Wings Over Flagler

Kelly & I went to a fly in airshow at our local airport yesterday.

The weather was just perfect for the event. We went early and saw all the different type planes that were there, even a C-47 "Tico Belle" which is 65 years old (I have included the webpage for the plane - So interesting!). We are studying World War II & wrapping up our "Famous Women" month with Amelia Earhart so this all tied in wonderfully : ) The best part was stepping back and listening to the old timers tell their war stories, you could tell from their eyes it brought back good & bad memories. I was saddend by how few young people were there, very few Kelly's age. It cost $5.oo for adults and $3.00 for teens - the man at the gate charged Kelly $5.00, she was shocked she came over to me and said "Mom, Do I look like an adult"? Kelly is tall and skinny and wears no make-up so I'm not sure why the fellow thought she was older but I was glad that Kelly didn't like the idea of being older.... We had a fantastic time and spent a good part of the day there just looking at the planes. New planes came in from time to time and others did some flying tricks with the smoke coming out the tail - just so cool!

I tell you though when we first got there and these older planes were flying over head swooping and swaying this way and that looking like real combat it kinda got me in the gut....

We also participated in Earth Day by shutting off all of the electricity last night from 8:30 to 9:30pm - We played Uno by candle light : )

All in all a great day!

Dead Lake Trip

Kelly & I went and explored Dead Lake today, It is maybe 5 minutes from our home and we never really explored it before.... It was very pretty there, and again very relaxing.

Yes, It is really called Dead Lake:

"Dead Lake so named because
it was as far as the steam ships
could carry passengers. It was
the “dead end” of the line.
In the early 1900’s, steam ship
travel up the St.Johns River was
the easiest way to get to Flagler
County.
Bull Creek was the site of
an extensive wharf where goods
were transported in and out the
county and the area also boasted
of accommodations for travelers
in the Omega Hotel. A narrow
gauge rail system in the St.Johns
Park community of Flagler
County routed goods to and from
the docks at Dead Lake to Henry
Flagler’s north/south rail line in
present day Bunnell".

We got a chance to see my favorite birds, Pelicans! I think they are so cool looking : ) They also have signs up for the boaters to keep an eye out for the manatees & not to feed the gators. I would LOVE to see one of them! I will have to go talk to some of the regular fishermen and aske what time of year is best for manatee sightings there. We also saw a few other birds but not as many as I had thought, It might be because of the motors from the boats.

Beautiful weather today, alittle bit overcast and mild just like I like it : )

Went On A Nature Walk Today

The weather was so beautiful today we just had to go out... So Kelly and I went over to the nature trail and looked for some birds... I had gotten out 2 books from the library: Florida's Fabulous Birds & Florida's Waterbirds. We saw a woodpecker with red on his head but we couldn't get a picture of him. Then we saw three hawks flying over, one came over with his wings wide open right above us - again we couldn't get a picture : ( I don't know how you all get such beautiful bird pictures, they move to quickly! There were a number of fellows fishing today, It looked so peaceful watching them fish - I could have sat there all day!

St. Patrick's Day - Over The Rainbow Cupcakes

Here are some cute cupcakes we made today - They came out great! What colors! Kelly had to get some iced with blue frosting her favorite color instead of all green for the holiday. I'm going to save this recipe and use it again for Easter with just adding pink icing maybe.

We also watched another dvd of How The Earth Was Made series, It covered New York City - How interesting! I love that series, it covers so many interesting topics.

What Rain We Are Having!!!!!

It rained alot yesterday and we are supposta have more rain today....
We watched a wonderful dvd yesterday about coral reefs - It was so beautiful but sad, they said with the ocean temps. going up, over fishing & silt run off there may be no coral reefs left in just 30 years from now : ( I just love getting these little treasures from Netflix. Today we are expecting the Susan B. Anthony dvd as part of our Womens History Month study. We have already watched the Joan of Arc dvd, which was informative - I really didn't remember much about her.
I want to "Thank" Phyllis over at "All Things Beautiful" for all the help & advice she has been giving me! My many e-mails must be wearing her out.....

What A Struggle Today!

Wow, We had one of "those" school days today that you just have to shake your head at!
It's days like today where it rakes up all the fears I have about homeschooling....
It kinda started yesterday when we were watching a dvd. on Beethoven, It was soooo boring! I was surprised at how little interesting information they showed in it. Kelly just looked at me and rolled her eyes, thats her sign that she didn't understand one thing they said - In other words a big waste of time : ( We then moved to Calculation Capers, she wasn't giving it her full attention and I was getting upset. I knew even though this workbook has alot of easy addition & subtraction problems it would grate on her nervous because there are alot of steps you have to go through to get the answers which I felt was a good thing to tackle since in "real life" many times this will come in handy. Just a struggle of a day yesterday.
Which leads us to today.... Same little effort from Kelly just a different day! We worked on World War II, She was with me through all of that - She has alot of interest in that so she pays alot of attention to the readings, maps ect. Then we moved off that to the math, pulling teeth again. I help her along when she gets stuck so I don't know why she carries on so about it. Then to our study of Germany, she was sitting there but had that attitude so I wrapped the day up and got some advil and listened to the Bee Gee's that helps me re-group my energy. I hope tomorrow is a better day!!!!

What A Difference A Day Makes....

It is over cast and looks like rain here today : (
Kelly & I worked on school outside yesterday, It was just so lovely out I hated to pass it up. I pulled an old end table type thing over to the area we were working at for a desk, It worked out okay. She did some worksheets on Germany, Read from History Of Us book & went over the topics from her reading book "Hitty" which also included drawing animals more realistically, then we went inside and watched the Joan Of Arc dvd. After that Kelly worked the horses out for awhile which they needed so I guess I can figure that as PE.
Now today, I have work planned which includes the Calculation Capers math book which we just got in the mail yesterday. We also have a Beethoven dvd to watch - he is listed under our important Germans to learn about (there sure are alot of artistic people that are Germans...). We also have a few other topics to cover - Hopefully we will get to them today.
Have A Great Day!

Beautiful Weather Today!!!!!!

Now this is the kind of weather I could enjoy all the time.... We are having bright sun and 70 degree temps.! I woke up feeling alive : )
I really think I need to get a schedule down to keep our day on track, Most days we wing it and I think that is one of our major problems.
I just hate it when the house looks like a mess and I stress about that and have to homeschool at the same time..... This morning I mopped the floors and I feel so much better seeing it look nice. I think if I just give everything a quick mop in the morning & quickly straighten up I might not feel so stressed.
I also am going back to the monthly food menu again, that worked soooo well for me. It was so much less stress knowing what we were having each night, defrosting ahead of time, knowing I had all the ingredients on hand to make it ect. I really think I just make things harder then they need to be!
I went through our schooling box and took out the stuff that I had in there that we aren't using to help get rid of the mess. I am trying to really settle down these last few months of schooling and get some work done....
Of course the horses are out the window just calling us to go for a ride.... No! I have to focus!!!!
Have a great day : )

Iditarod & School Work....

We actually tackled some school work yesterday : )
We read: Akiak - A Tale From The Iditarod & Iditarod Dream - Both were great stories about the dog race which takes place up in Alaska starting today. Then we shifted back to Hitty our Above & Beyond Five In A Row book selection. We had read the chapter awhile ago and I was surprized to see that Kelly remembered most of the chapter.
Our day is still way to short and we are not getting enough things done! I have ordered that math book I mentioned "Life Of Fred - Fractions" and I also ordered "Calulations Capers" suggested in a post over at Home*School*Home blog. I am hoping to alternate days with each of these math books and see how that goes...
Would you belive I was using the "How the Earth Was Made" dvd series for our science (since Kelly had no interest in the Apologia Zoology 1 book I had gotten), She was LOVING it and learning alot. Well Netflix removed the remaining 3 disc. from my dvd list! I called them and asked and they said they may have lost the right to send them out or they have no more copies available.... I finally find something that holds Kelly's attention and is soooo educational and interesting and now we can't continue with it : ( I have looked it up at amazon and I can order the series for about $19.00 plus shipping. I really don't have the money after buying the math books to buy something else but if anyone sees the series for less please let me know.

I Just Got Some Sad News...

My son's girlfriend's mother passed away! I feel so sad for Anne, she lost her dad last year about this time and now here mom.... Anne is only 19 years old! Her Mom went in for an operation to help her breath better and came out of surgery but got ammonia and I guess that killed her. Anne has a few brothers and sisters but they are much older then her but I hope she can find comfort from them... the family seems to be fighting over who gets the Mom's car ect. (I know how that is - there is nothing like a death in the family to bring out the worst in so many people).

School work has been going sooooo slowwwwww! When ever my husband & I run a few errands in the morning it seems to throw off the the whole day and we get nothing school wize done : ( Like today, we ran out to pay the electric bill and got side tracked a bit and when we got home it was already going towards 1pm. I have been trying to plan a bit more though and hope to get us rolling tomorrow! I have bought a new math book for Kelly, Life Of Fred Fractions. I NEED to get this girl moving on her math.... I am hoping this book which is kinda "outside the box" in it's teaching methods so I am hoping my reluctant learner will be drawn to it.
I have also placed a ton of dvd's in my Netflix box, I can't wait to get them... I did stop off at the library today and picked up some good books on the Iditarod dog race, St. Patrick's Day, Coral Reefs, & How to draw animals... Now if I can just stay home and get the ball rolling...

I also want to "Praise God" that the unemployment extention finally got passed!!! I just pray my husband can get it.

Have a great day!!!!