Susie-Q&A
• Nov. 21, 2009 - DONE!!!!!
Posted By Dawn
The room is done! There is even some furniture moved in already. It came out great, a little bit smaller than we had hoped for, but GREAT none the less... The whole experience was great! The contractor was super GREAT! The workers were great! The project came in $600 under the proposal so we had some additional work done. Our contractor went out of his way to get us deals. He went two counties away to get us bamboo floors that were sitting in a barn~the leftovers of a business that had gone under. We got them for $1 a linear foot... They retailed for over $5 a linear foot. They are perfect!! He also looked our house over and found a few things that were in desperate need of repair and fixed them for almost no cost. Lets put it this way. Part of our home had to be jacked up because of a failing support beam. He did the job for $76~the cost of the beam and a little extra to pay for his helper. The mess was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be... So, you all want me to stop carrying on about how great it was and let you see the results for yourselves!?!?

Yeah! Well, this is all you are getting right now. The big reveal will be just after Christmas. This year we are giving no toys (except stocking stuffers) so that we can decorate the childrens bedrooms. I show you all the rooms once we have curtains and such.

In the meantime we will be painting the rest of this room. We decided to paint the floor insted of refinishing the wood becuase it is so costly if you have a professional do it. My dh has refinished two floors in our home, but it was a really grueling project and they have not held up as well as we would have expected. So for now we will paint this floor instead. We will need to do all of the trim work and no furniture can go on it for a week.
That is all for now!
Blessings,
Dawn |
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• Thursday, November 19, 2009 - 63% Asleep
Posted By Toby
This entry has an apologetic tone. That is because I am such a doofus.
I lay in bed this morning trying to decide if it really was warm enough to get out from under the blankets or not. During that time of semi-wakefulness, I composed three great blog entries. As soon as I got up, I jotted down enough of each idea that I'd be able to post the entry. Wonderful - I figured I was set for posts for the next week or two. As I count, that was my first mistake.
I wanted to link to my Miss Language's blog and also to her friend's. So I dutifully sent off an e-mail, making sure that was OK. There was my second mistake.
So now, they are reminding me I have not posted yet. So I went and grabbed the list so I could spout off with this wonderful post, first of three. (Yep, third mistake and here I shall quit counting.)
I grab the list and what does it say:
black holes/FB
Outwitted/Fort Knox
type-O angels/HS
and I have almost no idea what it means. Now, I know I should quit while I am behind, as the saying goes, but as I say, I have quit counting mistakes so here goes.
The first part (black holes/FB) had something to do with a comment I saw on Devastatingly Handsome's FB about FB being one of the biggest black holes in the universe, and then there was a comment about "what do you mean, 'one of'?" And I know that somehow I then had hold (in my semi-waking state) of a brilliant insight about the nature of black holes and I am pretty sure about whether or not relative sizes comparisons are, well, relative or not. And I think it had a tie-in with Francis Bacon. But beyond that... no idea. My great blog post was sucked away as by a black hole.
And then part two, the Outwitted/Fort Knox was going to be something beautiful and inspiring about Edwin Markham's poem "Outwitted"
He drew a circle that shut me out—
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in!
and how it applies to some people we know, in particular one whose heart has been locked down tighter than Fort Knox since toddlerdom. However I know nothing about the brilliance of this post whatsoever.
And the final thing on my list (type-O angels/HS) was from a chat I had with Miss L's friend. We were talking about a matter for prayer and I thought I had the name wrong. She told me it would be ok, something like there were angels who correct type-Os (is that spelled right?) in prayers. It occurred to me that the Holy Spirit does that on a major level, not a spell checker so much as a prayer checker. But, again, I have No Idea where I was going to go with any sort of insight.
So, today's moral: my first thoughts of the day are probably not the best. Let's hope not. And even if they are, I can't hold onto them.
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• Nov. 18, 2009 - Twilight Obsession
• Nov. 17, 2009 - A Reading Party for Goldilocks
What an amazing day we had today! Goldilocks has been struggling to learn to read for 2 years now. Most of the time, it seemed like we were spinning our wheels and making no progress. We have switched reading programs five times and tried all kinds of different games with very little improvement. Then today happened ... Goldilocks sat down for her lesson as usual and said she wanted her reading party today. I said that she had to finish the entire Storybook Treasury of Dick and Jane (1st grade) to have her reading party. She said she was going to finish that book today and have her party. Mind you, she had only previously read the first page of the 193 page book when she sat down with me this morning!!! Over the next 2 1/2 hours she read the entire book!!!! All 193 pages!!! I would have never believed it was possible!!! This is the child who can take 40 minutes to write 3 sentences in her copywork book and has spent the better part of the year screaming, hiding and crying about reading 3 pages in a Bob Book. I switched her to Dick and Jane about a week ago. She seemed to like it more than other programs. Then I decided to start giving her hard boiled eggs and Kiwi each day (brain food) which is supposed to help with ADHD symptoms and improve a person's IQ. I can't say what happened differently today but AMEN!

This picture was taken when Goldilocks was on the last few pages. Kids were piled up everywhere to see her make it to being a READER!

Reading the last page!

Goldilocks with her book and certificate ....

Goldilocks had a confetti cake with strawberry frosting and a black sugar bunny in the corner!
Blessings,
Dawn |
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• Nov. 16, 2009 - Charity ...
When I sit down and think in the quiet hours of the evening about what I want for my children, one of the things that always comes up is charity. I want my children to have charitable hearts for those less fortunate. I want them to be an active force in their communities when they are grown and to think of others and what they can do to serve them. The best way to train our children in this is to have them serve in their community now and see us serve in our community as well. Our children are so blessed. They have so much while others go without. In light of our children all getting separate rooms in a few weeks, it weighs on my mind all the more how important it is that they know how privileged they are and learn early to care for others.
So, I want to reaffirm how we teach our children to be charitable. In the past, we have done charity here and there and then heavily at Christmas time. There seems to be so many opportunities at Christmas time that it is very easy. However, how are we as parents showing our children that charity is one of our core values, if it is not at the forefront of our teachings? To me, when I turn them out into the world in just a few short years, my children's character is more important than their academic abilities. So we are going to put charity at the forefront of our teachings in the next year. Whether it be at home (with sibs) or out and about, it will be one of our driving themes.
To get this new idea started, we are going to pick a charity to focus on each month. For the month of November, we will be raising money for polar bears. This was easy to decide upon because we are studying the Arctic this month. The kids are very interested in polar bears and were sad to see how hard their lives have become due to the change in climate. (We watched the Disney movie, Earth, for our Sunday night movie night yesterday.) I was able to find a charity where we could make a tiny impact for $25. To make this come to life for the kids (instead of Mom writing a check), we are going to earn the money by cutting back in different ways at home.
- One night this week we will only eat rice for dinner. This will save us about $4.75 from the amount of an average dinner.
- The kids are going to put any change in the jar they find on the ground. I have one child who finds a penny or two almost every time we leave the house!
- We will skip the Blockbuster Sunday night movie and make do with the library to find our Sunday night movie. (We often do this anyway.)
Well, that will be a good start. The kids are excited (except Tom Sawyer about eating only rice for dinner -- ne never forgets to thank God for food during his evening prayers LOL). If you all have any great ideas of charities, leave them for me in comments. Just as we did last year, we will be doing a charity each week from Thanksgiving through the New year. I still am plotting those charities out.
Blessings,
Dawn |
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• Nov. 16, 2009 - Children's Books for Sale
Posted By MotherJoy
• Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - Perpendicularity
Posted By Toby
A few days ago, I dunno why, maybe it's swine flu in the news, I found myself thinking about a little buddy of mine from my freshman year in college.
Francis Bacon.
Francis Bacon is a small pig. He looks a lot like this fellow, only he is
2.5 centimeters long from snout to tail. He lived in my soap dish and I had to be careful he wouldn't go down the drain when I showered.
Some people thought he was not real because they did not see him, only my sketches of him. That is because he lives in a different dimension, so you can only see him (and he appears flat) when that dimension is exactly perpendicular to ours, or at least that's my understanding of the phenomenon.
I started thinking about angels and how they seem to move in a different plane than ours, too. Maybe you can see them, or a bend in the light, when their dimension is perpendicular to ours. I thought that was maybe a rabbit trail, or a pig trail, but don't know enough about pigs in general to know if they make trails or not.
In related deep metaphysical wondering, I am wondering what other beings exist in time at all. I wonder if we are the only ones. I am not too convinced time even exists for creatures like dogs. And certainly not small outlined pigs. |
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• Nov. 13, 2009 - A Glimpse of Our Week ...
Wow! This week has flown by. With all of the distractions the house is presenting right now, plus a flood in the basement and dear Goldilocks having a major meltdown and needing to leave home for a two day respite with her one-on-one therapeutic worker, the week had its downs. Still, we got loads of living and learning done. So, here is some glimpses of our week, in no particular order.


Apple pie making and tasting...

A dreamed for and saved for first violin. Little Red Ridinghood saved up her allowance and bought it herself. This is the Strike a Chord violin, and it is much nicer than I expected. It plays 18 classical songs that the child can listen to and then play by rubbing the bow across the violin. It plays the song at the speed of the childs bowing. It also can be turned off for the child to just play the scales. Very cool! (Notice the paint in little ones hair)...

Writing on the wall, literally. This counts for handwriting and spelling, right?

A nature walk to see the latest flood. This park is less than a mile from our home. Our city is in the process of doing a wonderful job of turning much of the flood zone into wetland parks. There is a little bit of everything for everybody ~ playgrounds, picnic areas, hockey and volleyball courts, walking trails, dog park, nature trails, decks over the river to fish from and much more in the works. When the river leaves her banks, the park fills with water and there is minimal loss and damages.

Goldilocks returned home much happier and calmer ~ ready to be a family member once again. The kids are working on creating an arctic book, using their Draw Write Now book #4.

Lunch out and play date with some friends ...
and tea time, painting walls, chores, reading lessons, painting walls, furniture moving, movie watching and painting walls. Just a few more hours of painting and I should be in the clear. At least with painting the walls that is ~ lots of furniture to still refinish and paint for Little Red Ridinghood's Christmas gift .
Blessings,
Dawn
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• Thursday, November 12, 2009 - Saxon Math Strikes Again
Posted By Toby
Miss Dog Lover is on the final lesson in 7/6, wherein they introduce finding the volume of a cylinder by saying "Imagine pressing a quarter down into a block of soft clay. As the quarter is pressed into the block, it creates a hole in the clay. The quarter sweeps out a cylinder as it moves through the clay. We can calculate the volume of the cylinder by multiplying the area of the circular face of the quarter by the distance it moved through the clay."
At this point I stopped reading, looked at her blank face, and said, "Do you understand what they are talking about?"
Miss Dog Lover, "I understand but it sounds sort of useless. Who would want to put a quarter in clay? It's messy."
There ya go. |
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• Nov. 12, 2009 - $1 & $2 School Resources for Sale
Prices do not include shipping, but I will ship media mail, which is very cheap. I can take funded paypal or check/money order.
All items are in gently used condition.
*Comprehensive Reading and Writing Assesment - grade 3 - $2
*Scholastic Write Away! by Stephen Krensky - grade 3-6 - $2(One author's favorite acitivities that help ordinary writers become extraordinary writers)
*Nonfiction Reading Comprehension - grade 3 - $2
*Science Made Simple - grade 2 -$2
*The Jumbo Book of Short-N-Simple Science - grade 2 -$2
*Scholastic 5 Minute Math Problem of the Day for Young Learners - grades 1-2 $2 SOLD
*Scholastic Science Write & Read Books - grades k-2 $2 SOLD
*Art Today and Everyday: Classroom Activities for the Elementary School Year - $2
*Kids' Big Book of Games - $2
*Happy Fall & Winter: Reproducible Activity Sheets for Grades K-1 -$2
*Alteratives to Worksheets: Motivational Reading and Writing Activities Across the Curriculum - grades K-4 - $2 SOLD
* Themes from A to Z: 26 Cross-Curricular Theme Units - Preschool & K - $2
*September Patterns, Projects & Plans to Perk Up Early Learning Programs - $2
*Spectrum Test Prep grades 1-2 $2 SOLD
*Reasons for Reading: 28 Reproducible Pages and Teacher's Guides - grades 3-4 $2
*Holiday & Seasonal Celebrations -PK-3 $2
*Families Thematic Unit - Early Childhood - $2
*****************The following are workbooks for the kids to do. None are written in.**************
*Language Arts Step by Step Homework booklet - Level 2 $1 (vowels, blends, consonants, rhyming words, alphabetical order, sentences)
*Phonics Homework Helpers Book One - grade 2 $1
(consonants, blends, vowels - it seems more like grade 1 to me)
*Phonics Homework Helpers Book Two - grade 2 $1
(special vowels, consonant diagraphs)
*Activity Cards Stories to Finish - Middle grades - $1
*McGraw Hill Math K - $1
*McGraw Hill Math 1 - $1
*McGraw Hill Math Readiness ages 4-7 - $1
*McGraw Hill Phonices Readiness ages 4-7 - $1
*Scholastic Superskills K: Counting & Numbers $1
*Scholastic Superskills K: Shapes & Patterns $1
*Zoobooks set of 7 - $2 !!!SOLD
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