~*What We Are Working On*~

Since I am already feeling off course I wanted to post about what we are working on:

















First we start with reading from the Bible:




















Then she can pick which subject we do next as long as the schedule topics for that day get covered:










History Books:


















History Reading For The Civil War (First Four Weeks):


















Math:


















Science:



















Spelling / Writing:



















Nature Study:




















Presidents & States:




















Geography:





















Health:




















Art:





















Music: No Book Available At This Time

Home Economics: No Book Available At This Time


We also use some websites thrown in there to add to the subjects topics.

Disappointed With Myself....

Barely a week into schooling and I am disappointed with myself already! I thought I was soooo prepaired this year, I spent time working out schedules ect. thinking that would make things go smoother. We already have had days off due to Tropical Storm Fay so there is no reason I should be scrabbling but I am! Our days just are not running smoothly at all.... I have a list of everything we need to do (I let Kelly decide in which order we do things as long as they all get done). Well already we are falling behind and things just aren't getting done : ( I really wonder what I was doing during the storm, It would have been a perfect time to get everything printed out and ready for the school week. I sure am going to really work on it this weekend and see if I can't get us running smoother.

Good Tuesday Morning : )

It's funny how when surfing the internet sometimes things pop up that you didn't think you were looking for but that you need to take a look at... I am in a nasty mood already this morning, I didn't sleep well last night because we got the electric bill yesterday (It is now up to $671.97 for two months - We will be getting the shut off notice any day now for the $308.10 amount). Yesterday we also had gotten the cable/internet/telephone bill which if we can't come up with $149.49 by the end of the week it will be shut off. The bad thing is my husband worked one day due to the storm so his paycheck is going to be barely enough for food - All this was running around in my head and would not let me sleep. I was also up a number of times with the puppies last night, then my husband puts on all the lights when he get's up this morning at 5am. which then woke the puppies up AGAIN, then just when I got everyone settled down and I jumped back into bed and started to doze off the phone rang at 6:59am (It was my husband's former business partner...)So I am tired, very cranky & in a major negative mood about EVERYTHING! I sat down to the computer and started looking around and happened to find this website which has alot of great things on it when you get a free minute take a peek: Garden Of Praise I was drawn to the heading Bible Lesson for Women & Young Adults - The first lesson listed is about Attitude I found it to be very helpful to kick my butt back in gear! I know someone was directing me to that site today for a number of reasons hope you enjoy it as much as I am. I am off to wake Kelly up for School Time : ) Have a Great Day!

Fay is finally gone!!!!!!

We made it through Tropical Storm Fay!
These pictures are not of streams these are our roads - At one point all the roads leading out were flooded! The back side of the storm was terrible for us, the winds were wild and it just kept raining and raining (but nothing like the poor souls who got over 20 inches of rain...). Our horse pen and driveway were underwater it really started to get a bit scary but then the rain started to lighten up and things improved. We had no electricity - We have a cable carrier (Bright House) which we have our telephone, cable & internet with, when the electric goes off we lose everything! It was rough not having a phone during the storm we had no way of knowing how long the repairs were going to take to get electricity back.... It reminded me of what people must have delt with back in the old days when they had no tv ect. and a storm would hit and they would not have had up-dates on tornado/flooding warnings - how scary it must have been for them.
We did take walks out in the rain and we did find some small crayfish swimming in the flooded streets which was so interesting (and kinda scary thinking we were just walking in those areas). We spotted some other strange looking bug type thing which I had never seen before (wish I had the camera), so the day was not without some learning : )
Thanks you for all the well wishes, They are greatly appreciated!

Tropical Storm Fay

We are starting to feel the affects of Torpical Storm Fay....
It is supposta travel right over us here in Flagler County, the winds are really picking up and of course the rain sure is coming down. I took this pictures of the horse pen - It is flooded and the storm hasn't really hit yet. The horses are miserable! The two of them are huddling under one of the litle tarp things we have for them to get out of the sun - It is falling apart and sure isn't helping them much today if the winds get too bad we will have to take it down! We still have electricity but it is flickering on and off so I have my fingers crossed it will stay on. I will try and take more pictures through out the day and post them as it get's worse.
My son called Winn Dixie to see if he should go to work or not and they told him to come in.... I worry he might not be able to make it back home if the roads get flooded.

2nd. Day Of School - Who said it can't be fun!

We are still here! The Tropical Storm Fay is supposta turn right over our area - Yikes! I'll keep you posted...
In the mean time, Yesterday we had our 2nd. day of school. Things are going okay, math is still a major problem for her : ( I did add in our Art class yesterday to keep things upbeat, I had seen over on the "School For Us" blog this painting of rocks activity so we tried it. LOVED IT! Kelly and I had so much fun, It is amazing how well the crayons actually color the rocks : ) I took some pictures of us working on our masterpieces - Kelly blinks in almost ever picture I take of her, this time I told her to just keep your eyes open!
We have no school today.... As you remember I had opend my fat mouth about running the same schedule as the public school, well they are taking the day off today and most likely tomorrow too because of the storm : (
The other problem is my husband has been home yesterday, today & will be home tomorrow too! I can't imagine what next weeks paycheck is going to look like.....Yikes!

1st. Day Back To School.....

Today we are getting back to the books, Woooo Hoooo!
Yesterday Kelly was thinking of ever idea she could come up with on why we should not start today..... On the top of her list is "Tropical Storm Fay". She feels why start back and then have the storm hit tomorrow and we will be off again... Our area (Flagler County) is on the right hand side of this storm so we have to worry more about tornadoes Yikes! This year I told her that we were going to follow the public school schedule, but I am thinking if they close school tomorrow and Wed. we should go ahead and have school especially if the electricity goes off it will be something to do..... Oh well if you could keep your fingers crossed for us here in Florida that Miss Fay treats us nicely I would appreciate it!

A Good Book.....

I was reading one of the books Kelly has on her reading list and have found it to be very interesting: The Story of Thomas Alva Edison by Margaret Cousins. Did you know that he was homeschooled.... He attended public school only three months when he was 8 years old and then his mother took over his studies. One chapter mentions how he was going to pay his taxes and had to stand in line for a long time, by the time he got to the front desk the lady asked his name and he couldn't remember it.... And He also was not very good with math facts.... I thought to myself while reading this how I worry about Kelly's lack of remembering things & her poor math skills and here this guy had the same problems and he is a genius!

Tuesday On The Home Front

It is funny how things do work out sometimes.... I was so set to start school on the 4th. but found out the public school is starting on the 18th. so we changed the start date. I was feeling down about it but since then my girls have had three litter of puppies which has me up a ton of times through out the night& I have also found out I wasn't really prepaired to start school anyway, so it was a blessing we didn't start on the 4th.!
It has been very hot here in Florida (I like hot weather but this has been crazy). Last night it finally was a tick cooler so we took the horses out for a stroll. It was so nice to bond again with my man Roper - If you haven't tried horseback riding you should give it a try it really is wonderful.
We have been struggling with our swimming pool! The water keeps turning green. My husband has poured the chemicals in but it is still doing it. We covered it thinking the sun was making algae grow but that hasn't helped either. Any suggestions?

Counting Down The Days.....

I think I am almost there with getting a grip on our schedule this year! I worked on it on and off all day/night yesterday, I was writing lists ect. and then I stopped myself, I think that is what causes me to get into trouble because I misplace them and I spend more time looking around for them and not getting the lessons done.... I now have a folder set up and I am going to put "everything" I will need for the week in that so it will be at my finger tips. I also set up a cardboard box which I put all the books we are using this way I won't need to get up and search for them either. I am using BiblioPlan 1850-2000 with some touches from History Odyssey. This covers reading, map work & writing ideas all in one program which I love. Slowly but surely this is coming together.... the funny thing is as much as I have gone over, read library books, found websites ect. on the first weeks topic "Civil War" I will be sooooo sick of it by the time Kelly & I start on it Monday! Of course I am still worried about some of the other subjects (like grammer) but one step at a time. I do want to add Lapbooking into our schedule - I think it may be a way for Kelly to remeber some of the things we cover in a fun way. I just need to pick up some file folders and of course some ink for the printer (I don't know about you but we seem to go through ink quicker then ever lately and I have really been watching what I print...)
Here is another yahoo group that I have found to be very helpful:
Lesson Theme Of The Week

Just when I thought I had our schedule set.....

Just when I thought I had our school plans finished....
I knew giving myself until the 18th was going to cause problems, When I get to thinking things over too much I can never seem to make my mind up! I am hopefully going to work on it today and try and iron it out in my mind & on paper...

This year since it is Kelly's "7th grade", I have a heavier reading schedule for her which I KNOW she is going to HATE! She hates to read anything..... Sooooo here comes the bad Mom part - I have added a special note to her lesson plans, She get's one dollar for every books she reads and does a short report on. I know that is bad but I am thinking who knows the more she reads she may just catch the reading bug : )
I am finding it is taking alot longer then I thought for the inter-library loan books I have requested (good thing I have till the 18th), the problem I am finding is that you can't really renew the inter-library books I think we only get them for two weeks and then they have to go back so I can't request to far in advance. The two I need right away our: Across Five Aprils (I am bidding on an older cheaper version on ebay) & Behind Rebel Lines (I found that one on ebay also) both look like really interesting books : )

I have also found a "Green" Site I would like to share with you: EcoBrain

Don't Blink.....

I received this link to view this video "Don't Blink" by Kenny Chesney from another blogger - It is soooo true! It brought tears to my eyes..... My Mom always said the same thing to me, that one day you wake up and your graduating, the next your married, then you have kids ect.... but you know when you hear it you just don't belive it. I think what has really brought it all home for me is since both my parents have passed on - It really makes you very clear on what is important in life.
Slow down and really enjoy your life & family : )

School Or Not to School That Is The Question......

My son's baptism went very well yesterday, They used a swimming pool instead of a lake which I liked better since you never know when you will have an alligator around. Just like I thought there was talk of school, I was on the fence on what to do about it. Then it all became clear when one of my girls decided to have her puppies at 3am this morning..... so needless to say since I have another one of my girls ready to deliver any day now also - I think that was my sign to let it go till the 18th.
Kelly sure was happy : )

When To Start Back To School.....

Okay I admit it I am a mean mom! I told Kelly we would start back to school the same time as our public school system does - thinking it was Aug. 4th. I then checked their website and they don't start till Aug. 18th!!!!!! Now am I mean enough to not tell her.... What worries me is tomorrow my son is getting baptised and I am sure we will run into some of the kids who go to public school and she may find out that way. It's funny because I have been biting at the bit to get started, I have been to the library twice in the past two days (I LOVE going to the library, I just enjoy books) getting all the many books I want to explore with her. I also have written up a schedule for the first day detailing what I want to get done ect. I really think I am as ready as I ever will be. Of course Kelly has put the sad face on any time I have mentioned school and when I told her Monday is the day she was disappointed. My son was home during our latest discussion about starting Monday and he says "Mom, School doesn't start till the 18th. I quickly glanced at Kelly and she had her ear phones on and didn't hear him..... So to be mean or not, That is the question : )