Home Sweet Home - Homeschool Blogger

Five Weeks in Australia and New Zealand

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:07:00 -0500

On September 17th, we began a five week adventure to Australia and New Zealand. I have been sharing the chronicles of our adventure on my other blog Melissa's Idea Garden. I try to provide links to places we have been as well as photos. I thought it might be interesting to fellow homeschoolers. The link will take you to the first post, then you can just move forward from there!

Crazy Love

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:25:00 -0500

Today, I learned about a book titled Crazy Love. I was reading the blog, Be Hands and Feet, of my young friend who is in Uganda helping people less fortunate than most of us. It is an amazing piece that points out that many Christians have forgotten what sharing the love of God means. I have added this book to my Kindle to read during our trip.

I encourage you to take a few minutes and go read her post. And if you have an extra dollar or more, be sure to click the donate button on her page. I can tell you the money is going to a good cause (providing for hungry children, taking care of abandoned children, helping families). Right now, they are trying to raise money for a van for Serving His Children to use.

In one week, she had the following to deliver or do:

• 150 lbs of beans,
• 150lbs of rice,
• 2,000 mangos
• 100 pieces of fire wood
• 10 sick children
• 3 to 5 trips to the clinic
• Lunch for 1,000 hungry children

and apparently, she is doing this on a motorcycle. If we can get 2000 people to donate 5.00 each, that would be enough for a van to be purchased. If you use paypal, be sure to put in the note section that you would like for your donation to go to the purchase of the van.

If you don't use paypal, you can also pay by snail mail.

Serving His Children
1124 Stratford Dr.
Bedford, VA 24523

A lot of times, we don't know if these things are legitimate, but I can promise you that this one is. So, skip your Mocha or Latte one day and make a difference!

Now That's Quite a Catch!!!!

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:03:00 -0500

Schoolgirl angler nets record catch that's twice her size and weighs 14stone - This is an amazing story! This young English girl has broken the world's record too!

Lynx Kittens Signal Success in Colorado

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:09:00 -0500

Lynx kittens are sign of hope in Colorado. Ain't that just the cutest little thing you ahve ever seen?

The discovery of ten lynx kittens this spring marks the first time newborn lynx have been documented in Colorado since 2006, heartening biologists overseeing restoration of the mountain feline. Lynx were wiped out in Colorado in the early 1970s. Approximately 200 lynx from Canada and Alaska have been released in Colorado in recent years.

The Beach, Go Tell Camp, And School

Mon, 6 Jul 2009 20:16:00 -0500

The last couple of weeks have been busy and I haven't had a chance to get online...well, that's not entirely true. The first week we were gone, the second week, I just didn't feel like it...

I have had a growing dislike for the computer this year. There are so many other things I would rather be doing. Reading a book, playing with the kids, cleaning the house, working on some project or another. I rarely surf these days or read blogs. But I do like keeping some record of what we are up to...even if it is just so family will know what we are doing.

We were at Myrtle Beach from June 19th through 28th. While there, we had mostly a fun time. We did some of our favorite things like play Putt-Putt, visit the aquarium, race go-karts, look for seashells, take pictures, lay by the pool, and play in the ocean. Daniel, Jack and I were also busy working on our SCUBA certification. That didn't go as well or as quickly as we thought it would.

We each had things that were a bit hard for us to master. Daniel overcame the quickest, but had to work at skills such as mask clearing and putting on his BC while in the water. I had the hardest time with mask clearing. Every time I tried to do it, I would try to breath in through my nose. But after a few days of practice, I was getting the hang of it. Jack just wasn't comfortable with the whole idea of being down deep due to some things he had read about lung over expansion injuries. He did finally go into the deeper part of the pool, but refused to do the ocean dive. On ocean dive day, the waves were high and I got sea sick...oh well...Daniel got two of his dives in and needs to do two more to get open water certified. I need to do all four of my dives and I think Jack is probably going to stick with snorkeling for now.

After we got back from the beach on Sunday, Jack took off for Go Tell Camp (church camp) on Monday. He was gone until Friday and Katrina spent that time either at her friend, Kaley's house, or Kaley was here. We went to see The Hannah Montana Movie, which I enjoyed even though I found it pretty predictable. We also went swimming at a local pool one afternoon.

Then on Saturday, we were going to hike to the top of Sharp Top (part of the Peaks of Otter) with a group that goes up there to see fireworks on the Fourth of July. However, we didn't get to go. They were calling for storms, so we just lit up some fireworks we had here for about an hour. We all enjoyed that just as much.

Today, we started up with some of our school. I always seem to struggle to get all of our math and grammar done. I think it is because those subjects have a set number of lessons that need to be done during a year's time. Whereas, other subjects we do, do not. So we are doing math and grammar so the kids won't be incredibly behind due to our trip to Australia in the autumn.

There, now ...all caught up...if only I can make myself get on the computer a bit more regularly.

Willow Wall - A Place Of History

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:05:00 -0500

In the spring of 2000 we were looking to move. We had been looking at West Virginia. Great real estate prices, more snow, and an airport nearby so Daniel could get out to travel for work. I was also very pregnant. Katrina was born in April. Around that time, Daniel stumbled on a beautiful 200 year old, 16,000 sq foot plus home, Willow Wall, which was up for sale.

Over a 4-6 week period, Daniel made three trips to Willow Wall. Once on his own with Bruce, once with my father and Uncle Jimmy and lastly with me. This home was beautiful. And the history. We have pictures and videos that we took and made during our forays there. My father told me yesterday that when he and Uncle Jimmy met with Colonel Ivan Harris at 10 a.m., they broke briefly for lunch, then the tour continued on until 3 p.m. Not only was the current owner, Colonel Ivan, in love with this house and its history, he passed that on to my husband. Daniel became driven by his desire to own this house. He read about McNeill's Rangers, and he dreamed of what it would be like to live in this beautiful home with all of its history.

I, unfortunately, am the more practical of the family. The house was expensive, 325,000 in 2000 and our house payments would be way more than what we were used to. I was also concerned that it would be a life long project and with Daniel traveling, I would be in charge of the project and lastly, I was concerned about lead. I had a brand new baby to think about and a 3 year old son.

We qualified for the loan (through some of the most creative financing known to man by the banks). Daniel assured me, that I would not be left alone to deal with the repairs. But the lead report came back that there was lead everywhere and I put my foot down. Two months later, Daniel's contract ended and there was no more work for 18 months, so in hindsight, the lead probably saved us from utter ruin. But we still talk about the house and I know Daniel still dreams about it.

What can I personally say about Willow Wall? The home was huge. It was beautiful. The attic alone was bigger than the house we live in now. There were wine cellars, old fireplaces complete with cooking iron (the thing that you swing out of the fireplace that holds the iron pot), wall paper in the entry hall that was 200 years old, rooms that were huge and airy, and nooks and crannies galore. I loved the house, but it terrified me to think of all the work that needed to be done and I wasn't sure I was up to the task. But somewhere, in a parallel universe, we made the decision to buy the home and we live there still, I am sure.

Here are some links and information that you might be interested in.

The application for National Registry of Historical Places (which Willow Wall is on).

An image on Flickr.

When we met with Colonel Harris, we were given information on Willow Wall. I thought I would share it here.

"Original records and research indicate that the farm was originally purchased by Major (later Colonel) Abraham Hite by Land Grant from Thomas Lord Fairfax, in 1762. Colonel Hite was a four term member of the Colonial Virginia House of Burgesses in Williamsburg and later served with General Washington in the Army of the Revolution. Washington's diary states that on September 27, 28, 1784, he spent two nights at Hite's home near Ft. Pleasant. This is the only time that the adult George Washington visited the South Branch Valley being then 52 years of age. He never returned. 1787 Colonel Hite sold the farm to Captain Daniel McNeill, a trustee of the Town of Moorefield and it was McNeill's son who began construction of Willow Wall in 1804. After severn years of construction, Dan McNeill, II, his wife, MArgaret Renick moved in with their 13 children in 1811.

Willow Wall was the Headquarters for Confederate Generaly Bradley T. Johnson on August 6, 1864. Johnsons brigade camped in front of the major house in the Old Fields flats. Having just burned Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, the Union Army was in hot pursuit and surprised the exhausted Brigade at dawn August 7, resulting in a significant defeat of the Confederate forces.

This exceptional Federal manor house was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1973. The bronze plaque and certificate attesting to that hangs in the Willow Wall library. The National Park Service directed that architectural drawings be made for the Historic Buildings Survey and were completed in 1977. The Smithsonian Institution in 1981 photographed the interior and exterior of Willow Wall and the dependencies. These photographs are on file at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The property was continuously in the hands of the McNeill family for seven generations until it was sold in 1980 to Colonel Lynn Moore for $100,000.00. Colonel and Mrs. Moore never resided at Willow Wall and it was sold to Colonel W. Ivan Harris in 1884 for $135,000.00. Vacant for the seven years, major repairs and updating were required. Time and materials for these improvements exceed $100,000.00. As the home is entirely hand made, the furnishing and decoration of the home was undertaken to include only hand-made, hand-forged, hand-woven, and hand-painted items in order to portray the home in the time period of the builder."

Hope you have enjoyed this little bit of insight about a beautiful home!

Benedict Arnold

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 13:56:00 -0500

I watched Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor a couple of days ago. I don't know a lot about Benedict Arnold, except his status as a traitor during the Revolutionary War. I am not sure how close to the truth that this movie was, but I had read an article at some time in the past that really made it sound like Arnold had been pushed against the wall by his own country men. His achievements were overlooked, he was not paid his salary, and another jealous general tried to take credit for his courageous deeds. On the other side of the story, it appears he mishandled funds, but I was unclear whether that occurred before or after a lack of pay caused him financial distress. At any rate, I am not trying to condone his behavior, as there were ample other soldiers during the Civil War who were not getting paid and they didn't turn traitor.

At any rate, Arnold started out by giving his all for his country. But then after feeling slighted and running into financial difficulties, his 2nd wife began pushing him towards turning traitor. He resisted some, but in the end, he gave up and did as she asked/goaded him. The movie was well-acted and it made me feel a bit sorry for Arnold (of course, since the plot was foiled, it is easier to feel sorry for him).

What is Diabetes

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:31:00 -0500

I have two close relatives in my family with diabetes. As a person who has a tremendous sweet tooth and is overweight, I worry about my own likelihood of becoming diabetic. There was a lot I didn't know about Diabetes, so I pulled up Google and did some research. I do need to make some changes in my diet and exercise and the sooner, the better.

Diabetes in itself is difficult enough to live with, but then it affects so many other things (like your nervous system and organs), that it would be best to avoid it all together if possible.

Good Day

Mon, 8 Jun 2009 18:02:00 -0500

Today I have been busy. I spent this morning working on Daniel's and my new start-up business idea. I also spent some time answering some emails and doing some other odds and ends. Then it was eat lunch and out the door. I had to go by UPS and mail our XBox 360 back to Microsoft. Daniel won it a few years ago and we haven't played it a lot, but the other day we turned it on and got three flashing red lights. We figured we were just out of luck. But my oldest son told me that this was a problem Xbox had early on and that Microsoft had created an extended warranty for it. So we checked and sure enough, after about 10 minutes online, we were set up with a prepaid UPS thing. All we had to do was pack it up and send it off. I think that is awesome!

After we did that, we had to take a water sample from the hot tub by the Pool place and have it checked out.

Then it was over to piano lessons. While the kids were there, I ran to Walmart and exchanged some pants I had picked up for Jack (I had gotten a size too big) and I picked up a few items for making supper for a friend. Then we went to a produce stand and picked up some yummy looking tomatoes. Picked up the kids, then headed home. I got home and made some lasagna and a salad for a friend who had surgery on her back today. I also got them some cake and some garlic bread and took them some paper plates, bowls and salad dressing. I have had sugery before and I know how wonderful it was to have someone show up with a meal ready to eat and with little work to do for clean up.

Once it was ready, Katrina and I took it over there. Cindy had just gotten home and the surgery went well. There was a mass that had to be removed, it appears to have been a calcium buildup. Once she is recovered from that, they will have to do another surgery to help straighten out the vertebrae. She has been in pain for several months, so hopefully this will get things situated for her. Katrina stayed to visit with her daughter for awhile.

I love days when lots gets done, don't you? Now I am watching the movie Hitch with Will Smith. I had never seen it. It's pretty good!

Another Year Under Our Belt

Fri, 5 Jun 2009 11:43:00 -0500

It is hard for me to believe that we started homeschooling 7 going on 8 years ago... My son, Jack, will be entering 8th grade next year and Katrina will be entering 4th grade. Where does the time fly to? I was recently looking through some old photos which reminded me of numerous field trips, group events, and just plain fun we have had over the years. Each year, our routine is a bit different. The last two years we have become very involved in a 4-H Homeschool group that meets twice a month and completes other activities as well. We miss the meandering park days from when the children were younger and periodically, some of us will try to set those up, but the need of homeschoolers now seems to be different than it was just 7 years ago.

Sometimes, I can't help but wonder if that is really a good thing? I mean, in the beginning people seemed more carefree about teaching their children and not pushing them so much. Now it seems like everyone wants to get their kids involved in this activity or the other. Are we truly homeschooling our children, or are we busy trying to keep us with the Public School kids that come to visit? I think it is wonderful for children to have opportunities, but I think we should all remember that the best opportunity of all that we should make sure they have is the opportunity to be children.

When the life expectancy was 30, then children had to grow up much more quickly. Now average life expectancy is around 70 or so. Which means that once a child reaches adult hood (arguably somewhere between 18 and 21), they still have another 50 years ahead of them for work and following their interests. So, don't forget to let your kids be kids now while they still can, because those grown up days are coming soon enough!