My day...

I had a crazy busy day today....

Firstly, Lloyd woke me with coffee this morning and we sat and had coffee together before he left for the airport for his flight to Toronto.

After everyone left, I got up and saw that no one had done their chores - house was a mess and so I had to sweep and clean the kitchen and feed the animals and get Sam ready and then get showered and ready for me...then I realise Chris doesn't have the chips he needs for his school event at lunchtime - so I called Val to say I would be late and then ran and got some chips and went to the school and dropped them off......this meant me driving two detours as they are doing a lot of roadworks around here atm.

I finally made it to breakfast half an hour late (sorry Val) and breakfast was a little chaotic with Sam popping cream pots and playing with jam and Vals little guy throwing cheerios lol! Thank goodness for Grace - although the restaurant was soooo busy we didn't really get to chat with her....I wonder why it was so busy! We did though get LOTS of coffee refills and it was EXCELLENT coffee.

After breakfast we headed to 17th St...I followed Vals car so we arrived together. We went to Dollarama and - oh boy I love that store! I got so many stocking fillers and scrapbooking goodies and even some hats and scarves for Susies charity collection at school....I love that I can fill the cart up and it still doesn't come to much! I bought a few packs of their chipboard letters as I love them! $1 for the entire alphabet in glittery colours....

After there, we strolled over to the new Winners - the Grand opening is tomorrow but they were open for business today. I have never been lucky in there and have never found it very cheap...but today I found some FAB bargains...I refused to look anywhere but at the teen boys section as the boys really needed some sweaters - and boy did I find them some!

After that I decided I had spent far too much money ( I blame Val lol!) and so I said goodbye to Val and we headed into Sherwood Park. I stopped off at Samanthas house to leave something for her on her doorstep...then I ran to Sobeys and got a few groceries as Susie has a friend here this evening...Sam pushed the cart - one of those mini ones and he was soooo proud. We had a few collisions with displays lol but nothing too serious :)

Then we came home. I made some toast for Sam and I for a late lunch (it was 2pm by this time) and then we walked down the road to meet the school bus.

Much of this evening has been spent emailing Lloyd :) he is bored - had dinner with his colleague and now is in his hotel room.

I had a bath.....read for a while and then Sam came in and splashed around too...we got out, had pizza and now I am here doing this and have been looking at the Effer dares entries for The Last Scrapper Standing...wow - some AMAZING entries!!! I know a few people who have entered and their pages are gorgeous so I hope they get through this first round....Effer Dares cut out half of the entries each round so it can be difficult to get through! This round the dare was to use 8 transparencies on one page.

I think I'm going to switch off now and go to bed...Sam can fall asleep watching Treehouse while I sort laundry.

Tomorrow the weather isn't supposed to be very good, and the children have the day off of school, so I think maybe we will head to Lets Play for a few hours...the children can play and I can read :) Chris has a birthday party to go to tomorrow night. Lloyd won't be home until late tomorrow night. I think his plane lands around 10pm.......so he won't be home until 11pm.

I hate Lloyd being away....it feels like my right arm is missing....like I can cope and everything but just something is missing :(

on the subject....

...of homeschooling....Chris has been looking at his choices post-high school and he is thinking ahead to next year and High School choices. He is thinking of homeschooling grades 10 - 12.

He's mentioned it a few times.....I said its his choice and we'll support whatever he chooses.

A return to homeschooling??

Lloyd left for the airport at the same time as the children left for the bus this morning...he said that at the end of the drive Abigail told him she didn't want to go to school....he figured it was because he was leaving...but she told him that she is bored at school and that they won't let her do any math.

I told him she was fine and she was happy when she got home - so then I asked her a little later what she liked about school. She said she HATES school (this she emphasised by holding my face) and that its boring and she wants to do math but the teacher 'won't let her'.....

She is coming home with pages of a single letter that she has had to trace and she has to learn a song about each letter to help her learn the letter.

Abigail was doing this over two or three years ago....no wonder she's bored.

She doesn't need to learn a stupid song to remember her letters or their sounds...

I was hoping the teacher would be better able to handle a class of mixed abilities but it doesn't seem to matter if some children are reading and others aren't....she makes them all do the same thing. Its not a huge class - less than twenty...she has a helper EVERY day...

If we talk to the school they will probably act like we don't know what we are talking about - we are obviously parents who are pushy and want their child fast-tracked...which couldn't be further from the truth - we just want Abigail to continue to LOVE learning - at HER pace....

Anyway, I always thought this would be a problem. I don't want her put into grade 1 because I know that by grade 3 I will regret having her in a class with girls so much older.....we went through that with Susie.

So maybe we homeschool for a few years and then try school again....

We've said we will give it until November and go to parents evening and see what she says....if the teacher cant say anything positive about Abigail then we will remove her from class...I don't thinka teacher who can't say anything positive about a child is any good at all - no matter how long they've been teaching! I don't want to hear that 'Abigail counts to fast'....she could say 'Wow Abby you're a great counter - can you try that a little more slowly for me?'

Abigail loves to learn - she loves worksheets and doing 'work'...always has...and I want her to be able to continue to learn in the way that suits her...in the way she loves....

I thought two days a week wouldn't make much difference but it does :(

unbelievable

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7014750.stm

These pictures of German soldiers relaxing during their time off from Auschwitz turn my stomach :(

love...

Sam has been busy playing with playdough since we got home and he brought me a heart he had made for me :)

Far away...

So, Lloyd is two time zones away.....that means he's very VERY far away :( He landed safely though and is now at the hotel waiting for his colleagues to arrive.