Girl Scout Camp

So I must start off by saying that Brenna had a GREAT time at camp! I tell myself that's all that matters. Yes, by my tone you can see that I did NOT have a great time. LOL I am just being honest. (Ooooo! Some drama on the blog!! Finally! LOL!!)
First of all, Brenna and I are the only ones from the troop that went - besides her troop leader and her daughter. I really thought that more girls were going to go. I was stuck all day with a person that has absolutely no personality. Brenna's leader, I found out this weekend, is really not much of a 'kid person' (or much of a 'people person' either LOL). Why is she a troop leader, you ask? I have no idea!
So Brenna and I got there and there were lots of girls and their leaders/parents. It was an over-night thing so everyone was setting up their tents. We were told that the Daisy's (Kinder-1st) were NOT allowed to stay the night. After we got there we found out that they COULD stay the night after all. Her leader was pretty ticked (so was I) that we were not told before hand that they could. I would have LOVED to camp out with Brenna (we are campers so it would have been great!) BUT we did not have our stuff to do it and I am not a very good "last minute" person. So I dealt with the fact that we would just be there for the day and thought we would both have a wonderful time. Getting back to the fact that Brenna's leader is a 'crumb bum' ( a great word I picked up from my mother-in-law!) - for the first couple hours we just SAT THERE and she had no interest in socializing with other people. Why did I just sit there with her? Good question. I guess I just kept waiting for her to take some initiative (she IS the troop leader for goodness sakes!) but it never happened. I have never sat with someone in silence for so long as I did with her. It got to the point where it was uncomfortable conversation..."So what does your husband do?", "How old is your son again?"...blah, blah, blah.... I was trying to come up with anything that I could!! She would answer my question and that was that. The girls were playing real nice together though and Brenna wandered off and met quite a few new girls (my social little butterfly!).
Finally they started the 'organized events' (two hours later!) and split all the girls up into four different groups to do crafts. It really was fun and Brenna got to make some little wooden instruments, a cool little bird hat and some other things. Most of the time though I sat and listened to leaders, as well as Brenna's leader, get after the girls for doing this and that - seemed like boot camp!! Not the fun Girl Scout camp that I remembered as a kid. By this time I had quite a headache. After the craft things they had lunch and again, we sat by ourselves in our little spot and the two girls ate lunch with each other and I had to suffer through absolutely no conversation from Brenna's leader, AGAIN. After lunch all the girls played with all the toys they had (hoola hoops, baseball stuff, frisbies, horse shoes, ect...) By this time I was fed up with just sitting there, so I played with Brenna and the troop leaders' daughter. We threw frisbies, played sack races and kicked a soccer ball around. After a little while we had gathered quite a nice little group of girls and we were having so much fun! All the while Brenna's troop leader was just sitting there. I don't think that girl smiled so much as one time while we were there.
Brenna and I stayed until about 6:30 (we got there at 9:30am). I was going to wait until after we ate dinner but things were not going as planned and dinner was still a little ways off. Brenna was starting to get a little grumpy and I was so ready to go home. We had both been up at 6am that morning. It was about a 30 minute drive home so I figured it was a good time to leave.
I guess next time we have anything like that I will be prepared a little more and reliaze that Brenna's troop leader is NOT going to do much. Hopefully we will have more girls and more Moms go and have a little more fun.
After coming home and telling Brendon all about it, he is so for me starting my own Girl Scout troop. Maybe Brenna's leader will realize that she is not cut out for all this and then I will volunteer to take over. I think it would be a lot of fun. My Mom was my scout leader the whole time I was in scouts and we had such a great time!!
I guess we'll see what happens.
(BTW - no pics cuz my batteries were dead. UGH!)

New Poll

I have a new poll on the right. Don't worry - I can't tell who votes what, so pick what you want. :) I tried coming up with answers that everyone could pick from.
Thanks!

Karate!! (and a note from Miss Brenna)

Brenna did her first karate class last night! She said months ago that she wanted to try it but then changed her mind when I finally told her that we would go. I never could get it out of her as to why she didn't want to until a few nights ago. Poor thing was afraid that she was really going to have to fight people and get beat up! I explained to her that karate class is where you learn and that you really don't fight people. Her eyes lit up and she became very excited about it again and decided that she would do it.
She did great yesterday and really tried her best. A bigger kid even came up to her and said that she was doing good and even better than HE did on his first day. I thought that was real sweet. Her instructor is awesome and really made Brenna feel very comfortable. There were a couple times when she got a little nervous and was scared to try something but he was very good at recognizing that and helped her through it. He gave her a lot of praise and really built up her confidence. I think the discipline is going to be really good for her too. He is strict and does not allow any talking during stretching and any goofing around. Brenna asked him for a break and a drink of water after they finished doing the warm ups. She said that her throat was hurting and he told her that her and her throat will toughen up and then walked away. LOL! (He did give them a break about 15 minutes later.)
I will try to remember to take my camera next time so that I can post some pictures.

Tomorrow we have Girl Scout camp to go to. The older girls get to spend the night but since Brenna is a Daisy Scout we will just be there for the day. I'll post about that this weekend.

So Brenna is sitting right here and asked me what I was doing and after I told her she said that she wanted to write some things. So she will dictate while I type....

Hi! So I really love to do karate. If you have a child why don't you get them in karate. If your child likes karate bring them over to one of the karate classes. Hey and guess what? I know how to read and my Mom taught me! I really like that my Mom is my teacher because she's the best Mom ever and I like spending time with her. Mom and I love to play together because we are family.
I have lots of friends too. One of them is Rhiannon, she is going to be 4 soon. And I have a lot of friends in Girl Scouts. So if you have any girls maybe you should get them into Girl Scouts. I have some friends in karate too. Hi-YA! I love karate!
And I go to a place called the Homeschool Group where all the homeschoolers go. There are lots and lots of kids that are homeschooled. We did a homeschool class too with the other kids and we learned about Indians but now it's over but we're going to do it again. And one more thing about the homeschooling thing. Next Report Day I'm going to do a report on my tadpoles.
Well that's all for now. Hopefully my Mom will let me write again soon. Bye!
Love,
Brenna

Trip to the Firestation

Today we took a field trip with the homeschool group to one of the fire stations. It was so much fun and the kids had a great time! The firemen were wonderful and really showed them a lot of things and it was very 'hands-on'. I have posted quite a few pictures. Brenna got such a kick out of sitting up in the front seat of the truck as well as getting to spray the fire hose. In one picture she was the volunteer to show everyone how to 'get low and get out' when there is a fire. She also demonstrated the stop, drop and roll. I think Brenna and I might make some cookies and take them to the fire station this week as a 'thank you'.
Hope everyone remembered to change the batteries in their smoke alarms with the time change!

Real Life Lessons

Ok, so I guess I didn't go TOO long without posting. LOL I am trying to get on here more often and update. By the way - I have a poll on the right side of my blog if you want to vote real quick. Just something fun I thought I would do. I will change it up and have different things every so often, so make sure to look for it.

So things have been going pretty good. Report Day this past Wednesday was wonderful. Like I said in my last post, we had our local weatherman come and talk to the kids and it was very interesting. He was great with them and made it rather interesting (even to the parents!). He talked with all the kids for about 20 minutes and then the little ones went outside to play while he went into more detail with the older kids. At one point he asked the kids how far away the sun was from the Earth and everyone was shouting out all these numbers. All of a sudden I hear my little Brenna's voice, "One hundred million miles!!!" He looked at Brenna with a huge smile and said, "You are very close!" (the sun is actually 93 million miles away). She just beamed and I was so proud of her (ok, so maybe it was a total fluke that she got it pretty much right BUT we have read this book about space quite a few times so maybe she remembered?? who knows.....) Anyway, Brenna and the kids from her co-op class also got up and did a little song, "Ten Little Indians", with their headdresses and necklaces that they made. It was adorable. Brendon came and was able to see her do it and met some of the families. He said he was pretty impressed by the number of people there. I guess he pictured it as somewhat small. I think we have about 80 people (kids and Moms) in our homeschool group. I have made friends with quite a few of them but have really 'clicked' with one. We sit together at all the get togethers and today we met at the park with the kids (she has 3 kids - 8, 6 and 1). Brenna and her kids get along so good! I finally took my camera to Report Day so I have few pictures....

This Wedneday we are taking a field trip with the homeschool group to the firestation. When I worked at St. Alban's I went with the 4 year old class and had a GREAT time so I am looking forward to it. I think Brenna will have a good time. I'll post some pictures of it next time I get on here.

So as most of you know, I am my Grandpa's caretaker and work for a home health care agency. Brenna and I go to my Grandparent's house Monday through Friday for a few hours a day. About once a month a nurse from the agency comes to the house and updates Grandpa's records and makes sure that he is doing okay. The nurse that comes, Dan, is so nice and just wonderful with Brenna. Every time he comes Brenna gets her doctor stuff that my Grandma bought her and 'helps' Dan with Grandpa. So Dan came to the house today and Brenna was ready with all of her things. She pulls her little wooden chair right next to his and is so serious and listens to everything he says (I swear that she is going to grow up to become a doctor!). I really wish that I would have had my camera today. She helped Dan listen to Grandpa's chest, gave him a pretend shot and took his temperature. Dan even let Brenna check his blood sugar! He pricked his finger and she put the test strip up to the blood and held it there until it read it. She stood there so serious looking waiting until the results came up and told Dan what his blood sugar was. Whenever he talks to us about Grandpa she just sits there and really listens and pays attention to everything. I told Grandma today that THIS is the stuff that I love about homeschooling - the real life things. If she would be going to school everyday then she wouldn't be there for things like that. I just think it is awesome for my daughter to learn that way and to be so involved in things like that. I have read so much about how great it is for children to go to nursing homes and to spend time with people who need to be 'taken care of'. It teaches them empathy and caring. I really try to involve Brenna in things when I go over there. I fix my Grandpa's lunch everyday and she is in charge is taking Papa his insulin shot and his drink. It is minor things but it teaches her responsibilty and for helping and caring for somebody else. I really am so grateful that she gets to spend so much time with her Great Grandparents. And my Grandma spoils that heck out of her so she loves it too! LOL :)

Anyway, Brenna and I have been having a lot of fun with school too. Right now we are working on telling time. She is doing so great with it. We are just concentrating on the hours and half hours. She has pretty much mastered that so soon we will be starting on the quarters (4:15, 5:45, ect...). We have also been learning about putting things in alphabetical order. Today we went around the house and she made a list of things and then we sat at the table and put our list in alphabetical order. We talked about when you would use that (like doctors filing charts, the phone book, dictionary, ect...) and how important it is. She got a 'real life' lesson today (I LOVE those!!!) when Dan (Grandpa's nurse) was looking up a medication in his book. I asked her how she thought he would find it quickly and she said because they were all in alphabetical order. What a proud Mom I was! :)

I was talking to my friend, Michelle, today at the park (the Mom from my homeschool group) and she told me that the most thing that she loved about homeschooling was being the one to teach her kids things and seeing them retain that information and actually USE it. It really is the most rewarding thing in the whole world.

WARNING: Long Blog Ahead! (and lots of pictures)

So I guess I have not been as good at this blog thing as I had hoped when I started it. What did I say once.... that I would post a couple times a week??? HA! My apologies. I have been informed by my Mother though that I need to post more often. LOL :) I really am so busy that I don't have much time to sit at the computer and write. I am lucky if I get to check my email on a daily basis. My poor Grandma Carol too - I used to write to her almost everyday and now she is lucky to get an email from me once a month. Sorry Grandma!! I love you!

Anyway, I finally have time tonight to sit and write - and I better warn you, I have A LOT to write about!! So grab your tea or coffee or wine (depending on the time of day I guess) or whatever and be prepared to be here a while. LOL :)

I guess I will start with the Homeschool Co-op that we have been doing for the past month. Today was actually our last co-op day (for now). We have been going every Friday for the past four weeks. Brenna had a wonderful time and really enjoyed everything that we did. I ended up helping in Brenna's class (Kinder-1st) and all the things that they did revolved around Indians. They made books, head dresses, jewelry and practiced the "Ten Little Indians" song that they will do for Report Day next week. This was the first time that the Homeschool group has done this and it was a HUGE success and so much FUN. We will do it again starting in February but this time it will be for 8 weeks instead of 4 (with a one week break during Spring Break) and will go till noon instead of 11am. I never did get any pictures because, of course, I forgot to take my camera but I will snap some during Report Day next week when Brenna's group gets up and does their song and will post some. Tim Smith (our local weather man) will be there next week talking to the kids about the weather so we are excited about that. I have a few things that we are going to do Monday and Tuesday pertaining to weather to get ready for that. I will also have Brenna watch the news those days as well so she can see "the man on TV" that she's going to get to meet (maybe she'll pay attention more if she thinks he's a real 'TV star'? LOL)

Anyway, Brendon, Brenna and I went to a really cool place last Saturday (Oct. 27th). It was the corn maze that they do here every Fall and we had a BLAST!! I guess they have been doing it for a few years now but we have never gone, which I really regret now! I thought it was just the maze but when we got there they had a playground, hay stacks for the kids to play in, a pumpkin patch, hay ride, train ride, corn box (like a sand box but full of corn!), a farm animal petting place, and loads of great food (my favorite! hahaha!). The maze was so much fun! We were in it for about an hour and yes, we did get lost a couple times but thanks to Brendon's great directional skills we did just fine. I tell you what, if I had to get us through there we might STILL be there! :) This place is open until the end of December so we are planning to go back a couple more times. I have quite a few pictures......

So on to Halloween!!! Brenna was the cutest little witch that I have ever seen! Technically, I guess, she was a witch FAIRY but she was darn cute! We went to one of the church festivals that we go to every year with Nan and like always, we had a wonderful time. Brenna was all about trick-or-treating this year though so we did not stay as long as we usually do. After the festival we went on our hunt for candy with Nan and Kastine (Grandma and cousin) and went in Kastine's neighborhood and our neighborhood. Of course we went to see Grandma Dawn and Grandpa Kim too. Brenna got loads of candy and has been so generous to share it with Brendon and I. I have been having some chocolate for breakfast every morning. YUM! Here are some pictures of Brenna in her costume...........

Anyway, as you can see, we have been having such a wonderful time. I really do feel so blessed to be able to homeschool my wonderful, sweet, funny little girl. :) I just love being able to spend all day with her and to be the one who answers all of her questions and see the 'light bulb' click when she learns something. Besides all of the 'fun stuff' that I have posted about, she is learning how to write, is getting to be a FANTASTIC reader, doing so many fun crafts (we had a BLAST doing Halloween stuff!), mastering addition and subtraction as well as starting to understand the concept of fractions, and she has recently learned how to count to 100 by 10's and 5's. I try to incorporate learning in everything that we do - it is so hard to describe it all. She learns so much just by doing 'real life' things too - like cooking, helping me with yard work, going grocery shopping, ect. I guess I just really love being a Mom. To me it is the best job in the world (if only I got PAID for it!! LOL!!:)