The plan

After a few hours and two pots of coffee, I am ready to go on Monday morning. I'll be taking a deep breath, praying really hard, and jumping in. This is my main plan of attack:

Math: Both kids will continue with Singapore.

Literature: I'll continue reading aloud to Trevor, choosing good books that I think he'll enjoy, benefit from, and sometimes tie in with our history. We'll again loosely follow Teaching the Classics (oh, I so love this curriculum and way of teaching!).

Holly's no longer that into being read to (sniff, sniff), and I can't read enough for her anyway. We'll be trying Lightning Lit this year. I've heard good things about it, and it will be good for her to be reading selections we might otherwise not choose. Another advantage is that she'll be able to work somewhat independently with it.

Spelling: Trevor will continue with Spell to Write and Read (my second all time favorite curriculum).

Grammar: Latin is the one thing that had to go this year. It's been pretty teacher intensive, and while the kids picked it up fairly well, I struggled. I considered switching to the DVDs, but I don't think that would have gone over well. We've used Shurley off and on for several years, and both kids will be using it again this year. Trev began Level 5 in the spring, and Holly will begin Level 7. Shurley requires direct instruction, but we all know it well, and it shouldn't be that time consuming.

Vocabulary: They'll also be picking up a new Latin/Greek root-based vocabulary program, Roots and Fruits. This is something they should be able to work on mostly independently.

Writing: While they will both have writing assignments through other curriculum, they'll also have formal writing. Trevor's used Spectrum for years; Holly did quite a while ago, and she'll go back to it again this year just for ease of use. I generally turn my nose up at workbook curriculum (math being the exception), but even though I bought this out of desperation many years ago, I've always been quite pleased with the way it teaches. An added advantage is that I can usually easily adjust each day's final writing assignment to fit what they are writing about in another subject.

History: Trevor will continue with Story of the World, Holly with Beautiful Feet. These worked very well for us last year, and I'm thankful that I can keep the kids in the same general time period. Each give us plenty of flexibility, a quality I've always appreciated in any curriculum.

Science: The official plan is to continue with Apologia Elementary for Trev, Rainbow for Holly. But I know we won't stick for either for the entire year. We have several other options that I've been looking at, and we'll switch around when the enthusiasm for these begins to wane.

Bible: Thanks to DeEtta (and others!), we'll be using Our 24 Family Ways. I bought it several months ago but haven't used it yet. Rob's been wanting to join in on this, and we'll be using it in the evening, a bit of a switch for us.

So that's the backbone of our school year. I have a few other ideas that we'll be blending in: memory work (as usual); Living Math; studying one composer each month; adding in more educational games, computer games/learning, and educational tv. Trevor will continue copywork and will learn keyboarding. I'll continue to assign "Free Time." It sounds silly, but it's scheduled time dedicated to doing what they want to do--as long as they are learning.

My goal for Holly is to discuss as much as possible with her. (Trevor too, but on a smaller scale.) Although I won't be reading to Holly, I will be trying to keep up with at least one book that she'll be reading (history or lit), so I can have decent conversations with her. Kathleen and Lee have continued to inspire and encourage me to just get my kids talking about what they are learning, to voice opinions, and back up what they say. It's not about convincing my kids; I want them to express themselves, their reasons, their thought processes. Along these lines, too, Holly will be assigned daily "Current Affairs," a fancy subject title to discuss something she's read in the newspaper. (Such a great opportunity with the elections coming up!)

We'll start out at about 40% this week, and build up over the next two or three weeks. Between the kids' soccer, Trevor's art and chess, Holly's riding and 4H, my working, and just life in general, things will get busy quickly.

I'm excited. And that makes at least one of us! Haha


* * *
Note to Lori: Would you point out any major grammatical or other errors to me? It's late and I'm going to bed!!!

Getting personal

I've mentioned that Virginia has the highest percentage of vanity plates in this country. We're not especially vain; the plates are just a bargain at $10 over the cost of regular plates. They provide endless entertainment.

One of my all time favorites.

Original spark for this post

There are a LOT of faith plates. When I registered my car, I tried for Jer29-11 and Rom8-28, along with a few others, but they were all taken.


Some describe employment.

We have friends who own an alpaca farm.

Many just demand attention.




Sometimes we are confused.

As in Obama? Or Alabama?

And because inquiring minds will want to know: I did not take these with my toes. If we were driving, I usually had Holly grab my camera. She's great at zooming in on cars as I try to shout instructions and keep up.

And living in Stickville, where else would my children go to college?

Here's a fun little test

Who's your candidate?

:) Cute little graphics too.

Books, I get books

I've been bringing home stacks of books. Every day. I see something at work, and it crosses my mind that I might never see it again. So I grab it while I can.

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
~Arnold Lobel

(I love Arnold Lobel too, but let's hope he's wrong with that last line.)

Reading is sometimes an ingenious device for avoiding thought.
~Sir Arthur Helps

Be as careful of the books you read,
as of the company you keep;
for your habits and character will be as much influenced
by the former as by the latter.
~Paxton Hood

(I do NOT recommend the Princess Diary books. I don't know specifics, but when Holly tells me I wouldn't want her reading them, I trust her on that.)

The love of learning,
the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books.
~Henry Wadsworth Longellow

It rained...

...and they practiced.

This was actually a good thing, since we drove for almost an hour to get there. Of course, that's easy for me to say. I stood under my umbrella and chatted with friends. I figured that was roughing it--I wasn't sitting in my car.


Trevor has a good friend on his team and met a few more kids. The coach easily convinced them that this was the best kind of weather to play in. Trev had a blast!


The older team doesn't really practice. They scrimmage with the dads. Robert even got out there. Holly held her own and enjoyed playing again. Half of her team is from church, and a lot of our guys show up to play with our team even though they aren't on the team. (How cool is that?!) Practice lasts one hour and 15 minutes. They finally stopped after two hours.

You can see the steam rising off the 3rd and 4th guys from the left. Eww!

We're SO thankful for this team, thankful for the rain, and thankful for the ice cream we got on the way home.

And I'm thankful for my umbrella.

Weekly menu

YOYO (Mom working)
spaghetti, salad, bread
sandwiches, chips, fruit?
blackberry chicken, orange jello salad, vegetable?,
???
breakfast: eggs, fried potatoes, fruit, bacon or sausage
hot dogs, tortellini salad

Lunch (with or for):
smoothies
grilled PB&J
Linda's Marinated Mozzarella
parmesan pesto things
tortilla rollups w/meat, lettuce, tomato, dressing

On the back burner:
tuna, crackers, fruit
scalloped potatoes, Rocky Mountain Salad
cutlets Romano
chicken ala king, rice, strawberries
teriyaki meatballs, ???
pork loin
taco salad; quesadillas
sub sandwiches, chips, fruit
Renita's Funnel Cakes!!!
Diann's pita chips
chicken fajitas
meatloaf
chicken caesar salad

Book Review - The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn by Diane Ravitch

I'm familiar with Dr. Ravitch; she's loosely grouped with others who write about the decline of education in our country. Assistant Secretary in the Dept. of Education under (the first) President Bush, she later accepted an appointment by President Clinton to the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), which supervised national standardized testing. The NAGB approved potential reading passages for test questions, which then underwent the test contractors' "bias and sensitivity" review.

We all remember the stories about standardized test questions. Per "bias and sensitivity" review: Cake cannot appear in a comprehension story because it is not healthy; a story set in mountains discriminates against students who live in flatlands; it is wrong to describe peanuts as nutritious because they can cause severe allergic reactions. The list of stupidity goes on.

In addition to detailing a variety of well known testing companies' policies for standardized testing, this book also reveals how textbook publishers fall under the same unreasonable demands by feminists, ethnic minorities, the left, the right, religious groups, and the list goes on and on.

Background: textbook publishers pour millions of dollars into creating new books. Their eventual sales are dependent upon the approval of a few large states, such as Texas or California. If they are unable to sell in large numbers, they will also potentially lose the small sales. Publishers want to please their customers and therefore sanitize their books to avoid any possible potential objection.

Testing and textbooks must represent minorities in specific percentages. With original authors' permissions, popular stories were changed, for example: Judy Blume's Freddie in the Middle became Maggie in the Middle. Mrs. Jay was changed to Mrs. Chang. Although males and females were counted for equal balance, the state of Texas criticized a higher percentage of male animals. The state of California complained when The Little Engine That Could was depicted as male.

"Pioneer women doing domestic chores must be replaced by pioneer women chopping wood, using a plow, using firearms and handling large animals." (McGraw Hill) Women cannot be crying or doing "housework." Older people cannot be disabled or overweight. Men cannot be doctors or primary breadwinners. Children cannot be rude.

In short, test and textbook guidelines reach for a fictional world where there are equal numbers of males and females, where racial groups have participated equally in all aspects of history. History is not supposed to make us feel "good." How condescending that even student tests and textbooks are used to make a political point. "Literary quality becomes secondary to representational issues." "[The] ultimate goal of the academic curriculum is to advance multiculturalism." (Scott Foresman, which has 160+ pages of textbook guidelines.)

At the same time editors were simplifying reader vocabulary, which were found to be "too hard." ". . . standardized tests probe little more than basic skills. Depth, complexity and subtlety have been ruled out." I can well relate to this. As we began preparing for standardized testing when Trevor was in third grade, I saw that he was not doing well in "comprehension." I quickly realized that the testing wanted him to remember the color of John's dad's truck. Trevor had no idea--it was irrelevant to the story. But he could understand and easily explain WHY John liked to go riding with his dad. (Example.)

This was definitely a great read, very interesting, particularly the 25 pages of "banned words, usages, stereotypes, and topics." Wow. My personal subtitle would be something like "Reasons 224 - 592 to Homeschool." Note that the book was published in 2003, quite a while in terms of the school textbook industry, but probably not long enough ago to have made much difference in the books used today. On the downside, the book is poorly organized, with too much intermixing of testing and textbook requirements. Regardless, I recommend it as a definite eye opener, a fascinating book.

Book Review - Population: 485; Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry

Now that I'm working at the library, I have far larger issues with books than I imagined. But that's another post. It comes down to wanting to read SO many of the books I see, and wanting to read them NOW.

Population: 485 is one of those books. Author Michael Perry is a writer who returns to his small hometown in Wisconsin and joins the volunteer fire department. He shares several of the department's rescue stories while effectively weaving in narrative about small towns, his life, and the lives of others within the community.

His jacket photo was intriguing--he looks (intentionally, I'm sure) like he just stepped out of a year in the backwoods, yet his writing is completely opposite: beautiful, revealing, charming. A jacket cover blurb: "[H]e is the only member of the . . . [d]epartment to have missed the monthly meeting because of a poetry reading." While I was interested in this book, it exceeded my expectations.

A special day

Long ago . . .

August 23, 1998

. . . in a galaxy far, far away . . .

Littleton, Colorado

. . . a baby was born . . .

Trevor!

. . . and we celebrate this day.

* * *

Trevor was treated to an interesting--for lack of a better word--display of affection from Lucky.


We ate a gigantic breakfast, and Trevor opened his presents.


He went shopping with Dad to spend his birthday money. He spent five hours this afternoon to complete his 800 piece Lego project.

ATTE Walker

We had Trev's special order dinner: Husband Delight, garlic bread, salad, followed by his special order cake.

Light saber cake

(I winged the cake with the help of a few wonderful ladies on the hs boards--it turned out pretty well.)

MyNiceSpace.com

Soccer practice practice

Soccer practice begins next week.


Therefore, the kids have been practicing.


Trevor's been gearing up for the last few weeks.



Holly hasn't kicked a soccer ball in years.


But it's not something you easily forget.


I took loads of pictures.


It sure beat chasing after the ball.

Plan of attack

It's that time of year again when I fine-tune our upcoming school year. While we're mostly set, I've been looking at a variety of options we have in a few subjects.

Our biggest addition for this year

This year, I need to be more organized than in the past, and I've actually set up a month to month schedule to plan a few supplements/extras that I'd like for us to cover.

While the majority of our curriculum will be the same, the big difference will be in our scheduling. I won't be here five days a week, Robert will have to make sure the kids stay on track when I'm not here. On top of that, our school year will start with several weekly activities up in Roanoke: art for Trevor, soccer two times a week for both kids, and riding for Holly. While we've always done our schooling in the mornings into the afternoon, this year will be more on the fly, as I'll have to review things when it's most convenient for all of us.

I definitely need to be organized. I've always enjoyed the planning part of it, and I'll post our curriculum when we have everything a little more narrowed down.

:)

The slaughter

I used to enjoy playing Mancala with Trevor. There are some variations in the rules, depending on which country's rules you follow. A few weeks ago, we switched our play to counterclockwise on our board to accommodate the way a friend plays.

Ever since then, I can't get a break. Trev's figured out the perfect first move. And since I usually let him go first, I don't win anymore. Ever.



Never. I don't even come close. He's gleeful in his merciless and repeated slaughter.



I remained convinced that it was because he found the perfect first move. So I started going first, copying his strategy. Again and again.



But it didn't work. I still couldn't pull ahead.



And now I have to figure out another excuse why I can NEVER win this game anymore.

A good wife

94 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

Let me be the first to say I never guessed I'd score this well. I even answered truthfully.

I can't wait to share this with my husband so he'll know what a good wife I am!

Weekly menu

chicken jerusalem, rice, salad
manwiches, potato salad
giant burritos
YOYO (Mom works)
ham steaks, corn on the cob, broccoli, rolls (or cornbread?)
Trevor's birthday!
rice and beans, sausage, cornbread, cantaloupe

Lunch (with or for):
smoothies
grilled PB&J
Linda's Marinated Mozzarella
parmesan pesto things

On the back burner:
spaghetti, bread, salad
tuna, crackers, fruit
scalloped potatoes, Rocky Mountain Salad
cutlets Romano
chicken ala king, rice, strawberries
teriyaki meatballs, ???
pork loin
taco salad; quesadillas
sub sandwiches, chips, fruit
Renita's Funnel Cakes!!!
breakfast
tortellini salad
hot dogs
Diann's pita chips

Your life on the 'net

Have you contributed to the presidential campaign? Now everyone can know!

Click here for a detailed map. Zoom in on your neighbors, or click the map to get a search box. You can search by name, address, zip, etc. Note that you can not only find contributor names and dollar amounts, but home addresses, employers and occupations are listed also.

Whoa. Creepy.

25,000

I began blogging October 2006. Today I reached 25,000 hits on my blog. That's kind of cool.

Mom, thank you for hitting my blog 23,825 times. :)

Birthday list

• Went to church; chatted with a family that I noticed for the first time last week. Their son is the same age as Trevor, and they also homeschool. :)

• Holly went to lunch at Applebee's with the youth group.

• Robert, Trev and I went out for Mexican.

• We had time to run to Dick's Sporting Goods to grab a few things for the upcoming soccer season.

• We picked up Holly and came home to eat more cake.
  

• Trevor and I played Rampage, successfully demolishing San Francisco and London. (Rampage is very mild, with cartoon monsters. It's the only game video idiots like me can play, other than ATV/Offroad Fury.)

• I opened birthday presents. :) Trevor had very patiently talked to me the other night, in an effort to find out what I might like. He did a great job! I couldn't think of anything at ALL, but he managed to figure out that I needed mascara and pajamas. ("Need" being relative here, lol.)
  
  

• We were so stuffed that we didn't eat any more dinner. We ate more cake. The kids ate macaroni and cheese at 8:30 p.m.

• It was a Very Good Day.
  

Holly

Oh, where to begin? She'll just lay it out there, no matter what. One minute, sweet and loving; the next minute, she just about kills me.

Holly: Just think, in five years, you'll be 50.

* * *

(Looking at the positive side, maybe I'll drop dead before then.)

Having my cake

While I was at work today, Robert was secretly busy slaving over my birthday cake. They tried to hide it from me until tomorrow, but Holly slipped and said something. (Maybe she's trying to make up for the five year comment.)

It's my very favorite Texas Sheet Cake (and I can't believe I haven't blogged the recipe). Notice that the right side of the frosting does not have nuts. This is for Trev, who does not want to eat nuts in food.

You can see it didn't make it to my birthday. I'm so glad! I cut two pieces from the right for Holly and Trevor. I cut two pieces from the left for me and Rob.


I didn't know he didn't want his piece. So I dutifully ate both my piece and his. I hate wasting food, especially when it's chocolate cake. And frosting. I love him so much that I'd do the same thing for him again. Even tomorrow on my birthday.

Pumpkin in a box

We received a small box of school things yesterday. I put the empty box near the basement door, and Robert wondered aloud how long it might take Pumpkin to find it.

From the time the box hit the floor until the cat jumped in: about 7 seconds.


I'm glad I don't stop at just one picture. Otherwise, I'd never get this:

Hmm. That's the same reaction I get from my kids when they see my camera.

I went to the fair!

The health fair anyway. It was sponsored through my employer, it was free, and they even served a light breakfast afterwards.

I've turned into a bit of a hypochondriac. With all of Robert's garbage going on, the last thing I want to do is get sick. So I worry about it.

Last spring, I sat in a crowded waiting room at a new doctor's office for an hour, and my blood pressure was higher than usual. That freaked me out a bit, and now I check it every time I go to Walmart. I read recently that licorice will elevate your blood pressure. Once I stopped eating giant boxes of Good'n'Plenty every week, my blood pressure dropped.

Meanwhile, I worried about my resting pulse rate. It seemed very high. I would lay in bed and count it. I would wake up, moving as little as possible to see the clock and count it. I finally looked it up on the internet and discovered that my pulse rate is nothing to worry about. But I still kept counting it to make sure.

I figure that I'm pre-diabetic. It runs in my family, although "only" aunts and a grandmother on one side. But I have thrown up a few times after eating too much sugar (for example, after that horse show, and seven times in the morning on my second day of work, but that post may never be written). I worry that I'll go into a diabetic coma and, I don't know, die or something.

I worry about cholesterol and my heart. My dad's one of the healthiest people I know, but he has lousy genes and still had a heart attack a few years ago. Aren't my chances 50/50 that I'll take after him? The difference is that I'm not one of the healthiest people I know. I was laying in bed the other night when my heart seemed weird, and I figured maybe this is it.

A few weeks ago at work, I had something really weird happen with one of my eyes. I wondered if I was having a stroke. Or a brain tumor. Or at the very least losing my sight. As I was frantically searching yellow pages for a doctor, and googling the difference between an optometrist and an opthamologist, it cleared up. When I googled it later that night, I found it was nothing unusual--it's so common in fact that none of three websites I checked even mentioned calling your doctor.

It even crosses my mind most mornings that I shouldn't get up too fast. Isn't prime-heart attack time first thing in the a.m.? Or is it prime-stroke time? What if it happens when I walk down my driveway for the paper, fall to the ground, and everyone else in my house continues to sleep?

The obvious solution would be to go to the dr. But I hate going to the doctor, I hate searching for new doctors, and I hate anything dealing with insurance.

So I went to the health fair, figuring I can handle low doses of bad news.

I had to fast for 12 hours, but I didn't quite make it. Around midnight, I ate a few Oreos. Or 6. Or 12. Or 20. (I can guarantee it was somewhere between 12 and 20.) And I guess I didn't slip into a diabetic coma.

So I hit the health fair. My numbers, and the recommended guidelines:
Total cholesterol: 162 <200
HDL: 62 >60
Triglycerides: 87 <150
LDL: 82 <100
Ratio: 2.6 <4.0
Glucose: 84 <100
BMI: 22 20-24

My blood pressure was fair, 132/60. Okay, it seems kind of weird, but the 60 is normal for me, and I was still a little nervous, and I ate a big box of Good'n'Plenty a few days before.

And my diabetes risk assessment was 6. Actually, tomorrow is my birthday and it will rise to 11, which is slightly higher than optimum. But oh well, it was good for two days.

So I was REALLY happy with my results. REALLY happy. Hugely relieved. I figure I'll live at least another week. Or two.

Winter's just around the corner!

Well, maybe. My husband sure is ready. And so is my son.



That's Trevor.

Flannel pj bottoms. Check.
Snow boots. Check.
Heavy flannel coat. Check.
Snow hat. Check.

He was out gathering pinecones this morning.

But the truth is that it's the middle of August, and it was already 70 degrees outside. Nothing can beat a kid's wishful thinking!

I, on the other hand, cannot imagine winter for the life of me. Nor do I especially want to!

Book Review - Raising Respectful Children in a Disrespectful World by Jill Rigby

This was an easy read with little meat. Parents who choose to read this book already know the message: BE the kind of person that you want your children to become.

Not recommended.

Oh! The places we go

Trevor and I stopped at the library (because I clearly don't get there enough).



We stopped for gas. Should I be disgusted that I'm paying $3.49 a gallon? Or should I be happy that it's $.40 lower than two weeks ago?


I've known Cathy online for quite a while, and we began emailing each other privately when we moved here last year. She lives over in Blacksburg, so we've never met face to face--until today! I bought a few books from her, and we chatted while Trevor took a few pictures.

Meeting yet another online friend!

Trev and I went on to a friend's house for lunch.


And we swam (okay, HE swam) at their neighborhood pool. We were the only people there; the pool is adjacent to the lake, and the setting was quite lovely.


On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store.

Trevor was thrilled

Definitely a Good Day.