History Notebook Pages

I have wanted the kids to make history notebook pages all year long, but haven't gotten around to it (a very common problem with me). I suddenly realized that the year was winding to a close. If I wanted to do them (and hopefully get into the habit of them for next year), I needed to start NOW.

Luckily, we were at a good place to start. We just finished studying the writing of the Declaration of Independence. I think the beginning of our country is a fine place to begin.

I got some 8.5x11 paper that is sort of patriotic (color-wise, anyway). I printed off a picture of the Declaration of Independence from the internet. I then gave the kids the option of printing the title on the computer or hand-writing it. They both chose to use the computer. They then had to write a few things about the famous document. We cut things out and glued them on the paper. Here are the final results!


Robert's is on the left. I gave him guidance on where to place things (read "told him exactly what to do"). I left Ruth free to do her own thing. I found her placement rather interesting. :)

They are nothing fancy, but they are done, and we are (hopefully!) on our way to making notebook pages on a regular basis.

I Am SO Not Surprised

You Are 70% Left Brained, 30% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

Update on Malachi

Little Malachi is having his third round of chemo this week. I don't know specifics, but I do know his parents said this is "very serious". Please continue to keep him and the family in your prayers. My heart aches for all of them.

Prayers Needed

I found out at church this morning that the 14 month old son of one our families was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) this past week. Please pray for little Malachi, his parents, and his big sister Emily.

As I receive updates, I'll be sure to let y'all know.

Pachelbel Rant

This video is hysterical. (I rate it PG for some cuss words.)

Deep Thoughts

Quote from Ruthie:

"I really wish they hadn't built the Tower of Babel."

My daughter is a thinker, so we wait expectantly...

"It's just one more thing I have to learn about."

And sometimes she's just an eight year old. :)

A New Schedule

We had the most productive week we've had in a long time this past week. I instituted a new schedule, and while we weren't perfect, we did stick to it pretty well.

I have been giving each of the kids daily assignment sheets for awhile, but I have been letting them choose the order of the subjects. What I found is that they would save all their "hard" work (like math and grammar) for later in the day. It would then either not get done, or get stretched out for way too long. Choosing their own schedule for the day was not working. So, I took the choice away from them.

I now let them know in what order their subjects will be done. I try to vary them so that I can spend time with each child for the subjects that that require one-on-one. I did not go so far as to set a schedule for exact times of the day, but I did put general time limits on subjects. So, if they have not finished math in 30 minutes, they still go on to the next subject. If they finish a subject early, I have them pull out unfinished work and do that.

Ruthie has done amazingly well with this. She finished her work before noon every day. Robert fought me on it, but he also got his work done much more quickly than normal. And, by the end of the week, he seemed to have almost completely adjusted to it and was no longer fighting me (as much, anyway).

I also managed to fit in the history project (make a hornbook) and science activity (make craters in a bowl of flour with rocks) that I've been trying to get done for literally months. I felt very good about that.

So far, this schedule has worked the best of any we have tried this year. I am sure I will have to tweak it over time, but for now it is working, and I will take that.

Books!

Books, glorious books!

We went to the library today and I actually got a couple of things for myself for once. We even (shock!) ventured upstairs to the (gasp!) adult section of the library.

I will now have the following two books sitting on my bedside table, waiting to be read.

An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott (I've only ever read her Little Women series)

and

Unveiled by Francine Rivers (highly recommend by a friend - It's a fictionalized account of the story of Tamar from the Old Testament)

Now, let's see if I can actually find the time to read them!

UPDATED: added links

Some of My Favorite Posts

For those of you who use bloglines, do you use the "Keep New" option in the bottom right hand corner of posts? I was a happy girl the day I found that. I was always thinking, "Now, where did I see that recipe/craft/inspirational post?" and this nifty feature has solved my problem (for the most part). I have quite a few posts that I keep "new". I thought I'd share some of them with you here.

A Bravewriter's Life in Brief has a yummy-sounding lemon scones recipe that I think Griff would like.

Blest with sons has the CUTEST picture of a Barbie Bible Study.

Homeliving Helper has an excellent post on Good Housekeeping that I read when I need a good, swift kick in the pants.

Kim at Life in a Shoe mentions some George Sarris Bible CD's that I absolutely must look into.

Rocks in My Dryer reviews a children's book that sounds just wonderful.

I hope you see something you like. I know I did.

The Problem With a New Computer

We used to have 2 computers. With the new one, that makes 3. I will be using the new one mostly, but will still use the PC for some things. (The 3rd computer is our old Mac. Griff also has Linux loaded on it and that will be its main OS now. I will rarely be on it.)

Since I will be going back and forth between the two computers, I decided to move all my bookmarks to del.icio.us. I exported all my books and copied them to del.icio.us. I am now in the process of going through each bookmark and putting appropriate tags on them.

I have 715 bookmarks. I need to put tags on at least 577 of them. I figure it will take me about a year.

Advice From Nancy Drew

I loved to read Nancy Drew books when I was young. They were so exciting! Mysterious! Fun! Hokey!

Okay, that last one I didn't discover until I picked up one of my old books a few years ago. I read and enjoy a lot of children's books as an adult. Nancy Drew has not stood the test of time. For a young girl, though, they were (and are) wonderful. I cannot wait for Ruth to start reading them. (Griff is the same way with Robert and The Hardy Boys.)

A couple of years ago, my in-laws gave me this tiny book. And it is tiny - only 3"x3". It also has a bookmark with a little magnifying glass on the end. Cute!

Enclosed within the pages are some of the great pearls of wisdom of Nancy Drew, Girl Detective. Here are some of my personal favorites.

• When bound and gagged, you can still tap out HELP in morse code to attract attention. --The Clue of the Tapping Heels
  
• If you hear the telltale sounds of a helicopter, step away from a blaze in the fireplace. The copter might send a downdraft into the chimney and shower sparks all over your sleek coif. --The Myster of the 99 Steps
• Make your date work for you--send him on B-level errands you can't seem to fit into your busy schedule. --The Clue in the Diary
• If a guy's hunch results in a dead-end, don't flaunt your better judgment and intuition in front of him. Smirk secretly to yourself. --The Phantom of Pine Hill

and my personal favorite

• If you see something resembling a shark in a river, don't fret. It's more likely to be a small submarine operated by thieves. --The Mystery of Lilac Inn.

What a fun book for a trip down memory lane!

Just so you know how obsessive I am about the proper use of apostrophes!

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

HT: Higher Up And Further In

How I Spent My Christmas Vacation

I totally missed Christmas here at Imagine, but I just hate to see the whole season go by without sharing what we did. So, I decided an end-of-season summary was better than nothing!

We spent time making ornaments and these absolutely adorable chocolate cake trees. Can I share instructions for a Christmas craft after Christmas? Is that acceptable? (BTW, the girl in the middle is a friend of the kids'.)



Here is a picture of my family at church on Christmas Eve.



On Christmas Day, I made the decision to sit back and enjoy and forget picture taking. However, I did get a picture of a few things before and after.

I absolutely love our Christmas tree. It's a pre-lit tree and boy, howdy, has that made my life easier! The day I take the tree out and the lights don't work, I will be tossing it and buying another one. It is just that wonderful.



Our tree is covered with a hodge podge of ornaments. No theme tree for me! I just love how it looks.

Favorite Christmas gifts:

Ruth's favorite was her I-Dog. This thing is so cute. It will light up and "dance" (actually just shakes its head and ears) to the music. It also growls when you pull its tail. Adorable!



When I asked Robert what his favorite gift was, he said, "Jesus. He's the gift God gave us." It was enough to make me melt in a puddle on the floor. However, the Lego Mindstorm was also popular.



Griff's favorite was probably our new I-Mac. Oh.my.word! The speed! The screen resolution! The speed! Can you see that he's watching The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on the computer? To say that we could never do that on our old computer is a massive understatement



My favorite (sorry, no picture) is the GPS for my car. Griff really hit the jackpot with this one. I go to so many places that I've never been to before (field trips!) that this will be used often. Love it!

It's interesting to note that all of the favorite gifts (other than my GPS) were from Griff's parents. They truly spoil us!

This past Saturday, we had Christmas for my side of the family. We had a great time! We did a $10 gift card exchange where we got to steal from other people. Poor Ruth did not keep her Barnes & Noble gift card (although she did end up with Best Buy, which was a good second choice) and Robert was thrilled to steal a Wal-Mart gift card. I ended up with Bed, Bath & Beyond and Griff ended up with... I have no clue! LOL!

Here's a picture of me with my sisters and brother.

Oh, Quit Yer Whinin'!

After further thoughts on my previous post, I've decided I don't want to give up on the blog. I will be making an effort to post more frequently and share it more openly.

I would make it a New Year's Resolution, except I don't believe in those. (Hey, that could be a post!)

A Blog Crisis

I am really struggling right now about what to do with my blog.

• I do not update it often.
  
• I have ideas, but never follow through with them.
• I have other things that need my attention more than this blog does.
  
• Writing is a struggle for me, and not something I enjoy. (can you say math geek?)
  
• I get about one reader/day. Sometimes less.
• I am shy about sharing my blog. (probably the reason for the number of readers) My family doesn't even know about it! (other than my husband)
• I haven't figured out the "identity" of my blog. Homeschooling mom? Mother of a child with Asperger's? Christian mom? I know it can be all those things, but I feel it needs an emphasis.
  

However...

• I love the idea of a blog
• I really do have things I'd like to share with others.
• It's a great way to keep track of everyday events. (Of course, I'm not using it for this.)
• I want to improve my writing (and enjoy it!).
  

Right now, the cons are greatly outweighing the pros. If I don't hear from the few readers I have (I'm looking for advice here!), I'll probably call it quits.

A Breakthrough!

My two kids love to go outside every day and play on our swingset. Consequently, there is very little grass and a lot of dirt under the swings. Now that the weather has turned cooler and the kids are no longer in flip-flops all day, we are having a big problem with dirt being tracked into the house.

We have them stomping their feet before coming in, and leaving their shoes right inside the door. However, Ruthie often forgets. When she does, I have her sweep up the mess.

Last week, I noticed quite a bit of dirt on the kitchen floor. While in the car later, I asked Ruthie if she had done that. She admitted it, and I told her she would need to sweep it as soon as we got home. She willingly agreed to do this.

A few minutes later, Robert piped up. "Mom, I don't think it's fair that Ruth has to clean up the dirt."

Me: "Why not?"

Robert: "Because I'm the one who did it."

People, this is huge. HUGE, I tell you. Accepting the blame, personal responsibility, a guilty conscience... These are all things kids with Asperger's struggle with. I can't tell you how important this is.

I immediately told Robert how happy and proud I was of him for admitting this. (I still am. I get this warm, fuzzy feeling when I think of it.) He seemed very happy and proud of himself, as well.

He and Ruthie discussed it and decided they had both made the mess and they would clean it up together. And they did.

I am one happy, proud mama.

Weight Loss

I've been losing weight lately. How am I doing it? To be honest, all I'm doing is eating less. Really! My meals are smaller and I seldom snack. I'm also exercising, but the cold weather has slowed me down on that. (I don't believe in suffering too much!)

Over the past 2 months, I've probably lost 15-20 lbs. I have no idea of the exact number because I have lousy scales. However, I was able to buy a size smaller pants a few weeks ago, and Sunday I wore a skirt that I haven't been able to wear in a couple of years.

I'm still waiting for somebody to say something. Even my DH didn't say anything until I made a comment. Then all he said was, "You have lost a lot of weight." (men!) It's hard when you know you look better, but nobody says a word. I figure I will need to lose another 10 pounds for anybody to notice.

So, if you know me IRL and see me, I could really do with a "Girl! You look fantastic!"

:)

Funny Stuff

Want a good laugh? Check out the Carnival of Kid Comedy over at Life in a Shoe.

I'm Just Sayin'

I love Diet Coke. Specifically, I love fountain Diet Coke. Even more specifically, I love McDonald's fountain Diet Coke.

So if I go to McD's after a hiatus of several weeks and order a large Diet Coke and not discover until I've driven away from the window that it's a regular Coke, that's just a real bummer. (blech!)

Really?

You paid attention during 97% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
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HT: Half Pint House

Delay of School Called Because of Warm Weather

40 degree weather is just an hour away, so the kids are outside swinging in their pajamas, making the most of the 70 degree weather while it lasts.

I love homeschooling.

The (Supposed) Death of a Beloved Part of Our Home

We went out for awhile this afternoon and when we got home, I noticed the house was a bit, well, warm. The air conditioner (yes, we run the a/c year-round in Houston) was on, but no cool breezes were wafting from our vents.

Bummer.

When Griff got home, he took a look at it and discovered the fan is not working. We are hoping that it is the motor, which Griff can replace himself. (I have a very handy husband.)

BUT, the good news is, we have a bit of time to solve our problem. Take a look at our weather forecast.


Check out tomorrow. High of 70. Low of 37!!! Wowza! Think a cold front is coming through tomorrow?

Now we've just got to get through the warm evening and we'll be okay. It sure beats the time the a/c was out for 3 days in June.

Early Morning Wake-up

I have a stop watch. This stop watch has an alarm. It is set to go off at 5:00 am. I have no idea how it got set. I have no idea how to change the setting or turn it off. For several years, this stop watch has been stored in a cabinet in the laundry room.

A couple of weeks ago, this stop watch made its way out of the cabinet. I'm not sure how it happened, but it did.

It is now in our bedroom. Somewhere in our bedroom. I have no idea where. I have looked under, over, and through everything.

Every morning, the silly thing goes off at 5:00 am. I wake up and try to find it. However, it only goes off for one minute. So, I have one minute to wake up, remind myself I've got to get up and find it, and quickly (ha!) follow the sound. No luck so far. All I've succeeded in doing is stumbling out of bed in a daze and kind of staring around the room. I have managed to open a few dresser drawers to see if the sound gets louder, but that's it.

The whole thing is pretty comical and we have been able to laugh about it, but I really do need to find it.

I think I'm going to have to set my alarm clock earlier than the stop watch alarm so I can be completely awake when the thing goes off.

Lucky me.

Things I Have GOT To Get Done

I have a few things that I really need to get done. They will not stop swirling around in my mind, so I'm going to post them here. I find that I can relax a bit once I've written things down. Let's see if it holds true for posting.

1. Get my passport.
Did I mention I'm going on a cruise in February? No? Well, I am! :)

2. Make Ruthie a black skirt for her orchestra concert.
She has to wear a skirt, and rather than search from here to Timbuktu for a black skirt long and full enough for a girl playing cello, I decided I'm going to make it. First stop is find the pattern! Her first concert is next Saturday, so I need to get busy!

3. Get tuxedo shirts for both kids for same concert.
Luckily I know exactly where to find these. - Hobby Lobby!

My Friend Monica

When I was in 2nd grade, a family moved in down the street. They were Hispanic, and living in a very Caucasian (read white!)-heavy town, I had never seen a family of that skin-tone before and I remember thinking they must be black. (That's not really important to the story. I've just always remembered that for some strange reason.)

None of that mattered, though. They had 2 girls! The family who lived there before had boys, and while we did all play together, I was thrilled to have girls living so close. Their oldest girls, Debbie, was 2 years older than me. Their other daughter, Monica, was a year younger. We were all friends, but Monica and I were especially close.

I spent a lot of time at Monica's house growing up. I can remember her mother growing peppers in their backyard. I had fajitas for the very first time at her house (this was WAY back before every Mexican food restaurant in town had them on the menu). We used to lay out in her backyard. Her dad used to laugh at the pair of us - Monica with her beautiful brown skin and me with my whiter-than-white-never-tanned skin.

They had a lot of extended family in the Houston area and they were often over at the house. I got to know her family very well. They often joked that I was the adopted daughter. I loved Monica's family as much as I loved her.

Over the years, we have not kept in touch much. We were in each other's weddings. We went to each other's baby showers. Our kids went to each other's birthday parties when they were young. Monica and her parents came to my mom's funeral. But the day-to-day communication hasn't happened much. We talk to each other about once a year.

Monica called me this week to invite me to a Southern Living at Home party at her house. (She knows I've always enjoyed those type of things.) I am so excited to go. Not only will I get to see Monica, but her family will be there. I can't wait!

Oh, Those Tricky Old Testament Names

So, Ruthie is narrating her Bible story to me today.

Ruthie: Ahishothel told Absalom...

Me: Ahithophel

Ruthie: Afifofel told Absalom...

Me: Ahithophel

Ruthie: Athithothel told...

Me: Ahithophel

Ruthie: How about we just call him "Mr. A"?

Weekend Plans

We are going camping this weekend. Robert's cub scout pack is having a family campout this weekend and, after 3 years in scouts, we are finally going on one. We have been camping twice in our married lives. Once in Arkansas pre-kids, and once at Guadalupe River State Park with my sister's family when the children were small. I think Ruthie was about 18 months old.

Being the non-campers that we are, I have been borrowing all of our camping gear from friends and family. Luckily my sister Alicia and her family LOVE to camp, so I was able to borrow quite a bit from her. A couple at church offered us their gear when they found out we were camping this weekend, so I was able to round out our supply needs after finding out what dear sis was missing (or, rather, couldn't find).

I am really looking forward to this weekend, and so is Ruthie. Griff and Robert - not so much. I am so looking forward to getting away and really relaxing for a couple of days. It's supposed to be cool this weekend, too. "Cool" being a relative term, of course. Highs in the low 70's. Lows in the 50's. Ahhhh...

I hope to come back with fun stories and lots of pictures!

A Good Weekend

We had a good weekend. Not exciting, but good.

On Saturday, Ruthie had a volleyball game. She is playing on a team at the YMCA. They are not what I would call a good team (sorry, sweetie!), but they are having fun and learning. We were excited today because Ruthie actually got two serves in a row over the net. Woo-hoo! Way to go!

After lunch, Robert and I headed out to the Sea Center in Lake Jackson for a Cub Scout field trip. It took us over an hour to get there, and I was not looking forward to the drive, but Robert had a great time. I have some pictures that I'll try to add later with more info about this trip.

Apparently a cold front came through Saturday night because we woke up to cold weather on Sunday. At least, cold for us. It was 55 degrees when we left for church. Brrr! It felt great, though. Finally!

At church, we found out we are going to two services next week. (How did we miss THAT announcement?) They are adding an 8:00 worship service and we're going to try our best to make it to that. Our old church had an early service and we loved going to it.

Griff had an orchestra performance that afternoon. I don't know if I've ever mentioned that he plays double bass. He hadn't played in years, but started again recently and has found 2 community orchestras to play with. The performance yesterday was really good and very enjoyable. One of the pieces they played was "Pictures at an Exhibition", which is one of my favorites.

After the performance, we went to Carabba's for dinner. Yum! Griff took to the kids for ice cream, but I was exhausted and so I headed home.

I must have been very tired, because I went to be at 8:30. Wowza! I though I would wake up at dark-thirty, but I actually slept 'til almost 6:30.

I also watched a good movie this weekend. It was North and South. No, not the civil war miniseries. This one is set in England in the late 1800's. If you like period piece movies, I highly recommend it.

So, let's see... Good times as a family, good weather, good music, good food, good sleep, and a good movie. Yep, that's a good weekend.

* post edited because I wasn't quite happy with it
** sigh... edited again because I forgot the link for the movie

Overheard

Robert (after about his 10th reminder to finish his copywork): "My pencil is lazy today."

All (well, not all) About Ruthie

Ruthie was my surprise gift from God. After trying for 2 years to get pregnant the first time, you can imagine my surprise when I turned up pregnant when Robert was only 8 months old. I was in shock and denial for the first part of my pregnancy, but God knew what I didn't. Ruthie would be a joy and the blessing I was not smart enough to ask for. I thought I would share some things about her. I could go on and on, but I will choose 8 things, because she is 8 years old.

1. She loves to draw. And I mean LOVES to draw. She goes through stacks and stacks of paper. I started buying her spiral-bound drawing pads just so I would stop finding pieces of paper all over the floor.

2. She has a very dry sense of humor. She writes comics and some of them have her father and I rolling in laughter.

3. She has my mother's blue eyes.

4. She is tall for her age. If you do the "double your height at age 2" thing, she is going to be six feet tall. I don't think she'll quite reach that height, but she is going to far surpass my 5'3" self.

5. She always cries when reading sad books or seeing sad movies.

6. She loves dogs and wants one desperately. So far we've resisted, but I'm sure we'll give in some day.

7. She is very open. She often comes to me and say, "Can we talk?" We'll go off alone somewhere together and she'll share a concern or question with me. Sometimes it's as simple as wanting permission to watch a particular TV show. Other times it's a problem she's having with a friend or even with me. I hope she never stops doing this.

8. She's smart and she asks the hard questions. Her teachers at church are always telling me about the questions she asks them, putting them on the spot. She definitely keeps us on our toes!

I could indeed go on, but I said 8, so I'll stop.

Thank you, God, for giving me my Ruthie. I love you, sweetie!

A Momma's Pride

Griff got a call from a friend from church a couple of weeks ago. They were scheduling fathers and sons to pass communion trays and he wanted Griff and Robert to participate. I was a bit anxious about how Robert would handle it, but I needn't have been. Griff was with him the whole time, instructing him on how to carry the trays, which pews to pass them down first, how to pick up trays and pass them on to other pews, and how to return the trays when finished. And he was so obviously excited and proud of himself. On his first trip down the aisle, I could see him looking for me. When he saw me, he gave me a big grin. Several people around me chuckled. His joy was very obvious to everyone.

Later, I was praising him for doing such a great job (for the umpteenth time) and he finally said, "Mom, stop. You're making me blush." Such a funny, sweet boy.

I didn't know this until we got to church this morning, but the whole service was youth-led. The song leader's son was with his father, helping with that job. His sweet, mic'd voice could be clearly heard singing the songs. He is 8 years old. All the prayers and scripture readings were done by boys ranging in age from 9 years to 13 years. Two middle-school-aged boys did short sermons. They both did a fantastic job, too.

It was incredible seeing all these boys up there, leading us. They are the future of the church and it did my heart good.

The occasion for this special service was the kick-off for LTC. Robert and Ruthie are both old enough to participate this year. We haven't made our final selections, but so far Robert wants to do reading and sign language. Ruthie signed up for reading, art, and scrapbook.

It's going to be a great experience. I just know it is.

(BTW, I've realized that my blog posts tend to be Robert-heavy. My next post will be all about our Ruthie. )

Take Your Kid to Blog Day

Blest with Sons hosts Take Your Kid to Blog Day every Friday. It is a great opportunity to show off what your kids have done, or let them have a turn at blogging. I'm participating this week, showing off some of my children's work from this week.

I am pretty eclectic in my homeschooling approach, but one thing I absolutely love is Charlotte Mason's narration method of learning. For my non-homeschooling readers, basically you read to your child (or they read themselves), then they retell it back to you. Here is a good, short explanation of narration and its benefits.

Anyway, back to the kids. I have been attempting narrating since we started homeschooling back in January, with limited success. Ruthie is capable, but hasn't liked it. Robert has really struggled with it. His Asperger's means that he has difficulties with comprehension and expressing himself, so narrating can be a real struggle. The I read Linda's advice to start with Aesop's Fables. We started and still struggled, until I came upon the idea of having them narrate to me while I typed it into the computer. Success! They both loved this. Ruthie took to it right away, but Robert, while he tried harder, still struggled.

This week, Robert gave me the following narration for the fable of the The Wolf and the Crane. Read and enjoy. :) (The punctuation is mine, but the words are all his.)

A greedy wolf had been eating too much and got a bone
stuck in his throat. He couldn't spit it out nor swallow
it, and of course he couldn't eat anything. So he asked
for the crane's help. He said, "If you can get this bone
out of my throat, I will reward you greatly." The crane did
as he asked and took the bone out. Then the wolf left.
The crane said, "What's my reward?" The wolf answered, 
spinning around angrily, "Tch! Isn't it enough
that I let you take your head out of my throat without
biting it off?" The moral is do not expect any reward for
serving the wicked.

It's absolutely wonderful. I almost cried and I did have to hug and hold him close when he was done. When you have a child that struggles, breakthroughs mean everything.

In the spirit of fair play, and because I am also proud of Ruthie's narration, here is hers.

There once was a greedy wolf who was eating and got a
bone stuck in his throat. He could not move it up or down
and he couldn't eat. It was a bad state of affairs for
the wolf. He went to the crane, thinking that she could
surely get it out with her long bill. The crane, as you
could imagine, was very nervous about putting her neck in
the wolf's throat. But the wolf promised her a reward, so
she did it. When she pulled her neck out, the wolf started
to leave. "What about my reward?" she called. "What?!"
cried the wolf. "Haven't you got it? Isn't it enough that
I let you put your neck in my throat without snapping your
head off?" The moral is expect no reward for serving
the wicked.

Want to show off how smart, funny, or cute your kids are? Head over to Blest with Sons and join in the fun.

A Father's Love

If you have not heard the story of Dick and Rick Hoyt, you need to go over to Higher Up and Further In and read about it and see the video there. In fact, even if you have heard the story, you should go over and hear it again.

I saw a video of them a year or two ago and it is one of the most incredible stories I've ever heard.

Go. Now.

9-11

I have been thinking for weeks about posting my "where I was" story for 9-11. However, I've decided I'm not ready to do that yet. That day affected me on such a deep level, changing who I was and how I thought of my way of life. I have never been the same.

I'm just not ready to talk about it yet.

My thoughts and prayers today are with the families of the 9-11 victims, the victims who survived and are having to deal with the lasting effects, our soldiers, and everyone else who struggling with the memories of that horrible day.

Out of My Comfort Zone

Our school year this far has been pretty, well, to be perfectly honest, boring. We've been at it for 6 weeks and I'm about to start banging my head against the wall. I have no idea how the kids are feeling, but nobody's having much fun around here. And really, what's the point of homeschooling if you can't have some fun.

So, I'm doing something I said I would never do. We're doing a Konos unit study. My friend Heather is a Konos fanatic, but I have been resisting. It just seemed like so much work. And it may very well be. But, something has got to change. So, we're off on a new adventure.

We're going to be doing the Attentiveness study, mainly because that's the same one Heather is doing and she can hold my hand through it. We'll be starting with sound, ears, and music. It also includes frontiersmen (including a Lewis & Clark study), animal tracking, and Indians. If the first part goes well, we'll continue with that.

I'm nervous, but also excited.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes. (Really. I will.)

Blog Naming

Are you curious about the process bloggers go through to choose a name? Barb over at A Chelsea Morning has asked for your reason. Blog about it, then go over to her blog and leave a link to your post.

I actually shared my reason for the name "Imagine" in my very post, which you can see here.

Really Funny Commercials

Have you heard the "Real Men of Genius" radio ads for a particular brand of beer? They are hysterical! While I am not endorsing alcholic beverages of any sort, you gotta appreciate the pure brilliance of this marketing campaign.

Here's a link to a list of many of them. My personal favorite is #52 - Mr. Way Too Proud of Texas Guy.

Go and listen and laugh.

This Is Just So Typical!

So, I'm looking for Robert's Cub Scout belt. His first meeting of the year is tonight. I know I have seen it recently. I'm pretty sure it was hanging on the belt hook in his closet, but no, it's not.

I ask Robert if he's seen it (a long shot, but maybe). He also thinks it's in his closet.

I look everywhere I can think of, but still can't find it.

I email Griff at work and ask him if he's seen it. No, he hasn't.

30 minutes before we are to leave, I find it.

It's in the bread basket.

????

Ingredients for a Fun Morning

Needed:

1 soft wax ear plug, divided in two

1 ear

$275.00

1 9 (almost 10!) year old boy without any sense

Directions:

Insert ear plug into ear. Have Dad spend an hour trying to remove. When that fails, you get to miss school the next morning while you see the pediatrician. After a valiant effort by the doctor, you head off for the ENT to give him a chance. After an hour in the waiting room, the nice doctor is able to remove the ear plug and you get to go home.

Now, doesn't that sound like a great way to end the week?

Well, That's Just Your Opinion

We have been doing school since the beginning of August, which is about 2.5 weeks earlier than the local school districts. I made this decision for a couple of reasons.

• I wanted plenty of time for fun stuff this year and didn't want to feel like we were falling behind by taking a day off.
• It is as hot as blazes outside (exactly how hot is "blazes"?). I'd rather have time off on a pretty fall/winter/spring day.

This has already paid off. We got less than a full day done last Thursday. Friday was great, but it is our "enrichment" day (music & art appreciation, history projects, science expirements, etc.). On Monday we met some friends at the park for lunch, then the kids had their first orchestra rehearsal, so very little school was done. And, of course, the field trip yesterday.

Ruthie does not seem to see things quite the way I do, though. I was talking to Griff on Monday evening, telling him how crazy things had been. Ruthie piped in with, "Yeah, our homeschool is falling apart."

Today we are hitting the books hard. We don't want our homeschool to fall apart! :)

Fun Was Had By All

We went on our first official field trip of the year today. A co-op we did some things with last year organized a trip to see the Body Worlds 3 exhibit. In addition, we could choose other things to do at the museum as well, all at the cheap-o group rates. We chose the IMAX and Cockrell Butterfly Center.

We went through Body Worlds very quickly. It was really too much for the kids. It was very graphic. I'm not sorry we tried it, though. I liked the parts I did see.

We had time before meeting our group at the butterfly center, so we spent time in the normal Exhibit Halls. They have a great hands-on section for kids on the ground (basement?) floor. The kids always love that.

After that, we headed to see the butterflies. I always love this part. They have a "tropical rainforest" you can walk through with thousands of butterflies fluttering about. Here are some of the better pictures I took today:



The kids are now asking to raise butterflies. I talked to one of the moms who has done it and she told me to check out this web-site. I'm seeing a side-excursion in our science studies for awhile.

They also usually have a couple of experts wandering through, showing something. Today, they had a giant walking stick.


See that hand? That's MY hand. The kids wouldn't touch her (yes, she female), but I decided to put on my brave hat today and let that thing crawl on me. Aren't I a good mom? :) I have never seen a walking stick that looks like this one. I meant to ask where it was from, but I forgot. I've google'd it, but haven't found it yet. If anybody can give me more info, I'd appreciate it.

They also have an entomological exhibit with all kinds of bugs to check out. When I saw these, I just had to take the picture.


They are hissing cockroaches. The white one is an albino hissing cockroach. Can we all say "EWWWW!" I really can't stand these things. They are one of my "WHY?!" questions for God when I get to Heaven. I can handle just about any bug except these.

After lunch and more museum, we headed to the IMAX to see "Ocean Oasis". I had no idea Baja California had that kind of aquatic life. Beautiful and amazing. Ruthie especially loved this.

After one more trip into the museum, we headed home. It was a full day, but a great one. The kids have been to the museum on many school field trips, and I have gone with them, but I don't ever recall having so much fun with them. It was so much more relaxing than previous field trips. We all had an excellent time.

Overheard

From my soon-to-be-10 year old son...

"When I grow up, I'm going to eat pancakes and eggs and milk for breakfast."

(pause)

"Of course, I'll need a wife or someone else to make them for me."

Sleep (or the lack thereof)

I had 2 nights this week where I was unable to sleep and was up 'til 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning.

Today, I made up that sleep with a 4 hour nap. (yowza!)

This means I will not be able to go to sleep tonight until 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning.

And so the cycle continues....

Unfinished Business

I have a flaw in my character. Okay, more than one, but we're zeroing in on one for now. I am always starting projects, then fading at the end and never finishing them. (Can we talk about the trim painting I haven't finished from 3 years ago?!) I have several posts that I said I would follow up on, and never did. So, here we go.

Remember Hurricane Rita? (I know that was almost a year ago, but I point to my previous statement about the trim painting. A year is nothing!) All that drama was, for us, for nothing. The storm moved east. We got some wind and some neighbors lost some branches on a tree. We got very little rain. We even watered our yard the next day.

Stray Kitty - She is still part of her family. I'm still refusing to name her, although we have considered the names of Sneak and Spook. She's an odd thing. She will only stay on one side of the house (breakfast room, kitchen, dining room). She rarely ventures out from there. If I go into the kitchen, she follows me around and just stares at me. She doesn't meow. She doesn't need food or water. She just watches me.

I never told the story of my trip to Galveston. We did go and we did have a good time. We went to Schlitterbahn on Tuesday. That was fun, except for when we lost Ruthie for 30 minutes. That was NOT fun. Maybe I'll tell the whole story of that someday.

My personal Diet Coke challenge - Well, I didn't come close to the sticking to the one a day, but I did manage to make 3 12-packs last 2 weeks. That's not quite 3 a day. Definitely an improvement.

If there's anything else you're wondering about, just ask. I'll give an update.

Well, That Was A Bust

Confession time... My family's dinners are often (always?) hastily thrown together. I am very much an it's-5:00-what-in-the-world-are-we-going-to-have-for-dinner type of cook. I'd love to say that I can throw together a great meal with things I find in the pantry, but that would be, well, a lie.

Last week, however, I decided I would try to actually plan out meals for this week. To make this easier, I used my recipe software and pulled out a pre-planned menu it included. I printed off my shopping list from this same software and went grocery shopping yesterday.

I put tonight's meal (sweet and spicy chicken) in the crockpot this morning. It was pretty much done by the time Griff got home from work.

Then the problems began.

Griff: Is there teriyaki sauce in that recipe?

Me: No, it's soy sauce.

(brief silence)

Griff: I do appreciate you cooking dinner tonight, but I really don't like soy sauce.

Me: What?! I've been married to you for almost 16 years and I didn't know you don't like soy sauce?!

Griff: (trying to be nice about this) I'll try it.

(he takes a bite)

Griff: I'm sorry, but I really can't eat that.

Me: Let me try it. (I take a bite) Nope, I'm not going to eat it, either.

We call Ruthie in to try it. She takes a bite and spits it out into the trash. By this time, we're all laughing. There is no way Robert will eat it after all this, so we don't even ask him to try it.

I don't want to throw it away, so I decide to call a friend and offer it to her family. She said she would take it. Her family actually likes soy sauce!

So, my efforts for dinner tonight were a complete failure.

On the plus side, though, I did get Pei Wei for dinner. Yum!

(Tomorrow night's dinner is meatloaf. I should be pretty safe with that.)

Tickle Your Funny Bone

If you like to laugh at the funny things kids say and do, check out Carnival of Kid Comedy over at Life in a Shoe. You won't be sorry!

Just So You Know

Ruthie went to a birthday party at a friend's home yesterday evening. I picked her up at about 8:30. Between moms coming in and girls leaving, the front door ended up staying open for several minutes.

All of a sudden, the smoke alarm on the ceiling in front of the door went off. Birthday girl's mom reached up and pulled the cover off to turn it off. She told us this happened all the time. The heat and humidity from outside would set off their smoke alarm.

Did you get that? The heat and humidity coming into the house set off their smoke alarm. At 8:30 at night. In an air-conditioned house.

And I choose to live here. I LIKE living here.

I am a very, very strange person.

Works-for-Me Wednesday

I am once again participating in Works-for-Me Wednesday. My tip involves my stand mixer.

I have a Kitchenaid stand mixer. It's great, but I always had a problem when using it with cake mixes (or any dry mix). It seems no matter how many times I scraped the sides of the mixer, I always ended up with a small amount of dry mix in the bottom of the bowl.

The last time I made a cake, I got the idea to add the wet ingredients to the bowl first, rather than the dry. Ta-da! No dry mix left in the bottom of the bowl.

This may violate some sort of baking rules (I am no chef, as evidenced by the fact that I use cake mixes!), but it works for me!

Be sure to check out the rest of the great tips over at Rocks in My Dryer.

Car Trip Survival

Have you discovered the joys of books on tape? If you are looking for a way to make a car trip easier with children, without the use of a DVD/video player, you will find these to be invaluable. The kids and I went to Memphis last week and they did beautifully well on the 10 hour trip. I give most of the credit to books on tape. (I would love to say that it's because I've done a wonderful job of training them to sit quietly for hours on end, but anyone who knows me and my children would out me as a complete liar.)

Here are some of our favorites. Some were listened to on this trip. Others are from trips in the past. We got all of these from our library.

Hank the Cowdog - These are read by the author and are absolutely hysterical. We took 3 of them on our trip, and while I was a bit Hank'd-out by the end, the kids never tired of them.

The Secret Garden - Oh. My. Word. I had never read this book. I just fell in love with the reading. What an absolutely beautiful book. It made me want to move somewhere with actual seasons and start a garden. For someone who can't keep an ivy alive, that's really saying something. I'm not sure Robert enjoyed it as much as Ruthie and I did, but he did not complain about it. (There are many different audio versions of this book. The one we had was read by Josephine Bailey.)

Redwall - It's one of our favorites. It's done by a full cast and is fantastic. It also got Ruthie interested in reading the books. She has now read 3 of them, all since May. Warning: You need a really long trip for this one. I think it is 16 hours long.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy - This one was for me. While it is a trilogy written for children, mine are much too young. However, I found them completely entertaining.

If you can recommend any other audio books, please do so in the comments. They do not have to be children's books. My list contains those because I am rarely in the car without my children, so that's what I end up hearing.

Yep. That's Me.

created with QuizFarm.com

Anyone surprised? Anyone? HT: Higher Up and Further In

Ruthie's Summer Reading

My Ruthie is so much like me when it comes to reading. Like me, she was one of the last in her class to learn to read. Also like me, once she learned, she quickly passed up everybody in reading ability. (I hope that encourages some of you who have children who are not learning to read as quickly as their peers.)

Once I learned, it took no encouragement to get me to read as a child. I have fond memories of days filled with Little House books, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, The Bobbsey Twins, and more.

The main difference in our reading habits is that I am actively encouraging her to read "good" books. (I still can't believe I had never heard of Anne of Green Gables until college!) The occasional "twaddle" makes its way into her reading, but I feel that as long as the majority of them are well-written books, she is doing fine.

Here is what she has read this summer (so far!).

• Redwall by Brian Jacques
• Martin the Warrior by Brian Jacques
• The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame
• The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
• Howliday Inn by James Howe
• Babe: the Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith
  
• The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
• Elmer and the Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
  
• Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
• Me and My Flying Machine
• Miss Twiggley's Tree

The last 3 books were picture books that belonged to Griff when he was a child.

I will post Robert's reading list for the summer later.

NOTE: In case you're wondering, Ruthie is 8 years old.

I Can Do This!

My drink of choice is Diet Coke. I know. You don't have to tell me. It's not good for me. I know that. I haven't chosen to give it up yet, though. Someday. Just not today.

Because I do love it so much, I rarely keep it at the house. I try to limit it to when we are eating out. If it's here, I will drink it throughout the day. I can go through a 12-pack in 2 days. I kid you not.

The only time I let myself buy it is when it is on sale for less than $2 a 12-pack. These days, that doesn't happen very often. However, it is usually put on sale around the 4th of July. Our grocery store, in fact, had a great deal. 4 12-packs for $10, with a $10 rebate. That makes them free!

So, of course I had to buy them. I actually bought 3 12-packs of Diet Coke and 1 of Sprite (a rare treat for the kids).

I don't want all this Diet Coke to disappear in less than a week, so I am giving myself a challenge. I will only allow myself 1 can each day. One!

Can I do it? I'll keep you posted.

The Evolution of a Trip

A few weeks ago, my sister Alicia and I were headed over to Dad's for the day. We were talking about our summer plans when she mentioned that she desperately wanted to go to Colorado. Alicia absolutely loves Colorado. However, her husband couldn't take off work and none of her children wanted to go. (She has 4 children - 2 are in college, one will be a senior next year, and her youngest is 13) She said she wanted to just get in the car and go - no reservations, no firm plans - just go. So I said, "Why don't we go?"

She was so excited to see that I was interested. We immediately started talking logistics. It would be Alicia, her son (who is young enough to be told he's going on vacation), me, and my 2 kids. We would go to Mesa Verde and be gone a week. We would have to get our husband's "okay", of course, but we didn't see that as a real problem. Wow, what fun!

Then, our first obstacle. We received invitations to a wedding shower for my dad's bride-to-be. Right smack dab in the middle of our trip. This was the only week Alicia could go, as well. So, it was either miss the trip or miss the shower. We didn't feel like we could miss the shower, so the trip would have to be modified.

On to plan B. 3 days in San Antonio. We'd go to Sea World, the River Walk, the Alamo, and one or two of the other missions. It would be cheaper (making the husbands happier), and we'd still be getting out of town. The kids have never been to Sea World, so they were happy. The shower was yesterday and we were to leave this morning.

Then, my sister called last night. Was my heart really set on San Antonio? Well... She was feeling stressed and overwhelmed by the trip. She had had no time to get ready for it. We could still go, but... What did I think about going to Schlitterbahn in Galveston? I could tell by her voice that she was not doing this lightly.

I talked to the kids, stressing how hot Sea World was going to be, and how we could go in the fall when it was cooler. Were they okay with it? Yep, they were. Okay, Alicia, we can do that. However, what do you think about staying the night in Galveston after Schlitterbahn, then going to the beach the next day. Sounds great to her! We leave tomorrow morning.

So we went from a week-long trip to Colorado, to 3 days in San Antonio, to 2 days in Galveston. Alicia thanked me profusely for being so sweet about the whole thing. I told that I thought if she ever suggested a day trip to me, we'd probably end up downgrading it to shopping at Wal-Mart. :)

A Wedding in the Family

I've been mulling over this post in my mind for weeks. I want to handle this graciously, but honestly. I don't share my blog with many "real" people in my life, but if they do come by, I don't want to be ashamed of what I've written. So, what's the big deal?

My dad is getting married. July 29th.

I'm happy for him. I really am. I know he's been lonely. I always expected him to marry again. Mom wanted him to marry again. (She even tried to make recommendations! LOL) It's been a year and a half since Mom passed, and that's a respectable time of mourning. Marsha, his bride-to-be, is a lovely lady.

But...

It's hard. It's harder than I thought it would be. Everything is going to change. Everything.

I was going to give Daddy a scrapbook of his and my mom's trip to Scotland from about 5 years ago. Mom had started working on it when she first got sick and never finished it. I somehow ended up with the pictures and supplies. I was waiting for a time when it would not be so painful for him. Now, it just seems like it would be tacky. "Here's your wedding present, Daddy. A scrapbook of the biggest trip you and Mom ever took!" Umm, no, I don't think so.

Marsha lives in another town. She has a business of her own, so it makes sense for Daddy to move to where she is. The travel distance for me is just a bit farther, but that means I no longer have a reason to go "home". I was thinking today about lifelong friends of my parents that I may never see again. That makes me sad (and determined that I will go back for visits).

Holidays will present new and different challenges. Daddy will no longer belong to us alone. He will have to consider his new wife and her family needs. That is as it should be, but it's just one more thing to juggle.

I'm going to have a step-mother. Wild.

And I know there will be other changes that I haven't even thought of yet.

I want to emphasize again that I am happy for my dad. I really, really am.

I'm just a bit sad for me.

Kitchen Meme

I was tagged by Sprittibee via her Gathering Manna blog to participate in this kitchen meme.

1. How many meals does most of your family eat at home each week? How many are in your family?

There are 4 of us in my family. On weekdays, we typically eat breakfast and dinner at home. I am currently trying to break the eating-out-for-lunch habit for me and the kids. Griff eats lunch out every day. On weekends, we eat out 2-3 times (depending on the current cashflow). So, I'd say we eat about 15 meals at home each week.

2. How many cookbooks do you own?

16. Most of them are the church cookbook variety - my favorites!

3. How often do you refer to a cookbook each week?

Probably twice.

4. Do you collect recipes from other sources? If so, what are some of your favorite sources (relatives, friends, magazines, advertisements, packages, the internet, etc)

I love the magazine Quick Cooking, but after taking the magazine for a year and never using one of the recipes, I did not renew. I figured that one year gave me enough recipes to try (especially since I wasn't actually TRYING them - ahem).

5. How do you store those recipes?

I have some recipe software and a cookbook that you write your own recipes in. I also still have a lot of the magazines hanging around waiting to be input into the software.

6. When you cook, do you follow the recipe pretty closely, or do you use recipes primarily to give you ideas?

I follow recipes to the letter, unless they have an item I don't care for. Griff doesn't care for mushrooms, so I might leave those out. I don't like onion, so I usually reduce the amount in the recipe.

7. Is there a particular ethnic style or flavor that predominates in your cooking? If so, what is it?

Lots and lots and lots of Italian (spaghetti, baked ziti, ravioli, etc). Second place would probably be Mexican, but I really prefer to eat that out.

8. What's your favorite kitchen task related to meal planning and preparation? (eating the finished product does not count)

I would have to say that my favorite part is when I use the time to teach my kids how to cook.

9. What's your least favorite part?

Cooking the meat. I don't know why, but I just dread that part.

10. Do you plan menus before you shop?

Nope. I should. I know I should. But I don't.

11. What are your three favorite kitchen tools or appliances?

I love my Kitchenaid mixer, Pampered Chef stones, and my crockpot.

12. If you could buy one new thing for your kitchen, money was no object, and space not an issue, what would you most like to have?

Can I count new kitchen cabinets as one item? Mine are not laid out well and some of the doors are too narrow to fit things through them. Oh, and they are an ugly 70's wood stain.

13. Since money and space probably are objects, what are you most likely to buy next?

Hmmm... Specifically cooking-related - probably new dishes. Mine are chipped and broken. However, the next thing that will change in my kitchen is the floor because the tile is literally cracking beneath our feet.

14. Do you have a separate freezer for storage?

Oh, how I wish! I'd love to have a small separate freezer.

15. Grocery shop alone or with others?

I usually go with my kids, which I don't mind. Occasionally, though, I go by myself and that can be nice.

16. How many meatless main dish meals do you fix in a week?

Hardly any. A meal without meat is not a meal for my husband. It's just not gonna fly.

17. If you have a decorating theme in your kitchen, what is it? Favorite kitchen colors?

I don't have a theme currently, but I definitely want to go the French Country route. As far as colors go, I love a blue and yellow kitchen. Red is good, too. Of course, there's always green, my absolute favorite color... See why I haven't painted my kitchen yet?

18. What's the first thing you ever learned to cook, and how old were you?

I didn't cook much until I was an adult. I think the first thing I learned to make was cinnamon toast (in the oven). I have no idea how old I was. Probably early teenage years.

19. How did you learn to cook?

I picked up a few things from my mom just by watching her, but I'm mostly self-taught.

20. Tag a few other people to play.

If you would like to participate, consider yourself tagged.

It's the Little Things That Make My Day

I've made a discovery that has made my on-line surfing time easier. I have been coming across lots and lots of good blogs lately. And, unlike me, these ladies actually update their blogs on an almost-daily basis. (Shock! Can you believe it?!) So, of course, I and my addictive personality were spending way too much time on the computer.

Then, I found it. Actually, Melissa found it and posted about it on her blog. For me, it is the neatest thing since, well, the internet. And best of all, it's free!! What is it? Bloglines.

Now, maybe you're so completely computer savvy you have heard about this long before now and you're thinking, "She's just finding out about THAT?!" But, just case you aren't and you haven't, I wanted to tell you about it.

I have set up an account and subscribed to many of the blogs I read on a regular basis. (The blogs have to have a feed.) Once I go to my account, I get a list and it lets me know if any of them have been updated. I can select them from that list and the posts from the blog show up right alongside my list, not in a separate window. This is great because my computer is old and S-L-O-W, so opening new pages with lots of graphics sometimes take awhile.

Now, I don't get to see all the nifty-neato things at sites, but I still plan on stopping by the real thing occasionally to check out what's new in sidebars and such. (I promise to stop by and see the unveiling of your new look, Sprittibee.) It's a small price to pay for simplifying my computer time.

There are many more things you can do with Bloglines, but I haven't figured them out yet. I'm happy with just my blog list for now.

Works for Me Wednesday

This little gem of an idea was started by Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer. Every Wednesday, you can check her blog for a handy tip, as well as a list of links of others who are participating in this. I love this idea and have already used several of the tips I've come across.

My tip concerns saving steps in the kitchen. I have different "stations" around my kitchen. My coffee station has filters, coffee, and a sugar bowl in the cabinet directly above my coffee maker. I have sugar, flour, baking powder, and measure cups and spoons above my stand mixer. When I recently moved my toaster across the kitchen, I moved the honey (which is pretty much only used for my son's honey-butter toast) so that it is directly above it. Yes, that cabinet contains dishes, but it now has a small space reserved for the honey.

My stations accomplish two things. I'm not having to walk around all around the kitchen getting various items, and I free up space in my too-small pantry.

It works for me!

What's Been Goin' On

It's been a couple of weeks, I know. I could come up with all sorts of excuses, but I think I'll just skip it.

Here's a summary of our last few weeks. (click on images to see them larger)


We went to Six Flags in Arlington the day before the Arlington Book Fair (a homeschool convention). The park was only open to homeschoolers and it was a great day! I think the high for the day was about 80 degrees and it was just heavenly. The kids had a blast. I rode a ride called Superman Tower of Power and I don't think I've recovered yet. I will never (I repeat, NEVER) ignore my feelings of trepidation again. (Do you hear me, Heather? NEVER!).


The school year wound down with a couple of co-op end-of-year bashes, including a field day. I can't believe the year is over.


My niece graduated from high school Saturday night. Would someone care to explain to me exactly how that happened? Where has the time gone? When did she turn in to such a beautiful young woman? I realized today that she was 9 years old when Robert was born. Goodness.


Griff rescued a stray kitty a couple of weeks ago. He found her on the side of the road, barely alive. We've taken her to the vet for her vaccines and Griff's been nursing her back to health. For being a wild kitty, she sure has a calm personality. She growls and hisses and doesn't really care to be carried, but overall she's been very good. Even our own cats just look at her curiously. They don't seem threatened by her yet. I've told Griff that we are NOT keeping her. We'll turn her into a good pet and find a home for her. (Just about the time we all get attached, I'm sure.)

Our Curriculum

I don't tend to think of my blog as a "homeschooling" blog, but it is a blog about my and my family's life and, let's face it, homeschooling is a big part of it now. I see questions all the time about what curriculum is being used for what grade, so I thought I would include that information here. I'm also including how I think it's working for us. If you're a homeschooler, I hope you find it helpful. If you're not, and your eyes are glazing over at the thought of reading this, you have my permission to skip this and return another day.

We've only been homeschooling since January. I started out following the Well-Trained Mind approach to classical education. It was very helpful as a newbie to have something to follow. While I love the classical approach, I feel that with more experience I will follow the guidelines of that book less strictly. However, I strongly recommend it to anyone who is just starting out.

Items used for both children

• Bible - Calvary Chapel Old Testament - We read the Bible story and do the worksheets. I like that it is giving my children experience in looking up scripture. I also like that it is free! We supplement with Journey Through the Bible.
  
• History - Story of the World Vol. 1: Ancient Times and Activity Guide
• Science - We don't have an official curriculum for this. We've done animal studies from library books and worksheets found at Enchanted Learning and Learning Page.
• Writing - included in Rod & Staff English; copywork and dictation; Evan-Moor Write a Super Sentence; writing games from Peggy Kaye's book titled (what else?) Games for Writing
• Geography - map work from Story of the World activity guide
• Spelling - Spelling Power - This is a good program, but my perfectionist children just fall apart when they misspell a word. Ugh.
  
• Vocabulary - Wordly Wise 3000 - My feelings can be best summed up in "adequate". We didn't love it, but do you have to love everything? Robert did book B. Ruth did book A.
  

3rd grade

• Math - A Beka 3 - There are too many colors and distractions on the page for my son. We are switching to Saxon next year.
  
• Grammar - Rod & Staff English 3 - I really love this program, but my children prefer workbooks, so I may change it. I really do love it, though, and they've done fine.
• Music - viola lessons and practice
• Handwriting - Handwriting Without Tears Printing Power - This program has really helped my son's handwriting.
  

2nd grade

• Math - Abeka 2 - Ruth really likes this. We will be sticking with it for at least another year.
  
• Grammar - We started with First Language Lessons, but it is heavily oral and Ruth hated it, so we switched to Rod & Staff English 2 (see above comment about this program).
  
• Music - cello lessons and practice
• Handwriting - Bob Jones University Handwriting 2 I chose this because I think it's a very pretty handwriting style, but not too difficult. It's slightly different than what you would consider traditional school script.

It Made Me Cry

I'm a member of several e-mail lists. Over the past few days, "fighting" has erupted in one list over a particular subject. Once I saw the way it was headed, I stayed away and deleted most of those messages.

Today, I sent an email to the list. The main point of my email was that even though there had been a "fight", this group was extremely helpful and supportive and I thanked everyone for that. I've read quite a few wonderful posts over the past few days and wanted everyone to know how appreciative I was.

In response, I received a private, snarky email from somebody who was deeply involved in the disagreement. I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach. I actually sat at my computer and cried about this!

Why did I cry? The contents of her email weren't that bad. I spent quite a bit of time, thinking about this. I think I've figured it out.

When you're face-to-face with someone, you usually get some idea of how they're feeling. Body language, facial expressions, etc. So, if they make a hurtful comment, you're not completely taken off guard. I was. I had no idea she (or anyone!) would respond that way. It came from left field and plowed me down. It left me feeling misunderstood and unappreciated.

Email is a wonderful, but tricky, thing. So, be careful what you send out to others. But also be careful how you read things from others.

New Links

I'm going to be adding some new links to my sidebar, but until I get around to it, I'm posting them here. I know I owe credit for some of these to others and I apologize if I forget to mention it. If you let me know, I'll give you the credit you deserve.

Blogs I've Been Reading

Here in the Bonny Glen - Blog of children's author Melissa Wiley. You want children's book recommendations? You got 'em. More than you could possibly ever need. Plus, it's fun to read about her family.

Rocks in My Dryer - She has started a "Works For Me Wednesday" series that's spreading. I plan on participating at some point, but haven't gotten it together enough to do it. (HT: Half Pint House)

Schooling Links (helpful whether you're homeschooling or not)

Here, here, and here.

Other Things (not destined for sidebar)

Here's a great article about girls (and women) and their body perception. It's by J.K. Rowling, but no matter how you feel about the Harry Potter books, this is worth reading.

I was going to save this post and add more later, but have decided against it. So, here ya go!