- Outside my window...the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the donkeys are braying. Make them stop. They are cute and all, but they are also LOUD. Who knew? They get going and the goats start. Then the roosters and the chickens. They aren't ours. They belong to the neighbors. They have a mini farm working over there. I wonder how much they spend on feed every month? Wait, no I don't. You should see how many dogs they have. I think someone needs a new hobby. The donkeys are super sweet and so are the goats. You pet them and they they almost smile.
- From the schoolroom...We have 3 weeks of school left!! Can I get a woot woot?!?! I am more than ready for this year to be over. It has been a learning experience. I can honestly say that while doing research for high school, attending homeschooling conferences, and learning about state scholarships and dual enrollment, the state has great homeschooling laws, but state agencies have a HUGE problem with homeschoolers. The rules and regulations for homeschoolers that need/want scholarship money are much more strict than the rules for public or private schooled students. I am much more informed and prepared for my next 2. I'm counting that as a win.
- From the garden...The tower is full. We have the most beautiful lettuce. We planted a loose leaf lettuce and it is gorgeous and almost ready to eat. We had also planted a bibb lettuce but that has decided it doesn't want to do well. We also have spinach and chard in the tower. They are so pretty. In the raised beds we have snap peas and beets in 1 and tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic in the other. The garlic and onions started as an accident. I went to use the onion and it had growth, so we let it grow a little bigger and planted it. The garlic came from the compost we put in the raised bed. It just showed up in the bed one day, so we kept it. I have another bulb (see, that's why they grow. They're plants begging to start.) that's growing. It's getting planted, too. Potatoes are growing and growing and growing. By July, we should have more than we know what to do with. I am not disappointed about that!!
- I am reading...I just finished a Carol Burnett book. It was stories that she was telling in a one woman show that she had. It was some stories from her early life and career and the answers to questions that the audience would ask her. I laughed my patootie off. I was trying to read Snow Falls on Cedars again. Finding some quiet time so I can read it is something else entirely. It's a little intense and deserves some time. The book I turned in yesterday was a hoot. It was The Sweet Potato Queens. It made me giggle. I needed some light reading. Our after dinner book is Buddy by M. H. Herlong. It's about a boy who finally gets a dog and then loses it during Katrina, the finds him again. We have three chapters left and we are all champing at the bit to see how it ends. I may read after lunch today since hubby's home with us.
- From the kitchen...bacon. That should be all I have to say about that, but I'm not that kind of girl. I had originally bought it to make brussel sprouts. It went in the cart first. When I got to produce, no sprouts. But the bacon stayed. And there's some in the oven right now. I'm frying an egg in the grease because that's how I roll. It smells so good. The big girl wanted home made hamburger helper. So we made some. It is so easy and yummy. And believe it or not, there has been some creativity with our dinners and a couple of them included spinach. Cooked. Of which I am not a fan. But it was really good.
- Around the house...we have a new baby. Her name is Stella and she is super sweet. She is also a puppy, so she gnaws and bites everything, including us. She is 3 months old and she is German Shepherd/Rottweiller/Wolf. She's going to be a big dog. My inlaws have one of her brothers. He's twice as big and twice as rowdy as she is. I'm glad we have her, and not her brother. She follows hubby around like he is her hero. It's a good thing I'm not the jealous type, because I could get that way. Talk about a boy and his dog.
Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Daybook, Part I Don't Even Know...
It has been awhile, I know. I haven't had a ton of motivation. Lots going on in my mind and we all know that's trouble. So here we go:
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Inspired Reading
Mermie has always been a huge fan of reading. As long as I can remember, and that's a long time, she's had a book in her hand at almost all times. That instilled a love of reading in me. And I am trying to pass that to my kids.
The boy and I have a book that we read while the girls are at piano. We go to the book store up the road and find a nice comfy chair. Our current book is Sign of the Beaver. So far, it has been a great book. Next school year, he'll be using two literature studies. One is for Mr. Popper's Penguins and the other for The Whipping Boy. In our current book, Robinson Crusoe plays a big part in the story. I've read the abridged version to the kids as our after dinner book, but they haven't read the whole story. Suddenly, the boy wants to. I think maybe when he gets a little older. I'm just glad he is inspired to read. For awhile, he would only read graphic novels, which are like comic books. I really wanted him to read something that didn't have pictures. At the library one day, roaming the aisles, he found a series he liked. And the books don't have pictures. And it has nothing to do with Pokemon. Even better.
I tried to read to the girls while the boy was at guitar lessons. That desn't work nearly as well as reading with the boy. We sit in the middle of a music store that is busy with customers and we are frequently in the way. Well, that was a bust. My new plan of action is to read to them when school's over. We are going to start with the Little House series. I may alternate between that and Anne of Green Gables or maybe even the Christie series. It's definitely different from what they usually read.
Our library has started carrying DADs, or digital audio devices. They are like a plug and play. You add a battery and headphones. I checked one out for me, but I never got the chance to listen to it. I've added it back to my list to rerequest over the summer when I may have more time. We'll see how that works, though.
Our after dinner book is Old Yeller. I figured that if I have a captive audience, I might as well take advantage of that. I want the kids to know what great books are. I think our next one will be The Witch of Blackbird Pond. We just finished Bud, Not Buddy as our book on CD. We listen to those when we get in the van. I'm never sure how the kids will like a book, and we've taken a couple back to the library after listening to it for a couple of minutes. Sometimes, it's not the book as much as the person reading the book. Our next two books on CD are Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator and R, My Name Is Rachel. I have been trying to pair our books with what we are studying in school, as well. We read The Drinking Gourd after studying slavery. One of our history curriculums has a list of books that go along with each time period. I'll be using that, thank you very much.
I was at a friend's house yesterday and was browsing through a stack of books that she had sitting on a table. I took pics of a couple so that when I got home, I could request them from the library. When the boy and I are done reading during our weekly trip, we sometimes have a few minutes to wander the aisles. I'll take pics of whatever books may interest me to request those as well. I also read through the flyer I still get from the Literary Guild even though I will never again join their club. And don't you join, either, or I will knock some sense into you. Talk about a rip off. Our big box bookstore has a newsletter that has reviews or upcoming releases. And I love my book club. I always write down the books that are recommended for the next meeting. Some of them are really not my style, but it helps expand my reading horizons.
For the first time in our homeschooling journey, each of my kids has a book list that is the front and back of two sheets of notebook paper and we are still reading. The boy may fill one sheet of notebook paper. Maybe. The big girl always has multiple pages. The baby has increased the number of books she's read as well. Previously, her list has been full of quick read books. Now there's a nice combination of quick and fluffy and chapter books. And the chapter books are ones she's read and not just the ones that were read to her.
I want my kids to be inspired when they choose books. I want them to know that there are great classics out there for their enjoyment. I want their brains to be active and engaged. Of course, some days, it's a miracle my brain is active and engaged, but still.
Have a great day.
The boy and I have a book that we read while the girls are at piano. We go to the book store up the road and find a nice comfy chair. Our current book is Sign of the Beaver. So far, it has been a great book. Next school year, he'll be using two literature studies. One is for Mr. Popper's Penguins and the other for The Whipping Boy. In our current book, Robinson Crusoe plays a big part in the story. I've read the abridged version to the kids as our after dinner book, but they haven't read the whole story. Suddenly, the boy wants to. I think maybe when he gets a little older. I'm just glad he is inspired to read. For awhile, he would only read graphic novels, which are like comic books. I really wanted him to read something that didn't have pictures. At the library one day, roaming the aisles, he found a series he liked. And the books don't have pictures. And it has nothing to do with Pokemon. Even better.
I tried to read to the girls while the boy was at guitar lessons. That desn't work nearly as well as reading with the boy. We sit in the middle of a music store that is busy with customers and we are frequently in the way. Well, that was a bust. My new plan of action is to read to them when school's over. We are going to start with the Little House series. I may alternate between that and Anne of Green Gables or maybe even the Christie series. It's definitely different from what they usually read.
Our library has started carrying DADs, or digital audio devices. They are like a plug and play. You add a battery and headphones. I checked one out for me, but I never got the chance to listen to it. I've added it back to my list to rerequest over the summer when I may have more time. We'll see how that works, though.
Our after dinner book is Old Yeller. I figured that if I have a captive audience, I might as well take advantage of that. I want the kids to know what great books are. I think our next one will be The Witch of Blackbird Pond. We just finished Bud, Not Buddy as our book on CD. We listen to those when we get in the van. I'm never sure how the kids will like a book, and we've taken a couple back to the library after listening to it for a couple of minutes. Sometimes, it's not the book as much as the person reading the book. Our next two books on CD are Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator and R, My Name Is Rachel. I have been trying to pair our books with what we are studying in school, as well. We read The Drinking Gourd after studying slavery. One of our history curriculums has a list of books that go along with each time period. I'll be using that, thank you very much.
I was at a friend's house yesterday and was browsing through a stack of books that she had sitting on a table. I took pics of a couple so that when I got home, I could request them from the library. When the boy and I are done reading during our weekly trip, we sometimes have a few minutes to wander the aisles. I'll take pics of whatever books may interest me to request those as well. I also read through the flyer I still get from the Literary Guild even though I will never again join their club. And don't you join, either, or I will knock some sense into you. Talk about a rip off. Our big box bookstore has a newsletter that has reviews or upcoming releases. And I love my book club. I always write down the books that are recommended for the next meeting. Some of them are really not my style, but it helps expand my reading horizons.
For the first time in our homeschooling journey, each of my kids has a book list that is the front and back of two sheets of notebook paper and we are still reading. The boy may fill one sheet of notebook paper. Maybe. The big girl always has multiple pages. The baby has increased the number of books she's read as well. Previously, her list has been full of quick read books. Now there's a nice combination of quick and fluffy and chapter books. And the chapter books are ones she's read and not just the ones that were read to her.
I want my kids to be inspired when they choose books. I want them to know that there are great classics out there for their enjoyment. I want their brains to be active and engaged. Of course, some days, it's a miracle my brain is active and engaged, but still.
Have a great day.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Reading List
Part of homeschooling in our state is that you have to keep a list of books that have been read by each child. There are several ways to do this. I just keep a sheet of paper for each child and as they finish a book, they write it down with the author's name. My friend L does something really neat. She keeps the receipts from the library and highlights the books as her kids finish them. One thing that has been very beneficial about this is that we have discovered some really good series that we probably wouldn't have known about. We get recommendations from our friends, from other families, and from the librarians. The big girl is in a book club that runs during the school year. There are three series of books that come to mind that we really enjoyed or are enjoying as the case may be.
The first series that comes to mind is Geronimo Stilton. My aforementioned friend L is the one that recommended this series. We read some out loud, but did some as books on CD. The books are cute and funny and easy to read. They go pretty quickly and we sometimes take turns reading them. I like books on CD because the readers usually do voices. I'm not usually good at character voices. This is a series about a mouse named Geronimo Stilton. I have blogged about them before. We always enjoy a good GS book. I would say they are more appropriate for elementary age, but even I get a good giggle when we read them.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians has been one of our recent series. We are actually finishing the last book. We have two CDs left. The kids wanted to read this because of the movie. They would see the trailers on TV and then the poster at the theater. I requested the first book and we loved it. They are action filled. They are clean. They are appropriate for my kids. They have introduced us to the Greek gods in a way that is fun for my kids. They have made us interested in something that we have just barely scratched the surface of previously. The writer, Rick Riordan, has a new series about the Egyptian gods. It's waiting for us at the library as we speak, or read I guess.
Because of Rick Riordan we have discovered another series. The 39 Clues has been alot of fun and has been our dinner book for quite awhile now. We are on book five. Each book is written by a different author. Each one lends their own specialty and style to the series. It also introduces us to places that we probably wouldn't find out much about without reading these. We are going to look up The Road of Bones in Siberia to see if it's real or not. Just cool stuff that makes you wonder and makes you root for two kids that are competeing against people, relatives, that have more money and more resources. And once again, they are clean, they are interesting, and they are fun. Good books to read with my kids.
We try to read as much as we can. My girls had at least two full sheets, front and back, of books they read last school year. We have already started a list for the upcoming year. We are also doing the summer reading camp at the library again. A friend of mine and I were thinking about starting a book club for our boys. The one that the big girl does is for girls, and we think our boys need an outlet. Any excuse to get them to pick up a book is good. They will read, they just prefer to do something else. If you have a good book, or even a good series, we'd love to know about it.
Have a great day.
The first series that comes to mind is Geronimo Stilton. My aforementioned friend L is the one that recommended this series. We read some out loud, but did some as books on CD. The books are cute and funny and easy to read. They go pretty quickly and we sometimes take turns reading them. I like books on CD because the readers usually do voices. I'm not usually good at character voices. This is a series about a mouse named Geronimo Stilton. I have blogged about them before. We always enjoy a good GS book. I would say they are more appropriate for elementary age, but even I get a good giggle when we read them.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians has been one of our recent series. We are actually finishing the last book. We have two CDs left. The kids wanted to read this because of the movie. They would see the trailers on TV and then the poster at the theater. I requested the first book and we loved it. They are action filled. They are clean. They are appropriate for my kids. They have introduced us to the Greek gods in a way that is fun for my kids. They have made us interested in something that we have just barely scratched the surface of previously. The writer, Rick Riordan, has a new series about the Egyptian gods. It's waiting for us at the library as we speak, or read I guess.
Because of Rick Riordan we have discovered another series. The 39 Clues has been alot of fun and has been our dinner book for quite awhile now. We are on book five. Each book is written by a different author. Each one lends their own specialty and style to the series. It also introduces us to places that we probably wouldn't find out much about without reading these. We are going to look up The Road of Bones in Siberia to see if it's real or not. Just cool stuff that makes you wonder and makes you root for two kids that are competeing against people, relatives, that have more money and more resources. And once again, they are clean, they are interesting, and they are fun. Good books to read with my kids.
We try to read as much as we can. My girls had at least two full sheets, front and back, of books they read last school year. We have already started a list for the upcoming year. We are also doing the summer reading camp at the library again. A friend of mine and I were thinking about starting a book club for our boys. The one that the big girl does is for girls, and we think our boys need an outlet. Any excuse to get them to pick up a book is good. They will read, they just prefer to do something else. If you have a good book, or even a good series, we'd love to know about it.
Have a great day.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Updates, updates, updates
I have not felt like blogging on here. My other one, yes, but not this one. I just felt like it was always the same. But I guess it's time. And there have been a couple of things happening, so here we go.
Thanksgiving was good. My FIL was able to do turkey and stuffing. I love his stuffing. I had always had dressing, which is out of the bird. He makes stuffing, which is in the bird. I have been after the man for at least 10 years to come off the recipe. He finally emailed it to me. I lost it. Isn't that my way? I had to ask him for it again. Now I have it saved about a million places and printed out to boot. I filed it in my recipe box. I have it in a file in my file cabinet. I am not losing that thing again, darn it. I am exicted about trying and tweaking it. You know I cannot leave a recipe alone.
The kids had a dentist appointment Monday. They have healthy teeth and crowded mouths. Great. The dentist metioned orthodontia again for the big girl. I told her again it wasn't happening. We cannot afford it. I know, with all the overtime hubby is working we could. No, we can't. Our orthodontia benefits are next to nothing. And there's no guarantee of overtime. I don't want to get in the middle of paying for something and then it dries up and we are stuck with yet another bill. I cannot do that to our family. The only new thing is that the big girl has to have her 12 year molars sealed. That's being done before Christmas and before our benefits change.
We just got through open enrollment. I don't like that part of the year. Trying to gauge what our health situation may be for the next year is hard. It's one of those things you have to guess at. We have gone with the cheaper of the two plans. It seems like it will work for us. It is such a crazy process. Nobody understands their insurance. I'm glad I have a background that helps me wade through all the hullabaloo.
We finished Roald Dahl's The BFG. He is such an amazing writer. The only thing I don't like is that the two books we have read by him had a rather gruesome start. They got better, but sometimes the beginning doesn't sit well with us. This story is about a big friendly giant that kidnaps a little girl named Sophie. He takes her so she can't tell others about him. He takes her to giant land and keeps her hidden from the other giants, who are not so friendly to humans. They take off every night and eat "human beans." The story is about Sophie and BFG's plans to make the other giants, who are quite mean to BFG, stop eating people. It was cute and funny and we enjoyed it. Our next book on CD will probably be Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I'm still not sure. Our new after dinner book is The Incredible Journey. We started tonight, so we'll see how it goes.
Hubby and I have started volunteering at youth. We did it to be able to spend time watching what goes on at youth while the big girl is there. We had a Thanksgiving dinner with them the Sunday before the actual turkey day. We had turkey meatballs with cranberry BBQ sauce, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, rolls, banana pudding, fruit cocktail, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, and ice cream sundaes. It was fantastic. I enjoyed being able to spend time with the kids. Many of them do not have a church family or much of a family life at all, so it was nice to provide a family atmosphere, even if it was just for a couple of hours. So far, we have had a really good time with it. We hope to get to the point that the youth trust us enough to really let us into their lives.
We have the opportunity to purchase 50 pounds of grass fed, non hormone or steroid injected beef for a fantastic price. This came about from our organic co-op. We will get the meat after Christmas. Very excited we are. We're not real sure where we're going to keep it, but we have a couple of ideas. We are also getting venison from some friends. My friend's hubby went hunting and brought back two deer. She has offered to share and we accepted. She is going to give us ground venison, which I have never had before. Now I need to look up new recipes. We are also getting some stew meat and a couple of roasts. Love it! And last, but certainly not least, we are getting a turkey from my BIL. He gets one every year from his company, but he doesn't use it. It sits in the freezer at my in laws taking up space. I just made one yesterday, so we won't need it for awhile, but nice to know we have one.
The kids are particpating in some extra dance activities this season. The baby has been performing with the dance company from their dance school. The first performance was last Friday and she was wonderful. She has a couple more performances before Christmas, so all my local friends need to come see her. The kids are all going to be in the Christmas parade of our neighboring town. The big girl will be dancing and the boy and the baby will be riding on the float. The boy wants to dance so bad he can't stand it. Alas, one more year, big boy, one more year.
That's about all for now. I know there's more, but right now is not the time. This has been long enough. Thanks for letting me empty my brain. My prayer for you tonight is one of joy and grace.
Have a great day!
Thanksgiving was good. My FIL was able to do turkey and stuffing. I love his stuffing. I had always had dressing, which is out of the bird. He makes stuffing, which is in the bird. I have been after the man for at least 10 years to come off the recipe. He finally emailed it to me. I lost it. Isn't that my way? I had to ask him for it again. Now I have it saved about a million places and printed out to boot. I filed it in my recipe box. I have it in a file in my file cabinet. I am not losing that thing again, darn it. I am exicted about trying and tweaking it. You know I cannot leave a recipe alone.
The kids had a dentist appointment Monday. They have healthy teeth and crowded mouths. Great. The dentist metioned orthodontia again for the big girl. I told her again it wasn't happening. We cannot afford it. I know, with all the overtime hubby is working we could. No, we can't. Our orthodontia benefits are next to nothing. And there's no guarantee of overtime. I don't want to get in the middle of paying for something and then it dries up and we are stuck with yet another bill. I cannot do that to our family. The only new thing is that the big girl has to have her 12 year molars sealed. That's being done before Christmas and before our benefits change.
We just got through open enrollment. I don't like that part of the year. Trying to gauge what our health situation may be for the next year is hard. It's one of those things you have to guess at. We have gone with the cheaper of the two plans. It seems like it will work for us. It is such a crazy process. Nobody understands their insurance. I'm glad I have a background that helps me wade through all the hullabaloo.
We finished Roald Dahl's The BFG. He is such an amazing writer. The only thing I don't like is that the two books we have read by him had a rather gruesome start. They got better, but sometimes the beginning doesn't sit well with us. This story is about a big friendly giant that kidnaps a little girl named Sophie. He takes her so she can't tell others about him. He takes her to giant land and keeps her hidden from the other giants, who are not so friendly to humans. They take off every night and eat "human beans." The story is about Sophie and BFG's plans to make the other giants, who are quite mean to BFG, stop eating people. It was cute and funny and we enjoyed it. Our next book on CD will probably be Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I'm still not sure. Our new after dinner book is The Incredible Journey. We started tonight, so we'll see how it goes.
Hubby and I have started volunteering at youth. We did it to be able to spend time watching what goes on at youth while the big girl is there. We had a Thanksgiving dinner with them the Sunday before the actual turkey day. We had turkey meatballs with cranberry BBQ sauce, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, rolls, banana pudding, fruit cocktail, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, and ice cream sundaes. It was fantastic. I enjoyed being able to spend time with the kids. Many of them do not have a church family or much of a family life at all, so it was nice to provide a family atmosphere, even if it was just for a couple of hours. So far, we have had a really good time with it. We hope to get to the point that the youth trust us enough to really let us into their lives.
We have the opportunity to purchase 50 pounds of grass fed, non hormone or steroid injected beef for a fantastic price. This came about from our organic co-op. We will get the meat after Christmas. Very excited we are. We're not real sure where we're going to keep it, but we have a couple of ideas. We are also getting venison from some friends. My friend's hubby went hunting and brought back two deer. She has offered to share and we accepted. She is going to give us ground venison, which I have never had before. Now I need to look up new recipes. We are also getting some stew meat and a couple of roasts. Love it! And last, but certainly not least, we are getting a turkey from my BIL. He gets one every year from his company, but he doesn't use it. It sits in the freezer at my in laws taking up space. I just made one yesterday, so we won't need it for awhile, but nice to know we have one.
The kids are particpating in some extra dance activities this season. The baby has been performing with the dance company from their dance school. The first performance was last Friday and she was wonderful. She has a couple more performances before Christmas, so all my local friends need to come see her. The kids are all going to be in the Christmas parade of our neighboring town. The big girl will be dancing and the boy and the baby will be riding on the float. The boy wants to dance so bad he can't stand it. Alas, one more year, big boy, one more year.
That's about all for now. I know there's more, but right now is not the time. This has been long enough. Thanks for letting me empty my brain. My prayer for you tonight is one of joy and grace.
Have a great day!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Catchin' Up
Last week was a busy week. I wasn't sure we were going to make it, but here we are, thank goodness. Here's the skinny.
We have a new dinner book. We are reading Roald Dahl's BFG. We had read his James and the Giant Peach and loved it. We love his creativity and imagery. He creates these fantastic worlds that make you want to be there. We love the way he puts his characters together. We love pretty much everything about him. And we are really enjoying this book. He makes us laugh, and think, and get a little teary. I'll give you the full run down when we're done.
Today was co-op. Love co-op. We had a little change in venue due to a back injury. My friend C was trying to open a window to enjoy our beautiful weather and there it went. I know exactly how she felt. So today was countries. I picked up C's daughter and off we went. Germany was on the agenda. We talked about food, and geography, and the culture and customs. During our co-op, we try to stay away from anything that may be too political. We feel like it's something that should be left up to the parents to discuss, so Hitler was left out. I am very OK with that. That is a topic that I will discuss with my kids when the time comes, when we study history that is a little more current. I did order a free K-12 history curriculum today. I could have sworn I already downloaded it, but I'll be darned if I can find it on my computer.
Friday was a spectacular day at the park. We talk about so many things. One of the things we talked about in depth was health and wellness. There are so many things that are horrible for us, yet we continue to use or do whatever it is. My advice is to find one thing that is important to you and work from there. One of the moms was feeling a little overwhelmed with all the information that is out there, but mostly the information that came out of our mouths. The most important phrase: baby steps. One thing at a time.
The park ranger came by last week. You could feel the tension level at the table shoot straight thru the roof. We do not have the best relationship with her and felt like she was going to yell at us about something else. She didn't and that wasn't the purpose of her visit. She was wondering if we would be interested in some nature classes. Well, yeah. Any opportunity to learn that is outside of the home or the class room is alright with me. It is yet another avenue to widening our horizons. The classes will be every two weeks and cover some really cool topics. We get to build a terrarium, talk about trees and what products are made from trees, and look at life from the view point of a shrew. Very cool stuff. We are at the park anyway, so why not take advantage.
Hubby and I started volunteering with the youth. Our associate pastor is leaving and she was the youth leader. Although we are not "leading" the group, we will have pretty heavy involvement with it. We do have child care for our other two, so the big girl and none of the other teens has to worry about them. They don't really like having their time and space infiltrated by youngsters. I don't blame them, and they shouldn't have to. It has been interesting to say the least. I know I have enjoyed the times I have spent with them and I hope hubby is too.
This Saturday is jampacked with activity. It started out with just two things, but we had to add an extra. The kids are going to be in the Christmas parade of a nearby town with their dance school. There is practice this weekend for the dancers, which includes the big girl. If I know the boy, he will finagle his way in there somehow. Spot light hog, he is. We also had planned to go to a farm not too far from the house Saturday morning. They are having a free day with pony rides, hay rides, tours, animals, food and lots of fun. Another thing that will look good in the portfolio. We are also going to a get together at the house of some friends that we go to church with. It's a small group for the ministry that has come in to help our church. That is a topic for the other blog. There is something we could also do Sunday, but church is it for us. We're going to need the down time. Not really down time, though, since there is so much work to do around the house.
I have finally incorporated Spanish into our day. I knew if I didn't add it to the lesson plan, we would never get to it. We only started Monday, but so far, so good. We have been working on the numbers and can count to thirty. The kids are really enjoying it so far, but it's only been a couple of days. I just need to keep it up. I also need to figure out when the heck I am going to add the typing curriculum in. What was that phrase from earlier? Baby steps.
The crockpot is my favorite thing right now. There has been some really good food in our home and we love it. I made a dish called College Crockpot Favorite. 1-2 pounds of stew meat, 1 can cream of chicken, 1 can cream of mushroom and garlic, 1 packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix. I used some beef I had and cubed it up. I didn't have the mushroom and garlic soup, but I had the mushroom soup. I cut up four cloves of garlic and added that. I also sliced some onion and added a pound of fresh green beans that I had. I let it cook for about 7 hours on low, made a pot of rice before we left and dinner was ready when we got home. It was so yummy. There are so many easy recipes on the web, it makes things easy.
I guess that's enough to keep you interested and caught up. I'm sure there are a couple of other things that I'm missing. I'll just blog again later.
Have a great day!
We have a new dinner book. We are reading Roald Dahl's BFG. We had read his James and the Giant Peach and loved it. We love his creativity and imagery. He creates these fantastic worlds that make you want to be there. We love the way he puts his characters together. We love pretty much everything about him. And we are really enjoying this book. He makes us laugh, and think, and get a little teary. I'll give you the full run down when we're done.
Today was co-op. Love co-op. We had a little change in venue due to a back injury. My friend C was trying to open a window to enjoy our beautiful weather and there it went. I know exactly how she felt. So today was countries. I picked up C's daughter and off we went. Germany was on the agenda. We talked about food, and geography, and the culture and customs. During our co-op, we try to stay away from anything that may be too political. We feel like it's something that should be left up to the parents to discuss, so Hitler was left out. I am very OK with that. That is a topic that I will discuss with my kids when the time comes, when we study history that is a little more current. I did order a free K-12 history curriculum today. I could have sworn I already downloaded it, but I'll be darned if I can find it on my computer.
Friday was a spectacular day at the park. We talk about so many things. One of the things we talked about in depth was health and wellness. There are so many things that are horrible for us, yet we continue to use or do whatever it is. My advice is to find one thing that is important to you and work from there. One of the moms was feeling a little overwhelmed with all the information that is out there, but mostly the information that came out of our mouths. The most important phrase: baby steps. One thing at a time.
The park ranger came by last week. You could feel the tension level at the table shoot straight thru the roof. We do not have the best relationship with her and felt like she was going to yell at us about something else. She didn't and that wasn't the purpose of her visit. She was wondering if we would be interested in some nature classes. Well, yeah. Any opportunity to learn that is outside of the home or the class room is alright with me. It is yet another avenue to widening our horizons. The classes will be every two weeks and cover some really cool topics. We get to build a terrarium, talk about trees and what products are made from trees, and look at life from the view point of a shrew. Very cool stuff. We are at the park anyway, so why not take advantage.
Hubby and I started volunteering with the youth. Our associate pastor is leaving and she was the youth leader. Although we are not "leading" the group, we will have pretty heavy involvement with it. We do have child care for our other two, so the big girl and none of the other teens has to worry about them. They don't really like having their time and space infiltrated by youngsters. I don't blame them, and they shouldn't have to. It has been interesting to say the least. I know I have enjoyed the times I have spent with them and I hope hubby is too.
This Saturday is jampacked with activity. It started out with just two things, but we had to add an extra. The kids are going to be in the Christmas parade of a nearby town with their dance school. There is practice this weekend for the dancers, which includes the big girl. If I know the boy, he will finagle his way in there somehow. Spot light hog, he is. We also had planned to go to a farm not too far from the house Saturday morning. They are having a free day with pony rides, hay rides, tours, animals, food and lots of fun. Another thing that will look good in the portfolio. We are also going to a get together at the house of some friends that we go to church with. It's a small group for the ministry that has come in to help our church. That is a topic for the other blog. There is something we could also do Sunday, but church is it for us. We're going to need the down time. Not really down time, though, since there is so much work to do around the house.
I have finally incorporated Spanish into our day. I knew if I didn't add it to the lesson plan, we would never get to it. We only started Monday, but so far, so good. We have been working on the numbers and can count to thirty. The kids are really enjoying it so far, but it's only been a couple of days. I just need to keep it up. I also need to figure out when the heck I am going to add the typing curriculum in. What was that phrase from earlier? Baby steps.
The crockpot is my favorite thing right now. There has been some really good food in our home and we love it. I made a dish called College Crockpot Favorite. 1-2 pounds of stew meat, 1 can cream of chicken, 1 can cream of mushroom and garlic, 1 packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix. I used some beef I had and cubed it up. I didn't have the mushroom and garlic soup, but I had the mushroom soup. I cut up four cloves of garlic and added that. I also sliced some onion and added a pound of fresh green beans that I had. I let it cook for about 7 hours on low, made a pot of rice before we left and dinner was ready when we got home. It was so yummy. There are so many easy recipes on the web, it makes things easy.
I guess that's enough to keep you interested and caught up. I'm sure there are a couple of other things that I'm missing. I'll just blog again later.
Have a great day!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Just Stuff
We finished Huck Finn and then read a Geronimo Stilton book. That was our after dinner book. We had actually started it last Saturday while we were waiting for two new tires to get put on the van. I'll get to that in a minute. I have started taking a book with us when we go places. It keeps all of us occupied and out of trouble, for the most part. It's better than having everyone with their head stuck in a video game, or iPod, or whatever electronic piece of equipment we have. I had checked the GS book out from our local library and we hadn't started it yet. That presented the perfect opportunity. And we just carried it over to the after dinner book when Huck Finn ended. Geronimo Stilton books are so very cute. We also like to listen to them as books on CD. They read very quickly and keep everyone entertained.
I have decided that if I am going to do any extras in our school, then Monday is our day. After we are done with our core subjects, we are going to start learning Spanish. I have a great curriculum that I bought and it's time to start using it. We are going to start a little slow and do some review. My kids know a little bit, but not much past "How are you?" Monday is the only day we aren't busy with something else. If I don't just start, I never will. I think the kids are going to like it. We started with Spanish over the summer, but quit, because that's how I get sometimes. I also wanted to do some art, but the book I downloaded doesn't really show you how to start drawing. I got it for free from one of my homeschooling websites and thought it would make a good art curriculum. There's a website out there, I'm sure, I just need to look.
I want an external hard drive. I have so much on the computer that I really need to move. It slows it down and I could use more storage space. I've got stuff on the computer and on two flash drives. It just isn't enough. So if you're wondering what to get me for Christmas, there you go. I need more disk space. 500GB should do it. I have to go through periodically and figure out what we really need and what we don't. I delete and delete, but it just doesn't seem like enough. Off the computer entirely it needs to go.
The kids' dentist office is having a candy exchange. You turn in your candy and get a $1/pound and an entry into a drawing for one of two iPod nanos. I want one. The big girl got one for Christmas last year. I was so tempted to take it from her and give her mine. She would have hated me for the rest of her life, so I decided not to. I'm thinking about participating in that. What I might do instead, is have the kids make their own candy pizza at our next co-op. Or maybe our co-op Christmas party. I could be in so much trouble. But I could get rid of a ton of candy. We'll see how brave I am.
The baby has an opportunity to do some dancing with the company dance team from our dance school. To be in company you have to have taken, and be actively taking, ballet, tap, and jazz. You have to have multiple years of each and be at least 11. It is a lot of work and money and time. More than we have of either time or money. I think the baby will enjoy it. Her dance class is the highlight of her week. All the kids have the opportunity to be in a Christmas parade as well. We couldn't last year because of a conflict, but the kids love being in a parade. We usually help with the 4th of July float with our church. Loads of fun. I need to make up my mind tonight so I can have hubby drop off the forms.
That's what's going on here. Some little changes happening. Thanks for letting me empty the brain.
Have a great day!
I have decided that if I am going to do any extras in our school, then Monday is our day. After we are done with our core subjects, we are going to start learning Spanish. I have a great curriculum that I bought and it's time to start using it. We are going to start a little slow and do some review. My kids know a little bit, but not much past "How are you?" Monday is the only day we aren't busy with something else. If I don't just start, I never will. I think the kids are going to like it. We started with Spanish over the summer, but quit, because that's how I get sometimes. I also wanted to do some art, but the book I downloaded doesn't really show you how to start drawing. I got it for free from one of my homeschooling websites and thought it would make a good art curriculum. There's a website out there, I'm sure, I just need to look.
I want an external hard drive. I have so much on the computer that I really need to move. It slows it down and I could use more storage space. I've got stuff on the computer and on two flash drives. It just isn't enough. So if you're wondering what to get me for Christmas, there you go. I need more disk space. 500GB should do it. I have to go through periodically and figure out what we really need and what we don't. I delete and delete, but it just doesn't seem like enough. Off the computer entirely it needs to go.
The kids' dentist office is having a candy exchange. You turn in your candy and get a $1/pound and an entry into a drawing for one of two iPod nanos. I want one. The big girl got one for Christmas last year. I was so tempted to take it from her and give her mine. She would have hated me for the rest of her life, so I decided not to. I'm thinking about participating in that. What I might do instead, is have the kids make their own candy pizza at our next co-op. Or maybe our co-op Christmas party. I could be in so much trouble. But I could get rid of a ton of candy. We'll see how brave I am.
The baby has an opportunity to do some dancing with the company dance team from our dance school. To be in company you have to have taken, and be actively taking, ballet, tap, and jazz. You have to have multiple years of each and be at least 11. It is a lot of work and money and time. More than we have of either time or money. I think the baby will enjoy it. Her dance class is the highlight of her week. All the kids have the opportunity to be in a Christmas parade as well. We couldn't last year because of a conflict, but the kids love being in a parade. We usually help with the 4th of July float with our church. Loads of fun. I need to make up my mind tonight so I can have hubby drop off the forms.
That's what's going on here. Some little changes happening. Thanks for letting me empty the brain.
Have a great day!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Huck Finn
We finished Huck Finn tonight. That was our family book, and has been for what seems like forever. It was quite a long book and had 43 chapters. I read this when I was in school, but I can't remember if it was high school or middle school. I do know that I don't remember the book being that hard to read. I figure we got the edited version in school. Hubby had suggested it and I said OK. I didn't remember the controversial subjects in it either, so I'm wondering what kind of impression it made then. Apparently not a favorable one.
It definitely led to some interesting topice I didn't think I would have to talk about with my 11, 8, and 5 year old. The baby doesn't understand most of it. I don't think she has any knowledge or understanding of what a slave is. I don't think she has the concept of slavery. The other two on the other hand, asked so many great, wise questions that I found myself having a hard time answering. I give Mark Twain props for that.
I had to change some of the language. I definitely do not remember the main word I had to change. When the book was written, and for many years after, and to some extent even today, the N word was prevalent and had a myriad of uses and meanings. The problem is that none of them are good. That opened up discussions that could have taken days to finish had I not finally called an end to it.
The story itself shuffled through a plethora of emotions. We would laugh out loud, be angry, shake our heads in disgust. It was a cute story about a very precocious boy, a slave who wasn't, and eventually Huck's best friend, Tom Sawyer. There were times we just could not believe some of the things that Huck did or said. A lie could roll off his tongue with ease. If he told the truth at any point we were more amazed than if he told a lie. He definitely had many grand adventures and met some interesting characters.
We very much enjoyed this book, for many different reasons. I will say that I think it was way too old for my kids. By the time I had finally made that decision, because I'm slow sometimes, we were too far into it to stop. If I had pulled the plug on it, the kids would have revolted. I decided to keep the peace and keep the discussions flowing. We return it tomorrow to the church library and pick out another book. This time, though, I will make sure that it is a little more appropriate for us. And Tom Sawyer is just going to have to wait several years before he gets dragged out.
Have a great day!
It definitely led to some interesting topice I didn't think I would have to talk about with my 11, 8, and 5 year old. The baby doesn't understand most of it. I don't think she has any knowledge or understanding of what a slave is. I don't think she has the concept of slavery. The other two on the other hand, asked so many great, wise questions that I found myself having a hard time answering. I give Mark Twain props for that.
I had to change some of the language. I definitely do not remember the main word I had to change. When the book was written, and for many years after, and to some extent even today, the N word was prevalent and had a myriad of uses and meanings. The problem is that none of them are good. That opened up discussions that could have taken days to finish had I not finally called an end to it.
The story itself shuffled through a plethora of emotions. We would laugh out loud, be angry, shake our heads in disgust. It was a cute story about a very precocious boy, a slave who wasn't, and eventually Huck's best friend, Tom Sawyer. There were times we just could not believe some of the things that Huck did or said. A lie could roll off his tongue with ease. If he told the truth at any point we were more amazed than if he told a lie. He definitely had many grand adventures and met some interesting characters.
We very much enjoyed this book, for many different reasons. I will say that I think it was way too old for my kids. By the time I had finally made that decision, because I'm slow sometimes, we were too far into it to stop. If I had pulled the plug on it, the kids would have revolted. I decided to keep the peace and keep the discussions flowing. We return it tomorrow to the church library and pick out another book. This time, though, I will make sure that it is a little more appropriate for us. And Tom Sawyer is just going to have to wait several years before he gets dragged out.
Have a great day!
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