And yes, we do get out of the house

Going into this homeschooling thing, I knew about the common misconceptions people have. The S word---socialization. Always the first thing people ask about. (Do you KNOW my kids? Yeah, that's not a problem.) I'm just going to brainstorm here and see what all I can remember about what people have assumed about us or asked us about.

1. "You homeschool? Oh girl, I so do not have the patience for that!"---So apparently you have not been to my house during the day. Patience is one of the fruit of the Spirit that I have to ask the Lord to bring to the top EVERY day. Because an abundance of patience? I ain't got it. What I do have is a desire to be obedient. To this call to homeschooling that God has given to me. Plain and simple.


2. "Do your kids get to be around other kids?"---Between church 3 times a week and sports and neighborhood kids and kids at Chick-fil-A and kids at the park and kids at the library and kids at the gym and kids.... yes, they are around kids plenty. More importantly, they are around people of all ages every day. They are able to interact with adults as we go to the grocery store, to Target, to the bank, to get the oil changed, to get a haircut. They ARE learning social skills, but not from a classroom full of kids their own age. And who wants to learn social skills from a bunch of 7 yr olds anyway?


3. "I couldn't be around my kids all day long. I'd go crazy!"---While I may be well on my way to the crazy train myself, I really like being around my kids. Yes, I have my moments when I want to lock myself in the bathroom, BY MYSELF PLEASE! And yes, going grocery shopping alone is SO much easier. But really. I have been blessed beyond words by being entrusted to raise these children and NOBODY loves them like I do (except their dad!). I can't imagine sending them to be under someone else's supervision for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I'd miss too much. I'd miss THEM too much. And I know those 2 sentences are all about me. But bottom line, the Lord has given them to me/us for a time to raise and for me that includes education.

So apparently the brainstorm only got me to number 3. More like a shower than a storm I guess. Maybe I'll open it up to you! Do you have any questions about homeschooling? Homeschoolers, do you have anything to add? Help me out here, friends!

(And how about this for some blatant discrimination against homeschoolers. And I LIKE Subway! )

Our Homeschool Journey

When I decided to homeschool, Becca was starting 4 yr old preschool at our church. And it was not something I EVER thought I'd do. Not really in my realm of thinking. I knew some people who homeschooled. They were actually some of my favorite people. And I thought, "well good for you, but I'll never do that." Famous last words, right?

But the subject just kept coming up. The year before, when I was pregnant with Hayes, I was in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). The majority of my small group were homeschool moms. And I didn't really like BSF (don't judge me, BSFers. It just wasn't for me) But I stuck it out, all the while wondering "why am I here?" Now I know the Lord was just preparing me.

After much prayer and seeking advice, I talked to my husband about it. I knew he didn't have a negative attitude about homeschooling at all. But I also knew we had never even considered it so this might be a shock. And not surprisingly he was his typical rational self. "Let's look into it and talk about it some more." When he found out all the praying I'd been doing and confirmation I'd already gotten, he said, "well, if the Lord is telling you to do this, we'll do it."

The next step was telling our parents. Honestly, I wasn't that worried about telling mine. I knew they knew some homeschoolers and had a positive view of it. I also knew that even if they didn't think it was a great idea, they would support us totally. I found a book called You're Going to do What?! by Laurajean Downs. It's a book by a grandmother of homeschoolers to grandparents of homeschoolers, explaining the ins and outs. I took that to my parents when I talked to them about it. They asked lots of questions and were very interested and in the end said they would help us and support us in any way they could. They were also very relieved to not have their grandchild in the public school system where we live. (us too!)

I left it up to Daniel to tell his parents. Let me preface this by saying that EVERYBODY besides us in his family, including both sisters-in-law, work or have worked in the public education system. (with the exception of 1 brother) That's big right there. He had to go to his hometown for work one week and stayed at his parents'. Perfect opportunity to talk to them! And while they were not terribly excited about it at first, they have been very supportive. To the extent of helping Becca with school when we were out of town on a few occasions. We are so blessed!

And now here we are, finishing up our 2nd year of homeschooling and loving it more and more every day. AND I just went to our state homeschool conference and bought some cool stuff for next year! I'm excited! Becca just THINKS we're finished until August. haha!

Next post will be some misconceptions I've noticed about homeschooling. Things people have said to me or assumed about us. I'm sure they are things that most of my fellow homeschoolers have experienced as well. Stay tuned!!

AND I plan to learn to samba!

Guess where we're going! Go on, guess!!

Do you know your country flags? Maybe this will help:




Sim, Brasil! And THAT is all the Portuguese I know! Yay for me!


We're leaving for a mission trip soon. Not getting specific in case there are some crazy people out there. In case, ha! It's called a security system, people, and the police, they do love to respond to it. So if you set it off, please stay or make it obvious that you were here so we don't get charged $250 for a false alarm, 'k?

So pray for us if you think about it. Or if you think about us. Or Brazil. Or see some Mardi Gras beads. Or a soccer game. Or if you wake up at 3am. You know. Just pray.

Adeus!

(Oh, and to my friends down south of me who I just found out are reading? Hey y'all! Miss seeing you!)

The finale. I mean, THE FINALE!!!

It's just the opening and I'm already rolling my eyes. How dumb is that, standing there in all white facing each other. 97.5 million votes! Wow. 56% to 44% of the votes. Hey it's Mikalah from last season (?). She got on my nerves whichever season it was. And Matt from some season. I think I liked him. Oooo my other favorite Fox show, So You Think You Can Dance. I just watched a marathon of that on MTV this weekend and I am ready for the new season.

The Davids are doing a duet! I like that song, Hero. Hey they sound really good together.

Now we have some cheesy promotion for the new Mike Myers movie. I like Mike Myers and all but can you say, "filler"? "Mariska Hargatay!" Mr. Seafoam almost went right off that stage! Oh I laughed out loud.

Dude, Syesha is singing with Seal!! Third place not looking so bad now, huh?

Oh, Jason Castro makes me want to take a nap. Although I do like his song.

I've missed hearing Carly sing! She went home way too early. They seriously need to leave the dancing to the professionals. Donna Summer has a new single? Is it 1975? Oh people, disco is BACK!

Now that would have been a good finale, Michael and Carly. Daniel asked me if I wanted to get tickets for the Idol concert and I said no. But if this is a preview then I might change my mind.

Summer of '69. Yeah, I wasn't born yet.(I forgot about that guy, the stripper guy. David?)
I love me some Bryan Adams. One of his better haircuts, I must say. I can't even type, i'm too busy singing EVERY WORD!! I need somebody. Somebody like YOU!!

Every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man. Funny enough though we don't really dig the beard down to the waist. How about David Cook singing lead for ZZ Top. That's got to be surreal for him. Very cool.

They couldn't have gotten anybody more perfect for Brooke to sing with than Graham Nash. I can't wait to buy her CD. Great song for her. I really want to be her friend and talk about hair and stuff.

What is up with the old lady on the stage. Poor Pat. It's too late to apologize for bringing you up on stage with your red pocketbook and red outfit. It's too late. And it's too late to apologize for Jordin's gold dress. She looks like an Oscar. How unfortunate.

So apparently skirts aren't even in fashion anymore. Just a long jacket and you are good to go. What IS UP with Carrie Underwood's outfit? But she always has good hair, so I might forgive her the clothes.

George Michael is SO getting ready to come out, right? On stage, I mean. ha! Told you!! Ok, I just fast-forwarded through his song. Creeps, creeps, creeps, he gives me the creeps!

Finally it's time. I'm so underwhelmed right now. (Randy's jacket....there are no words.) What is up with Simon apologizing to David C? Wow. That's pretty big. Kinda weird that they're dressed alike, right? I guess from the last song? Anyway...

David Cook wins!! I think I'm surprised. Oh, he's crying. You know I can't handle that. Stop it! Aww, there's his brother. And I didn't cry until the end when David's brother looked in the camera and said, "That's my brother." Sweet.

That's it people. It's been fun. Mariska Hargatay.

Alright already!

I'm pretty sure I've never had this much interest in my hair before. So here it is:

Now I didn't think to take a before picture and I can't find a good one where my hair isn't in a ponytail. It was basically like this but well below my shoulders and layered a little. (Just remembered that Faith posted a picture of me recently, if you really want to see my old hair. And you can see fried pickles. You're welcome) You can't tell from this, but it is shorter in the back and angled toward the front now. It's the shortest my hair has been in over a year. Nothing fancy, just different.

And little Miss Becca wanted a cut too. This was just hours after telling me she wanted to grow it out so she could wear ponytails this summer. So she decided on chin length.

And apparently the guy doesn't know where a chin is because this is definitely shorter than that. She thinks she looks like Faith now. It's not the best cut (don't-know-where-a-chin-is guy wasn't the best hair cutter guy), but she likes it so that's all that matters.

So the Bridges' girls are sporting the shorter do's now. One of us can't do ponytails anymore and one of has a sad little 1 1/2 inch one.

Hmmm, maybe I should have waited until AFTER Brazil, what with all the NO hairdryers or flat irons. Did I mention I LOVE baseball caps?

The Night the Lights Went Out In....NC

Apparently the DVR runs on electricity. And when the power is out, it DOES NOT record shows. And since the power was out from about 7:15 until almost 10, guess what I didn't get to watch. And I'm kinda under some pressure from my friend Chad to bring the funny. Sorry dude. Since you live in the same neighborhood I'm guessing you didn't get to watch either. Guess we'll both have to head over to BooMama's to get a recap. I'm SURE she'll bring the funny for ya.

On the bright side, I did see Archuleta's Imagine performance and Cook's Dream Big on YouTube. I thought they were both really good. I don't know how to compare them though since they are so very different. Although I will say that Archuleta went all squinty again which drives me nuts. And now I just watched Cook sing The World I Know and he's tearing up and that's totally messing with my view of him as arrogant.

Though I will admit I may have been a bit distracted while also watching Priscilla Pressley talk without moving her face.

Go Kristy!

Ok, back to Idol. I think it's going to take me forever to find all the songs on YouTube. I'm pretty much over the whole show anyway. I'll probably try to find them tomorrow but by then I'll have read everyone else's recaps and, well, what's the point then?

So here's my recap: David sang some songs. David's performances were better then David's, in my opinion. David is totally going to win this thing. The end.

And more importantly, I have a cute new haircut. Priorities, people. Priorities.

Tot School

I've been reading Carisa's blog for a while now and even though her kids are younger than mine, she's really inspiring me in my homeschooling. We've used some of her lapbook ideas and Becca LOVES them. I'll have to take some pictures of them soon. Carisa's Tot School idea is really taking off and it's amazing to see what moms are doing with their toddlers. I guess I have "Tot School" almost every day, but I haven't been documenting it or even really thinking about it that way. So I decided to start being deliberate about it and participating in this will keep me accountable.

Hayes learning shapes and sorting

Working in the new workbook we got at Target. It's for getting ready to write, practicing straight and curved lines. He's really getting into it.

I was working with Becca and I heard Hayes talking to himself. It was cute so of course I tried to get him to do it again for the camera. And really the grin at the end makes it all worth while.

Head on over here to see what other Tot Schoolers are doing. (FYI, they are a neat family, serving as missionaries in an inner city here in the US. They are from this area and her mom still lives in Charlotte.)