Wednesday

It was gorgeous out today, and it looks like the weather here is getting back to normal temps, highs in the '80s, lows around 60.


Holly and I have been trying to walk every day or so. Our only option, unless we want to blaze a path to "our" creek, is the street. She's been very motivated and convinced me to walk to the beginning of the road, which is about a mile away. Up and down a few hills. While I was wearing cheap flip flops. (And you definitely can't call those shoes thongs anymore.)


When we reached the other end, I'd already been thinking about calling Robert to pick us up. The problem, though, was that I didn't have my cell phone. It was getting dark quickly, and I considered that he might come looking for us. It's not like we have streetlights or anything else to light our way. Just as we turned into the driveway, he came out of the house to find us.

But honestly it felt great to walk that far. And more importantly, I really treasure that time with Holly. My legs have been a little sore from the hills, but that feels good too.

Between the cooler temps and shorter days, the trees are changing quickly.


We've met several of the neighborhood dogs and even met a neighbor tonight.


We notice different things each time we walk. We've seen the same group of deer twice, too cute with their babies.

The caption possibilities are endless:

"I've told you, NO more pictures!"
"Did you see the deer run across the road?!"
"Oh NO, it's the elephant dog again!"
"Will you hurry up, old lady! And when will you wear some decent walking shoes?!"

(I'd better be on my best behavior here, I don't want her to leave me at home next time!)

New things around here

We saw our first leaf bug.


And we found our first (live) frog (toad?).


Trevor started his new co-op today. With about 20 families and just a science class offering, broken down by age groups into three classes, this is vastly different than our old co-op of 300 families and 170 classes. Trev's class is pretty big, 15 kids. The teacher, bless her heart, is not a big science person but teaching because she was asked to. There were two of us moms helping out in the class today, and we had to think on our feet to keep the class moving and occupied once the material was covered. The other mom seems to be pretty creative, and I'm hoping I can pull together some fun stuff that can be worked into the class also. Trevor is encouraged by this. He doesn't care so much about the class and is there hoping to make some friends. Although helping out to this extent in class is not on my list of things I want to do, it seems that God may have a slightly different plan for me. (Story of my life, lol!)

Holly is not taking the class. Science doesn't thrill her to begin with, and she didn't really care for the thought of being in a class of 7-12th graders.

Tonight we drove waaaay out for Trevor to join a homeschool chess club. He taught himself how to play chess on the computer and continues to be interested in playing. This class is an hour away, but lasts for two hours and only meets twice a month. He thought the drive (or the ride, in his case,) would be worth it. There were ~18 kids there, all boys except the teacher's two girls, and he had a fun time.


(Holly and Trevor have joined forces and banned me from taking photos of them.)

When Trevor tired of playing, he built instead.

* * * *

Note to self: Buy reliable and detailed maps, no matter what the cost.

Neither GPS nor Google maps are a dependable way to get anywhere. My GPS doesn't even recognize my street, but has recommended I turn down two other streets 1-2 miles away. Good thing I didn't turn when it told me to, because the roads do NOT go through, and I could be lost in the woods for eternity. Instead, when I turn down my street, it declares me to be lost and not on any street at all.

I googled directions to chess tonight, which were confirmed by my GPS. After driving down several twisty, two lane, country "roads" for seven miles, Robert wondered how he would ever 1) get out and 2) return to pick us up. We asked the chess teacher if there was an easier way to get out. Sure enough. Two blocks away was a main highway, leading straight to civilization.

Weekly menu

Dinner:

steak, Caesar salad

eating out

manicotti, salad, garlic bread

pizza

bratwurst, potato salad

cheeseburgers, corn on the cob, creamed cucumbers

turkey/avocado subs, chips


Lunch (with or for):
strawberry soup
smoothies
tuna salad on English muffins
grilled PJ&J
taquitos
frozen pizza

On the back burner:
grilled flank steak
fondue
manwiches, watermelon salad
dilled chicken pasta salad, fruit
giant burritos
tortellini salad with feta cheese

Book Review - Every Young Woman's Battle by Shannon Ethridge

This female counterpart to the Every Man series was mentioned on my hs list, and incredibly I was able to find it at my new library. It's a terrific--and terrifically frank--book for young women with realistic strategies for protecting their minds, hearts and bodies from the never-ending garbage fed to them by today's media.

But the book is frank and sometimes a little graphic for me, as I imagine my daughter reading it. There are a couple of topics that I felt the book returned to a little too often for me to be comfortable. I appreciated that the author backed her writing up with a lot of scripture.

It's definitely a book that I could see using down the road as a tool, and I highly recommend it, as long as you pre-read it first. I'd like to read the other books in the series too.

My celeb look-alikes

And an entertaining (pun intended) link . . .

Oh, pooh!

This quiz was on Debbie's blog.




Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

Hmm. Apparently I HAVE no personality. Now I'll be paranoid whenever I talk about anything, and believe me, I won't be talking anymore.

Thanks, Deb?? I guess . . .

::snicker::

Comments, I get comments!

Thanks for the great comments about my bathroom window!

Along with Debbie, others suggested shutters, and Beth and Karen suggested light curtains that left the 1/4 to 1/3 top of the window uncovered. I like the idea of leaving the top open, and I'll have to get a better line of sight on the neighbors' house to see if that would work.

Lisa, since I don't crochet, maybe I can make a screen of leaves/twigs to go with that whittled piece of wood, lol. Or make the kids do it as a combination science/art project . . .

And Michele, thank you for posting your photo, I like how your covering gives privacy but lets a lot of light through.

My oh-so-helpful Mom and Mike came up with "paint arrows on the outside of the window, put in kleig lights, music, and put on a show! You go, girl!"

Umm, can I charge for this?

More likely is their suggestion to tint the window so no one can see inside during regular daylight. They do this with some of their windows, and deer walk right up, seeing only a reflection. Since I'm more concerned about blocking during the day, I like this idea too. We'd put up something else in case we need to block the view at night.

And Kim on SHS suggested bamboo. Hmm, a natural covering would look great in the bathroom, and it would also let in lots of light.

Thank you for the great AND varied ideas that I would not have come up with on my own! Now I can discuss with Robert, check out options at Lowe's and go from there. We have SUCH a hard time committing to anything on our windows, usually settling on 1" vinyl blinds "temporarily" (hah). Even the 2" faux wood were a relief. I'm excited to have some terrific options pointed out to me!

:)

OUCH!

We have yet to grasp this Hokie phenomenon. But we're trying. (It's not easy to support team colors of maroon and orange.) The game started late last night, 9:15. Turned out that was a good thing. We pulled out the chips, dip, and beer (root beer), and settled in to watch.


It was painful, and by 10:00, we turned off the game. LSU is ranked #2; VT is ranked #9. I won't be surprised to see that ranking drop. Final score: LSU 48; VT 7.

And what in the world is a Hokie anyway?

What would you do?

We're not planning on doing much in our master bathroom anytime soon. It's a big room, and we've done the basics: a couple of towel bars, a temporary shower curtain that we'll replace with a glass door eventually. And since there were no mirrors in the house, we put up a big tri-door with lots of storage space above the vanity.

It has two windows, including this big picture window. Window coverings JUST made their way up my priority list, as I realized I can see a house out the window--just barely, but I can see it, and I'll be able to see more when the leaves start to fall. And they'll be able to see more of us.

I'm not eager to cover this window up (other than for obvious reasons, haha). Am I "stuck" with the usual blinds? I'm not creative--I'd choose the 2" wide white "plantation blinds," or the duette honeycomb-style blinds. Any wonderful ideas out there to consider? It needs to be less than $100, require no "craftiness" on my part, and be easy to open/close, so I can close them only when absolutely necessary . . .


The big tub? I love the trim work the builder did on the cabinet. And the tub will be easy to keep clean, since I'm sure we'll never use it. But it looks really great in the room!

Day in (some) pictures

This is a light week, and the kids have been working a little ahead. Holly took off with Robert; Trevor and I had several hours to spend. We decided to check out Mill Mountain Zoo, located right off the famous Blue Ridge Parkway. The zoo is on the side of a mountain, right in the middle of the city, and adjacent to the famous star that Holly and I visited back in May.

The humidity is high here in the mornings, and the sky is hazy.


This zoo is tiny, tinier than we thought. I'm sure we were done within an hour, but we saw some things we don't usually see too. Like the Burmese python getting fed. They use dead, frozen, and then thawed rats. It was pretty gruesome, in my opinion. The zoo person uses a hook and dangles a rat in front of the snake. Out of habit, the snake grabs and begins squeezing. Then a few more (dead) rats are thrown in. I was lucky on this picture--I snapped right at the same time the snake gulped. Ewwwwwww!


As the temp rose, the haze/humidity began to burn off. Roanoke broke 15 records last month for highest, or highest low, temperatures.


I was able to convince Trevor to head much closer to home before stopping for a very late lunch. We hung out for a while and headed to a new park that's very close to our house. No surprise that Trev was drawn to the creek. We found a giant tree with an odd lime-looking, citrus smelling fruit. (What fruit tree grows that big?) He also found a little mollusk shell in the creek.

I was really hoping to get a picture of the brilliant orange sun tonight, against the purple sky, but this was the best I could do.

It was a great day, and I'm going to sleep early, for once!

Whew, we made it!

It was a beautiful morning, but we missed most of it. At 8:00 a.m., everyone was still asleep.


I'd anticipated that it'd be tough going, and I'd already planned a late start and light schedule.

Our literature read aloud is Wind in the Willows. I'm loving this book. While I don't care about a rat, a mole, a toad, the author's writing style is wonderful, unique, and I see the animals as little old men. Thanks to Teaching the Classics, I did some very minor research into author Kenneth Grahame's life. This has put an interesting spin on the book that makes all of us appreciate his writing a little more.

The kids reviewed their memorization notebooks and did math, also just review. And we reviewed the Latin flash cards from last year. They did some independent reading while I fixed lunch. There was more review, going through their timeline notebooks remembering what they'd learned in history last year, and then we went over the last history chapter we'd read last year.

Trevor has decided to check out the homeschool chess club and was anxious to brush up on his chess skills. He played Fritz and Chesster on the computer.


Holly and I started reading The Bronze Bow. I didn't think she'd appreciate it on her own, and for some reason, she was expecting something like The Other Side of the Mountain (which she disliked very much, thank you). One chapter into The Bronze Bow and we are hooked.

Both kids had assigned "free time" (specific time set aside for them to do something of their own choosing). We finished up with a fun way to closely estimate the age and height of trees. It was right in the middle of the afternoon, a little too hot to enjoy, but we'll do it again soon. I can be quite sure we'll never run out of trees, lol. They measured three, determining the ages to be 4, 27, and 40something. (I know at some point a dairy owned all the property that is now our street, and I hope to find out more info.)


As we settle in, we've managed to get our town runs down to once every two days. It's also an adjustment to go NOwhere for the entire day. I've gone a few days with NO makeup at all (never would normally happen), and I've worn clothes that I'd NEVER normally wear (like shorts). Living out here is freeing for me, I think.

We went to town today with our ultimate goal Dairy Queen ice cream to celebrate our first day of school. I had my camera and totally forgot to pull it out. I was too excited that the kids working at DQ made me a Mr. Misty Float. They've not been on the menu for years, and Mr. Misty's are now called something else. In our usual predictable and set way that I find so comforting, we all had the same thing that we each chose last week; the exception was the Holly chose a different flavor of Blizzard.

After dinner, the kids and I walked down the street. Trevor, being ever observant, found a run-over-and-dried-out frog/toad on the road, and also run-over-and-dried-out preying mantis.


We don't have a great view of the sunset at our house, but it's typically an amazing combination of purple and orange.


So a decent first day, and we can make it through this week (at least!) for sure!

I did it ALL

I did it ALL today.

I sneaked in the first day of our new read aloud, The Wind in the Willows, even though we're not starting school tomorrow. I'm not sure we've ever gone five? six? weeks without a read aloud. I'm glad to get back into this routine. (Did you know that "snuck" is not really a word?)

I washed two loads of laundry. I don't like having my washer/dryer in the kitchen, and our plan is to move them to the basement, turning the laundry closet into the computer closet/pantry. But for now, it's easier to get laundry done. It's not as loud as I'd think, but I don't forget about it like I used to.

I cleaned. At least a little. I swept the floors and stairs and windexed the bathroom. I know, not much. But I am waiting, waiting for my new vacuum. My older upright is not ideal, as I have mostly wood and tile floors on my main level now. I have visions of myself quickly vacuuming up the house every single day. (Clearly I'm delusional.)

I carted branches for Robert. He needed my brawn. (Smirk.) It was easier dragging those things downhill to our eventual bonfire, I mean burn pile, than it was to walk back up empty handed. (I made two whole trips!)

I cooked. I made our last box of Annie's White Shells and Cheddar for the kids' lunch. They don't sell it in the nearest town. Maybe in Roanoke? Or at Sam's Club? I'm checking out Amazon.com. I bet they have it in Greensboro, but I hope I never have to find out. Robert didn't want that, so I fixed him a frozen pizza.


Oops. In my typical over-achiever fashion, I cooked it thoroughly. Just like the box says.

I "cooked" dinner too, but not thoroughly. The rest of my family banned me from using the oven.

I completed my Notice of Intent and accompanying paperwork, yippee!!!!

And I typed up Holly and Trevor's school schedules so they would actually know what they are doing tomorrow!! Yay!!!!!! (They weren't quite as overjoyed about this.)

I suppose I can say that it was a successful Labor Day.

:)

Giving notice

For several days, I've been putting off writing the Notice of Intent that VA requires hsers to file each year. The Notice itself is easy. But I also have to include "a description of the curriculum to be followed for the coming school year," one for each child.

What in the world does THAT mean? Checking the internet, HSLDA and my local hs support group give different advice. And different districts here view the requirement differently too.

It's all quite overwhelming to me. What am I supposed to write?

Robert suggested an oh-so-brief outline, using the scope and sequence from our base materials. Okay, sounds great, but maybe he'll do it for me? (Oh yeah, right. I never should have called this "my computer.") I've worn the Queen Procrastinator crown long enough, and I finally pieced something together tonight. I'll never be happy with it, but I'm sure it will do. What I really should be doing is counting my blessings that this is the biggest hoop I need to jump through to satisfy my state law . . .

Kristine

Isn't this cool? I found the link on Debbie's blog. To get your own name, click here. (ARGH, I wish it would have fit on one line, but oh well!)

Weekly menu

Dinner:

cheeseburgers, corn on the cob, garlic fries

shrimp salad, parmesan pesto things

hot dogs, mac and cheese

PW's Beans and Cornbread, jalapeno poppers

YOYO

hot dogs (yes again), pasta salad

pizza

manicotti, salad, garlic bread

smoked pork chops, mashed potatoes, corn, canned fruit


Lunch (with or for):
strawberry soup
smoothies
tuna salad on English muffins
grilled PJ&J
taquitos
leftover taco salad
frozen pizza
breakfast burritos

On the back burner:
watermelon salad
bratwurst
grilled flank steak
fondue
manwiches

Book Review - Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

In another attempt to read a book by this popular author, I wonder if I chose the wrong book. Again. But maybe it's not me.

Amish girl Katie Fisher gets pregnant by an Englischer and successfully hides her pregnancy from everyone (including her long time Amish boyfriend). She gives birth secretly in her father's dairy barn, falls asleep and wakes up shortly afterwards to find her baby gone. She thinks her prayers for it to go away are answered. A few hours later, her dead baby is found, hidden in the barn, cause of death: suffocation.

Enter Ellie Hathaway to the rescue, a (English) cousin by marriage, who also happens to be a disillusioned big city defense attorney.

Neither of the main characters gained my sympathy. I enjoy Amish fiction, but my tastes run more along the lines of Beverly Lewis. For the most part, this book was gripping and I had a hard time putting it down. But I also considered putting it down and not reading it at all. After working 15 years for both prosecuting and defending attorneys, I found too many parts of the book implausible.

And that's rather silly, since I enjoy authors like Maeve Binchy . . . I usually don't have to find story lines too believable.

Although I don't enjoy mysteries, and this book really wouldn't be classified as such, it was. There's a (very quick and soon) trial that begs to answer what really did happen to Katie's baby. I figured it out before the end, and that was even less believable than the rest of the story.

Plain Truth was okay. Mixed recommendation. A lot of people enjoy this author; I might be in the minority.

Book Review - Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire by Rafe Esquith

I grudgingly admit to reading this sequel. Although I still don't believe Mr. Esquith's never ending proclamations of greatness, there are some good ideas in the book. Besides, it was an easy read, and I needed something light the week that we moved.

Three weeks later, as I type this, the book for the most part was unmemorable. It's a continuation of the first book. I did, however, gather a varied list of movies that we might choose from if I can ever pull together a weekly movie night at home. (I took the list from Mr. Esquith's "Film Club," which meets weekly in his classroom--when he's in a staff meeting in another part of the school . . . And I need to keep in mind that his recommendations for 5th graders include such dubious choices as Saving Private Ryan . . . )

This book is not recommended.

My copper trees

Cynthia and Linda both commented on my copper trees. I love them. Right now, we have one in our living room and one in our bedroom. They're totally unique.


A few years ago, Robert and I were trying to find something to put on a very large and blank wall above our family room couch. We'd bought a few things but ended up returning each one, because it wasn't right. We stumbled across these accidentally and ordered them from the man who made them without ever seeing the product--just photos and the general feeling that he was a pretty honest guy.

The first one came and it was not the size we ordered. But we liked it so much that we kept it and re-ordered our first choice size. It didn't really matter--the trees were not right for that big blank wall. But we'd fallen in love with them and found places for both in our bedroom. I don't think the photo does them justice--they are multicolored and 3-D. And they were the very first things we hung up in the new house.

The space in this house is very different from our old house. It's been both fun and challenging to figure out exactly what will fit here, what pieces will we choose to put on the walls, what we'll get to live with and what will be banished to the basement for now.

After four years, we finally did find something for that one wall, a giant photo, with a giant frame, of the Grand Tetons. It's something else that we loved for its uniqueness (and it filled in that space too, lol). But we don't have a wall here that's right, so unfortunately it's wrapped up and waiting in the basement. Maybe we'll eventually finish the basement, and that picture will also have a new home of its own.

Ten, Nine, Eight . . .

All summer long, I've figured that our school year would begin right after Labor Day, just like it usually does. And this past Monday, I was shocked to discover that it's next week. Wow.

We've done nothing this summer, kept no sort of routine, and I can't imagine how it's going to go (or not) when we start up. I've made a habit though of beginning slowly, starting with a few base subjects gently, adding things in until we are running on full schedule by the end of the month. And then we pack everything in for October, November and December, because I know things will slow down again in January when many hsers hit that post-Christmas slump.

I made the last of my curriculum purchases last night, and I'm getting a clearer vision of what we'll be doing next week. The biggest thing is to keep a *routine.* I'm looking forward to it, and I'll post later about curriculum, including some new choices for this year.

:)

Book Review - Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy

I have long adored Maeve Binchy's gift of grabbing me into a story. She has such a talent for weaving different characters' personalities and perspectives into a central theme. Even though her stories are often so similar--small poor Irish town, Catholic priest, alcoholics, philandering husbands, unwed mothers--I never tire of them.

Whitethorn Woods is no different. It takes place in a small, poor Irish town, and there is a Catholic priest, an alcoholic, a philandering husband or two . . . In more recent books, the author has taken to blending together several small stories into a larger one, and this is the case here.

I was not disappointed. It was a great read, took me less than three days. It was occasionally hard to remember some of the characters, but as usual, I was able to figure it out. I definitely recommend this book; if your not familiar with Ms. Binchy's books, it's an author you might want to check out.