Nancy Kelly - Charlotte Mason and Homeschooling Consultant

I would like to tell you about my friend Nancy Kelly and her new consulting services. I had the pleasure of meeting Nancy last summer at the Charlotte Mason conference put on by ChildlightUSA at Gardner-Webb University. I participated in the class she taught on multi-age homeschool classes, and saw how she would handle different age levels. She made it look easy. I also met one of her sons who is now in college, and saw first hand the amazing results of a living education in that young man.

Nancy has been a homeschooler for 18 years, using Charlotte Mason's methods, and is offering her expertise to those who need encouragement and guidance as they learn to implement those methods into their own homeschool. I know that you will be blessed by your time with Nancy, and encourage you to shoot her an email if you think you might be interested in talking with her.

You can visit Nancy at her blog, Sage Parnassus, and find out more about her consulting services here.  She is currently offering some lovely books to one lucky reader, so you should definitely check that out and see if you want to enter the giveaway!

My Memories Suite - Digital Scrapbooking Software GIVEAWAY!

Have you ever wanted to try digital scrapbooking? Are you a "traditional" scrapbooker (like me) with more stuff than you can use and no time to use it?  Perhaps you have one or more small people in your house that don't allow for a dedicated scrapping area.  I have one with a scissors fetish who will cut anything he can lay his hands on - tablecloths, winter coats, and the cords to the window blinds, just to name a few. There is NO WAY I would leave scissors laying around, much less my Cricut machine (which I love) or my other paper cutters.

Enter My Memories Suite! This software is fun and simple to use.  I have not done much digital scrapbooking.  I have never taken the time to organize myself, for one thing.  Nor have I bothered to learn how to do it, even though I have Photoshop at my disposal.  I have just not taken the time.

I was asked to review this scrapbooking software, and I have to tell you, I am hooked!  I installed it, opened it up and started playing around, had a grand old time exploring all the possibilities.  Of course, one of the best things about digital scrapbooking is the ability to drag and drop a picture into a pre-made template.  This is one of my favorite pictures of the kids from when Isaac was a baby:

This is a freebie I received from the Share My Memories newsletter.  I thought the colors were great for a picture in the fall leaves.

After watching a tutorial, I created this layout using the free elements included in the software package:

Not too shabby, eh?  I found a picture of Todd and Isaac at Lake Superior this summer.  Then, I chose a paper, added a texture, border, mat, shape and photo corners - all with a few simple clicks.  Easy as that!

I also made a few pages using pictures from Isaac's Halloween party at preschool.  I used some things from My Memories Suite, but included elements I had from other places, too. 

It did take an extra step to import embellishments (the overlay & buttons on the first page, the  hand print and the cat on the last two) but there were no issues with using them.  My Memories Suite comes with a ton of great stuff, and they have lots on their website you can download for free, too.  However, I had quite a bit of stuff I've downloaded for free from here and there, and I wanted to be sure I could use what I already had.  The pumpkins on page 2 are actually a nifty font I downloaded and installed.  I just clicked to add a text box, typed them in, sized and dragged my text box, and voila: a pumpkin border!

I am excited to do more with this nifty software. I have not even scratched the surface of what it can do.  The best part is, I HAVE A FREE COPY TO GIVE AWAY TO A LUCKY WINNER!

Here's what you do:

1. (Required) Visit the My Memories Suite website and poke around.  Come back and share your favorite products with me in the comments.
2. (Optional) "Like" My Memories Suite on Facebook (let me know that you did so in the comments)

3. (Optional) Follow My Memories on Twitter (let me know that you did so in the comments)
4. (Optional) Share about the giveaway on your blog, Facebook page or Twitter account! (let me know you did this &leave me a link in the comments)  If you'd like, you can copy & paste this:

Visit Acorn Hill Academy for a chance to win FREE digital scrapbooking software! http://tinyurl.com/8894pkm

I will announce the lucky winner on Monday, November 28.  Good luck!

If you just can't wait to get started, I have a fabulous coupon code for you!  You can go to the My Memories Suite site and use code STMMMS31018 for $10 discount on your very own copy of the My Memories Suite software, and a $10 credit in the My Memories Store!

Soup - It's What's For Dinner

I do love fall in North Carolina.  After a summer of oppressive humidity, the bright fall days bringing cooler temperatures are quite welcome.  I love the colors and scents of fall, too. Autumn also ushers in soup season.

I made one of my family's favorite soups tonight, and I thought I'd share the recipe.  I got it from Todd's mother, because it's one of his favorites, and have made a few modifications.

Here is the original recipe:

Chicken Tortellini Soup
9 oz pckg frozen broccoli
6 cups water
3 - 1.75 oz cans of condensed chicken broth
1 - 10.75 oz can cream of chicken soup
2 cups cubed, cooked chicken
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup vermouth or water
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp basil leaves
1/2 tsp oregano leaves
7 oz pckg cheese tortellini
Parmesan cheese, if desired

Directions:
In large saucepan or Dutch oven, combine water, broth, soup, chicken, onions, carrots, vermouth, garlic, basil & oregano.  Bring to a boil & add tortellini.  Reduce heat & simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.  Add broccoli; simmer 5-10 minutes more until broccoli is tender.  Serve with cheese.

Makes 10 servings, 1/2 C

Notes
I don't know about you, but I have yet to find anything labeled "condensed chicken broth" at the grocery store.  The cans of broth I have (usually Swanson's) specifically say on the label "Do not dilute."  I have diluted them, but I don't think the soup is as tasty.  Tonight, I used 6 cans of chicken broth and 2 cups of vegetable broth.  (I think the 6 cans of broth would have been sufficient, but I didn't look at the labels and assumed that they were 10.75 oz cans instead of 14.5 oz cans and decided I needed extra liquid.  Vegetable broth has a nice flavor.)

I like to add celery to the soup.  I think I added about a cup tonight.  Chicken soup should have celery in it.

I have learned over the years that I am not a huge fan of oregano, so I leave that out and add 1 tsp of basil and approximated 1/2 tsp allspice.  My mother tells me that allspice is a great thing to add to chicken soups, so I do.  I say "approximately," because as I was attempting to measure the allspice over the soup pot, a whole bunch of it dumped onto my half-teaspoon and overflowed into the pot.  I put back what was still on the spoon and called what was still in the pot, good enough.  (I would guess that you are beginning to see why this is not a cooking blog.)

I never have vermouth so I don't put that in.

The best thing about this recipe is that it doesn't ask that you sauté the vegetables first.  You just dump it all in and boil it.  It's wonderful!  I also love that it has lots of veggies so it can be a one-dish meal.  I wish I had remembered to throw some bread in the bread machine, but I will do that tomorrow when we have the leftovers. :-)

Paperback Swap!

Homeschoolers:  have you signed up for Paperback Swap yet?  If not, get thee hence and do so now!

Here is how it works:
1. Sign up for your FREE account.
2. Post books that you would like someone else to have.
3. You receive 2 credits for posting books, and then one credit for each book you send.  With your credits, you can request books that people send to you for FREE!
4. When someone requests a book from you, you have to send it in a fairly timely fashion and pay for media mail postage.

I had heard of Paperback Swap (PBS) quite a while ago, but it seemed like too much work at the time to get books together to post so I could get credits to get books.  However, this past week, I was looking at my bookshelves, which are overrun with books again, and realized that I had a stack right in front of me that could go.  I am terrible about getting them to the library or to Goodwill, but I got them entered into Paperback Swap, and instantly had requests for 4 books.  I mailed those last week and just mailed 4 more today.  I figured it would be a good way for me to get some books to read inexpensively.  Honestly, considering what a new book costs, even from Amazon, it's a good deal even after you pay for the postage.

One of the things I sent off was my boxed set of the Twilight series, in hardcover.  It was expensive to send, and the person requesting it had a lot of restrictions on what she would and would not accept.  My set was in nearly perfect condition, but it was a bugger to get packed, and I do confess to feeling a small amount of irritation at knowing I would get only one credit for all that work.  However, I sent it, because I wanted the books out of my house.  Guess what?  The person who received them emailed me to thank me for packing the books so carefully and said they arrived in perfect condition.  She also gave me 3 more credits, because she didn't think it was fair that I only received one for a  4-book set, especially considering the cost of the postage.  Is that not fabulous? 

Why is this good for homeschoolers?  Well, let me tell you!  When I went the post office, the very nice man who helped me turned out to be a fellow homeschooler.  He told me that his wife gets lots of books for their homeschool from Paperback Swap.  I had an epiphany.  I had not considered the possibility of looking there for school books!  Immediately, I went home and started looking up books we will need for next year.  I have 2 on the way to me as I type this!  If you homeschool, you know how expensive books are, and therefore the gleefulness I feel at getting some from PBS.

I hope I've inspired you to at least consider PBS.  If you homeschool, or read at all, you know you have too many books.  This is a great way to get rid of some that didn't turn out to be fabulous, and get some that you either really want or need in return.  Bibliophiles helping bibliophiles - it's a beautiful thing.

As You Were

My friend Kenny died last week.  He was 58.  He leaves behind his wife of 39 years, his only son, his daughter-in-law, 3 beautiful grandchildren, his mother, and innumerable extended family and friends who loved him.  He had a heart attack quite unexpectedly and died at church in a meeting.

My heart aches with missing him, and I cannot imagine how his family must feel.  His son gave a beautiful eulogy, and ended with saying that he hopes to be as good a husband and father as his dad was, but he doesn't know how to be himself without his dad.  They were best friends and did most things together.  They recorded 2 CDs together, which fulfilled a dream of Kenny's.  I know my world would be turned upside down if I lost my dad, and I don't get to see him every day because we live so far apart.

Kenny loved music.  He particularly loved the Beatles, and the funeral people found an interesting CD with funeral music arrangements of Beatles songs to play.  Apparently Kenny had said he didn't want funeral music at his funeral someday, but the Beatles.  I can't say I cared for the funeral-ish versions of their music, but I suppose it was an acceptable compromise.  I do wonder if Kenny would have cringed at those arrangements.

Kenny and I were both on the praise team at our church.  Even though I only knew him for a little over a year and a half, I saw him every week and we shared music and laughter together.  He shared those things with everyone.  We had a little inside joke about one of the songs we performed, and in listening to people talk about their experiences with Kenny, I think he had an inside joke with just about everyone.  It was a great way to connect with people.

I learned some things about Kenny during his eulogy that made me wish I'd had more time to get to know him and that my husband had had the same opportunity.  He loved Star Trek and Star Wars, and so do we.  He was also into science fiction and space, and loved model rockets.  Todd would have loved that!

Kenny's son told a story about starting a Star Wars fan club with his dad and some friends, and how much his dad loved being a part of that.  One night Kenny fell asleep while watching a movie and startled himself awake, and the other guys were laughing.  He just looked at them and said, "As you were."  (I think this is a Star Trek quote, but I can't be sure.)  That's how Brad ended his eulogy: by telling us all, "As you were."

We had a get-together at our house on the 4th of July for our praise team, and Kenny and his lovely wife, Renae, came and brought the most amazing baked beans.  I didn't learn until after they arrived that they had a family dinner at their house, and had sat their family down to eat and then came over to join us.  I can't tell you how much that meant to me.  He and Renae said we'd have to get together with the kids, and I was looking forward to getting to know them as part of our North Carolina family.

The best thing about Kenny is that although I know he would not have chosen to leave his life on earth just yet, everyone knew how much he loved them.  His family knew beyond all doubt that he adored them and were the most important thing to them.  He didn't leave any broken relationships behind.  We all miss him terribly, but I don't believe there are any regrets of things we didn't get to say.  I hope the same will be said about me, someday.

Thanks, Kenny, for being a great friend.  I will miss you greatly and look forward to seeing you in heaven.

Homeschool: Our Scintillating Conversation

Me: (Child), Get your math.

Child: I don't know where it is.

Me: Well, find it.

Child: Will you help me?

Me: Is it in your bag?

Child: (spoken without moving from couch) No, I took it out.

Me: Look in the bonus room.

Child: It's not there.

Me: What about your bedroom?

Child: It's not there.

Me: FIND YOUR MATH! I DO NOT HAVE IT AND HAVE NOT SEEN IT!!

Child: walks straight out to car and gets her math books

Me: Deep breathing and counting to 10 (or more) so as not to go choke said child and whack her on the head with said math book.

There is No Peace with Preschoolers

We started our homeschool year a couple of weeks ago - the day after Labor Day, to coincide with Isaac starting preschool again.  We took the plunge into Ambleside Online, combining years 1 & 2 so we don't miss any of the wonderful books.  The first week went REALLY well.  It was even better than I'd hoped!  The girls enjoyed the books we're reading and even though we're doubling up, it's not a terribly heavy workload.  Of course, our math books hadn't arrived yet and we don't have our microscope for science; it's going to take another week or two to get up to our full load, but still, it was good.

Last week, we were all sick.  We did do some reading, but for the most part, we laid around and felt pathetic.  It was pretty bad.

So, today, my goal was to get back on track!  We started off with some math, and Abbie finished reading the two things she was unable to read last week.  It wasn't terrible.

The thing is, Isaac is not terribly quiet while we're schooling - the child talks incessantly, bless him.  He also kept asking when we were going to go outside.  Abbie really needs quiet for reading and Emma would do just about anything to get out of school work, so we didn't get as much done as I'd hoped.  After math, we did go outside, and I decided to take a look at my plans for the week and tweak a bit (already).

I hope to be able to do a 4-day school week this year, with Fridays off for co-op twice per month and some fun field trips on the other weeks.  Isaac has preschool 3 mornings per week this year, which is wonderful.  We can get a lot done while he's gone and be mostly finished with our work before I need to pick him up.

Mondays, however, are going to have to be filled primarily with things he can either do with us, or that his talking won't bring to a screeching halt.  I think this might be a good thing, actually.  There are many things that will allow him to tag along.  We can do our hymn study (he LOVES) to sing, composer study (he loves all music), nature study, and geography - we're reading Paddle to the Sea, and I know he would enjoy listening in.  These are things that are easy to overlook when faced with finishing math and trying to get grammar done, so I'm hopeful that it will work out for the best for our homeschool year overall.  The girls will still have to do math on Monday, and some language arts, but we can keep history and other things that require more conversation and concentration for times when Isaac is in school.

I have to say that I have no idea how all this is going to play out when he's ready to start school at home with us.  He is so active and talkative that I'm glad he will not go to public school, but those same traits make it tough in the homeschool sometimes too.

Abbie's Math Instruction

We got a cool set of math manipulatives, called See & Solve Manipulative Kit by Lakeshore Learning for Isaac in the mail today.  They were recommended by Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler, and I was able to get them for a great price on Ebay, so I ordered them.

Isaac, of course, had to take them out of the box RIGHT THEN and play with them, and Abbie can't resist anything math related, so she started trying to show him some simple addition.

Abbie:  "Isaac, how many fingers am I holding up:

Isaac: "One."

Abbie: "And how many fingers on my other hand?"

Isaac: "One."

Abbie: "If I put my fingers together, how many are there?"

Isaac: "Two."

Abbie:  "So, one plus one is....?"

Isaac (confidently): "Six!"

I managed not to laugh out loud.  He did get better with the next problem.  When she asked him, after showing him her fingers and all, how many two plus one equalled, he did say "Three!"  So cute.

Guidecraft Givewaway - Interlox Blocks!

Head over to Cindy's blog, Along The Way, and check out her Guidecraft giveaway!  A lucky winner will receive the Interlox 96 piece building set.  It looks like a lot of fun!  I know my budding engineer(s) would enjoy it.  Check them out:

Doesn't that look nifty? You definitely want to enter to win these!  I will be adding them to Schmooey's wish list!

Archimedes Discussions

The girls and I have been reading Archimedes and the Door of Science together, as part of Living Books Curriculum Year 3.  It's been interesting to read what life was like in Ancient Greece.  We're now starting to learn about some of Archimedes' discoveries of simple machines, like the screw and the lever.

Today, we read about Archimedes making a bet with King Hiero that he could move whatever heavy object King Hiero gave him to move, no matter how large.  The king told him to move a ship out of the harbor that all the king's slaves had not been able to move.  Archimedes set up a system of pulleys, and moved the ship with one hand.  Needless to say, he impressed the king.

We also read about a discussion Archimedes liked to have with King Hiero.  Archimedes believed that the most perfect thing was a well-reasoned idea.  King Hiero said that such ideas were useless unless they could be applied in a practical way.  I asked the girls which they thought was better - thought, or application. They told me they agreed with Archimedes.

I told them we would try dinner using Archimedes' method.  I would think about a fabulous dinner, from preparation to serving.  I would ponder all the ingredients and think about exactly what I needed to do to make such a dinner.  I would ruminate on the process of cooking and what would happen when the ingredients were combined.  Then, when Todd came home, I would tell him all about my well-reasoned dinner plan, and see what he thought of it - all theory, no food on the table.  Somehow, they didn't think that sounded like a very good idea!  Ha.

We read about "work," and how the scientific definition of work is the action of forces on things.  I showed them how hard I could work by poking Emma in the leg several times.  She didn't find that nearly as amusing as I did.  

We also read about level 1, level 2 and level 3 levers today, and found them a bit confusing.  We're going to make real levers tomorrow so we can see how they work.  A level 3 lever is something like a fishing pole.  It really makes no sense looking at the pictures in the book, but we could imagine it better when we thought about how a fishing pole works.  I have a feeling we may need to involve Todd with this lesson.  They are supposed to be "simple" machines, and I'm sure we can make the levers.  I guess I should be thankful we're not to the math part yet.  Bleah.

Another Confessions of a Homeschooler Giveaway!

Well, I didn't win the nifty geography curriculum, but I'm going for the new giveaway!  Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler has a really fun, inexpensive preschool curriculum, Letter of the Week.  I'm getting it ready to use with Isaac, mostly as a way to keep him busy while the girls are doing school.  I think he's going to love it!

 

Erica just came out with her K4 Expansion for the LOTW curriculum, and is giving away a copy to one lucky winner!  Go check it out.  She has made some great activities for an older preschooler.  (Is that possible? An older preschooler?  LOL.)  There are beginning math, reading, and writing activities.  Isaac already knows most of his letters, so we are going to move ahead with beginning reading.  He will love the colorful, fun activities in this curriculum

Go over and enter now!  You know you want to. :-)

Expedition Earth Giveaway!

Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler is giving away a copy of her Expedition Earth geography curriculum!  I've enjoyed reading about it on the blog.  It looks like a lot of fun.

Here is the blurb from her blog:

Get ready for an exciting voyage across the world! Come along as we walk on the Great Wall of China, wander through the Amazon Rainforest, and climb the Egyptian Pyramids! Within this curriculum you'll discover the sights and sounds of 31 countries across the globe. You’ll get hands-on with fun activities, crafts, recipes and more! So grab your passports, and get ready to go! It's time for Expedition Earth!

CLICK HERE to enter - there are lots of ways to get extra entries, too! I believe it's targeted at K-3, since she has younger children, but we all know you can make of it what you want when you homeschool. :-)  Head on over and enter to win!

Look what I found!

Today, since we finally have some sunshine, I was outside trimming some bushes. It's probably not the right time, but they have been ignored for a long time (since before we moved in a year ago - eek) and some of them are out of control. Actually, Abbie did a lot of the trimming for me last week, but she didn't do the Giant Holly Bush or the Rose Bush Trying to Take Over the World (RBTTOW).

I decided, after attempting to trim the RBTTOW a bit, that it needed a good whacking off down to about 24". I should have done it earlier, and it's showing lots of lovely new growth, but the thing is immense and needs to be brought back under control. As I was trimming, though, I found this:

It's a cardinal's nest!  Of course, I immediately stopped trimming the bush and cleaned up, to get away from there as quickly as possible.  That poor mother bird must have been having heart palpitations.  The RBTTOW looks a little, shall we say, interesting at this point, half trimmed, but I'd rather have the baby cardinals.

Isaac was very helpful yesterday.  He picked up branches for me in his little red wagon, and dumped them on the edge of the yard - almost in the "natural area."  He also used his wagon to clean up after the lawn mower.

He is so cute sometimes, I can hardly stand it.

Update:  The mother cardinal was back on her nest this morning when we came home from church!  I'm hoping to get some pictures of the babies as they grow.

Toyboxes & More Giveaway!

Be sure you head over to the Crafty Classroom blog and checkout the Toyboxes & More Giveaway!

Here is a little info from the Toyboxes and More website:

ToyBoxesandMore.com offers high quality, affordable Wood Toy Boxes that are perfect for children of all ages; All of our products are built for real kids in the real world. The furniture and toys featured in our store are built to pass on for generations and make fantastic gifts and keepsakes. Our goal is to inspire children with the power of their imagination through unique and creative heirloom-quality wooden toys and room furnishings.

All you have to do is register an account with Toyboxes & More, and leave a comment on the Crafty Classroom blog telling her that you'd like to enter the contest and that you've created your account. Of course, if you already have one, just mention that. There are a couple of other things you can do for extra entries - like blogging about it! :-D

One lucky winner will receive a very cool Wooden Bead Maze. I know my little guy will enjoy it, and so will the many smallish visitors that come to my house. Make sure you go over and enter to win!

Aquarium Update

Abbie told me at the beginning of the school year that she wanted to study aquatic plants. I had no idea what we were going to do to accomplish that, until my mom reminded me that we could set up a fish tank. We still had a 20 gallon tank left from all the fish tanks we used to have, so we got that set up using Diana Walstead's "el Natural" approach. Basically, you put down a layer of potting soil (we used Miracle Gro Organic Choice, at the recommendation of our local fish guru), then tuck the plants in, and then add a layer of gravel on top. You can see a blog post about it here, and someone else's step-by-step instructions here. There's also a forum about it here, I've gotten lots of great help from the folks at Aquatic Plant Central.

To date, we have a breeding pair of dalmation lyretail mollies, and 4 of their babies are now about an inch long. We've recently seen at least one brand-new baby, so that's exciting. Here is a picture of what I'm talking about:

We recently added two golden wonder killifish, and they are a lot of fun. I think they are helping with controlling the molly population, which is good. I believe we have two male fish, so we won't be getting any killi babies.

We also added two creamsicle lyretail mollies. Here is a picture of someone else's:

They are so pretty! Abbie loves them. The female is pregnant, and we currently have her in a little breeding tank until she has her babies. She has figured out how to escape said tank, so we've had to re-capture her several times and put her back in there.

We also added some peppered cory catfish and an algae eater. We have a lot of algae in the tank, and our one little algae eater isn't making much of a dent. I don't think our planted tank plan is working out quite like it should. We shouldn't really need a filter, but we had a BioWheel mini running on it (I believe they are now called BioWheel 100), and it wasn't enough. The water was cloudy, and it just wouldn't clear up, even with frequent water changes. We ended up putting our Eclipse system on the tank. The Eclipse is an awesome system, but it's for more than our tank should need. I don't think the tank is getting enough light for the plants. We're supposed to install two fairly high-powered compact fluorescent lights over the tank specifically for the plants, but we haven't gotten around to doing that, so I think we're going to have to keep the Eclipse in place for now. The water is clearing up nicely. Unfortunately, part of the tube on the filter portion was cracked. Todd repaired it with some electrical tape, but it's LOUD. We ordered replacement parts and I hope they will be there this week. I don't think the fish like the noise.

On a very happy note, I called a fish store in Charlotte called Fintastic, and they are going to find me some julidochromis ornatus!

Todd and I had a breeding pair of them when we lived in Michigan, and we loved them. They had 21 babies, and we had to sell them back to the pet shop. I think they are my all-time favorite fish. We have a little 5.5 gallon tank, and it's all set up and waiting for the julies to come home. I can't wait!

Guidecraft Giveaway!

Head on over to Granola Mom for God for a giveaway for Guidecraft Block Mates Farm Animals! They are very cute. I think Isaac would have a blast with them.

Guidecraft also makes dinosaurs and safari animals. They are all cute! I can't decide which ones I like best, but I think Isaac would prefer the dinosaurs. :-) If we don't win the giveaway, I will have to put them on his wish list!

I am not having fun today.

I decided to give up Facebook for Lent. I spend a lot of time online playing games and such, and as a homeschooling mom, I really don't have time to do that. Also, I should really focus on finding some friends I can hang out with in real life. I do love my online friends, and am going to miss them terribly for the next few weeks, but it would be fabulous if I could spend time with some folks face to face.

Since I never look at a calendar, I assumed that Lent started today. I was wrong - I could have had another entire week of Facebooking! Rats! However, I know myself, and I know that if I waited until next week to stop, I would have lots of reasons why I shouldn't really have to give up FB. I decided to go ahead and be done today.

I am struggling. Isaac has been having one of "those" mornings. Before I even got up this morning, he'd clogged the downstairs toilet with an entire roll of toilet paper.

While I was having breakfast, he soaked his shirt trying to play with his toy coffee maker, so we had to take it off. Then, he wet his pants, and left wet footprints behind him through the living room as he walked in his wet socks, pants around his ankles, to find me in the kitchen and show me his conundrum.

Shortly after I got him dressed in his second set of clothes for the day, he came downstairs again with no pants on, and told me he'd gone to the bathroom (poo this time) upstairs. He managed to do quite well for himself and didn't even clog the toilet! Good for him.

Next, he found a jar of Nutella that I had clearly not put up high in the pantry, and proceeded to eat it with his fingers under the dining room table. When he was finished, he wiped it on the back of his shirt. Actually, I was glad to discover that it was Nutella on his shirt rather than poo, which I'm sure you understand after reading the previous paragraph.

And then, he got his Cariboo game and decided to fill it with water. The base of the game is a cardboard box which didn't respond favorably. It's currently drying on the front porch.

It's only noon. The girls are supposed to be doing school; their math is taking an inordinately long amount of time and it's all we're going to get done today. We have piano lessons this afternoon, then Emma goes to Girls on the Run, and then we have kids' choir and I have adult choir this evening.

I WANT to go play on Facebook and ignore all of the chaos around me. However, I decided to come share my morning here, which has given me a few moments of peace, and will now go make lunch for us so we can leave for piano. I have been picking up around the house, and trying to get some laundry done. I did not get on Facebook and play games, so I count it as a success! Woo hoo!

Baby Ladybugs!

Have you ever seen baby ladybugs? I had not, until today!

We've had a ladybug problem since we moved into our house. Well, not really a problem, because we have high ceilings and they like to hang out where we don't really notice them - except in the master bathroom. They seem to congregate in there. Whether it's because they can find water in there, or because of all the windows, I'm not sure. I know they seek out the water because when we're in the shower they like to drink tiny drops of water from the glass door. I had never seen ladybug footprints before I saw them walking through the steam on the glass. That was pretty cool too.

This morning, I was taking a bath when I should have been educating my children, and I noticed BABY ladybugs on the side of the tub! I have a fondness for most tiny things, and thought they were terribly cute. And, guess what? I took pictures! I knew you'd be thrilled.

Here is a picture of a traumatized adult ladybug near a baby ladybug - look closely at the molding if you can't see the baby. The adult was traumatized because as I tried to pick it up to move it near the baby, it fell a few times due to struggling with me. Apparently it could not sense the vibes of peace and goodwill I was projecting at it.

There is another baby on my razor:

And here is a picture of the adult and a baby on my hand. I thought it was interesting to see that the baby's back is patterned in brown and white - good camouflage for the great outdoors! Hence, the reason I had not seen them before they showed up against the white in my bathroom.

I did call the girls in to look at the baby ladybugs. They thought they were adorable. Look at that - we did science!

Note my amazing photography skills in that last picture. I was holding the "big" camera myself and took the picture one-handed. It's not as easy as you might think.

Fun At The Cat Show

If you know me, you know that I am a cat person. I love animals, generally, but I am partial to cats. I have five of them and am open to more (although I do not believe my husband shares that sentiment). There is nothing better than a purring cat!

A couple of years ago, when Isaac was a baby, we went to a cat show in Raleigh. There are two different cat clubs there that host shows, and I'm not sure which one we attended. We had a great time, and met several people who were just there showing their pet cats. They told us it was a lot of fun and we should try it. I was sure there was no way we'd ever do that. I love my cats, but I like them at home, you know? They all hate to be groomed, and you have to groom show cats a lot. And clip their nails - that's a whole 'nother barrel of laughs.

Apparently the girls have had the idea of showing a cat in the backs of their minds since then. We got a kitten from the local animal control in September 2010, and it didn't take long for them to start talking about showing her. They mentioned it a couple of times, and I said helpful things like "Mmm hmm" and tried to pretend I hadn't heard them, hoping they'd forget about it.

My children are nothing if not persistent, however, and they began to ask more specific questions regarding when, exactly, we might be able to take the kitten to a cat show and what we needed to do to get there. So, I sighed in resignation and began to do a little research in January. I learned that there was, indeed, a cat show in Raleigh in February, but we were a little late in signing up (not impossibly so, but enough that I could use it as an excuse to wait until the next one) and one in the town where we live in October. I made a deal with them that we'd go to the one in Raleigh and check it out, to see if they thought they really wanted to continue with their cat show plan, and then sign up for the local one if they thought it still sounded like a good idea.

Off to Raleigh we went on Friday afternoon, to stay with some dear friends, have pizza, and then see some cats. Todd and I decided that it would probably be best not to take Isaac to the cat show, as his window for being quiet is quite limited and there were too many opportunities to hide, as he is wont to do these days, or otherwise run amok. Todd stayed with Isaac at our friends' house and they played while the girls and I headed off to the fair grounds and the cat show.

We had such a good time! There were so many beautiful cats to see, both pets - many rescued - and purebred. I would have been willing to take home one of everything. There truly is something special and fun about each breed. There were also two local rescues present, which I thought was fabulous. I have to try not to get too close to them though because I always want one.

I was going to try to list all the breeds we saw, but I didn't write them down and I'm not sure, looking at the list on The International Cat Association's website, if we saw some this year or the last time we went. I'd say my favorite cats this time around were the Bengals. They are lovely, active, friendly, playful SHORTHAIRED cats. They are a lot of fun!

The most beautiful cat I saw there was Zabbie, a shaded silver British Shorthair. Her website is here. She's a kitten, and her mom wants to breed her, and is in the process of finding her a suitable mate. I adore silver cats. My Gabe, best cat EVER, was a silver tabby exotic shorthair. The British Shorthair breed was developed in Britain, and there are most certainly Persians in their origins. I think that's what I loved about Zabbie, besides her amazing color: her short nose. It's not squashed like a Persian's or an exotic's, which I love, but still short and cute.

Abbie fell in love with the Maine Coons. She thinks she would like a silver classic tabby, if she likes showing cats and we get her a pedigreed cat to show. That's a big IF, but Todd is quite partial to Maine Coons, so I think it would be fairly easy to sell him on the idea. Here's a picture of a kitten:

:-D

And here's a picture of an adult:

I think I could live with a cat like that.

I have to say, though, that the BEST cat I saw all weekend was a rescue named Deacon, a cat who was rescued from a trailer park with several others where they were being used to train fighting dogs. That is a soap box for another day, so I won't get started. Marley's Cat Tales was one of the rescues there, and they had cages for 3 cats. The first time we stopped by, there were only two - Deacon and a lovely red Persian male named Sparky (I think). Sparky was lovely, but as much as I love my Persians, I am done with their crazy coats and especially Dory's weepy eyes and cat snot. (I am sure that's TMI, sorry.) Anyhoo, the very nice woman who was minding the cats let me hold Deacon, and I was instantly in love. He is a cuddler. There are not many cats who relish being held and petted, but Deacon positively reveled while we were bonding. He curled up on my chest, tucked his head under my chin, and proceeded to purr loudly and make happy feet. When he got tired of one position, he readjusted and we resumed our love fest. He is a solid cat - much heavier than you expect when you pick him up - and the most loving cat I've ever met. If I'd been allowed to take him then and there, nothing would have prevented me from doing so. However, there is an application process, and Todd is pretty sure we're not adopting him. I'm pretty sure I'd like to at least consider it, though, so I am going to contact them and find out if anyone else figured out how wonderful he is and adopted him first.

This might be the longest post I've ever written! It has very little to do with homeschooling, except that the girls are possibly going to pursue showing cats, so I suppose I'll sign off and go make some dinner.

Guidecraft Giveaway!

Go check out the Guidecraft Giveaway on the My Life on a Taffy Pull blog! Mrs. Taffy has reviewed Guidecraft's Animal Train Sort and Match toy, and will be giving one away to a lucky winner! I know it looks like something my Schmooey would enjoy. I poked around at their other toys, and there are LOTS of fabulous things on their site.

Walking with My Boy

Isaac and I took a walk around our neighborhood this morning. Our street is a circle, and it makes a nice walk, about 3/4 of a mile. It's been raining here, so there were lots of puddles. Thankfully, they were mostly small ones. He made sure he stomped in each puddle at least once.

On our last leg, there were several leaves in the road. He had to pick up each one and put it back on the nearest lawn, because, he said, "The weefs need to be with their fam'wies."

Conversations with Isaac, Who Is Very 3

Mom: Isaac, will you hop up please?
Isaac: NO! I DON'T WANT TO HOP UP! I WANT TO HOP DOWN!


Mom: Isaac, do you want some dinner?
Isaac:: NO! I DON'T WANT DINNER! I WANT CAKE!


Isaac (to mom): Do you know my name? [Is this a trick question?]
Mom: I think your name is Orglesnork.
Dad: I think your name is George.
Isaac: I'm not a monkey! I'm a BOY!





(It took me a minute to catch on to that last one. Let me know if you need a hint.)

Horse Camp

The girls went to horse camp this week, at a new stable for us that we found locally. Even though it was EXTREMELY hot, they were so happy to be back on horses, they had a wonderful time.

Emma rode a horse named Pilgrim, and she loved him.

Abbie rode a pony named Pepper, and had a great experience riding her, even though she was a pony. Prior to this week, Abbie took great offense at being asked to ride a pony when Emma was allowed to ride a horse. The thing is that Emma is adult sized, and while Abbie is tall for her age, she is still child-sized and can fit on a pony. Emma is really too tall for most ponies now.

Anyhoo, one of the neat things about this camp is that in addition to horse riding lessons, they were also exposed to driving. THey also got to do vaulting, which involves, I think, getting the horses to jump up onto something, and then back off. I *think* this is a precursor to actual jumping. They'd gone over some very low jumps in lessons at our old barn, crossed poles and the like, but this was a new experience.

Probably the best thing was that our new friend, Christina, was able to come to their end-of-camp performance and saw both girls ride. Getting to know her has made the girls' transition to our new home so much easier. It's wonderful to have a friend!

There's always a little...

There’s always a little truth
behind every "just kidding,"
a little curiosity
behind every "just wondering,"
a little knowledge
behind every "I don’t know,"
and a little emotion
behind every "I don’t care."

Got this little poem from the Generous Husband websiteI was gate-crashing the man version of the Generous Wife site, from whom I receive daily email tips) and thought it was worth pondering.

If you want daily tips on how to improve your marriage, I can recommend The Generous Wife. Not being a husband, I don't know about The Generous Husband, but he seems pretty savvy too. :-) I've found that while not every tip applies to me, they are nearly always thought-provoking, and keeping your marriage in your thoughts is usually a good thing.

Captain Jack is really a Little?

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Warning: Whining Ahead

Well, here we are, in our new home in our new town. It's a nice enough town, at least as far as I can tell from Target. People keep asking me how I like Hickory, and I tell them, "Target is nice!" It's not a SuperTarget. I was spoiled by the SuperTarget in Apex, but as far as regular Targets go, it's fine. They do carry the new Liberty of London stuff, so I go there frequently to drool.

We have very nice neighbors. Our next door neighbors brought us peanut butter kiss cookies, the first week we were here. They have been wonderful when I need to find something - like Urgent Care, when the Snort had hand-foot-mouth disease and strep all at the same time, and a grocery store other than Food Lion.

I haven't found the school books yet, so the girls have had quite a long break from school work. I am going to make a concerted effort to find everything this weekend, and if not, we're going to start something next week.

We do find ways to amuse ourselves. We have a huge back yard, and a nice playset left by the previous owners. Everyone enjoys going outside to play. There is even a nice bench swing for the adults. The kids can ride bikes and scooters in the garage and driveway. I can let Isaac "scoot" in the garage while I'm making dinner, if the girls don't want to be out there with him, as long as the garage door is closed. That's quite handy.

We go to town a lot. As I mentioned, Target is a frequent destination. We have also found PetSmart and Petco. We have been to the mall a couple of times, for sheets for Isaac's new bed and in search of things to put in our new house. Sometimes we even go for ice cream!



This week was quite productive. We found a preschool for Isaac right near our house, and he can start next week if we want him to! That's very exciting. My homeschooling friends will think I've lost my mind, but you know, it will be good for him. The classes are small, the teachers are wonderful, and he will get to play with some children his own age. I'm pleased about that.

I also stopped by the local hospice facility and picked up a volunteer application. I should be able to take the training in the middle of May, and then start working with patients.

We went to the library and got library cards today, the girls and I. They are excited to have their own cards! The librarians were really nice, and it looks to be a good library. They have lots of audio books, as well as movies and computer games. Their children's area has Legos, a fish tank, and lots of tables for small people. Isaac loved it, and when I caught him running around barefoot and asked him to put his shoes back on, he said "No! I just walkin' in the libraries!" Hard to be stern in the face of such cuteness.

After the library, I took the kids to Barnes & Noble. We can't check books out at the library yet, due to the red tape requirements, and I was in dire need of reading material. I have lots I could read to improve myself, but that's no fun. I didn't really know what I wanted, but managed to have a nice conversation with the young woman working in the children's books.

You know what, though? I'm lonely. I believe I have reached my quota for loneliness. Being here every day with only the kids for company is starting to take its toll. They are fabulous, but I crave some adult company. My heart says I can't take too much more. This either means I am stronger than I think I am, or God is about to bring some wonderful friends my way. Here's hoping it's the friends option.

See, I told you there would be whining.

Junk Posse Giveaway at Into the Streets of Ethiopia!

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted! Since Todd accepted his job offer from Apple in December, I've been pretending we weren't moving, then looking for houses, then pretending we weren't going to move, then buying a house, then pretending we weren't moving, and then finally saying goodbye to friends and moving over to western North Carolina! Well, more western than we were, anyway; I think there is a fair amount of NC still to the west of us.

Anyhoo, my friend Susan brought this lovely giveaway to my attention, and I would like to enter, and you should too!

First, take a look at Into the Streets of Ethiopia. The Portilla family has started this mission to help street children living in Ethiopia. My dear friend Susan and her family adopted the most fabulous little boy from Ethiopia, and since then have been working to educate everyone around them on the needs of the people, specifically the children, there. The motto of Into the Streets of Ethiopia is "Tackling poverty and loneliness one child at a time." After just the briefest of glimpses into what life is like in Ethiopia, thanks to William and Susan, my heart goes out to the people there and I would love to be able to help them. I hope you will take a little time and read about Into the Streets of Ethiopia.

Now for the giveaway! Tracy at JunkPosse sells a lot of beautiful adoption and Africa-related original silver creation on esty.com. After reading about Into the Streets of Ethiopia, she has donated $80 in credit toward a necklace (your choice!) with FREE shipping for Into the Streets of Ethiopia to give away so that they can get people looking at the site and HELPING these kids! (I completely plagiarized Susan's paragraph.)

So, click on over and take a look at the jewelry! It's lovely stuff. What a great conversations starter, eh? My favorite is this one:



It's called Circle of Hope. It's lovely. Go enter the drawing! You know you want to!

Simply Sweet

Check out the fabulous giveaway at Kari Gibson's "My Crazy Adoption" blog!

The Grand Giveaway Winner will receive-

* 2 Simply Love T shirts (you choose!)
* 1 Free Pass (Courtesy of Disney) to the NEW Princess and the Frog movie.
* Autographed copies of the Best Seller Redemption novel series (5 book set) with Karen Kingsbury & her dad, Gary Smalley.
* Kisses From Katie handmade Ugandan beaded necklace (extra-long & beautiful)
* Her 2 Children’s books- Mookie Series
* 1 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts (Zoie’s favorite)
* Sugar Cookie mix & mit for kids.
* Chick Flick- Julia & Julia (Meryl Streep rocks in this DVD)
* $20 Starbucks Gift Card

You win a value of $180 in gifts! This is a wonderful blog of encouragement and support for families considering adoption.

This is fun!

Homeschooling with a 2-Year-Old

You know, I thought our homeschooling experience last year was interesting, with Isaac being mobile and all.

It had nothing on what this year is turning out to be! Last year, he was fairly content to play by himself with is cars or whatever I had out, as long as I was in the same room. Sometimes I'd find him, say, standing on the dining room table, if I hadn't been paying close enough attention, but for the most part, it wasn't so bad.

Fast forward to this year, and it's an entirely different ballgame! He is not happy to play with his toys when his big sisters are doing something that is clearly much more interesting. In fact, he seems to think he can do a better job of teaching than I can. He seems to be particularly fond of math.



He does an outstanding job with the story problems, too.



Truthfully, I believe the appeal lies in the white board and markers. I finally gave him his own little white board, and that keeps him busy for at least a little while. It's not easy to keep him contained when he can climb out of the Pack n' Play and pull the baby gates open. Good thing he's so cute.

U2 360° Concert!

My friend Micki and I went to the U2 concert last night! We had a great time.

A band called Muse opened for them, and while I had never heard of them and couldn't understand what they were singing, I enjoyed their set. To tell you how clueless I was, I had no idea there would be an opening band, and had a discussion with Micki about whether Muse was the title of U2's latest album or not. I insisted that they did not have an opening band and it must have been the name of the album. She showed me our tickets and wondered why, then, it was called the 360° tour. I told her it was because the stage was set up in the round. I do like to be right, you know, and I can make things up effortlessly. Come to find out I was wrong on all 3 counts and had to ADMIT IT, too, because Micki also likes to be right.

The stage was really interesting. I had no idea what it was supposed to be until Bono explained that it was a rocket ship and they were going for "intimacy on a grand scale." Sure enough, the four green legs looked like a launch pad and the rocket was on top! It lit up and everything. They also had a ramp all around the circular stage (playing on the whole 360° thing) and then mobile ramps that went from the stage to the outer circle, so the band could get closer to the crowd. I've seen concerts in the round before - Def Leppard comes to mind - and it's really a cool thing. We were sitting on the side of the stage, but we got to see everyone in front of us at some point in the show (although we were up so high, it didn't matter, and we were dependent on the screens).

U2 did some really neat stuff with the crowd. Bono pulled a young man, probably around 12 years old, up on stage with him while he sang... something. I can't remember. But he ran around the outer ramp with him, and gave the boy his Cyborg glasses, and I'm sure that young man will remember that for the rest of his life. Bono also gave the microphone to someone in the audience and let him sing a verse of "People Get Ready." I read another review that panned those parts of the show, but I thought it made for great crowd connection - seeking that intimacy.

Micki and I were fortunate enough to sit by a dedicated U2 fan who did know all the words, and she answered my questions a time or two when, say, I wasn't sure if they were actually singing a U2 song. She looked at me a little strangely, but she was very nice. I felt like a goober for not knowing what was going on but my curiosity got the best of me and I had to know.

The set list for U2 is as follows, which I snagged from this site:

1. Breathe
2. Get On Your Boots
3. Mysterious Ways *
4. Beautiful Day* / C Moon (snippet)
5. No Line On The Horizon
6. Magnificent
7. Elevation
8. In A Little While
9. New Year's Day*
10. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For* / Stand By Me (snippet)
11. Stuck In A Moment
12. The Unforgettable Fire
13. Mofo (snippet) / City Of Blinding Lights
14. Vertigo
15. Crazy Tonight / Thank You (Falettin Me Be Mice Elf Again) (snippet)
16. Sunday Bloody Sunday / Rock The Casbah (snippet) / People Get Ready (snippet)
17. MLK
18. Walk On* / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet)

Encore(s):
19. One* / Amazing Grace (snippet)
20. Where The Streets Have No Name*
21. Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
22. With Or Without You*
23. Moment of Surrender

I have to confess that while I normally spend a lot of time listening to the right music to gear up for a concert, I didn't do that this time, and I do regret it. I love to know all the words and be able to sing along, because that lets me really connect with the music. The songs with asterisks in the list above are the ones I actually knew - a total of 7. The acoustics were awful, which I suppose goes along with it being held in a football stadium, so I couldn't understand what they were singing and frankly they sounded like a grunge band (which was my first indication that something might be up with the acoustics).

I couldn't find a list of songs for Muse, which is too bad, because I liked them too, and they sound a lot different on iTunes! A woman I spoke to at the concert, who really likes Muse, told me their sound is like Queen meets... she was at a loss for words. They sounded nothing like Queen at the concert and I thought perhaps it was her beer talking, but when I listened to some of their stuff after I got home, I could see what she meant.

All in all, it was a great concert. I'm glad I went, and I'm glad I can say I saw U2! My only regret, like I said, is that I didn't spend more time listening up before the show. Lesson re-learned.

Crash, but not Burn

Yesterday, I was in a car accident. Someone pulled out in front of me, I swerved, missed her vehicle... but rolled my car into the ditch. I know the van only tipped over onto its roof, but it felt like long enough for it to roll several times. Those slow-motion scenes you see on television do a pretty accurate job of representing how things seem to your brain, I think, during highly stressful situations.

While this was not an experience I would care to repeat, the hand of God was on me the entire time. I have never felt like a walking miracle before, but I do now! Let me tell you why.

First of all, my children weren't with me. Since we homeschool, this almost never happens. I am so, so grateful that they were not hurt, and don't have to suffer any of the psychological after effects of being in a car accident.

I can only guess that the other driver was picking up children from the school near our house. Since I didn't hit the other car, no children were involved in the accident at all. And, since I didn't hit the other driver, she wasn't injured, either.

I got to experience my first ride in an ambulance and first visit as a patient to the emergency room, but I could have walked away from the accident. I have "whiplash," a black eye, and some cuts and bruises, but that's it. As my friend Ginny said, there are many people who have experienced a lot less accident and received a lot more injury.



The other driver took full responsibility at the scene. This may not seem like a big deal, but in the world of insurance and liability, it really is.

Poor Ariel Mermaid didn't survive the crash, I'm afraid. I don't think most cars do, when they end up upside down.





She even had some guts hanging out, poor thing.



The girls are so sad that we lost our van - we really did like having her! We're on the hunt for a new car. Used or new? Honda? Toyota? Who knows?

Three Children's Books We Love

I have a passion for children's books. There, I've confessed. The primary reason we have so many, aside from homeschooling, is that I love them. It's a bonus if the kids like them, too.

I've been reading two books to Isaac lately that I wanted to share. The first one is called Hush, Little One.



Grammy and Papa gave Abbie her first copy when she was a toddler, and we went through two of them. The girls and I were even in a magazine add for Concordia Press after I sent them an email telling them how much we enjoyed the book. It presents the Gospel to children in such a sweet, gentle way, and you can sing the rhyme to the tune of "Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird." Remember that song? Of course, you can read it, too, if you don't like to sing. Sometimes the girls would ask me to sing it, and sometimes they wanted me to "talk it." Emma used to say, "Emma's prayers by Jesus are heard!" It just melted my heart.

I will tell you that I prefer the hardcover version, published in 2002. That's the one Abbie had. I found the board book for Isaac at Lifeway, and while I love being able to share the book with him in a format that he's less likely to change the story, the rhyme has been revised somewhat and I don't like it as well. I'm sure it's primarily because I expect the first version, but I do prefer the way the first version refers to Jesus rather than Christ as they do in the board book; it seems more personal to me. I think it was rewritten to fit better with the rhythm of the song, as I look it over, but I still prefer the original.

Another book that Isaac and I love is Where is the Green Sheep? It's a fun little book by Mem Fox. (I am partial to Mem Fox. Another of our favorite bedtime stories is Time For Bed.)



This little book shows lots of neat things. It has opposites, colors, shapes, and familiar activities. Isaac's favorite is the "slide sheep." He always says "Whee!" and traces the path of the slide with his finger. He likes "sheepies" right now, anyway, so I make sure we take this book when we go out and always have it ready at bedime.

Last, but not least, I must tell you about one of my all-time favorites.



I found this wonderful little book in Borders in Ann Arbor (the first Borders, ever, by the way) and bought it for my niece when she was little - she's now a sophomore in high school. I try to give it to everyone I know when they have children. I have read it more times than I can count, and I still love it! It's called Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw. It is so funny, and so fun to read, if you haven't read it yet, you should at least get it from the library.

There you have them - Book recommendations by Beth. I just thought of some more, but I'll save those for another day.

Hedwig Sock #1

This is the sock that Beth knit.



This is a foot, cozy and warm, wearing the sock that Beth knit.



This is a foot, sad and forlorn, out in the cold and suffering scorn, for it has no sock that Beth knit.



This is the yarn, ready to go, wishing to cover the other toes, and match the sock that Beth knit.

Birthday, Beeps and Books

Today, my baby turned 2 years old. I don't know where the time has gone!

We actually started his birthday on Saturday, when Daddy put together his nifty John Deere tricycle from Grandma and Grandpa. He loves it! He doesn't really get how to pedal just yet, but he will walk it around, and put things in the bucket for dumping later. I learned that day that his favorite things to put in the buckets are flowers picked from our neighbor's mailbox flower bed, and that his sister seems to think it's fine to let him pick them...

We were supposed to go to the beach today. Isaac LOVES the beach. He's been asking to go to the beach with Grandpa for several days now, in fact. When we looked at the weather forecast for Wilmington last night, it showed a fairly nice morning, but thunderstorms for the rest of the day. We thought we'd still chance it, and even if we spent the afternoon at the aquarium, it would still be a good day.

However, when we got up this morning and checked again, it looked like thunderstorms had already started, with no sign of letting up all week. Todd and I decided we needed to revise the plan. Three hours is a long drive for the aquarium, when all a tiny boy wants is to go to the beach.

We started off with Hopper's House, a nifty jumping place in our neighborhood. All three kids had a blast, and Isaac was not interested in leaving when it came time for lunch! However, once we got to Moe's, he ate his lunch, part of mine, and some queso and chips. Then, it was off to A.C. Moore with a coupon for a new "Thomas." Isaac does love his "too-tooch."

After making our final Thomas selections, we headed home for a nap. I got in a little knitting time and Todd got to play with his new Mac software. :-) I was able to take Abbie to gymnastics and watch her, which was a big treat for me! Todd stayed home and played trains with the boy, and even took him outside for an hour or so, which was another big treat. Isaac loves to be "outside sunshine."

Abbie and I brought home the pizza and the cake. Isaac at a little bit of his pizza, but he was really holding out for "cake-cake." I don't know why he likes to say it twice, but it's pretty cute. I think he blew the candles out twice before Todd wised up and held him back so we could sing and take a video.

After cake, we gave him his presents, which were comprised of books and "beeps." Isaac has called vehicles of any type, really, "beeps" since he started talking a few months ago. He does call buses "b-bus," airplanes are "air p'dane," and boats are "booooot" with a lovely U.P. accent. In general though, they are collectively known as beeps. Anyhoo, he got enough beeps to keep him busy for a good long while, I think.

The one thing we didn't get out was his new scooter. If the weather holds tomorrow, we will get that out and play "outside sunshine."

The New School Year

Well, we were supposed to start school this week, but we all have colds, so I'm putting it off until Sept. 1. My birthday was today, and Isaac's is next Monday, so I think we will just wait until all the celebrations are over and then buckle down.

I'm excited about our curriculum for this year! We're using Living Books Curriculum Year 3, which covers Ancient Greece and Rome for world history, and Westward Expansion for U.S. history. The girls will also learn Bible, storytelling and science from our LBC materials. We will do picture studies of ancient Greek and Roman art, as well as art in early America. We will do composer studies of ancient Greek music, Palestrina, Vivaldi, and Bach. They also start Shakespeare this year.

Since Emma is in 4th grade this year, I have to teach North Carolina history. I would rather teach Michigan history, but I suppose there will be time for that after we meet the requirement for NC. It will be good for us to learn about North Carolina, since I've lived here for 11 years now and the kids are natives. :-) I have a North Carolina history textbook, as well as some other, more fun things to use. I'm also hoping to include a few field trips.

We will still use Math U See, and I think it will be a lot of fun. We're going to spend a lot of time on math this year, so that we can get caught up. The girls are both good at math - time for the mama to stop worrying about it so much!

We will use Simply Grammar for language arts, and I'm thrilled with that. It looks excellent. It includes everything I would want to teach them, but wouldn't know where to start. They should be able to do it independently, too, which is great. I need them to start being a little more independent so I can keep an eye on Isaac and still get some school done.

We're also still using All About Spelling. I love this program! The girls do really well with it. It's funny to see that they do so well when we're specifically working on spelling, but when they're writing on their own, they forget to apply what they've learned. It's also pretty funny that Emma looks at Abbie to spell words for her! Emma just doesn't want to think about it herself, I think. She's such a perfectionist.

We're going to start Latin studies this year, using Lively Latin's Big Book of Latin I. It looks like a lot of fun, and will go along nicely with our studies of ancient Rome.

My plans include a lot of language arts, and we may end up backing off some of them. I'll have to see. We could probably let go of other grammar and stick to Latin, for example, but I hate to do that. Anyhoo, these are the plans as they stand today. I hope the girls are as excited for school to start as I am!

Great Board Book!

I found this book yesterday at Borders in Apex for $2.99:





Isaac LOVES it, and it's very cute. Anything that makes noise is good in his world. The little frogs stand out of the book similarly to the ladybugs in Ten Little Ladybugs, which the girls both loved at this age. Additionally, the frogs have little levers on their back which you push down to make them croak! I'm fairly certain that was the big selling point for the Snort.

For those of you who are, shall we say, more educationally inclined, the book takes the frogs and other pond critters through the seasons, and it rhymes. I love rhyming books. It makes the reading go faster, which is important when you read the same books over... and over... and over...

I would like to get the other book by this author:



I don't remember seeing it on the bargain books rack, though. Maybe I will go back and check - it would be an inexpensive birthday present for my almost-2-year-old! In fact, I may go back and get copies of the frog book for all my toddler friends for Christmas. Just wanted to let you know it is there - it's a great little book! If you happen to have a small child to whom I am likely to give a gift, please don't buy it. :-)