Oh Brothers

Leave it to older brothers to find a brand new way to use the pompoms you got for Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

This year we had a wonderful, relaxing, family-focused time at home.  I was a little apprehensive because every year since...forever...we've gone to my parents' house for a big Christmas get-together, and I knew I was going to miss that. The fact is I did miss it an awful lot, but a couple things really helped.  The first is that during this month my mom and sister sent me 3 or 4 packages of homemade Christmas goodies. I'd get one every week or so filled with handmade ornaments, dish clothes, candy, jams and jellies, and Christmas decorations.  It was wonderful and it kept them close to my heart this whole season.  And the second thing that made it easier is that Mike's mom came to our home and spend two days with us, helping us create new traditions.  So, looking back on Christmas 2007, I feel very loved all the way around.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sue

PS:  One of our newest traditions is to read a book we were given last Christmas by a good family friend.  It's a beautiful children's story called The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey.  This year on Christmas Eve we lit a fire in the fireplace and all gathered around, and I read it to everyone as a bedtime story.  It's such a heartwarming book with a timeless message.  At one point I had to stop reading because I was so choked up...and this is the second time I've been through it!  It made me cry last year, too.  lol  Anyway, if you're looking for a great book to read with your kids during this time of year, I highly recommend it.

Memorization is Important in any Home School

This year one of my goals for the three kids was for all of them to be able to recite the books of the Bible.  We went over it each morning, and by October they could do it.  I had to laugh, though, at Baylee.  She was a quick little learner, actually the first one to get it all memorized, but she also found a way to entertain herself.  This was her version of the Old Testament up to the book of...well...you'll see.

Books of OT

How Would You Like to be This Guy's Neighbor?

Imagine living across the street from this...

Wizards in Winter

Although I must admit, we LOVE the Trans-Siberian Orchestra around here.  And this song, Wizards in Winter, is my new favorite.

Sue

Homeschool Video

I have no idea who these people are, but this video they created is hilarious.  Kudos to them.

Sue

A Homeschool Family

White Elephant

Our family was invited to a Christmas party last night and we all had to bring white elephant presents.  Baylee gave her big Barbie head with the hair you can style.  She laughingly told us that she hoped a man chose it.  Drew wrapped up the DVD "Buddy," which is actually a decent present.  It's just not something we ever watch anymore.  Zach decided to give away a giant, unopened  bottle of Listerine. You'd think no one would be that interested in a bottle of mouthwash, but you'd be surprised the amount of times that thing changed hands!  I chose to give a stein with "Class of 1989!" on it.  The guy who ended up with it pasted a weak smile on his face and said, "Well, it's only a decade off...."  Finally, Mike graciously gifted someone with a Greek New Testament.  That thing's been sitting on our bookcase in mint condition since 1993 when Mike took Dr. Dewitt's class in college.

It was hilarious seeing people's reaction to our stuff and it was just as fun getting a new pile of junk Christmas treasure to carry home.  But what really struck me was how much my family worked together for the good of the whole.  At one point when Zach's gift was "stolen," he picked out a bag of Bath and Body Works lotion and bubble bath and then set it in my lap with a "Merry Christmas, Mom."  Then Mike purposefully chose a chintzy little piggy bank/safe, because he knew Drew had his eye on it.  Conversely, Drew picked out a book called "No Opportunity Wasted:  8 Ways to Create a List for the Life You Want!" so that Mike had something helpful to go home with.  (snicker)  Anyway, I know it isn't much, but those little gestures of kindness made me so proud.  I love my little family!

Sue

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,
I wish I could see you. I would like to either stay up all night and see you at my house or go to the North Pole. Thank you for sending me all the presents. I like dolls better than anything in the world. And bunnies.
Love, Baylee


Dear Baylee,

Thank you for writing such a wonderful letter! We have had a great year at the North Pole. The reindeer have been playing reindeer games to get in shape for the long trip Christmas Eve, and the elves have been busy getting my sleigh packed with lots and lots of toys.
Once my sleigh is packed and ready to go, I'll be off on my journey around the world. I'm reading your letter right now, and it looks like you've been a very nice girl this year. That makes me so happy. Keep up the good work!

While you are asleep on Christmas Eve, the reindeer will land my sleigh on your rooftop so I can hop down your chimney.

I see that you like dolls. I like dolls too. They are lots of fun to play with, especially if your friends like dolls too! The elves have been very busy this year making many new and different dolls for Christmas!

Oh, the elves are calling me so I must go now. They probably need me to check my toy list to make sure we have all the toys packed. Don't worry, we'll be ready for the big trip!


Ho! Ho! Ho! Have a Merry Christmas!

Your Special Friend,

Santa

Baylee loved this!  She got to email Santa at this site and receive a personalized reply within a couple days.  There's also fun little stories and games.

Sue

12 Days

This is a video of Indiana University's men's a capella group, called Straight No Chaser, singing the 12 Days of Christmas. You must see these guys sing!  Really!  They're wonderful!  Not only is their sound beautiful, but the way they do this song is hilarious.  Go watch!

12 Days

Sue

The Cat Ate My Homework

I'm really not the kind of person who loves animals.  I tolerate animals.  But our cat, Cooper, is so weird that I can't help but kind of like the little guy.  He does things that make you look twice, like sleep with his head on a pillow or lounge on his side with his "elbow" propped up on something.  He's also the only cat I know that comes when you call him.

Anyhow, Zach called me into his room today to see what Cooper was up to this time.  The cat was playing with Zach's pencil in such a way that it looked for all the world like he was trying to use it!  He also took a big bite out of one of Zach's schoolbooks.  What the heck is up with that?

 

Silent Night

This year Baylee is old enough to be in the Children's Choir at church, and boy does she love every minute of it.  Tonight she got to sing with a group of about ten other little girls in the evening service.  They were so cute up there!  Here's a snippet:

Sue

PS:  For those who went to GBC, can you pick out the children of other alumni?  There are a couple!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What's Your Peculiar Aristocratic Title?

I'm:  Her Most Noble Lady Suzanne the Cannibalistic of Chalmondley Chumleyton

And I'm married to:  His Most Noble Lord Michael the Blossoming of Fiddlehope in the Marsh

 Find out what your eccentric British title is!

A Homeschool Kid's Time Out

Yesterday one of our boys had a bit of an attitude about getting school done, so I sent him to his room and told him he could come out when he was ready to finish his work in a pleasant manner.  You know how you hear about kids who love to go to their room for a time out because it's equipped with a computer, stereo system, and television?  Well, that's not our house.  The kids' rooms have books and toys, but no electronics.  That's why when quite a long while had gone by and the boy was still in there, I started wondering what the heck he was doing.  I peeked in and this is what I saw:

And that picture doesn't even do it justice.  It's an intricate building of several stories made out of Legos.  If you look closely, you'll see that each story has it's own staircase, there's people performing duties at different stations, there's a loft in one area with a banister, and there's even a dungeon on the top floor.  It's pretty cool! 

I guess this is what homeschool kids do when they're sent to their room.  LOL  I didn't admit this to him, but I actually think it was time well spent.

Sue

PS:  I won't tell you which boy it was, but if you know anything about him, then you've already figured it out, I'm sure! 

Two Quick Things...

First, I've gotten several emails and phone calls from friends who are concerned that we're in the flooded area of Washington. Thank you, guys, for caring!  It warms my heart.  Our family isn't in any danger, because we're too far north.  The worst that happened here was some power outs and a leaky roof, both of which have been fixed.

Second, if you know Keven and Candace(some of you know them from college), be in prayer for their family today and in the days to come.  Last week Candace slipped and fell on a patch of ice and broke her arm badly.  Today she's in surgery to have plates and pins put in, and then she'll be on a long road to recovery.  She's a homeschooling mom of four and a youth pastor's wife besides, so she's going to need all the prayer she can get.  Thanks!

Love,
Sue

The Men of the House

Yay! It's Snowing!

So it does snow here after all!  It's been coming down on and off for the last two days, and I love it.  It's beautiful out there.  Although Mike and I did have to venture out last night to go to his company Christmas party, and wow.  The way people drive around here in the snow is unbelievable.  I had to kind of laugh at the snail's pace we were going!  And then there were the drivers that simply gave up, turned off the engine, and sat there in the median (or in one case the middle of the road!) refusing to budge another inch.  Luckily we made it safely there and back.

Anyway, at least it finally feels like Christmas!

Sue

This is Entirely Too Hilarious Not to Share

True Story:

A woman (not me) went to a Walmart Bakery to pick up a cake she'd ordered over the phone.  This is what she found when she got there:

You see, when she called the bakery she was asked, "What do you want your cake to say?"  She responded, "'Best Wishes Suzanne.' Underneath that, 'We will miss you.'"

And to add insult to injury, it's not even spelled right!

Sue

A Public Service Announcement

This was sent to my e-mail today. Good thing we homeschool!  *grin*


Subject: Educational Testing

The Texas State Public Education Department cannot seem to adopt a
 statewide test for more than 5 years. School districts  state wide have
used the tests (TABS, TEAMS, TAAS, and now TAKS).

Therefore, San Antonio school districts have adopted a test 
that better fits the public education in their city. The new instrument 
will be the Texas Assessment of Cognitive Operations (TACO). It will have a 
remedial version (Soft TACO), a regular version (Hard TACO), and an 
advanced version with many more pages (the Gordita). It will be graded 
on the  standard bell curve (the TACO Bell ).

Districts receiving the lowest scores will be put on probation 
with a Basic Educational Appraisal-Not Satisfactory (BEANS). A second low
rating earns the dreaded supplemental Remediation Factor for
Individualized Education Deficits (REFRIED BEANS).

This rating system is expected to cause a lot of hot air at campus
faculty meetings.

What We Won't Do...

Baylee's in Awana, which is great...except for one thing.  In order to complete the "Sparky" book she's working her way through she has to bring a friend one night to the club.  No problem if we were still in Michigan, but we're here in Washington where she hasn't made a lot of friends yet outside of church.  So we had to import one!  Not from Michigan, but from the other side of the Puget Sound.  On Tuesday we made the three hour round trip to pick up Baylee's 2nd cousin and best friend, Genna.  The two girls had a wonderful time together coloring, baking, playing, dancing, and doing all the things little girls do.  Then today we made the trip again to bring Genna back home. Whew!  I don't know if it was worth the tiny green plastic jewel that Baylee now sports on her Awana vest, but it was sure worth the fun she had with her cousin for the last two days.

 
 
 

Miscellaneous Recent Pics

Baylee and Drew decided to make a "mannequin" one day.  Isn't it creepy?  The worst part was that they did it early one morning before I was up, and then snuck it into my room.  I woke up with this thing staring down at me.

Aww...

Watching Shrek 3D one night.  Snicker.

The boys got their main Christmas present early this year.  It's a X-Box 360.  I had them absolutely convinced that Daddy was coming home with "a lot of really nice clothes for you boys" so when he walked in with that game system they were REALLY, REALLY excited.  LOL  I wish I would've video taped it. 

A couple weeks ago Keianna and her mom came for a visit.  Keianna's getting so big!  She can sit up by herself now.

And last but not least, a tea party with the whole gang.

Thanksgiving

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with Mike's boss, his wife Jen, and their family.  They were so gracious to open their home to us, and it turned out to be one of the nicest Thanksgivings I've ever had.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Zonked Out

Drew just got his first watch recently so that when he goes with his buddies to play at the park we can tell him when to be home.  It's just a little something that sets my heart at ease at bit.  Anyway, on Sunday Drew wanted to go with a couple boys over to the park's field to play football, so Mike gave him permission and told him to come home at five.  Then just to make extra sure, Mike set the alarm feature on Drew's watch.  Later Drew reported that the alarm never went off.  I thought that was kind of strange, but I just chalked it up to it being a cheap watch.  Anyway, it didn't matter since the boys were very responsible and were home on time.

This morning when I got up there was Drew.  He said his alarm went off...at 5:00 AM.  The poor kid got up, made himself breakfast, and sat quietly watching TV for two and a half hours before another soul stumbled out of bed.  By eight o'clock this evening the kid was completely zonked out on the couch. 

He was a good sport about it, but what do you bet he sets his own watch alarm from now on? "No thanks, Dad.  I got it under control.  No really..."

Sue

More Halloween Fun

Yesterday grandma came to spend the night and accompany Miss Baylee and Mike to the church Harvest Festival.  They had a great time and even won a cake in the cake walk!   I, on the other hand, took the boys around the neighborhood trick-or-treating, as they weren't quite prepared to give up that tradition.

Speaking of which, the boys and I discovered a weird cultural difference.  Here in Washington it's considered bad manners to stand at someone's door and call "Trick or treat!"   No, instead you're supposed to ring the doorbell, then when the person answers you're to politely and quietly say, "Trick or treat."   This is evidenced by the fact that the lady at the very first house the boys went to said, "Haven't you ever heard of doorbells?!" At first we thought perhaps she was just the crotchety sort, but then we started noticing that it was really quiet outside.  Finally Drew and Zach briefly found themselves in a group of other kids and we studied how they did it.  Go figure that trick-or-treating is different in different parts of the country!   Shoot, in Michigan it would be considered the poorest of etiquette to buzz on people's doorbells all night.  Oh well.  Once the boys caught on they had a fun and candy-filled evening.

Here are a few pics:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Halloween Fun

Tomorrow's going to be busy with school, then a Harvest Festival at church, trick or treating, and grandma spending the night, so tonight we got some of the VERY IMPORTANT preliminaries out of the way.  We made caramel apples and carved pumpkins!  Here's some pictures.

Helping me take the wrappers off the caramels.

The finished product.  Mike put that extra caramel on there and declared it the spitting image of Mikhail Gorbachev's birthmark.

Mmmm...

Getting out the goop...the part of pumpkin carving that's only fun for kids.

Lighting up the night.

Zach's Report on the Golden Age of China

Zach's getting better at writing these one page reports!  I'm really proud of him for this one.

China's Golden Age

This paper is going to be about China's golden age, in other words, the Tang and Sung dynasties.  The Tang dynasty lasted from 618 to 907 AD.  The Sung dynasty ruled from 960 to 1279 AD.  In that golden age farming, cities, and inventions were improved on.

Farming was advanced during the Tang and Sung dynasties.  The government gave land to any one who paid taxes.  Also, a better kind of rice that grew at least twice as fast made it so that everybody could have enough to eat.

The capital city of the Tang dynasty was Chang'an.  It had over two million people from all over the far east.  Hangzhou, the capital city of the Sung dynasty, was the most modern city of its time.  In Hangzhou there were over one million people, cops patrolled the streets, and there were stores everywhere.  People from other countries came to work at and own those stores, along with the Chinese.

During the Sung dynasty the Chinese improved on gunpowder so that they could use it for the first time ever as a weapon.  The compass had been invented earlier, but its use was faulty.  During the Sung dynasty they improved on the compass so that it worked a lot better.  Movable type was invented during this dynasty, too.  Movable type is a cheaper and faster way to print things.

In conclusion, I think the golden age was a big success for the Chinese.  They produced better crops, made bigger cities, and made and improved on many things.  This brought happiness and prosperity to the people of China.

Romance Novels, New and Improved!

Awhile back I stumbled across the website of a man named Longmire who realized, as many of us have, that most romance novels out there have really silly cover art.  As he puts it, they're "asking to be ridiculed," so he bought a bunch of them at a used bookstore and used a little computer magic to give them all new titles.  They're much better now!  Shoot, some of them are so funny that I cried.  I'm not going to link to Longmire's site because not all of his new names are appropriate, but I thought I'd show you the clean, fun ones.

 
 
 
 
 
 

What?!

In the car on the way home from our church's Awana club the other night Baylee announced that next week they're supposed to dress up as their favorite Bible character.  "I already know who I'm going to be," she informed us proudly.  "I'm going to be naked and go as Eve!"

Sue

Center for Wooden Boats

We went on our first field trip of the year with the Washington Virtual Academy.  We visited the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle.  It's a cool place with tons of really old boats that are being/have been restored to pristine condition.  They also teach kids about the history of the wooden boat and give everyone a ride in an "umiak."  Here are some pics from the day.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Kids with Grandma

When the kids were with Grandma for 5 days last month she really showed them a good time.  They went down to the beach, took a ferry ride, and toured a Navy ship, among other things.  They're still talking about all the adventures they had!  Patty, Mike's mom, took lots of pictures, too.  Here are a few.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Swimming, Take 2

We finished another round of lessons, only this time it was Baylee and Drew, and only Baylee worked on swimming.  Drew actually took diving lessons.  It was fun!  Baylee didn't pass out of level one, but that's okay.  I didn't expect her to as she's got quite the prissy attitude about water.   I just hoped the lessons would help her gain a deeper comfort level, and they did.  Drew learned quite a bit in his lessons, however.  They worked on diving board rules, the approach, the front tuck, the front flip, and the back dive.

Here's a few pics I snapped today:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Homeschooling: Fantasy vs. Reality

I've made a conscious effort to put mostly positive things on this blog, because, honestly, who wants to remember the bad days?  Who wants to look back on the days when the kids didn't listen or I yelled or schoolwork didn't get done or all of the above?  Today, though, I'm breaking my mold.  Not only am I going to share a real moment, but I'm going to show it to you in living color as Mike managed to catch it on camera.  I went back and forth over being honest about this...I even had my finger on the delete button...but somehow I think it's helpful for people to know that homeschooling isn't always a cake walk, despite what all those well-meaning books would have us believe.

Let me set the stage.  Today as an assignment for language arts Baylee had to read a little selection of her choice in front of an audience.  She was to be graded on standing up straight, holding the book down so people could see her face, and looking out at the audience every once in awhile.  Okay, fine.  We worked on it together for quite awhile and finally I figured she was about as ready as she was likely to be.  The whole family sat down in the living room and...well...you'll see what happens.  Baylee has a nervous fit of giggling, Drew starts booing and making faces, and, yes, I get downright irritated.  That's the wonderful thing about family, though.  You can get all messy sometimes and it's okay.  There's still laughter and love.
 
Look here if you dare.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Zach's Report on Siddhattha

One of the things Zach is doing this year in Time4Learning is studying early civilizations.  He just finished a long unit on India, and part of that included the beginnings of Hinduism and Buddhism.  I want to share this report Zach wrote on the founder of Buddhism, Siddhattha.

Siddhattha, also known as the Buddha, is who I will be talking about in this report.  Siddhattha saw four sights, went looking for answers, and ended up starting Buddhism.

Siddhattha was born in his father's palace.  He grew up and started a family, but still could not leave the palace.  Finally Siddhattha was able to leave at the age of 29.  Outside the palace he saw an old person, a dead person, a sick person, and a monk.  At the sight of the monk and the dead, sick, and old people Siddhattha decided to leave his family and go looking for answers about why people suffer.  He set off on a journey.

For a long time Siddhattha could not figure it all out, so Siddhattha sat under a tree and meditated for 49 days and 49 nights until he came up with the Four Noble Truths:

1.  People suffer.
2.  They suffer because they crave things.
3.  The suffering can be cured.
4.  The cure is called the Eightfold Path.

After his enlightenment Siddhattha preached 35 years.  People started calling him Buddha.  Siddhattha died at the age of 80.  The last thing he said was, "All things change.  Keep up your effort."

Siddhattha started a major world religion called Buddhism.  Today there are over 328 million Buddhists.

One Thing We're Really Enjoying This Year

I used Sonlight, a literature-based curriculum, for Zach's kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade years.  In some ways I loved it, but in other ways it drove me completely over the edge into reading exhaustion...and I'm one that enjoys reading.  So, long story short, I walked away from Sonlight and since then we've used various textbook curricula.  One thing I've missed all this time, though, is the "read aloud."  Sonlight always had us reading out loud one book just for fun.  Zach and I both loved that.  I remember him sitting there like a sponge, not able to get enough, and even I got completely sucked into those children's books.  One time, when reading the missionary story of Gladys Alward, I burst into tears at some hardship or another and startled us both!  There were funny books, adventurous books, books that challenged and moved us, books that taught us lessons.  Both Zach and I still remember so many of those stories even now.

I don't know what took me so long, but this year we finally picked back up that old idea of the family read aloud.  We've made it something we do every school night before the kids head to bed and it's a huge hit.  So far we've finished Ramona the Pest (That one was mostly for Baylee's sake, but you'd be surprised how much the boys enjoyed it.  There was more than one time I had to stop reading and wait for the shouts of laughter to die down.) and now we're reading The Sign of the Beaver.  Also, after Baylee goes to bed I've started reading A Child's History of the World to Zach and Drew.  That one will take us the better part of this entire school year just reading a chapter at a time, but it's worth it.  I don't think there's any better book for helping kids really grasp history.

Anyway, it's cool to hit on something that everybody loves.  It makes my inner homeschooler happy.

Sue

From Baylee's History Notebook

A dictation:

"Today I learned the nomads got to live in a much better place. There was water and food all the time.  It's called the Fertilizer Crescent."

A Typical Day

Things have finally settled into a nice routine for school.  After 2 1/2 weeks the mix up with WAVA is finally straightened out, and now we're cruising ahead.  I'm finding that I have to be really on top of things this year as there's a lot to accomplish each day, besides the fact that we can only go as fast as the "teacher" on the computer speaks.  That means school needs to start around 9:00 or 9:30 or we'll be working too long into the afternoon and everyone gets grouchy...especially me.

Here's a slideshow of a typical day.  The kids do school on and off the computer all morning, break for lunch, come back for a couple more hours, then have the afternoon to play outside with friends or bum around the house.  Then in the evening we come back together to enjoy a book read aloud.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What's In a Name?

Today Zach asked if he could make lunch for everyone and I readily agreed.  I hate cooking and baking of any kind, so a willing volunteer is worth his weight in Gold Metal Flour.  Deciding I could probably get in at least part of another school subject, I settled in at the computer with Drew while in the kitchen Zach happily cracked eggs and whisked them around in a bowl with various and sundry spices.  I wasn't too worried about it.  I mean, he does have a tendency to be a bit creative in the kitchen, but more often than not his cooking is decent if not good.  Pretty soon the microwave dinged and Zach called us to lunch.  When everyone was seated he made an announcement.  "I call this recipe Fish Tank Eggs," he said proudly, "because it smells exactly like a fish tank!"

Drew and I had a last minute change of heart and ate chips and cheese instead.  Poor Baylee, being only six and naive, had Fish Tank Eggs.  Strangely, Zach didn't eat lunch at all today.

Sue

Home Again

Mike and I went on a five day trip to Northern Idaho this week!  It was so fun.  Mike was there to be a part of an "Executive Development Seminar" put on by his work, so part of his time was spent attending workshops and meetings and stuff, but he also got to do a high ropes course and we both got to meet a ton of really nice people and eat A LOT of great food.  I went to a handful of the seminars, too, but mostly I just relaxed.  It was great to get a feel for the bigger picture of the company Mike's a part of now and to see how much these people truly care about their employees. It's like a family.  I also got to spend a day window shopping and having lunch with Mike's boss's wife, Jen, and I think we both found a friend in each other.  We didn't stop talking once the entire six hours we spent together.  lol  Oh, yeah, and since Mike's dad, Wayne, happens to live a mere twenty minutes from where we were, we were able to spend a good amount of time with him, too.  In fact, Wayne helped me ditch two or three of the workshops on Saturday by taking me out to eat and then to see The Borne Ultimatum.  That was great.  Anyway, Mike and I had a wonderful time away...the longest we've been apart from the kids since Zach was born! I feel rejuvenated.  The kids had a good time, too, by the way.  They stayed with Grandma, ate ice cream, and drove a 4-wheeler around the property.  What more could anyone ask for? 

Here's a little slideshow.  I forgot to take pictures pretty much the entire time we were actually in Idaho, but I snapped a few coming home.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Send in the Clowns

I mentioned a couple entries ago that I finally talked to the teacher assigned to Baylee and she told me she'd get the whole mess with WAVA taken care of.  I made sure to tell her that we already have all the books and materials for the program.  All we need, I said, is for the online school to be fixed.  I even made a point to say, "In fact, we've already started with our textbooks and have three days under our belt.  So don't send any new materials!  Just fix the computer part!"

Today I got an email notice from FedEx.  Our new school supplies are on their way.

Oh, and the online school is still messed up.

Sue

Goodbye Keianna

Today was our last day taking care of Keianna.  Her mom, Mike's cousin, decided to move across the state to be closer to immediate family.  I don't blame her at all, but we're going to miss "our" little baby an awful lot.

A Week Later

Well, we've been homeschooling for one week.  I have to say this has been, hands down, the most frustrating first week of all the first weeks of all the years I've been doing this.  I'll update by kid:

Zach:  Zach's experience has been the one consistently good thing up to this point.  Time4Learning is a perfect fit for him.  He's already learned so much and in such an interesting way!  He's learned about Judaism and how it compares to Christianity and Islam in Social Studies and he's doing problems like five times the quantity three minus one to the third power (I didn't think he could do problems like that, but he can and does!) in math.  I couldn't be more pleased.

Drew:  Drew was enrolled in Washington Virtual Academy for all of two days.  That's how long it took me to figure out it isn't a good fit for him at all.  It's so much work that it was taking him eight or nine hours to complete one day of school, and I'm sure it would only get worse.  On that second day I emailed WAVA to remove Drew from their program, then quickly and happily got him started with 4th grade TIme4Learning.  He's doing great with it.

Baylee:  Baylee's experience has been a mixed bag.  On the one hand, she's having no problem with WAVA.  She's highly motivated and also advanced, so she doesn't mind the volume of work and actually enjoys it.  On the other hand, I'm really, really frustrated!!!!  (Yes, that's me yelling.)  The problem is that when WAVA took Drew out of their system, they accidentally deleted Baylee, too.  So on Wednesday morning I woke up all ready to start another day of school, only to find that I had no access to the WAVA Online School.  That's a problem.  ALL of the lesson plans are on there as well as many of the actual lessons themselves.  I called the people in charge only to be told in a very businesslike, non-apologetic way that they couldn't do anything for me until Friday.  Meanwhile Baylee sat around doing nothing.  Well, she did stuff like this:

When Friday morning came I was finally able to logon to the academy, but now there was another problem.   They had messed up Baylee's subjects so she still didn't have what she needed to do the work.  I called again and again and again, until finally I tracked down someone who didn't try to pass me off to someone else and actually said they'd help.  Hopefully I'll have everything up and running by Monday.  I'm not holding my breath. Okay, vent over.

Here's a picture of the gourmet lunch Zach made one day this week.  It's mac and cheese and tea.  LOL   Both boys enjoy cooking and can make several easy things by themselves.

And here's Zach hard at work on a math assignment.  You can't see it, but off to the side on the floor there's a little whiteboard, which he uses to work out the problems.

I Guess That's One Way to Look at It

Today during our Bible lesson the kids and I were talking about how God loves a cheerful giver.  I mentioned that since everything we own comes from God in the first place, it should make us happy to give some of it back.  Zach wasn't so sure.  "Maybe God doesn't want it back," he responded.  "Maybe He'd consider that regifting."

It reminds me of the time Zach was in second grade and we were doing a Bible lesson on the parable of the sower.  I told him all about how some seeds fell on rocky ground, some were eaten by birds, and a few fell on good soil, then I explained how the seeds represent people's reaction to hearing the salvation message.  I thought we were done, but Zach had other ideas.  "You know, Mom," he said knowingly, "those seeds that were eaten by the birds might not be lost."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, see, pretty soon the birds will poop them out, then they might grow where they land!  That's one of the ways seeds are spread, you know."


Sue

First Day of School

Friday was our first day of the new school year.  It's Sunday and I haven't quite recovered yet.  WAVA is hard.  Really.  Really.  Hard.  I'll get used to it and maybe I'll even come to like it, but right now...dang.  By the time I finished the school day it looked like a hurricane hit the area right around the computer desk.  There was a big, messy pile of school books and papers as kids were finishing things that I didn't have time to deal with in that moment.  Ugh.  At the end of the day I was able to sort it all out and get it back into it's proper place, but wow, what a disorganized disaster in the meantime.

The second thing that didn't work was having our school room on the second floor of the house and our computer on the first.  I love our little schoolroom, but we didn't use it even one time all day.  Every kid works online.  Even when they're not working directly on the computer, they're working close by.   It does NOT work to run up and down the stairs to our schoolroom 100 times a day to grab materials.

The third and worst thing that happened was that just as I was starting our day, the internet went completely down.  That stopped everything in its tracks for several hours, since all the kids are working on internet-based programs.  It was discouraging to say the least.

Lord, please help me make it through next week.

Sue

PS:  There is one good thing.  I couldn't be happier with Zach's 7th grade program through Time4Learning.

Here's this year's first day of school pics:

All three kids ~ Septemter 7, 2007

Zach, 7th grade

Drew, 4th grade

Baylee, 1st grade

Goodbye Summer

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Only 2 More Days 'Til School Starts!

For Jenny...

...to make you feel better.  lol

Our gi-normous 3 1/2 year old Drewie, still in diapers...the biggest size they made!

One Thing I Miss about Michigan

Today it struck me (pun intended) that there's almost no lightning or thunder to speak of where we live in Washington.  It doesn't get pitch black in the middle of the day and then pour down buckets of rain while the sky splits in two and the rolling thunder rattles the windows.  There's no severe thunderstorm warnings which interrupt our TV shows or jagged forks of electricity twisting out of the clouds and blowing up trees.  There's no flood of water a half a foot deep washing down the street in front of our house.   I miss all that.  There's something glorious and amazing in that much power.  Here it drizzles and spits.  Once in awhile,rarely, there's a bit of lightning way up high and maybe the distant rumble of thunder, but it's all sort of anticlimactic after living in a state where it's you against the elements.  Of course, there's always the possibility that Mt. Rainier will erupt someday.  I guess that could get exciting.

Sue

Baylee's Accomplishment

Baylee finally has 7 full Hello Kitty stickers on her chart and Mike and I have officially had 7 full nights of sleep.  I haven't felt this rested in about six years!

When we took Baylee to the pediatrician for her well-child checkup, the doctor asked what kind of a sleeper she is.  Honestly, Baylee's tendency to climb into our bed every single night isn't something I've ever discussed with a pediatrician.  I mean, our doctor back in Michigan never asked and since it wasn't two o'clock in the morning I never thought to tell her.  This new doctor, though, is the thorough sort.  I ended up explaining the situation to her and come to find out she had a solution.  She told us to start Baylee on a sticker chart:  one full sticker for every whole night she stays in her own bed, a half sticker if she tries to get into bed with us and has to be brought back to her own.  It took Baylee a good two weeks, but today she finally accomplished her goal.  She has a week of whole stickers and one half a sticker.  As a prize we offered her ice cream or a movie from Blockbuster or perhaps a little toy, but she had something else in mind.  She wants to go out to lunch with her daddy.  So that's the plan.

Sue

Little Red Worms

See, what happened was, it was cold and rainy for days on end and nobody used or really gave much thought to the pool.  Besides that, we're pool newbies.  Finally the rain stopped and lo and behold the pool was teeming with algae and...ahem...little red worms.  Yes.  I said little red worms.  Being a person with a worm phobia, I wish very much that I was kidding, but I'm not.  I saw them with my own two eyes.  They looked like red threads, about an inch long, actually swimming through the water.  You could see them working their way around, doing that inch worm move.  Anyway, Mike spent several days super chlorinating and checking pH like he was some kind of chemist, and finally the algae and worms were gone and the pool was crystal clear.  At least that's what I thought when I told the kids they could swim in it again.  After they'd been in there for several hours they informed me that the worms aren't quite gone.  "But," Drew said happily, "there's only four or five left!"

Sue

I Wish...

...very much that I could figure out how to embed things like YouTube videos in my posts.  It's not for lack of trying, that's for sure.  How come other people just get this stuff while for me it's like deciphering hyrogliphics?  And how come I spelled hyrogliphics so poorly that even my online dictionary was going, "Just forget it, okay? Seriously.  I have no earthly idea what you want from me."

Sue

Edited to Add:  I figured it out at some point and went back and fixed everything.

I Just Love This

Go check out this guy on YouTube.  It made me laugh and cry. 

Pachelbel Bedtime

Swim Lessons

Level 3 swim lessons finished today.  The boys learned the crawl stroke, the back float, the backstroke, how to tread water correctly, the breaststroke, the dolphin kick, and how to do an open turn.  Not bad for a few Saturdays!  I didn't get very good pictures, though.  Oh well.

Here's Drew waiting for his lesson to start.  Isn't he handsome?

Zach was pretty bummed because he didn't get to swim today, the last day of class.  He had to go to the doctor this week for a case of swimmer's ear.  Incidentally, I went to pick up the prescription for the ear drops and they wanted $110 for it!!!  We decided to use the pediatrician's suggestion of a home remedy instead:  A 1:1 solution of vinegar and rubbing alcohol for $2.00. 

Here's Drew with his teacher on the far side of the pool.  For some reason he was the only kid in his class that day.  This was taken after the lesson when they were killing 5 minutes by playing ball.

After the class...ready for level 4!

The Town Parade

Today the kids and I walked to our town's annual parade.  It was really fun!  The kids loved having candy tossed at them repeatedly, and I liked seeing so much community spirit in the crowd.  Here's a few pictures: 

PS:  The boys have wild hair because they need cuts BADLY and because they had just gone to swimming lessons.