November 12, 2009 Science Planning
We have finally (almost) finished Exploring Creation with Botany from Apologia. We did not enjoy it as much as Exploring Creation with Astronomy. It started off strong, but all of us fizzled out with it. It's time for something new, so we are getting ready to start a study of the human body. This is the first subject that I intend to do with all three children at the same time. I am blending three different programs in hopes to appeal to the strengths of each child.
Lyrical Life Science combines information with music. Princess Pink is very musical. I hope she enjoys the songs. This book also contains the most in depth information, so it will form our spine. The Crafter is the only one who will read the text. We will all try to learn the songs. This program came highly recommended from friend who has graduated two of her children. Her oldest daughter said that she used the songs to help her with her college biology class.
The Body Book has plans on how to make a model of the entire body. I think the Crafter will enjoy this one.
Blood and Guts has lots of experiments and hand-on activities. This should appeal to Wild Thing.
Wish us luck. 
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November 9, 2009 Happy Birthday Princess Pink November 9, 2009 Pumpkin Carving 2009 October 19, 2009 A Very Belated Birthday
The Crafter turned 10 last month, right in the middle of the Historian's 19 day work-a-thon. There was no way to get a party together for her close to her actual birthday. The Crafter also wanted to have a BIG party since she didn't have one last year.
Soon, October came upon us and still, there was no party. We searched the calendar for a date that wouldn't conflict with other activities. We settled on October 17. The Crafter made lovely invitations to coordinate with a panda theme. She got the idea for a panda cake from the Betty Crocker web site. We searched the internet for Chinese inspired crafts that were fun. We shopped the local craft stores for fancy origami paper.
The cake was an adventure. The Betty Crocker web site provided good instructions, but they didn't warn me about the pitfalls. I will never again attempt to decorate a cake with store-bought icing. It was like the icing was tape that pulled off outer layer of cake. It turned out OK. I did utter some words not fit for children to hear in the process though.
 
Eleven girls and one boy (the little boy I keep a few afternoons a week) were invited. Two girls came, and they had a ball. They ended up playing badminton most of the allotted party time. They called home to ask to stay longer (YES!). The Crafter received craft supplies and a lava lamp as gifts.
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October 7, 2009 Why Yes, I am Aware That My Son's Pants are Backwards.
Wild Thing has a habit of wearing his pants backwards. It doesn't bother me. In fact it makes a lot of sense. He explained it to me. You see, Wild Thing is built like a stick. He has no hips to hold up his pants. If he wears them the right way, then his pants go down when he uses his pockets. If he wears them backwards, then he can use the back pockets without making his pants come down. If his pants stay up, I don't make him wear a belt. See, it's perfectly logical.
Front View
Rear view
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September 25, 2009 If You Tell the Historian About Homeschool Days at Colonial Williamsburg...
If you tell the Historian about homeschool days at Colonial Williamsburg,
He'll get really excited and start planning a trip.
He'll want the Crafter to look the part,
so she'll get out her longest dress and mob cap.
Princess Pink will feel left out, so the Chemist will go up into the hot attic and bring down bins of the Crafter's outgrown clothes. We'll find something that works.
When the girls have their costumes, Wild Thing will feel left out. There's no time to make a costume, so we'll just roll his pants legs up and buy him a pistol.
Then the Historian will suggest that his wife dress up,
so the Chemist will dig out ye olde big skirt and colonialish blouse and borrow an apron.
Then realizing that she has no suitable head covering, she'll buy one of the overpriced souvenir caps from Market Square.
Once the Historian's family is dressed as the gentry class of colonial times, he will need his costume. He will notice that he has no stockings. He will need to go out to buy some.
He'll go to the store, but will be too embarrassed to purchase them. He'll make the Chemist buy them. When she picks out some lovely black queen sized knee-highs, he'll decide that they are too sheer and make Wild Thing wear them.
He'll want to back the next day to get white ones. The Chemist will have a horrible headache and be unable to go, so he'll take the Crafter.
They won't have any in his size so he'll go to another store and another and another.
He'll finally end up with some white opaque tights with a reinforced toe.
Everyone will spend 3 days discussing history and having fun in Colonial Williamsburg.
 
We will get back really late. While lying in bed, the Historian will start reading through the stack of brochures he picked up one the trip. And chances are, if the Historian sees the dates for the next set of homeschool days, he'll get really excited and start planning a trip.
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September 23, 2009 Wordless Wednesday September 21, 2009 Happy 10th Birthday! August 27, 2009 A Song for Dog Lovers August 26, 2009 Beware!!!! August 16, 2009 A Conversation
Princess Pink: Where's that picture?
Me: It's at Aunt X and Uncle Y's wedding.
Princess Pink: Who's the baby?
Me: Wild Thing.
Princess Pink: Where am I?
Me: That was before you were born.
Wild Thing: Yeah, you hadn't been knit yet.
Psalm 139:13-14 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. |
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August 5, 2009 Lookie What I Found at the Thrift Store
I love a bargain, but I am pretty lazy about bargain shopping. I am not a much of a coupon shopper because there really aren't that many coupons for things that I use. I don't live close enough to a CVS to make it worth my time. I don't go to yard sales because I don't want to get up that early. I do however enjoy thrift stores, and I consider myself somewhat of an expert.
My usual thrift store route starts in a larger town with the GoodWill. I consider Good Will a rookie's thrift store because many of the items are overpriced and can be bought new for slightly more. Sometimes I will get lucky. I got a Little Tykes play kitchen for $8 when the Crafter was two. The next stop is at the Habitat for Humanity Store in my neighboring town. I found a corner cabinet once for $75. It now holds our TV in the living room. I'm still looking for the elusive perfect couch, so I had to stop.
My last stop is the PTA Thrift Shop. It is the best thrift store ever. Almost all of our clothing (except for socks and underwear of course) comes from this shop. I could spend many a paragraph recounting finds like the Eddie Baur jeans for 75 cents, the set of 10 Avent bottles for $2, or the full set of A Beka readers for $3.
But this is my greatest thrift store triumph. I am confident that this will never be topped. This is what I got for $10.
Undampened Spirits by Jack Terry
I just thought it was a nice picture for the living room. The frame was nice and the price was right. Out of curiosity, I looked up the artist on the internet. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the canvas print was worth $495 without the frame! I am still in shock. I was figuring that the picture was worth around $150 considering the quality of the framing. I would have never guessed that it was worth so much. |
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July 23, 2009 Trip to Horne Creek Farm
Horne Creek Farm
This is one of the most fun historical sites we have ever visited. It is a living history farm that was in operation around 1900. Nothing that appears in history books happened here. There were no very famous visitors. Why do we love this place? You can touch almost everything and nothing is roped off. We spent the entire day there and played farm. The Crafter made out a chore list for the whole family except for Princess Pink. She was visiting Grandma.
Front of the Farm House
Dinner Bell
Wild Thing in His Room
Making Bread and Butter
Cooking and Hauling Wood
Grinding Corn
The Sheep
The Mule
This is an older picture. The mule has since died.
Time to Eat
Relaxing with a Game of Chinese Checkers
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June 26, 2009 Artist Carl Warner June 19, 2009 Thanks for Conserving, Now We Must Punish You
The logic (or lack thereof) of government never ceases to leave me shaking my head in wonder. The summer of 2007 was extremely dry in the southeast. A couple of times the major reservoirs were down to 40 day supplies of water. Conservation was mandated. In the more urban areas there was absolutely no watering of anything without risking heavy fines. We were encouraged to wash clothes less often, take shorter showers, and use paper plates and cups to reduce water use. We also were told that we were to minimize toilet flushing by the "If it's pee let it be; if it's brown flush it down" rule. The citizens responded by reducing water usages by millions of gallons. Last summer was abnormally dry. The water restrictions were not as severe as the previous summer, but once again the citizens responded by further reducing water consumption.
Now it is 2009. We have had normal rainfall, and the reservoirs are full. But a funny thing has happened. Conservation has become habit. Less water use has led to less money going to the water department. Now our rates are set to go up to make up for the loss of revenue due to conservation.
Alas, there is not much wiggle room in the Bradford Academy budget for increased utility bills. We were already conserving water before the conservation call went out. (I grew up with a well. I am automatically stingy with water during dry spells.) The only area that I could think of to save water was on dish washing. I stopped using the dish washer for one month. Our water bill went down $7. Let's break that down shall we. I probably spent at least an hour every day doing dishes with the help of the Crafter. Seven dollars divided by thirty days is twenty-three cents per day.
Is it worth it? I'm not so sure. Part of me says $7 is $7, and I should save every bit I am able to save. Then the other part of me (which is winning) thinks that my time is worth more that 23 cents an hour. The time spent doing dishes cuts into reading time and gardening time. I consider both more worthwhile pursuits. What's even worse is that I'm wasting so much time debating the issue which would not be an issue if the water rates weren't about to go up. |
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June 17, 2009 Goodbye Sweetie...Hello Princess Pink
This post is way overdue. For some time now, the Crafter has been after me to change Sweetie's blog name. The main reason is that she's not as sweet as she used to be. My youngest daughter has a fiery temper and a well devoloped stubborn streak.
I chose Sweetie's blog name shortly after her second birthday. She was going through a phase where she called EVERYONE "Sweetie". The checkout clerk and the bug man were not immune. She picked up the phrase in her Sunday School class. Her teacher always said "Bye Sweetie" when she left each week.
The Crafter and I thought long and hard about what name should replace Sweetie. We decided on Princess Pink. Her favorite color is pink. She must wear pink each day even if it's only her underwear. She eats off a pink plate whenever possible. Right now as I type, she is crying that we don't have a pink blow pop for her dessert. She will have to settle for purple.
Her other interests currently include playing dress-up, coloring, and playing with her babies.
Princess Pink with her pink babies |
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June 8, 2009 History Project
I finally found the camera cable. Now my pictures are out of the camera and in the computer.
This is a history project the Crafter did in April. It was from Chapter 10 of The Story of the World volume 3 on Japan. The Zen Garden was supposed to be rectangular, but we couldn't find anything suitable at the time. Both gardens were made in styrofoam plates.
Zen Garden
Bonsai Garden |
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May 24, 2009 Memorial Day--Lest we forget
Unlearned Lesson
Memorial Day
Of every year
The little valiant
Flags appear
On every fallen
Soldier's grave--
Symbol of what
Each died to save.
And we who see
And still have breath--
Are we no wiser
For their death?
~Dorothy Brown Thompson~
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May 20, 2009 What have I been doing?
Let's see. It has been almost a month since I touched this blog. During that time...
- The Crafter did her annual testing. She scored in the 99th percentile. I'm one proud mama.
- I had to distance myself and my children from a close friend of the family because of an untreated mental illness. I cannot go into any more detail. It is a situation that continues to be painful for all involved and requires much prayer.
- My sister and brother-in-law were both ordained as ministers.
- I planted peas, broccoli (didn't grow), and mint.
- We picked strawberries and made pies.
- The children made May baskets and delivered them to the neighbors.
- I discovered Pandora.
- Wild Thing had a checkup. He need to have his eyes checked. I hope he doesn't need glasses.
- I received a weed whacker for an early Mother's Day gift. Now if I could just crank the thing.
- My family took me to a Celtic Festival for Mother's Day. Bagpipes rock!
- I finished the semester at the college. That took up most of my computer time.
- The Crafter finished up her year at CYT. We signed up for next year.
- And of course, we kept doing school.
Pictures are coming once I find the cable that goes with the camera. |
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April 21, 2009 In Which the Chemist Goes to the Furniture Store
I am in the market for a new couch. My husband would say sofa. I would not. Our current couch is over 16 years old. I do not know how old it really is. We have had almost since we got married. One of the Historian's friends gave it to us when he upgraded from the furniture that came with his mobile home. Fast forward almost 16 years, 2 moves, 3 kids, one rabbit, three cats, and one dog and it's a wonder that the couch is still standing. It still looks surprisingly good considering the abuse it has suffered. But it ain't comfortable. The springs are shot. It has no back support whatsoever. I can only last about 5 minutes before my hips and back start to ache. One particular house guest deemed it the most uncomfortable couch he had ever sat upon.
I have put off this purchase as long as I could. I tried thrift stores and Craig's list to no avail. Now I am shopping in real furniture stores. I hate shopping. I especially hate shopping for expensive items. So far I have gathered a bit of information from a grand total of two stores.
- All couches are made for people over 5 feet 6 inches tall. Really. (I'm 5'2")
- The couch from the sale paper will not be available at the local store.
- When it comes to sales remember "Prices and participation may vary".
- If you go into a furniture store dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, you will not be waited on.
- If you go into a furniture store professionally dressed, you will still not be waited on, but at least 3 people will ask you for help.
- Couches only come in the same color as the floor model. At least that's what I heard...not that anybody actually checked that book they have.
- Microfiber generates lots of static electricity. You should have seen the Crafter's hair.
- It costs $150 to get some guy to spray a can of Scotch Guard on new furniture.
- The only affordable couch is a white couch.
- The only comfortable couch is a white couch.
I will be shopping in a larger town soon. Maybe I'll have better luck. |
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