Don't drink the Kool Aid...

...That is Aaron's advice to me.  Remember the people in that cult a long time ago that all drank the Kool-Aid with poison in it and died because they were following what their leader told them to do?  I am heading it that direction as I am gearing up to home school.   I am trying to follow to the letter something that I think is going to work, but what if is doesn't?

Also, I  am not a perfect mom.  I have been known to lose it and raise my voice a little yell at times.  I have horrible follow through-I start things but have a hard time finishing them.  I have REALLY bad time management skills.  Jake and I are buddies and he can talk me into hanging out all day instead of cleaning or cooking.  Jake and I are a lot a like so sometimes we butt heads.  Jake is really smart when it comes to math...Me, not so much. 

The fear is creeping in.  I am becoming obsessed with a reading list.  I had a small breakdown when I learned that it is next to impossible to get one of the books on the suggested reading book list...I am scared.  My inner dialogue sounds something like this: "Can I do this?  I have to read EVER book on the suggested reading list in order to be able to do this...I am going to be able to do this whole "classic books" education?  I have just started reading the classics!  Do we need to look into a more structured curriculum?  Should I even be home schooling since I had to use spell check to spell curriculum right?????"  That is on a good day...

But, (I know you aren't supposed to start a sentence with but, but I do it all the time.  I write how I talk...) then I remember that there is no one better suited to teach my child than me.  I know him better than anyone.  I know that the school system is failing and that I have the best interest of my child in mind.  The school system does not, or they wouldn't be failing so miserably.  I will not drink the Kool-Aid.  I will not put all my eggs in one basket and assume it will work for my child.  I think the Thomas Jefferson Education is a great starting point.  A great break away from the conveyor belt that is the public school system.  If I don't read every book they suggest I am not setting myself up for failure.  I believe that they have created a great model and that we can make it work for us.  Maybe to the letter or maybe just bits and pieces...I can do this right?

Why I can never leave the house again...

....Because of the neighbors we have. No, not the people. They are all very nice....In case you didn't know this about me: I HATE SNAKES. Today while talking with our neighbors (who had been doing some yard work and found 2 snakes that they chopped up), Sadie started to chew on something and ran back to our front step with it in her mouth. I went over and pulled it out...It was part of a snake. I had in my hand...part of a snake...To put it mildly....I FREAKED OUT. Then when I picked Jake up from school she found it on the step (I left it there in my nervous breakdown and thought Aaron was going to pick it up for me...) and got it again. I freaked out again and went in the house and let the men take care of it. So, now I think everything that moves is a snake. Aaron was doing some yard work and cleared this much space:


In that amount of space he killed 3 snakes....3...in that small amount of space. One was even a Cooperhead. Wonderful. Snakes apparently love all the beautiful green ivey...(You can see the pile of stuff he cleared sitting on the drive way in front of the space he cleared. He was hoping I would help bring it to the curb...I am trying to work up the courage..) I called my mom and told her the great news and she told me to put the house up on the market. :)

I wonder how many this spot on the side of the house (that we forgot about raking) has in it...
Could there be on hiding in this tiny pile of leaves the wind blew up by the front steps...A better question is why are there still leaves falling in Spring? Do they ever stop falling Mom and Dad?
I was just putting in a load of wash down in the cellar and wondering as I looked at the piles of sorted laundry if any had slithered their way in the house...I am going to have snake nightmares tonight I can tell already...
**Update! (and not a good one..) I went across the street to borrow a shovel (the one we have is in Spartanburg-my Dad has a flat one on the end, but Aaron needed the pointy one...and yes those are the technical names for them) from our neighbor and told her about the snakes. She said "Oh, the small Cooperheads? Yeah, I see them everywhere." She said this as if it was no big deal and she wasn't surprised at all. She sees them every spring when she cleans out around her bushes. She then went on to tell me there was a dead one on the sidewalk in front of her house...I didn't look for it...(She also told me about the huge snakes she used to see on their farm...Why did she have to tell me about the 8 foot long black snake?)..Fast forward until 7:30 pm when Jake and I were letting Sadie out to do her business in the front yard (she is afraid of the shadows in the the back yard at night). The same neighbors dog, Sam, was out and he came over to play with Sadie. We walked him back home after a few minutes and I carried Sadie back to our yard....Guess what I almost stepped on (within about a inch)? THE DEAD SNAKE!!!! Seriously! I am going to say an extra special prayer to not have nightmares tonight!!!!**