Love Bugs / Marmaduke

These pests are called "Love Bugs", I had never seen such a bug before moving down here to the lovely bug state of Florida. They are every where... they don't bite or sting so thats good, but they sure do make a mess out of your car's paint job when you hit them while driving. We did some research on them today as part of our school work because they are hard to over look here right now.

We also watched the "Marmaduke" dvd (I know it's not really school related). It was funny in places and a little dry in others but an okay movie.

I requested a few of the books Jennifer suggested of the "Choose History Adventures Books", Our library has 7 different titles of these books (unfortunatly the library has some of the titles missing).

We didn't do much else in the way of school work : (

Another Tough Day : (

Gosh, I have been having such a tough time with schooling this year.... I don't know if it is my poor planning for the school day or if it is just Kelly & I butting heads every day!
Today we had a fight over what I had planned for the next topic, it really is getting on my last nerve! She HATES to go over anything twice, she doesn't want to do anything that she has already learned about even if it has been a few years since we covered it. For an example she feels since we did ancient history once already in I think her 5th grade why the heck are we going back there.... I have told her we will look into things a bit deeper but she doesn't care. It is driving me crazy!
I was so mad today I told her I want to send her back to regular school.... I kinda wish she could go back a few days and see how hard kids her age are working in class compared to her day. : (

Volcano Eruption

We made our volcano today (We took pictures but we can't upload any on this computer). It came out okay, I thought it looked more like Mt. St. Helen with her bulge : )

The lava flow sure was a dud - We were hoping for an eruption but we basically got a white fizzy flow. We thought of using the mentos eruption but I can't see wasting a full 2 litter soda for the experiment.

We then did a little work on Peru, I find that country so interesting with the Incas civilization. I really think we are moving to quickly thru the countries but Kelly has very little interest in most of them, so I am trying to flow with her interests.....

I had forgot to renew our library books - Yikes! I checked and I owed $3.00 : (

I just hate when I do that! I e-mailed them and they forgave my fine this time... I really am starting to hate to take books out.

Where Did The Week Go?

This week went by so fast I really don't remember what happened during it : (
All I know is we pretty much chalked this week off as a vacation week....
Kelly had the opportunity to go spend three days down at my son's apartment with my son & daughter-in-law so she jumped on it. Going there is pretty much the only "vacation" she gets, so I figure let her go so she can enjoy some away time.
I had all kinds of high hopes on what I was going to do but I have been feeling really yucky lately - not sure if it is pre-menopause, menopause, yeast infection or what. I slept most of the time she was away : (
Anyway, I have been really trying to put together a plan of action to get our school day rolling better for Kelly.... Poor Phyllis must just be so sick of me asking sooooo many questions but her learning day is just what I want for Kelly. I hope to have a better handle on it for next week.
Kelly & I are babysitting three birds for a month, I wish I could post pictures of them they are beautiful - I am not a bird person but it is something different to do.
Have great Friday evening!

Horses Gone Wild....

Last night was not our usual Friday night for sure....
We are still using our airconditioner which usually blocks out most of the sounds outside but we could hear a strange noise from the street area.
Kelly & I went out to look and we could hear a horse galloping - Now most people do ride their horse here in the streets but I have never heard anyone at a gallop. We went to check and there standing at our driveway was a big beautiful paint horse with no rider. He turned and ran away but then turned around again and galloped right towards us. I love horses but they sure are a big & powerful animal and seeing one come at you at a full gallop is a bit scarry! This fellow headed down our driveway to meet our horses - I was afraid that between my horses & this guy they would take down my fencing and then I would really be up a river. The vistor just kinda put his nose to Chance and they didn't get to upetty with each other (Roper, my horse barely noticed he had a visitor). I walked to the end of my driveway to see if the owner was in the area and saw three more horses - two full size paint horses and a mini. Being a horse lover I was in heaven, If I won the lottery I would have a ton of horses. We recognized where these escapees belong and I drove over to their house and got the owner - She was so thankful. I know how it is to have loose horses, It is gut wrenching. Kelly & I walked them all home with the lady. The lady said they have been having money problems and couldn't buy hay for the horses so they were letting the horses graze on grass in a field by their house and they must of roamed away from that area. She has been trying to sell at least two of the horses but nobody is buying horses in our area right now, that she will probably have to give them away : (

Sat. Frame Of Mind....

Feels like a Sat. to me today....
I woke up and shot right out to buy the hay & pellets for the horses trying to see if that would help with still getting schooling done.
We watched a dvd about Mysteries Monuments of Peru to go with our Peru study. I thought it was kinda of interesting. Kelly hates to watch two or more dvds on one subject but sometimes you can find a couple of goodies on alittle bit different material.
We read two chapters from History of Us book 10
Then for our cooking class today we cheated and bought Betty Crocker Supreme Bars - Cookie/Brownie to make. Ours didn't end up looking anything like the picture on the box at all, we followed the directions so not sure what happened. They tasted okay but not great - I will not buy it again : (
For Kelly physical education class she worked out with the horses.
That was our school day....
I am hoping to get better school plans together for next week (at least getting some math in to the day).
Thank you for the posted comments - I really appreciate all your help & ideas!

Dropped The Ball Today

Wow, Did I really blow it today....
I had a roll going with school work - I was really seeing some interest from Kelly these past few days and today I dropped the ball and blew it!
I had to go down town to the library and pay our car insurance, I don't know what is wrong with me but I am unable to go out and still homeschool that day. I came back and was all scattered brained but got our work out and was ready to plunge ahead. I knew the minute Kelly sat down that this was not going to be a good day : (
I read another chapter from "Hitty" and we went through the motions of doing school work but I could just tell it was a waste - so we packed it in

A Better School Day Today : )

Okay, I think my lesson plans for each day of schooling needs to include some kind of either a science experiment, cooking something or craft. What a difference it makes for Kelly, It really keeps her interested.
Today we worked on:
Geography: Venezuela.
History: Women's equality.
Reading Unit study: Northeast United States, Greek Mythology, Motion Sickness, Sea Jargon.
Cooking: Homemade Gingerbread (Back in the 19th. century ginger bread was more like a cake then a cookie). It came out okay, I sure wouldn't want it every day. They suggested serving it with whipped cream & cider, both of which I did not have so I am thinking maybe just getting some vanilla ice cream.
Then we watched a "fantastic" dvd on volcanoes called "Volcano Above the Clouds" it is about the volcano on Mount Killimanjaro.
All & all a better schooling day today - Did you notice still no math - Yikes! I am thinking of just getting a math workbook from Walmart just to get her brain back to at least thinking about math work.
Planning is everything to the school day : )

Monday Already.....

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday....
We went and picked Kelly up yesterday down at my son's place, We also headed over to the Daytona Speedway to see the re-paving they are doing to the track. It sure is a lot of work they are doing but it will be great once they finish it.
While at my sons we played some tennis (which I haven't done in years), Swam in the pool, watched some football, ate and came home.
I didn't get much marked off my to do list that I had planned on doing while Kelly was on "vacation" : ( The days just go by so fast.
Schooling today consisted of:
Watching a dvd on Venezuela - "The lost world" it was very beautiful & interesting.
Then we did start back on our Above & Beyond Five in a Row book "Hitty", reading chapter 3 and covering: whaling & ships.
Talking about the sea gave me a great idea to make the "Beach Memories Keepers" posted over on "All Things Beautiful". I wish I could post pictures of our masterpieces but we are still using this old computer and can't : ( Doing a craft really adds some zip to the day for Kelly.
Of course no math was done AGAIN today.... and I wonder why she struggles so with it!

All Alone.......

Here I am childless for the whole weekend... Kelly went over to my son & daughter-in-laws. My husband & I are going over Sunday to watch football on my son's large flat screen tv and then bring her home. It is sooo good for her to get out and away from me for awhile, We are together 24/7 and it wears on you know matter how well we get along. My mission while she is gone is to get our school work organized! I also have to get the paper work together for last years schooling and pay for this year and get it over to the homeschool gal in my area who handles all of that. I have been going over my e-mails & blogs, I am trying to down size it all. I tell you if you missed any of the posts by Phyllis over at "All Things Beautiful" you have missed some GREAT craft/schooling ideas! I just can't say enough about how Phyllis goes about teaching her kids, I want to take Kelly and go live there for awhile : )
Last night Kelly & I watched "Furry Vengeance", We laughed a few times but it really wasn't worth the watch : (
Tonight the nationwide Nascar race is on - Yea! I will be watching it all by myself....

Rattle Snakes - Oh My!

My neighbor stopped by last night to let us know that he saw a rattle snake by our mailbox - Yikes! I think that may be what killed our outside cat, he stumbled around and went under the house, We thought he was just sick with what our inside cat had but we are pretty sure he died under the house.... My husband doesn't want to go under to find him : (
Kelly & I were feeling sick yesterday so we took the day off from school already.
I was bidding on ebay for Christian Cottage unit studys but was out bid : ( If anyone has "Christian Cottage-In the Beginning God" for sale please e-mail me justme32110@yahoo.com - thanks!
Have a great day!

School Planning On Sat. - Oh My!

Hope everyone is having a great Sat.! It is hot here again... We had a few great weather days there in a row of a bit cooler days.
My husband and I were talking to a man about a program they have for getting help with our electric bill, I mentioned Kelly. The guy said "She is 15 and she is still into horses"! He said it in such a way it sent up my fur... It was like at 15 she should be into sex or drugs - and her not being into either of those things made something wrong with her : (
I am really trying to get things together for next weeks schooling! I was wayyyyy to unorganized these past two weeks. Did I mention that our laptop is broken : ( So we are back to using the old windows 98 computer. We have no printer either so that makes for tougher school planning.
We are going to use a lot of unit studies & dvds from Netflix this year - Our volcanoe study is going very well. Kelly really loves weather related topics : )