Aug. 29, 2008 - Hurricane Stories
3 years ago when Katrina hit the gulf coast we had hundreds of evacuees come to our area. Some were in hotels, some were in shelters, some had come prepared, others left only with what they were wearing. For 3 weeks they settled in, put their kids in schools, started looking for jobs.
Then Rita came. Everyone had to evacuate. What a mess! Traffic was backed up forever. People ran out of gas. I was very fortunate. I left at just the right time. I was able to head east on I 10 before they closed it, just as they were calling for SW LA to evacuate. I made it to my mother's house in MS in about the same amount of time that it would normally take us to get there. Mom had some damage from Katrina but they are far enough inland that it wasn't major.
I were gone for 3 weeks until our electricity came back on. Our house was not damaged. Trees caused most of the damage in our area. It looked so bare when we came back because so many trees were gone. We have 7 big trees in our back yard. Not one of them fell. Hubby has pictures of our neighborhood the day after the storm. There were trees and powerlines everywhere.
Hubby has to stay behind if we evacuate. His job keeps him here. They take them to a safe spot during the actual storm but as soon as the winds slow down he is back to work. During Rita he would run home to shower or just to check on things and he would let the cat out. Then he couldn't stay long enough to get the cat back in. I told him if we leave this time he has to keep the cats inside.
Our story is pretty tame compared to others. If Gustav keeps heading this way we will probably leave saturday evening. This will be our 4th evacuation in almost 20 years.
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 28, 2008 - Plans, Plans and More Plans
This has been my planning week. I have been putting all those plans that have been running around in my head down on paper. I have been planning for our school, our homeschool group, the food and nutrition project for our 4-H group and my Wednesday night class at church ( I have the K-2 girls).
So far the 4-H plans are almost completed. I have a few phone calls to make today and hopefully that will be all done. The biggest obstacle we have had with those plans is that it all has to be done in a very short time period.
The homeschool group plans are pretty much complete. I have another mom who has taken on a lot of the organizing. I am metting today with 2 other moms to finalize our plans for our science class. We are using Real Science for Kids Chemistry. The lessons are all laid out. We just need to make sure we all know who is doing what and when.
For my Wednesday night class, the plans are still running around in my head. That is one thing I really have to sit down and plan out. I have a book with lesson plans but not everything always fits like I would want it to. Sometimes I have to come up with my own ideas. I need to work on that tonight or tomorrow.
Our school plans are coming along good. Son is using Teaching Textbooks for Math. He will be through with 7th grade math in 20 lessons. I bought the pre algebra book yesterday from a friend who had just finished it. Daughter will continue with Alph Omega Horizons. She has already started 5th grade math. They will both be using Easy Grammar. They started that last year. We will start the Institute for Excellence in Writing. I've been watching the DVDs so I will know what we are doing. We are starting Sequential Spelling. We will be using Mystery of History for World History this year. We will continue Rosetta Stone Spanish. Daughter will work on her music and art. I've got to order her a new art book. I've decided for science we will use resources we already have and make our own. We will start with weather. Since I am starting from scratch, that really takes some time but I have the first 3 weeks planned.
Oh and I have also been planning a menu for the month of September. It is very hard for me to think about want my family may want to eat a month from now. But if I at least have a plan and some ingredients on hand, we can have some kind of dinner. I am trying to use the crock pot at least once a week.
Now I know that just because I made all these plans doesn't mean things will always go smoothly. Right now we are watching Gustav closely. Once it passes Cuba the weather people will have a better idea what it is going to do and we will know if evacuation plans may be called for!
• 4 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 24, 2008 - Daughter is 10!
Today at exactly 12:44 PM Daughter turned 10 years old. She made me look up the time. She has been a wonderful blessing to our family. She is the creative, artsy one in the family. She is also out going, life of the party, stubborn, won't be moved, tough as nails, petite and delicate.
We had a party for her yesterday. I think we figured out all the details on Thursday. We had 2 of her best friends and their families come over. Plus we had a couple from our old church who are just like grandparents to her. We grilled burgers and hot dogs. The kids ran around and played. The grown ups talked. It was just right. After it was all over and done, she said it was the best birthday ever.
• 3 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 22, 2008 - Sunshine Today!
Yeah! We woke up to sunshine today. We need to dry out. I worry about all my little tomato plants. Hopefully the sun will dry them out. When it rains hard like it did the last two days, we can't flush in one bathroom. I never have understood why we can flush in one but not the other. But I am grateful that we can flush! Friends of ours down the street and around the corner couldn't flush at all. It's a drainage problem.
I was lazy the last 2 days but I have to get busy today. Daughter is having her 10 year old birthday party tomorrow. Her birthday is actually Sunday. She believes in the never ending birthday. I think it was her 3rd birthday that we let her open gifts from the out of town relatives as they came in and then there was the party and the actual birthday. When Hubby's birthday rolled around in October, she insisted, "No, Daddy, it's my birthday!" It really did seem as if it never ended.
Today I told her she would have to help me clean up and she started fussing about having to work on her birthday. Life is tough when you're ten.
• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 20, 2008 -
Our rainy day was very relaxing. I spent some time going over the science that i am going to teach in our once a month co-op. We are using Real Science for Kids Chemistry. It has 10 lessons with 10 experiments that are easy enough to do but at the same time I think they will actually learn something. We are going to have about 20 kids in this class and most of them are boys. I want them to enjoy but I also know things can get out of hand quickly if you are not firm with them.
Last year we were meeting in the park and we had science club before the meeting. We learned about forces and motion. Science was not something that I was big on in school but know that I am grown, it is interesting.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 20, 2008 - Tut, tut, looks like rain!
It rained most the night and we woke up to a gloomy, gray, stay inside kind of day. I am glad we have not officially started school yet. We can just lie around the house with a cup of tea and be lazy. Son doesn't have football so we don't have to be any where until church tonight.
I am going to work on my planning some more today. Yesterday I got the books I ordered so now I can do some serious planning. Also yesterday I printed out some of the forms from my school house planner and got my notebook set up. I started writing down football games, homeschool meetings, 4-H activities, etc... Our September calendar is already full. Now I can look at each day and what subjects we are going to do that day.
By the way, one thing I do not have for this year is an art curriculum for daughter. She loves to draw and is pretty good at it. We used Artistic Pursuits last year and she finished 2 years worth in one year. I am not sure if I should find a different curriculum for her or go ahead and move her into the upper grade in Artistic Pursuit.
• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 16, 2008 - Lemon Snaps
We are having a Mother/Daughter Tea after church tomorrow. I made lemon snaps to bring. I found the recipe in Food to Live By by Myra Goodman. These are Son's favorite cookies but daughter likes them too. They seemed to be just the thing to bring to tea.
Lemon Snaps
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp lemon extract
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp salt
grated zest of one lemon
Cream butter and sugar together. Stir in egg and lemon extract. Mix in flour, baking powder, ginger, salt, and lemon zest. Roll into 1 inch balls and bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes.
• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 16, 2008 - 38 Little Tomato Plants
I've had 38 little tomato plants outside my front door waiting to be planted. I got all but 11 of them in the ground this morning. The 11 that are waiting to be planted are black plums. I planted some of those in the spring and they did real well. They are great for tomato sauce. I also planted some Italian heirloom, rose marmande and homestead. I got the seeds from cherrygal.com. She has alot of interesting plants. I planted Chinese red noodle asparagus beans in the spring. They looked very strange but were good in stir fry.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 13, 2008 - Spelling
I have finally decided on Sequential Spelling for this year. I like the way it starts with small words and builds up to bigger words in the same word family. Son is not a natural speller and he has the added burden of not really caring how things are supposed to be spelled. Daughter is a natural speller and has passed Son in spelling.
We had been using Spelling Power. It didn't work for us. I liked the idea of testing to see which words they already know and then studying the ones that were missed. But my kids took every test as if this was their one and only chance to get a passing grade in spelling. Also Spelling Power would give you a list of words with the long a sound and there would be words in with every possible spelling of long a that you could imagine all mixed up. The rule would say something to the effect of long a as in cake can be spelled ae, ai, ay, ey, ea, eigh or a with a silent e. Now how is a kid with going to use that rule to figure out how to spell a word with a long a sound?
I also checked out Andrew Pudewa's Phonetic Zoo. He uses the theory that when a child sees a word, he sees the word as a whole not as individual letters. The letters don't always come out in the same order. But if the word is spelled out loud then the letters go in one by one in order. Son often has the problem of knowing the right letters but not the right order. A friend of mine is using it so she let me listen to hers. They have word list with 15 words for each of the rules. On the CD they say the rule for each 3 rule, the child writes down the word and then self checks at the end of the lesson. They have to spell every word right 2 days in a row to move on to the next lesson. It all sounded very good but I just couldn't see this working with Son. I could already hear the complaints, "Why do have to do it again, I already got it right."
• 3 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 12, 2008 - TOS Digital Magazine
I am now getting the digital issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I can't read it in the bathtub but there are alot of features that I like about it. It has a tool bar across the top of the page that makes it very easy to navigate. You can go forward or backward page by page, or you can use the table of contents to choose an article. The page button allows you to see all the pages at once and choose from there. There is also a search button to search for keywords. My favorite feature is the links button. Click on that and it will show you the links for everything on the page, articles and ads. You can access more information immediately. The share button is also handy. I have used that to email a page to a friend. The settings button lets you select how large you want the page. You can browse at one size and then magnify to read more closely.
Of course, the digital magazine has all the great articles that the regular version has. There are lesson ideas, articles about the "how-to's" of homeschooling and a glipse into the homes of other homeschoolers. Visit their web site to learn more about them. The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 12, 2008 - TOS Planner
I had a chance to review The Schoolhouse Planner from TOS (The Old Schoolhouse). 2boysmom first showed me some of the forms. Now I have it. There are alot of neat and nifty forms in there, everything you need to organize your school, your house, your menus and even your pets! It has monthly calendars with big blocks for filling in all your information. In that same section there are also recipes, articles on homeschooling and lists of all kinds of interesting information, such as holidays, presidents and states and capitals. The homeschool section includes forms for planning your week, month and year. It also has logs for work has been completed. The household section has forms for menu planning and grocery shopping, several different chore charts, budgets, gift lists, important phone numbers and even a log for your pet and its vet visits. If you need to get organized this is a good place to start.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 11, 2008 - Good Boy
I think my children are great but I know their faults. So sometimes I am surprised when I see what really good children they are.
We have new neighbors across the street. Their oldest son is just a little bit younger than Son but the boy is very cautious and nervous. He is also small for his age. I was worried that my big old boy would want to show what a tough guy he is. He does that with some of his other friends. But he has be so nice and so careful with this boy. It made me remember that this is my sensitive child. I just hadn't seen much of this side of him lately.
He also got a compliment from another mom. She said her boy likes to be around Son because he can be himself with Son and not worry about being picked on. When she told me this my first reaction was, "wait a minute, is this the same kid that picks on his sister until she has a screaming fit?!" But it is. He's my good boy.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 11, 2008 - Laundry Day
Today is laundry day. I like to do all the laundry in one day. If I have to spread it out through the week then clothes are on the couch all week long, waiting to be folded. I wash and dry everything and then bring it in to the house and fold and sort. I fold my clothes and Hubby's. I put son's clothes in one pile and daughter's in another. I divide the towels in between the two of them. It goes pretty quick like that. Our laundry room is not user friendly. It is off of the garage and not in the air condition. In the summer time it is sweltering. The room is long and narrow so you have no space to move around. I don't spend any more time in there than necessary!
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 8, 2008 - What Happened to Summer
I know summer is not officially over but it feels like it around here. We've been planning for 4-H and Homeschool group. I need to be planning for our school. Son starts football practice on Monday. I thought August would be the month we would get to relax and enjoy some summer. We haven't even gone on vacation this year! Not even a business trip with Hubby! My calendar for September is already full and I haven't even put the football games and Children's Chorus in there yet. I bought Managers of Their Homes by Steve and Teri Maxwell at a conference earlier this year. I am going to have to really put it into practice if we are going to get anything done this year. I am also going to have to impress on the kids that if they want to do all these extras that they are going to have to get lessons and chores done in a TIMELY manner. Some days I feel like I have pushed and pulled them through the whole day. Usually at the beginning of each school year, I sit down and write out my goals for the school year. This helps me keep on track.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 6, 2008 - Science Through High School
Son will be in 7th grade this year, 8th if you ask him. He measures grade level by math. He's really strong in math and history. He is not so strong in writing and spelling. I am considering Institute for Excellence in Writing and the spelling program they have. A good friend just bought it and I will be able to look at hers and see if it is what we want to use. Son reads good. After he learned how to read, I never made reading a lesson. It was always something we did for fun. He may go for awhile without reading anything but when he does start it is hard to pull him away. I am looking for a good science program that will take him through high school. After looking online the only 3 that I see that go through high school are Abeka, Bob Jones and Apologia. I have heard good and bad about all 3. I need to look at them all and compare. If any one knows about any others, please let me know.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 5, 2008 - Surviving the Storm
We survived Tropical Storm Eduord. There really wasn't much to it. It was a very uneventful storm. I was expecting alot more rain, maybe some water in the streets but it didn't happen here. Some people lost power but ours stayed on. The kids and I went out and delivered Meals on Wheels this morning. I had thought the storm would keep us home but we've delivered meals in worse weather. They had no milk at the Senior Center because the milk man didn't show up - not very nice of him! Meals on Wheels is a great service project for the kids. We've been doing it for 6 years now. Daughter was 4 when we started and still in her car seat. I had buckle and unbuckle her every stop we made. But the people love to see the kids and it's good for the kids to visit with the elderly. The people we deliver the meals to are well enough to still be at home but they are not able to drive. We've met some very interesting people over the years. I have 38 baby tomato plants on my kitchen counter. I moved them inside because of the storm. I am going to plant them in the garden either this week or next. They will be the start of my fall garden. I am going to also plant beans. Then later I will plant lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips and onions. Right now I still have some tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and cantelope. It got too hot for the cucumbers and beans.
• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
