Hello! :)

Hey everyone, sorry it's been a little while. I really haven't written any personal post in some time, and I feel that a more personal one is due. Things are going mostly well, and we are now into our second week of Homeschooling for this school year. The first week was mostly good... we had some disappointing grades at the end of the week, mostly due to a lack of studying. My kids would still like to believe that it is summer, and we can all still goof of and get by (sometimes I like to believe that too). Yes this does happen. We are learning our lesson this week, by taking more time, to study. I reminded my kids that taking notes is important :). Ahhh yes the art of taking notes (very important).


Jeremy and I started reading another book together (for those of you that have been following me for some time now, you know that I have mentioned that we do that from time to time, and we really enjoy it). This time it's "The Omen Machine" by Terry Goodkind. I really like Terry Goodkind, he is the author of my favorite book series "The Sword Of Truth," This book is a continuation of that series (it has the same characters), but isn't considered part of the series (not sure what Terry is doing, but I like it). This book has been keeping me on the edge of my set. Pretty much every chapter is a cliff hanger, that makes you want to read the next. We (Jeremy and I) will sit down to read just a few chapters (2 or 3), and end up reading 6 (because we have to). In reality I'm the pusher (because he's the one reading), and we'll get done a chapter, and he'll look at me, like "Well do we go on, or wait until tomorrow?" and that's when I give him the look that says "Please keep going I don't want to wait until tomorrow." (yes we can say that with only looks... we've been married for 9 years, all it takes is looks now)...  :) ... Last night at the end of one of the chapters, Richard (the main character), had discovered something, and it ended like that (and we didn't know what it was), then the next chapter wasn't even about him (so we would have to wait even longer to find out). It had me yelling "Goodkind" in a Khan / Captain Kirk, kind of way. (Star Trek reference... "Khan"). Yeah it was funny. With the way things are going, it shouldn't take us long to finish this book, but then I guess it will be kind of sad once it's over :(.


So.... The hurricane... How did it go? Well we were able to keep power the whole time. Yes I do feel really blessed. Our party was great... The balloons only lasted a day, so they were gone even before the hurricane started, but we still got a good use out of them. The magic of a balloon is wonderful. I got the kids some spongebob party hats, and we played Mario Kart. We watched the wind and the rain, and we were thankful to be inside. My parents (and Jeremy's parents), live across that bay, and they got it much worse than we did, but I am happy to report that they were also fine. My heart does go out to everyone who was affected by the flooding, and you are in my prayers.


I do have a bit of news as to where we are moving next, but since it isn't set in stone as of yet, I really don't want to say anything (sorry). So you will all have to want until October (I'm sorry that it's so far away), but I will tell you that at this point it looks like we will be doing another across country move... (on the fun!) One of these days, we will settle down and stay in one place, but until then "Bring it on!"

At this point I'm sad to say that I am ready to go. I've enjoyed this time living close to my family, but I need to move on. I have really been in a relationship yuck ever since moving here, I really haven't been able to find very many Mommy friends, and the friends that I did have... well...  lets just say it's been very lonely friend wise. Just to be clear I'm not talking about all of them, but yes most of them (out of the few I did have). "I miss my San Diego Mommy friends." :( ... I just feel like bridges have been buried, and I need to forget about it and move on, so I am. I guess sometimes I just wonder... "Is it me, am I weird or something? Did I say something wrong?"

Okay well sorry to end on a bad note, and with a cliff hanger, but I will tell you guys where we are going when we find out. I'm really excited!

Thanks for reading.

Hurricane Party!

Okay so I'll get to the title in a minute...

How about that earthquake? I was my first. We lived in California for 2 years, and never felt the earth shake, then to feel it here of all places.

I was sitting at my computer (just like I am now), playing the sims 3 (I like that game okay). My kids were just a few feet away at the tv, playing video games. Yes we were already finished with our school work for the day. I felt the little shake first, and was thinking... "What was that? Was that an earthquake? No."... Then it really started to shake, and I jumped up and said "Quick kids get under the table!" Okay yeah, I freaked out a little... thinking... "An earthquake here? What in the world."... By the time we all got under the table the shaking stopped (of course). That's about when one of my sons asked me "Mom can we get out now?" Yeah it's funny now that I look back on it. We had a few pictures fall, and some items fall off of a bookshelf. Nothing was broken though.



So a Hurricane Party? Randi what in the world is that? Well we a due to have hurricane Irene hit us Sunday, and since we won't be able to go out and do anything that day, we are having a party in. I'm going to get hats, and balloons. We are going to plan fun games, and get candles (just in-case). I'm going shopping today right after we finish our school work.

I planed this because I wanted the kids to have something fun to do, and I also love sitting inside and looking at the rain coming down (it fascinates me).

Praying for everyone to be safe during this hurricane, and enjoy it if you can. Please evacuate if you are called to. Thank you all for reading.

First day of school

Yeah it's the first day of school! How exciting! This is our second year of Homeschooling, and I still love it (so glad that I made the switch). This year I have a 4th grader, 2nd grader, and a kindergardener... oh and a 18 mos. old little girl who loves to interrupt school time (you know what I'm talking about). This is also our second year using the Abeka curriculum. So yes last year was a good year, and I found the Abeka books great (kid wise) and easy to use (teacher wise). I would have to say that the best thing about them is, you don't have to make up your own test (yes I'm sure there are others as easy as abeka, but I really don't feel the need to look). Ask any HS mom, and she will tell you that her curriculum is best. I say research, and then pick the one you like :)...

Our first day was great (yes we are finished already). Things went pretty smoothly, and I was able to juggle the 3 boys pretty well. The one thing that gave me some problems was, that lovely pretty little person who lives in our house, and has curly hair. Do you know who I'm talking about? That's right, the one and only Olivia.

We started at 8am, and normally Olivia takes a nap at around 9:30 or 10am, so I knew I had to juggle her, until then. I decided to put her in the kitchen with us, and gate her off from the rest of the house, and that was fine for the first 10 mins. You know how babies are, they always wanting to go where they can't, so it made her mad that she couldn't get into the living room. She didn't want to play with anything. All she wanted to do was climb, and that meant the table. Yes nothing is better (when your trying to do school), then having a baby crawl across the table. I'm not joking, she was crawling on the table. She also enjoyed getting in the rocking chair, and standing in it (no that didn't scare me at all)... ;)... Once nap time came around, I was able to focus more, and it was easier (yay, I love nap time). Everyone got their work done, and we had jello for snack.

Okay I know this is a short one, but that's it. I really just wanted to let everyone know that our school year has begun. Thanks for reading :), and may God bless everyones school year.

Busy as a Homeschooling Bee

School is about to start back up again in the Legates house. Next week in-fact... Am I ready? Well I am proud to say yes, but only since yesterday. Last week I woke up and realized it was August (okay I knew it was August before, but it just didn't hit me). I really needed to prepare for our Homeschool year and I hadn't even started. So what is it that you like to have finished before you start Randi? Well... this...

So... what is that you ask? Well it's a weekly goals chart (created by me) (yes I do know the chart is crooked. I took a picture of it, rather than scanning it in). It has the week (HS week) (this one is week 2), and the dates (so we don't get mixed up), and the Name of the child (this is Darien's). It has how much work needs to be done this particular week in every subject, for this particular child. With this chart I can stay on track for the whole year, and not worry if we are going to finish on time.

Now just imagine making up one for every week, and for each child. I like to have 34 HS weeks, and I'm teaching 3 kids (currently), so thats... 102 charts (yes that's what I did last week. It involves getting out each and every book (with test and quizzes), and calculating the pace, and writing all of this down.

Yes it's a lot of work, but starting the school year with it all laid out like this is so easy, and with us most likely moving during this school year, it makes it easier to take a week or two off if we need to, due to the moving process.


So let say we do end up moving in April and I have to take a week off of HS, now I will already know how much work we needed to do that week, and I can fit it in sometime before hand. Yes it makes my life a lot easier.

Before I make up the charts I do make up a school calender and decide how much time were taking off for holidays and such (my kids are getting 2 weeks off for Christmas). This way when I make up the charts and put in the dates, I already know what dates to put in. "Nothing is every easy." Doing it this way also lets me pick the last day of school (they will be finished in may).

I'm so glad I'm done with all of the planning, now we can start (I really can't wait).

Thanks for reading :)

Finished with DS9

So yes we finally finished Star Trek Deep Space Nine. I'm sad that it's over :(  ... Yes that does mean that I liked it, a lot more than I thought I would. Remember this post? When I wrote that, we had just started on the 3rd season. I mentioned the Dominion and a possible war, and yes that does happen. They hint about it off and on throughout the first 5 seasons, and at the end of season 5 it finally happens. As far as wars go on Star Trek, this one takes the cake. It lasted for the rest of the series, and has you very worried, and on the edge of your seat. It was awesome, and it makes me even more proud to say that I am a Star Trek fan (in a very big way). So for all of you non Star Trek fans out there, all I have to say is...

"You guys just don't know what you're missing."

Deep Space Nine goes on the awesome list!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to watch some Star Trek today :)

Weekend getaway!

This weekend I had an awesome time with my one and only best friend...

Yeah I'm talking about my husband. Last week (on Wednesday), we had our 9 year anniversary, so to celebrate we spent the weekend in Ocean City. Jeremy's parents were super awesome and watched all of the kids for us (yes I'm sure they had a good time too).

So what can I say about a weekend totally alone with my husband and best friend? Well only good things. To make things more interesting I'm going to make a list (any and all parents will appreciate this).

Vacation with the kids   VS   Vacation without the kids

Starting with... Vacation with the kids

- On a vacation with the kids, you are guaranteed a morning wake-up call. Yup you will not over sleep at all.

- Your vacation will be as exciting and unpredictable as your kids. Yup no dull moments.

- You will always get to bed on time. Lets face it, you had an exciting and fun filled day with a lot of unpredictable moments, you are so ready for bed.

- Meal times well be an exciting challenge. You'll be helping someone read and pick something from the menu (deciding between chicken fingers, and a hot dog, is very hard). You will also be entertaining a toddler (because everyone needs entertainment). Don't forget the... cuppie, bear, rattle, blanket, or the cheerios or you will be paying for it, and so will everyone else around you.

- Every outing will be followed by a bath. It doesn't matter where you were, if there was dirt, your kid found it.

- When going to the pool your hands will have plenty to carry. You'll need... swimmies, swim diapers, towels, swim toys, snack, pool ring, and possibly a change of clothes.

- There is no need to worry if your child is hungry, thirty, or uncomfortable, because he will tell you the moment he is, and in great detail.

- No matter how much you pack, you will always forget something that little Jr can not live without.

- You will always come home with plenty of souvenirs, because everything is "just so cool."

And ending with... Vacation without the kids

- You may end up sleeping in. With no one to wake you in the morning, it's possible.

- You can sit down and plain out your day, and there is a higher chance that you may follow it.

- There will be no such thing as bed time, because you will loose track of time.

- Meal times will be way to quiet, and way to relaxing, so relaxing that it will feel wrong, and you will love it.

- If you want a nap in the middle of the day for no reason, you can take one.

- Going anywhere will be way to easy, and you will feel like you are forgetting things, because you will have hardly anything to carry.

- You will always come home with plenty of souvenirs for your kids, because you missed them, and you wanted them to have something even though they didn't go.

Yes I did have a good time (thank you for asking). We stayed at the Grand Hotel (right on the board walk) and it was super nice. Our goal was not to drive at all after getting there, and we did just that. If we wanted to do something we walked there, and it was so easy. Ocean City has a 2 mile long board walk (for those of you that have never been), and most of the places we wanted to go were on the board walk, and the rest were just down the street. It was so much fun. We ate where we wanted, and when we wanted. We took a nap on Saturday. We went swimming. We stayed out late... Well late for us... like 11pm (yes that's late for us). We saw a movie, and we did a lot of relaxing. I loved it, and like all moms I was ready to see my kids again after it was all over.

It's our Anniversary :)

Nine years ago on this day, I married the love of my life. He is my best friend and I don't know what I would do without him. I love you Jeremy Legates, and happy Anniversary!