DASH6/7

Here I sit. You can't see me here sitting, but I assure you that I am. In fact I an sitting in my bed. Which could explain why I am tired.

have a lot of thought, but they all seem to be overlapping each other, vying for my attention. Each trying to be the first to get out og my head and into this weblog.

I think I need to go eat dragonflies while the prisoners thoughts fight it out amongst themselves.

**** passage of time ****

I am back from lilypad hopping and dragonfly eating . . . and happy to announce the winner of the fight (for dominance amongst the thoughts).... * The Scheduling Thought*
I have decided that the best way to live on a public school schedule while home schooling is to adapt our homeschool life to fit the public school schedule, while trying to maintain some freedom. I think it may be a losing battle. The best place to start is the beginning. So we will all have breakfast together with Dashnyam on Mon, Tues, and Thursday. Mondays- because every other Monday is Collaboration Day- which means Dash's class starts att 9:55 instead of 8:30. So every other Monday will be a relaxed, later, breakfast together. and Tues & Thursday was chosen because those are Ki's Mornings to make Breakfast.

***passage of time - to watch a few minutes at Netflix, go downstairs to get my phone- stop to talk to Ki about something, get distracted by Gavin explaining his chemistry lesson and ask for money to buy milk, tell the boys they all need to be off the computers at 4:30, then come back to blogging ***

Thee next thought to rear it's head is the "what I did today" line of thinking.
8AM: hear the alarm and debate actuallly getting up.
8:10- decide to lay in bed and check my email.
8:17- I am now downstairs making bacon and french toast and calling the boys in to eat breakfast.
8:30- Breakfast and reading Story of the World, have Dashnyam finish getting ready and packing his lunch.
remind the boys to check the borad for their school work and tel them I want their chores done by 9:30.
9:06- drive Dashnyam to school. I wanted to go on campus with him to make sure he found the correct place to get his pictures taken for this ID and the yearbook. It ended pup being NOT the building I was originally told so I was glad I was there to ask annd find the right place.

around 9:30- drove home, grabbed a cloth grocery bag, biked to Von's for yogurt.
10- I realize I still haven't had breakfast, so I grab a protein drink. I bought a few at the store the other day for mornings like this.
Then I take the clothes out of the dryer, because it doesn;t work and I have to go hang the clothes. I remind Ki to not bother with the dryer, to set the basket by the backdoor next time. I then go hang the clothes on the clothesline.

Edit some photos on the computer. Research, call theater class places for Ki. Read to Ki from a science book.

I have the boys help clean in the kitchen and then I make the marinade for the Tandorri Chicken. (for Tuesday) I clean up from that, split the marinade in half. Half for the chicken half for extra sauce). Then I get the clothes from the washer and take them out to hang them.
By now it is around noon and I grab lunch. around 1, Ki says he is going for a bike ride. I tell him I was getting ready to bike to Trader Joes and he can join me. So much for a nap after lunch.

We get home at 2:13. just in time to tell Gavin to go get Dashnyam from the school. I had not been paying attention to the time so it as a good thing I got home when I did, or Dashnyam nay have had to figure out to walk home on hs own. I am having Gavin (and something the others) walk him to school and back. I figure it gets my boys out of the house and a little exercise, it gives me some time in the house alone IF II send all of them.... and gives Dashnyam a few days to figure out the route. I think I may keep 2 days a week I send ALL 3 boys to walk him to school- for the entire school year. So I have a few minutes quiet. we'll see how that works out.

it is now 4:10. Gavin has gone to the store because he thinks we do not have enough milk for potato soup. I think we do, but I think he plans on making a boatload of soup, so he can have soup all week. The dishwasher is running. The dishwasher is running and I need to go bring the 2 loads of l sundry in from the line.

****passage of time**** (so you not mistakenly think I write these entries all at once)
I'm back. The laundry has been brought in, G&D picked tomatoes, C&K cleared the dishwasher, G made potato soup, D helped prepare the salmon, Brian and I drove to A.G. to buy an extra-long twin mattress for Gavin...

and now it is time for dinner.
Here are some pictures from the weekend...... and links for other Dashnyam Blog Entries

I should do some yoga, but am tired from my 2 very short bike rides.


BRIAN & DASHNYAM --->



DASHNYAM-->

SMILEY CHARGING AT HIS MOTHER while unleashing the cry of a banshee--->

DASHNYAM--->

PREVIOUS DASHNYAM POSTS:
DASH1
DASH2
DASH3
DASH4/5

DASH4? or is it DASH5?

PREVIOUS DASHNYAM POSTS:
DASH1
DASH2
DASH3

Because I did not do a DASH entry yesterday (Thursday) on Day 4, do I call this entry DASH5, because it is Day 5 with Dash OR do I call it DASH4 because it is the 4th entry in the Dashnyam Chronicles?

Did that sentence really need to have the word 'because' three times??

Last back-track a bit to yesterday for a short overview of Day 4 with Dash. Yesterday I drove him to school, spent an hour talking to attendance officers and parent support people. They were all very kind and helpful. I was armed with phone numbers and a calendar with all the odd days that school starts/ends at different times that normal or there is no school. And there are LOTS of those days!!

I finally got my google calendar loaded up with all the new info and deleted all my old times and plans for our school. They will be re-planned this weekend.

Paul stopped by our house waiting for time to take the bus home (A friend from Grover Beach that takes classes down here and rides the bus). Gavin walked Dashnyam home. The boys relaxed, D did a little homework, we went to church, came home, Dash forgot to finish his homework until 10PM, so he was up kinda late.


NOW for DAY 5....
I guess I should call this entry DASH4&5. or DASH 4/5.

I woke, very unwillingly, at 7:14 and got to Dashnyam's room around 7:17. He was still sleep. I thought he didn't understand how to turn on his alarm clock, but Gavin to old me he did have it on, but when it went off at 7AM, Dashnyam turned it off and went back to bed. He was tired from staying up late to finish his homework. I'll have to give him more notice of when we have things planned in the evenings so he can get his homework done around our schedule..

I sent all 3 of my boys out to walk Dashnyam to school with giving Gavin specific instructions of timing how long it takes. They left the house at 8:10 and said it took 13 minutes to get Dashnyam to the corner. It's about a 3-4 minute walk for Dashnyam to get all the way to his class. So we'll plan on a 20 minute walk,to account for waiting on the light and cars to cross streets. Ki said they lucked out with the street crossing today and didn;t have to wait to cross any streets.

I made chai. I discovered that those bulk, Mexican, inexpensive cinnamon sticks are CHEAP for a reason.. they are cheap cinnamon! The whole entire bag has no cinnamon smell, the sticks broken have no yummy cinnamon scent and I licked one and it didn't taste like cinnamon at all. So I added extra clove and anise to my chai. but it's not as good as with the cinnamon. That'll teach me to buy cheap spices!

10:00 - Gavin is learning Japanese, Ki is doing laundry, and Connor is cooking a PVC pipe in the oven. The leather hardening didn't work well yesterday. They will try again after gathering more information.
They are working on weapons for Feast of Mars (Amtgard camp). Connor seems to have finished and socked his weapon today. i has something planned. I need to sew some sashes.


One of Dash's teachers emailed me today, in response to one I sent her, just checking on how he is understanding and going in the class, since he had told me he was a little confused. Sounds like things are going well. He took a reading placement test today to make sure he is in the class he needs to be or if he needs to be moved.

I wonder if I can get Brian to take the 4 boys to church tonight and leave me at home.

TRUTH IS THURSDAY

(Visit Julianna to link up or read more TRUTH IS ...Thursday posts)

Truth Is....... I am very glad my boys are NOT in the local public high school. Day 3 of dealing with the school system and I am ALREADY fed-up with it. And let's not EVEN get into me having to be on a Public School schedule.


Truth Is...... I fired my lazer.

Truth Is..... I don't know if I will make it to my next acupuncture appointment.

Truth Is.... I should have opted for a massage instead of acupunture, or maybe both.

Truth Is.... I enjoy this big, busy mess of hosting a foreign exchange student! And Dashnyam is a great kid! (read about Dashnyam HERE)

Truth Is... I need to stop hosting foreign kids because each time I do my list of "Countries I want to Visit" gets longer..... Or maybe just host from countries I have already visited.... but where's the fun in THAT?

Truth Is... it is time to color my hair; cover those greys again.


Truth Is.... the boys will have more school work/less unschool this year. Sort of. Though in high school, unschool often still looks a bit like 'curriculum/classes' in a way. They decided what they wanted to learn and now will have to follow the text book/course guide and do it. I got a Lapbook/ journal for Ki to do with his science. I am sure he will "Make it His Own" though.

~ His text book, journal, and audio CD arrived today, but they sent the wrong text book, so we have to wait a week to get that to use to plan his science days.


Truth Is..... I am tired and feel to brain-dead to think of anymore "Truths."

DASH3

After his classes, we took Dashnyam to the Farmer's Market . He was offered a piece of plum. The stand owner used a wooden skewer to hand them out. I held the skewer with the piece of plum out fr Dashnyam. He leaned forward and ate it off the skewer, much to the chagrin of the stand owner, who instantly felt bad for his reaction as it made Dashnyam feel bad.

We then walked to the Apple Guy. The apple guy is really nice. He always makes us smile for a free sample. He was handing a sample to Dashnyam then told him he has to smile first, it's their rule. Dashnyam didn't understand him at first, so I repeated it slowly. I told Apple Guy "this is our exchange student from Mongolia that I mentioned last week." (because I am SURE he remembers MY conversation from all the farmers markets he goes to almost daily.) He shook Dashnyams hand and introduced himself (and I STILL can not remember his name) and asked Daashnyam a few questions.

We then walked to the ice cream store (on the far side of the parking lot). I bought the boys cones, we walked back to the van, then had to buy crickets and bloodworms. We went to PetSmart. We walked around with Dashnyam looking at the fish, birds, cats, etc. Dashnyam said they only have dogs for pets in Mongolia. His family doesn't have a dog though. I wonder how accurate that is. I can't imagine a place without cats as pets, or frogs, or other 'non-dog' animals.

Once home, I realized I forgot to buy lasagna noodles, so I biked to Von's while D&G picked tomatoes and C&K brought the laundry in from the line. They played on the computer while I cooked stuff. I then had Dashnyam, Connor, and Ki assemble the 2 lasagnas. MMMMMmmmm, the lasagna was YUMMY!! Dashnyam loved it, too. Connor always loves lasagna.

Brian took G&D to buy wood for making a bunk bed, K&C stayed home. Me, too. So I could type this blog.

I got a recorded message from the school today, informing me Dashnyam was Absent for his first class today and it is unexcused and I need to turn in a note....... UM- He did not even get his class schedule until 9:30-- AFTER the first period class was over anyway!! The school is the one who decided to not givehim his schedule yesterday like was originally planned. and now I have to turn in a note for him unexcused absence.
DAY 1 and I am ALREADY SICK of dealing with the public school!

ug.

Oh, his schedule! He got English, US History, and PE:Aquatics. School is from 8:30-2:30. YEAH!!!! I am kinda glad he did not get the extra morning class or the extra evening class- as that would make the school day from 7:30-3:30. The morning would have been 'ok', but I am mostly glad he gets out at 2:30 so we have time for things like the beach and farmers markets and other fun activities! And he goes in ate enough we can eat breakfast with him!
And I'm sure he'll learn lots from us, probably more than if he had those extra classes. He'll be with us for reading Story of the World. I'll have him read part of it out aloud (my boys all do this) and I think I'll ask Brian to do a little math with maybe.

PREVIOUS DASHNYAM POSTS:
DASH1
DASH2

DASH2

I will start this entry off by answering a few questions:

(from Julianna-)
So, I'm facinated. Are you home schooling him as well, or is he going to HS and benifitting from your home school adventures?

Is he completely fluent in English? How long is he staying? Is there any culture shock?

Inquiring minds want to know. :)


He will be attending the local high school as soon as everyone gets their act together, gets a schedule, ect. He took a placement test on Monday and has a meeting Wed morning about his schedule. I have no idea if he will start classes Wed or later. I am not home schooling him, but I'm sure he will benefit from time to time, from what we have going on here plus he'll be able to understand me. Some of the teachers at the high school are native Spanish Speakers who speak English as a 2nd language and are often difficult to understand for a foreigner in a class room setting.

He is NOT fluent in English but speaks well enough for us to have conversations. I learned that McDonalds has not invaded Mongolia yet!

I am not sure about culture shock, but he is getting over Jet Lag finally.

He and his friends back home have Facebook accounts and he plays Call of Duty on the computer at home.

Now for Day 2 of the Dashnyam Chronicles:

I was very tired this morning and a tad headachey. and very hungry.
My morning shower didn't even help me feel more awake. No matter. There was work to be done. My boys were awake. (small repeat from previous post here->) I had Ki start making pancake batter while Gavin and I hung a load of laundry. Connor cooked the pig bacon and Gavin did one fast batch of turkey bacon. It gets cooked in the microwave and only takes 3.5 minutes. Dashnyam woke up in the middle of that time (thanks to a call from me) and he was assigned the task of cooking scrambled eggs. I got another load of laundry started, then we sat to our breakfast. Ki adds pecans to my pancakes!

While we were eating breakfast, I read the first section of our Story of the World (history) book.

After Breakfast Gavin and Connor did a little Japanese study (and science research). I looked up times for the farm, for pumpkin engraving, but they didn't open until 1 and Dashnyam had to be at school at 2, so we'll do that later. We all went to the park instead. We first stopped by Target to buy a soccer ball and an inexpensive Frisbee. The boys enjoyed kicking around the ball and throwing the Frisbee- at the same time. They did a little pond-rock-hopping, walked in the 'wooded area', and then we had lunch at Burger King.

At home Dashnyam got ready for his meeting at school while Connor and I hung clothes out to dry. then I took Ibuprofen and went to bed when Gina picked up Dashnyam for his meeting. I fell instantly asleep. It was one of those deep coma-like sleeps.
I woke up an hour later and found that Dashnyam had been home for a while due to the meeting being canceled. He has to be at school tomorrow (Wednesday) at 9AM for the meeting about his class schedule.

While I was checking my email and still feeling half asleep, Dashnyam came and asked if he could help clean anything. I pointed to the kitchen (where the dishwasher was open) I told him to get the other boys and put away the dishes from the dishwasher. He went in the kitchen and started washing dishes. I got Ki and Connor to help him with clearing the dishwasher, then had Gavin wash a couple dishes. I brought in the laundry and washed the rest of the dishes. If it weren't for the prompting of Dashnyam, I'd have just zoned out till time for Bible Study.

I had G&C check on that college class, which they were dropped from the list, but can sit in on and hope they can be accepted if there is room. Turns out the class was in Lompoc!
I am not driving an hour Tues and Thur for a class they are just sitting in on an off chance they MIGHT get to take it. I was pretty disappointed, but that's how the cookie crumbles, I guess.

All 4 boys were playing Halo when I got home from Bible Study. I never even asked what they ended up getting themselves for dinner.

(CLICK HERE to read DASH1 blog entry)

PICTURES from today-

DASH1

DAY 1 with our foreign exchange student from Mongolia. Slightly out of sequence.

KI, CONNOR, DASHNYAM, GAVIN - at Pismo Beach. It was Dashnyams first time to a beach. He and the other boys had a fun time wave jumping. Itt's too coold to swim and I am too fearful of sharks to want them out too far, The have fuun waavee jumping and if the waves are good enough, my boys will also body surf. I'm sure Dashnyam will get to enjoy larger waves some time whle he's here. Dashnyam slept on the way home. He slept on the way there, too. Jet Lag from a 15 hur time difference. Dinner was Lemon Pepper Chicken (crock pot) with bread & dipping sauce and asparagus. The asparagus had a delightful glaze of Balsamic Vinegar with a touch of soy sauce and brown sugar.

Connor & Gavin decided to make Spaghhetti Sauce Yesterday and had Dashnyam help. But Connor used too much much oregano. I told him tooo much, because I wasn't paying attention and forgot he also was using some Italian Seasoning. Dashnyam would have been better off eating the ham sandwich he packed for hiss lunch. He ended up only doing a placement test at school yesterday so he was home by noon and just ate lunch with us.

Dashnyam's family own a restaurant in Mongolia. I look forward to a Mongolian meal!

Below is Dashnyam on his first day at the high school, but iit was just testing, so not a full, real day.

And here are some pictures from the beach ....

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Yesterday, aftr the beach and while I was working on dinner, Gavin and Dashnyam went for a walk in the neighborhood. After dinner, they played on Xbox. I made banana bread. Dashnyam liked that a lot! with 6 of us eating, I need to make a double batch of banana bread next time! And I'lll have Dashnyam help. He says he likes cooking.

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This morning Dashnyam slept in till 9. He didn't have school in the morning. Gavin helped me hang a load of laundry ut to dry while Ki started making pancakes. Connor made the pork bacon and Gavin made a batch of turkey bacon (for Ki). Dashnyam set the table and made scrambled eggs. I supervised and started a load of laundry.

Laundry is Ki's morning job, but during the school year he has a deal where he makes breakfast a couple days a week instead of doing laundry. This school year he is doing breakfast on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

While we ate breakfast, I read the first section in our Story of the World book to the boys. after a few weeks I'll have to ask Dashnyam how much he understands from my reading. Or maybe just have him take a quiz with the other boys.

The Mongols are coming!

WOW, I bet that was VERY VERY UN-P.C. of me. Very... UN.
on Sunday we will go to the local airport here in Santa Maria to welcome DASHNYAM to the States and to live in our home for 2-4 months. He is an Exchange student from Mongolia. He's 17.

I am googling and Wikipedia-ing all about mongolia. Becuase.. now this is where my ignorance REALLY starts to show... all I think of when I think of Mongolia are nomads dressed in layers of furry tunics with their mountain goats. and how can a family like that afford to send their kids to America for 10 months??

another very NOT P.C. thing to say or think I guess. But, how was I to know??

Wikipedia says that half the population in Mongolia is nomadic. It also says that Mongolia is a Parliamentary republics with a non-executive President. I am not fully sure what that means. I guess they are ruled by a prime minister that can not carry out the laws or make new ones??? one more thing to research....

But the house is pretty clean. This was all last minute. I got a phone call Monday- got the OK from Brian Tuesday, Gina told me we needed pictures of the bathroom, boys room, kitchen, etc- to put in our application. . . that night. So the boys and I cleaned like mad.


HERE is the online profile for Dashnyam, the student.



here are the pictures we posted on our application...

KITCHEN:

Why, yes, that is a stuffed turtle we rescured from a scummy pond hanging from the ceiling in the kitchen picture on our application... Every Well Decorated Kitchen has a pond rescue turtle hanging from the ceiling, don't you know...

Living Space:


after I uploaded our Living Rom picture to the application site, I noticed the picture of Gavin's eyeball in the table. That's just how we roll. I am just glad I removed the 2 skulls from the kitchen shelf before I took that picture.



Family Members:

The hot pink streaks in the hair don't send the wrong message do they??

this has me all choked up and teary..... from all the dust that was flying in the air from them moving junk off the floor and fromo under the desk....

and now, here are some random picture I took recently that make me smile:

oh, how'd this get here.. this is the boys' bathroom.

here they are.....

A picture of the boys at the Acupuncture Open House. They had Martial Arts demo, art display, tribal instruments from different countries, food, needles, message, and more.

Ki got Ear Points and a massage. I just got a massage.

The boys sent me their intended class plans for school. for a few months. We'll try it till our winter break and see if adjustments need to be made. Unless of course it REALLY doesn't work and we need to adjust sooner. I am hoping they will self adjust. Ki is usually good at self-adjusting.

Connor's List:

3600 seconds of math statistics and probability a day
- www.khanacedemy.com
- TopShelf Statitstics (Book *click here to see)

- Possibly, Standard Deviants supplement and brushing up on Alg if needed

read "Lord of the Rings" before next year

1 chapter of science a week (*until finished with the Chemistry Course, but I think it takes 2 weeks to do a good job on a chapter. I'll let him try 1 a week and see how long it takes to change his mind.)

learn Japanese for 2700 seconds a day - with Gavin. (program TBA)

Computer Illustration class at Allan Hancock College 8 hours a week(inc lab)

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GAVIN'S LIST:

2 chapters 3rd edition calculus and analytical...geometry (Brian's College Book)
*Supplemented with the following if needed:
-google
-khan
-dad
-Standard Deviants, other online or library sources as/if needed

30 minutes Japanese a day
-unless it has chapters on the program.
-May use flash cards and google

*We have not chosen our program yet. and I will suggest 45 minutes, but 30 may work. He'll be working with Connor.

Drawing livestream it from about 6 to 10+ pm Tuesday Wednesday and maybe Friday
(*he needs to show me he can have his morning work done by 9Am without reminders and with getting up on his own before I will permit computer drawing until 10PM)

Read one book of "LOTR" by end of Sept

Computer illustration at AHC

(he will be finishing up Chemistry, too)

___________________________________

KI'S List of "EVIL SCHOOL"- as he put it

-math 1 Khan video and 30 min of work a day *(I will ask him to follow a course, in order)

-read 3 pages a day in LOTR

-get to 3 pull up in a row (*he also makes sure he rides his bike a few times a week)

-register for acting class at Pismo- * not sure what the dates/times will be for that.

-you were going to give me science. *He will be doing Apologia General Science CD-Rom. I will have him look up extra experiments (that are more fun that theirs- which are boring) and videos.

*And I have him cook a couple meals a week as part of his school- since he wants to be a chef. but he usually asks to, so it's not really like making him.

College Classes start on Aug 23 (for G&C). I suggested C watch some Pre-Cal vids on Khan before he starts in his book (Sept 6)

Ki likes to ease into school, so I will leave that up to him. I will tell him he needs ti figure out what he needs to do to ease into school, becuase we will be starting 'full day' on Sept 6. he is good at making his own plans for stuff like that.

Had The Talk....

So, I has to have the talk with my young men today. That talk parents have once the children reach a certain stage in life. I gathered them together and handed them notebooks and pencils and then proceeded to give The Talk.



The "What do you plan on doing this year in your education?" Talk



Ki has requested an acting class and will be doing the Apologia General Science this year (to get a firm base from which to choose his science next year).For Science I asked if he wanted to make the syllabus or if he wanted me to make. He wanted me to. Then I asked if he wanted me to just tell him something like "Start on Chapter 1 and there is a test in 2 weeks over chapter 1" Or if he wanted what to read daily or weekly. He asked for a Weekly Plan, He asked for a WEEK PLAN. So instead of "Monday:read pages 1-4, Tuesday read Pages 5-6 and do experiment, WED: read pages 7-10.." He wants me to plan "Have read pages 1-15 by Friday and have done the experiment listed on page 6".



I told him that he has reached that stage of life and education which requires me to keep a transcript of his classes and what he's learned, so I want him to chose 1 area (in science or math or whatever) and work through it, so I will feel comfortable saying he did, in deed, take "Biology" or "Algebra" or "Culinary Arts" or whatever. I asked him to make a decision on what he wants to learn in math and then to make a plan on how to do it. He said he'll probably choose KHAN academy for math. I told him to give me a plan. To write something like how much time each week or each day. Or he can plan to learn "X" amount of sub topics each week"....



I asked all the boys, yes even the almost 18 yr old, to give me a short term reading plan. A few books they want to read and their personal goal of when they plan to have them finished. Again, Ki prefers the almost-daily goals, like "read 45 minutes a day" instead of just "have the book finished by Thanksgiving"



I gave the older 2 the same talk about Math- Choose something to learn (Trigonometry, Prob & Stats, Calculus, etc...) Then figure out what resources (KHAN, Take a Class, Use a text, etc) and then a game plan,. It can be general like "complete the course by March" or as specific as "Do 1 section in the book a day" or "Complete 6 online tasks at the particular website a week"The older 2 are doing Computer Science. Their Computer Illustrations class at the local college is 8 hours a week and whatever they need to work on at home.



I told G&C to think of something else to learn.. a language, a new art they don't know, a time in history, a country.... make a plan of how and when. (Ki's Acting Class fills this gap for him)I also told them that this plan does not have to be for the whole school year. We'll try their plan for a couple months then they can decide if it is working (or I might have to step in with some structure)

Gavin already decided on Calculus and Japanese and, I think, Lord of The Rings. (we'll see if that changes by Friday)



They are to have their list, plans, goals, schedule ready by Friday and we'll go over what they come up with. They can hand write or email it to me. Gavin prefers to email me these things usually.

I've been Meaning to......

There is a lot I have been meaning to do.

the first item is just something I have been meaning to do for 2 days : I want to announce the marriage of my brother to Lindsey. I am happy for them!

I have been meaning to get these "I've been meaning to..." posts written in time to link up top I'm A Lazy Mom's blog on Mondays...


I am using my iPad to take pictures because: and I guess posting pics to a blog from an iPad doesn't work. I can't even see them now.. but I could when I first posted this.

I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO.. get a new battery charger for my camera.
.


I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO... finish this puzzle:.


I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO... clean out annd organize the hall closet. Maybe I'll put that on the list for the boys to do.


I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO... organize the plastic container drawers.....


I have been meaning to clean out the school shelves.
I have been meaning to have a garage sale.
I have been meaning to make a list of jobs for "Earn Money Week"
I have been meaning to exercise more.

The boys are all at camp this week. I did not take a picture of them getting ready to leave, but I did get a picture of the boat they will have on the lake for water games:


SO: What have you been meaning to do...?