A Morning In The Life Of Homeschool & We Finished Saxon Math 1

This entire school year I have been wanting to do a day in the life of homeschool post. Mainly I wanted to document this journey for myself so I have it to look back on in the years to come. This year has been so amazing in so many ways, but this mama is tired at the end of day. Once the kids are asleep, I am usually fighting sleep myself on the sofa at 8:30 p.m..

I was determined to get a day in the homeschool life post done before the end of the school year. And I got as far getting the morning somewhat documented. But I am totally ok with that. The year hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows and some days have been really hard trying to figure out how to mom, teach, clean, cook, etc.. Homeschooling has taught me to have more patience and to also be more flexible. This year has been a new learning curve for me in many ways but I would 100% do it all over again if given the choice. It has been a joy and privilege to watch my kids learn and to help in that process.

5:45 a.m.

This is a somewhat typical morning in our current homeschool life. Obviously each day is different so keep that in mind. I don’t wake up early every morning to exercise but if I want to get a solid workout in the time before the kids wake up tends to work best for me.

I roll out of bed and walk out to our garage. I love having all our equipment in one place. It is the best. Also we kept my lululmeon ambassador photo from years ago and I finally told Josh he could hang it. I thought it was so weird to have my picture hanging in our garage gym. But now that it is up I like it. It is still probably weird but I am ok with that for now. Josh said it motivates him will he is working out and imagines I am giving him my little pep talks like I would give to a client.

I am currently doing Mind Pump Media’s HIIT program. I am on my 4th week and really loving it. M/W/F I am doing a 15 minute HIIT and 15 minute core workout. T/TH is 20 minutes of flexibility and 10 minutes of core work. I am so sweaty on the HIIT workout days and sooooooo sore. I love it, but hate it at the same time.

6:20 a.m.

I finish my workout and come inside as the kids are coming out of their bedrooms. Maisie wants to read me The Duckling Gets A Cookie?!. Best feeling seeing your child learn to read and even better knowing you helped them learn.

I get breakfast ready for the kids and make a protein smoothie for myself. The kids have kodiak cake waffles with bacon on the side. The smoothie for me consists of chocolate premier protein, spinach, banana, hemp seed, and frozen mixed berries.

6:45 a.m.

Everyone is sitting down for breakfast and on the table is our catechism and bible study. I have done several posts on these before and you can read about these HERE and HERE.

After breakfast I clean up the dishes, sweep the floor, make sure the kitchen is ready for our homeschool day. Then while I get cleaned up from my workout the kids get to watch a t.v. show. Each morning one of them gets to pick the show and as soon as it is over the television goes off for the rest of the day. Depending on the day they may watch another show later but we really try to limit it during the our school week.

8:00 a.m.

The two youngest in our house play in their bedroom at this point while I work with the older two on Math. On this day they each had an assessment. This is Maisie’s final day of her Saxon Math 1 worksheets.

I am so proud of us! Caden still has 10 more lessons to go and he will be finished also with Saxon Math 3. I am just so proud of our family. Those books looked so daunting at the start of the school and to be at this point feels so good.

8:30 a.m.

While math is still happening I realize the 4 year olds have been very quiet. They were having fun in their bedroom pulling out all the stuffed animals from the bean bag storage and also multiple other toys.

And that is the last picture I got for the morning.

8:45 a.m.

Josh is home by now from work and Maisie is working on ReadingEggs.com. She has finished her work and Caden is starting on his math lesson now, today it is learning how to use the scale on a map.

9:30 a.m.

Everyone gets a snack and we head into the backyard to play.

10 a.m.

Back inside the house and we are now moving onto our last week of lessons in the Journey’s series. I am not sure I would use these books again if we were to continue homeschooling. I picked them because the elementary school the kids attend use the series. We wanted to make sure if we sent them back to school this year they would be using the same curriculum. Overall, they served the purpose they needed but I don’t think they work best for homeschooling and are obviously intended for the classroom.

Caden is fairly independent for the next hour, which is perfect because I can focus on Maisie. During this time they do handwriting, phonics, reading, and grammar.

11 a.m.

It is time to get ready for lunch. And this is where I am going to end this morning in the life of homeschool post. We continue school after lunch too but that is a different post for hopefully another day.

Thanks for reading!

Tam

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My Experience Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine

Last week I received my second vaccination for COVID-19 at the Mesa Convention Center. Thank you to all the firefighters, staff, and volunteers working this site. It was the best place for me to be vaccinated because I was surrounded by many of my husbands co-workers. I wanted to wait until after I had both doses to share and today is the day I am doing just that.

My first dose of Moderna was on March 28th. I went back on forth on getting the vaccine due to my health history. To be clear I am so thankful these vaccines exists and are so readily available in the United States.

In my 20s I had Guillian-Barre Syndrome (GBS) and there were early contraindications suggesting against the vaccine. Later the GBS/CIDP Foundation International and the CDC released statements saying persons who have previously had GBS may receive an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

If you or your loved one has had GBS I hope that my sharing this can encourage you if you happen to be on the fence about the vaccination.

SHOT #1

The parking was a breeze, I waited in a very short line to check in, and was quickly seated and administered the Moderna shot. For the room being as full as it was the process was efficient and everything was well organized.

Funny story. Fifteen minutes after the shot I wanted to say hi to several of my husband’s co-workers before leaving. Everyone had masks on and only seeing people’s eyes can be tricky. I was overly confident in knowing who people were and I was so wrong. I had conversations with people I had never met before but thought they were someone else. Oh well. Josh got a kick out of the story so I guess it wasn’t a total loss.

As far as side effects go I only had a sore arm for the first 48 hours. My arm was most sore 12 hours after the shot. And the evening after my shot I had a slight headache. Nothing severe. I drank a gallon of water the day before the vaccination and for multiple days after and convinced myself shot #2 would be the same with adequate hydration. And spoiler alert: it wasn’t.

SHOT #2

Twenty-eight days later back to the Mesa Convention Center I went. This time the parking lot was very empty, which I was not expecting. The line in the hallways was non-existent and I quickly was able to check in.

The sweet lady who checked me in told me that this was highly unusual, as they had been very full in the previous weeks. The site isn’t getting as many new appointments and the majority of those in the room were there, like me, for their second.

I waited my 15 minutes. Then, unlike after my first shot, did manage say hello to someone who was actual the person I thought they were. I actually didn’t leave my chair for another 15 minutes because we catched up on life. If they vaccination site been more full, like it had been the first time I went, there is no way this longer conversation could have happened. It is wild the difference in the amount of people there from my first to second shot.

Now lets talk side effects. Whomp. Whomp. The first twelve hours started out real good. No fever, chills, body aches, or fatigue and for the first 12 hours. Waking up feeling very hot at midnight, I took my temperature, and was met with the urgent triple beep and red screen. 101.2. My fever lasted until 2:30 p.m. and I was in bed all day. My body ached, my head hurt, and could barely keep my eyes open. But 48 hours later I was feeling much, much better. It has now been 72 hours and I am still feeling good.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This last year has been crazy.

I could probably leave it at that but I am just grateful to be able to spend more time the last several weeks with family as they have become fully vaccinated.

Setting up appointments for numerous family members to be vaccinated was at times very frustrating at the start of the year. The appointment website was not well designed initially when first launched and has since been corrected.

At this time having seen the numerous empty chairs at Convention Center I am hoping to the county health departments will be able to allocate the vaccines for popup sites in different communities.

Today I read that it will take 800+ days to vaccinate 60% of the world population. I feel very fortunate that I live in the United States. It is heartbreaking reading about what is happening in India and other countries around the world who don’t have access to the vaccine.

I will be sure to share an update when I am fully vaccinated and if I experience any other side effects.

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The Anniversary of the COVID-19 Shutdown

One year ago tonight on March 11, 2020 President Trump gave an address to the Nation on the coronavirus, actor Tom Hanks announced himself and wife Rita Wilson had tested positive for COVID-19, the NBA announced an indefinite suspension for the rest of season, and the World Health Organization declared we were officially in a pandemic.

What a year.

Last year on this date I wrote a blog post documenting how the state of Arizona, where I live, had only tested 100 people for COVID-19. Do you remember how hard it was at that time to get a test? The criteria was so limiting that it was impossible to be tested unless you had recently traveled to Wuhan or been exposed to someone with the virus.

As of today Arizona has administered 4,332,529 tests, there has been 830,465 confirmed cases, and horrifically 16,464 deaths.

It is mind blowing to me looking at the graphs below and seeing what out country has experienced over the last 365 days.

Image Source: The New York Times

COVID has become part of our daily life and all of us have been impacted. On a personal level my husband Josh has seen many COVID patients on medical calls he has been dispatched to with his ladder truck. Some with oxygen levels in the 70s refusing to go to the hospital because they don’t want to be put on a ventilator. This breaks my heart so much. Recommended Reading: My Husband is a Firefighter, Please Stop Calling COVID-19 the Flu

Josh has worked at fire stations that have had COVID outbreaks. We know so many people who have tested positive and lost loved ones in the last 365 days. And it has just sucked.

Really. Really. Sucked.

I never thought I would experience anything like this in my lifetime.

If you have been a longtime reader you know that I struggle with panic attacks and anxiety. If any year was going to cause me to panic it would be this year and I am just so thankful that God made it possible for me to focus on my mental health years ago. God is so good. And even in the crazy scariness of this year I have still felt God’s protection over my head and heart.

Weird things that I have enjoyed this year include: driveway visits with friends and family, going to the grocery store to pick up my food curbside, homeschooling my kids, cute/comfortable face masks, hand sanitizer, being able to schedule my immediate family to get their vaccines (and yes the scheduling website was awful but I still enjoyed that I was able to help), online fitness studios (shoutout to Fit Women’s Weekly, Apple Fitness, and Dribble Up), watching Star Wars with my oldest son, and saving money by eating at home.

I am thankful to have a roof over my head, the ability to homeschool my children this year, and that my husband has a job. I know so many people in the United States are suffering right now and I am hopeful that the $1.9 trillion relief bill that President Biden signed today will help our country.

529,000 lives have been lost as of today from COVID-19 in the United States. Never did I think our country would reach such a number in a year. Our family will continue to mask up and do our part to help. I am now the only one out of my parents, brother/sister-in-law, grandparents, and husband who has not been vaccinated yet. I am so grateful they were able to get the vaccine and that they will be safe from hospitalization and severe COVID-19 complications. This year has been hard. But I am so hopeful that better days are ahead.

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