I doubt anyone has noticed, but normally I write in the early morning hours. The hours before the kids wake up, and before the coffee kicks in. Well, the official reason I'm writing at approximately 10p.m. is....I'm bored. Yep. I think I can honestly say this has been the laziest, most boring weekend I've spent since my pre-motherhood days.
First..my husband got this brainy idea that he would enjoy all his video games even MORE than the endless hours he already does if he bought a router to hook his PS3 to the internet. He bought the router, hooked everything up, and, of course, nothing worked. Well, the router worked, the modem worked, the computer worked, the PS3 worked. There was just the slight issue of the PS3 didn't work WITH the router, so he had no internet connection. SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS LATER (3 of which he spent on the phone with various tech support people in various countries around the world) he discovered that our wireless security cameras cause interference with the wireless router. Go figure. Seven and a half hours to find out that him taking 30 seconds to unplug the security camera will unblock the wireless internet interference.
That pretty much sums up yesterday. I did do a science experiment with C, which took up at least a whopping 5 minutes. We added food coloring to a cup of hot water, and a cup of cold water, to show that molecules in hot water move faster and farther apart than in cold water. I took a shower somewhere in there, read a lot, ate a lot, and that was about it.
Today. Well, right off the bat I noticed the adorable, dead, baby bunny on my front porch. One of our outside cats was quite proud of himself. We went out for brunch. We came home and buried the cute, little bunny. (Yes. We ate first, and left it on our porch. )I did dishes. I read some Bible to the girls. I read some "Farmer Boy" to the girls. I read some of my book to myself. I tried in vain to find new interesting posts on my homeschool forums to read. (That's always a lost cause on Sundays because everyone else has churches to go to and families to visit on Sundays, so why would they be posting on forums?!?)We ate supper. We watched one of the 4 shows on TV I actually can tolerate. ("Amazing Race", if you must know.)I read some more. I played with E and her Mini-Luk thingy. (an amazing educational product. If I was a better blogger I'd review it one of these days.)I watched E and C play Checkers. I put E and C to bed. And THAT is where things got interesting.
Whilst in the middle of prayers I hear A, 17, hollering for a flashlight, and my hubby actually (gasp) PAUSED HIS GAME. At 9:00 on a Sunday evening, in the middle of a span of rain reaching across our entire state, our sub-pump broke. I can't figure out why, after 50 years of the original machine working fine, it decided to rust through now. Luckily for us we have another, equally as old pump, and my husband is currently working on somehow splicing parts of one old pump to the engine of the other old pump. He's sitting in the water-filled (okay, not filled yet...just filling) basement jury-rigging ancient electrical equipment. I'm up here, because someone has to be around to call 911, right?
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Week in Review
C is almost finished with 4th grade. She completed her math book 2 weeks ago, so our school days are shorter. I feel like we should be doing math. Then I try to remember how often I ever completed a whole textbook when I was growing up. Never. I can not recall one year, or even one subject, that we made it through an entire book. I didn't consider that when we began our year, and it's never been an issue here. I bought the books; we will finish the books. We are even finishing a month before public schools end their year, so we have a month of lovely weather to enjoy before softball season starts. : )
This week C finished all but the final test for her 3rd "Light Unit" in Bible. We are about 1/2-way through the last unit of science. She is on Lesson 121 of 180 in Language, and should easily finish the book by the end of May. The lessons are short, simple, review for her. We are around page 80 in Grammar, and will continue working on that next year. This coming week she will complete Unit 12 (out of 36) in her 5th grade spelling, and that was my goal for this year. We may or may not complete the book when 5th grade resumes. She doesn't really need spelling help, but I can tell she is learning some valuable skills from the book. (Dictionary skills, figuring out word problems skills.) We possibly have one unit left of U.S. History. I say, "possibly" because the unit skims over WWI and WWII, and I don't like skimming. I'm not sure how I could begin to cover not one, but both World Wars in roughly 20 pages.
Anyone who knows me knows I love History, and my "specialty" is WWII. I am fascinated by anything in that era, the people here at home, the soldiers, the European theater, the Pacific theater, but above all the Holocaust. I began my interest working with elderly in my pre-mom days. My step-father, and others I was close friends with fought in WWII. I've spent hours looking at pictures, reading letters, listening to stories, and as interesting as I find it all, it all boils down to the years 1933-1945. Hitler's years. And what our men and women went through serving our country pales in comparison to the Jewish people in Europe. How can I begin to teach my daughters about this in half of one chapter of a 4th grade History text? I had planned to spend a minimum of 1 semester, maybe at least one full year, on the World Wars when my daughter reach 8th or 9th grade. A friend of mine lives an hour from here. She was ten years old when her entire family was taken to Auschwitz. Only she, and her twin sister survived the war, out of a family of 6. They survived only by being twins. The infamous Dr. Mengele intentionally sought out twins for his "medical" human experimentation in the camps. I can assure you, virtually any other 10 year old would not have survived a concentration camp, because only the strongest, healthiest, adults were kept alive for their work value. What saved her life was Dr. Mengele's obscene fascination with twins. This lady now lives in the U.S., not far from me, and has a Holocaust museum. I hope one day to take my daughters there to meet her first hand. I have the book she authored, and hope to let them read it, along with at least 50 other books I own on the Holocaust. And even though my C is the same age as Eva was when she was taken, I'm not sure I'm ready for C to know the full extent of WWII. I've studied it extensively for 14 years now, and even I am still deeply affected by new information, new biographies. Conversely, I don't want to just skim an overview of dates, either. I don't want WWII, or any other war, to be "just another power/land struggle" between selfish rulers. So...while we have this one chapter left in C's history book, I'm still undecided as to how we will go about doing this chapter, or even IF we will do this chapter. My family knows my passion with WWII, and C probably already knows more than I give her credit for by living in the same house as me.
Back to the Week in Review. E had a productive week. She hasn't had much interest in school since about the beginning of March, so I was pleasantly surprised when she bagan asking for it again this week. She did quite a bit over 4 days. 12 pages of Math, her second-to-the-last unit in phonics. (ETC 2), 5 or 6 lessons in her Bible book, 2 pages in her other phonics book, 4 lessons in her language book, and reading practice. She worked on 3 stories in her Reading Primer. She is becoming quite fluent. I STILL can't get over the fact that I've taught a child to read. In fact, having never been to public school, I can take credit, or accept blame, (whichever may be applicable) for all my youngest knows.
E and C also made me some spring artwork. They cut and pasted their own designs to make me some beautiful, (and in E's case, very colorful) flowers. A few weeks ago we planted apple seeds, from apples they ate, and saved the seeds from in the fall. Somehow, out of 20 seeds, all but 3 disappeared by planting time. I wasn't expecting much in the way of results. However...all 3 seeds have sprouted, and we are eagerly hoping we can keep them alive. We haven't had much luck with things we've grown in the past, but I'm hoping apple trees will be hardy enough to survive our "brown thumbs".
The last major happening here has been that my husband has returned to work. Finally, after 5 months, he worked Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We are so blessed that he has this job. So many in the country are being laid off, and losing not only jobs, but homes. It actually felt kind of weird this week without him here.
B called us last weekend twice. It was hard to find things to make "small talk" about, and no one here really wants to talk to her. Well, the 6 and 10 year old do, but none of us that understands what's going on. Hubby has to go to court again Thursday. I won't be going. No one wishes to hear what a step-mother who raised her for 11 years has to say, and frankly, I have better things to do than waste time sitting in a court room trying to refrain from opening my big mouth. Step-parents in my state have no legal rights what-so-ever. Hubby plans to officially tell the judge he gives up, and B can have her way. I'm sure they'll say that after fifteen years he is a horrible father for giving up. They don't take into consideration the other 5 people this well benefit and protect.
Have a great week, anyone who reads this! Since my posts are fairly sporadic, I'll be back in a day, or a week, or a month....
This week C finished all but the final test for her 3rd "Light Unit" in Bible. We are about 1/2-way through the last unit of science. She is on Lesson 121 of 180 in Language, and should easily finish the book by the end of May. The lessons are short, simple, review for her. We are around page 80 in Grammar, and will continue working on that next year. This coming week she will complete Unit 12 (out of 36) in her 5th grade spelling, and that was my goal for this year. We may or may not complete the book when 5th grade resumes. She doesn't really need spelling help, but I can tell she is learning some valuable skills from the book. (Dictionary skills, figuring out word problems skills.) We possibly have one unit left of U.S. History. I say, "possibly" because the unit skims over WWI and WWII, and I don't like skimming. I'm not sure how I could begin to cover not one, but both World Wars in roughly 20 pages.
Anyone who knows me knows I love History, and my "specialty" is WWII. I am fascinated by anything in that era, the people here at home, the soldiers, the European theater, the Pacific theater, but above all the Holocaust. I began my interest working with elderly in my pre-mom days. My step-father, and others I was close friends with fought in WWII. I've spent hours looking at pictures, reading letters, listening to stories, and as interesting as I find it all, it all boils down to the years 1933-1945. Hitler's years. And what our men and women went through serving our country pales in comparison to the Jewish people in Europe. How can I begin to teach my daughters about this in half of one chapter of a 4th grade History text? I had planned to spend a minimum of 1 semester, maybe at least one full year, on the World Wars when my daughter reach 8th or 9th grade. A friend of mine lives an hour from here. She was ten years old when her entire family was taken to Auschwitz. Only she, and her twin sister survived the war, out of a family of 6. They survived only by being twins. The infamous Dr. Mengele intentionally sought out twins for his "medical" human experimentation in the camps. I can assure you, virtually any other 10 year old would not have survived a concentration camp, because only the strongest, healthiest, adults were kept alive for their work value. What saved her life was Dr. Mengele's obscene fascination with twins. This lady now lives in the U.S., not far from me, and has a Holocaust museum. I hope one day to take my daughters there to meet her first hand. I have the book she authored, and hope to let them read it, along with at least 50 other books I own on the Holocaust. And even though my C is the same age as Eva was when she was taken, I'm not sure I'm ready for C to know the full extent of WWII. I've studied it extensively for 14 years now, and even I am still deeply affected by new information, new biographies. Conversely, I don't want to just skim an overview of dates, either. I don't want WWII, or any other war, to be "just another power/land struggle" between selfish rulers. So...while we have this one chapter left in C's history book, I'm still undecided as to how we will go about doing this chapter, or even IF we will do this chapter. My family knows my passion with WWII, and C probably already knows more than I give her credit for by living in the same house as me.
Back to the Week in Review. E had a productive week. She hasn't had much interest in school since about the beginning of March, so I was pleasantly surprised when she bagan asking for it again this week. She did quite a bit over 4 days. 12 pages of Math, her second-to-the-last unit in phonics. (ETC 2), 5 or 6 lessons in her Bible book, 2 pages in her other phonics book, 4 lessons in her language book, and reading practice. She worked on 3 stories in her Reading Primer. She is becoming quite fluent. I STILL can't get over the fact that I've taught a child to read. In fact, having never been to public school, I can take credit, or accept blame, (whichever may be applicable) for all my youngest knows.
E and C also made me some spring artwork. They cut and pasted their own designs to make me some beautiful, (and in E's case, very colorful) flowers. A few weeks ago we planted apple seeds, from apples they ate, and saved the seeds from in the fall. Somehow, out of 20 seeds, all but 3 disappeared by planting time. I wasn't expecting much in the way of results. However...all 3 seeds have sprouted, and we are eagerly hoping we can keep them alive. We haven't had much luck with things we've grown in the past, but I'm hoping apple trees will be hardy enough to survive our "brown thumbs".
The last major happening here has been that my husband has returned to work. Finally, after 5 months, he worked Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We are so blessed that he has this job. So many in the country are being laid off, and losing not only jobs, but homes. It actually felt kind of weird this week without him here.
B called us last weekend twice. It was hard to find things to make "small talk" about, and no one here really wants to talk to her. Well, the 6 and 10 year old do, but none of us that understands what's going on. Hubby has to go to court again Thursday. I won't be going. No one wishes to hear what a step-mother who raised her for 11 years has to say, and frankly, I have better things to do than waste time sitting in a court room trying to refrain from opening my big mouth. Step-parents in my state have no legal rights what-so-ever. Hubby plans to officially tell the judge he gives up, and B can have her way. I'm sure they'll say that after fifteen years he is a horrible father for giving up. They don't take into consideration the other 5 people this well benefit and protect.
Have a great week, anyone who reads this! Since my posts are fairly sporadic, I'll be back in a day, or a week, or a month....
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Tired....
I'm getting tired. It's nearing the end of the school year, and my first thought upon waking this morning was, "Thank God it's Saturday!" Our goals for the academic year are almost met. Only 4 days in math, 1 chapter of science, 1 in history, 3 spelling units, and that's about it. We'll finish every book we are doing, with the exception of Spelling and Grammar. Both of those subjects are intended to last through next year, so technically I can say we're just working ahead in them.
I haven't been doing much for 1st grade this whole past month. My only goals for her are to finish her current phonics level, (ETC 2), complete our Habit unit in her MBTP concept, practice math facts, and read more.
I'm tired of school. I want to begin all the new books, but we need a break first.
I'm tired of worrying about my step-daughter. At our request, she has been in foster care the past 6 weeks, which is a step up from jail the previous 5 months. After 3 years of daily therapy, counseling, medication, psychiatric hospitals, juvenile detention, and her violence, arson, and other extreme mental health disorders,it was the only thing her counselors and the court could figure out to get her help.Because of DCFS being involved we feel like we're bad parents. They talk to us for an hour, and write 40 page reports on our entire lives as if they really know us. Because B (15 now) is LOVING all this attention she is refusing to come home, visit, or even speak to us. She now wants to go back to the biological mother who terminated her parental rights, and contributed greatly to the way B is now. My husband and I are tired of it all. DCFS feels he needs to attend mandatory counseling to gain "empathy" for B. I guess no one needs to empathize with the danger and fear we live in while she is here. I guess no one empathizes with the hours of time my husband has spent dragging her around the state to different doctors, hospitals, couseling centers, etc....all while missing work, supper, time with his other 3 kids, and in many cases, sleep. No one empathizes with a 3 year getting hit, or a 17 year old (30 pounds smaller than B) getting held down on the floor, choked, punched, and being told she was going to be killed, because B got caught stealing. No one empathizes with my upstairs being literally DESTROYED....carpet set on fire, every piece of furniture broken beyond repair, windows, door frames, walls, and ceiling panels ruined. No one cares.
We're all just tired. We haven't missed B a bit the past 6 months. We know going back to her mother will only harm her, yet...we give up. For the best of 5 people in the house, we will sacrifice one. Again. The only thought I gave her on Christmas and her birthday was, "What a blessing I don't have to waste money buying nice things that always are torn up or broken within 4 or 5 days of being given to her." The only regret I have is asking for help from an agency that now feels my husband must be a horrible person for B to not want to even speak to us. Of course she doesn't. We actually have rules, and are consistent, and we care about every child doing their best. We don't fall for theatrics and violence and threats and lying. In our opinion, the child support we will have to pay to a woman who shouldn't even have the right to speak to this child will be more than worth the peace and happiness we've all had this year.
Congratulations, B. You got your way again. Don't call us crying like you did when we let you live with her before. For one, we won't believe you after the lies you told about your dad. For two, we're not into playing games. And for three...if you call us I will likely call the phone company and have our number changed, since I can't afford to move. When I was 15 I worked, excelled in school, and helped support my mom and dad. You are plenty old enough to know right from wrong, and your behavior is chosen and puposeful. It's all a big mind game to you, but guess what? You lose. I hope you think from time to time what a happy family we are, and all the fun we had. (when we weren't leaving restaurants due to your temper tantrums, or having people in Wal-Mart laugh at us upon hearing you and saying, "Look...THAT's what happens when parents don't spank their chidlren.")
And on top of all this I'm tired of my husband being laid off "temporarily" for almost 5 months now. As much as we enjoy each other, and as fun as it is to have him home all day...it's nice to have money to pay bills, food, and other neccessities, too. And, admittedly, it would be nice to have a TV free day once in a while, too.
I'm ready for a school break. I'm ready for hubby to go back to work. And I'm ready to stop taking away from our other children. They don't deserve being treated the way their own sister treated them. They don't deserve going hungry because you ate ALL the food in the house, and pay day is a week away. They don't deserve having to be sent to their room to keep them safe or for us to spend 6, 10, and in 2 instances, 14 hours straight, with crisis workers called to our home to deal with a child WE couldn't deal with. They shouldn't have to see you punch our dog, or kick our sweet cat across an entire room. My 6 and 10 year old should NOT recognize police officers by first name because of all the times they've been called to our house, and they should not look upon Norma (dear as she is) as a surrogate grandmother. She's not. She's a crisis intervention worker, who feels exactly the same about B as we do. A 6 and 10 year old should not know their way around the high school from all the time we've been called there because the schools couldn't deal with B either.
My apologies for any typos. I'm also tired of writing. : )
I haven't been doing much for 1st grade this whole past month. My only goals for her are to finish her current phonics level, (ETC 2), complete our Habit unit in her MBTP concept, practice math facts, and read more.
I'm tired of school. I want to begin all the new books, but we need a break first.
I'm tired of worrying about my step-daughter. At our request, she has been in foster care the past 6 weeks, which is a step up from jail the previous 5 months. After 3 years of daily therapy, counseling, medication, psychiatric hospitals, juvenile detention, and her violence, arson, and other extreme mental health disorders,it was the only thing her counselors and the court could figure out to get her help.Because of DCFS being involved we feel like we're bad parents. They talk to us for an hour, and write 40 page reports on our entire lives as if they really know us. Because B (15 now) is LOVING all this attention she is refusing to come home, visit, or even speak to us. She now wants to go back to the biological mother who terminated her parental rights, and contributed greatly to the way B is now. My husband and I are tired of it all. DCFS feels he needs to attend mandatory counseling to gain "empathy" for B. I guess no one needs to empathize with the danger and fear we live in while she is here. I guess no one empathizes with the hours of time my husband has spent dragging her around the state to different doctors, hospitals, couseling centers, etc....all while missing work, supper, time with his other 3 kids, and in many cases, sleep. No one empathizes with a 3 year getting hit, or a 17 year old (30 pounds smaller than B) getting held down on the floor, choked, punched, and being told she was going to be killed, because B got caught stealing. No one empathizes with my upstairs being literally DESTROYED....carpet set on fire, every piece of furniture broken beyond repair, windows, door frames, walls, and ceiling panels ruined. No one cares.
We're all just tired. We haven't missed B a bit the past 6 months. We know going back to her mother will only harm her, yet...we give up. For the best of 5 people in the house, we will sacrifice one. Again. The only thought I gave her on Christmas and her birthday was, "What a blessing I don't have to waste money buying nice things that always are torn up or broken within 4 or 5 days of being given to her." The only regret I have is asking for help from an agency that now feels my husband must be a horrible person for B to not want to even speak to us. Of course she doesn't. We actually have rules, and are consistent, and we care about every child doing their best. We don't fall for theatrics and violence and threats and lying. In our opinion, the child support we will have to pay to a woman who shouldn't even have the right to speak to this child will be more than worth the peace and happiness we've all had this year.
Congratulations, B. You got your way again. Don't call us crying like you did when we let you live with her before. For one, we won't believe you after the lies you told about your dad. For two, we're not into playing games. And for three...if you call us I will likely call the phone company and have our number changed, since I can't afford to move. When I was 15 I worked, excelled in school, and helped support my mom and dad. You are plenty old enough to know right from wrong, and your behavior is chosen and puposeful. It's all a big mind game to you, but guess what? You lose. I hope you think from time to time what a happy family we are, and all the fun we had. (when we weren't leaving restaurants due to your temper tantrums, or having people in Wal-Mart laugh at us upon hearing you and saying, "Look...THAT's what happens when parents don't spank their chidlren.")
And on top of all this I'm tired of my husband being laid off "temporarily" for almost 5 months now. As much as we enjoy each other, and as fun as it is to have him home all day...it's nice to have money to pay bills, food, and other neccessities, too. And, admittedly, it would be nice to have a TV free day once in a while, too.
I'm ready for a school break. I'm ready for hubby to go back to work. And I'm ready to stop taking away from our other children. They don't deserve being treated the way their own sister treated them. They don't deserve going hungry because you ate ALL the food in the house, and pay day is a week away. They don't deserve having to be sent to their room to keep them safe or for us to spend 6, 10, and in 2 instances, 14 hours straight, with crisis workers called to our home to deal with a child WE couldn't deal with. They shouldn't have to see you punch our dog, or kick our sweet cat across an entire room. My 6 and 10 year old should NOT recognize police officers by first name because of all the times they've been called to our house, and they should not look upon Norma (dear as she is) as a surrogate grandmother. She's not. She's a crisis intervention worker, who feels exactly the same about B as we do. A 6 and 10 year old should not know their way around the high school from all the time we've been called there because the schools couldn't deal with B either.
My apologies for any typos. I'm also tired of writing. : )
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Little E's favorite color is, was, and always will be any shade of green. This is her favorite day of the year. She was quite upset we had no green pants or skirts to wear with her lovely, green ensemble. She does have 3 green dresses, but couldn't wear those with the shirt. Please excuse the bright, green Christmas socks. If it was green she put it on this morning. C had nothing other than the old softball shirt from a team she was on 3 years ago, but green just isn't the big deal to her as it is to her younger sister. : )
And YES....E has green underwear on too!
I hope everyone else enjoys this day as much as my 6 year old. : )
Saturday, March 7, 2009
How about a Week in Review?
I've had this blog almost a year, and never done a Week in Review.I see them all the time on other hs blogs; I'm just too inconsistant to do our own.
E, grade 1, actually did 5 full days of school this week. Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
In Math she worked through Lesson 52 of Saxon 1, and had a test. She also completed 4 pages in Abeka's grade 1 math. She got A+ on all of it, with the exception of side 1 of a worksheet yesterday. She wrote in colored pencil, so sloppily that I couldn't tell what she wrote. She decided she couldn't count by 10's anymore (after having been able to do so for over a year.)and counted by 5's instead. Apparently she can't even count to 10 anymore, as directions dictated she color 10 of an item, and in one picture she colored 11, and the other she colored 13. After me blowing my top she completed the other side with no problem.
E also did 4 lessons in her Language Lessons book. She completed a unit (chapter 6) in ETC 2. I believe that's 10 pages.
In Bible she finished Light Unit 102, and learning about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, (Israel), and was introduced to Joseph.
She read aloud 2 stories in her CLE Primer.
We didn't do any formal science or social studies this week for E. We did some, just not formal, out of a book, and it was a family venture, so I'll get to that in a moment.
E's most memorable moment this week was yesterday. E FINALLY HAS A FRIEND!!!!
We noticed a little girl about E's age had moved in 2 houses down from ours. We decided to let E walk down to introduce herself, but before she could, the little girl came over here. This little girl was very polite, and invited E to her house. They played together there for an hour and a half, playing dress up and enjoying a "tea" party that the girls mother set up for them. This was all on their front porch, so she was within sight of us the entire time. They then moved playtime to our house, as it was getting dark. What well behaved children! They were so quiet, so polite, and so well-behaved. The new girl moved here because her family had a house fire. C and E picked 2 books to give her, as she lost most of hers in the fire. I offered clothing (with 4 girls we have plenty), but the mother assured me between her family, and the Red Cross they were fine. The only issue was when it was time for her to go home. The little girl sat quietly playing in my girls' room, and said, "I like it here. I don't want to go home, thank you." She was fine after I assured her we loved having her, and she could come back again. : )
I have been praying for someone E's age. She loves to be with other children, but all the ones we know or have over are older than her by 4 or 5 years. E has tons of friends, but no one her own age. She's always been the little tag-along. Finally, another child just her age, who doesn't boss her around, or leave her out of "big-girl" things.
As for C's week: In math she completed 4 lessons. She is now up to Lesson 105. A+ all week!
She completed 10 pages in Easy Grammar.
She did Unit 5 in Spelling.
We completed our chapter on the Civil War, and checked out 2 more books at the library pertaining to that war.
In Science we began our unit on Weather. I never knew clouds, humidity, and winds were so technical. We did an experiment, making our own wind with heat.
In English she did several lessons. I'm not sure how many. She does 2 or 3 per day to finish the book this year, so 10-15. We are on Lesson 65, I think.
C read 4 books on her own, and we finished reading, "These Happy Golden Years" in the "Little House on the Prairie" series aloud.
C finished light unit 302 in Bible Monday, and we took the rest of the week off in that subject, other than some reading the actual Bible aloud and discussing.
For both girls: We took a drive Thursday to enjoy our lovely weather after 3 months of below freezing temps. We ended up at one of our county parks. I hadn't been there for years, and last time we went to this particular one they had nothing of interest. This time we were able to visit a replica of a pioneer homestead. We also, by chance, got a lesson in the making of maple syrup. There was no one at the park during a weekday. We noticed they had trees tapped for sap everywhere. Asking a ranger about this, he directed us to an out-of-the-way syrup making building. The ranger there was so sweet and helpful. Not only did he take a half hour to completely explain and demonstrate to the girls (and us) how it comes from the trees, and ends up in jars to pour on pancakes, he let the girls taste samples from each step. Free, unplanned field trip! And what timing...after 8 years of not bothering with this park we end up there on one of only a few days out of the year the sap runs to make syrup. We then asked another ranger if they might have any informational pamplets for us. He led us to the ranger station, and gave us a ton! The girls'favorite is a 3 page worksheet to fill in about animals native to our area.
Both girls also accomplished some art. E painted several pictures, and both girls made their own purse out of nothing other than 2 bandanas and some scissors. I have intended to post pictures since they made these last Sunday, but peruse through my blog and see how I am about actually posting pictures. E also cut and pasted a beautiful picture of a wetland habitat...which I, again, did not photograph yet, although I can see it hanging on my wall right now. : )
There's our week. It was a fairly average one, with the exception of the field trip, and E's new friend. I hope yours was just as great!
: )
E, grade 1, actually did 5 full days of school this week. Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
In Math she worked through Lesson 52 of Saxon 1, and had a test. She also completed 4 pages in Abeka's grade 1 math. She got A+ on all of it, with the exception of side 1 of a worksheet yesterday. She wrote in colored pencil, so sloppily that I couldn't tell what she wrote. She decided she couldn't count by 10's anymore (after having been able to do so for over a year.)and counted by 5's instead. Apparently she can't even count to 10 anymore, as directions dictated she color 10 of an item, and in one picture she colored 11, and the other she colored 13. After me blowing my top she completed the other side with no problem.
E also did 4 lessons in her Language Lessons book. She completed a unit (chapter 6) in ETC 2. I believe that's 10 pages.
In Bible she finished Light Unit 102, and learning about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, (Israel), and was introduced to Joseph.
She read aloud 2 stories in her CLE Primer.
We didn't do any formal science or social studies this week for E. We did some, just not formal, out of a book, and it was a family venture, so I'll get to that in a moment.
E's most memorable moment this week was yesterday. E FINALLY HAS A FRIEND!!!!
We noticed a little girl about E's age had moved in 2 houses down from ours. We decided to let E walk down to introduce herself, but before she could, the little girl came over here. This little girl was very polite, and invited E to her house. They played together there for an hour and a half, playing dress up and enjoying a "tea" party that the girls mother set up for them. This was all on their front porch, so she was within sight of us the entire time. They then moved playtime to our house, as it was getting dark. What well behaved children! They were so quiet, so polite, and so well-behaved. The new girl moved here because her family had a house fire. C and E picked 2 books to give her, as she lost most of hers in the fire. I offered clothing (with 4 girls we have plenty), but the mother assured me between her family, and the Red Cross they were fine. The only issue was when it was time for her to go home. The little girl sat quietly playing in my girls' room, and said, "I like it here. I don't want to go home, thank you." She was fine after I assured her we loved having her, and she could come back again. : )
I have been praying for someone E's age. She loves to be with other children, but all the ones we know or have over are older than her by 4 or 5 years. E has tons of friends, but no one her own age. She's always been the little tag-along. Finally, another child just her age, who doesn't boss her around, or leave her out of "big-girl" things.
As for C's week: In math she completed 4 lessons. She is now up to Lesson 105. A+ all week!
She completed 10 pages in Easy Grammar.
She did Unit 5 in Spelling.
We completed our chapter on the Civil War, and checked out 2 more books at the library pertaining to that war.
In Science we began our unit on Weather. I never knew clouds, humidity, and winds were so technical. We did an experiment, making our own wind with heat.
In English she did several lessons. I'm not sure how many. She does 2 or 3 per day to finish the book this year, so 10-15. We are on Lesson 65, I think.
C read 4 books on her own, and we finished reading, "These Happy Golden Years" in the "Little House on the Prairie" series aloud.
C finished light unit 302 in Bible Monday, and we took the rest of the week off in that subject, other than some reading the actual Bible aloud and discussing.
For both girls: We took a drive Thursday to enjoy our lovely weather after 3 months of below freezing temps. We ended up at one of our county parks. I hadn't been there for years, and last time we went to this particular one they had nothing of interest. This time we were able to visit a replica of a pioneer homestead. We also, by chance, got a lesson in the making of maple syrup. There was no one at the park during a weekday. We noticed they had trees tapped for sap everywhere. Asking a ranger about this, he directed us to an out-of-the-way syrup making building. The ranger there was so sweet and helpful. Not only did he take a half hour to completely explain and demonstrate to the girls (and us) how it comes from the trees, and ends up in jars to pour on pancakes, he let the girls taste samples from each step. Free, unplanned field trip! And what timing...after 8 years of not bothering with this park we end up there on one of only a few days out of the year the sap runs to make syrup. We then asked another ranger if they might have any informational pamplets for us. He led us to the ranger station, and gave us a ton! The girls'favorite is a 3 page worksheet to fill in about animals native to our area.
Both girls also accomplished some art. E painted several pictures, and both girls made their own purse out of nothing other than 2 bandanas and some scissors. I have intended to post pictures since they made these last Sunday, but peruse through my blog and see how I am about actually posting pictures. E also cut and pasted a beautiful picture of a wetland habitat...which I, again, did not photograph yet, although I can see it hanging on my wall right now. : )
There's our week. It was a fairly average one, with the exception of the field trip, and E's new friend. I hope yours was just as great!
: )
Friday, March 6, 2009
Decision for 5th grade Social Studies
I have been in a quandry over social studies for C next year. I ordered Abeka's Old World History/Geography. I have all the components for it sitting on the bookshelf. I wanted to look something up, so referred to this text. Nothing was in the book at all about this country. (Afghanistan) Puzzled, I randomly selected other middle eastern, and SW Asian countries in the index. Many were not mentioned, and of the ones that were, the mention was only a tiny blurb, lumping such-and-such a country in with other countries in that region.
I don't care whether you are Christian, Jewish, or secular; I haven't heard of one person that disagrees where civilization began, and it began in the middle eastern regions, and spread to northern Africa, and SW Asia. Out of curiousity I checked out all the maps in the book's atlas. Believe it or not I found at least 3 countries missing on these maps. Right smack-dab in the middle of one map was a big, green space, unlabeled...again...Afghanistan. I wonder if this changed after 9-11-01? Even so, I would think that would make this country even more important to learn about, as opposed to pretending it doesn't exist.
This---in a reputable private and homeschooling curriculum---a company among the tops in hundreds of companies producing schoolbooks! In a book specializing in a continent by continent study comparing Ancient History to Modern history of same regions. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that region pretty important both in the past, and currently?
I've read several fictional and nonfiction books that take place in this area. I have a fondness for biographies and "documentary-type" books. I feel, especially with the current world climate, that the middle east, and the SW Asian countries are important to learn about, and educate our children about.
I don't want to bad-mouth this company (as if this blog has so many readers I wcould single-handedly shut it down), but I just feel, after spending $100 on their History alone, that they don't do justice to the time period and areas this text was supposed to cover. (Just so anyone reading this knows...Abeka has the greatest science texts ever. Amazing, meaty, and very accurate.) But their history is another story. I spent much of this year supplementing American History. I realize you can't cover in detail every, single aspect of history in one elementary book, but I felt they could have added much more to the text this year, too. We didn't start U.S. History/Geography until a month after our school year began, and here it is March, and we are almost finished with it. This is WITH all my add-ons of assigned reading, read-alouds, and additional research online, and we still have the book almost finished in a total of less than 6 months. I had to add on extra reading, or my daughter wouldn't have much of an idea about U.S. History. She would have a very basic sketch, but nothing in-depth.
So...considering all of the above, I opted to find something else for 5th grade social studies. Check in at a later time to find out my solution. (Gotcha on the edge of your seats, now, haven't I?)
: )
I don't care whether you are Christian, Jewish, or secular; I haven't heard of one person that disagrees where civilization began, and it began in the middle eastern regions, and spread to northern Africa, and SW Asia. Out of curiousity I checked out all the maps in the book's atlas. Believe it or not I found at least 3 countries missing on these maps. Right smack-dab in the middle of one map was a big, green space, unlabeled...again...Afghanistan. I wonder if this changed after 9-11-01? Even so, I would think that would make this country even more important to learn about, as opposed to pretending it doesn't exist.
This---in a reputable private and homeschooling curriculum---a company among the tops in hundreds of companies producing schoolbooks! In a book specializing in a continent by continent study comparing Ancient History to Modern history of same regions. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that region pretty important both in the past, and currently?
I've read several fictional and nonfiction books that take place in this area. I have a fondness for biographies and "documentary-type" books. I feel, especially with the current world climate, that the middle east, and the SW Asian countries are important to learn about, and educate our children about.
I don't want to bad-mouth this company (as if this blog has so many readers I wcould single-handedly shut it down), but I just feel, after spending $100 on their History alone, that they don't do justice to the time period and areas this text was supposed to cover. (Just so anyone reading this knows...Abeka has the greatest science texts ever. Amazing, meaty, and very accurate.) But their history is another story. I spent much of this year supplementing American History. I realize you can't cover in detail every, single aspect of history in one elementary book, but I felt they could have added much more to the text this year, too. We didn't start U.S. History/Geography until a month after our school year began, and here it is March, and we are almost finished with it. This is WITH all my add-ons of assigned reading, read-alouds, and additional research online, and we still have the book almost finished in a total of less than 6 months. I had to add on extra reading, or my daughter wouldn't have much of an idea about U.S. History. She would have a very basic sketch, but nothing in-depth.
So...considering all of the above, I opted to find something else for 5th grade social studies. Check in at a later time to find out my solution. (Gotcha on the edge of your seats, now, haven't I?)
: )
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Six year old Quote:
While reading to me the other evening E said, "I like learning. The more I learn, the more I know. And the more I know, the more I can learn." : )
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Update on Past Month/Brief Reviews of New Curriculum
I suppose I'll start with school updates first, since this is a blog about homeschooling.
C is doing well still. We are on Lesson 100 of 120 in Math. This is currently her worst subject...worst meaning that she has been getting more B's than A's. Her tests are 20 questions, so it only takes 2 missed problems to get a B, and 3 wrong to get a C. So this past week we spent on review....mostly of multiplying 2-3 digit numbers by other 2-3 digit numbers. She knows how to do the steps, but she makes the same mistake every single time. As she multiplies the "tens" place, she continuously adds the numbers she "carried" when multiplying the "ones" place. She knows she does this...yet still keeps doing it.
We finally returned to English a month ago. She is now working through Queens Language Lessons and Easy Grammar grade 5. We do 1-2 pages/day in the EG, and the title says it all. It is easy. This program teaches prepostitions before anything else. Once you learn prepostions, you can cross out half a sentence; thus, making it much simpler to identify the other parts of speech. She loves it. I love it. This book is over 300 pages long, so we will continue working 1-2 pages/day through 5th grade. The Queens LL (for the elementary child 2) is perfect for finishing up 4th grade. Each lesson is roughly 1/3-1/2 a page long, and can easily be done in 5 minutes. C usually does anywhere from 2-5 lessons/day, 4 days/week. We got this book a month ago, and she is somewhere in the 50's for her lessons. (out of 180)It is very simple. I would not use it as a stand-alone LA curriculum, but as a supplement it is perfect. Queens LL has a nice variety of LA concepts, from grammar to poetry and writing. The lessons are short enough to not discourage a LA challenged child, but complete enough to give a thorough review of all topics she needs to be familiar with before moving on to her main LA course for 5th grade.
C also began BJU Spelling 5 a month ago. This is in lieu of her Wordly Wise 3000vocabulary she finished earlier in the year. She couldn't bear the thought of doing more WW, and I couldn't bear the thought of her possibly missing out on some sort of spelling/vocab. We both like the BJU Spelling. The words are not at all difiicult for her...she's a "natural" speller. The exercises in the book are fun for her, and incorporate the Bible. BJU Spelling 5 also has a weekly "journal writing" assignement, which she readily writes each week. Apparently when you have to write on an assigned topic for spelling it is easier than doing the same thing for LA. : )
We have not done much History or Science the past 2 weeks. We have only 2 1/2 chapters left in Abeka's 5th grade science. I could not reccommend any better science text. C and I both will miss it, and have learned TONS! (Yes, I learned tons, too...even though both times through college I centered in science related fields.)It is tempting to start in on our brand new series of Apologia science books....Zoology 1,2,and 3 (at C's request.), but so far I'm being good and keeping them on the shelf for when we finish the current science. Ok...I read the entire first book in the series, and bought all the materials for the experiments....but I put it back. : )We have also been doing an independant Anatomy study. Kind of unintentional, but she is interested right now, and I told her any Human Anatomy she learns will help her out in her future vet career with Animal Anatomy.
As for History, we are up to the Civil War. We read a biography on Harriet Tubman (fascinating woman). We read the first section of the chapter in her text. That's about it for the month. We are far ahead in history, too, so no worries about falling behind. And if you count the "Little House on the Prairie" series, we've done lots more. We finished 2 books, and are almost done with another. We only have 2 more books left in the series. They are historical, and cover the expansion of the U.S. So they fit right in with our history this year. She also read 2 other books on Pioneers and the U.S expansion: "Trouble for Lucy" and "Sarah, Plain and Tall."
That covers our main subjects for 4th grade. Now for first...
E continues to whiz through math. I switched her to Abeka's grade 1 Arithmetic. She adores this. So do I. But we couldn't completely give up Saxon 1, either. She enjoys that, too, although the tedium and repetitiveness is enough to drive me insane. So...since she technically shouldn't be in first grade until next August....we do them both. We alternate days, or some days we work in both texts. I took a loooooong break with the Saxon (for my own sanity), and we recently began again. I am not one of these mothers who wants to continually brag about how advanced her child is, and am in no hurry to push E ahead a grade or two. If I push her ahead NOW, she will finish school and go off to college even sooner. Nope....not thinking about that. : )We continue along a few days a week, and plan to finish first grade roughly around the time she would finish in public school. (14 months from now).
E is reading well. Her current favorites are the "Biscuit" books, "Amelia Bedelia", and the "Frog and Toad" books. I can't stand the Frog and Toad books, but she likes them, and she's reading, so I'll grin and bear it till this, too, shall pass.
E also is loving writing. She does so in dozens of notes to family members and pictures with stories. A page or two in a Phonics book will bring her to tears, but she can write a page long note with no trouble. Her current thing is notes to Mommy while Mommy is on the phone. Examples of this include: "Mommy, C turned the channel on TV and I was not done watching a show." or..."Mommy, Can I have a marshmello {sic}? I love you. Love, E" or...."Mommy, Daddy let the dogs out. Can I let them back in?" : ) I guess it's better than interupting my phone call... Usually these notes are accompanied by a detailed drawing illustrating what she wants. Such as a stick figure and a giant marshmallow. Or 8 dogs surrounding a stick figure and a house.
Both girls' favorite subject is, by far, Bible. I bought the rest of the CLE light units (mini-worktexts)for them, and they love them. If it were up to E should would do an entire light unit each day. In addition to their Bible curriculum, I have been trying to include C in some of my own Bible readings. Nothing major...just when I run across an interesting story, later in the day C and I re-read it together. I'm pretty new to this Bible reading, so I will probably screw it up somehow. Well, not new to it...I grew up going to church, but I didn't pay attention or truly GET the Bible until the past few years. Since we haven't found a church here I'm satisfied with I'm on my own.
On my own I am up to 2Kings. I would probably be several chapters into it right now if I weren't sitting here writing a blog entry that's already 10 pages long....
I hope this posts. Some message just popped up saying. "Cannot connect with Blogger. Post may fail." That's always good to see after spending half an hour typing. Please excuse any typos....with that message I'd better just click "publish post", instead of proofreading. : )
C is doing well still. We are on Lesson 100 of 120 in Math. This is currently her worst subject...worst meaning that she has been getting more B's than A's. Her tests are 20 questions, so it only takes 2 missed problems to get a B, and 3 wrong to get a C. So this past week we spent on review....mostly of multiplying 2-3 digit numbers by other 2-3 digit numbers. She knows how to do the steps, but she makes the same mistake every single time. As she multiplies the "tens" place, she continuously adds the numbers she "carried" when multiplying the "ones" place. She knows she does this...yet still keeps doing it.
We finally returned to English a month ago. She is now working through Queens Language Lessons and Easy Grammar grade 5. We do 1-2 pages/day in the EG, and the title says it all. It is easy. This program teaches prepostitions before anything else. Once you learn prepostions, you can cross out half a sentence; thus, making it much simpler to identify the other parts of speech. She loves it. I love it. This book is over 300 pages long, so we will continue working 1-2 pages/day through 5th grade. The Queens LL (for the elementary child 2) is perfect for finishing up 4th grade. Each lesson is roughly 1/3-1/2 a page long, and can easily be done in 5 minutes. C usually does anywhere from 2-5 lessons/day, 4 days/week. We got this book a month ago, and she is somewhere in the 50's for her lessons. (out of 180)It is very simple. I would not use it as a stand-alone LA curriculum, but as a supplement it is perfect. Queens LL has a nice variety of LA concepts, from grammar to poetry and writing. The lessons are short enough to not discourage a LA challenged child, but complete enough to give a thorough review of all topics she needs to be familiar with before moving on to her main LA course for 5th grade.
C also began BJU Spelling 5 a month ago. This is in lieu of her Wordly Wise 3000vocabulary she finished earlier in the year. She couldn't bear the thought of doing more WW, and I couldn't bear the thought of her possibly missing out on some sort of spelling/vocab. We both like the BJU Spelling. The words are not at all difiicult for her...she's a "natural" speller. The exercises in the book are fun for her, and incorporate the Bible. BJU Spelling 5 also has a weekly "journal writing" assignement, which she readily writes each week. Apparently when you have to write on an assigned topic for spelling it is easier than doing the same thing for LA. : )
We have not done much History or Science the past 2 weeks. We have only 2 1/2 chapters left in Abeka's 5th grade science. I could not reccommend any better science text. C and I both will miss it, and have learned TONS! (Yes, I learned tons, too...even though both times through college I centered in science related fields.)It is tempting to start in on our brand new series of Apologia science books....Zoology 1,2,and 3 (at C's request.), but so far I'm being good and keeping them on the shelf for when we finish the current science. Ok...I read the entire first book in the series, and bought all the materials for the experiments....but I put it back. : )We have also been doing an independant Anatomy study. Kind of unintentional, but she is interested right now, and I told her any Human Anatomy she learns will help her out in her future vet career with Animal Anatomy.
As for History, we are up to the Civil War. We read a biography on Harriet Tubman (fascinating woman). We read the first section of the chapter in her text. That's about it for the month. We are far ahead in history, too, so no worries about falling behind. And if you count the "Little House on the Prairie" series, we've done lots more. We finished 2 books, and are almost done with another. We only have 2 more books left in the series. They are historical, and cover the expansion of the U.S. So they fit right in with our history this year. She also read 2 other books on Pioneers and the U.S expansion: "Trouble for Lucy" and "Sarah, Plain and Tall."
That covers our main subjects for 4th grade. Now for first...
E continues to whiz through math. I switched her to Abeka's grade 1 Arithmetic. She adores this. So do I. But we couldn't completely give up Saxon 1, either. She enjoys that, too, although the tedium and repetitiveness is enough to drive me insane. So...since she technically shouldn't be in first grade until next August....we do them both. We alternate days, or some days we work in both texts. I took a loooooong break with the Saxon (for my own sanity), and we recently began again. I am not one of these mothers who wants to continually brag about how advanced her child is, and am in no hurry to push E ahead a grade or two. If I push her ahead NOW, she will finish school and go off to college even sooner. Nope....not thinking about that. : )We continue along a few days a week, and plan to finish first grade roughly around the time she would finish in public school. (14 months from now).
E is reading well. Her current favorites are the "Biscuit" books, "Amelia Bedelia", and the "Frog and Toad" books. I can't stand the Frog and Toad books, but she likes them, and she's reading, so I'll grin and bear it till this, too, shall pass.
E also is loving writing. She does so in dozens of notes to family members and pictures with stories. A page or two in a Phonics book will bring her to tears, but she can write a page long note with no trouble. Her current thing is notes to Mommy while Mommy is on the phone. Examples of this include: "Mommy, C turned the channel on TV and I was not done watching a show." or..."Mommy, Can I have a marshmello {sic}? I love you. Love, E" or...."Mommy, Daddy let the dogs out. Can I let them back in?" : ) I guess it's better than interupting my phone call... Usually these notes are accompanied by a detailed drawing illustrating what she wants. Such as a stick figure and a giant marshmallow. Or 8 dogs surrounding a stick figure and a house.
Both girls' favorite subject is, by far, Bible. I bought the rest of the CLE light units (mini-worktexts)for them, and they love them. If it were up to E should would do an entire light unit each day. In addition to their Bible curriculum, I have been trying to include C in some of my own Bible readings. Nothing major...just when I run across an interesting story, later in the day C and I re-read it together. I'm pretty new to this Bible reading, so I will probably screw it up somehow. Well, not new to it...I grew up going to church, but I didn't pay attention or truly GET the Bible until the past few years. Since we haven't found a church here I'm satisfied with I'm on my own.
On my own I am up to 2Kings. I would probably be several chapters into it right now if I weren't sitting here writing a blog entry that's already 10 pages long....
I hope this posts. Some message just popped up saying. "Cannot connect with Blogger. Post may fail." That's always good to see after spending half an hour typing. Please excuse any typos....with that message I'd better just click "publish post", instead of proofreading. : )
Sunday, February 15, 2009
How many of these have you done?
I'm not sure where this list originated from, but saw it on another blog, and thought it interesting enough to post on mine. Marked items are ones I have done:
~1. Started your own blog~ (kind of obvious)
~2. Slept under the stars~
~3. Played in a band~ (I'm counting school band. And Guitar hero)
4. Visited Hawaii
~5. Watched a meteor shower~
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
~7. Been to Disneyland/world~
8. Climbed a mountain.
~9. Held a praying mantis~
~10. Sang a solo~
11. Bungee jumped (uh....never happen!)
12. Visited Paris
~13. Watched a lightning storm at sea~
~14. Taught yourself an art from scratch~
15. Adopted a child
~16. Had food poisoning~
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
~18. Grown your own vegetables~ (as a child, and hoping to try on my own this year.)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
~21. Had a pillow fight~
~22. Hitchhiked~ (Only twice, and out of neccessity))
~23. Taken a sick day when you weren’t ill.~
~24. Built a snow fort~
25. Held a lamb
~26. Gone skinny dipping~
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
~29. Seen a total eclipse~
~30. Watched a sunrise or sunset~
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
~35. Seen an Amish community~
~36. Taught yourself a new language~(unsure whether or not to mark this one...I began learning one, and finished in high school the usual route...with a teacher)
~37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied~
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
~39. Gone rock climbing~
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
~41. Sung Karaoke~
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
~43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant~
44. Visited Africa
~45. Walked on a beach by moonlight~
~46. Been transported in an ambulance~
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain....(sad thing is...I don't remember if I have or not)
53. Played in the mud
~54. Gone to a drive-in theater~
~55. Been in a movie~ (when I was 12...very bit part...got cut out of final movie)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
~61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies~
62. Gone whale watching
~63. Gotten flowers for no reason~
~64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma~
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check
~68. Flown in a helicopter~
~69. Saved a favorite childhood toy ~
~70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial~
~71. Eaten Caviar ~
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London
~77. Broken a bone ~
~78. Been on a speeding motorcycle~
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (article)
81. Visited the Vatican
~82. Bought a brand new car~
83. Walked in Jerusalem
~84. Had your picture in the paper.~
~85. Read the entire Bible~
~86. Visited the White House~
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
~89. Saved someone’s life~ (I was in nursing 9 years...of course I have...not outside of work, though. Oh, wait...yes, I did. CPR on ex-boyfriend's father)
~90. Sat on a jury~
~91. Met someone famous~
92. Joined a book club
~93. Lost a loved one~
~94. Had a baby~
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (been there; just didn't swim in it)
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
~98. Owned a cell phone~
~99. Been stung by a bee ~
ETA: These looked all neat and tidy on the page I write on. As soon as they posted the left margin is "squiggly". My apologies for the difficulty in reading the list; I don't know how to fix it in bloggonese. : )
~1. Started your own blog~ (kind of obvious)
~2. Slept under the stars~
~3. Played in a band~ (I'm counting school band. And Guitar hero)
4. Visited Hawaii
~5. Watched a meteor shower~
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
~7. Been to Disneyland/world~
8. Climbed a mountain.
~9. Held a praying mantis~
~10. Sang a solo~
11. Bungee jumped (uh....never happen!)
12. Visited Paris
~13. Watched a lightning storm at sea~
~14. Taught yourself an art from scratch~
15. Adopted a child
~16. Had food poisoning~
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
~18. Grown your own vegetables~ (as a child, and hoping to try on my own this year.)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
~21. Had a pillow fight~
~22. Hitchhiked~ (Only twice, and out of neccessity))
~23. Taken a sick day when you weren’t ill.~
~24. Built a snow fort~
25. Held a lamb
~26. Gone skinny dipping~
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
~29. Seen a total eclipse~
~30. Watched a sunrise or sunset~
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
~35. Seen an Amish community~
~36. Taught yourself a new language~(unsure whether or not to mark this one...I began learning one, and finished in high school the usual route...with a teacher)
~37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied~
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
~39. Gone rock climbing~
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
~41. Sung Karaoke~
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
~43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant~
44. Visited Africa
~45. Walked on a beach by moonlight~
~46. Been transported in an ambulance~
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain....(sad thing is...I don't remember if I have or not)
53. Played in the mud
~54. Gone to a drive-in theater~
~55. Been in a movie~ (when I was 12...very bit part...got cut out of final movie)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
~61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies~
62. Gone whale watching
~63. Gotten flowers for no reason~
~64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma~
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check
~68. Flown in a helicopter~
~69. Saved a favorite childhood toy ~
~70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial~
~71. Eaten Caviar ~
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London
~77. Broken a bone ~
~78. Been on a speeding motorcycle~
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (article)
81. Visited the Vatican
~82. Bought a brand new car~
83. Walked in Jerusalem
~84. Had your picture in the paper.~
~85. Read the entire Bible~
~86. Visited the White House~
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
~89. Saved someone’s life~ (I was in nursing 9 years...of course I have...not outside of work, though. Oh, wait...yes, I did. CPR on ex-boyfriend's father)
~90. Sat on a jury~
~91. Met someone famous~
92. Joined a book club
~93. Lost a loved one~
~94. Had a baby~
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (been there; just didn't swim in it)
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
~98. Owned a cell phone~
~99. Been stung by a bee ~
ETA: These looked all neat and tidy on the page I write on. As soon as they posted the left margin is "squiggly". My apologies for the difficulty in reading the list; I don't know how to fix it in bloggonese. : )
Monday, February 9, 2009
Happy Birthday E
My little sweetie's growing so fast. Just 16 months old in this picture; now she's 6 years old! Love you sweet E....
Happy Birthday!
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