Husband, Dad, Mechanical Engineer, Bass
Player ...
Obsessed with all things Engineering.
AMY
Wife, Homeschool Mom, Webmaster ...
Obsessed with all things Political.
RACHAEL
Daughter, Sister, Sophomore ...
Obsessed with all things Geological.
NICHOLAS
Son, Brother, 8 year old ...
Obsessed with all things Historical.
(especially Egyptian!)
Favorite Books/Curriculum
The Well-Trained Mind Singapore Math Greenleaf Guides Apologia Science AIG Science curriculum Story of the World
Traffic Feed
Visitors
Day 119 - Schoolwork and Strawberries
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Schoolwork was slow today. Rachael caught up on her English & Math that she had gotten behind on last week...
On a better note... Even though we had strawberries yesterday, we're a strawberry eating family! We had more today with our sloppy joes, broccoli, cauliflower, and baked potato wedges. They were soooo good!
Yesterday was my Mom's 62nd birthday. Since my sister was out of town yesterday, we decided to celebrate it today. Rachael made the cake all by herself. I thought she did a great job! Jill bought KFC (Mom's choice) and I made garlic dill mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, cheesy bread, and sliced strawberries.
Full Disclosure: This is NOT my picture...it's from the Bryan College website.
Today I went to a Worldview Seminar hosted by Bryan College. It was aimed at kids in grades 7 -12. I was probably the only adult there without a student that age, but oh well! If you EVER have an opportunity to take your kids to one, I HIGHLY receommend it! I had heard John Stonestreet from Summit Ministries speak last year. The content was very similar in that each of the different predominant worldviews were discussed (ie: Naturalism vs. Transcendentalism vs. Theism vs. Biblical Christianity). As soon as my kids turn 16, they'll be attending one of the Summit conferences. The basic premise is, "Make sure your child knows WHAT they believe and WHY they believe it prior to sending them off to college."
My in-laws took us out to eat at a Greek Restaurant for dinner to celebrate my birthday. Earlier in the day, Rachael had read an ad in the newspaper that offered a free Webkinz stuffed animal with the purchase of $10 worth of merchandise from the Dillard's children's department. Typically, I don't go to the mall to find clothes for Nick, but I knew both kids have been really wanting a Webkinz for awhile. Fortunately, we were able to find two shirts for < $11.00 each. All of the kids at co-op have Webkinz, and my kids had been really good about NOT asking for one! I figured that the animals were basically "free" since the shirts were on clearance anyway!
I had a bunch of pictures from yesterday, so I thought I'd continue them today. In Marine Biology, the kids watched James Cameron's "Aliens of the Deep." Afterwards, they enjoyed a game of kickball in the gym.
Today we studied Cezanne and Rousseau in Art History. The kids really had a blast with this week's project! They were supposed to add greenery and paint animals to represent Rousseau's "jungle" art. The lady in the 2nd picture is Mrs. Sanders. She is the mother of two of our co-op moms and grandmother of many of the kids. She has been such an amazing asset to our co-op this year! I am an art history buff and can teach the history, but am completely useless for teaching art mechanics! She is a great artist and the kids love her! I am so thankful that she agreed to help out this year!
Here's a recent picture of myself (in keeping with the request that we update our P365 blogs with pictures of ourselves on occasion...) It's not the greatest, but it's the only one I have! Of course, Rachael caught me in the middle of a blink!
While cleaning up my kitchen this morning, I broke my stone. For those of you who use and love your stone, you'll know how heartbreaking this is!
On a happier note, my Amazon.com Birthday shipment came in. My mom (who buys EVERYTHING online) bought this book and cd from my wishlist. I have been wanting this book since I saw it at the homeschool convention last year. I LOVE Susan Wise Bauer's books. I even like reading the SOTW series for my own enjoyment! I also keep the Well-Trained Mind handy because I refer to it constantly for reading list suggestions. I can't wait to start reading this book!
I also love Josh Groban & Christmas music. Having the two together in one cd is just magical!
After church, we went to my Mom's house to celebrate my birthday. She made spaghetti (YUM!), salad, & fresh strawberries (& cake & ice cream, of course!) After dinner, Jeff took the kids out in the backyard to their lake for some fishing. They caught several fish, but threw them back. Jeff wasn't in the mood to clean them! My mom, sister, and I stayed inside and played cards.
No, fortunately this isn't from another earthquake. It's from Jeff & Rachael and a couple of sledgehammers! Our house was built in 1939 and the bricks on the stairs had been crumbling. The original plan had been to tear out all of the concrete and build a whole new porch, but since the foundation is in such good shape, I think that we'll be able to just add new bricks!
Day 109 - EARTHQUAKE!!!!! I turn 34 and the whole world collapses!
Jeff said, "You turn 34 and the whole world collapses!" We were awakened this morning at around 4:30am by an earthquake. Apparently, it was only a 5.2 (early reports suggested it was a 5.4), but the epicenter was less than 20 miles from our house. Fortunately, our house wasn't damaged except for a couple of cracks in the plaster. My sister's house, however, had more damage. There were several aftershocks, the strongest being a 4.6 around 10:15am. Even after living in CA, we never had a jolt like that!
Today was my 34th Birthday! We went out to eat after Rachael's Taekwon-do, then Jeff & the kids bought me a cake & ice cream. Rachael was upset because we wouldn't let her "actually" put 34 candles on my cake. (We were afraid of the fire hazard ... ;-D)
The first picture is Rachael sea lion sculpture from last week's co-op when we studied Rodin. Today's co-op centered around Tolouse-Lautrec & Seurat in Art History. The bottom picture is Rachael's foray into pointillism inspired by Seurat. They're jellyfish floating in the sea...
In Marine Biology, the kids studied Echinoderms and dissected a starfish. Following co-op & Rachael's piano lesson, we visited some friends and then I dropped the kids off at Jeff's work. I had a Mom's Planning Meeting to determine what we'll be doing for next year's co-op. It looks like I'll be teaching Pre-K & K during the morning class. This is a first for me! I've always worked with the older kids, so it should be fun. During the second hour, I'll be doing a 6 week class on the Election (discussing the Party System, the Electoral College, delegates, etc.) I am SO EXCITED!!!! Politics is my passion! During later sessions, I'll be continuing with another Art History class. We'll study the Surrealists and Modern artists. The kids will also have the option to choose a year-long writing class or Physics class. (Rachael will do the Physics class ... I can't pass up any Science class that Diana will be teaching!) They will also take a 6 week Indiana History class & a 6 week U.S. Geography class.
We have 2 families joining our co-op this year... a new homeschool family, and another family who used to be a part of our group, but quit homeschooling to go to the public school (they're back!)
Today my mother-in-law, Barb, turned 61. We all went to Long John Silver's then back to her house for cake & ice cream. Much to my in-laws dismay, I broke out the camera to get a few photos. I snapped one of Jeff's parents together. This December, they will be celebrating their 44th wedding anniversary. Happy Birthday Barb!
Aside from dinner at Ponderosa & a quick trip to Wal-Mart, we did absolutely NOTHING today! Unfortunately, we missed church this morning (we overslept because my phone battery died ... that's my alarm clock!) We ate frozen dinners for brunch, watched tv, and relaxed. This is extremely unusual for us ... Jeff has to get out of the house every day. He feels like he's wasting his life away if he stays at home all day ... even if all we do is go drive around! It was a refreshing change of pace...
Jeff received his TomTom GPS Navigation system for Christmas. Since I'm SEVERELY directionally challenged, I use it whenever I'm going somewhere unfamiliar. I don't know how I ever survived without one! Nick calls TomTom our "Way Provider." I thought that was an interesting phrase for a three year-old!
We had to be back up in Bloomington again today for another Dr. appointment. While we were there, I decided to get the oil changed in the car. They noticed that my front tire was completely bare, so I headed to the tire shop to get a couple of replacements. Our tire place just happens to be by some friends of ours that we haven't seen in ages. I called her up (Michelle) and asked her to meet me for lunch. She had already eaten, but invited us over to her house. The kids had a great time playing and we had fun catching up. It was a nice, relaxing day!
Name: Amy Home: Indiana, United States About Me: I am a Homeschool Mom of 2 awesome children. This is my attempt at Project 365 - to chronicle our world through daily photos... See my complete profile
SUBSCRIBE HERE
