, which is nice.  I was a tad worried about our little potted veggie farm, but being under cover of the veranda seems to have benefitted them and there was no harm done.  Although with Merry AND Sam trying to water... we may need to switch to growing rice???

This week is Merry's birthday, so we had cake & fun with Nana, Grandpa (in the pic helping the dude cut hsi cake), uncles Mike & Nigel along with boring old mum, dad and brothers ;)   Buzz Lightyear featured prominently as you can see.

Last weekend over MY birthday, the grand parents took the kids to the weekend markets by the bay.  The kids played on the giant bouncy castle, and Sam braved the ENORMOUS inflatable slide and had a ball.  There was fossicking around on the beach & rocks and a very up close look at a poor turtle who got hit by a boat propeller :(  Thankfully nobody was incredibly emotional about that for more than a few minutes.

At some point Merry got his pants legs wet and just ditched them altogether.  Here he is doing what boys do best .. getting dirty!

There were also swim lessons... don't the boys look very flash in their pro swim gear? hehehe  They are both doing pretty well... but Sam is definitely our 'sportsman' .. he's going to have an awesome swim stroke!  

There was also the usual at home stuff ... messing around with our veggies, taking care of our ratties, driving mum crazy...you know how it is.  But now and again, a moment of perfect sweetness like this one...  Watering the garden is Merry's new found love.   Looks like Sam is going to have to share!

It's rather funny.. our tomatos and such are going crazy (I mean CRAZY, this week they are 6 inches taller than the last pics I posted here, easily!) yet the trees that I mark our seasons by as I drink coffee on the veranda?  They have just let go of the last straggler leaves that were hanging on for dear life, despite being yellow and being blown hither & yon by the winds of recent days.   Such is life in Queensland I guess!

It's a particularly dreary looking day out, but I snapped a few pics when I checked my veggie pots to see if I needed to water :) Thought I'd share! A post or two back, there are pics of them from about 2.5wks ago to compare...

My silverbeet are looking glorious... just a couple of weeks ago (scroll down on that link) they were tiny things that couldn't even stand up by themselves!  Now look at 'em go!  You can see my 3 biggest tomato plants behind them (black russians)  They are caged for support as they grow, but earlier in the week there was INSANE wind, so I had to stake them so they didn't lay down like lounge singers.  Basil sneaking into the shot on the right ;)

Lettuce!  These have gone just crazy, we've already cut and eaten some with several meals and they've only been planted for about 2 weeks. They're mixed varities of lettuce's and Asian salad greens.

 More tomatoes!  These guys are cherry tomatoes I believe.   And my very happy spring onions back there :)   DH sprinkled coffee grounds around the tomatoes, as I read that they like them, so we'll see how they go.  We chose these 3 plants as they were lagging a bit behind the others.

 Close up of the silverbeety goodness.   A few more weeks and we'll be making my fave Cheesey baked Chard recipe (that I stole from a fellow blogger, here!)  We don't do ours vegan, so I use regular cheese & milk... and it's to die for.  Quite often DH & I will have that and a roll and call it dinner ;)   You can bet when I put in my garden bed, silverbeet will feature prominently lol

 AND last, but not least... the newest member of the Hobbit household *sigh*.   THIS baby was my birthday present from my darling hubby & his parents... Isn't it beautiful??? lol   It's gotten a fair bit of use and we're getting pretty good at making a nice coffee...Not consuming much instant, except when I was desperate Monday morning and had to race out to meet DH during his van catastrophe!   And boy, it just was NOT the same!