Weekly wrap-up: Poison Ivy Edition

We had a pretty good week, we decided to spend Monday out at Grandma's and Grandpa's. They needed manual labor and I had kids willing to work, well sort of. Mostly they watched Grandma and I work and pretended to tend the fire. Chris was messing with the camera and took these pictures through the fire. It's pretty cool how the heat waves are not only visible but distort the kids faces.

Tuesday we had to make a choice, I'd already decided not to send Hunter to his gifted program as they were going to spend part of the day watching the Presidents' speech and I wasn't interested in him spending his time this way. I know, the speech was nothing offensive or indoctrinating, but I really don't believe the speech he gave was the original. If the original speech was as innocuous as this one it would have been released immediately, not a few days after the controversy started. The teaching materials were created, that lends to the belief that the speech was already completed. Either way, I went ahead and kept Hunter home and we made up work that we would normally have done Monday.

Wednesday we just worked as usual, the boys kept working on Ancient Egyptian Art, we're using the curriculum created by Harmony Art mom, the guys really enjoy it.

Thursday I decided that I needed to take Ry to the doctor, he has had this rash for a few days but it wasn't responding to Benadryl creams, Tecnu or Palmolive(home remedy). It was strange, there were several kids in the waiting room with a similar rash. They put him on both an antibiotic and steroid, he's scratched it raw and she believed it was infected. I'm not really big on random antibiotics but I agreed that his arm looked odd, it was puffy and ravaged looking.


Friday is here, unfortunately for me it means it's time to work. Being in the restaurant business means I get the privilege of staying home most of the week, but I have to work all weekend. The boys weren't able to finish all of their school work this week, so they'll probably have to work a little tomorrow. The guys got busy while I took the little people to our neighborhood park.
Koty working with Analytical Grammar and Hunter finally getting going on his Latin Road.
We walked down to the park and played for awhile, they installed some new equipment that the kids really loved. On the way home we noticed this little guy hanging around in the tree. I don't know much about snakes, so I don't know what kind he is, but we were fascinated anyway. Rylan thought it was very cool that he was napping in the tree.
Oh well, that's it for our week! Head over to Weird, Unsocialized, Homeschoolers, to read more weekly wrap-ups!

Wordless Wednesday!!

Photohunt- Theme Orange

The first is of course, one of my kids, I couldn't resist. The rest were taken at our local zoo.

Weekly Wrap-up!

We finished week 3, well sort of. We are still struggling each day to find some order and rhythm. We haven't been able to incorporate everything I wanted us to be doing, but we are adding a little bit more each week. I figure by week 7-8 we'll be hitting everything.

Hunter is plodding through General Science, unfortunately he is not science oriented and he has been unable to connect with anything, yet. He has seemed to enjoy his history and literature readings and has been able to discuss them intelligently. Hurray!!! Ancient Egypt is interesting and engaging, the order that TOG has you taking the readings is intuitive and easy to follow. He hasn't really managed to get into Latin, Geography, or Writing Aids yet but I know we'll get there.

Dakota is racing through Zoology 3, it's a little too easy for him but that is part of the reason he is going so fast. He loves the subject so I wanted him to have the intro with Zoology 3 and then he'll jump into General Science, although he might skip this and just go onto Biology. Koty has really seemed to enjoy his TOG readings, both Literature and History, and during our discussions he seems to be able to make connections. He also hasn't really been able to get into the Analytical Grammar, Geography or Writing Aids.

Ry and Tanyn have been working on puzzles, flash cards, and alot of Jumpstart computer time. We are working on writing our names and ages. Ry is obviously doing alot better, but Tan is holding her own.
Visit Kris over at Weird, Unsocialized, Homeschoolers to see more Weekly wrap-ups.

Creeping back on!

Last Summer and Fall, through exercise and slight diet changes I managed to shed almost 40lbs. No huge life changes just stopped drinking sugared pop and eating alot of candy, mostly it was just exercising using the Exercise TV workouts. I love Leslie Sansone, she inspires me to want to be better, physically. I have to admit though that through the last Spring and Summer I have put back on 15-20lbs. I'm not happy! It's more than the weight gain, it's the mood that goes with not devoting anytime to just me.

When I was exercising, I would sleep better, I was in a generally better mood and as silly as it sounds I was having a better prayer life. Maybe it was that I was getting up early to fit in my walk, then I was able to move on to devotions, all before the kids got up. Whatever it was, I fell out of the habits that I had formed and I am paying for it. I am irritable, not sleeping well, not taking time for devotions, and am generally tired. My kids are paying the price, unfortunate but true. Enough is enough. I am endeavoring to change back to the patterns that I had, if I lose weight, great; if not, oh well. I just want to be a better mom, wife, teacher.

Wordless Wednesday!!

Can it be saved?

This was our last sight of our minivan as it was towed away this afternoon, hopefully; to be fixed. My in-laws gifted this van to us in January hoping it might last us a little while. Well, we've gotten 8+ months out of it and are hoping that the fix will be reasonable so that we can get a little more. The car already has 230,000 miles on it, wouldn't it be great if we could hit 300,000? LOL!Isn't AAA an awesome thing, the only downside, other than the car being broken was that my cell phone was not charged. Luckily, as I was standing there looking defeated a very kind gentleman pulled over and let me use his cell phone to call both AAA and my daddy. Dad was forced to come rescue us, because wouldn't you know, a tow truck is not built to ferry four kids around. We made it home safe and sound, we'll call the mechanic in the morning and beg for mercy. I know it's not "green" to drive a car like this one, but it sure doesn't make sense to fill a junkyard with a car that really just wants someone to love it!

Weekly Wrap-up!

Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers; hosts a Weekly wrap-up, this will be the first time I've participated. It was an odd and sometimes difficult week. I guess, the first week is sometimes the hardest. We started new curriculum with the guys and of course this was the first week of school for Rylan, my kindergartner.

Hunter and Dakota both started Tapestry of Grace this year, we started a little slow but I think we'll all enjoy it. It is such an awesome curriculum, but a little overwhelming for the newbie. We had our conversations this evening about what they had done during the week. They were both ready and able to answer the questions and to discuss their readings, I was one proud mama.

Both boys also began Math-u-see Algebra, seems a bit easy and more review in these first couple of lessons than I expected. The boys had done Saxon previously, so maybe it was just a little more advanced, I'm not sure. If need be we'll just double-time and move on two Algebra II and Geometry.

Hunter began the Latin Road to English Grammar, I have to say while I like it, he's not in love. I started going through the flashcards with him, the ones that have the Latin roots, and he was able to see why I chose to have him do this. He put together some of the roots with common, everyday words and was able to visualize the origins of English, it helped him to understand, if not love, Latin.

Rylan, was the hard one. I planned a week worth of math, reading, puzzles, games, etc. He did it all the first and second day, then started begging for more. I know this will change, but it was so exciting to work with a kid that couldn't get enough of learning. I have a busy weekend ahead of me trying to get alot more stuff ready for the kid, that's for sure.

We were able to spend one afternoon at the zoo, which was really fun because CJ(dad) was able to go with us. It was a gorgeous day and we got some great pictures.


All in all, I would say that the word for the week was "planning". The boys made their weekly plan themselves but forgot to put on everything, so they were scrambling to find everything and get going. I really want them to be responsible for planning their day/week, so that they own their education in a very personal way. I, as I've already admitted, did not sufficiently plan for Ry and Tan, I'll have to do better as well.
Finally, I just had to include this picture. Have y'all ever seen anything so adorable.

Wordless Wednesday!!

And so it begins!

Darcy over at Life with my 3 Boybarians is a Not Back to School Hop: Student Photo week. This was the first day of school, on the last year of public school that my kids attended. The tiny one is Rylan at a couple weeks old. I just couldn't see starting homeschool with a newborn and working full-time nights. I regret it still. Koty is starting first here and Hunter is starting 3rd grade, we started homeschooling when they were starting 2nd and 4th.
The next on is all the kids 5 years later, as you can see, we added another small person to the mix; this isn't actually a school pic or even taken at home but I like it!! Hunter will be starting 9th this year, Dakota will be a 7th grader this year, Rylan will be a Kindergartner and Tanyn will be a preschooler. The two littles couldn't wait to start this morning, Hunter and Koty could probably have put it off indefinitely.
We started a whole new program this year, one I hope will carry us through the next 14 years of homeschooling. Here is the layout of our curriculum this year.

Hunter, 9th grade, is a calm, quiet young man who loves computers, Taekwondo, and his family. He is an awesome big brother who actually enjoys playing with his siblings from time to time. He also has a passion for cooking and messing around in the kitchen.

• Tapestry of Grace: Y1(Rhetoric) for History, Literature, Bible, Worldview, Philosophy and Geography
  
• Apologia: Exploring Creation with General Science
• Latin Road to English Grammar Y1
• Math-u-See Algebra
• Writing Aids
  
• Taekwondo on Tues/Thurs/Sat

Dakota, 7th grade, is a sensitive sweetie, who loves animals, Legos and computers. He already has his life planned and is organizing his schedule accordingly. Zoology and being the head Zookeeper is his plan, I am doing everything in my power to help him reach his goal.

• Tapestry of Grace: Y1(Dialectic) for History, Literature, Bible, Worldview and Geography
  
• Apologia: Exploring Creation with Zoology 3, Land Animals of the 6th day
• Analytical Grammar
• Math-u-See Algebra
• Writing Aids
• Taekwondo on Tues/Thurs/Sat
• Artistic Pursuits

Rylan, Kindergarten, is the most excited about school this year. He's been wanting to "do" school for awhile now, so I'm glad to get started with him. He is fearless, goofy, funny and a bit spoiled. He loves computers, animals and Legos.

• Learn to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
• Math-u-See Primer
• Handwriting w/o Tears
• Jumpstart
• Letter of the week

Tanyn, PK4, will be working along side Ry this year, hoping she'll learn through osmosis. LOL. Tan is a Princess tomboy who loves doing everything her brothers do. She is left handed, which may explain her personality; stubborn!

Photohunt- Theme Low

This photohunt was difficult, I didn't want to go take an odd, random picture. I really wanted to find pics in my archives that fit the theme. I think I did okay.
Both of these were taken off the jetty at the Children's cove at La Jolla. I was trying to explain to the kids what tide pools are and the creatures that live in them, but we weren't going to be able to go tide pooling; then I saw these. I zoomed my camera as far as it would go just to see what I could get. I think that they are great, you can see several different anemones? in both photos.

This one was taken off of the Amtrak that we rode to California on, I'm pretty sure it was one of the lowest points before we got to the mountains of Colorado. It kind of looked like a salt marsh to me, but it was probably just frost.


This one was taken on the Submarine ride at Disneyland, I didn't get to ride this one, because on the day they rode it I was incapacitated.


Here! We went to Disneyland to celebrate our 15th anniversary, which is January 8th. The evening of the 7th I started feeling bad and just assumed I had eaten to much junk food, I woke up on the 8th feeling tired and bruised all through my stomach area. By the night of the 8th, we were sure something was wrong. Chris insisted I go to the ER, even though I was sure it was just gas or something equally unimportant.


The following is me on the 9th, following an emergency Gallbladder removal. Can I party or what?!? We were all pretty down and depressed. But we all believed it could have been worse, it could have hit at the beginning of the trip or on a 36hr Amtrak ride, it waited till the last possible day that I could still catch my flight home and enjoy the majority of my vacation. God is good.

Butterfly Garden

Another day at the zoo before the heat wave hits tomorrow. They are forecasting 100+ temps the rest of the week and into the weekend. We are planning a birthday party for Ry and Tan on Sunday, it's a swim party so the temps will be welcome. Ry is turning 6 and my baby girl will be 4, unbelievable!

Photohunt-Theme Entertainment

Entertainment for some reason was very difficult for me to wrap my mind around. I chose our families version of entertainment. The picture above was a couple of winters ago when I got home from work one night to a ton of snow. We of course had to go play in it, it didn't really matter that it was midnight. We don't really get snow like this very often in KC, our snows are usually accompanied by freezing rain or something equally unpleasant.
These two were taken at our zoo. There is a stage that used to be used for animal shows and such but lately it just stands unused. The kids have decided that a stage needs a show, so everytime we walk by they'll get on the stage and perform impromptu acts. I love the one of Hunter and Tanyn, he'll be 15 this year and she'll be 4, quite the spread.
Our very entertaining vacation, a raft trip through Bennett Springs State Park. We learned our lesson with this trip, our most recent trip we got 4 paddles instead of just two, the little people drove us nuts asking to paddle.



Last, but not least, this is what counts for entertainment in Southern Missouri, jumping around on stumps. It at least kept them busy for awhile.

Float trip to the Ozarks

We finally got a weekend to head south and visit CJ's relatives who live in Southern Missouri. We really don't see them very often, so to say they were overjoyed to see the kids would be an understatement. His Grandmother always insists on cooking these big country meals for us everytime she see's us, we all eat till we're sick to do it all justice.

I think they'll love a copy of this picture, the kids were all well behaved and respectful of their grandparents, I was really proud of them.


We left West Plains and headed a little bit north to the Current River in Eminence, MO. The whole area is part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, which is beautiful and unique area. This river in particular is spring fed, ice cold and beyond beautiful. The first day we just went and played at the gravel beach near our cabin, it was pretty cold but the kids still had a good time. Here is a picture of Sissy crawling up Daddy to get out of the cold.

The next day was our float trip, the kids decided to jump off this rock after seeing some other rafters doing it. I insisted they jump feet first, the other folks were diving and doing flips and I was having no part of that. You can get to help with a broken ankle, a broken neck would be a whole different (read tragic) story.

This was one of the many beautiful sights we saw along the way, a natural cave, carved by the water. The picture really doesn't do it justice, it was gorgeous.


Here's the guys floating while Hunter, Sissy and I manned the raft. They floated along quite awhile, the water was a little cold for me.

This is one of the many springs that feed the riverways of the Ozarks. You can't see it very well, but water was just pouring out of this cave structure and it was icy, it is such an awesome display of God's power. These rivers are some of God's most beautiful work in the Midwest, I'm so glad that they are respected for the Gift that they are. You could tell that people respect the rules, even though there are alot of canoers and rafters, you saw little to no trash anywhere in or around the rivers. Everyone is very careful to leave the area as they found it or better, you really can't ask for more than that.

We saw some truly wonderful wildlife, I was stalking this Heron? to try to get a good picture. It's a little blurry but you can tell how beautiful he is.
Last but not least, a picture of everyone on the deck of our cabin before we headed home. Can you see the beautiful, blue-green water in the background, the rivers in this area look like this. I think it is the limestone that the springs bubble up from that lend this color to the water. It was a quick but wonderful trip.