Wednesday, March 19, 2008~ Rosetta Stone Contest ~
Yes, you know I will enter this contest on both of my blogs. That's how much I want to win.
Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!
This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.
This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.
To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it.And good luck!The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff!
I can't believe I completely forgot yesterday that it was my one year blogging anniversary. Goodness, my day was just too busy. We had our monthly homeschool meeting last night, so I never had time to blog, and it went out of my mind. I still haven't decided the direction of this blog yet, but I'm blessed to have it. You are all a blessing to me, and I'm always looking forward to your comments with encouragement and words of wisdom. You are all so very sweet, and I'm blessed by the friendships I've developed through HSB. Thank you Lord for bringing me to HSB and the friends I have made through here. I pray that You bless all my friends in blogland.
I just looked at my start date of my blog here on HSB, and it's March 10th. I can't believe that next week I will have been officially blogging for a year. It's been a great year.
I wouldn't change anything about the last year I've been blogging. It has been a great opening in my life, and the Lord has used it in so many different ways in my life. He has brought so many good friends to me through my blog, some I get to chat with, and some I might actually get to meet in person. These friends have brought me so much encouragement, sweet words and friendships that I truly can't picture being without. I am so glad that I took the plunge and started this blog.
I'm not sure what direction this blog is going to take. I've been praying about it, and I have a few different ideas. I'll let you know once I know what direction and changes I feel to make. Until then, I guess a sort of count down is on. Only one week until my 1 year anniversary. How fun.
Today was a good day. We finished our schooling quite early today. The kids and I were both excited about that. I was trying to decide whether I wanted to go to the homeschool playgroup today. My back is hurting, not bad, actually it's feeling better. But I'm not sure what kinds of seats they have at the gym, so I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. I had pretty much decided we would stay home, and then I got a call from my mom who was in town and wanted to stop by for a visit. It was a great surprise. The kids were happy to see her, and we had a great time together. With the weather the way its been, we haven't been able to get out there, and she hasn't been able to get out here. It's been about 2 months since we've seen each other, and we only live about 1 hour apart, kind of funny. But northern winters close roads out here, plus gas prices, have kept us apart. Once spring and summer get here, we should be seeing each other a bit more. I guess the kids have grown a bit, my mom couldn't believe how tall they had gotten. It's funny because living with them I don't see a huge growth spurt, but I guess they have.
So that has pretty much been my day. I hope you all have a blessed night. Oh, do you like my new signature? I've been playing with my new software.
It's always such a blessing to have my sister here, and this was no exception. Her and her daughter showed up in the late morning, and the first thing we did was drop the girls off at the mall.
(Sarah's in the white coat)
I'm really not sad, it was just another milestone for my 12yo, almost 13yo, girl. I want to say how proud I am of her. First, in regards to the mall, she did great. She shopped wisely, got some good things, and behaved perfectly. But also, I have to brag on her, she graduated from Suzyscribbles writing workshop! Wahoo sweetie, I am so proud of you. She worked so hard on this workshop, and truly, Susan is a great teacher. Sarah's writing has grown since she started this workshop, and she is writing now in ways I didn't know she could. So I am one proud mama here.
OK, back to my sister's visit. After we dropped the girls off at the mall, we went carpet shopping for Carrie. She couldn't find any good deals, but it was fun going with her and seeing what's there. After we picked up the girls, we all just hung out at the house for a bit. The kids played Wii, and had a great time. Carrie and I just chatted, and said often we should have been working on our crochet projects. We all went out to a buffet restaurant, we being us four, my sister and her two children (my nephew showed up after he got off of work). It was such a great time. It was the first time our kids had been to a buffet and Carrie had such fun showing Sarah all the food, and that she could pick it all herself. She had such a great time. We all just laughed, talked, ate and enjoyed ourselves. And of course we ate way too much. We came home and we all settled down and watched a movie together. About half way through the movie, our nephew had to go home, it was around 8:00ish. My sister walks him outside to say goodbye to him, and then she comes rushing back in and says the eclipse is going on! We had all totally forgot about it. So some went outside, and Paul, me and the kids went into our bedroom and saw the eclipse out our window. Wow, it was cool. We didn't watch the whole thing, but what we saw was cool. After the movie, we got the kids settled on the floor in the living room, with Jessi sleeping on the couch and my sister got Sarah's bed. Of course the kids had Jessi up early with their giggling and playing. We had a few hours this morning to sit and chat, but they had to leave around 9:30am, so this day was short. It was sad to see them go, but we know that spring will be here soon, and we'll see them more often. It was a great time, and I can't wait for the next one.
We did do our normal schooling today, we just started later than normal. It went pretty good, but of course, it was hard to get the kids settled down and focused on their lessons, but we finally got it started. Then the mail came early and I got my Paint Shop Pro v9 !!! I'm so excited, though I have to say, the original project I started with is pretty hard and I've gotten a little frustrated. But I did make a small little graphic, my first one. If you want to see it you can go to my daughter's blog, it's her background purple/pink graphic. It's not much, and I threw it together pretty quick, but it's fun. I've made my first graphic, and it's out on the web. I can't wait to edit some photos with it too.
So that has been the past couple of days. I hope everyone has had a good time. I'm way behind on my blog reading, and I'll try to get to all of your blogs tonight, if I can. Have a blessed rest of the evening.
I know I haven't talked a lot about valentine's day. It's not a big celebration around here. We try to love on each other every day, and not just one day out of the year. But there are a few different things we do. I'm not going into specifics. Paul prefers to keep it between us and not show pictures or go into details. But like he always does, whatever he does get me he always gives me on the day before valentine's day. I think its the sweetest thing. He's always done this, as he likes to do things different. I love him so much. The kids did make each other some cards, and they made us ones. So though we did do some things, it wasn't a big issue. Fun but nothing big.
I don't think I've updated about my brother, sorry about that. He had his shoulder surgery last week, and all went well. He's home now with a neck brace on, and not suppose to move around too much. He's actually going to be off of work for about 4 weeks. He has a very physical job, that's why he's off for so long. Besides not wanting to sit around the house, he's doing great. Thank you for all of your prayers.
My sister is spending the night again next week. She has an consultation doctor's appointment about her back and the shot they want to give her. They want to go over the pros and cons, and what's expected of the procedure. She has some shopping and things she needs to do, so she's going to come out the day before her appointment and spend the day here, then go to the appointment the next day. We are all looking forward it, especially the kids.
I guess that's about it. I hope everyone had a great day.
OK, I guess I will put this thought/question out there, even though I'll probably get some spirited comments one way or another.
Why do children have to learn math fact families????? I don't ever remember learning math fact families, and I went pretty far in math in school. I like math, and I enjoy teaching it, but what's with this fact family stuff. I didn't go over it a whole lot with Sarah, we would talk about it a bit, nothing big, and she's doing fine. Any problems she might have with math, doesn't include fact families. It seems like another rule Paulie is going to have to try to learn, and learning different rules is not his strong point. I mean, if the boy knows how to add and subtract, does it really matter if he knows his fact families? Does it really matter if he can recite his fact families, or even his addition facts quickly? Isn't it enough that he knows how to add and subtract, even if it takes him a second or two to figure out the problem? Why did they start this? I'm not being sarcastic, I truly want to know why they started that. As I've begun teaching my children at home, I'm realizing how much extra 'stuff' they (whoever they are) add to learning things. I mean, when I was in school, I learned the basics. It wasn't fancy, glitzy or 'new', it was the basics, and the basics have gotten me quite far. I was working in the computer department of the company I worked for, so the basics I learned in math must have been good. I know I sound like I'm ranting, and maybe I am. And I might offend some who think all this, what seems to me as 'extra' stuff, is worth it, I just don't see the necessity for it.
But, with the chance of getting some intense comments, I would like to know your thoughts and opinions on this. Just wondering when and why they started this, and how knowing fact families is suppose to help, beyond maybe it will help them get through an addition problem a second or two faster. But I guess I'll stop there. If I keep going I might offend someone with my thoughts on sentence diagramming.
Well, I finally have time to update you all on how everything is going. First, Paul's truck was looked at, and though it's not warming up as much as it should, it is doing better. We are blessed by that.
My sister made it out here safe and sound, early on Sunday. Earlier than planned because a snow storm started out by her. She lives where we use to live, which is essentially in the middle of no where. If a snow storm hits, there are only 4 roads into that area. And if the storm is strong enough, it can easily shut down all those roads. So she got here earlier than planned, driving through some really bad weather, but got here safely. On Sunday we just all hung out together for a while. Carrie (my sister) and I got to go to Wal-mart together, just us, that was fun. Then I made a pot roast dinner for us all, that turned out very yummy. The kids were sharing a room, because we gave Carrie Sarah's room. We all had to get up around 5:30am and out the door no later than 7:00am. So we sent the kids to bed somewhat early, and us adults didn't get to bed until 10:30. This is where the 'fun' began.
The wind was blowing so very hard, I thought tornado was coming. Seriously bad weather, which had us all wondering about the drive the next morning. But it was nearly 40 degrees out, very warm, and it was raining. Good, to melt snow, but very bad, because once the temperatures dropped, everything would freeze. So as I'm laying in bed, trying to fall asleep but my mind racing, Sarah comes in the bedroom saying, "Paulie is throwing up." Of course she was a little freaked out since she was laying on the floor next to his bed. So we go check, and yep, he had thrown up a bit. But it was warm in his room, because it was so warm outside. When he gets hot and tired, he tends to get sick. So Paul and I are cleaning everything up. We send Sarah to sleep on the couch, get Paulie and his room cleaned up and climb back into bed around midnight. By now I'm seriously wondering if our roof is going to blow off because of all of the wind. Next thing I know there is a flash of lighting and then a LOUD clap of thunder. Are you kidding me? It's midnight, in the middle of January in Idaho and we are having a thunderstorm?!?! So between the storm, and staying half awake to make sure Paulie didn't get sick anymore, I didn't fall asleep until 1:00am, which made waking up at 5:30am way to early.
I did get out of bed at 5:30, as did everyone else, including the kids. Paulie was fine, laughing and playing. So Carrie, the kids and I drag ourselves out of the house around 7:00am. We kept looking at the temperature, which was still in the high 30's and no new snow, everything looked clear. A little wet, but clear. So we take of for the 1/2 hour drive to her doctors, wanting to get there by 7:30 for her 8:00am appointment. I had barely pulled out onto the main road off of our street when I started to slide around. OK, so the roads aren't as clear as I thought they were. Figuring they would clear up the farther down I went, I was extremely bummed to find they just got worse. The highway, though it was better, was still slick. It was dark, windy and sometimes light snow. Though the speed limit was 75mph, I didn't go much above 40mph. So much for getting there early. We pull up to the hospital about 8:05, drop Carrie off at the entrance, and go park the car. It was light out now, but cold, windy and a rain snow mix. By the time she gets her paper work filled out, we get to the office, they take us to the MRI room, and then Carrie got in there, is was around 8:30am. Not too bad.
They set us up in a nice waiting room, and we started reading and watching a little tv. I was ready for a long time. Paul's MRI took over an hour. I took some pictures of Carrie going into the MRI and everything. After 15 minutes the MRI was done. I was so shocked, but pleased. We went back to the other office, and they took her to get her x-ray. That was pretty quick too. We were all pleased and blessed, packed back into the car and headed back home. The roads back to my house wasn't as bad, and we got back within 30 minutes, compared to the hour it took to get down there.
While Carrie was in the MRI her daughter called me and said that she was probably going to have to spend another night by us, because all the roads were closed and she probably couldn't get back home. We didn't mind though. We all thought it was great that she got to spend another night. Plus, the MRI results were going to be done today. So, since she had to spend another night, she made her appointment with her doctor today to find out the results. So yesterday, after we got back, we just sat around and enjoyed our time together. My sister and I have always been very close, we are only 2 years apart, she's older. And the kids just so love their aunt. We had fun, watching movies, munching on snacks, and just enjoying each other. Then we decided to do some shopping at Wal-mart since she was out here, and she bought dinner for us. The first night she was here we watched Ice Age, she had never seen it before. So of course, the moment Paul heard she was staying another night, he said, "Of course we have to watch Ice Age 2". She hadn't seen that one either. So we all munched on our chicken, enjoying ourselves, and got ready for the movie. While we were finishing up dinner, her son called (he lives closer to us, so he wasn't snowed in) and came up and joined us for the movie. It was a fun night, and we all had a great time. We got to bed at a better time, fell asleep right away and no one got sick.
Carrie left today after lunch. We started missing her right away. She made it down to her appointment safely, even though the roads were more slick today than yesterday. The doctor said she has some bulging disks, and that her nerve endings are starting to shrink, and that is why it's hurting so bad. They are not saying surgery yet, but they want to give her a steroid shot in her back. She has an appointment in a few weeks in February where they will go over the pros and cons of the shot and consult her on everything. So, the results were o.k. The main road that comes out here was closed again, and a drive that should have only taken her about 40 minutes on an alternate road, took her over an hour. The last half of her drive it was a white out. Plus, I don't know that she even got to go to her house. Her driveway was so snowed in that my dads snowplow truck got stuck in there. There is no way she can get her truck in there, and it won't be dug out until tomorrow sometime. So she will probably have to spend a night at her daughters place, but at least she's back in her town. We were blessed to have her here, and we all had such fun. I'm glad she got home safely, and we miss her already.
I have pictures to share, and I know this is long, but I wanted to say too, my brother will be having surgery on his shoulder on February 6th. I don't know the name of the surgery. I'll find out more, and update you when I can. Thanks for lasting for this long story. Sorry I was away from blogland for so long, but know, I was having a great time, and truly didn't want it to end. Here are a couple of pictures Carrie said I could share. Sorry about them being so dark, but I think you can see here being slid in the machine. Thanks for all your prayers and concerns.
Here she is laying down and getting ready to go into the machine.
They have slid her about half way in.
Now she's in the machine all the way.
And here are the kids enjoying the nice waiting room they had for us.
Sorry I didn't update on Tuesday, but my brother hasn't called any of us yet with any news. So I'm trying to think no news is good news. I will let you know when I know.
I do have a picture to share. I finished my scarf, see.
I made this one long, so that if I have to wash it, and it shrinks a bit, I won't loose much length. Plus I like it long. I'm getting ready to start another one for a friend, just not as long.
Thanks again for all your prayers with my brother. I'll let you know as soon as we hear something.
My brother (around 45yo) has been having a numbness going down his right arm and hand, and it has progressed into severe pain. It got so bad today that medicine didn't help, so he went to the doctor. They said his spine where it connects to the neck and shoulders, has a vein like thing that goes out to the arm, and its evidently closing off. I'm sure I'm not fully explaining things right, but this is third person explanation now. Anyway, they gave him a shot, told him to try not to move it much until Tuesday, so he's off of work until then. And if it gets better by then, they'll try another shot, if not, they will probably have to do surgery. Obviously any surgery in that area, around the spine, is not a welcomed thing. So these are the specifics of prayer, whenever you think about it. First and foremost, I ask for prayer for my brother's salvation. He does not know the Lord, and I so want him to walk with the Lord. Obviously second, is that no surgery will be needed and that this shot will have fixed the problem. I also ask for prayers for my father. He is older, in his eighties, and this has really shaken him up. He also does not know the Lord. So please keep him in prayer too when you think about it. I'll update you when I know more, which probably won't be until Tuesday. Thank you so much everyone.
I am a wife and mother of two. I started this blog to share the things the Lord shows me in my journey as a wife, mother, homeschool mom and His daughter. And in it all to "grow in the grace and knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
II Peter 3:18
I can't believe that next week I will have been officially blogging for a year. It's been a great year.
These friends have brought me so much encouragement, sweet words and friendships that I truly can't picture being without. I am so glad that I took the plunge and started this blog.
We all went out to a buffet restaurant, we being us four, my sister and her two children (my nephew showed up after he got off of work). It was such a great time. It was the first time our kids had been to a buffet and Carrie had such fun showing Sarah all the food, and that she could pick it all herself. She had such a great time. We all just laughed, talked, ate and enjoyed ourselves. And of course we ate way too much. 
We came home and we all settled down and watched a movie together. About half way through the movie, our nephew had to go home, it was around 8:00ish. My sister walks him outside to say goodbye to him, and then she comes rushing back in and says the eclipse is going on! 
We had a few hours this morning to sit and chat, but they had to leave around 9:30am, so this day was short. It was sad to see them go, but we know that spring will be here soon, and we'll see them more often. It was a great time, and I can't wait for the next one.
and out the door no later than 7:00am. So we sent the kids to bed somewhat early, and us adults didn't get to bed until 10:30. This is where the 'fun' began. 
