It finally happened!   After four months,  I finally had  two great days in a row.  That sounds so dramatic,  doesn't it?   It is the truth, though.  There has been a cloud over me for the longest time.  It is to be expected  when one has cancer,  but I thought that the cloud would be lifted once the cancer was gone.   That has not been  the case.   The cloud  lingered  longer than I had anticpated.  It was starting to worry me.   I was wondering if I was ever going to see  sunlight again.    I was so relieved when a little trickle of light  seeped through on Monday.  My relief  changed to pure joy when  the light  continued on through yesterday.   Two days in a row  with no sadness,  no fogginess.   I truly wondered if those days would ever arrive.

     From all that I have heard from other  people,  the sadness and distraction will probably revisit  but  that's  okay.  God has reassured me that the sun does, indeed,  exist  and it does remember how to shine  down on me.   If it did it once,  it will do it again. 

     Due to the scarceness of  great days,  let me tell you all about them (yes,  I a going to give you intricate details.)   We went to a birthday party on  Monday for  a dear friend.  P. turned 8 on the weekend and we went to help him celebrate this momentous occasion.  We had a great day of visiting  and  yummy food, even though it was freezing cold outside (-26 C)

     My experience of  'great days'  continued on with yesterday.   It was even colder outside yesterday (-33)  so we decided to stay home.   We had a relaxing morning with the kids playing,  me cleaning and  a few attempts of trying to get into the 39 Clues  website.   For some reason,  that site  would not give us an email to activate our account,  much to Rocky's  chagrin.   So we abandoned  our attempts and will try again tomorrow.   Mia also made time  to make a Banana Cake  from scratch.  It was quite yummy.  My Beloved stayed home in the morning.  He made lunch  for us which was bacon and tomato sandwiches.  Daddy is our chief  bacon-cooker as he does such a good job.

      After lunch, we got down to business.   We actually did  a full routine of school.  We have done bits and pieces  over the months  but not a full day.   It was such a relief  to know that I still had it in me to do the whole shebang.    Mia started with her math.  She was learning  how to calculate  volume.  She has four more lessons  from the  Math-U-See's  Delta book, then she will move on to Epsilon after Christmas (that is, if I can remember to order the book.)   We started Delta in July  so I think she has done very well considering all of the interruptions we have had in the interim.   After math,  Mia finished The Treasure Seekers  by E.  Nesbitt.   Mia is now  on Level 4  of the Bartons Reading and Spelling  program.  She  is coming along so well witth this program.   We also  were able to  do Classical Writing yesterday.  It has been a long  time  since we cracked open that book.   The model for this week  was The Great Samaritan.  Yesterday's  chore  was Word Copia  (that sounds so elitist,  doesn't it?)   Mia was to find synonyms for the the underlined words in her book and make up new sentences.   This was alot of fun..   I think even Mia enjoyed herself.

     Rocky is still moving along  with RightStart  Level D.  Yesterday we worked on number patterns.  He does so well with this kind of math.   We went through that worksheet lickety-split.   Rocky is in Level 3 of Bartons.   He is getting to the meat and the potatoes of this program  so it is starting to get a bit tricky for him.  So we are moving slow and steady.    We also were able  to do a grammar lesson yesterday.  Again,  this book hasn't seen the light of day  in awhile.   Rocky learned about the question mark  and wrote some questions out to practice making that  punctuation mark.

      Now that all of the work was done,  it was time for some fun.  We read  some advent readings altogether as well  as  The Wizard of Oz  and The Best Christmas Pageant  Ever.    After the readings,  we moved into the kitchen to make  snowmen out of Rice Krispies.   The kids had so much fun.  It has been a long time since  we did a fun activity like this.  The air definitely lightened  when we broke out the Rice Krispies.

      To end  a wonderful day,  we had meatloaf and scalloped potatoes  for supper and watched  Charlie Brown's  Christmas  on television.   A perfect ending to a perfect day.   Finally.

beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow;
Look now, for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing!

      This is the post where I 'fess up and admit that I caved and bought  the first two books from the 39 Clues  series.   This is the post  where I whine  and say that I couldn't find any other suitable books for Rocky for St. Nicholas Day.  I was desperate,  I  tell  ya,  desperate!    This is also the post where I admit  that I actually like the books and will probably be buying  more.   I know.  Scandalous.

      I had heard mixed reviews of these books for awhile and had been sitting on the fence  not too sure  what to do about them.   The premise of the series sounded really good, one that Rocky would enjoy.  I just wasn't sure if I wanted to bring yet another twaddle series into our house.  I hastily made the decision  last week when I was frantically searching for books for his  St. Nicholas Day  present.  

      I have read the first book and have started the second.  Surprisingly,  this  self-proclaimed book snob  really likes these books.   Now,  as I said,  I have only read the first one and it is written  by Rick Riordan (of Percy Jackson and the Olympians)  and I like his writing.  The thing that makes me a bit squeamish is that each book is written by a different person.  This rarely turns out well.   So I am reading  on with  trepidation.

      The premise of these books is fun.   Amy and Dan Cahill  are orphans.  Their  rich grandmother just  died.   Her will, for those who choose to take the risk,  is a set of 39 clues  that will lead them to a discovery that will change history and make  them insanely weatthy.   The  siblings are in this race with 6 other teams  of relatives who are ultra-nasty so it is a race of brain and braun.    The clues  lead them throughout the physical world, as well as the world of history.  The first book  is all about  Ben Franklin.  I think the second book takes us to Vienna  and Mozart.   These books remind me of National Treasure, Rocky's  favourite movies.    I think Rocky  will love these books as well.  I am excited to read them with him.

     Happy St. Nicholas Day!

     I cracked open my eyes  at 7:37 this morning.  Looked at the clock and then proceeded to close my eyes again.  It was Sunday,  I coul sleep for a bit more.  Then the date floated across my mind.  December 6th,  St. Nicholas Day.   My eyes  opened again, this time with  acute awareness.

     St. Nicholas Day!  Stink!  I totally forgot about it.  I mean,  I knew  that it was coming.  I was prepared for it.  The traditional gift books were in the basement tucked away in the Christmas stash room.  The chocolates were in a bag stuffed in my closet.  The oranges were in the refrigerator, so everything was here and ready.  The problem  was that it was now 7:38 and  my children could wake up at any moment.  How could I pull this off without  getting caught in the act?   Now,  my kids know  that I am the one  filling their shoes with these goodies, but parts of Christmas are about make-believe  and  our family is very good in this area.  I wanted to keep the illusion alive.

      I sprang out of bed.  7:39.  I tiptoed as fast as my legs could carry me to the basement and retrieved the books,  ran up to the back hall  and snatched three pairs of shoes.  I took two of those pairs to the upstairs hall and laid them outside two  bedrooms.  I didn't  dare go into the rooms to put the shoes by the bed  or I risked being caught in the act.  Hence, a new tradition:  shoes now are placed outside of room.   I ran back into my room, quietly closed the door, turned on the light and rummaged through the candy bags to find some suitable chocolates.  I put the candy in the shoes  and then made my way to the kitchen to get the oranges.   Then back to the shoes.  Once the oranges were placed in the shoes and the books laid on top,  I made my way to the basement  for the third room.  I placed the last pair of shoes outside  that bedroom door,  hid the chocolates inside,  sealed them with an orange and  put the books  quietly and safely  on top. 

       Mission complete.   I turned on my computer  to pretend that my heart wasn't racing  at the thought of being caught and saw that the time  was now  7:52.   Perfect.   Yes,  I am good. 

Lots to catch up on so I'll just get to it.

On Friday November 27 was our homeschooling group's History Extravaganza.  This project is 10 weeks in the making with me sending out an email each week of different ideas to incorporate into a history project.  The project could be a person, event or invention in history.  The Extravaganza was a huge success with 15 families with 24 tables participating.  We had topics from The Days of Creation up to and including the story of a young girl who had cancer and raised money for cancer with a lemonade stand.  I would love to include all the pictures of that day but of course respect the privacy of the other families.  So I'll just share Joshua's and Noah's presentation.

Noah did the 7 Days of Creation with the focus on planets.

His project board included each day and what happened on each day.  Information about the Universe, Galaxy's and the Solar System, he did little lapbooks down the center with his interpretation of The Sun and The Moon etc.  He had a matching worksheet that he had done and how we get night and day.  He also had the books that we had used on the table and his model of the solar system that Josh and him did. 

He demonstrated to everyone using his tape measure that for the Sun to be to scale to the other planets in his model that it would have to be 105" - he really enjoyed sharing that.  He also shared that although Pluto is technically not a planet any more it's still his favourite so he included it anyways. 

Noah did really good presenting and even did a great passing the baton to the next table very politely.  He was thrilled with the certificate that he got for participating - signed by Mom no less.

Joshua's project was WWII with a focus on D-Day.

Josh's favourite part of these projects is always dressing up and this was no exception.  He got this garb at a military surplus store which in and of itself a great field trip.  The owner had lots of knowledge and many stories to share with Josh, he's planning to go back as they had lots of great stuff.  Anyways onto the project. 

Josh did a ton of reading and lots of writing for his project.  He really had a good grasp of the topic and what I appreciated the most is in what started as a "glory" type topic for him turned into a more "sobering and realistic" view of the war, which I think brought about some great discussions as well. 

Another favourite part of mine was that he used the poems that my grandfather wrote while he was in WWII which brought his presentation a more personal touch.  He also copied one of the poems for his display. 

A favourite part of Josh's presentation for himself was the reenactment of D-Day using the figures from www.juniorgeneral.org  This website which was sent to him by a friend of ours has now become a household past time.  They have paper cut outs from all kinds of eras including D-Day which Josh painstakingly cut out and glued and built his reenactment.  (Now him and a friend are working on medieval castles from the same website).  It's going to be a great "winter activity". 

Josh's presentation went well - you could tell he had so much knowledge in his head that he didn't know where to start!  Overall a great job done!

The next day was getting ready for Noah's birthday party on Sunday.  Dad and Josh took the reins and the list I made them and hit the stores for all the paraphenalia - which I am so thankful for - I don't think my poor feet could of taken it.  Also we had out of town company come for the birthday festivities, Aunty Kerri, Amanda and new baby Isabella game for a visit!  All of us were enthralled with her of course and enjoyed the cuddles.  Other family friends also came to stay the night so it was a houseful but a really enjoyable visit.

Sunday we were off to the pool - or so we thought - the truck wouldn't start - same problem as before that they didn't find anything wrong ARRGGGH!  All this party stuff and people to get to the pool.  Well we managed to stuff everything and everyone into 2 vehicles - all I can say is thank goodness for stow and go seating and some creative packing skills by Sarah!

Anyways we made it down on time and Noah and everyone else had a great time in the pool and then afterwards it was chilli dogs and cake and of course presents. 

I can't believe my "baby" is 6 and already he seems older and more "capable" - not that Noah has ever been "incapable" ha ha. 

Anyways I'll close with some party pictures and I'll update soon with .....December the month of decisions on what the new year will look like.

Once upon a time there lived a boy named Sean who lived with his father Mr. Wilbert. A week before Christmas, when he was five years old, his mother died of cancer.

Five years later, Sean and his dad were both still lonely. Mr. Wilbert saw him playing video games.

Mr. Wilbert asked sadly, “Son is there anything in the world you can do besides play video games all day?”

Sean replied pitifully, “Well, yes I can but I just don’t feel like doing anything right now. I feel like staring at the screen.”

Mr. Wilbert left. When Sean finished his level and turned the TV off, he heard someone or something say, “Sean.” Sean screamed when he saw the Christmas tree lights blink.

Mr. Wilbert ran into the living room and asked, “What in the world is going on son? What’s the matter?”

Sean stuttered and replied, “I-I hea-rd t-t-he tree talk. It j-ust said my name.”

Mr. Wilbert rolled his eyes and uttered, “Son, if you don’t stop playing your video games I’m going to have to unplug the TV.”

Sean yelled, “Dad I really saw it. I really heard that tree talk. I know, I did Trust me!”

Mr. Wilbert rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen and drank his coffee.

Sean whispered, “Tree, what do you want?”

The Christmas tree replied, “I am afraid that after Christmas I will be thrown out and chopped into a tree cutting machine. I really don’t want to die.”

Sean whispered back, “I know. When my dad leaves I’ll hide you in the food cabinet until my dad stops looking for you.”

The tree whispered, “Okay thank you so much.”

Mr. Wilbert yelled from the kitchen , “I’m leaving! I’ll be back later!”

Sean acknowledged his dad, “Okay dad.”

After Mr. Wilbert left, Sean told the tree to follow him and then it asked “Wow you have a big food cabinet. Want me to help you carry food out into the basement?”

Sean replied, “Sure. Thanks.”

After they took food into the basement, Sean yelled, “Oh no, my dad will be home in five minutes. What are we going to do? Hurry jump into the cabinet.” The tree jumped right in. 

Sean warned, “Don’t say a word. Keep still or you will be caught by my dad and I will be in trouble for putting you in here okay?”

The tree quickly uttered, “Okay.”

Sean closed the closet and got out a game and thought, “Maybe that will keep my dad’s mind off the missing tree or even mom.”

Mr. Wilbert opened the door and asked, “Hi son. What that you got in your hand?”

Sean replied, “Oh it’s a board game called, “Scrabble.” I thought we could play a game just to find happiness in this world.”

Mr. Wilbert uttered excitedly, “Okay son let’s go play it.”

As Sean was playing with his dad, something didn’t feel right. He was thinking of the tree in the closet and the death of his mother. It didn’t feel like Christmas at all. So then he replied, “Dad, um……I have something to tell you.”

Mr. Wilbert excitedly but curiously asked, “Yes! I got twenty four points! Um… yes son?”

Sean replied, “I placed the tree in the food cabinet because……” ? He paused and continued, “I know you don’t believe me. But the tree told me that it is afraid to die and wanted me to help him. So that’s why I hid him in the closet. Because I wanted him to stay safe.”

Mr. Wilbert uttered, “Son did you know that even though trees die, that God has a reason for them to do so? So even if this tree dies we know that it is God’s will. We can work on saving trees by using less paper okay? So let’s go get that tree and place it up right.”

Sean and Mr. Wilbert ran into the kitchen to get that tree out of the cabinet. They placed it in the living room. Sean explained, “Tree, did you know that if you die, you are dieing to make paper for us.”

The Tree replied, “Now I am not afraid to die because now I have a superb reason to do so. Thanks for trying to save me.”

The next day Mr. Wilbert uttered, “Sean, here you can give this gift to the Christmas tree.”

Sean handed the tree the gift. Then the Tree opened it and oh how its leaves glistened in the bright sun and how its lights blinked with joy. The Tree replied, “Thank you so much. It’s a very beautiful paper shaped ornament.”

After Christmas was over, Sean and his dad spent time together sharing the funny stories that Mrs. Wilbert used to tell Sean when he was little.

Mr. Wilbert spoke, “I just want to say something to you Sean. If it hadn’t been for your mother marrying me, then you to giving birth to you and I would have never known another. So I am just so overjoyed to have a wonderful son like you.” Sean didn’t say anything. He just gave his dad a big hug.

Moral: Remember that even though trees don’t go to heaven, they do get made into paper. So you can help save trees by trying not using so much paper. Remember that God has his reasons to make trees die!

One early Wednesday morning on a hot sunny day, I packed my bag and looked back at my home in Brooklyn. I was driving away to Texas with my cousins and Aunt whom I love. As I waved back to my mom and dad I felt a glimpse of happiness fill my heart but on the other side of my heart was a big lump of sadness because I felt home sick.
            As we drove on the parkway to New Jersey, I felt that I was far away from where I live. I watched the signs that said Welcome to…. I counted them as we passed them. There were a lot of them.

Then we were in Virginia, I felt so sad because all I could think about was my family and my home town. When I fell into a deep sleep in the car, I thought about what it will be like if I were to live in Virginia. I didn’t like it because it was too rural. Then I woke up and we were still in the same state. I was sick of being in Virginia.

            When we arrived in Knoxville, Tennessee, I felt a tiny bit of happiness but because I get easily home sick, I cried inside my heart. I didn’t want to show my sadness because I felt that if I cry out loud that I will make my hosts’ feel like I am not having a wonderful time.

            When we got into our hotel room, I put on my nightgown and climbed into bed and feel into a deep sleep. The next day, we had a lot of miles to drive. It was a total of eight hundred (no joke). When we got back into the car I just couldn’t take it anymore I just wanted to get to Texas and drive no more!

            After our long day of driving we made it to our last and final hotel which took place in Beaumont, Texas. When I walked into the hotel, I was amazed because it looked so beautiful. It looked just like the holiday inn commercials on TV. Our bedroom was big!

            Finally the day that I had been waiting for had come. We drove our last two hours to Katy, Texas. When we arrived in Katy, Texas, I felt like I was at home. I ran to the toy room and began my vacation. 

After a long trip to Texas, I arrived at my aunt’s house. I was going to be here for two weeks. I went into the house, the big house. I call the white house because it is so big. I started my wonderful outstanding vacation by playing Littlest Pets with my two cousins. It was hard for me to think of a story to act out, but I finally found one and boy was it a great game. The story the first day of school.

            It soon became dinner time, so we had to stop our wonderful outstanding game and jump into the real world. I wasn’t very pleased with the dinner but I was the guest so I had to seat whatever I was served. I bargained with my aunt to let me only eat one piece of broccoli. She finally gave in without a fight. I cobbled up my dinner of meat, mashed potatoes and one tiny piece of broccoli.

            It became that time were I felt that sad felling in my stomach. Yes, I was having an extraordinary time but I missed my family, home and all my friends. But I thought to myself and said, “You know what, I will make it thought the week.” So, by the end of the first week, I made it just like I hoped.

            The next day, I went to Chucky Cheese. I earned a total of one hundred and sixty five tickets by playing lots of arcade games.  I got a Pirates of the Caribbean note book because I dislike Hannah Montana. I have a superb time there.

Then we went shopping at Old Navy to buy School outfits for my cousins’ school. As we were shopping, I gave my option about clothes I liked and disliked.

Finally it became time to go home. Not my Aunt’s home but my home in Brooklyn, where I live right now. I felt sad to go back home. As soon as my plane took off, I felt a tear roll down my face because I wasn’t going to Texas until next summer. I was going to have to work next summer.

I jumped for joy when I saw my mom and dad and sort of jumped when I saw my brothers. I felt comfortable with being home with my family whom I missed very much.