Sometimes When You Homeschool.. You Have to Pull Out the Big Guns

I've been homeschooling since 1998.  In that time I've had a couple of children tell me they wanted to go to public school. Usually when this happens I say..

  • Go ask your father.
  • Are you sure you want to get up that early?
  • Do you want to miss out on the stuff we do during school hours?
  • Do you really want to ride a school bus?
  • You know you are not going to be able to snack whenever you want too.. AND they don't have iced tea and lemonade on tap.
  • You can't wear your pj's all day.
  • What about when we go to the American Royal? You'll have to go to school!
  • Won't you miss your mother?
  • What about Netflix? Who will watch Netflix if you are in school?

Sometimes the more brazen children will tell me; "I don't care, I'm want to go!"  When that happens, we practice going to public school the next day.  The school bus arrives at our house between 6:50am and 7:02am. 

I woke #5 up at 6:00am, if you are older and want to go to public school, you will have to get up around 5:00AM. He took a shower, had breakfast, made his lunch, packed up ALL of his textbooks and put them in his backpack and marched outside to wait by the drivers ed car (not at the end of our very long driveway) for the bus to come.

homeschool2#5 going out to wait for the bus.

DSC07164

While #5 was waiting for the bus… I admired my pink crepe myrtle.

DSC07165

And the butterfly bush.

homeschool3

He refused to speak to me while he was waiting…  But I think he's realized this might not be all it's cracked up to be.

publicschool5

The bus went by…. Can you see the yellow-orange bus?

#5 came in the house, and the plan was for us to go upstairs and start school…. and continue until public school was released. I walked upstairs… and this is what I found.

 

homeschool4

He was asleep.  When he woke up he said he said; "I don't think I'm cut out for public school."

The Suzie Eads Reality Bus Tour Through Wichita, Kansas

A little known fact about me… when I was a child I lived in Wichita Kansas… Just for fun we took last Friday and went to Wichita to do a little eBay scouting and check out the places where I hung out in 4th and part of 5th grade.

 wichita17

Here's the muffins (except for #1 she's in the front seat next to me)

            wichita3
We went to a pet store where we saw these cuties… Hedgehogs!

wichita14


We drove by the first house I lived in on Beechy Street.  This house house had the craziest kitchen cabinets. If Intagram would have been around then, I'm sure my mother would have put them up!  We didn't live in this house very long… I remember riding my bike here, and wearing the coolest gold velvet and tulle dress for Halloween. (I was a princess.. that's a shock right?)  My little sister Amy was born when we lived in this house.  My dad traveled for his job, and he bought a Doberman home to keep us safe.  The Doberman would whine and cry ALL NIGHT and would only eat deer meat (which we didn't have).. to say this dog made my mother crazy is an understatement.

wichita16

We moved to this house on Gretchen lane. I really liked this house. My best friend was Melanie, and we played Charlie's Angels, and I was SURE her brother was a spy. It was in this house if found out that Elvis died. My dad still traveled a lot for his job, and he was worried about the BTK killer that was in Wichita at the time. He installed phones in the bathrooms of our house so if something happened the kids (that were usually locked in the bathroom) could call for help.  My bedroom was the first window on the right.  I had the coolest cubby hole in this room, and I would climb up in it and read or play Barbies. 

wichita5

That building in the background is Kos Harris Elementary… where I went to school, and I crossed that bridge to get there.  It was this school my dad came in to tell me my little brother was born.

wichita13
Grace Presbyterian Church.. the church we went too. I love the stone on it.

wichita7

When we go somewhere new, we always try to eat some place that we've never eaten before.  On this day we ate at Jeanne's Cafe.  If you are ever in Wichita.. you should eat there.. it's pretty dang good!

wichita8

 

wichita6
This kid LOVES salad.

wichita9
We mailed a few packages….

wichita10

Went shopping.. ate a little ice cream…

wichita4
These two were exhausted.

 

#6 Photography… Strikes Again.

The BABY… #6 thinks he's quite the photographer.. Here are his latest photos…

DSC03574

We call this one.. Dad on sofa.

DSC03572

This one is called: "Mom needs to get the pictures that fell behind the sofa"

DSC03590

"Cleaning the kitchen"

DSC03587

"The Dish washer"

DSC03588

"Loading the dishwasher"

*What's the deal with that drawer and all the junk falling out of it? 😉

18 Years.. 18 Years.. 18 Years..

rachelmom

March 17th was a big day for us.  It marked 18 years of me being #1's mother. Most people don't realize that #1 is not my biological daughter, and when they find out they are totally shocked.. and usually say "You two look so much a like!" or "I can't believe that! You would never know by looking at you!" 

rachelpork3

#1 was The Man's from a previous marriage… when I met him, I really liked her better than I liked him.

DSC00490

When I married The Man; #1 walked me down the aisle… and she cried.  You know like sobbing.  I told her to stop and she said, "I can't! I'm just so happy!"  (She didn't seem happy).  Over the years we've shared countless funny moments… I wouldn't trade anything.

rachelsuziebw

Thanks for being my daughter!