School is going really well this year. The boys are a huge help with getting their day started even if it's a late work night for me, they both still get up and get started w/o me.
This is my most organized school year yet. We had never actually worked at spelling before but I picked up some used Rod & Staff spelling books and they use them! Both boys are learning cursive and trying to figure out why they need to know it. I said there are only really two reasons... 1) to sign your John Hancock and 2) to read fancy signs. I really don't like that some schools aren't teaching it anymore. I am wondering if any other languages use a cursive type font.
For math, we found the Life of Fred series and the boys seem to really like it. I like the idea of teaching them when they'll actually use this stuff rather than just giving them problem after problem to solve.
Franklin is going to attempt the junior version of NANO this year. I'm excited for him! We are working hard on opening him up to different types of writing this year. I think he has a real talent there and he loves writing.
I'm going to look for more Charlotte Mason type science and social studies for them because what we're doing now is a little boring.
We're learning about Ancient Greece now but moving on to Space soon. It seems like there's always more to learn about a unit study topic.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
Nature Walking...
I admit it, I will bribe the boys to get their school work done. And, why shouldn't I? I don't mind doing the things I bribe them with. Like today, we hit Pooh Park! The weather is perfect lately and I don't really want to spend every day penned up in the house. We headed to the Lake House side since we've hit the Pooh Park side so many times. Hermione liked it too. I'm sure she appreciates the cooler weather since she has that fur coat to wear all year long.
Patch took most of the pictures. This is one of the trails we walked.
I'm not sure what look Patch was going for here. He did comment that boys could show their bellies though.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Game plans...
I always start off with some great plans for homeschooling but they don't always turn out the way I'd like them too.
This year, in addition to the reading, 'riting & 'rithmatic, we're delving deeper into unit studies to round out the rest of the curriculum and adding some science with The Magic School Bus. TMSB might be a little young for both of my guys but we'll add to it and try to make it more interesting and hopefully, get some friends to come over and do the bigger experiments with us.
My schedule keeps changing at work (that could stop any time soon, tyvm!) but at this point, we're planning on doing some park hopping. Unfortunately, not Disney Parks but the SC State parks instead! I'm really looking forward to exploring more of the state we call home. So, at least one Friday a month (being my only day off every week, I'd like to reserve a few Fridays to doing absolutely nothing!) we're going to visit a new state park. The pass will also let Todd take the boys mountain biking at Sesqui any time they want. I don't have a mountain bike but Hermione and I could go walk around the park a bit.
I also want to find something physical for the boys to do. I was planning on signing them up for swim & gym at the Y but I think I missed the sign up period for that this time. Franklin just told me that he thinks Patch would be good at football. ;-) Until we find something to sign up for, biking and basketball will have to do.
Our current unit study is about Ancient Greece and I think they both love learning about the Greek Gods and wonder why they might have believed in so many gods. Hopefully, we'll find that out soon!
This year, in addition to the reading, 'riting & 'rithmatic, we're delving deeper into unit studies to round out the rest of the curriculum and adding some science with The Magic School Bus. TMSB might be a little young for both of my guys but we'll add to it and try to make it more interesting and hopefully, get some friends to come over and do the bigger experiments with us.
My schedule keeps changing at work (that could stop any time soon, tyvm!) but at this point, we're planning on doing some park hopping. Unfortunately, not Disney Parks but the SC State parks instead! I'm really looking forward to exploring more of the state we call home. So, at least one Friday a month (being my only day off every week, I'd like to reserve a few Fridays to doing absolutely nothing!) we're going to visit a new state park. The pass will also let Todd take the boys mountain biking at Sesqui any time they want. I don't have a mountain bike but Hermione and I could go walk around the park a bit.
I also want to find something physical for the boys to do. I was planning on signing them up for swim & gym at the Y but I think I missed the sign up period for that this time. Franklin just told me that he thinks Patch would be good at football. ;-) Until we find something to sign up for, biking and basketball will have to do.
Our current unit study is about Ancient Greece and I think they both love learning about the Greek Gods and wonder why they might have believed in so many gods. Hopefully, we'll find that out soon!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
It's Back to School Time around here!
Yep, we started back yesterday. And, so far, so good! Franklin seems enthused and Patch is... well, Patch. He drew pictures of bombs on the front of his notebook...
Franklin - cool...
The two of them acting like they like each other...
I've been practicing getting a serious picture and a silly picture with the boys either by themselves or getting whole groups to do it. I usually like the silly picture better. :)
Anyhow... along with the basics this year, reading, 'riting, 'rithmatic, we're using unit studies and starting out learning about Ancient Greece this year. (Space comes later this year, Franklin!)
(Please excuse the lack of paint on the front door, we're still deciding what color we want to make it.)
Franklin added a meteor to his - I think he's looking forward to a space study unit this year...
(The boys took these pics and were practicing the 'worm's eye view they learned about during a Photography camp they took online this summer.)
Patch happy, Patch sad, Patch goofy :)...
Franklin - cool...
The two of them acting like they like each other...
I've been practicing getting a serious picture and a silly picture with the boys either by themselves or getting whole groups to do it. I usually like the silly picture better. :)
Anyhow... along with the basics this year, reading, 'riting, 'rithmatic, we're using unit studies and starting out learning about Ancient Greece this year. (Space comes later this year, Franklin!)
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Chicken Stock...
I've been a crazy woman making chicken stock recently. I'm hoping that one of these days I can start buying organic chicken and making organic stock! I've been buying whole chickens lately and I'm getting pretty good at cutting them into parts even if I do say so myself. ;-) I cut off the wings to make chicken wings sometime - my new favorite is parmesan garlic wings so I want to find a recipe for that soon. I cut off the thighs and legs and we're going to grill a bunch of legs tomorrow. The thighs, I've been deboning and cutting up to use in our tacos - since Patch doesn't like the refried beans/chorizo that the rest of us like, we've been making the chicken w/ seasoning for him. Then I cut off the boneless, skinless breasts so we can use them for pretty much everything else! I cook up the gizzards, etc. for Hermione and the rest goes into a bag in the freezer to make stock. I use the parts from two chickens to make the stock...
I boil then simmer the chicken, celery, carrots, onion, bay leaf, peppercorns, garlic and about six cups of water for about two hours. After it cools, I strain it though paper towels and get this...
I let that sit in the fridge over night and skim off all the fat, warm it back up so it pours easily and put it into one cup containers that I freeze over night...
After it's frozen, I pop the stock out of containers and put them all (usually 7 or 8 cups of stock) in a gallon ziplock bag and it's ready to use!
I know I use to use the stock in a box from the store fairly often. I don't think I've made one recipe since making this stock that's called for stock! :( So, I've given 8 cups away already and STILL have 30 cups in the freezer! I think I'm throwing the other 6 bags of chicken parts out because I'm thinking I'd be the crazy chicken stock lady if I had 40+ MORE cups of stock in my freezer. ;-)
I started to buy (okay bought half of it) the meat the recipes call for to make beef stock - I am NOT cutting up a cow to get those cow parts! But, can't find the other cut they use. I'd like to make beef and vegetable stock sometime though.
So, yes, I'm getting more homemade in the kitchen. I love making desserts - the problem there is that I (and sometimes, Franklin) am the only one that eats most of it! I'm making the vanilla - and I'll share pics, etc. when I get it bottled. I made chocolate pudding and I'm planning banana pudding for Father's Day tomorrow. I'm not sure what will come next but the boys will be getting more involved. :)
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
About socialized OUT
Sorry it's been so long since I've updated you about us but we've been insane!, I mean busy!
The more I read on FB, the less I want to post so about all you've been seeing from me is links to funny things or things I find interesting... I love keeping up with my friends there but I see so many other people posting stuff and I'm thinking - do you really want the world to see that or why are you always begging for stuff? And it just turns me off so now you get what you get from me. I'm really liking Google + and mostly I just follow strangers on there - I've 'circled' some other people's circles and strangers have some really interesting things to share - mostly beautiful pictures or interesting articles - probably what's turned me off the beggars and weirdos on FB ;-)
<--The type of post I make on FB now ;-)
Anyhow... we have the rental back and are trying to get that fixed up to rent out again. These people were really good renters but their cleaning skills leave a lot to be desired. Every time we get the rental back, it's a learning experience, things that need added to the contract (like not cleaning the place well will forfeit your deposit!), and how to fix different things. Todd is learning a lot of new skills and we've talked about him starting 'shop' classes with the boys - just teaching them how to change the oil on a car or build a bookshelf type of stuff. He says that he just learned by watching but I know that I'm more of a hands on person and told him that I'm sure he'd like to be more hands on with the boys learning process than what he went through. My dad was very handy and you know I've bragged more than once about Todd's handy skills :) I think the boys should know how to be handy too. Anyhow... the rental should be up on the market soon. There are still a couple projects that need to be done but hopefully, they'll get done while we're showing the place.
We're wrapping up school this week and thanks to my friend, Courtney, and a book she's been writing, I'm inspired to creating more of my own curriculum for the coming year. Thanks, Courtney! (I'm still working on reading your book and hope to get it done this evening!) The boys are finishing up 4th & 7th grade technically - like most homeschoolers, they vary in grades of work they're doing for each subject. Patch will be still working on 4th grade math next year but Franklin will be starting algebra next year (9th grade math.) You should see the progress Patch has made in speech! I just had the parent/teacher conference and where the marks were all over the page in sounds he couldn't/wouldn't make, there were 3 marks on the page this year. I'm sort of hoping that we don't have to go all of next year. I think Tangie just wants to keep him in class because he's so much more well behaved than the other kids who have been stuck in chairs the rest of the day and are looking for an outlet in speech class ;-)
I'm still loving my job. I'm in the middle of moving positions - from what is called the kayako mod - where I take care of problems from the customers, the other mods and the experts who JustAnswer the questions (why they send me reports that say 'There is no question here' or 'I don't know what they're asking' is beyond me - but usually some other expert has jumped in in the meantime asking what they want and usually gets the money for answering them! LOL) - to what is called a category mod and it will be in the legal categories. It's a slow move so far and I'm really anxious to get there and find out what all I need to do. So far I see mostly immigration questions - what forms do I and my soon-to-be spouse and kids need to fill out? Will my status of this effect my wife's status of that? I'll probably learn more about immigration than I need to know but we cover all types of law so it will be interesting to say the least!
In my spare time, (Ha!) I've been making chicken stock and I'm finding I need to start using some. I have a batch on the stove now and already have 20ish cups in the freezer. But, I still have six bags of chicken parts in the freezer to make stock. I've been buying whole chickens and cutting them up. I think they're so much more tender than the store bought previously or still frozen parts I had been buying. I know I need to start buying organic chicken to eat a little healthier. That organic stuff is just usually priced out of our budget :( I also tried my hand at chocolate pudding the other day. Patch doesn't like pudding, Todd thought it was too chocolaty and I had to fight Franklin to get a taste ;-) (Okay, I didn't actually fight him but if I wanted more, I might have had to!)
<-- Chicken stock in 1 C sizes, ready to use.
And, we can't forget the homemade vanilla extract that will be ready in a couple weeks!
The more I read on FB, the less I want to post so about all you've been seeing from me is links to funny things or things I find interesting... I love keeping up with my friends there but I see so many other people posting stuff and I'm thinking - do you really want the world to see that or why are you always begging for stuff? And it just turns me off so now you get what you get from me. I'm really liking Google + and mostly I just follow strangers on there - I've 'circled' some other people's circles and strangers have some really interesting things to share - mostly beautiful pictures or interesting articles - probably what's turned me off the beggars and weirdos on FB ;-)
<--The type of post I make on FB now ;-) 
We're wrapping up school this week and thanks to my friend, Courtney, and a book she's been writing, I'm inspired to creating more of my own curriculum for the coming year. Thanks, Courtney! (I'm still working on reading your book and hope to get it done this evening!) The boys are finishing up 4th & 7th grade technically - like most homeschoolers, they vary in grades of work they're doing for each subject. Patch will be still working on 4th grade math next year but Franklin will be starting algebra next year (9th grade math.) You should see the progress Patch has made in speech! I just had the parent/teacher conference and where the marks were all over the page in sounds he couldn't/wouldn't make, there were 3 marks on the page this year. I'm sort of hoping that we don't have to go all of next year. I think Tangie just wants to keep him in class because he's so much more well behaved than the other kids who have been stuck in chairs the rest of the day and are looking for an outlet in speech class ;-)
I'm still loving my job. I'm in the middle of moving positions - from what is called the kayako mod - where I take care of problems from the customers, the other mods and the experts who JustAnswer the questions (why they send me reports that say 'There is no question here' or 'I don't know what they're asking' is beyond me - but usually some other expert has jumped in in the meantime asking what they want and usually gets the money for answering them! LOL) - to what is called a category mod and it will be in the legal categories. It's a slow move so far and I'm really anxious to get there and find out what all I need to do. So far I see mostly immigration questions - what forms do I and my soon-to-be spouse and kids need to fill out? Will my status of this effect my wife's status of that? I'll probably learn more about immigration than I need to know but we cover all types of law so it will be interesting to say the least!
In my spare time, (Ha!) I've been making chicken stock and I'm finding I need to start using some. I have a batch on the stove now and already have 20ish cups in the freezer. But, I still have six bags of chicken parts in the freezer to make stock. I've been buying whole chickens and cutting them up. I think they're so much more tender than the store bought previously or still frozen parts I had been buying. I know I need to start buying organic chicken to eat a little healthier. That organic stuff is just usually priced out of our budget :( I also tried my hand at chocolate pudding the other day. Patch doesn't like pudding, Todd thought it was too chocolaty and I had to fight Franklin to get a taste ;-) (Okay, I didn't actually fight him but if I wanted more, I might have had to!)
<-- Chicken stock in 1 C sizes, ready to use.
And, we can't forget the homemade vanilla extract that will be ready in a couple weeks!
Todd will be finishing up college in about 14 months :) Franklin turned 13 a month ago and Patch will be 10 in a couple weeks (less than! EEkk!) and I just keep trudging on. Today is my one day off each week and so far, I have finished up one batch of chicken stock, started another, done some painting at the rental house, swung by the library for drop off and pick up. I need to work on painting a closet door here and finish up the laundry started. Figure out how to make ground pork in my food processor and maybe make meatloaf for dinner.
Anyhow, if you don't see me posting much of FB for a while, you know why ;-) I am just socialized OUT!
Friday, February 10, 2012
Blogging about blogs or at least blog posts
I'm not sure I even have a right to post this one and I know it will infuriate some of my military blog friends but someone should teach this woman a bit more about the military life. Even I know more than this lady does!
http://airbornewife814.blogspot.com/2012/02/stirring-pot.html
Maybe her intent was just to stir the pot but at least get your facts straight before you go insulting people! I don't care which branch of the military you're in the person serving and their spouse and children deserve a lot more credit and respect than you are giving them. Even if they aren't 'Army Wives,' which I believe they are, if they want to refer to themselves as Army Wives, who are you to correct them? I honestly don't know enough about the rest to comment much but, are those your hubs camos you're wearing in the pregnancy pic? Is that any better to post than another woman posting a sexy pic while wearing her hubs camos? I hope she gets a grip on how to treat others soon. That's her blog and she can say what she likes there, this is mine and I'm saying what I like.
Franklin and I watched this video a little while ago - warning (and he'll warn you again) lots of vulgar language in the letter he reads written by his 15yo daughter. I don't know that I could go to the lengths he did - maybe reformat the hard drive and sell it to make up the $130 she now owes him...
http://www.litefm.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=421220&article=9738000
What do you think? Did he go to far? I know Franklin and Patch have both talked about getting jobs but how much is out there for a 15yo (or younger) to do?
And, last but not least, one of my favorite blogs to read. I might have to buy her book ;-) I use to think it was just her that was nuts but then I read the second link post and realized, they're both a little crazy.
http://thebloggess.com/
http://thebloggess.com/2012/02/robot-tigers-or-robobcats-im-leaning-toward-the-latter-simply-because-theyd-be-easier-to-put-in-your-carry-on-luggage/
You might browse the site before letting little eyes see it, I don't think Franklin or Patch has seen any of her posts but I'm not sure that they couldn't. In fact, I'm pretty sure they'd love the robot tigers post because they really want to try to build a bot of some kind.
http://airbornewife814.blogspot.com/2012/02/stirring-pot.html
Maybe her intent was just to stir the pot but at least get your facts straight before you go insulting people! I don't care which branch of the military you're in the person serving and their spouse and children deserve a lot more credit and respect than you are giving them. Even if they aren't 'Army Wives,' which I believe they are, if they want to refer to themselves as Army Wives, who are you to correct them? I honestly don't know enough about the rest to comment much but, are those your hubs camos you're wearing in the pregnancy pic? Is that any better to post than another woman posting a sexy pic while wearing her hubs camos? I hope she gets a grip on how to treat others soon. That's her blog and she can say what she likes there, this is mine and I'm saying what I like.
Franklin and I watched this video a little while ago - warning (and he'll warn you again) lots of vulgar language in the letter he reads written by his 15yo daughter. I don't know that I could go to the lengths he did - maybe reformat the hard drive and sell it to make up the $130 she now owes him...
http://www.litefm.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=421220&article=9738000
What do you think? Did he go to far? I know Franklin and Patch have both talked about getting jobs but how much is out there for a 15yo (or younger) to do?
And, last but not least, one of my favorite blogs to read. I might have to buy her book ;-) I use to think it was just her that was nuts but then I read the second link post and realized, they're both a little crazy.
http://thebloggess.com/
http://thebloggess.com/2012/02/robot-tigers-or-robobcats-im-leaning-toward-the-latter-simply-because-theyd-be-easier-to-put-in-your-carry-on-luggage/
You might browse the site before letting little eyes see it, I don't think Franklin or Patch has seen any of her posts but I'm not sure that they couldn't. In fact, I'm pretty sure they'd love the robot tigers post because they really want to try to build a bot of some kind.
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