Hi there!

What a busy 2 weeks it has been around here.  We went to my parents house for New Years.  The girls went to a Youth New Years Eve dance and had a blast---the rest of us went to bed early.  Dad took ET and CD off to do "men things"--not sure what that was, but they were definetly bonding .  David took JET to the Sacramento Zoo and had a great time with his brother and sister and all the kids ---so all the cousins minus ET were there. 

Here is the bunch:

We also got to visit my Aunt and a few cousins to catch up on what that side of the family is up to.  So our 3 day trip was a whirlwind of visiting family and friends and then running back home.  We have taken down the Christmas tree and unwrapoped all the gifts.  CD and I have reorganized his closet to accomodate his things and he also got new laundry hampers toHOLD HIS CLOTHES in, as well as JET getting a fluffy pink one.  B and Amee have redone their room (taking apart the bunk beds) to make two beds.  They ended up taking out a desk and sewing machine--now in the garage to make room for it all.  

We are back to school this week and JET has been doing well with it.  She really missed not doing school for 3-4 weeks. I will post later what we have been up to with school. 

Deb and Half dozen

Actually I am not even sure what to say.  I am not feeling well today, I think my husband gave me his cold--again.  I was sick one month ago and now here I am again. Except today I don't have time to be sick.  LOL

Today is our monthly General 4H meeting.  My project --cake decorating is in charge of Education this evening.  We still have posters to make and I need to decorate the "final"show piece.....a gingerbread house.  The kids are doing the other steps.  BUT my Ammie is the President, so I need to help her with her agenda for the evening, B is the newsletter editor so I need to make sure she gets that completed as well, then CD is the Treasurer so I need to make sure that the treasurers report is balanced etc.  LOL  Having 3 kids as Officers in 4H is fun, but very time consuming.  We also are doing a new thing this year and instead of having a random gift exchange we are having "secret buddies". So the person receiving the gift is actually happy with what they get.  We are doing this with all aged children from 5 years to 17 years.  I think that it will turn out ok ---but its just one more thing to add to my day--shopping for 3 others gifts.  AHHH!   :)  I love it though. This 4H stuff is fun.  I never did it as a kid so this is new, fun and exciting.

Anyway.  Off to get ET to Speech and JET doing some school work--right?  For Kindergarten it seems as it is more play then work. 

Deb

PS---- B = DD16, Ammie=DD14, DJ= DStepS14, CD=DS11(12 this month), JET=DD5, ET=DS 4

OK, so summer is over and it is full swing of FALL right now, but its never too late to write about it, right?  My issue of TEACH magazine came to me in mid to late summer and I have read it and reread it numerous times, as I always do.  I try and keep them around so I can read an uplifting story here and there when I have a few moments. 

One of the first stories that touched me was titled "My family = My Friends?"  This story discusses growing up with sibilings and being kind to one another and each other.  I know that i wasn't always the greatest oldest sibiling t my younger brothers, but I do know that as we get older things do seem to get better between us all.  I tell my children this all the time as two of them bicker, call each other names, hit and just plain old mean to each other.  I tell my children that we all need to get along with each other and so I read this story to them.  Jessica Cover the aithor of this article summed it up best, and so I typed up her words and posted them in my home so that all the kids could see them and be reminded.  Tips for Cultivating and maintaining close relations in the family:  1.  Laugh together!  Enjoy each other!  2.  Treasure each other!  Compliments, encouragaing words, smiles and hugs.  3.  Forgive each other and pray for each other!  Never, ever, ever be bitter.  4.  Make your relationship with the Lord your TOP Priority.  5.  Persevere! You can do it!

This next story that caught my attention --Mission Impossible! by Shelley Noonan just had me rereading and rereading her article.  She spok about finding quiet time---How am I supposed to find quiet time when I can't even go to the bathroom by myself? Oh how this truly rings true in my home. LOL  She challenges us to get creative and to make some adjustments.    Her first note is to adjust your location.  sometimes for me that is just going for a short drive in the car.  Second  is Adjust your time, for this I started making the big kids go to their rooms to read and the little ones to go to bed a little earlier, then I can relax on the couch, read or evern just go to bed earlier.  Third and last is adjust your boundaries.  To do this is to Verbalize, Signal and Enforce.  What a great article.  I may not be a pro at this yet, but I am working on it more and more each day.

I will have to write more later, I need to take my daughter somewhere.  TTFN--Debra

I am back---been having major issues with the computer, but I think I got it taken care of.

My TEACH magazines are the best!  They always come to me when I am needing to be picked up off the floor and carried to a better place.  My Spring and Summer issuse came when I was in one of those rutts.  The stories are always so uplifting and reassuring me that I am have not been here alone, but been through some of my most trying times, while others have been as well.

In my Spring Issue this year one of the first stories that touched me was titled: Unexpected places by Melanie Chitwood.  This story touched my soul as it talks of depression and our need to hear and feel God's love.  What  a wonderfully uplfting story of a courageous mother.  Walking by faith.  WOW! 

Turning the page another story hit me---They are precious...Walking with our children through the teen years.  OK, I really needed to read and hear this story as well. I have 3 children and one more on the way to becoming a teen.  This story reassured me that having Christ in our lives is a great thing. I am so glad that my children are not testing the waters outside of Jesus.  This is something that I totally agree with....teaching our children about Jesus from very young. Teaching them about His love and guidance.  I know that this has kept me going over the many years and that it can be a huge help to teens in these trying years as well.  I may not have 10 children like this author--Laurel Diacoginannis does but raising our children to know and love Jesus is the best education I think that we can give our kids.

Ok--so I think that in some weird way every story in this issue touched me in some way.  The story of the The Ugly Backyard gave me a chuckle beacuse we moved into our home this January in the cold and I mean VERY cold winter.  Our backyard is full of rocks and I wanted to make it beautiful.  What a beautiful analgy this story gave  of beauty in the middle of a rocky hill.  Needless to say we were able to squeak out some flowers in our rock filled backyard, all planted by me and my dd5 who was amazed at her little flowers grew....although I am sure faith had a lot to do with it.

This story gave me a huge wake up call also---they all do in some way.  What's weathering you? by Jayna Pettersen.  She gave the story of Moses and his wanderings to uplift my soul in my homeschool.  1. Identify the Mirages----What illusions have you been chasing?  Are they idealistic?  Ok---so that makes one think, what changes do I need to get me to my final destination and what is that final destination.  2. FInd your bearings.  instead of wandering aimlessly and having to relearn lessons, reastablish your direction. 3. Protect yourself from dehydration.  What has been drying you up?  try to isolate the factors that get you down, map out a strategy and work on one a week.  4.  Create an oasis to water your soul.  What boosts your sprits?  celebrate the littlest blessings are the biggest reasons to celebrate.  5. Don't over water the Cacti.  Over-committed?  think of your top 5 biggest weekly commitments, go one-by-one imagining a week without them.  Which one gave you the greatest sense of relief?  This was a huge wake up call to me and a great analogy. and helped me to rethink some of the things I was doing. 

My most favorite author in the magazine is always Lorrie Flem.  She brings the realities of homeschool and family to me, letting me know that I have never been alone during my 6 years of homeschooling.  She is also a great "friend" and also make me laugh and cry--sometimes at the same time.  :)  Lorrie's quick tips --7 shortcuts to longevity made me chuckle but also realize that some of the simple things in life can be forgotten  or at least made simple.  Thanks Lorrie for helping me to realize some tips to making my homemaking and homeschooling life a little easier.

As for blogging about the TEACH magazine spring issue in Fall, well things have been just crazy since May this year.  Wrapping a 2nd year of high school (homeschooling) and then having major injuries in our household with two surgies this summer plus starting a part time job my family has been going through some HUGE changes and adjustments.  I have read and read this issue of TEACH because it has been an uplifting thing in my life, that has brought about changes and also helped me to know that I am not alone in my trials.  I am so thankful that this magazine has come into my life and so appreciative for all the nice ladies (and myabe me also, not sure) for putting it together.

Thanks so much---Debra

Hello out there in Blogging Land.  I have been out of the loop for a very long time now.  We had computer issues and ended up getting a new computer---thank you dear FIL.  We also moved and purchased our first home.  YEAH!  We have had some issues to deal with in buying a older home, but I won't go into that now.

We have been horrible sick ever since we moved also. We have had stomach flu, colds, strep throat, infections etc.  So many to name.  ICK!  My husband and I are both recovering from sickness again just this week.

We are still homeschooling--thank goodness!  dd15 is still chugging along with High School, although we have had some major motiviation issues trying to overcome.  dd14 we put in PS in January as she was having horrible motivation problems as well.  She is actually doing very well at this point, very motivated and doing well in classes (all B's except for 1 A)---that is great!  She is also more mature and choosing great friends to hang out with.  ds11 is still in PS and doing awesome as well.  He is on the honor roll all quarters with A's and B's.  dd4 who is almost 5 is doing great here at home with preschool.  We have been doing FIAR, LOTW and HSS with adding in computer educational games and other hands on activities to enrich her learning. She is doing well--and learning all the time.  ds3 is doing fine.  We have had him join dd4 in her activities and he is slowing pick that up.  He is having issues with his speech and so we are seeing the local Speech Therapist today to see what we can do to help him.

That is us in a nutshell!  My dss14 is coming up to visit us for Spring Break while the older 3--dd15, dd14, and ds11---are going to my mom's for a week long visit. 

Catch up more later

Deb

WOW!  What a spectacular sale this site is having. 

TEACH magazine is a seasonal magazine full of inspiration for moms.  It has been around since 1998 and I have been reading it for a year now.  It has uplifted me in every way and I just love to share the stories with my friends and family.  They are having their First ever HUGE BlowOut! Sale with items up to 75% off!

Be sure to check this sale out as the sale ends Wednesday, November 22 at midnight PST.

There are so many things to check out there they have back Issues of the TEACH magazine, Anthologies, Gift Sets, CD's, and ebooks are all featured in the sale.

They also make things so easy by letting you combine sales from the regular bookstore to work toward a bonus level.  They also have FREE Bonuses of over $135.00 with a $100 purchase. One of these is a wonderful biblical hero action figure that talks!  This alone is a $25.00 value.--This is the toy that was refused by Toys for Tots because it was "Christian in nature".  Don't get me started on that one.  It is a wonderful toy!

Some other great bounses are:
*    $76.00 of FREE Bonuses with a $75.00 purchase.
*    $27.00 of FREE Bonuses with a $50 purchase.

 Click here to get to their site:  TEACH BLOW OUT SALE!

This school year started for us on September 1st this year.  Things started off just fine and I feel have gone down hill fast.  I have an 8th grader and High Schooler and then my two youngest--Pre-Schoolers.  I have found it hard to juggle both sets--as I do "teach" my two older girls for Botany and Health this year.  I try and set aside time with the little ones, but my 8th grader needs a lot of direction and help for almost every subject.  She is very kinestetic learner and so I try and give her hands on activities or lessons and then let her on her own to finish the pages or whatever, but even then she seems to need her "hand holding" the whole rest of the page.  She is not motivated on her own to do anything.  I have to stay in the same room with her or nothing gets done.  I find this very difficult.  She would rather watch Barney or Seasame street with the younger kids then do her work.  I am frustrated.

I have asked from friends on yahoo homeschooling groups for suggestions---my older daughter work with little ones while I work with my 8th grader, preschool bags or boxes of educational things to do, but they do need hands on stuff with mom.  My 8th grader seems to take up all of my time, leaving nothing left of my energy to work with the little ones.

I am at a loss of what to do.

Debra

Our plan for this Fall is the following --for my 4yr dd.

We are using FIAR--going around the world in our travels.  We also use Beautiful Feet books (we sort of ROW those as well--along with other books on the country)

September---France

Mirette on a High Wire

The Steadfast Tin Soldier

October--France

Madeline

Puss in the Boots

The Giraffe that Walked to Paris

November---Germany

The Duchess Bakes a Cake

Time of Wonder

Harold and the Purple Crayon

December---South America

MSB--In the Rainforest

Stellaluna & Crickwing

January----Antartica

Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel

February---Australia

Strong Magic

Wombat Stew

Katy and the Big Snow

March---India

Once a Mouse

The Snake Charmer

Another Celebrated Dancing Bear

April---Russia

Brave Irene

Owl Moon

May--- Japan

A pair of Red Clogs

Grandfather's Journey

Crow Boy

The Little Sparrow

June---Interantional

The Salmadender  Room

The Napping House

Here are the questions:

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.

  "If your student has done some work with directions, have him determne which direction he would have to travel from his home to get to Ohio. "Five in a Row

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What can you touch? 
   The wall with a puzzle of California hanging completed

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV? 
   SuperNanny

4. Without looking, guess what time it is. 
   1:30pm
5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time? 
    1:39pm

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear? 
    3 kids in the pool, 1 kid watching Magic School bus and music coming from my daughter room where she is cleaning it.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing? 
    A few minutes ago. Checking on the kids in the pool.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at? 
    My friends Blogs

9. What are you wearing? 
   purple Capris and a purple t-shirt.

10. Did you dream last night? 
   I dont remember last night's dream. 

11. When did you last laugh? 
  The other night watching Jay Leno 

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in? 
    Photographs, a clock, Calendar, my husbands diplomas from college 

13. Seen anything weird lately? 
   Hmmm not that I can think of. 

14. What do you think of this quiz? 
   It's fun and entertaining.

15. What is the last film or video you saw? 
 Devil Wears Prada

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy? 

    Buy my husband and I 20 acres in Mountain Meadow--by where we live, build our dream ranch house--with Windmill and Solar Panels for Electricity.  Pay for all our Children's college educations and go back to school myself. 

Ok--sorry if that sounded sort of like Britteny Spears there for a minute--but hey, they DID do it again!  And  boy did they do it!    It's like they read my mind or something---the issues are always geared for me, right?  LOL  Ok--so maybe they aren't but it sure does seem like it.

This recent Summer issue had so many articles that touched me it was amazing.  In fact I have reread this magaine front to back a few times in the past few weeks--sorry for the delay in writing about it, let alone any part of my life recently.

First off--Lorrie's Laundry room always gets me going--either with tears or tears of laughter.  This past one had my mouth dropped open with awe of her recent trip to Nebraska.  I even had to read it alound to my husband--an avaition nut--and my children.  What an amazing woman to go through all that she did in just a few days trip.  In some way--I wish that I had been there at the Homeschool conference to see her speak.  I had also wished to go to the Summer Beach retreat she had a few months ago--but due to finances we have been penny pinching majorily--and those sorts of things are off bounds for us.  That brings me to my other favorite stories and articles.....

Organized Choas--By Marybeth Whalen--always gets me motiviated.  We have had some ups and downs the past few months--sending my daughter off to PS for the last 5 weeks of school---as she was the least bit motiviated to do anything at that point--then it backfired on me  BIG TIME!  She went way the other way---clothes, make-up (which we do not allow at this age) and her appearance became a HUGE issue with her--and school work and learning went out the door.  She is my huggy child and a follower----so we sat her down and explained our reasons for sending her and that we were not going to throw her to the WOLVEs so to speak.  I learned from this article that I need to get my family--not just me back to the LORD and to have family study scripture time and devotional.  We also need to be praying for guidance---me especially. 

In Be Teen TImes by Audrey McKeever also had a great article that just fit perfectly with my just turned Teen daughter.  A strong and Steady peg---was beautifully written and reconfirmed my new choices to devote our lives more to God--our Heavenly Father.

Learning the Ropes by Maggie Hogan was a great article for a mom who has just been through Burn out Hell.  I am not so organized as I wish I was or some of my friends are----but this article gave me a great step back --look at things in my life first, then come back with a healthy attitude.

The most exciting part of the whole magazine was the TEACHer's Report card--that is where they put letters to Lorrie and to the Magazine---my email was posted and what a treat to see it in there.  I felt like a true close sister to the members of the magazine and the editors--they read their emails and care about their readers.

What a wonderful treat--now off to read it over again--I need the spiritual upliftment.

Debra Tangren

Sunny, muggy and hot Southern California

I was so delighted to receive my second issue of this WONDERFUL magazine. We were heading out for a weekend trip to see family and I set it on the couch to take with us.  Well, in the hustle and bustle of getting 5 children out the door, I forgot it.  OH I was very disappointed in myself.  We got home a few nights later and it was still there....big sigh of relief!  The next day it disappeared.  I was frantic.  I looked on every bookshelf, I looked UNDER every couch and bed in the house. I even got my children looking for something, that  they never remember seeing.  AHHH  I was ready to pull my hair out. 

Well, I finally contacted the magazine and was sent out another copy.....ohhh another sigh of relief.  My oldest daughter smiled when she saw how happy I was to finally get a copy and immediantly sat down to read it.  She asked me what was so special about this magazine.  I told her that it is the best uplifting magazine that I have ever read.  A few days after I finally put it down, I caught her reading it.  LOL 

I pointed out one of the articles that I felt would be some inspiration to her, but also to ease my mind in her future.  The article is titled "Two Marriageable People".  Although it is has a lot of advice for boys and men, I thought it was well written for us girls and women also.  I had some of these feelings when I was younger, before marrying my first husband.  I made mistakes and I often tell my daughters not to make the same ones.  NOT that there father was a mistake but just we were both very immature at the time and didn't know what our feelings were saying to us.

After my daughter red the article she said, thats ok mom, they teach us this stuff at church. OH I felt so much better knowing that other Christian families teach what our Christian faith teaches as well.  She also reminded me that at almost 15 years old she is not interested in dating or boys, yet. Well I added the yet part--because it will happen sooner or later.

I was also touched by Lorrie's article about Sharing Jesus in Everyday situations.  What a wonderful woman to be close to her parents and be able to take care of them.  This article touched me deeply.  We recently lost my husbands grandmother to old age.  She lived the last 10 years or so with Alzheimers. I had never met her before the alzheimers set in and hearing stories of her before brought me closer to this woman.  My husband and I were in a situation about 4 years ago, him just out of university and no jobs in the Aerospace industry--just after 9-11.  The family needed help in taking care of Grandma and so we moved to Washington State to move in and help take care of her. What a wonderful woman she was.  Although she could not remember much we still talked oftenof the recent passing of her husband and also of her mother who had passed away 30 years before that.  We talked of Jesus and heaven and what happens after we die.  We both are Christians but of different denominations and so our belief of the afterlife are a little different, but we still had our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  What a joy o discuss these things with her.  She has now gone to the other side and I hope that the little bit of missionary work I did with her, might give way to something wonderful. 

I already have reread the magazine over 2 more times since getting it, letting it all sink in.  I really enjoy the stories of how other families homeschool, giving me strength the many days I struggle or feel like I am struggling.  I homeschool preschool all the way to high school and struggle finding balance.  I treasure my copies of this magazine and am soooo glad to be receieving them.

Deb

Well----I think it is about time I start getting a little serious about this. Janelle is a very smart child and will be turning 4 years old at the end of May.  She does know all her ABC's and sings nursery rhyme songs. She knows her basic colors and shapes.  But she wants to read and "do school" more then anything.  I checked out the Starfall website that has been told to me often and we played with it for a few minutes today. Even Ethan (who is 2 yrs old and will be 3 in July) liked it and copied us as we made the sounds for the letters.  It was really cute.

I have been a big part of Letter of the Week (a co-moderator on the Yahoo group) for about a year, and have really only just used the prep curriculum with the little ones before now.  I thought that I had better take a good look at the Letter of the Week curriculum and get serious about it.  OHHH there is so much with it and I like that, as I get to pick and choose what we want to do with it.  The only thing is to just get serious about doing things with them. 

Everyday as Christian (my 10 yr old and in PS) gets ready and off to school she says she wants to go as well.  The school is just down the street (on a main street) and so we drive by it often and she knows where it is.  She has not taken to "schooling at home" and mommy being the "teacher".  I had Berlyn do some fun "school" activities with her the other day and she said that Berlyn is her teacher now.  LOL  Cute, but that is not what I wanted to go for.  Berlyn is my oldest child and will be 15 this July.  She is homeschooling High School--freshman year.

So----I just need to figure a routine and go for it, although I seem to struggle with routine.  I am not sure why, but it is hard for me.  I can't set my life to a clock and do that.  I do think that Janelle's personality and life will need that though, as she does thrive on structure and when there is none gets very bored and then just gets into mishief.  The weather is turning more towards springtime and I can't wait to get out more.  She just loves the outdoors and already is "planting" in our garden.  HMMM it is about time we start something out there in the garden.  Maybe she is my time clock. LOL

I need to pray for guidance on how to get motivated to do preschool here at home and find her some friends.  She has two---Jessica and Angelina, but she needs more too--right? I mean I want her to be well rounded having many friends and seeing them often. 

TTFN---off to take Amber to the dentist for the second time this week. More later.

Deb

Christian and his dad helped build his pinewood derby car this year.  Dave helped Christian get his wheels on.  Christian hand painted his car, the way he wanted it--multi-colored.  I took him to the derby at the church and he got it weighed and some other dads helped put on the weight. 

He had fun but only won one race. He was pretty disappointed, but he has placed other races and done well.  He did win for Best Paint JOB and I was proud, because all the other dads helped their kids paint their cars and only Christian had painted his.  He is really hard on himself and not a very good loser.  BUT he did hard and I was proud.  OF course I forgot to take the camera, but a friend took pictures for us and so I hope to get those soon.

I am proud of Christian, he really worked hard on this and spent a lot of time on the car.  No matter what he thinks, I am proud.

Deb

Yesterday was my daughters birthday---13 yrs old.  This is now the 3rd teenager in the house....AHHHHH that makes me soooo old now. 

I remember the day she was born, a lot like yesterday---overcast and cloudy. Well, it is spring time right, what can you expect?  LOL

My oldest--B made a cake for her sister, but it didnt come out of the pan very well, and I tried to save it. Well--let's just say it looked like a chocolate dipped cow dung.  LOL  well, it was funny and we have something to laugh about now. 

The girls went to youth group last night and they did a skit party.  They had a lot of fun.  Today Am left to go spend a few days with my MIL at an Equine Event.  This is her birthday present from Dave and I.  She gets out of two days of school work and spends 4 days around horses, which she just loves.

So far having another teen around isn't so bad...although she has been a little more moody this past week then ususal.

HMmmmm I will have to think on this for a while.  AHHHHH I am soooo OLD now.  :)

Deb

We have had an interesting late winter here in Tehachapi.  We have had two large snow storms---dumping up to 6 inches at one point of snow.  Being at 4200 ft elevation that is ALOT for us.  We just love the snow, so we are NOT complaining at all.  We have had snow days and enjoyed taking pictures of our beautiful landscape.

So today it is raining and we MIGHT possibly get some snow tonight.  It is only supposed to snow down to 4500 ft so we might not either.  The kids are looking forward to another day full of snow.

We will see what it is like tomorrow when we wake up.  I will try and upload some pictures from the last storms, if I can figure out how to do it.

Debra

Hi there!

I received a copy of this magazine---TEACH--in my mailbox around the 2nd week in January.  It took me about 3 days to get all the way through it, along with taking care of my sick kids, but I finally finished it.  Let me say this, first--I really felt uplifted and a great sense of spirtualness after reading it.  This is a great magazine for Christian homeschoolers of all kinds.  There is a monthly "theme" behind all the articles in it.  The month I received was on Patience--and oh boy did I need that right around the time I got the magazine. 

There are articles from many "famous" homeschoolers at the current.  The thing that impressed me most was the opening pages---they were from the Editor, and after reading them---well, I felt like she was a Sister, a true friend.  She brought me right into her family life.  This magazine is well laid out, with very little advertisement---at least stuff that is all jumpy, flashy etc.

I can't say enough about this magazine, except that I can not wait for my next copy.  I truly felt exactly as the Edito did a few years ago.  I have read many magazines, but nothing that made me feel special, close to God and above all---someone that was going through all the same homeschooling issues that I have gone through.

Here is their website if anyone is interested in checking out the magazine:  http://www.teachmagazine.com/

Hello dear friends

This year is full of changes---like most January's are.  But for our family this is going to be the best.  I had a wake up call----with some horrible headaches to go with it, but I realized that I needed to get back to my family--my number 1 priority.

So--I quit babysitting the two young children that I had.  My last day was last Friday.  Whew!  I truly loved them, but taking care of them was so much. With my own two youngest children I was almost neglecting them with all the attention on other things. 

So we have whittled down our homeschooling, adjusting things as needed and quit babysitting.  Life is already better for us.  I have my three older kids in three different programs but that is what works best for each of them and their learning styles.  We are still involved in our scouting programs and 4H, but there are commitments that we have signed on for that we are unable to break.

I went with Amber to her Girl Scout overnighter (2 nights) as a registered parent.  I ended up in a different cabin, which is ok as she is 12 yrs old (13 in 2 months).  She could handle it.  They had a "scarey" story on the second and last night.  The person who was doing the story, decided to change the story a bit and have "actors" act out the "scarey parts".  Well this just totally freaked her out.  Needless  to say we are very upset with the Council that we were visiting.  We are in the process of sending them letters.  In the mean time Amber is having a hard time sleeping at night, needs a night light and sleeps with a blanket now over the window...sometimes sleeping with her 14 yr old sister because she is too scared to be alone.  I really worry about Amber, for now we comfort her the best we can.

Today we had our latest MTH club meeting on Volcanoes.  We will be studying this with Amber and Christian, and this was our kickoff.  We also did "winter" activities with our friends--Christina and her two girls.  It was fun with a lot of cooking.  We are also doing our Around the World-and we are in China right now also going with Chinese New Year.  Tonight I have read the books that Christina brought along---The Empty Pot and Ruby's Wish.  They were very good books and Janelle and Ethan loved them.  I had to read them twice each, that is how much they loved them.

Well---off to bed now. I have had migranes for the past 6 weeks now, increasing just this past two weeks to the point of being in bed for hours.  I am so glad that I have made these changes and hope that most of these migranes have just been stress related.  I am going to write more tomorrow about this great new magazine that I have received. 

Night for now!

Debra Tangren

This year is Berlyn's first year of Homeschooling High School.  We are using an aray of different studies and curriculum. 

She is learning French from another homeschooling mom.  I will have to get the list of books, websites and workbooks that she is learning from.

She is taking a Church based curriculum for her Seminary class.  This school year she is studying the Book of Mormon.

For Biology we are making a homemade curriculum based on an old textbook, videos and other things that we find on the subject and topics. 

For math we are using Key to Algebra that is working out wonderfully.  She is in the middle of book 9 out of 10 at this time and we hope to finish up by Mid-February.

For English/Literature this year she decided on Mythology.  She is doing this course with a girlfriend and the friends mother is teaching the course.  This is a Freshman college level Mythology Unit.  She will be done with this course by the end of January.

For History this year Berlyn wanted to learn Sociology with her friend.  This is a college level textbook that we are studying from.  This is taking the girls a little longer as it is a college level, but other subject coming up with completion we hope to take more time with this course.

Also for history Berlyn is studying Civics with our homeschool group.  She is really enjoying the monthly or bi-monthly workshops and debates.  We will be focusing on adding to this in a unit study approach.

Welcome everyone to a Very Happy New Year---2006!

This year has already gone by so fast--it is hard to believe that a whole week has gone by already.  The last few weeks of 2005 had our whole family horribly sick, so please forgive the lag in emails.

This year our family has written down some goals and others non-written but something that we plan on working on.  Some are educational in nature and others are personal.

Some of my goals are:

Get back to my family as #1 priority.
spend more time with my husband
spend more one on one time with each of my kids
spend some alone time doing things I enjoy (those are called hobbies I think)
do better in my church calling(s)
go on a real vacation and/or anniversary vacation this year and of course---lose weight ( I have a lot to lose but if I can lose 20 lbs that is a good start--then 40 more to go)

What are your goals this year?  Did your kids set goals also?

What are your educational goals?  Any specific subjects or topics that you are going to be working on this year (or first 6 months)?

My educational goals for the children are:

for my 2 youngest (2 and 3 yrs old)-----continue with the LOTW Prep and LOTW curriculum.  Topics that might be fun to learn and do lapbooks on are: horses, ocean animals, flowers, birds, gardens, weather, camping.  These are just a few things we will be working on.  We are also continuing our FIAR activities and Around the World activities with our Homeschool preschool group.

for my son--10 yrs old------we are focusing on North American geography (maps), Explorers, oceans, volcanoes, weather related disasters, California history, letter writing and his scouting stuff---he just became a weblo scout.  He is also in a scrapbooking project and Rocketry project with 4h.  He is enjoying the scrapbooking which is secretly our "fine motor skills" activities.

for my 12 yr daughter---we are focusing on the "Ancients"---China, Japan, Rome; also oceans, volcanoes and weather related disasters. She is also in a rabbit and Rocketry 4h projects so we will be learning about those subjects, along with her Girl Scout Bronze project (which is an English themed tea party).  She is also working on spritual goals for church. 

for my 14 yr daughter ---we are focusing on a well rounded homemade curriculum for homeschooling high school.  Our biggest goal is just to finish this first year.  Our second biggest goal is to get active in sports or or other motivational activities to get her in shape. She is not needing to lose a lot, but since she is not very active we are hoping that this will keep her at least motivated to eat the right things and watch her weight. She is also in Girl Scouts and her goal as a Senior girl scout is to complete all the badges--she has a few years to go, but at least she can get started on it.  She is also working towards many spiritual goals in church as well.

Sorry this is long, I just thought that I would share this with you.  What are your kids goals this year?

I will be sending out our new topic this week--tomorrow.  Have a great year everyone!
Debra Tangren