• 13 October 2008 - The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
Posted By Kendra
Does anyone else out there enjoy reading The Old Schoolhouse Magazine? I have been enjoying it since we started homeschooling Lukas for kindergarten. It is always filled with articles on a wide variety of topics, and there is always something for me as well as homeschooling families who do school completely differently or have children of various ages. Even when an article does not pertain to what is happening in our school or life at this time, I generally skim it to see if there is a grain of knowledge that I need to hear right now. Reading this magazine is a blessing to me! I have learned about Charlotte Mason, unschooling, testing, homesteading, teaching high school (I know, I have a few years to think about this one), and more! All of this comes written by Godly men and women who are passionate about homeschooling.
I wanted to tell you all about The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Fall
Special. You can get two years of the magazine, 6 fabulous physical
gifts (no downloads!) worth over $120, plus the current issue of The
Old Schoolhouse Magazine that is full of ideas for the new school
year, so you start receiving your magazine in a flash!
It really is one of their best deals ever and you don't want to miss
out. In fact, they've got a really cute Homeschooling with Heart tote
bag (valued at $13.95) for the first 1000 to subscribe. About half of
them are gone, but you should still be able to get one if you hurry!
(They will remove the info from the subscription page when the bags
are all gone.) The total value is over $212, but you receive it all
for only $39 - 50% off of cover price! Plus subscribers get their
online monthly Teacher's Toolbox which focuses on a different topic
each month, giving you words of encouragement, hands-on teaching
ideas, book recommendations, field trip ideas, and a bonus download
item.
If you are a homeschooling parent, then go to their website and check it out! If the free gifts aren't enticing enough(I love the tote bag, but I jokingly call myself a bag lady), then focus on the God-focused wealth of information you'll gain from reading the contents of this great homeschooling magazine. There will be something within the pages of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine that you will enjoy!
Here's that link again: http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/US_Promotion.php |
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• 1 October 2008 - Pain and Blessings
Posted By Kendra
I know it has been a long stretch since I last blogged. That is partially because there wasn't much to write about last week, and then my back went out on Friday. I haven't spent much time on the computer this week because of that. I probably shouldn't even be down here now. As much as I will probably regret this when I try to stand up in a little while, I am bored out of my mind and need to do something.
Throughout the past five days, I have been extremely blessed by my family time and again. My kids are amazing. They are doing everything they can to help me whenever they are able, and Lukas is helping Ava with things that I would normally do just to give me some relief. Ava has been running up and down the steps for me when I've needed something, and she has been so sweet and understanding. She tries to help me when she knows I'm in pain, as if I can lean on her tiny little arm! Still, it is so endearing.
Eric has been doing double duty this week. He's even been cooking, which is definitely not his forte! If you gave him a list of household chores, and he got to choose which ones he was going to take over, he would choose to clean the toilet before he would choose to cook. He's been doing a great job though, and he's been doing a lot more than cooking. He has driven me to the chiropractor and doctor, taken the kids to soccer and dance (yep, he was the only dad there for that one), kept the kitchen clean, straightened up the rest of the house, brought me ice, and helped me with whatever I have needed all on top of going to work. He is amazing, and he's all mine!
I am experiencing pain unlike I have had in years. It is, however, better today than it was yesterday. I am praying, and I know that others are praying, and, while the healing is slow going, it is healing. I doubt I'll be on my feet as much as I would like to be this weekend (we're going to IWU Homecoming!!!), but I can feel the prayers.
Today, I feel very blessed. I have a wonderful husband, amazing children, a fantastic chiropractor, and a massage therapist with talented fingers.
Please pray for me throughout this week. I am hoping for a miraculous recovery so that I can truly enjoy my trip this weekend, but, most importantly, I'd just like to get back to normal so that I can take care of my family the way that I would like to. Thanks, dear friends, for visiting my blog and for offering your prayers as well! |
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• 17 September 2008 - The Santa Maria
Posted By Kendra
We went on a field trip today to see an authentic replica of Columbus' ship, the Santa Maria, which sits in the Scioto River in downtown Columbus. The kids got free tickets from the summer reading program at the library (I can't make enough plugs about our library's summer program). Eric went with us, and so did Austin, our neighbor who did not have school again today (still no power in much of the city). He had a free ticket as well, so it cost us a total of $7 for this field trip. Ava was free because she is under 5 (barely, I know). I say all of this for those of you who are local because it really was a fun, inexpensive field trip (and I know some of you got those free tickets as well).
Lukas studied Christopher Columbus last week, so these tickets were well-timed for us. He has been begging to go since we got them, but we waited until now so that it coincided with our curriculum. The trip got postponed twice, once due to rain, and once because Mommy didn't realize that they weren't open on Monday (but it wouldn't have mattered anyway because of the whole electricity issue). Today was finally the day, and we couldn't have chosen a more perfect day. It was warm and sunny and so pleasant outside. I wish we had packed a picnic because it would have been a perfect spot for that.
The entire tour of the ship took about 45 minutes. It was interesting enough to keep Ava's attention, which is a big deal! We learned quite a bit about ships and sailing in the 15th century. Here are some notes of interest to me:
- Saltmeat apparently lasts forever. They had two pieces on board. One was a pig's foot. The other was a slab of bacon that has been hanging there since 1992 when the ship was dedicated. Supposedly, if you cleaned the dust off it, you could still eat it. Yum, yum!
- Sailors hung off the side of the ship to do their business, and they shared a brush to clean themselves off. It was dipped into the ocean for cleaning in between, but, still, so gross.
- The Santa Maria was surprisingly small.
- Steering wheels were not yet invented during the time period of Columbus.
We learned a lot more than that, but those were some of the things I found to be most interesting. If you are from this area and need a good, short field trip that isn't expensive, this was worth it for us, especially with young kids studying American history! Definitely check out the PHOTOS HERE. |
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• 15 September 2008 - Weathering the Storm
Posted By Kendra
Eric and I were out yesterday, and the kids were at their grandparents. The power went out twice during the movie but immediately came back on, so we were able to see the entire show. We left the theater and as we walked out the door I saw a van with a rear window missing. The tropical storm force winds of Ike had apparently blown the window right out of the van. I casually said to Eric, "That is what is going to happen to our van," because the clip that holds our rear window closed broke a couple weeks ago. This is the part where you all realize how completely brilliant I am. It was our van that we were looking at. Eric laughed at me, of course, and then we dealt with going to K-Mart to buy trash bags and duct tape to put over the window. Ever tried to tape plastic onto a vehicle in 50+ mile per hour winds? It is not an easy task, but we managed to get the job done and then, instead of heading to the Olive Garden, we picked up the kids and went home.
We stopped at Kroger to find something that we could have for dinner since we expected to find a house without power when we arrived home. They had a generator going, which was enough to keep a few rotisserie chickens warmed. Monday is grocery day at our house, so it was going to be PB&J if I didn't find something at Kroger! The good news is that we came home to one of the very few houses in our development with power, so we're managing just fine.
Other than the damage to our van (please pray that we find a window to replace it very inexpensively and very soon), we have weathered this storm extremely well. Eric spent a few hours cleaning up the yard and helping the neighbor with his yard (we have 3 yard waste bags and the yard waste can filled...and we need more bags to finish cleaning the mess). Unfortunately, others did not fare so well. On our drive home from Eric's folks around 6:00 yesterday, we saw houses losing roofs and siding, trees lying all over the place, and debris flying through the air. We even found a gas station trash can complete with the window washer in the middle of an intersection. There are people all over central Ohio without power, and AEP is saying that it may take a week for everyone to have power restored. Can you even imagine?
What I really cannot imagine is living on the coast where these storms hit with a greater fury than this mid-western girl has ever experienced. We got only a few sprinkles of rain, but the wind was amazing. My kids were terrified the entire time. One of our elderly neighbors, who has lived in Columbus her entire life, said that she has never experienced anything like this. Of course we've had winds this high before, but not sustained for such a long period of time. It is amazing to me, truly amazing.
Weather completely fascinates me. It has done so me I was a teenager. I used to watch the weather channel while I got ready for school. Now I check the weather on line before I head out for the day. I was fascinated by this storm. Actually, I am fascinated by any storm. Does that make me a weather geek? Maybe so.  At least you won't find me chasing storms any time soon. I do like to be safe.
I took photos around here today, but I didn't go anywhere to take photos of any significant damage. There are also photos of school stuff, a church outreach event, Lukas' soccer game (you'll notice they're wearing white t-shirts because the rec center didn't order their jerseys in time), and then the Ike photos. I'll also post a link to the photos one of our local news stations has posted.
MY PHOTOS
CHANNEL 10 PHOTOS
ARTICLE (OK...so I'm only posting this because the gas station in the photo next to the headline is in Coshocton. My hometown doesn't exactly get into the news very often, so I had to post it!) |
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• Sep. 11, 2008 - Today...We Remember
Posted By urbanbutterfly
• 9 September 2008 - Lately...
Posted By Kendra
1. We had a small, family party for Lukas on Sunday afternoon. He received a new bicycle from my parents that he is just big enough for, two more Webkinz from Jeff and Cathy and the boys(he was seriously thrilled with this), and skates from Eric's folks. The skates were by far the most entertaining gift of the day. His first attempt at skating was hilarious because he made it that way giggling and singing his way back and forth across the patio, falling on his bum several times and laughing harder, and finally learning to stand and move on his own. We were proud of him for trying so hard and not giving up. During the process, we took lots of pictures. It'll make a terrific scrapbooking layout if I ever get past 2005. You can see the pictures by clicking HERE.
2. Ava went home with my parents on Sunday evening and stayed until today. It was the first time she has stayed anywhere without Lukas. She was beyond thrilled to go, and she had a blast while she was there. We missed her, of course, and we were a little disappointed that she had little interest in talking to us over the phone. However, we are proud of her for going by herself and having such a great time with Nana and Papa!
3. Lukas started fall soccer season last night. I think that we are going to love his coaches. His coaches are a husband and wife team, and they are super organized. They gave us the game schedule along with a snack schedule last night, and they were so informative! We are excited for this season. His first game is this Saturday (the rec center kind of got the ball rolling on soccer season a little late). This is all very opposite of our spring season experience, so we are very happy with this turn of events!
4. Ava started dance classes tonight. She's taking tap and ballet again in back to back classes. Last year, she took one combo class that was 30 minutes long. This year, she is there for a full hour. Unfortunately, ballet is the second half-hour, which I knew was going to make things a little more challenging for Ava. She wants to take both classes, but she loves, loves, loves tapping. She is a beautiful balerina too, of course, but it doesn't keep her focused as well as getting to make noise with her feet. Plus, her attention span isn't that long so late in the evening. All this is to say that she got in trouble, but her dance teacher was very nice about it. Ugh. We're hoping for a better experience over the next few weeks. We're still proud of her. She remembered so much from last year, and she was so excited to get started!
5. School is going so, so, SO well. My Father's World starts the year slowly and works into doing all subjects, and I love that. We are zooming ahead in math, but that is because we're using a new program and we chose to do that(Lukas is begging to do math first every single day. Do a happy dance with me!!!). Otherwise, it'll be another week or two before we have all subjects going, and this method is really working for Lukas. It was kind of strange to have a couple of days of school without Ava here. That has never happened before. You're all thinking we probably got done quicker, but that is so NOT the case. In fact, we didn't get done at all either day, but that had a little to do with errand running. Another perk of MFW...Fridays are pretty laid-back, so if we don't get everything done, we can catch up on Friday. Expect more great things about MFW in the future. After two years of not being thrilled with our curriculum choices, I can't say enough good things about MFW.
6. Lukas is now the proud owner of 13 stuffed Webkinz and 15 virtual Webkinz. Can you say WOW? The reason for the extra two on-line is that Jack had to be returned (remember the pink fur incident), and they replaced him with another Dalmatian complete with a new tag. Then, for his birthday, he got a pack of trading cards that had a free virtual kangaroo, which he named after his cousin, Zack. Our home is becoming over-run with Webkinz. The craze is getting out of control. Both kids love collecting these, and they really are perfect, afordable gifts for others to buy them. Lukas even saved up and bought a Lil Kinz himself! We're definitely proud of him for that! It took him several months!
7. Lukas lost his second front tooth on his birthday. My friend Amy had told me that she had told her little girl that if you lose a tooth on your birthday or a holiday, the tooth fairy brings you extra money. Lukas was pretty upset about the way he looked with his two front teeth missing (seriously adorable in my opinion), so I shared this info with him to cheer him up. UNFORTUNATELY, he slept in the tent in the back yard that night, and the tooth fairy was unable to locate him. Thanks to my friend Brooke for having a similar situation at her house last year, I was able to share that these things happen sometimes. The tooth fairy had to break the bank for this tooth! |
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• 6 September 2008 - Seven
Posted By Kendra
I don't know how seven years can go by so quickly, but they definitely have! I am the kind of mom that tries to appreciate every little moment, but it still seems like time flies by. Lukas turned 7 today. He is very excited to be 7. I am excited for him too. Of course I am. I just miss 6, and 5, and 4...you know how it is.
I watched him last night playing with 8 other little boys ranging in age from 6 to 8. He is such a typical little boy, and I love that about him. They all had a blast last night running around inside and outside, playing tag, wrestling, searching for treasure, spinning the Wheel of Wow, watching a movie, and, of course, eating LOTS of sugar. 10 children full of sugar! Yeah, it was pretty much a house of chaos around here.
It was so much fun to plan this party. It is hard to believe that my little boy is old enough to host his first sleepover, but he is. Amazing. He wanted a Webkinz theme party, and he wanted to sleep in the tent in the backyard. Unfortunately, yesterday ended up being rainy off and on, and right at the time when Eric was ready to take everyone's sleeping bags to the tent (as an aside here...only 4 boys spent the night), it started to pour. Add that to the fact that one little guy wasn't so keen on the idea of sleeping outdoors, so we decided to put them all in the living room. They watched a couple of short movies and started nodding off between 11:30 and 12. Yep. It was surely a late night in our house!
We started the day (which is Lukas' actual birthday) with chocolate chip pancakes, which thrilled the boys, and then the boys all got dressed and packed to go home. Everyone was ready when their parents showed up around 10. Everyone behaved well while they were here. It was a ton of fun. Sometimes I think I'm crazy to plan these things, but Lukas was so blessed by this party. I'm definitely glad that we did it, especially with Eric looking for a job. Who knows how long we'll be sharing life on a regular basis with this great group of friends that Lukas has from church, co-op, and our neighborhood.
Of course, I took pictures. I decided that I understand why people sometimes hire photographers for these things as it was hard to be in charge of photos and everything else. Maybe I could make some money on the side by doing that for others! Check out the photos of my SEVEN year olds birthday party. I'm off to get ready for a small family party tomorrow, and, after that, I should definitely be ready to crash! |
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• 2 September 2008 - First Day of School 2008
Posted By Kendra
The first day of school 2008 has come and gone. Lukas has officially started 2nd grade, and Ava is loving pre-K. I don't know why the first day always seems to take longer even though we actually do less than what will be normal for the school year. It took us about 3 hours to accomplish school today including a 20 minute break, which is long for us. I think that once we're back into a routine, we'll be closer to 2 1/2 hours. We'll get there!
We started our day with our first day of school breakfast. The kids picked pancakes and sausage, definitely not your everyday breakfast in our house. We started new routines with them today. After breakfast, they got ready for school and did devotions on their own. Ava looked through a picture Bible for those of you who are wondering, and Lukas actually insisted on reading a little devotional and looking up the scripture to go with it. He's getting better and better at this as long as he can find the table of contents page!
We are finishing a summer read-aloud, Alice in Wonderland, so we started with that today. Other topics introduced or covered today include the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance, a timeline, math, first day of school journal, and our new book basket. I love the My Father's World book basket. This week the books are about The Pledge of Allegiance and Vikings, which we'll be studying later this week. I also stuck a Nate the Great book in the basket knowing that Lukas would choose it even though it is such an easy read for him. It is the beginning of the school year, so I figured it would help to create a positive start. He read half the book to me today, and I'm guessing he'll finish it tomorrow.
Ava is using a BOZ pre-school book that I picked up on clearance, and she loved it today! She was an angel during school today. I am so proud of her. She was with us 99% of the time today, which is a first. She kept herself busy with school time activities and pages from her BOZ book that I planned for her to do. I am excited to see how much she learns this year! I had a ton of fun with her today!
We took lots of pictures today, more than we'll ever need, but it was fun! If you are a homeschooling mom who teaches at your dining room table or a similar scenario, check out the tote I got at Wal-mart last week(I took 3 photos at different angles because I love it so much). It has pockets and space for all of our daily school supplies in it. I LOVE it! It comes in pink/brown, blue/brown, and black/white. They were out of blue, and Lukas would not hear of the dreaded color pink for anything for school, so black it is for us. I'm going to pick up a pink one for lia sophia supplies. Seriously, pencils, colored pencils, crayons, markers, dry-erase markers, eraser, 3 pair of scissors, glue, glue sticks, etc...it is all there. I stick it on the table when school starts, and I stick it back on the shelf after. I love this tote!!!
Check out the photos HERE. I hope that my fellow homeschooling families have had or will have successful first days of school! I can't wait to hear or read all about it! |
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• 1 September 2008 - Check Lists
Posted By Kendra
I'm ready for school. At least...I think I'm ready for school. Lukas is totally pumped for tomorrow, his first day of second grade. He is excited about our new curriculum. We'll start the year learning about Vikings, Christopher Columbus, and then toss some Native Americans in there in a couple of weeks as well. He is thrilled with this line-up, especially since we'll be visiting the Santa Maria downtown with the kids' free tickets they earned in the summer reading program at the library.
Anyway, I'm ready. I added a small set of shelves and reorganized with the help of my amazing husband. Seriously, amazing. He has been such a great help to me in getting ready for school this year. I wouldn't be ready if it weren't for him. I would probably be having a melt-down at this very moment in the midst of a stack of books and papers from last year that were still lurking on the shelves. Instead, I sorted the papers and books down yesterday while he lovingly and willingly reorganized my craft supplies under my watchful eye and never complained once even when I said I wanted it done a little differently (I am the one who uses the supplies, after-all). Amazing. I love him.
My checklist for tomorrow is almost complete. I had planned to make a "Decimal Street" poster for Math-U-See, but I forgot to buy the poster board. Eric is out getting it and some other things right now. He always gets something small for the kids on the first day of school, so I asked him to pick that up as well. I'll make Decimal Street while Lukas is doing his language arts work tomorrow. It'll be fine. Other than that...
Everything else is done.
Planner filled out...check
Breakfast planned...check
Responsibility chart restructured...check
Calendar updated...check
Shelves organized...check
Book Basket filled...check
We're ready, and I'm so glad. I can't believe I have a second grader and a pre-kindergartner. At least my first day of school check list is complete. I think I feel ready for a new school year to begin...almost. |
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• 31 August 2008 - Book-it!
Posted By Kendra
Do any of you remember doing this in school? I do! I loved it! I also loved to read as a child (and still do), so it was easy for me to earn Book-it certificates. When I was a kid, my dad didn't eat pizza (he does a little now), so my sister and I would earn our certificates and get an afternoon out with mom, just the girls, to enjoy our free pizza. We didn't eat out a lot in those days, so it was a huge blessing to us. It was about the time with mom, not really the pizza, that was exciting to me as a child. That's how I remember it at least.
Anyway, for those of you who do not know, this program continues and is available to homeschooling families. Go to www.bookitprogram.com and click on "Enrollment". After that, click on the K-6 link followed by the link for homeschoolers. It will take you about 30 seconds to fill in your name and address as well as the number of K-6 students in your home. Unfortunately, your pre-schooler who is homeschooled is not eligible for the Book-it Beginners program. It was tempting to include Ava on the Book-it form since she is officially pre-K and so close this year, but I refrained as that would have been wrong.
I hope you enroll and that your child enjoys the free pizza! |
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