http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Thu, 5 Jun 2008 20:42:00 -0500 Thu, 5 Jun 2008 20:42:00 -0500 I feel guilty about having neglected this blog for so long! I had another blog once before this one, and I abandoned it after discovering I just didn't have the time to keep up with it regularly. I am afraid this blog is heading in that same direcetion... Since I last posted an entry, our family has adopted a cat and a tortoise. We are enjoying our new pets. We Californians had an election several days ago. It was frustrating for me because a local school bond raised our already considerable property taxes another $50 per year. If all of those people who voted yes on this expensive bond measure had voted yes on our $5 tax increase to support the library, I might not have minded. But no, these selfish public school parents won't spend a dime to support something that benefits everyone-- homeschoolers, senior citizens, etc.-- but we're all supposed to pick up the tab to support their kids, and they are so steeped in their sense of entitlement, they don't see any hypocrisy there. I hope things are going well for all you ladies out there in HSB land. Have a lovely week!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/543622/ Thu, 5 Jun 2008 20:42:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/543622/ This is the first week of my diet, which is pretty shocking because since my last 3 kids I have really packed on the weight! I have gained 70 pounds in the last 15 years. I can't imagine why I haven't done anything about it before now, but somehow I guess I was stuck in my rut. My husband never seemed to mind, so I didn't feel a lot of pressure. Besides, I REALLY like doughnuts and Cheetos. So this past week I started a diet. I have lost 4 pounds so far! That is the only weight loss I've experienced since having my last baby, 2 1/2 years ago! Yay! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/525078/ Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:34:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/525078/ My mom, who lives in a second house on our property, is getting a little unpredictable in her "senior moments." Just the other day, she called me and said the thought the Gatorade in her fridge tasted a little strange. Then she realized she didn't have any Gatorade, and that she had accidentally drank the liquid HUMMINGBIRD FOOD! And this woman takes care of my children... kind of scary, huh? http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/519939/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:39:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/519939/ Don't you just love that expression? I do. Anyway, this Sunday a very pleasant lady who attends our church whom I do not know personally made a joke during the service, the implication of which was that Democrats are "less Christian" than Republicans. Right off my husband looks at me and silently pleads for me to just let it go. I held my tongue-- I knew I would only come across as humorless if I contradict a joke infront of others. But on the way out the door I made a point of making sure everyone knew I was offended. I don't know the numbers; it may be true that Republicans attend church in higher numbers than Democrats. It wouldn't surprise me if that were the case. But to somehow believe that being a Republican makes one a better Christian? Are there people in the world so uneducated and narrow minded as to believe that? It doesn't even matter whether or not I am a Democrat or a Republican. (I vote both ways, often. Neither party represents by beliefs particulary well.) In my Bible, it says the way to Him is through his son, my Lord Jesus Christ who died on the Cross for ALL ours sins (I don't remember Him excluding Democrats) and not through George Bush. Shouldn't a person have the right to believe that? End of soap-box. Anyway, I wasn't all that terribly offended-- just frustrated with something that should be kept out of the service-- and I kind of hope the woman who made the remark (who has very likely heard about my reaction by now) doesn't feel badly about upsetting someone. I haven't had much time to blog lately. I have done my annual "end of the school year" inventory of our progress, and figured out  where we have done well, and where I need to step it up to meet our goals. Spanish: we've come very far but there are some gaps that need filling in. Music: we're doing well in piano playing, but our classical studies about the composers has fallen off badly. Math: No problems, ahead of the goal. Science: right on target. Engish: literature got pushed aside, but we did well in writing and penmanship. Geography: we're doing very well, 9 year old now knows and can locate all 50 states, the Great Lakes, and many countries and regions of the world, as well as interpreting population statistics and reading coordinates. One other thing that happened in our schooling: my 6 year old was working in his phonics workbook on adding the "ing" ending to verbs. The book had the sentence: "The mommy was rush to her job." He was supposed to add "ing" to the verb. He stops dead in his tracks, and I asked him what the problem was. He said, "The sentence doesn't make sense. How could a mommy have a job?" I laughed a long time about that one! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/519311/ Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:40:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/519311/ My husband and I had the chance to leave the kiddos behind today and attend church alone. I hate to say it, but it is so much easier to relax and really hear the message when I'm not carrying a toddler around. I really got a lot out of it this time! Our pastor read from Philemon, and I learned a lot. (One thing I learned, was that I was pronouncing "Philemon" incorrectly all this time.) We put our littlest child on the scale today... 36 pounds! Not so little! Our kindergarten science lesson has hatched... 5 painted lady butterflies! I've been giving them orange slices, and I meant to let them go outside but we're having a cold snap. That might be releasing them to their deaths. I don't think I'll be blogging much this week. I've been trying to make the time to write, and I would rather put the effort there than in blogging. I've been working on the same unfinished novel forever! I was making good progress on it for a while, then... whammo! Another baby. I didn't write another word for about 2 years. So now I refer to it in my head as the "Neverending Story." It's ridiculously long. Needs work. As you moms know, our spare moments are precious! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/511646/ Sun, 6 Apr 2008 18:51:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/511646/ I've seen that slogan on other women's blogs, but today I'm feeling it! Things are working out really well for my husband and I at the moment, in a variety of ways. For now, our finances are strong, the kids are healthy, and we'll be actually getting our master bathroom repaired and remodled before too long! My husband told me to go ahead and buy that expensive set of Latin readers I want for the kids. The dog is even behaving himself, leaving the chickens alone. (Saying so makes me feel like knocking on wood. It's a silly, nonsensical superstition-- no, I don't belive it works-- but I feel compelled to do it when I talk about how wonderful things can be!) Anyhow, the sun is even starting to break out a little... According to the weatherman, I shouldn't get used to it. I can't help but wonder when things seem to be going so well, "Why me?" I feel so amazingly blessed, and I find myself looking over my shoulder a lot, wondering why. A person's first instinct is to ask, "What did I do to deserve this?" And of course, the answer is, "nothing." I'm a lazy sinner who has a tendency to be judgemental of others, swears too much, eats junkfood like a glutton, and doesn't pay the attention to the Lord that He deserves. There are so many people on this earth who are better human beings, better Christians, than I am. Lots of them have lives full of difficulties and pain. So why do the good things keep happening to me? First, He dies on the cross for my sins as much as anyone elses'. Then, I have a life that is also very "lucky," if you'll excuse the term. It is very difficult to understand. On a lighter note, our first caterpillar has emerged from its chrysalis, and we have a butterfly! There are 4 more waiting to hatch, so hopefully, this will just be the first... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/509249/ Wed, 2 Apr 2008 10:54:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/509249/ Yay! The chairs in our schoolroom are reupholstered. I wish I could claim I did it, actually my husband, master of the staple-gun, did it. It sure makes a big difference! I bought our set of table and chairs last summer from a small local Christian school which was moving to a new location, so they had a big yardsale. I paid $10 for the table and four chairs. The chair seats & backs were covered in an off white, waffle grain fabric, that was dirty when we got it. After months of use with my young kids, it was beyond filthy-- until this weekend. Our school room chairs are now recovered in a natty canvas with pinstripe, two are blue striped, two are red striped. The fabric cost me $12.75 for 3 yards, more than the furniture cost me in the first place! It looks great! I love that feeling you get on Sunday evening when you realize the dishes are done, the kitchen is clean, your lesson plan is finished, the carpet is vacuumed, all the toys and video games are put away and you really are ready for Monday morning! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/507559/ Sun, 30 Mar 2008 18:48:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/507559/ Can you ladies believe March is almost over? It feels like just last week was Christmas... Today the sun was shining but there was a wind with a cold bite to it. I had errands to run in town, so the kids and I drove into town in the minivan. I hit two potholes, hard. And that was in our driveway! Our driveway is getting rough. Any worse and I'll need a 4x4 to go anywhere! Once I pulled onto the road, I had to stop for a coyote, who made a point of crossing very leisurely and giving me the eye as he went. I've heard them howling a lot lately. Our bloodhound, Jacky, has had to be put in the garage every night for nearly a week, or the coyotes get him worked up and he howls all night. My 9 year old soon took his test today to move up from being a white belt (lowest rank) in his karate class, to a yellow belt (lowest rank plus one). We won't learn if he passed until the next class meeting on Monday. Have a lovely week everyone! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/505543/ Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:05:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/505543/ I finally decided to get on board with menu planning a couple of weeks ago after reading about how many ladies do it... I am so glad I did! The kids are eating healthier-- they haven't had cup'a'noodles for dinner once since I started -- and I am much less stressed out every day at 4:45! I have two penpals now-- and it is so exciting for me! One from Australia, one from Texas. Yay! I'm also corresponding with my 96 year old great aunt who still lives on our family ranch. So now I have plenty of friends to write to, also! By the way, I have discovered you CAN make nice Easter eggs from brown eggs. I was a little hesitant, but didn't want to go to the store to buy white ones since our fridge is exploding with eggs already. Have a great week everyone! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/504240/ Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:52:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/504240/ • Mar. 22, 2008 - Would you like to win the NEW Rosetta Stone? 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! We're lagging in our Spanish studies because we don't have adequate curriculum. I could really use this, and I'm sure some of you ladies could too! Good luck to everyone. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/503047/ Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:42:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BackwoodsMom/503047/