Well, I haven't blogged in awhile....again.  I can explain.....again.

We took a trip to Washington D.C. to visit hubby who had been on a business trip.  And we got to make this trip over the Fourth nonetheless!  Who wouldn't want to make that trip to our nation's capital for Independence Day?!

I am blogging pretty late at night here in Ohio, so I'm only going to share a couple of photos related to one specific thing about our trip.  I went back through all of my old blogs to see if I'd already posted the first photo, but I guess I hadn't.  If it is a repeat, forgive me, but it's worth posting again and you'll see why.

The kids and I completed our two-year American history studies this past year.  What a ride!!  We had so much fun learning about how our blessed and awesome country came to be, and some of the struggles it has gone through to continue to be awesome.

Well, in that first year of our studies, the kids built a replica of the Washington Monument out of legos.  Here is photo #1:

Not bad, huh???  Well, the physical structure is great; the quality of the photo is poor.  Don't hold that against the kids and their efforts!!  At the time, I thought it was pretty accurate, given I'd never been there, and could only compare it to photos or mental images of what I thought the real structure looked like.

Well, now I can truly compare the two, because I've seen the real thing in person.  And I still say, "Not bad."

Photo #2:

Way cool to see these photos......well, I was going to say side by side, but that isn't possible on this blog.  You get what I mean, and don't you agree??? 

Here's one of the kids and the Monument.  Hard to get the whole thing in the picture and still have the kids recognizable:

While we were near the Monument, I noticed (and you can, too, if you look really hard) that the color changes about 1/4 of the way up.  After our long, hot day of doing touristy stuff, we were back in DH's apartment and we turned to the Travel Channel.  Kirsten Gum, the host of Cash and Treasures, was broadcasting from the very area from which we had just come.  Perhaps they were doing day-long coverage of the Fourth from the Capital, I don't know.  

Anyway, she starts talking about the Washington Monument and its history.  She relates the reason that the stones are different colors!!!  So bizarre, given we had just been there, and had wondered that very thing.

The Monument was started in 1848, but eventually they ran out of money to keep going.  And then a little thing called the Civil War really disrupted further construction.  It wasn't complete until 1884, but by then the original stones had been weathered enough to cause the difference in look.

So there you go.....a little history lesson (presuming you didn't already know that).  I'm glad I know that now, and I'm glad I have an image of the REAL Monument in my brain, and not just my kids' lego version.  *WINK*

I hope you all had a safe and fun Independence Day like we did.  I'll continue to add stuff from our trip.  There's so much to share!  

Well, I haven't blogged for awhile.  My folks were here visiting from MN.  I kept everybody busy with projects around the house!  Landscaping, painting and rehanging our shutters (Uff-da), hanging a chandelier over our kitchen table (lovely), moving a few pieces of furniture.  My dad tried to claim that he lost a few pounds during their stay.  I think they need to visit more often!!  (You know I love you, Dad!!)  :-)

We had many great conversations, as is typical when I'm with my folks.  We don't always see eye to eye politically, but good thoughts are thrown around and brains are exercised as they should be. 

The subject of homeschooling came up, and I was more interested than usual in their (and others) perspective of the concept.  Because I'm so immersed in it -- it's really a way of life -- it's intriguing to get the outside view of what we do.

My folks have shared before that they were skeptical at first about my decision to homeschool the kids.  I think that's normal.  It's not something that was in our family before, so it probably was a bit of a shock to them.  But they warmed to the idea after some time, and now they are on board 100%.  They see the fruits of our endeavors, so something has to be working, right???

After they left, it occurred to me that I'm very blessed to have their support, as well as the support of my sister and my husband's family.  Without all of these people behind us, it would be a much more difficult and trying thing.  Just to know that I can freely talk about our days, our highs AND our lows, our accomplishments AND our missteps.......there is immeasurable relief that I feel because of that.

So a big thank you to my family and my husband's family.

And for those of you who don't have the support that I do, persevere.  Yes, you have a bigger hill to climb, but it's well worth it!!!  Hang in there!

DS'00 (J) has been using Jessie Wise's First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind this past year. (http://peacehillpress.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=70)  If you aren't familiar with this Language Arts resource, it is a two-year program in one book that gently, but very thoroughly introduces grammar to first and second graders.  It also has narration, dictation and poetry memorization (and poetry memorization review built in throughout the book). 

This program worked really well for him, unlike DD'98 (S) who hated this book when we tried to work through it during her 2nd grade year.  All of the lessons and teaching time are oral, with a bit of written work at the end.  S despised the oral lessons and just couldn't focus or concentrate.  The result is that J has a better foundation in grammar than S because he worked through this entire book (we have 3 lessons left!).  Fortunately, S is pretty bright and it didn't really affect her being able to progress in her Language Arts studies.  She is able to pick things up along the way very well.

One of J's lessons recently was to review and recite ALL of the poems that he has memorized throughout his two years using this book.  It's a great accomplishment, so I thought I'd share the titles of the poems that he's learned.

"The Caterpillar", Christina G. Rosetti
"Work", Anonymous
"Hearts Are Like Doors", Anonymous
"Days of the Week", Mother Goose rhyme adapted by Sara Buffington
"The Months", Mother Goose rhyme
"The Goops", Gelett Burgess
"The Year", Sara Coleridge, adapted by Sara Buffington
"The Little Bird", Mother Goose rhyme
"All Things Beautiful", Cecil Alexander

This last poem was a joint effort between J and me.  I memorized it with him because it's a six stanza poem and he was convinced he couldn't memorize it.  So I thought if I memorized it right alongside him, he'd be more willing to try.  And we did it!

Way to go, J!!!

Yesterday DD'98 used the word "relented" as we were discussing a biography of Benjamin Franklin she had just read for her Learning Language Arts Through Literature Orange Book.  She was answering comprehension questions for each chapter, and in particular, she was telling me about Franklin's parents wanting him to become an apprentice at his brother's print shop.  Benjamin resisted at first, but in the end, as DD so brilliantly put, he "relented" in an effort to be obedient to his parents.

Her use of that word surprised and thrilled me.  I told her as much, and she responded that "relented" was a word that she had learned in one of her Wordly Wise books (excellent vocabulary resources, by the way).  It's moments like this one that makes me feel like we're doing something right in this homeschool thing.  Sometimes it feels like no learning is taking place.....that forest for the trees idea.  Something as small as this learned vocabulary word bolsters my efforts as a homeschooling mom, just enough to jump start our sluggish days.

Both the kids have been doing a poetry study with their respective Learning Language Arts Through Literature books.  We own an excellent poetry resource entitled "Favorite Poems Old and New" compiled by Helen Ferris.  I had seen this resource recommended in various catalogs these past few years, so I finally decided last year to purchase it for our family.  We've been using this poetry book as the kids have been doing their poetry units.  Thought I'd share one I ran across today:

A Book
Emily Dickinson

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of Prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!

We've been very busy reading these past couple of months.  I've been intending to post about what we've been reading because we've read some great books lately, of all different genres.  Not sure if I will bog this post down with EVERY book we've read as of late, but perhaps just the highlights will suffice.

We read several books covering events of the early 1900's.

  This book is about a Chinese immigrant, whose son later joins him in San Francisco.  They work hard in a laundry to help support their family in China.  The father also pursues his love of flying by trying to build a flying machine.  The Great San Francisco earthquake is a historical event that the author, Laurence Yep, also includes in this novel.  So a double history whammy for S & J:  immigration and the San Francisco earthquake.

In addition to the above book covering the early 1900's, we also read Who Was Amelia Earhart? by Kate Boehm Jermoe; The Wright Brothers - A Flying Start by Elizabeth MacLeod; Earthquake in the Early Morning by Mary Pope Osborne (Magic Tree House series).

   As a prelude to our study of World War I, we read this book about Theodore Roosevelt.  This series by Time magazine is well done.  We have a couple more of these scheduled for us in our Winter Promise curriculum.

  This book helped us through our World War I studies.  It is in diary format, which DD'98 adores!  She's been reading a lot of books from this series, and it's an awesome way to discover more about a time period or a historical event.  This book helped the kids become familiar with the term "doughboys", given to soldiers of WWI (no one's really sure why they were given this nickname; you may peruse the following website for the various theories as to the origin of this nickname and then you can reach your own conclusion:  http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/origindb.htm).

It also introduced all of us (including me) to one of the roles that young ladies played in the war, namely that of telephone operators in Europe.  These young ladies got their very own nickname, "Hello Girls."  They had to know French and they worked on the Western Front translating orders, etc., over the phone for the officers and soldiers.

We then read books having to do with the Depression Era:  A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt by C. Coco DeYoung; Dust for Dinner by Ann Turner; and Rose's Journal, Story of a Girl in the Great Depression by Marissa Moss.  We also read another TIME for Kids biography about FDR.

That brings us to World War II, which is where we're at right now.  We read a book called Journey to America by Sonia Levitin about a mother and her children who desperately await proper documentation for their passage to America to join the husband/dad.  This book is set during the early days of Nazi Germany, when a lot of people thought Hitler's fanaticism would die down or simply go away.  Well, were they wrong, or what??!!

  This is the book we're currently reading.  It's set in Norway, and is based on true events.  The country of Norway is occupied by Germany, and in an effort to hide their gold supply from Hitler's troops, the Norwegian officials enlist the aid of the kids in the town of Riswyk to hide the gold on their sleds, which allows them to whiz by the soldiers undetected.  They're just out for a little winter fun, right???  What a great book so far, and so fascinating that it is a true story!

We've also started The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.  The kids have been wanting to read this one ever since we finished Tom Sawyer some time ago.  This book, if you'll remember, is on our "fun" reading list.  Yes, we're still plugging away at that list you see to the right on my blog.  We'll be working on that over the summer as well.

Well, I only intended to hit the highlights, but I ended up posting about all the history books we've read lately.  They were all too good to omit!  Sorry!

I'll save what the kids have been reading for another post.

The above should be sung to the tune "Let's Give 'Em Something to Talk About" by Bonnie Raitt.  Just my attempt at wittiness.......

I've been reflecting lately that I don't blog enough.  I'd like to hone my writing skills, and since I don't keep a journal or diary, writing/blogging here really is my only chance to work on my writing. 

So the afore-mentioned observation got me thinking about our homeschool day, and what things would be fodder for this blog.  This made me a bit sad, however, because I concluded (erroneously, as I'll explain further) that you all aren't missing much.  In other words, there's not much to tell.

*SCREECHING BRAKES*  "Hold the phone!"  What do I mean there's not much to tell??  Then it hit me.  It's NOT that there isn't anything to tell.  There's plenty to tell if I would just look at our daily schooling in a different light.  It's all in what I make it to be.  It has been feeling ho-hum, just same ol', same ol' lately, but, again, it doesn't have to be that way.

As a homeschooling Mom it's hard to see the forest.  And, yes, I do need to step back and see the bigger picture.  But I also need to shine a light on the trees from time to time.  There's good stuff there in the trees.  There's a lot that you all just might be interested in reading about.

So that's what I'm going to try and do:  write more about the little daily stuff.  The math exercise, the one chapter we read in our history book, the grammar lesson completed.

Now THAT'S something to write about.

DS'00 has been cracking us up lately.  Let me share.....

J had a red streak on his chin, so I asked him, "J, what is that mark on your chin?"  J replies, "What chin?"  Maybe we'd better spend some science time studying the human body!

Recently, DD'98 has been lamenting that she's not an expert at anything.  She stated, "Well, Papa's special gift is golf (questionable), your (meaning me, Mama) special gift is teaching (oh, really??), and J's special gift is baseball (he's good, but not Derek Jeter good).  I don't have any special gift (said with a noticable pout)."  Her brother, J, wanting to help and make S feel better about this, responds, "But, S, you're smart in the noggin."  Made me laugh pretty good!  What 7 year old boy uses the word "noggin"??

Appropriate to share these awesome moments on Mother's Day!!  I'm a truly blessed Mama!

I am really trying hard not to freak out about what we'll be doing next year for various subjects.  I have some planned already, but others aren't so concrete.  The only reason, I think, that I'm not absolutely losing my mind is that I do most of my thinking and researching and plotting outside on these beautiful spring days that we have been experiencing here in Central Ohio.

Our history/geography is set (My Father's World - Expolring Countries and Cultures; a one-year world geography/cultures study; very exciting!). 

What to do for Language Arts perplexes me, as always.  Just not sure which way to go with this for DD'98 and DS'00.

My current plan of attack for figuring this out is twofold:  1)  I am thinking about what I want each child to accomplish next year with respect to Language Arts; what are my goals for each of them?  For DD'98 I really want to focus on her writing (not penmanship; the creative type of writing).  For DS'00 one goal is to introduce cursive; I also want him to be solid in his grammar knowledge. 2)  I will have many conversations with my dear homeschooling friends.  As my friend Jenny in MN has pointed out to me, I have to make decisions by talking things through with someone.  And she hit the nail on the head. 

If I sit and mull it over by myself, I just get lost.  I lose focus and start noticing the pretty flowers and butterflies; or my mind simply wanders to chores undone and what we'll have for supper.  I simply can't stay on track in my own mind.  But if I can have a back and forth conversation with a patient homeschooling friend, one who understands my angst and confusion (because she's been there herself), then I'm more apt to reach my goal of choosing an appropriate curriculum.

So, thank you, Jenny and Michelle J.  You two have received the brunt of my confused ramblings these days.  I greatly appreciate your wise counsel, and open and attentive ears.  As always, I'm here to return the favor.

We finished this book today, a truly wonderful piece of fiction by Jack London.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading it to the kids, and they liked it a lot, but they also were a bit confused by the lofty language used.  I think a lot of it went over their heads.  However, there is still true value in reading something like "The Call of the Wild", despite the kids' blank looks sometimes after we finished reading for the day.

It's beautiful to the ears, I thought; lovely prose that was like a spoken symphony.  It brought me peace like a sunny, mild, spring day, full of birds chirping and flowers blooming.  So the immediate value, if only for me at the moment, was the appreciation of putting together words in this manner to make beautiful a not quite so beautiful story (Buck endures very hard times, Amen??).

The long-term value is yet to be seen, and hopefully the kids are the beneficiaries.  Who knows what new word or phrase they picked up?  It's not tangible right at this moment, but I am truly convinced that their writing and definitely their speaking skills are enriched through a work of literature such as this.

It will be interesting to see their reactions when they read this as high schoolers.

The title of this blog is my attempt at writing speech on-line with a somewhat southern twang......did it work???

Anyway, before our mega-vacation, the kids did a panning for gold activity to supplement our study of the Gold Rushes in western Canada (Dawson City) and into Alaska (Nome, to be exact).  Here is a photo that captures this activity:

It took us a bit to get the hang of swishing the pan; there's a certain technique to use to make sure that you get the sand to wash out of the pan, but not the gold.  It goes something like this:  dip the pan under water; twirl it around; then, as you draw the pan out of the water, tip it to one side and watch the fine sand pour out.  The trick lies in the fact that the above process needs to be done rather quickly, almost in one swift motion.  Here is a photo depicting J's attempt:

You can also see S collecting our 'treasures' in a vial.  It was a gold panning kit that I purchased through the Winter Promise folks.  Lots of fun!

We currently are studying the period in our country's history when inventions were as common as snow in Minnesota, (*WINK* to all my friends and family back in the Land of 10,000 Lakes!), i.e., the late 1800's to the early 1900's.  We have read about Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell (who had a close friendship with Helen Keller; did you know that?  I sure didn't!), and we are reading right now a book about kid inventors. 

Did you know the popsicle was invented in 1905 by an eleven-year old named Frank Epperson?  He put his idea on hold for a bit, and also had trouble getting suppliers to help distribute the product.  But he finally got a patent for his frozen treat in 1924.

God bless Frank Epperson!  :-)  Kids everywhere thank you! 

I have thought almost every day about posting since we returned from our two-week trip to Mazatlan, Mexico.  It is hard to know where to pick things back up, though, and that pretty much sums up my life since we got back.  Chores around the house have snowballed such that I simply don't know where to start!!  And it's really hard to pick up homeschooling from where we left off after such a long absence. 

We had an amazing time; I think that goes without saying.  While I would love to post ALL of our pictures, that would obviously not be possible, so I'll just post the highlights.

Here is our family on the beach on our last day.  This is to update a framed photo I currently have sitting in our bedroom.  In the photo is a picture of just DH and I and the older two kids on our last trip to Mazatlan in 2006; we took that one on the beach as well.  It is fun to have Baby M now in our beach/ocean (possible Christmas card) photo!

This photo was taken on our hotel room patio, which as you can see is just steps from the pool, which is just steps from the beach.  I'm rather pleased with how well this turned out.  I'm just noticing, though, that I should remove the red-eye from Baby M's eyes.  But overall it's a good one, worthy of framing.

Well, in an effort to prevent myself from going crazy, I'll stop......for now.  I might not be able to fight the urge to share more, but will anyone complain???  It is a trip worth reliving, over and over.

So now I fight the laundry battle, the homeschool planning battle, the get back to reality batlle, the I'm sick of this yucky weather battle.  The list goes on and on.

So now that I've posted for the first time after a long absence, I feel the cobwebs falling away and my blogging instincts kicking into gear.

It's good to be back at it!

We finished "Jason's Gold" today (Will Hobbs is the author).  We're all so very glad that there's a sequel to this book because it was fantastic!!!  I may e-mail the author, or at the very least his publisher, to let him know what a valuable book this is. The sequel is called "Down the Yukon", in which Jason and a friend head into Alaska to participate in the gold rush there.

We wouldn't have to do any other reading or projects to supplement the knowledge gained from this book about the Gold Rush in northwestern Canada (the rush ended in Dawson City).  Mr. Hobbs incorporated so many factual details about what the life of a Klondiker was like (not pretty) as he trekked north in pursuit of gold.  And he even inserted true life people into his fictional story (I won't be giving anything away to tell you that Mr. Jack London even appears in this story!  "Call of the Wild", here we come!!!).  It's been a truly rewarding week as we whipped through this book, the kids each day begging me to read more and more.

While we were voraciously reading this book, both kids were fastidiously working on Valentines that they will exchange with the other kids in our co-op on Monday.  Over the weekend the kids will decorate their boxes in which they will receive the Valentines from the other kids. 

It brings back memories for me about decorating my own Valentine box:  I first would cover it with white tissue paper and then go to town with various sized hearts in red and pink.  What fun!!  I love Valentine's Day, don't you???

Happy Weekend!

I know I didn't post after we finished the complete Chronicles of Narnia.  I meant to; what a wonderful series!  I had the urge to turn right around and start over as soon as we finished "The Last Battle."  I didn't want the characters to go away.  It was like saying good-bye to dear friends.  But, alas, our reading list beckoned us, each individual book seemingly throwing up its title, saying, "Pick me next!  Pick me next!"

While we were reading "The Last Battle", we started "Little Britches."  It kind of went with our history studies (Westward Movement and Settlement after the Civil War).  It's like the "Little House" series (it, too, is based on the author's life, growing up in Colorado), but with a young male as the lead character.  This book, too, is so awesome.  Funny in parts, great descriptions of anything horse or ranch related spattered throughout.  The father is a very strong figure in the family, which is refreshing, given today's onslaught of TV shows, etc., that depict fathers as bumbling, stumbling fools.

We finished the book today, reading quite a few chapters in one sitting, as we are wont to do when we near the end of a favored book.  It was sad at the end; I won't say why so as not to give anything away.  I am thankful that there are sequels so that we can one day get back to our friend "Little Britches" (a.k.a. Ralph Moody).

While I like the feeling that comes with closing the back cover of a book (a sense of accomplishment, for example), I also find that I am overcome with a strange uneasy feeling.  You know the old saying......"Too many books, too little time!"  I feel that so acutely in my homeschooling the kids!  So it is with some anxiety that we have finished "Little Britches."  What to read next, what to read next?!  How do we choose???  They're all so good!!! 

DD'98 and DS'00 each had their own idea of what to read next, so like any fair-minded family might do, we put the titles of the books from our reading list on sheets of paper, put the sheets of paper in a bucket, and I drew one out; that was how we determined our next read-aloud (perhaps you thought I was going to say that we voted on what to read next; that's the democratic thing to do, right??  It may be democratic, but it also is the cause of untold numbers of arguments).  I picked........drumroll please........"The BFG."

But sometimes, I find it necessary to adopt a more autocratic or despotic persona in our homeschooling.  So it is with a certain jut of the chin that I preempt "The BFG" for another book from our list.  We will read Jack London's "The Call of the Wild" because it, too, goes with our history studies (Alaska Gold Rush at the turn of the 20th century).  It is rather short, so won't take us too long to read.  It is neat when a book from our 'fun' read-aloud list works to supplement our history studies!   

We also will start "Jason's Gold" by Will Hobbs (another gold rush book).  This was to be read by DD'98 as a history reader, but it looks very interesting, and I think DS'00 will like it too.  It has a sequel called "Down the Yukon", so I imagine we'll read them back to back. 

What are the kids reading??  DD'98 has been a reading fiend lately, plowing through books like they were candy!  She started the "Julie" series, which is one of the newer American Girl dolls and books.  These are her fun books to read, usually done at bedtime.  She's also reading a Dear America book, which is in diary form, set during the race to build the Transcontinental Railroad, as well as "The Great Fire" by Jim Murphy about the huge Chicago fire of 1871, the one that supposedly was started by Mrs. O'Leary's cow.

DS'00, of course, continues to focus his reading efforts on the Magic Tree House series.  He gets so proud with each one he finishes!  For a history reader, he started "Stone Fox", which involves a sled dog race (that's a close enough connection to Alaska's gold rush, right??)

Each child accomplished their reading goal for January for the Book-It! program that Pizza Hut sponsors.  You can bet that we'll be having pizza for lunch in the near future!  Way to go, S and J!!    

(Well, actually, I'd probably have to do something by now about your existence in my home if you were a fly on my wall!!!)

Today at lunch, I told DS'00, "Why don't you have some carrots with lunch."  DS'00 responds, "Is that 'why don't you' or 'You must'?"  What a wise question, actually!!!  He wanted me to exactly clarify what I meant by my words:  was I merely suggesting or was I requiring him to consume carrots with lunch.

I guess the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree.  I think we've got an attorney in our midst!!!

1)  We were watching "What Not to Wear" one Friday night, and it was the part of the show where the person is getting a new hairstyle and tips on their make-up.  It got me thinking about my eyebrows (I know, I know.......who cares, right??), and how I'd like them in more of a curved shape.

I turned to DD'98 and said, "S, you have nice eyebrows."  DD'98 responds, "Well, that's because I just used my spit to make them stay where they are."

So who needs fancy make-overs and who needs tweezers for plucking.....just use your spit!!!!

2)  DD'98 was staring into the pantry, hoping, apparently, that the most yummy item of food would appear out of thin air, just for her.  DS'00 ducks down, moves forward and up, popping himself in front of DD's vision.  I said, "J, you just cut in front of S."  DS'00 replies, "I slitherrrrrred", in a voice reminiscent of a sneaky snake.

Maybe we should try drama classes......

The Ohio State Buckeyes are playing in the BCS Championship Game against LSU right now (it's not looking too good, though!), and while I still don't understand the borderline fanatical obsession with anything and everything OSU, even after living here for a year, it sure is fun to live here when the Bucks do well.  So to get in the spirit today, I had the kids don their OSU stuff.

I myself don't own any Buckeye apparel.  I need to make that clear here and now, for fear my (Minnesota Gopher-loving) family will disown me.  It's okay with the kids......they're too cute to disown!  :-)

Yes, I admit to having "band wagon" tendencies.  It's hard to avoid here, though.  You get caught up in the red....um....I mean crimson....and gray tide, and the next thing you know, you're chanting "OH.....IO".  Besides, I don't want to get run out of town on a rail because of my ho-hum attitude.  But I just don't think I'll ever be able to muster up the enthusiasm required to be a true Buckeye die-hard.

Sorry, Ohio, I just can't do it.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.

** Isaiah 9:6 NIV **

God grant you the light in Christmas,
which is faith; the warmth of Christmas,
which is love ... the all of Christmas,
which is Christ.

** Wilda English **

It is good to be children sometimes,
and never better than at Christmas,
when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.

** Charles Dickens **