Daily Ramblings...
September 29, 2007
 Click on picture above to see Photo Show of Teens at the Game Zone
Let's see... I last posted on Wednesday... What have we been doing since then? Thursday Dalton volunteered at the library for 4 hours. They were having an event on Saturday, so they wanted the "store" finished. Dalton carried box after box of books downstairs, sorted them into genres, and loaded them on the shelves. Dae wanted to stay and do "lessons", so we spent our time finishing up "Anne of Green Gables" and doing an art lesson. Dae then did her daily activities on the Webkinz website, read a chapter out of her "Piano For Kids" book, and then helped Dalton sort the books and put them on the shelves. Thursday evening we had Yoshukai, and Dae was asked to lead the rest of the classes in stretches. She was really tickled but got a little embarrassed. Dalton is foregoing his classes right now until our new insurance kicks in and we have his knee seen about.
Friday we spent the day on the go. We were invited to "Appreciation Day" at the library for cake at 11:00, and then we had Park Day at 12:00. Dae went home with Aunt Tamera after Park Day for the weekend, and Dalton and I headed over to Game Zone in Hoover for Teen Scene. Dalton had a great time at Game Zone with the other teens. We also hit Taco Bell, Krispy Kreme, and then the $1 movie. It was a looooooooooooong day.
Deb
September 26, 2007
Wow! For somebody that was going to try to blog every day, it sure has been a while...12 days... In my defense, I was gone for 8 of those days to the beach, and I will tell you all about that shortly. Then when we did come home, I had the newsletter to get out, field trip on Monday, McWane on Tuesday, and this has really been my first free day. First I will start with what is fresh on my mind though.
Monday, Sep. 24, Dae and I went on a field trip called Seed 2 Plate, which is held at the Jones Valley Urban Farm in downtown Birmingham. It was really odd to be downtown with an interstate in sight and buildings all around and be standing in the middle of a huge field full of vegetables. The sunflowers, red okra, many different kinds of squash, tomatoes, peppers, and zinnias were all just beautiful. The kids got to pick things and put them in their buckets. They also got to work with a chef and nutritionist from culinard to make a snack to eat. It was a really fun field trip.
Dalton did not go to the Seed 2 Plate field trip with us on Monday. He did not want to go, so he went to work with his dad instead. He is getting to the age to where he does not want to go on all of the field trips. It is a really hard thing to let that go, but I am trying my best to be respectful of his age and maturity and the fact that he does not want to do all of the things that he used to want to do. He said he had a really good time with has dad and really enjoyed it. His dad let him back the truck up and pick up a box (the big containers that you see behind Walmart and Lowes). David (my hubby and Dalton's dad) said that they talked about politics, the stock market, and in depth weather all day. I think it is great that he is getting to spend some quality uninterrupted time with his dad.
Today, Sep 26, was a very good day. Both kids worked on cleaning the hurricane disaster areas that they fondly refer to as their rooms. We also culled a whole basket of Dae's clothes, some toys, and we have 4 crates of books to dispose of. Dalton's room was worse than I have ever seen it, and in about 10 minutes it was completely clean...????
Dalton was supposed to work at the library today, but when we got there they had closed early for some reason. I will take him back tomorrow. Dalton is enjoying the mythology series he is reading and brought me a Greek mythology book to read. I will fit that in somewhere between Eragon, the Eldest, the whole Harry Potter series, and a multitude of other books he wants me to read!!! Actually I have never really studied any mythology but have been exposed to bits and pieces throughout daily life and would be interested in actually taking an active role in learning about it. Each of the 8 books is relatively small, so I may stick one in my bag to take with me for when I have a few spare minutes here and there.
Dae had her McWane class yesterday and said that she liked it much better than she did last week. She even wanted to keep all of her paperwork that she brought home. The class was about the food pyramid, health, and nutrition which fit in beautifully with the Seed 2 Plate field trip that she went on Monday. She now knows most of the little girls in her class and is really enjoying seeing them. I am going to try to start going early so that we can hang out for a while before the class.
See ya soon!
Deb
September 14, 2007
Yippee!!! We are leaving for Gulf Shores in 7 1/2 hours. Believe me, if you were to ask Dae, she could tell you down to the minute! I am so excited for her. She is just bouncing off the walls. She has told me at least 100 times today how excited she is. She had her stuff packed days ago. I believe she has more Webkinz packed than clothes. I know she is going to have a blast.
I will give an update when we get back!
Deb
September 12, 2007
Dalton started volunteering at the library today. He only stayed for a couple of hours, but he really enjoyed it. Ms. Judy had him bring books downstairs to the new "store" area and stack them up, and then she had him putting up returned books. Ms. Judy asked him to help her at the Fall Festival booth in October and also offered him a part-time summer job. Dalton said that he would like to take it if time allowed. He also said that although he enjoyed volunteering, he definitely would never want to be a librarian. I think it will be something he will enjoy and really benefit him as well as the library. He will volunteer again in two weeks when we get back from Gulf Shores.
Talk to you soon,
Deb
September 11, 2007
Dae started her McWane classes today. She was so excited to be going. She has talked about it for days. I must say that she was a little let down. She said that is was more worksheets than hands on like she was expecting. It was really kind of sad because she was so pumped up about it. I am hoping that the next one is better for her.
The kids still say that they want to learn to play the guitar (Dalton) and piano (Dae), so I have ordered several resources from the library, and we will see how it goes.
Dalton will be volunteering at the library tomorrow, so I hope that he enjoys that. I will let you know how it goes.
Talk soon,
Deb
 September 10, 2007
Today was a really good day. Dalton said I was "weirder than usual". That means I was "Happy Mom" today and went around pestering him and singing opera (along with that "tune in a bucket" I can't carry).
Dalton was playing some sort of game on the computer where you produce some sort of man made virus and kept coming to me and asking what things like necrosis and hemophilia were. So we sat down and had a medical terminology lesson and researched on google (going back to my past life as a medical transcriptionist). It was a pretty cool website albeit a little "disturbing".
Both children have decided today that they want to learn to play the guitar. Of course, we had to whip out the acoustic guitar along with the electric keyboard. David sat down with them and talked about things like octaves, 8 count, etc... Dae learned to play "Dueling Banjos" aka "Yankee Doodle" and by the end of the evening was doing it without looking and then doing it in all different "instruments" (you know how they change the sound on a keyboard), and then of course her Webkinz had to play it. Needless to say, I can go for a few weeks without hearing that song. I heard it today enough for a life time, but I promise you that each time is was "awesome", "great", "Your a natural", etc... So I will be researching for guitar lessons and piano lessons until I find just what they need.
Dae has made a very mature decision (all on her own). She is going to let Diane (the small musk turtle) go this Friday at the creek. She loves Diane but understands that she needs to be let go back into the wild. I am not sure what brought her to this decision, but she wants to do it before we leave for Gulf Shores.
Dalton will be volunteering at the Graysville Library this Wednesday. They are setting up a store downstairs, and the ladies there are having trouble getting the books down there. Dalton will work there a few hours on Wednesday and then go back the week after we get back from Gulf Shores. I think this will be a great opportunity for him. He really likes Ms. Judy, and it will be a big help for them as well.
Dae informed me today that when she is old enough, she wants to volunteer at the McWane Center. She really loves her science and will start her classes there tomorrow. She has been on a count down and is bouncing off the walls.
Dae sat down today and made out her "Birthday Wish List' and E-mailed it to me. Here is what it said:
(The ones in red are the ones my family has said they are getting her. This is my list to go from for her Bday and Christmas as well.)
Webkinz (a black cat)
Housecoat
Foam kit "Diva" (at Wal-Mart)
Stamped cross stitch
House shoes
Play House (that I can fit in)
Game boy Games
Pirates of the Caribbean 3 (DVD)
Aquamarine (DVD)
American Girl (doll)
Mp3 player
Ipod
Video Now DVD (mini DVD)
Pool
Hermit Crab
Hermit Crab stuff
Bedroom seashore accessories
Barbie Girls mp3 player (compatible computer plug in doll) - Scratch this...We are no longer supporting the communist Mattel company
That's a pretty good list...Aye?
Like I said, today has been a really good day!
Deb
September 9, 2007
You are probably asking yourself what in the heck is that a picture of up above... Are you really sure that you want to know? That is a picture of Dae's project for the day. She wanted to decorate a cake, so we went out and bought all of the things we needed to do so. She baked the cake all by herself. She made the icing all by herself... and then.... Well, let's just say it was a good first try. First the icing would not come out, so we heated it a little. That was better but still not good enough. So we added some milk. That was too runny. So we cooled it off... It was too hard again... Arghhhhhhhhhhh! She did have a blast though! We are going to be busy busy this week getting ready for our trip, but when we get back, I will be calling a very good friend of mine (Yes, I'm talking about you Ms. Kimberly Brooks) who is very good at cake decorating to see if she can spare some time to show Dae the basics.
We also took the time to make our "science kit". This is a huge picnic basket full of all of the things listed in our book "Pop! Bang! Flash! Fizz!" which is a book of very fun, interesting, and educational science experiments. You all know how Dae and Dalton love science, so I want to have on hand all of the things that they will need for their experiments. There is nothing that will kill enthusiasm like hunting down the stuff for an experiment and then not being able to find it. This basket is full of things like: baking soda, peroxide, rubber bands, straws, marbles, pliers, tongs, safety glasses, gloves, rulers, tape, eye droppers, liquid starch, etc... I have put it on a shelf where it can be easily accessed by both children. I got this great idea from Ms. Vesta Bidwell! Thanks Vesta!!!
Oh! We found the coolest little cross stitch kit at WalMart. Dae has been wanting to cross stitch because of the sampler that Felicity (American Girl) did; however, she is not quite ready for the counted cross stitch. We found this kit that has the picture stamped on it and the "fabric" is actually plastic with much bigger squares. She is really enjoying it. Once she gets that down pat, then she can move on to stamped cross stitch with actual fabric and then on to counted cross stitching. It was under $3.
See ya soon!
Deb
September 8, 2007
Dad's Super Makeover
Is this the funniest picture you have ever seen? Click on "Dad's Super Makeover" to see what happens to poor ol' Dad when he decides to take a nap on the couch when there is a "Crazy Daezy" around.
**** Warning ****
My husband is asleep on the couch without a shirt on, so if that is offensive to you, please do not watch.
I did take the opportunity to make this a learning experience. I told you that you can find a learning experience in anything, and I have just proven it! All of the pictures that were taken without her in it were taken by Dae. I then taught her how to download them off the camera and onto the computer. She then made the Photo Show all by herself including the text, song, and clipart. We even talked about punctuation and capitalization rules in the title, etc. She was so giddy and giggly through the whole process. It was so funny!
What else have we been doing today besides torturing Dad? Well, Dalton has gone to my brother's house who is in the process of building a new home, so he is working on that this weekend. I am sure he is having a blast. He likes to work with Uncle Craig.
Dae has been into everything. She took it upon herself to clean out her room. She took everything out of her toy box and then proceeded to sort it and put it back up. Where did that come from? I have no idea! We also cleaned the kitchen, bathroom, washed clothes, sorted through books, and read about half of "Anne of Green Gables". She also has decided that her Webkinz need to know anatomy, so she has been reading them a book on health and the human body. In her "spare" time, she has been cross stitching and has decided that she needs to learn to crochet.... Anybody? Hello.....???? I have also been working on the newsletter, this blog, paperwork, and reading a homeschooling newspaper that came in the mail. I would say it has been a pretty good day.
What's up for tomorrow? Dae wants to break out a cake decorating kit that we bought from Pampered Chef, so we will be researching how to make icing, color it, and use the decorating kit. I will probably just set her loose and let her make the cake and decorate it herself. She loves doing stuff like that. I will try to post a picture.
Deb
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September 7, 2007
Last month when I went to pick up Dalton in Nashville, TN after his trip out west, we stopped at an Amish community in Ethridge, TN on the way home. We visited with Mr. Gingerich who is a Bishop in his Amish Community. He was very nice and hospitable and showed us around his yard and barn and talked to us for quite a while. He invited Dalton to come back this fall to help in the processing of sugar cane in producing sorghum molasses. Today, we received a letter of invitation to come up this weekend; however, Dalton already had a commitment to help my brother this weekend. Hopefully we will be invited again in the future. I think it would be such an awesome experience. Here is what the letter said:
Dear Friend Debra,
Greetings of Love from our dear one above. I hope you and yours are all well. We are doing fine thank the good Lord. You were here on 08/07/07 asking to know when we will be cooking sorghum. This is to let you know that our plans are to cook on Wed. 5, Thur. 6, Fri, 7 and Sat. 8. Lord willing, I hope one of these days will work out for you. Fri. would be the best for us. I know this is a short notice, but the dry weather is bringing it in fast and early. If you come, please tell us who you are as I don't expect to know you when you walk up.
I think this would be a good lesson for your children. I really admire your home schooling. That shows me that you care about your children.
I would like to write more but my time is short.
Let us hear from you if you can't come.
God Bless,
Dannie and Annie Gingerich
Isn't that awesome? I think so.
In other news, both of the kids started Yoshukai back tonight. They had both taken a month sabbatical. Dalton was very excited to be back. I think Dae may be growing a little tired. I hope she decides to stick with it though.
Dalton is also thinking about becoming a moderator on Runescape. Have any of your children done this, and what is your opinion?
I will write again soon,
Deb
September 6, 2007
Things are going extremely well in the Spradlin family. We have several things going on all at once as usual. Dalton has become fully immersed in re-reading all of the Harry Potter books. He walks around with a book in front of his face and walking into things. It is really quite funny. We have also had to watch all of the Harry Potter movies that we own, I - IV, again. Dae, who has not read any of the books, is just along for the ride. I don't think she really cares one way or the other. Dalton is also reading a series on world legends and mythology such as Greek Mythology, Native American Mythology, etc... He really seems to like that and comes up to me regularly and says, "Mom, do you know what a _____ is?" Of course, the answer is almost always inevitably "no". Then I get this long drawn out explanation of a half man half something or another that did this or that in a country far away upteen years ago.... Sure, I will remember that in five minutes... I hope there's not a quiz that comes along with this.
Dalton started the McWane Center classes today and enjoyed them but said that he already knew the material that they covered. Hopefully they will go a little more in debt and into new territory for him. In the spring, they will be covering Biology, which Dalton has already had, but we just wanted to add some reinforcement to it. Next year he will begin with Chemistry. Dae and I walked around the McWane while Dalton was in class and met several new homeschoolers. I think it will be fun for her to have that time every couple of weeks to meet and play with new friends. Of course, she is looking forward to her own class which will begin next Tuesday.
Dae and I are reading "Anne of Green Gables" and really enjoying that. We are at a crossroads as to whether we want to go ahead and read "Anne of Avonlea" or move on to the Josefina books in American Girl. That is what we are supposed to be reading for the American Girl Club; however, we hate to just abandon Anne right in the middle. I am wondering if we can finish Anne and then catch up with Josefina later? We will have to make a decision soon as we are about to finish up the book. We also have the "Anne of Green Gables" cookbook that we will cook out of next week. That should be fun.
Dae still has Diane, the turtle, two kittens, and Pretty Kitty. We just put together an ant farm and saturated it with sugar water. We are waiting for that to dry before we introduce the ants. I think that will be very interesting. She is now asking for a beta, a hermit crab, cow, and rabbit. We are going to have a zoo before it's over with. I know our neighbors must really love us!
Dae is also experimenting with cross stitch. She wants me to find her some patterns that are stamped to start with. She has just been practicing her stitches so far. This got started from reading about Felicity and the sampler that she made. She is doing quite well with it. She also made clothes for her Webkinz, so now my mom is going to give Dae her sewing machine. Now, will someone please tell me where on earth I am supposed to put that? So guess what I will be doing for the next week...
I will write more later. I am going to try to write at least once a week but hopefully more... Stay tuned!
Deb |
