Umm, maybe we should give up on Fridays. Another lousy start to the day -- DH let the boys play on the computer and even loaded a *new* game for them while I was still sleeping / feeding the baby. Apparently, he forgot the new rule about computer use before schooling -- but since he had no sales calls until 6PM -- he got to see full force what it does to my day.

Nate especially was horrid. I felt like a fool, and DH doesn't understand at all why I would want to homeschool when they behave so horribly. I felt as if I had no control today (which is because I had NO control today.) DH tried to help by working with Nate on his phonics reader, but it was a struggle from the 2nd word. Where I would have likely stopped and picked it up again later -- DH kept plugging away and they both got more and more frustrated with each other. DH has never really been fully on board with the idea of homeschooling, and having him witness a day like today doesn't help me continue keeping them home.

Among various temper tantrums and consequences . . . we did accomplish the following:

both boys completed the chapter reviews in their math workbooks for Chapter 4. (reminder: we started the books last spring, so it's not like we've rushed through 4 chapters in only 3 weeks.)

both boys completed copywork pages in the "Little Folks" books. N completed a page of 9's, while C completed a page of L's, and then took it upon himself to do a page of numbers as well.

N completed the last upper/lower case matching worksheet, and finally did complete reading the phonics book.

C completed a word search puzzle, wrote in his word journal and drew pictures to go with the journal entries, read 2 books to me, and took an oral spelling test (he missed the word "stir" which did NOT fit in with the other words in the list at all, so it was understandable.)

C & I played the addition card game again and he did well adding in his head.

Both boys did an art project to go along with our ocean / sharks unit. They took 10x13 pieces of dark blue paper and drew an underwater scene. I gave them a sheet of aluminum foil and they cut out sharks from the foil and glued them into the scene. I take a very hands-off approach to art projects, and I think they both did a nice job. C mentioned that the art project was a great way to end the day.

We went out to lunch and the boys' behavior could have been better in my opinion, but a woman sitting across from us stopped on her way out and congratulated me on their behavior. We came home to an afternoon of swimming, then DH left for his call and I fed the boys dinner.

Before bed, we'll read through this week's Magnifikids.

We did accomplish most of what I had planned for the day -- but it was such a struggle that I am exhausted. Tomorrow is a new day!