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Wow! Can't beleive that week flew by.....
My college classes started back again and I'm trying to get in the groove. I'd give us a day by day snap shot.... but I honestly don't remember much! I know we've been productive with number of lessons completed but don't remember the details.... I'll try to be better this week.
Monday was Labor Day... no school. The girls and I went to my mom's for a big picnic with both sides of my extended family. Very fun day! I had a great time as did B and H. At about 8PM my uncle mentioned that he hadn't seen me sit down all day! I didn't. My weight loss is contributing to a more energetic me... ya, for those of you who know me.... that's scary!
Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty normal school days. We had three additional children at the house from 4PM on as I watched my best friend's children for the evening. We went to a youth group meeting... my girls had a blast seeing the friends they haven't seen over the summer. Renee's kids..... little nervous about being there.
Thursday and Friday.... Did we wake up? Oh okay now i'm remembering. Thursday normal school day and Friday was our Back to School Picnic for OHVA.... we brought home a friend for the afternoon... well we didn't take her back home until 8:30PM.... they had great fun in the back yard with mud... three cute little girls covered from head to toe in MUD! Should have grabbed pictures... forgot
I'll write more tomorow after our busy morning..... Title One Math assessment for Brena and then lunch and a Grandparent's Day extravaganza at our house! |
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We lost Sneaky. She died yesterday. Brena had wanted to let her go, Hannah voted no, so we kept her. Brena cried, Hannah stared into space. I have to pick the dead snake up and take it outside for burial. We never got to play Polly Pocket but she was very loved.... I mean that in an action sort of way. Hannah built many a Lincoln Log fort and she was allowed to slither around in and on it. It was decided that catching wild things and keeping them (too long as pets) is not a good idea. They tend to die. I reminded them about the part I read to them from one of the books I'm reading, "The Lady and the Panda" about the first American explorer to bring back a Panda from the wild. Many Westerners believed the Panda to be a mythical animal as late as 1937 when the first one was captured by an American Explorer. Anyway it was mentioned in the book that as many as 85% of the animals captured for zoos during this time period never survived the first few weeks of capture. We have felt this loss at home. The grief displayed at our house comforts me because I know my girls have a deep respect for all the world's created things. |
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Okee dokie! Stuff is going so good here at our house! I'm feeling great, spiritually, physically (losing weight and toning up), socially, mentally things are super duper. I'm constantly on the move, but its the way I like it. Is there such a thing as manic vitality? I was trying to think of the opposite of manic depression. I think that might work. Anyway.....
Hannah's Poem (She was required to use alliteration - yes, she's only 7 and knows what that is - spelling left unaltered - was illustrated but illustration didn't scan well) Monday/Money Day Tuesday/Tickal Day Wednesday/Wake Up Day Thursday/Thinking Day Friday/Funy Day Saturday/Sad Day Sunday..... ALREADY? ..... Suny Day
Brena was "on" today She looooooooooves Geometry! She really gets it.... line segments, congruancy, symmetry, quadrilaterals and polygons and their attributes! It's amazing. She gets it. She digs it. This unit will be fun.
She summarized a short story she read, very well. Her writing was solid and flowed nicely. It was short (but isn't that part of what a summary is?)
Combined Subjects History Objectives Lesson One
History Objectives Lesson Two
Art Objectives
There is a 2nd part to this lesson tomorrow in which the clothing will be complete.... today we did 4 texture "rubs" with crayon and added a color wash in a complimentary, analogous, or triad color combination. Tomorrow's lesson activity will conclude with the design of the article of clothing. I'll post pics then though the rubs are gorgeous as is. |
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Brena and Hannah found a garter snake. Hannah kept it covered with a clay pot while Brena and I ran to the third floor to get the glass aquarium and clean it. It has a lid. We are so excited we've kept it for almost three years waiting until the perfect pet presented itself for its use.
We'll take pictures and add them later. Tonight our snake (Julie if a girl and Jake if a boy) will spend the night on our chest freezer in the basement. Easily accessible by footstool! I'm sure Julie-Jake will be the best loved baby garter in the world. I don't think we have any clothing small enough to dress her in.... oh wait..... I'm thinking Polly Pocket items just might work. I won't mention it...... hahaha..... don't want to contribute to the cotouring of a snake! If things don't work out between the snake and us - we will let her go by the river (in our backyard).... so no harm done.... I'm sure we'll want to do some sort of lessons on snakes - good idea to hit reptiles again! Maybe even do some electronic notebooking while its a hot subject at our house!
I'll talk more about what electronic notebooking (e-notebook) is as we get more into it. Following is a brief description. A homeschooling mother in Arkansas (I think) from the K12 Users Yahoo Group (K12 is the curriculum we use) turned me on to the concept. Basically a theme unit of material, or a book, or any grouped idea can become a notebook. It can be broken into tabbed sections and published to the web and copied to CD as a record of a child's learning... what a fun way to look back on homeschool memories. Each child is provided with a template in a word processing program and they create a learning notebook with that template of their experience with the subject matter. The children use the template as the unit is completed to work into their e-notebook, they write (type) directly answering questions they can scan off-line work that they do, take photos and incorporated it into the e-notebook. I am excited about learning how to use this as a tool for our school environment. One that can be shared so easily and stored forever! EXCUSE ME: I was just informed that the snake name has changed... according to Brena "the final decision has been made, his/her name is 'Sneaky'".
Well, I'm off to prep for lessons tomorrow and do some work on my website (www.readysafety.com). I also need to put somethings away which impede our full use of the art/craft studio. Goodnight. |
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My girls spent the day with their daddy and I spent yesterday planning meals and shopping. What a long day. I have meals planned for the next three weeks - yes I can tell you what we'll have for dinner 21 days from now. The shoppng is done for the next two weeks and mostly for the last week too. I'll just have to pick up fresh fruit and veggies and a tuna steak for the recipes. I enjoy cooking and my children are sophisticated eaters. That's always been important to me and an indication of a cultured person.
Shopping takes a little while as I visit produce stands, bakeries, butcher and several organic sections in "regular supermarkets". I'm not a budget shopper though. Though I plan to purchase from the store that has what I'm looking for. I shop for my pretermined menu. I will pick up meats if they are on sale and that sort of thing... I often wonder how much other families spend on their groceries.
Here's our menu for the week: Last night we had these great Roast beef and roasted red pepper sandwhiches.... I just pan roasted the red pepper, it was soooo good.... threw on a bunch of fresh spinach, a little watercress, and swiss cheese! I bought a loaf of organic crusty bread (yum).... and made a mayo, dijon, horseradish dressing. It was such a good sandwhich and so filling. We had organic red grapes as a side.
Sunday: Beef and Blue Cheese Salad
Monday: Grilled Portabellos with Advocado Salsa
Tuesday: Thai Chicken Wraps
Wednesday: Taco Salad
Thursday: Grilled Salmon with Herb Crust
Friday: Bacon-Cheeseburger Pizza
Saturday: Southwest Pork Chops with Corn Salsa
Today I will make sausage gravy and biscuits, some to put out and some to put in the freezer. I'll do the same thing with french toast. The bakery has great Texas Toast I'll use. I also need to organize the freezers (probably won't happen today).
I will however launder a mountain! How did I get that far behind? Whew.
I love my washer and dryer. It's that new cool looking one that holds like 15 pairs of jeans. The dryer is done at almost the same time as the wish (sometimes before). So I can kick a big part of laundry out today. I'm doing all the sheets, blankets, comforters too in prep for ..... i don't want to say it..... cooler weather. I washed them before i put them away.... but something about fresh yummy smelling stuff to sleep in...... so I've also dragged down a few sweaters and long pant outfits for the girls to freshen up for them to wear. Next will be my curtains. Most of them can be laundered... I'll use the dryel thingy do's for the rest.
My desk MUST be attended too. I purchased some expandable files and have been being really good about putting things in the proper one and labeling it. I've started a "Special School Days" folder. Current inside right now are labor day and grandparents day sections. I also have a "Phonetic Awareness" one in which I've put some of the A-Z reading booklets i've downloaded and printed as well as notecards to remind me of what othe materials we have which will work with the theme for each section. We are working a lot with long vowel sounds right now... Hannah is reading more fluently every day.... she picks these tools up and uses them like a pro. Brena gets better with each activity.... for her its more like climbing a mountain one rock at a time.
We all have belly aches so no church this morning... hope its nothing that will last too long. I posted and the margin is too small on the left side.... actually there is no margin.... that's bothering me! Was I always this anal? |