A place for me...to write about them. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/raisingknights/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:15:00 -0500 Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:15:00 -0500 Whew! The bank sign told me it was 102 degrees here in our part of the Bluegrass state today. Our town is on the river, so can you say "humid"? Our 30+ year old AC is just chugging away trying to keep it a balmy 83 degrees inside our home. Some people might complain about how hot it is in here, but I'm grateful that our little AC is working at all. Our backyard grass is so dry that you can see the dog's favorite spots to squat. And one of my sons actually said that he wanted it to rain just so it would cool down a bit. And I am looking forward to rain so that the dogs will quit rolling in the dust and shaking it off inside! It occurs to me that my above title may not mean anything to everyone outside of our area. "It's hot, Don!" is in reference to a local car dealership's slogan in their ads. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/raisingknights/374167/ Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:15:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/raisingknights/374167/ The Battle for the Toy Box Contest! I entered the Battle for the Toy Box Contest on the HSB Company Porch.  I hope to win over $100 worth of, Tales of Glory, Bible-based toys from one2believe!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/raisingknights/371962/ Sat, 11 Aug 2007 23:08:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/raisingknights/371962/ Everyone: Biblioplan for Families - 1850-2000 Civil War Unit Study Quartermile Math Color! Unit Study Sonny - 7th Grade Singapore Primary Math 6A/6B Easy Grammar  Jensen's Punctuation Painless Vocabulary Write Now! Total Language Plus (Rifles for Watie, The Hobbit) Apologia General Science (co-op) Latina Christiana I (co-op) Building Thinking Skills Bean - 3rd Grade Singapore Primary Math 2B/3A Learning Language Arts Through Literature - Yellow Considering God's Creation A Reason for Handwriting C Chronicles of Narnia study (co-op) Little Man - Preschool Hooked on Phonics Essentials - Prereading 30 Minute-A-Day Learning System - Preschool Lauri Number Play & Alphabet Train puzzles Mighty Minds Kumon workbooks Lots of story books & related fun activities Lots of free playtime   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/raisingknights/371954/ Sat, 11 Aug 2007 22:24:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/raisingknights/371954/ Monday is our first day of school. Our eighth year of learning at home. Each year brings its own challenges. Last fall, I was two months pregnant with son #4 and my husband had just left for active military duty for a year. He will be returning in a few weeks {sigh of relief}. This year, I'll have a 7th grader, a 3rd grader, a preschooler, and a nursing baby who will likely be mobile by Christmas. Add to that the fact that we are putting our house up for sale as soon as Papa Bear gets home, relocating an hour away, and Papa Bear will be starting a new career. AAAHH!  Being the procrastinator that I am, I still haven't ordered all of our school stuff and there are way too many things to be done around the house before I would even consider letting a realtor in. At night I lay in bed, organizing the house in my head. It's amazing that I've spent so much time doing that and yet the house still looks much the same as before. It's also amazing how much stuff you accumulate with four kids, seven years of homeschooling, and 15 years of marriage. I have seriously thought about renting a storage unit and putting about half of our stuff in it. Maybe I would forget about it and decide we don't really need it after all. That saying about not owning your stuff, but that your stuff owns you, is so true. Time for yet another yard sale, I suppose. Maybe we can earn enough money to pay for the storage shed.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/raisingknights/371947/ Sat, 11 Aug 2007 21:23:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/raisingknights/371947/ I've been curious about blogs, but never seriously considered having my own until today. Jumping right in is rather out of character for me, as is consistency, so I'm not sure what to expect of myself from this endeavor. We will see, I guess.  To start things off, I'll introduce you to my family because most everything about me centers around them. Is that healthy? Well, it depends on who you ask, I suppose. First, there is Papa Bear, my strong, handsome husband of almost 15 years. Next, is my first of four sons, Sonny, who just turned 13yo. Yikes! Then, 8 1/2yo Bean, almost 4yo Little Man, and the current baby, 5mo Baby LJ. At last, there is me, Christy. We have been homeschooling since the beginning, which means we are into our 8th year now. Between my love for books and my boys desire for a little more hands-on and my above-mentioned lack of consistency, our learning falls into the relaxed, eclectic category. And as if being a Christian homeschooler didn't set me apart enough, I also fall into the extended BFing, babywearing, natural living categories. Well, that's me in a nutshell.  Maybe I'll remember to add to this soon. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/raisingknights/370085/ Wed, 8 Aug 2007 11:31:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/raisingknights/370085/