Absent

Boy I can't believe I haven't written anything since the beginning of the month. Two weeks ago hubs had a toe amputated so that is my reason for being absent. Things are better now and again we have adjusted.

We finally finished our Native American unit. Yeah. We just started New World Explorers with the program "History through the ages" by Time Travelers. Let me just say it's is looking to be a very nice study. We are currently going through what it means to be a sailor. The boys will be learning some knots sailor's used. I think they will enjoy this. I hope they do.

On the science front one of our tadpoles died and we got another one. It was a bit sad but what could we do.We watch them and are waiting for their little legs to sprout but nothing has happened so far. Colin found a great site that went through the process of metamorphosis. That day we learned alot about what frogs eat, where they live, and other neat facts about frogs. I haven't managed to get started on the lapbook on frogs but I am sure glad that I already have it. When I am ready it will be there.

Both Colin and Conner finished their Math books for the year. I ended up getting them new because I was only going to save roughly $20 at most by getting used versions .I am glad I did. I have always just gotten the used versions so I have never given them the tests because I didn't have them. I can see how the tests will be very useful. There alot that just cover basic facts so the kids know them well and wont get bogged down with doing simple math and can focus on the problem they are learning. I let Conner try Teaching Textbooks and put him in 5th grade book. Now I know he should have gotten the 6th grade one since that is what he will be in next school year. I felt that all the work done this year to eliminate some of his math anxiety has really worked and he seems much more relaxed in this particular area now. I don't want to go back to the way it was. We will continue working through the summer so he will be done with the book before the year ends. It has only been about a week since he started his new book and just the other day he got done with math and he said "Mom, I'm good at math now see how fast I got done?". We graded it and he so far is doing a fantastic job only missing one or two out of about 25. I love the new attitude and it reassures me in knowing I picked the right book. We have never used this curriculum so I will give you a better review of it in about a month or so time. That way I too know if it is still working and what I like and dislike.

We just finished the second book in "The Chronicles of Narnia". The Lion , Witch and Wardrobe. We managed to get a cd version from Focus on the family and it was so fun to just sit around and listen to the story. Even though the boys watched the movie it was great to show how different a movie can be from the book. I had told the boys this with other books turned to movies and they didn't get it. They sure got it with this one. Probably because they liked the movie and payed attention. As has been the case of late, Austin whom voices his dislike of hs somehow manages to be in the room when I am reading to the boys. I read the last chapter as opposed to listen to the cd, it just seemed nice. This time was a bit different as he wasn't floating around the room pretending to be busy and just listening for the time being. He actually sat down with us and looked at the pictures when they came up. He even joined in the discussion of the book vs the movie and such. It is moments like this that make me firmly believe he doesn't mind hs as much as he tells everyone but just wants to go to ps so he can goof off with friends. It is with this in mind that he will stay another year and then we will re-evaluate. The boys are also moving along great in their grammar. We do need to write some papers as we haven't done all that much writing but Colin is getting good practice with his hs'ed pen pal. I am still on the hunt for pen pals with the other two kids.

We are finishing up with CBS and Awana in short time and have already signed up for the following year in which CBS will be covering Revelations. So we are going from the beginning -Genesis to the end. The boys have made many friends and have enjoyed the studies. I am considering vacation bible school for during the summer. Its still up in the air as it is a commitment and we want to go camping a bit during the summer. What to do what to do?

The boys are also doing a unit study of sorts. We are planning a trip to South Carolina (yes we just went there this past summer) for the family reunion. We have never gone and dh also has never gone. Since he is home (healing from surgery) I thought why not. We are working out all the details in that department. The boys will plan our route , our stops, figure out how much gas we will need and how much it will cost. I am also going to find some fun activities for the states we will be going through. I have unit studies for all the states but I don't think it will be much fun to do them all in the car. I will pick and choose for sure. I know the boys are very excited to go to the beach and see some family. I hope to update as we go so when I get home I can scrapbook it all.

Well got to run the house work beckons.
Have a great weekend.

Just because

I fell in love with this and if you haven't seen or hear this then how big is that rock you are hiding under anyway??? enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE6EkAvV4-Yhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE6EkAvV4-Y

Getting things done....finally

With our short break done we are back to the books. I am finally getting the Native American Unit done. Gesh I really dropped the ball on that one huh? Anyway we are going to do a review in the morning and an assessment in the afternoon. I think that way it's all fresh in their minds. I am going to buy time travelers history "early explorers". I have been looking at this product for some time and I really like all the hands on stuff. I think it will make it real for them. Unfortunately the one I have is the American Revolution and I really want to go chronologically. So it's off to find a copy at a decent price.

I got Conner's new math books. I ordered from christianbooks.com and it was all around pleasant experience. I went with Teaching Textbook in 5th grade. He will be working on this through the summer. He just finished his third lesson and has not missed a single number. I am so happy and no crying. Now I will send a thanks to God. I hope it continues and we have found a math that works for him. Colin informed me he would like to stick with Saxon. He is about to finish his second book with this math curriculum so if he likes it I will let him have it. I had asked him to think about it if he did want to try another curric, I guess thats my answer.

I am also excited as we just finished reading "Daniel Boone".Austin has somehow managed to be in the room to listen to me read several times. Until today it seemed coincidental, he would be eating or doing something in the kitchen. Today I knew, he sat down with chips and said "I'll sit here and listen till I finish my chips". Then he preceded to add in what happened in the last chapter as I did a small review. How funny huh? The boy who said I want to read on my own is now sneaking in to listen to me read. Trust me my heart sings and boy do I need to send out a big thank you to God for that one , huh? Anyway the story was nice and it sort of relates to our Native American unit since Shawnees and Iroquois are in it. I found the movie through Netflix (that place is becoming quite invaluable for school). So we will sometime this week be watching that. Conner is still deciding on what's next but our reading list is up top on the shelfari. It will be one of those. The boys thoroughly enjoyed this movie.

Well I got to run and put some bread in the oven to go with dinner(in the crock).

extra lessons

It has been decided that we are taking spring break. I signed the boys up for Ice skating lessons, but Austin had other plans. He went to his friends house, well that meant it was just my two younger ones. We missed the first day but that's okay. Tomorrow is their last lesson and they are having fun and learning a few things along the way. They made friends with one of the boys who is quite a neat kid. I really enjoyed talking to him and it impresses me when young kids can talk to adults and actually hold a good conversation.

We got some tadpoles to add on to our science. Remember last year when I got those great pics of tadpoles of various lengths. It was so cool so I wanted to be able to see the process. I promise I will get pics of them and hopefully post them weekly. I had considered getting Praying mantis eggs but I just came across these tadpoles so it was decided besides metamorphosis is just cool to watch. Maybe one day I will actually get the eggs. and watch the process from the egg to frog. I am looking at some lapbook ideas covering metamorphosis and frogs. Hopefully it won't break the bank. Here are some links I found if you want to do something along these lines.

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/Frog_Lapbook.php

http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks/frogs.htm

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/frog.shtml

http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Themes/frogs/frogs.html

this one is geared to the classroom but still has some great stuff.

http://www.squidoo.com/FrogUnitStudy

Unfortunately spring has not shown up for spring break. Can you believe it? We instead get some chilly weather. We are supposed to get together with some friends to do a sort of cooking class with some pre-done dough. I think we were going to make doughnuts. Colin asked me on the way home today if we can make a pastry. How cool is that? He said he wanted to make a bear claw. Now I think that is a pastry. So it is off to find out just how hard this will be. I would like to make some soft pretzels (German style). I am sure you will soon find a post about this very soon.

Spring is looming in the air teasing me with wonderful days. I long for warmer weather. then my bubble is burst as I yet again have to have some sort of confrontation with my oldest son now 13 years. The days my sweet boy and I got along so well are well not really around anymore. Don't get me wrong we do have our good times it just seems of late we have been butting heads for a while.

What is the latest? He "hates" homeschooling. His words. When asked to produce a reasonable reason to return to ps he gave his friends. MMMM that is one of the reasons we pulled him back out. Believe me I have seen him enjoy the benefits of hs ing. he sleeps most days till about 9:30-10:00. He is in charge of what he wants to work on as long as the list of things to do is done. We got a nice science book and he has been doing the chapter tests in them. History he has been writ ting a paper on the revolutionary war, world war 2 and civil war. This started a big fight. so here it is and you can tell me if I am nuts, wrong or right.



I gave him two weeks to get this done. Do you want to know when he finally started worked on it? Friday the day it was due. He did read(research?) his history book and find some information on the net. The problem here is he went straight to wikepedia and that's it. No further search for another source. needless to say when he turned in his paper that I saw him work on for all of an hour I was unhappy with the result. I'm sorry if I give you two weeks I better see that amount of work in your paper. He got all upset when I said he had to redo it and type it up. Then his buddy called and I said he couldn't spend the night because he failed to put in 100% in his history paper on the civil war.

So he rewrites it and types it up. Let me tell you here what I saw he came up with in the amount of time he worked on was impressive I just didn't feel that it was worth 7th grade work. So I said he could spend the next evening if he rewrites the paper yet again and looses the attitude. The following day he got up fairly early and rewrote the paper. He handed it to me and said can I go now? Ugg he obviously didn't get the point did he. I think that is the part that bothers me the most. Because if he doesn't get the point he will continue making the same mistake over and over. How do I show him the error of his ways in a way that he can see.

I got one more copy of the paper and I was still unhappy . Honestly I felt with every rewrite I saw how well he could write and I kept wondering how great of a paper I would have in my hands instead I got a total of 3 hrs tops and that was with the "oh my god" and "This is so stupid" and the ever present sigh as I take apart his paper. Would you guys like me to share the paper with you? I can type up the first and last copy. I still think that his paper could have been better but I am also tired of fighting over it.

15 years

Wow. We made it 15 years today. We are high school sweethearts, yeah I know ick. I remember it all so very well. We are just going up north to find whatever we want to do. Is that what they mean by "paint the town red" ? yeah that is our plan. I like it. I get to spend two days enjoying my favorite guy. What are some ways you have spent your anniversary?

Yes you can

For P.E. I generally just have the kids play outside. Then about 6 months ago they joined Karate so twice a week they went to practice. And a more recent addition would be ice skating which we have been doing almost weekly for two months now. Crazy huh? I am also considering a YMCA membership as I know there is alot that they can do in way of P.E. . Anyway.


Just a week ago the kids got their yellow belt. It was announced that they would be able to try and break boards and bricks. Well Monday was that day. All I heard all day was 'we needed to be ready to go' so they would be there on time to break the boards. I had them remind me about dinner very early and they even helped make it. They did their chores in a timely manner without too much fuss. They even asked if I needed help. (hmmm I should ask sensai if we can have board breaking day more often? of course then the magic will wear off)I had two choices

1. bring the camera

2. bring the camcorder

I brought the camera and the kids did a bit of Karate. Then the moment finally came. The class gathered by Sensai setting up. We watched a deomonstration on how to do it properly then we were off. At first only one hand went up for an attempt. Now Austin went first and of course after brittany (the youngest girl) went the two boys had to go. Surprised looks and amazed faces come to mind as each child managed to break the board.It was such a fantastic moment, one girl had been quiet all along when finally she got the courage. As she broke the board her eyes lit up and her mouth smiled in an astonished sort of way. I think that face was the best. Everyone was happy for her because by her expression just said it her shoulders rose and she had a more confident air. I think that type of parent moment is one of my fav's it is so good to see your kid or another kid in that switch from I can't to I can.

We stayed way over. Karate is held at our church there had been a birthday party so alot of people we knew saw the boys and their class break boards .I think it was the boys' favorite P.E. class by far. What do you do for P.E.

OOps it was late when I posted this. I meant to include these pic's

Sensai Matt chops a brick in half

Colin breaking his wood blocks made of Pine.

Austin mooved too fast for me to capture in the moment.