O.k., I've never been tagged before.  But, I think it is a good thing because I need get back to blogging again.  (Editorial note:  I apologize for the double spacing every time I hit return.  Can anyone tell me how to fix that?)

So, Lori Lynn, from Life on the Roller Coaster - you got me! 

Here are the rules:

1.  Link to the person that tagged you.
2.  Post the rules on your blog.
3.  Share six non-importatnt things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4.  Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5.  Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

My six non-important things/habits/quirks:

1.   I like to peek at Fox and Friends when I first come downstairs in the morning to see what's going on in the world.
2.  I sleep with extra blankets piled up on my side of the bed for 'weight'.  One always has to be up by my face as well.
3.  I like fan-noise to go to sleep and go through withdrawal when it gets cool and I don't have it on.
4.  I look forward to seeing what's in the mail everyday.  And that goes for e-mail, too.
5.  I love the smell of coffee, but don't like to drink it.  Unless it is heavily, heavily, sweetened, milked, and flavored.
6.  I really like the library.

Here's who I tagged:

Under the Son
Everything We Need
Family, Computers, and Creativity
Wanting to Make a Difference
Learning Something New Daily
BeatyFam

 

I was busy prepping some school things as it became time to work with my 7 year old son on his phonics.  I told him I would be just a few minutes.  He asked if he could go ahead and work on Typing Instructor on the computer.  I said, 'Sure.'   As I finished, I came up to him and watched him take a typing test made up of random words.  He was typing 13 wpm on his home row keys with 97% accuracy.

Then it hit me.

My son can't read. 

 We are still working on letter sounds and some short vowel words.  'A fat cat sat on a mat.'   So, he is typing away on a test and has no idea what he is typing.  lol!  Somehow, there is something fundamentally wrong with this.

I'm sure the school systems would never teach typing BEFORE a child is reading fairly well.  Yet, he's doing it, and enjoying it!

He does very well at piano, memorizing Sonatinas and playing them blindfolded.  I'm sure he's just applying those piano skills to the keyboard.  He memorizes the finger that matches the letter and hits the key when he sees each letter.  He's going letter by letter, rather than seeing the words that he cannot read.

Sometimes, I am amazed at how the mind can work differently for different people.  Maybe he will learn to read from doing his typing. ???

Very strange.

I was perusing the 'last100' page today, and I came across someone who was participating in this Bloggy Tour of Homes.  Despite my considerable computer prowess, I somehow managed to stumble across the blogger who was sponsoring this.  If you like to look at pictures of other people's houses, do take a look!  Such fun!

 

The addy for the person coordinating this is http://boomama.blogspot.com .  She currently has a list of 153 bloggers who are displaying pictures of their homes on their blogs today!  I made it through quite a few of them, but will have to come back another day to continue.

 

It always inspires me to see pictures of what other people have done with their homes.  So many great ideas, and so many different styles.  Thankfully, some people took 'real life' photos of houses as they appear before cleaning, too!  I always appreciate those!  he he he.  Then, I don't feel so badly about the state of mine.

 

But, do take a look and ENJOY! 

 

Oh - If you want to tour the home of the HSB blogger who started me along this path, check out OurHomeSweetHomeschool.

I think it might be related to the 'missing sock in the dryer' phenomenon.   This is likely the homeschooler's equivalent - 'Disappearing Pencils'.  Not long ago, I bought a fairly large package of these wooden writing utensils.  I thought we would be set for the year.  But, no.  We are doing well to find one or two of the said pencils from the package.

 

Where do they go?  When it comes time to do math, the cry heard 'round the house is:  "But, I can't find a pencil!"  I can't fathom how I could have bought such a nice-sized package, and yet none are to be found today.

 

I thought this phenomenon was unique to our household.  Then, yesterday, I was instant messaging another homeschooling friend and discovered that she, too, can never keep usable pencils in the house. 

 

Here's another twist on the phenomenon.  I bought a very common brand of pencil.  Even so, they broke easily, and the little pink erasers on the end of the pencil were worthless.  They were hard and somewhat shiny, and the only ended up smearing when a child (or parent) tried to erase with them.  So, I bought a large package of those little colored erasers you stick on the end of your pencils.  They seem to disappear, too!

 

Last week I found THREE long, usable pencils.  I put one of those erasers on each one, thinking we would now be ready for a week's worth of school.  The very next day, there were no erasers on any pencils we found.    Somehow, I suspect this phenomenon can be easily explained in the shape of a 4-year old daughter!  (That is my suspicion, anyway.)

 

Maybe I need to glue long strings to the pencils and attach them to the table where we do schoolwork!!! 

One of the great things about homeschooling is that it often forces us to learn right alongside our children.  For me this weekend, it involved tackling the sewing machine.  A sewing machine seems like a silly thing to be afraid of.  Nevertheless, my trepidation over getting this machine to run had caused me to put off the inevitable for over a month.  Well, no longer....  

Sunday afternoon provided me with an open time slot to get out the machine, manual and all, and figure this thing out.  Poor dd7 had been asking me for a month when we could start sewing, and this was the day! 

 

I slowly proceeded, step to step, to do what the manual told me to do.  The first mission was to thread the bobbin.  I followed the diagram and wound the thread around a pin and to a bobbin, which was sitting on another little pin.  I pulled out the handwheel and nervously pushed on the foot pedal - nothing!  After a call to my brother-in-law (who knows how to sew) and some interest from my engineer-husband, we determined that you had to slide the pin over to allow it to spin.  Voila!  We had a wound bobbin! 

 

Two hours after sitting down, I had the machine threaded and the bobbin back in it's little compartment (I thought).  Hubby had to help me figure out how the little bobbin parts fit together.  After two hours, I was finally ready to sew a stitch.  Whoops!  I snapped a needle in half.  After another call to the brother-in-law, it was determined that the bobbin parts had not been loaded correctly.  I put a post-it note on the page with the bobbin diagram, and tried again.  Stitches!!!!  

 

Well, we only managed to sew some straight lines in a basic straight stitch, but, oh how good it felt.  My confidence is already rising, and I think it is, indeed, something even I can get the hang of.   My daughter was thrilled to begin the lessons in her sewing book, and I think we will both have fun learning together.

 

Here's to trying something new!