Bits and pieces from our life as a homeschoolers. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Fri, 2 Mar 2007 09:23:01 -0600 Fri, 2 Mar 2007 09:23:01 -0600 February saw my birthday, Valentine's Day, my and dh's anniversary (17 years now!)  and now in March, in just a few days, my oldest son will turn 16.  That seems just a significant age. I tried to post a week or so but couldn't get on so I gave up.  I still have a testimony I want to  share with you.  I need to get off this now so Samuel can do more of his schoolwork, but I will try to come back to this soon! Thank you to those who have left comments.  I'm sorry I have not been very active lately on HSB but I will try to improve.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/293587/ Fri, 2 Mar 2007 09:23:01 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/293587/ Absent without posting?  Yeah, guilty.  Sorry about that.   January started hard, but got a little better when I remembered to pray.  I still need to pray and remember that I need God's help daily.   My oldest daughter turned 14 in January.  We're still planning a time to go to the pool with a couple of her friends.  This month sees a few special days.  My birthday (soon), Valentine's Day, and my anniversary are all in February. I have a story to tell you, but it will have to wait until I have some time to spend on it.  It's not very long, but I'd like to tell it right!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/280294/ Mon, 5 Feb 2007 05:19:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/280294/ ...I've just been bad about posting. The week before last, over the weekend, I was really dreading the week to come.  I just had no desire to homeschool right then.  I realized I needed God's help and had neglected to ask Him.  I did ask Him, and that week went OK, Praise God.  Last week went OK, but I did also ask God's help and blessing.  This week also has started out OK (although it's only Monday).  I know I rely on God's help, and have asked His blessing for certain things, but this afternoon I think I need to seek Him a bit more earnestly for His aid.  I was sharing with a (former) missionary friend yesterday morning about www.sermonaudio.com, and mentioned a few sermons I had heard.  I told him about Duncan Campbell's testimony of what occurred during the revival on the Isle of Lewis, in the Hebrides in Scotland, back in the early 1950's.  He knew of it (that sermon is available in print too) and said that he had heard Duncan Campbell in person.  He preached "Is There a Broken Altar in Your Home?" - about prayer and if his hearers had been neglecting it.  Oh how I wish I could hear that today!   I need it myself, and such a topic needs to be preached in many churches I think. My friend's wife is not so well.  I am knitting her a shawl.  Par for my course I've had to start it several times for different reasons but I think I'm on the right way with it now.  I've also got a few other WIPs (also par for the course). Our hens are laying more now.  We now have 4 of the 5 hens laying.  The araucana, Stormie, has not begun yet.  I hope she does, I am looking forward to the colored eggs her breed produces. Yoshi, Ben's chameleon, is doing well.  He has shed twice so far now, the second time happening today.  From start to finish takes about 3 hours.  I think it looks very uncomfortable and he expends a lot of energy twisting, turning, rubbing against his leaves and stems and otherwise manoevering to get the peeling skin off.  I've got a photo but need to upload it to Photo Bucket first I think. David's sight has not improved.  He has a follow-up visit at the Eye Hospital tomorrow and I hope the doctor will have some good ideas to help David. The gales last week were fierce.  Oklahoma has tornados, which cause so much damage and loss of life, but the gales here last for days, and this last episode saw the deaths of 11 people, and I don't know how many injuries.  We lost our "green box" (a plastic bin for putting recycling out for the council to collect) but nothing else.  We did have a dead tree in the back blow down, but it was quite small and did no damage to anything else.  Many people lost their electricity supply and some still had not got it back when the weather turned cold over the weekend. That's all for now!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/273064/ Mon, 22 Jan 2007 08:40:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/273064/ Unfortunately I ended up with a migraine and went to bed for a couple of hours in the middle of the day.  I got up and made meatloaf for the crockpot, with a little help from Kerenza (4 1/2 years old).   Despite my migraine I'm not too displeased with how things have gone today, Benjamin fussed over his math assignment but got on and did it (I haven't graded it yet though) and he did his handwriting.   Just a few minutes ago I had him start reading Farmer Boy by L I Wilder and  thought he initially said it was hard when he looked at it, I told him just to read a couple of paragraphs if that is all he could manage.  He got through almost the whole chapter!  So I am quite pleased at what he accomplished.  On other days I plan to "tag read" (I read some, he reads some) with him, as well as having him read a bit by himself.  The older kids have done some of their work - my 15 year old son did less than his younger sister as he daydreamed too much but I'm OK with that for today.  I'm not OK with the fact that he couldn't find his Apologia Biology CD Rom.  The little children did some pages of their workbooks and have played with Geomag, which is quite educational.  I found some at less than half price on Saturday so after calling David to ask if he wanted me to get some (I was having a "Mom gets to be by herself" afternoon in Oxford) I bought a few boxes. It's not been as productive a day as I'd hoped, but not too bad given the fact that I'm a bit out of commission. I'd appreciate your prayers about my migraines.  They seem to be getting more frequent and/or harder to get rid of.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/265717/ Mon, 8 Jan 2007 09:34:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/265717/ We got our 11 year old the chameleon he wanted for Christmas.  Yoshi joined our family on December 23.  We could have waited until the 24th to go get him, but I wanted to get him on Saturday so over the first full day of our having them we would be able to call Chris at the pet store if anything concerned us. I took a photo of Yoshi tonight as he was going to bed.  I keep getting blurry pictures of him but you get the idea and can see his beautiful tail. He is about 12 weeks old, so still a baby. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/263298/ Wed, 3 Jan 2007 15:09:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/263298/ I hope you had a nice Christmas.  We had (and still have) no oven, but some friends lent us a counter-top oven, which I used for the turkey (crown) and I also used the crockpots.  It all worked out.    I'm even more pleased that we managed to have devotions on Christmas morning, Bible reading (with a flannelgraph set of the Nativity, sent by my mom), prayer, and even singing a couple of carols.   Last year our devotions were cut short by the breakage of a radiator and the subsequent panic of getting the water caught and soaked up from the carpet!   On Christmas evening David read the final installment of Jotham's Journey, the book we had been reading all Advent.  May 2007 bring many blessings to all of us.  I'm hoping and praying that David's eye issue will be resolved.  He had an ultrasound on his neck done today, which showed normal blood flow.  He goes back to the eye hospital later this month.  We're still on vacation from home education.    My plan is to start back up on Monday.  We will have an interruption on Wednesday as I take the older ones to the orthodontist and David takes Stephen to the plastic surgery clinic in Stoke Mandeville for a follow-up appt (he had burns from hot water back in September).  I think it all looks pretty good now.  The appt. is just for the consultant to see that everything has healed OK. I may duck into the yarn shop in Oxford after the orthodontist visit on Wednesday.  David bought me a book from there last time he took the children for their appt. but I have not yet visited the shop.  We got our 11 year old son the chameleon he wanted.  We all like Yoshi who is a Yemen or Veiled chameleon.  I'll try to get some photos up another time.  I hope we can do a good job taking care of this creature - they have a lot of needs. I've got a number of finished projects I might show pictures of, and I've got a number of things I'm working on.  I've got two hats for charity going, and I've started my first pair of socks!  Of course I have a number of UFOs about (unfinished objects) -  I did work on one of them this afternoon, which feels good. I've recently started listening to podcasts.  My favorite knitting one so far is Sticks and String - you can find it on David Reidy's website, www.sticksandstring.com.au .  I've got a few things I need to grade from the "big kids" schoolwork from before we started our Christmas break.  I was going to do some this afternoon but had a migraine this morning and early afternoon, so I didn't get to it.  Maybe tomorrow.  I'm finally ready to tackle it - I thought about getting it done the first week of break, but I just did not want to.  A bit of laziness or perhaps burnout.  I do need to do some praying - I'm still not 100% revved up for the winter/spring term - but I know God gives us the strength we need.  I need to spend some time with Him. Have you already started back if you had a break?  If not, how are you feeling about starting?  Am I the only one not feeling ready? Happy New Year! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/263215/ Wed, 3 Jan 2007 12:36:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/263215/ Last Monday, I think, our oven was "condemned."  It had so much wrong with it, and was so old it was no longer worth repairing.  The lower oven I had been using, was corroded on the bottom and the eletrician told me not to use it any more.   So we've been using the slow-cookers or the stove top for our meals since then. We've looked at some ovens on Ebay but have lost all the auctions we've bid on. I'd be willing to do without an oven for another month or so, it does mean no Christmas cookie baking ,but I could do without the calories so it's no bad thing.  Speaking of David we've had a bit of a scare with his vision - to make a long story and several dr. appointments short, we (well, I and the drs) were concerned he had a detached retina.  After a thorough exam at the eye hospital it was discovered he has a blocked blood vessel which has starved his retina (we think) which led to the loss of 1/4 to 1/3 of his vision.   He is taking aspirin now, and hopefully the clot will dissolve.  If it does, the eye may repair itself.  That is what we are praying for.    He has to go back in January for an ultrasound, and then later for another appointment with the eye specialist.   Please pray for him. We've taken this last week off.  I sure needed it.  Didn't get as much done as I'd like - either in housework, marking schoolwork, or even just sitting and knitting but it's been a good week.  I got my hair cut again - just about 3 weeks after a trim at my normal salon, and 2 weeks after getting it permed.  This time I went to another salon because I finally admitted to myself that I just wasn't happy at my former one and the girl there who does my hair, just too often doesn't get what I want, and when I have perms I've been disappointed.  At the new salon the stylist showed me what she would have done and used to get the effect I told her I wanted, and it made sense to me and in fact lined up with what I thought should have been done in the first place.  She cut my hair quite quickly, and even when wet I could see it had a much better shape it.   And to top it all off, as it was my first time there, the cut was half price! We are getting ds2, Ben, a chameleon this Christmas.  David brought home the vivarium and all the stuff for it yesterday after work but didn't have time to work on it until today.  He had a half-day off, but still didn't manage to get a lot done on it until tonight.  Preparing to have this creature in our home has been a real learning experience.  We've learned about caring for one, and what kind of habitat they need, and tonight we learned first-hand about setting their kit up! Ben was sick in the night last night.  I sure hope that no one else gets it.  On Wednesday night I felt queasy but didn't get sick, poor old Ben was sick for real.  Why do my children always get sick at night?  It's rare that they ever start anything in the daytime!   If I don't write again before Monday, I hope you have a lovely Christmas! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/258353/ Fri, 22 Dec 2006 17:51:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/258353/ This is an edited version of an email I sent to one of my groups.  I thought I'd let it do double-duty! Last week was a bit of a washout, due to my migraine.  The meds I was prescribed no longer work as completely as they did.    Monday I opened the door (in my curlers, which is always brilliant), and I had a delivery that had a tax/duty on it and because of that a big handling fee.  The package had calendars in it, I thought as it was printed matter that it wouldn't be taxed.  Well, they did charge duties etc so I had that and the handling fee.  The actual products were not so expensive but I will not be doing that again!!  (Perhaps a kind person would receive them and send them on to me with me paying for a global priority envelope?)  The fees?  Over £19.00 - if you are brave go to an exchange rate website and get it worked out - I am too embarassed to even type it!! All for calendars for my Dayrunner planners.  Ugh.  Live and learn.  I guess I go to an expensive school for my hard knocks.   I just coped for the most of the week, I had people did a little schoolwork, but not a lot.  Unfortunately I couldn't enjoy the time off.   On Thursday morning I had a fasting blood sugar test done, the HBA1C, or something like that.  I hope it comes out OK.  I also had my blood pressure taken by the dr (the blood test was done by the nurse, but she had no sphyg to do the bp) and it was normal, PTL.  It had been high in the summer, and by walking I got it down some.  This result was very good, but very surprising as I have not been walking. The doctor took it 3 times as he did not believe the result.  I said "What?  You're going to take the worse out of 3???"  He just laughed.    I've been trying to do better with my diet but that is not perfect either - I lost a little weight, but very little although I may still have been carrying water last week.  Earlier it had seemed that I had lost 2 inches around my waist, and it does seem that I can move more easily in some regards.   I have to go back for the results of the blood test next week.   I hope they will be OK and that I will not have to increase the Glucophage that I am taking.   In the afternoon on Thursday I got my hair permed.  I'm not sure I'm real pleased with it, but I'll give it 2 weeks to settle down and see if it is more like I want.  It could be.   Saturday we had our photos taken at Olan Mills and then went shopping.  We got a good number of items (my Christmas pressie -an mp3 player,  and David's, a satnav - which was part of his birthday too -- which we won't open until Christmas, at least that's the plan)  and then ate at McDonalds. On our way home we stopped at the exotic pet shop in a village near our town.  The owner answered all my questions that were concerning me about caring for a chameleon (like, what if we have to move?  what if the power goes off?) and that was good.  We got a price sheet for a package deal and also got a list of individual prices to go along with a larger vivarium.   It is so much money, either way.  But my ds has been very consistent about wanting it, and not changing his mind and saying pls go ahead and give him other birthday gifts and his pool party that he had wanted (but gave up in order to help save for a chameleon).    And now, Abi is wanting a bearded dragon but as she just started saying she wanted it (and we don't have the money, nor the room - it's going to be a strain getting the chameleon in!) I don't think she'll get one now!   Yesterday after church David and I dropped the kids off home and went to a large garden center which has a farm shop and a craft shop too.  I got some yarn for scarves for my sisters in law (we called MIL up to ask for advice on color!) and we had soup and bread at the restaurant - we rarely have date nights or anything so that was good.     That afternoon David cleared the blocked sink and graded some math.  I graded some of Abi's work and I know I have more to do but will take a break.     David has mentioned that his right eye seems to have a "shadow" that affects his vision.   After he mentioned it again yesterday I realized it wasn't just tiredness so this morning I made an appointment at the opticians for him.  It is on Wednesday.  Please pray for his eye.  I hope it is not too serious.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/253183/ Mon, 11 Dec 2006 06:04:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/253183/ we didn't electrocute ourselves or have an electrical fire.  On the bad side, it turns out that our oven is at least 25 years old, has too many things wrong with it to be worth fixing if we could, and we couldn't get the parts for it anyway - and the lower oven is unuseable due to corrosion which would allow any spills to get to the heating element.   So we need a new oven.  The repairman strongly recommended that I not use the lower, smaller oven at all now (which I had been doing, as it did heat up) which leaves us with the stove top (a separate unit) and the slow cookers.   I am thankful for those. I do hope that perhaps very soon something will come up on Freecycle.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/253181/ Mon, 11 Dec 2006 05:53:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/253181/ This beautiful template was arranged by a "secret sister" for me.  Isn't it lovely?  Thank you so much, SS!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/248361/ Fri, 1 Dec 2006 13:13:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Rosesandtea/248361/