Mar. 24, 2008 - Rosetta Stone Contest
I had to take the time to blog about this one. A great contest for some great software. I've used this through the library but I'd love to own a copy! Read on:
Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!
This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.
This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.
To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff!
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Feb. 17, 2007 - Mick Jagger was right.
Wow! November? I haven't blogged since November? Guess the holidays had me hopping.
"What a drag it is gettin' old...." - Mick Jagger
I think I am officially old. Or at least middle age. I'm only 38 though.
I'm just feeling it this month.
Back in January, before winter REALLY arrived (like it has now) in our fair city, I slipped on some ICE that had sneaked onto my front steps before the morning sun could melt it off. WHAT was it doing there anyway? It had been, like, 50 degrees for weeks! Anyway, I was holding my 3 year old son and down we went....right onto my left ankle. When I visited the ER that evening, I got the lovely news: it was broken. Broken! Now, I have never even sprained my ankle so I have never had this little pleasure in my life.
The very next morning I got me a cast and a little black boot to wear. My very first cast at 38 years old. Yay!
This was 2 days before our annual 3-week road trip vacation to Florida. Not that it takes us 3 weeks to get there....we stay for a nice, long 3 weeks.
It was really the best time to break a bone. For 3 weeks, my dearest hubbster got a big welcome to my world! And I got a welcome to his! He got to prepare all meals and take care of most child-related and household organizational duties while I sat on the couch!!! Now, I know that is not completely fair but it is closer to accurate than not. :-)
So, I got to rest my ankle AND enjoy the beautiful weather in Florida.
By the time we got back to the 'burgh, winter had arrived. The Floridians were all in a tizzy because the temps had dropped to 55 degrees.....we came back to FIVE degrees. Gotta love the seasons!
THEN, just one week ago, I had my gall bladder removed. I put this surgery off for a year because I was determined to keep an organ that God gave me. Well, I guess I wasn't too determined. If I would've just eaten fruit and vegetables for the rest of my life, I would've never had another gall bladder attack. Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen. So I finally gave in and now it is gone. I have already eaten cake, Doritos, chips, and M&M's. Oh and my beloved Combos which my husband calls poison. Good, yummy poison!
I am hoping for a really boring month of March!
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Nov. 3, 2006 - Home where they belong....
I've been enjoying Gena Suarez's blog SO much lately. Everytime I visit, it is a timely visit. Just when I'm ready to ship them off to school in Mongolia, I read her blog and all is well. I'm doing what I should be doing! When I'm focused on what I should be focused on, there are less days that I'm looking up cheap fares to Mongolia International.
My husband, who supports us homeschooling but would also send them to school at any time, thinks that all of the crazy stuff Gena posts about does not happen here in our fair town. WELL, here is an example that hit WAY too close to home for me.
My dear friend is student teaching at a local elementary school (not my district, but close by). She shared this story of her second day at school: There are triplets in the 4th grade, 2 boys and a girl. These poor children have 2 lesbians for "parents". On Halloween, the "parents" sent them to school as the opposite sex....the girl was a football player and the boys were cheerleaders. The next day, one of the boys wore a pink t-shirt that read "Pink is Manly". Speech. Less.
My friend also commented on the other teachers. She said that she was surprised by the lack of enthusiasm and care that these teachers have for their students and their work...how they complained about their classes. She noticed how the Kindergarten teacher to whom she is assigned is not very compassionate to her students when they are crying and upset. She said she basically ignored them. YES! Just where I want my tender little shoots to be for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.....N.O.T. (forgive my sarcasm...it's just all so....blech.)
Now, my friend is not out to give me material for my blog. As a matter of fact, she is just finishing up her Master's in Education with the intention to become a teacher. But when I asked her how her first day was, her response was "Well....I don't think I'm going to ever send my kids to public school." And that was just after her first day!
Of course, I agreed with everything she said about not putting them in school. And I told her to save the date for our local homeschool convention! Then I forwarded the latest Homeschool Minute and told her that my assault to convince her had begun! Next I am sending her a link to Gena's blog....she'll be homeschooling in no time!
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Nov. 3, 2006 - To mix play-doh or not to mix play-doh....
...that is the question!
Let me just say that we are SUPPOSED to be a NON play-doh mixing house but it's not working out too well. Especially when the younger ones are playing...alone.
I guess I must confess it's more of a mom thing than a child thing, this mixing business. It's just that once it's mixed, it only looks pretty for a little while. Then it becomes a big lump of gray-doh.
So, do you mix your play-doh??
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Aug. 12, 2006 - The Idlewild Trip
Oh, I'm in a storytelling mood. Want to tell about another of our summer fiascoes....er, I mean, lessons....
We took a trip to an amusement park about an hour from home. We'd decided to drive to the area the day before and get a hotel, visit a nearby state park, ride bikes and then head to the amusement park the next morning.
We arrived at our hotel, checked in, paid cash for the room and then went off to the park about 22 mountainous miles away.
It is was a beautiful, sunny day albeit in the 90 degree zone. We found the bike trail and got everyone saddled up. We had borrowed a bike trailer for the 2 littlest to ride in. 6 yo ds and 5 yo dd were on their own bikes...dd's bike has training wheels.
We started off and I wanted to go last because my bike is a little tall for me and I wobble when I'm just getting started....didn't want to wreck into the dc! So, I got on and pushed to pedal, hear a nasty scratchety kind of sound and look down to see my chain lying on the ground....in two pieces.
Not to worry. This park is huge for bicycling and there are tons of rental shops within walking distance. I tell the family to go on....because I knew I could catch up at the rate my dd would be pedaling....even if it was an hour later!
I got my rental bike and within 15 minutes am back on the dusty trail. As I catch up with my family, they are making a u-turn in the middle of the trail. Baby is asleep in the trailer and dd is done riding for the day! 
Ds and I decide to go on while the others go back. And about 2 minutes later he says "Mom, how far did you want to ride?". We made our own u-turn and caught up with the others.
Once back at the car, we loaded everything and everyone back inside and the car doesn't start. Several tries and nothing. Now it had been acting up and I had mentioned it to dear hubby. Several more tries and nothing. Hubby ascertains that it is the fuel pump. It is 5:00 p.m. Sunday in a state park in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania. I called good old AAA -- good old Verizon phone service! hubby's Nextel had NO BARS -- and they dispatched a truck but said it was a 90 minute turnaround time....which turned into a 3-hour turnaround time.
So, as we waited in the shadeless parking lot, the children rode their bikes, the baby climbed around in her chair as much as she could and we thankfully had the portable vcr thingy with us. We had packed food like we were going camping so we were set in that department.
We were in a dilemma (is that an understatement?). Even when the tow truck did arrive. There were 6 of us, 4 of whom technically (er, legally) had to be in car seats or boosters. As we pondered whether to split up (there was a hotel in the state park), the tow truck driver said "I'll call my wife. She can pick you up in her van." This may be shocking to some but if you live in Western PA, it is not so surprising. People are just NICE. The tow truck driver even found us a motel and told us about a car rental place (we figured we would just go and enjoy the amusement park the next day while our car got fixed). By now it is dark, and I really didn't fancy being separated from my hubby and any children so we piled into her van. The town where our Suburban was towed was about an hour from our amusement park destination but it was the nearest town with a Chevy dealer. So, our car went to the dealer and we went to the motel. (I was trying not to think about our room that was all paid for in a MUCH nicer hotel in another town that we couldn't get to!)
Our sleeping quarters were not the Marriott but as I had to remind my oldest son (and myself), Jesus slept in a manger...I think I can sleep on 150-thread count sheets for one night....and enjoy it.
Next morning, we realized that all of our food was in the car. We had nothing to eat and nothing to drive. When we opened the drapes in our room, there was a little diner right behind the motel. God is so good. He gives us just what we need when we need it.
The car rental guy delivered the mini-van to our motel. And as we were driving him back, I asked if the a/c was on. He said it was...but it was a little weak. Did I mention that it was in the 90 degree zone? The car rental people tried to charge the a/c to no avail and we just wanted to get going, so off we went. No a/c, tiny mini-van (when you're used to a Suburban, mini-vans are tiny!) stuffed with all of our gear. I must say that only at traffic lights was I really bothered about the lack of a/c. And we were on our way to the park! The children were thrilled.
We had a wonderful time and hit the water park for the first part of the day. It was awesomely fun. However, we did manage to lose 3 yo ds for about 10 minutes which seemed like 10 hours. I kept circling and circling this big water "ship" where he had been playing (with 75 other children) and I could not find him. Tears were filling my eyes every time I circled and didn't see him. I was about to burst when I saw a security guy and said "What do I do if I can't find my son?" and he said "I will help you find him." and I just burst into tears. As I was describing him and where he had been, I heard my hubby call me and up he came carrying my son who had been wandering and crying and some wonderfully kind lady stayed with him. Thank you, Lord. Thank you.
We had our intended picnic in the woods surrounding the park and then spent the second half of the day riding rides.
The rest of the trip went quite smoothly. Whew.
My husband and I just hope that our children learned as much of a lesson as we did from this trip. They were watching us and, thank God, for the most part, we were good examples for them. What's a little inconvenience? What's a little dependence on others? Being outside of your comfort zone?
Big lessons for parents and children. God is bigger than all circumstances. God is in control of all circumstances. God has a plan for all circumstances and works them together for the good of those who love Him. If all of that trip was to simply turn our focus back to Him, it was all more than worth it.
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Aug. 11, 2006 - Water World
We have a pool You have seen it before. It's the kind that Wal-Mart sells for $99 or $69 on sale at Toys R Us....the soft-sided "Simple Set" pool.
Our pool is on our patio, directly outside of our kitchen window and directly above our basement window-well....
A month or so ago, we overfilled the pool and it began a small Niagara Falls over the side. The window-well FILLED with water, very rapidly, and then it began seeping through. But that good little window held strong and I was able to stop the flow with a bunch of beach towels and blankets. Nothing major, all was well.
Yesterday, we overfilled the pool again. This is not intentional, mind you. One of my precious children left the hose in the pool with the water running. It overflowed again, only this time, that precious window did not hold back the torrent. With hope, I ran down the basement steps with three big beach towels in tow and just stopped, defeated. A tidal wave flowed through the window, burst open by the force, and filled our basement -- our carpeted, finished basement -- with about 3 inches of water. Sigh.
We began the tedious task of removing all of our belongings: toys, books, bookshelves, scrapbooking stuff, treadmill, piano!, futon, more toys, more books.
As my hubby and I were carrying something out, IT OVERFLOWED AGAIN. Another 3 inches of water hit the floor. Another one of our dear children thought that Daddy wanted the pool filled up again...and left the hose in the pool with the water running.
I have a new appreciation and sympathy for anyone who has ever been in a flood. I am thankful that this water was chlorinated and not sewage....
I am thankful that nothing was really damaged. I rescued my pictures hanging on the wall first and then my scrapbook stuff which was all on high ground anyway. The treadmill still needs to be tested to see if it still functions. That would probably be the most expensive thing in the room....it's a good one...cost more than the carpet! I can always get another piano....everyone tries to give those away.
So we rented a water extractor and sucked water out of the carpet for 5 hours. As I write, there are 5 dehumidifiers running and 2 fans and an "Air Mover". An Air Mover is a very cool piece of equipment. It is round with a long alligator-type clip on it and a blower-thingy under the clip. You pick up one edge of your carpet, clip it to the machine and it blasts air underneath. This room is about 16 x 25 but the Air Mover is so strong it picks the whole carpet up....my kids think it's a big moon bounce. I'm glad they're enjoying this! I'm hoping it is as dry as toast in the morning.
The funniest, well, most IRONIC, thing about this whole deal is this: My children like to put on "shows" for us down in the playroom (aka the flooded basement) and this usually involves an intermission with refreshments. The night before the Big Flood we were served lemonade, iced tea and blueberry bread which we enjoyed while sitting on the floor. With 4 children 6 years old and under, there is bound to be some spillage....so there was. Just a little. I mean, these were little play tea cups we were drinking out of....and a few crumbs also hit the floor. Well, my normally laid back hubby is a stickler about the carpet in the playroom getting WET. And he was getting a little UPTIGHT about the 4 teaspoons of liquid being spilled on the Berber. He was NOT enjoying the refreshments. He even put his sock on the spill to sop it up.
Thankfully, he found the humor (and the lesson) in that as he sucked water out of said carpet for 5 hours one Thursday....
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Aug. 9, 2006 - He is worthy of all praise
I have been an inner whiner lately. Just thinking of everything I'm not good at, everything that's not going well in my life. Just negative, boo-hooey-hoo whining.
So I just want to praise the Lord and thank Him for:
His Word
my salvation
my godly, hard-working husband
my children
my church
mine and my husband's health
my children's health
eyes that see
ears that hear
limbs that move and work
a sound mind (most days)
a home
peace
joy
His promises
my friends
my country...say what you will, but it is the greatest nation, the USA is
those protecting this great nation
and so, so much more.......
Life is too short to be whiney.
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May. 17, 2006 - My first entry
Now, that's an original title, I'm sure. Un-original but true, nonetheless.
Welcome to my blog!
I created this site then had no time to add to it. When I came back, I had forgotten not only my password but my username, too. Then, looking at the title, I couldn't remember why I had chosen it! I did remember that it was part of a scripture verse. Then, I had to look it up in the concordance because I couldn't remember the chapter and verse. It's a wonder I remember to have school everyday...oh, I guess I don't do that either!! Thank goodness we're only on K right now :-)
So, my blog title:
"Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life."
Proverbs 4:23
One of my biggest reasons for homeschooling is to guard my children's hearts...to keep them turned toward home, toward Mom and Dad and most importantly, toward our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I have other reasons, too, but I think that one is the most important.
Until next time....!
