Homeschooling, for reals

As my kids would say. John and I decided several weeks ago that we wanted to pull the last two kids out of school and start home schooling all of them after our move. I thought it would be a huge decision, like it was with the older boys, but it actually was fairly easy for us.
Tonight ended up being the big decision, which is to pull the boys out now. As in, tomorrow. We've come to dislike our dual schedules (one public school schedule and one home school schedule) more and more as the days have gone by and finally decided that enough was enough.
All the kids have been home all week due to sickness, and I have loved it. I have been in the best mood today. The house is clean, my kids are happy and the sick ones are better to the point they were set to go back to school tomorrow, Jasmine took herself to the bathroom to poop in the toilet... I thought life couldn't be any better until I sat down with John tonight and started discussing the boys going back to school tomorrow and realized that I really don't want them to.
I have thought about it before, of course I have, but haven't wanted to pull them out during the school year. I was worried about them missing out on stuff and having no idea where their teachers left off, different things along those lines. Ok, I wasn't worried about that with James. I mean come on, it's kindergarten. I did worry about that with Joseph, however John (as usual) managed to reassure me and calm my fears.
So, tomorrow is it. My sons will not be going back to public school tomorrow; instead I will print off the forms tonight to pull them out of school and I will not be looking back. Though I WILL be handing the phone to my husband to talk to his mother every time she calls for the next few weeks, since I know how much she disapproves. She's old school, literally, and has only been retired from teaching for 2 yrs or so. John believes that he would have been a much happier kid if he had been home schooled and she refutes it every time and tells him he would have been miserable. She's his mom, we both love her to death, but sometimes she doesn't know her son very well and it's not unusual for her to disagree with the choices we make in parenting. But, she IS the kind to (overall) mind her own business even if she does disagree. See why we love her so much?

Why Idaho, you ask?

Several reasons, actually. It's warmer than here but still allows us to have snow occasionally, it has three temples and we can live within 30 minutes of one, it has a nice sized LDS population without overwhelming us with members (I'd like to have an occasional missionary opportunity!), it has mountains and rivers which is a must for John, the home school laws are great, the midwifery laws are great, it has a medical school.... The reason are endless. The house we found is another fixer-upper; built in 2005, but the extras were never completely finished because it is a high-end home in an expensive neighborhood and the bottom fell out of the market and the builder couldn't sell it. So we figured, why not? We can finish the house, landscape the yard, and if we don't want to stay sell it for a substantial return with very little comparable output beyond man hours. No matter what, we will move to Idaho within the next few months because of the above reasons. The only question is when and if we will be buying. If this falls through we'll just rent while we save up to buy land and build.

Soooo tired.

Yes tired, but not necessarily physically. You ever get those days where nothing matters and you just do what you have to do to get by without making any forward progress? Or even attempting to make forward progress? That's pretty much the way my week has been. We made an offer on a house in Idaho and now have this one going on the market again on Monday and I'm so not ready. I should have been cleaning today and I did somewhat, and John did a lot, but I didn't do anywhere near the amount I should have and could have. If we had a showing on Monday I would worry about it, but for now I'm just going to go to bed and deal with it later.

Nosy neighbors.

Man, I can't stand nosy neighbors. I was sitting on the couch today, studying, when the door bell rang. I could see through the window beside the door that it was an adult, not one of the kids friends, so I answered it rather than send one of the kids and it turned out to be a cop! He asked me if I owned a sheltie (a type of dog) and I told him no. He then asked if I owned a dog, and I turned to the side and little and said, "Yes, she's right here trying to say hello and she's a collie." He then proceeded to tell me that a neighbor called and reported a dog at my address that is left outside in our terrible weather (I'm in MN) all day long with no shelter except what little can be gotten from under the porch. I gestured to my dog again, and told him that clearly it wasn't MY dog since she was inside and spent most of her time inside the house and they must have the wrong address. He said it was definitely ours that was reported and I told him that there was another house with the same address right down the street, but apparently he was quite sure it was ours. The man was pretty much laughing the entire time we were speaking, obviously found it very amusing that the dog was inside and greeted him at the door when he came to investigate, but I couldn't find a reason to laugh. John and I checked on line and the sheltie breed does look a good bit like our Jessie, though it is a much shorter dog, so whoever called definitely meant to report our house. I couldn't believe it! One neighbor chains one of her dogs out on the front porch all the time regardless of weather, but were the cops called on her? No, they weren't. And don't think I don't know exactly who called the cops. It's the same horrible woman who has called the cops on us at least two other times and threatened to have James arrested when he was three or four because he got away from the house and went to her place and rode on her grandchilds bike (whom she provides daycare for, poor kids). The same woman that claims that her grandkids are NEVER out of her sight (she says she even takes them into the bathroom with her if no one else is home) and yet I've sent them home several times this past summer because she didn't know where they were. Same as I do with all the kids in the neighborhood, "Does your mom know where you are? If not, go tell her and then you can come back to play." I will admit straight out that New Year's day wasn't a good one for us with Jessie. We went to a friends, stayed longer than expected, and were worried about her being outside for so long (it was in the negative 20's). I hate sticking her in the kennel when we are gone but she can't be allowed to roam free in the house. BUT, when we realized how long she had been outside we sent Kimberly (my sister) to the house to pick her up and take her home with her and warm her up until we got back to town. Jessie goes outside first thing every morning to use the bathroom and stays outside until she asks to come in or starts barking at the school kids. She then goes outside several times throughout the day, whenever she asks to go out, and is brought in whenever she comes to the door and waits to be let in. If she's cold, she asks to come inside. If she's not cold, she stays outside and runs around and plays. I don't see what the problem would be with that. If my kids are playing outside, they do the exact same thing. Play until they are cold, and then they come in. Anyway, I have half a mind to go to that terrible womans house tomorrow and make it clear that I know that she is the one that called the cops and put the fear of ME into her. Like, calling the cops every time she goes zooming past the house scattering kids left and right, not waiting for them to get out of the way and almost hitting them, and honking at them even if they aren't near the street. Maybe I should call the cops every time one of her grand kids wander over to our place and she doesn't know where they are. I've never been the kind to let cops solve my problems, especially since my hubby used to be one, but I am very tempted to start a war. One which I know I will win. The only thing stopping me is the fact that we are trying to buy a bigger house and move out of state and it wouldn't be worth it to make a point in those circumstances. Otherwise, it would so be on.

My baby boy...

Isn't a baby anymore. Jordan received the priesthood on Sunday and yes, John's mother and I cried a little. I was so proud of him and a little sad to see him so big. This next Sunday he will serve the Sacrament for the first time and next month Joseph will be getting baptized. Half of my children will have been baptized by then. How is this happening? Where has the time gone? Speaking of time, I say it's about time we find out something. I have a birth in April, turned down a birth for January because we thought we wouldn't be here, have a request for a birth in August which is on hold because I don't know if we will be here, and have another woman that is trying to conceive and wants to interview me for that birth. Things are really picking up and I can't do a thing about it until I know what we are doing. The in limbo thing has gotten really old.

Getting back to normal.

Now that things have fizzled out with our planned move, we are trying to get our home back to normal. I've decided that this is a prime opportunity to get organized and clean out kids clothes, toys, and everything else that isn't being used. Everything is going to go by way of Craig's List, Once Upon a Child, and Freecycle. If all that fails, it will go to Boys Ranch or in the trash. We actually got the bunk beds up again this week and the kids dressers back in their rooms. I even have clothes in them! Granted, it isn't much, but all the clothes are now out of my garage and I'm almost done sorting them. I got rid of my first bag of clothes today and boy did it feel good. In other news, we found out on the 24th that the current bishop and his family are moving to Ga. Curiously enough, they made their decision right about the time that our move to Montana started falling apart. Coincidence? We're hoping so because if not, and John gets called as the new bishop, it would mean we should probably just suck it up and settle in for good here in the great white north.

I'm a pretty pony...

Not me of course, but that's the first line that Jasmine's rocking horse sings. Apparently it's quite the popular toy; my sister has one for her son and she has at least one other friend that has one as well. It's a little rocking horse which makes noises if you press one ear and sings (the mouth actually moves) when you press the other. It is by far one of the best Christmas presents we have ever bought one of the kids. Jasmine loves it and has the song just about memorized. Cynthia (my sister) warned me I would get sick of the song but so far it's just so cute to see Jasmine ride her horsey and sing along with it that I can't get enough of it! I'll have to post a picture tomorrow.