Friday, April 30, 2010

I Don't Know What I Was Thinking!

Sometimes I really have to step back and think before I jump head long into something.....
I read about A Beka books and it interested me, I went on ebay and bought a copy of the 9th grade science - I loved it. I got so excited about it and how we were going to have a great year using it. I got crazy, I shopped around for the teachers guide & the lab book that goes with it. I was all set for Kelly's 9th grade science, I felt so relived and happy! At night I would look over the books and read and get more excited. I even went nuts and bought the 8th grade science book to use the last few weeks of this year to get her rolling on the use of the A Beka books. That is when it all hit the fan!! These types of books don't work for Kelly's style of learning. These types of books are MY way of learning.... I love reading over a topic and absorbing it. That doesn't work for Kelly and I KNOW that, that is what makes me so mad at myself. Phyllis over at "All Things Beautiful" even advised me against using them but I still jumped head long into it : (
So now I have A Beka 9th grade student book, teachers book & Lab guide for sale...

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Yikes!


Our baby birds are under attack! Kelly & I were out checking the nest and we saw a yellow rat snake slithering around the area under the nest! The babies are only 6 days old, they need to be at least 12 days old before they can leave the nest. We are so worried about them...

Monday, April 26, 2010

Two Things Are On MY Mind....

I have two issues on my mind this morning:

1st.) Why is my house always dirty?
I have taken great pains to dispose of all the extra junk we had & everything has a place it belongs in so why then is it always a mess? I know I have a ton of dogs in the house which yes causes a lot of the problem on the floors but why is there junk on the table? Junk on the kitchen counter, junk in the bathroom..... the list goes on and on. It is always a mess : (

2nd.) Is it more important to understand information then for it to be indepth? I have been reviewing Kelly's A Beka 9th grade science book, and I have to wonder if it is not more important to actually "understand" a topic then to go into such detail about it which will loose most children unless they have a great interest in the topic.

Can you tell our electric was out for about 5 hours last night? Since we had no fans it got hot in the house so sleep was hard to come by....

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Sunday Wrap Up

I can't belive it is Sunday already, I had to check twice to make sure.

We have been keeping a close eye on the baby birds, We actually saw one being born! It cracked the shell and worked it's tiny body out using up a ton of energy, It was amazing to watch. They are so pink and skinny, they sure don't look like birds. I just checked this morning on the nest and the mom was looking out at me, for a moment I thought the babies had turned color already and were looking at me, that is how small she is.... We are really going to look into ways of making our back yard more bird friendly. We have two acres but hardly any trees at all but I will see what we can do - Any ideas?

Last night we had the biggest spider I have ever seen in our house! It was HUGE & fast! Kelly took a picture of it - I will post if it came out. Instead of being a big girl and just smack it with my shoe, I was acting like a big baby. I grabbed my husbands golf club and wacked at it but missed. Kelly went running into her room so I was left with this huge beast myself. I swang at him again and tore down my world map. Then he ran under my dog crates - So needless to say this huge beast is still in the house! YIKES!

Our scheduled last day of school (we use the same schedule as the public school to make it easier for me) is June 9th. I am hoping to finish up everything by then. We just got through with World War II, now we are going to move on to more current history ex. korean war, civil rights, the 60's, ect. the BiblioPlan has us covering all of this and up to the 90's in 10 weeks - Whooo that will be a lot to digest. This week we are studying Antartica - I have books from the library & netflix is sending a dvd.. Can't wait to find out more out that icy area.

21 more days until my son gets married! You know how I was whinning about being fat and how I HAD to loose weight before the wedding.... Well God fixed my boat, I got a major toothache! A piece of my old silver filling is wiggly and ready to fall out. I am fine drinking a beverage but when I go to eat food - Wow, I get a shooting pain. I guess you really have to watch what you pray for : )

Have a wonderful day today!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Feeling Kinda Depressed Today : (

I woke up in a depressed funk today... I hate it when that happens! It just ruins the day : (
I think it stems from my son getting married on May 15th., they had talked to the paster last night and I was kinda hoping he would have advised them to slow down and wait awhile, but he didn't. Besides all the emotions I feel about that, I just hate that I am soooo overweight for his wedding. I am going to be so embarrased walking down the isle. I keep asking myself if I am so embarrased why don't I do something about it, but I am a nervous eater and anything that stresses me or makes me nervous I eat over. You have always been able to tell how things are going with my life by how I look : ( This year has been one of the worst, with living on unemployment & food stamps for months with no end in sight for a job. I don't drink, do drugs, smoke or even drink coffee so I have no way of easing my stress. One time I used walking/jogging/biking as a way to get away from it all but you wouldn't want to do that where I live now - to scarry. I had hoped I had more time before they got married to shape up but I am going to try and loss some pounds in the three weeks I have. I have about 50 lbs. to loose to get into okay shape... I pray I can get moving on this weight loss for many reason!

Friday, April 23, 2010

We Have Baby Birds!!!!




I just checked and the four eggs in the nest we had found in our pool filter have hatched! The babies are sooooo tiny, they are about the size of a small pinky finger nail. I was going to take a picture but they are really hard to make out in the nest so I posted ones from the internet that look a lot like mom & babies. Kelly & I went into the pool for a swim but got out quickly because we didn't want the mom bird to stay away to long because of us.... Even though the filter is not right on the pool I am very worried for these babies, a snake could climb up the fence and get them. I wish I could just put the mom & babies in a bird cage and keep them safe until they are ready to fly away. We are pretty sure the mom is a Carolina wren.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

A Football Player Roll Model For Kids: Mardy Gilyard


I wanted to share a story with you about a young man who my son had the pleasure of playing high school football with: Mardy Gilyard
If you get a chance read the stories below about him, If you have sons who are thinking of playing football let them research this fellow.
In short this young man went to college on a full ride scholarship and blew it big time. He tried to come back home after getting kicked out of school but his mom said to him "Pray and pray hard. Son, I don't breed losers, I breed champions".
He then lived out of his car, worked a number of jobs to re-pay the $10,000 scholarship money. He got a second chance from the college and here he is -getting ready to make millions from an NFL football contract.
Here are just a few stories about him:
"Gilyard giving back to where he grew up"
"Area football star helps direct lives"

Whoo Hoo, We Won!

No, Not money from the Florida power ball ticket I had..... but a book over at The Shades of Pink blog! Whooo Hooo : )

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

UnSchooling

Did you get a chance to watch the Good Morning America segment on unschooling? I didn't see it but watched this clip of it. My gut feeling right off the bat was that after this type of coverage homeschooling will be hit with a lot stronger restrictions and requirements. The way the show host kept saying "How is this legal?" made me very nervous that there will be an uproar on homeschooling practices. I sure hope not.....

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Interesting Article & Civics Quiz

I was reading a interesting post on this blog .... http://www.patfarenga.com/
Here is a tidbit of it:

2) The legal rationale for compulsory education is that school will produce good citizens. The results for producing good citizens who went through the K-12 level of school have been poor, as evidence from low voter turnout, public disgust with politics, and civic and social disengagement among graduates continue to show. The Intercollegiate Studies Institute has studied what happens when these students continue into college, and the results aren’t pretty. According to AOLNews:
“Half of the 14,000 incoming freshmen tested failed the 60-question multiple-choice test, getting just half the questions right. Worse, they barely know any more when they graduate, with seniors scoring 54 percent correct. No school, not even Harvard or Yale, got above a 69 percent average among seniors. Worse still, in some schools, students did worse coming out than going in.”
Can homeschooling, unschooling, alternative schooling, or just a do-it-yourself attitude produce more involved and knowledgeable citizens than schools do? Test your own civic knowledge by taking the test.

I took the test and got 25 out of 33 questions right - A score of 75.76% Whoo Hooo! I guess I have been learning something these past 3 years of homeschooling : )
If you take the test, let me know how you did....

Thursday, April 15, 2010

BiblioPlan / Earth: Biography

Well I went ahead and bought my history plan for next school year....
I really am jumping the gun this year.
We are using BiblioPlan 1850-2000 this year, we really enjoyed it so I figured we should just stick with it again for next year. The best part is that BiblioPlan is now including their highschool supplement in their main plan which soooo works for me, this way we can vary our grade level readings when needed.
We are using the four year history cycle so we will be working on Ancients. Not one of my favorite time periods, but hopefully I can keep Kelly interested in it.
I will also be buying the parent companion supplement that goes along with the Ancient plan when it comes out. It is only in e-book form which I hate, I have tried those many times and seem to spend so much more on ink & paper : (

We have been watching another fantastic series on dvd called "Earth: The Biography" as a matter a fact it covered the volcanoe that just erupted on Iceland. Today we watched about the atmosphere, It really is so very interesting!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Wrapping Up Frame Of Mind

I am so ready to wrap up this school year!
Since Above & Beyond Five In A Row doesn't have any more book titles, I have decided to shelve "Hitty" and use that for next years reading.
We are going to finish up BiblioPlan 1850 - 2000 & Galloping the Globe which should keep up busy. We will also be watching a number of dvds from Netflix.
I know I have said it before but what a difference adding the dvds to our studies have made! Math has still been a huge problem for us... I wish Kelly would just stop fighting it so much.
I have our a study plans pretty well mapped out already for next year, that is something new for me. Since I know what I want to try, I have been keeping an eye out for the best price on each item. !

Saturday, April 10, 2010

L@@k What We Found


We found this birds nest with 4 eggs in it!
The mommy bird built this nest inside our pool filter, Not the best of spots!
We can not belive how small the eggs are. They are a greyish color and have spots on them. When we went out to take this picture the mommy bird was sitting on the nest. You can not imagine how small she is, she can fit into the filter.... I am not sure what type of bird she is, she is brown in color but flew off so quickly I didn't get more details.
I hope all goes well and we have baby birds... They sure will be small : )

Driving Permit - Yikes

Well I went and did it now! I stopped off at the DMV and picked up the paper work for Kelly to get her driving permit.... I know I was the one who kept saying she is too young. I really just wanted to get the booklet so she can see how many things she will need to study before she can hit the road. The lady there was very nice and filled me in on the requirements and to tell you the truth I was shocked. To get her permit Kelly only has to take a four hour drug course either at a location or on-line, then take a written test either at the DMV or on-line and she pays something like $53.00 and she is ready to get behind the wheel - Yikes! Soooo we have left it pretty much up in the air when all this will take place, of course she wants to get moving on it but I am thinking I will just keep testing her on the booklet material for awhile.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Have You Made A Volcanoe ?


I was wondering if any of you have made an erupting volcanoe?

If you did, Could you share the plans you used with me.

Kelly & I are starting this Geology Unit Study, When we get to the volcanoe section I would like to make one. I have never in all of my schooling days made one nor has my husband. I did find these volcanoe instructions on the computer. Has anyone used this one before? I have plaster of paris on hand so I want to use that to build the mountain.
I'd love to see any pictures you took of your volcanoes also : )
Thanks for your help!


Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Turning "47" YIKES!

I can't belive it, but I am 47 years old today! This year I am really feeling my age : (
For my birthday I bought myself a pair of sneakers & Chinese food.
My husband is going golfing with my son, So it is just Kelly and I today. For my birthday present from Kelly I asked her to do schooling all day - I don't think that is going to happen.

We did make this bird feeder in the picture out of a water jug, the cardinals are loving it. We have had two males and one female stop by for some food! So far that is the only kind of bird who has visited us. We are using black oil sunflower seeds in the feeder and they love it. I am going to make another feeder and maybe use a different kind of seed to see if we can get another type of bird also. Directions for this feeder are posted here.

Sad news, My son's girlfriend miscarried the baby -Everything happen for a reason.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Is It Tuesday Already....

It's been tough getting back to school work....
I am all over the place with it so that is never a good thing!

It's funny I have been reading a number of posts about people getting ready for next year which of course got me thinking. That's the thing I LOVE about homeschooling, there are just soooo many options and things to learn. Every year that we homeschool is so different, I settle my mind in one area but then another area worries me. I have a plan for next year (Kelly starts 9th grade), I will post my curriculum ideas in another post.

I did want to ask if any of you have ever worked on just one subject a day? I was talking to Kelly about how we are starting a unit type study this week and we are going to start reading "Brighty of the Grand Canyon" she said "Mom, you are just going to mix me up - We are still reading "Hitty". We are reading Hitty for our Above and Beyond Five In A Row title - "Brighty" will be for our science class work. I'm trying to figure out if I just put one class a day and really work with it instead of the short lesson spans that we have doing if maybe that would sit better with her grasping more of the info..

It's 10:45am and Kelly is still sleeping, She sure wouldn't be able to do that if she was in public school : )

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter today!!!
We sure have had a roller coaster ride here to say the least....
Even though I started cleaning yesterday I still had to run around like a wild women today trying to clean & cook at the same time. My husband had said he would help but he went outside blew off the helping part : (
Then my son and his girlfriend came over early, I didn't have the food ready... I had to scrabble around to get it all together but I did and the ham was okay.
Here comes the roller coaster ride..... My son and his girlfriend told us they are getting married NEXT MONTH, And they think they are HAVING A BABY! She has taken two home pregnancy test and both have come back as pregnant. She is hoping to get in to see the doctor this week to make sure. I can't picture my son at 20 years of age handling a baby but time will tell. I have mixed feelings about it all, it sure will be a strain on them both money wize and on their relationship. On the other hand I would LOVE to be taking care of a baby again.... God works in mysterious ways - We will just have to sit back and see how this all plays out.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

April Fool's Day

My dad's birthday was today, He would have been 85 today... He always joked about how much ribbing he used to get because he was born on April Fool's Day.
Sure do miss that guy, He has been gone now 7 years but I think of him often. Okay let me get off that I'm starting to tear up.....

We have been on a semi spring break here, I had hoped to keep doing school work this week but we have just gotten in a couple of dvds. We watched one called "Globe Trekker: Amsterdam", OH MY GOSH! I thought it would give us a nice peek into what the county looked like ect. since we are working on Holland this past week. WELL, It had naked people, same sex kissing, tons of drug use, the list goes on and on. This dvd is NOT for children's viewing!

Then we watched a biography on "Amelia Earhart", it was great. I find her to be so interesting how she bucked the "norm" for that time and did what she wanted. I really want to get our timeline back up and running because I think seeing when people like Amelia lived not that long ago and the issues she had to deal with would be so helpful...

We watched a few others but I kind of forget now their titles, I am finding that I have been VERY lax with writting down what we watch and what we have been reading. The watching part is no problem because Netflix keep track for you but the reading part is a shame because I have to fill that info. in for our end of year transcript.
Since we had gone out a few days in a row and did some fun things, It sure is hard to want to go back to just the same old schedule again!

It was sad yesterday, Every year my kids colored eggs - two dozen, one for each kid. They would have me judge on who did the coolest looking eggs... Well this year my son doesn't live here anymore so it just left Kelly. She started the eggs (while she was texting at the same time), she left the eggs in the dye and went into her room and was on the computer. From time to time she would come out and check the eggs but no interest at all in it. I was going to take a picture of the poor eggs just sitting there to represent this years mood but I didn't. By late evening she finally came out and took the eggs out and cleaned up. I found the whole thing so sad - My babies are all grown up and these days of silly fun traditions are over : (...