Purity Fire

I received this from my local homeschool group. Okay, I admit that I am in a mini-depression right now. This kind of thing just does not help. At first I laughed at it because it was so funny, but then it fueled my depression because I want a homeschool group that isn't so extreme, so weird.

I wasn't going to blog this because the local hs group people have been very nice to me, have not preached. However, this is so against my beliefs and so stupid that I just couldn't not share it.

The two big questions are: What is a manly meal? Is it prepared by young virgin girls so it is pure?

What exactly do they do at the purity fire? Throw the boys into the fire?

I know...they tell the manly men and boys to not visit www.themarriagebed.com because they got smart and figured out that is just a place where Christians can discuss porn under the guise of their religion.

Shaking my head.

PURITY FIRE

For young men 7-12 grade and their fathers

April 8,2006
at 6:00 p.m.

at the XYZ Farm

Cost of $15.00 pair ($5.00/ additional son)

The evening will begin with a manly meal, followed
by music and skits. Mr. ABC will challenge and inspire
father and sons to be pure.

Reserve your tickets by calling ???

It was that bad.

This is one of the buildings downtown where I live. A friend of my husband's took it. You don't see that every day -- that's how windy it was yesterday during our blizzard. Kinda funny looking, but helped to reaffirm why I was in a very bad mood yesterday.

Let's Ban March

I think March should be outlawed. Maybe the last two weeks of February, too.

We had gorgeous weather Saturday that turned in a hurry. We are in a blizzard now except they call it a winter storm nowadays. Schools were closed, although we ended up doing three subjects anyway. It's actually pretty and much more tolerable than blizzards in colder months.

I was highly annoyed by one of the moms from scouts. She called my house four times this morning and let the phone ring nine to ten times each. I don't answer the phone during school. There are several reasons for this. One, I am spending time with my son and teaching and/or supervising him. Two, I have a propensity to gab and gab and gab when the phone rings. Depending who is on the other end, I can talk for a couple hours. Three, I think my son needs to learn that things can wait and to keep focused on what he's doing. Anyway, the mom emailed me instead. She made the comment that "someone must be on the internet this morning because they aren't answering the phone." Now in print that doesn't look bad, but if you heard her say it...highly snippy and sarcastic and bitchy.

I am in such a bad mood and it just seems to be spilling over to everything. Sigh.

My sister called tonight and talked an hour. She was diagnosed with diabetes today. My heart breaks for her. My half sister has it as well. My mom had it and my dad has it. All adult onset. I don't -- yet, but if I don't lose some weight and take better care of myself. She lectured me to wake up before it was too late. She's right.

I just cannot seem to focus on anything. Everything seems to be a major task. I have library books sitting here that were due Feb. 28th. Aargh! I'm not bipolar, really, I'm not -- but I just seem to be bouncing up and down lately. Last week was all down, I had a short reprieve Saturday, and Sunday and today I'm down again. It stinks. It's hard to do school when I'm like this. Today was another jammie day -- for me.

Someone needs to whack me upside the head to get me going. If my mom were alive, I'd be lectured severely. Of course she's probably the reason that I get depressed anyway, she was a carbon copy of Joan Crawford. (I'm NOT kidding, either.) I haven't broken all of my learned responses and reactions yet.

March last year was such a struggle, too. I really think the month should disappear. I don't like to whine all the time and that seems to be all my blog is lately, whine.

Ugh.

Sour Saturday

So we get up this morning, early, my son and I, hop in the car and go to breakfast. Biscuits and gravy for DS and eggs for me. After breakfast, we hop and skip on to the church where we will start a scouting adventure. We are to deliver bags house to house for scouting for food.

Tons of people show up, all are parent-with-child. Then one in my den shows up and the mom says, "Frankie, can I just drop Fred off? I am going to be at work and he can walk to work when you're done. I stood there with my mouth open. You mean to tell me you are too lazy to take your kid on this project? Get off your duff, set an example, be a parent. The man next to me said, "He can ride with us" because I was so dumbfounded I couldn't speak. Then I literally did the head shake thing getting myself back into reality. I said sure, and she had him go with us.

So we get our assignment -- all of three blocks, another idiotic move from the simpleton, and head off. Fred immediately calls, "I'm riding shotgun, runs to my van, hops in the front seat. Okay. Somebody needs a lesson in manners. I open his door, have him get out of the front seat. He's glaring at me. I told him, first of all, you do not call dibs when riding in someone else's car. Secondly, you are not tall enough to ride in the front seat. Air bags kill children. (My car doesn't have passenger front seat air bags, it's that old, but he didn't need to know that, it's still unsafe.)

So Fred and my son get in the back seat. Fred was not speaking to anyone at the church before we left so I knew he was in a bad mood. It got worse. This is how the car ride from the church to our designated area went:

ME: How are you, Fred?
Fred: Tired. (Said in a short, blunt, rude manner.)
Tommy: Hi Fred.
Fred: No answer.
ME: How was school this week, Fred?
Fred: Fine. (Short, blunt, rude....as all the answers were.)
ME: Why are you so tired?
Fred: I read last night.
ME: What did you read?
Fred: A book. (Extreme sarcasm.)
ME: What book?
Fred: A Christmas present.
ME: What was the name of the book?
Fred: I dunno.
ME: Was it good?
Fred: MMM.
Tommy: Have you been playing Runescape lately? What level are you up to now?
Fred: No answer.
Tommy: Oh, cool, look at that house, it has a deck on the roof.
Fred: So what.

long silence

ME: Okay. When we get to the first street, how would you guys like to distribute the bags?
Fred: I'm choosing which side I do.
ME: Uhm, is that okay with you, Tommy?
Tommy: Yes.
TOMMY: Did you know we're going to work on our engineering badge this week?
Fred: So what.

I parked the car, gave the lecture not to walk through lawns and to make sure the bags don't fly away.

The boys get out. Fred picks his side of the street and DS starts his side. Fred proceeds to walk through every single lawn. We have a strict rule to not do that because it is disrespectful. Fred also takes his sweet time. He's slower than molasses. My son finished his side and I told him to start on Fred's side. Fred got really ticked off about that, but we're not going to stand there and watch him -- what a waste of time. If Fred had his heart in it and a good attitude, I would have had DS wait in the car.

We get in the car, go to the second street. Fred refuses to speak when spoken to. He glares when I ask him to put his seatbelt on. I ask him what is wrong, and he snorts: tired. We stop the car, Fred throws half the bags into the back of the van, more on the floor and jumps and runs out of the car. My son had to pick up the bags that he threw on the floor. Fred started screaming at my son, "This is my side of the street, go away."

I wasn't thinking. I should have had him get in the car and taken him to his mother's work right then. Why wasn't I thinking? He refused to talk the rest of the time. He was such a snot. We finished the third street, this time I just had my son get in the car while we waited and waited on Fred.

As we were driving back, my son started asking him other questions which Fred totally ignored. I asked him a question and he ignored me, too. I pulled the car over, put it in park, turned around and said, "You are being very disrespectful to Tommy and I. You are also hurting our feelings." He just stared at me. I waited at least a minute. I said, "Perhaps you didn't hear me. You are being very disrespectful to Tommy and I." This time he eeked out an "I'm sorry."

I started driving again, my son started trying to start a conversation again, was being ignored. I dropped him off. He squeaked out a thank you and slammed the door.

I was fuming.

I left a message on his mom's answering machine but she hasn't called me back. When we drove away, I told my son if he ever acted like that he would be beat and grounded until he was 18. I don't beat my son, I don't believe in spanking, but I was ready to tear my hair out with Fred.

Fred comes from a good, fundamentalist Christian family. He goes to a parochial school. His parents are always preaching, they even have one of those bible-phrase email addresses. I have always been a little lenient with Fred in the past because his parents harp on him continuously to the point it is almost verbally abusive. Those days of my being lenient are over. That kid was rude. It was bad enough he was rude to me, but it was inexcusable how rude he was to my son.

So I'm going to give a big lecture at our next den meeting on manners. Big. I'm not naming names, I'm not pointing fingers, but I'm going to talk about it ad naseum.

After that, both DS and I were in a bad mood, we didn't need that crap while trying to do something good for our community! We pull into our driveway and nearly run into boys from a different pack. We hop out, ask them if they need help. The leader said they had half the city to do and only these five boys showed up. My son and I were eager volunteers. He gave us several blocks to do and more bags. So we delivered the rest of the bags. In peace.

What a morning. On a different note, I was very proud of my son today. Before we got to the church, I asked him to just leave his hat in the car because I didn't want to deal with the simpleton. He looked at me and said, "But mom, if I do, we're letting "him" bully us. Smart kid. He proudly wore his cap into the church. He's learning to stand up for his principles when I want to take the easy way out. Good job, Tommy.

The Fun Stops Today

My son and I had a fun week. In a rare turn of events, my husband was out of town. We did one subject per day this week. We watched movies, played games, and let our hair down. We ate out and we ate Girl Scout cookies.

Reality sets in this morning as I'm drinking my coffee. Time to clean the house, pay the bills (why am I always late paying the bills?) menu plan, grocery shop, be a responsible parent, spouse, person....bluuuuuch.

Spring fever has clutched me so tight that I can barely breathe. The great outdoors is a soggy mess as our great snow melts. Not quite let's-go-to-the-park time due to mud. Last year I remember telling my husband we needed to take time off in the spring or approaching spring because it is next to impossible to school. I scheduled two weeks off in April. Next year I'll be scheduling a week off in February and a week or two weeks off in March.

Summer is such a welcome diversion. It's weird because we get bored starting in July. There are always so many activities in June to keep us busy. I'm thinking that July should be a school month. It's too hot and humid to be outside that much, there are no fun activities set, and the skeeters are out.

We'll definitely be doing school in the summer. We will not finish our Rod and Staff English, and I want to finish that. I want my son to continue doing math and reading daily. I'd also like to delve into some fun financial studies that we just don't have time for during "regular" school.

I laugh about this a lot, but it seems as if there is never enough time to do all that I want to do. It is weird to me because we are homeschoolers and, well, at home. It's not like we are confined to a strict 8-3 public school schedule. Still, there's only so much school one can expect of a child in a day. Well, at least my child. Well, at least me.

I don't know if this spring fever business is a result of my aging or my geographic location. I've always had a touch of spring fever no matter where I lived, but here in Minnesota, I just want to climb out of my skin. I've always been one to enjoy gray days because bright sun hurts my eyes. There seems to be something special about gray days that enables me to get a lot done. A lot. Now, however, my day's progress is based on whether the sun is out or we have a gray day. A gray day now means a depressing atmosphere. It's like a heavy burden pressing on my shoulders.

I think back to when I worked for a living. I didn't get spring fever that bad then. Was it because I had no choice but to work, work, work? My mind was completely occupied with work. Maybe I'm too lenient on myself and my son due to spring fever. Maybe I'm not setting the correct example by having had a light week this week. Maybe I'm screwing up my son for life, destroying any chance at instilling a decent work ethic... NAH. I remember when he was in public school and I volunteered, the kids were climbing the walls. The teachers told me that spring was really tough. It was testing time and there were lots of movie days, lots of let's sneak outside for this or that activities.

Back to reality, sipping my coffee, facing my catch-up day. Bluch. Next week we'll hit the books hard. We'll have renewed our spirit, we'll be well-rested. We'll both have excellent attitudes, neither of us whining...it will be perfect.

Ha ha ha! One can hope.

google

I'm in google, baby.

Somebody found my blog by googling...and I was nineth on the list on the first page. How funny is that.

The search was: homeschool classroom photos

Snort, giggle. Kind of weird.

Actually, I'm on that page twice as I shared my homeschool photos with the about.com lady so our pix are up there as well.

I love looking at homeschool classroom photos, weird but true.

And speaking of our classroom, I had my husband haul out granddad's chair this weekend. It just took up too much room. Once it was out, I had much more room to get to my chair (and I need the room lol). My husband was disgusted with me because I immediately put in an old ugly rolling cart I had and an ugly three-plastic-drawer thing on wheels in the chair's place. They don't stick out nearly as far as the chair did.

Tomorrow I'll clean out the fish tank (yes, the dead fish is still in the tank and he died weeks ago) and we'll get it ready and get another fish who will reside in the classroom. I'm also going to order a tadpole kit and a butterfly kit so we'll have a place to put them.

Ah, love horizontal surfaces -- they call to me -- fill me up. And I oblige.

Sunday Night at the Oscars

Well, I watched. DH had to work so we had our Hardee's supper in front of the tv. My son didn't feel like playing, so he got out graph paper and designed houses throughout. He's probably the only 10-year-old boy in America who did watch.

For almost 25 years now, I have faithfully picked the winning Best Original Song. I have *never* been wrong. Okay, so I broke my record tonight. Dear son was absolutely horrified when he listened to the song "Hard Out Here for a Pimp." He didn't know what a pimp was so I explained it. Yes, he did know what a prostitute was. Anyway, he thought they should not allow that kind of thing on TV.

He is such a little character. ;-)

My innocent little son also had a fit over Felicity Huffman's outfit. He thought it way too revealing. I thought she looked pretty good. The beauty that really stood out to me was -- is it Jessica Alba? She had a TV show awhile ago, I can't remember the name of it, but she had a tattoo on her neck and she was like a warrior girl that was mass produced...can't remember -- anyway, she was radiant. Wow.

I did not see a single movie that was nominated. Sad, but I prefer to rent movies -- it's so much more comfortable to watch at home.

I was very glad that Philip Seymour Hoffman won. No, I didn't see the movie, but I saw clips and I've seen him in so many movies and even though he's not a heartthrob, sexiest-man-alive like Clooney, I really like him and think he's a wonderful actor. (I like Clooney, too.)

I am anxious to see Crash and Brokeback Mountain. Now I'd have to call my local theater to confirm this, but I never saw Brokeback Mountain listed as "now playing". My apologies to the theater if I am wrong, but because this is such a little bible belt town, I don't think it did play here. And that is the movie that I wanted to see. In fact, I won't rent it when it's available, I'll buy it. I know I'm going to love it.

I did notice that Nanny McPhee is now playing so I think I'll take DS this week. I'm also going to have to buy the last Harry Potter movie because DS informed me it's out now. I didn't see that in the theater, although DS and DH did.

There was a day when I went to the movies all the time. Aside from it not being "comfortable" for me in theaters -- noisy people and sticky floors, plus I like to put my feet up -- I don't know why I don't go more often. Maybe I will start up again.

my picky eater

When I was a child, I was a very picky eater. (I still am.) My mother gave me the curse....when you grow up, I hope you have a child who is just as picky as you. I got worse.

Well, my son is a little picky, but what gets me is his desire to be a vegetarian. He thinks animals should not be put to death for us, just because we're a higher species. He thinks it's cruel and grossly unfair. He has declared many times that if he were president, the nation would become vegetarians and it would be illegal to eat meat.

Mom and dad would both break the law.

We do force him to eat meat. He likes it, it's just the animal behind the meal that gets him. It is quite the ordeal when he eats meat. We have to do a prayer ritual. "Thank you, pig, for being slaughtered just for us. I hate the fact you were murdered, but mom and dad insist I eat you."

This little streak runs in spurts -- he always "hates" the idea, but his rants about it flare up in spurts. Tonight was one such night. Dad wasn't going to be home for supper, so I insisted we go get a $1 roast beef sandwich at Hardee's. Cheap, easy, grossly unhealthful, but good.

You would think that I had beat that child. We were at a stoplight with a car next to us and it started. "NO, I REFUSE TO EAT MEAT. How can you be so cruel to animals? You can't make me." When I'm grown up, I'm going to be a vegetarian." He was screaming like I was torturing him. Fortunately the people in the next car didn't look at us. He did relent and ate two sandwiches.

My husband grew up in South Dakota. All his family owned ranches and were beef producers. You haven't lived until you've eaten South Dakota beef. One of his uncles is raising ostriches. For consumption. (It's very tough, not my favorite meat.) All members in my husband's family are hunters. We've eaten moose, bear, venison, wild turkey, probably some I don't know about, etc.

The males in my family are hunters, too.

I think they mixed up my son in the hospital.

All this started when we were studying whales last year. Actually we were studying Alaska and the Inuits. Whales were my son's "thing" and when he learned they killed them -- even though it kept them alive, he threw a fit. Then we studied that buffalo being killed by the Sioux and other tribes -- "That's awful."

I am really at the point where I want to pull my hair out. I have tried to let him do the vegetarian thing, but he's not a healthy enough eater to do it. I can't think of enough protein for him. I really don't want to make tofu a regular part of our diet. I try to be respectful of his feelings. I do. He's getting to the point where he is not respectful of ours.

It is getting frustrating. How can one have a child that looks so much like you, you know it's your child, and yet that child has developed his own beliefs 180 degrees different than your own. He's only 10, he hasn't hit hte teenage years when that is supposed to happen.

And now for the punch line. My picky eater, who wants to be a vegetarian, hates vegetables.

Ha! The joke really is on me. Thanks, mom, for cursing me...it worked.

Sudokus

Sudoku from http://www.dailysudoku.co.uk/sudoku/index.shtml
I am absolutely addicted to Sudokus. I do several a day. I went through a Dell book in no time flat, so my husband bought me a book with 500 puzzles in it for Valentine's Day. (How romantic-NOT) lol I'm still plugging away in that book but should have it finished in a week or two.

What is a Sudoku?
Wikipedia has a better explanation than I can give.

Here are a couple websites for the kid-version sudokus.
First Site

Second Site


I started out my addiction by printing puzzles from the first site listed. They also have children versions there that I print for my son.

I do these all day long. When DS is working on something and needs me present, I'm working on a Sudoku. I do one when I wake up with my coffee. I do one before I go to bed. I really am addicted.

And I know contemplator is going to ask again...does doing sudokus make you more logical or just better at sudokus? Hehe, sometimes I think neither is my answer. I will admit here that the first sudoku I did took me a couple HOURS. D'oh. Of course I didn't read any tips on how to do them (yeah, that's my excuse) and I printed out a hard puzzle. Start with an easy one for pride's sake.

I have incorporated sudokus in school. Occasionally. I write them out on the big white board in my kitchen and have DS solve them. He does kids versions on his own because he just doesn't have the patience to do a big puzzle, even though he could. I do make him do the regular puzzles with me occasionally because I'm a mean mom.

Off to do another one before bed.

Our Next Amazon Order, Attention and Homeschooling

My hubby just bought a new band saw and cordless drill. So I think that entitles me to a small spree at Amazon.

On order:
The Number Devil
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geography
Usborne's World Geography Encyclopedia (I haven't placed the order yet, please tell me this is good.)
Sudoku Puzzles for Kids (DS doesn't have patience for the big puzzles)
Nonfiction Reading Practice 4th Grade
Spectrum Spelling 4th Grade.

So far. I'm sure I'll add to the list.

Why am I ordering workbooks for my son? Busy work? Why a spelling book when we love Sequential Spelling?

Here's why. My son has "attentional" issues. No he has not been diagnosed with ADD. He does have problems staying on task. He cannot seem to work when I'm in not in the room. Some days he's on and can, other days (most) he can't.

We homeschool to suit his learning style. He learns well with what we do. I think he needs some practice at focusing himself a bit, though. He needs something he can do without me in the room. That's why I chose a simple spelling book and nonfiction reading. (He's a nonfiction reader just like his mom, he'll actually love that.) I hope that this will build up his confidence because I think he'll be able to stay on task with both items.

Today I left the room when he had a lot of math to do. I heard, "Mom, this is too hard! I can't do it. I don't understand it. Mom, help." I went back into the room and he hadn't even attempted to start. And we're talking *subtraction.* I was a mean mom. I told him to do his best, that's all I expected, and that I was going to go outside for a minute. I didn't help him with a single problem because he knew how to do it. I gave him the pep talk, "You can do it" and scurried out the door.

Well, I came back ten minutes later and he had done 40 problems. He was pleased, I was pleased. He informed me he'd do more work, so I left and went to the kitchen. He did 20 more problems.

It is a real struggle teaching a child to focus. It takes baby steps and lots of confidence building. He has come so far, though, and I am so proud of him. I'm hoping my busywork workbooks will further him on his way.

At this point I teach him to clear his mind and focus on one problem at a time. When that problem is done, don't think of Runescape or Sims or Jamaica or Rome or palmettos or palm trees, immediately move your eyes and brain to the next problem. Develop a rhythm and keep going.

I always think of his second grade year in public school. He had a wonderful teacher that actually *let* me volunteer. It was because of her that I was able to see him in action, how he performed in school. It was scary. He couldn't focus AT ALL. I came home from my first-time volunteering experience and bawled. What happened to my bright, smart, son? Where had he gone and who was this boy that couldn't focus and lost his love of learning!

After that we consulted an educational psychologist and had him tested. Yes, he's gifted. Yes, he has attentional issues. Yes, public school is not the place for him. And finally, my husband relented and agreed to homeschooling.

The rest is history. We won't be going back any time soon. When he's older he can have the choice, but he has no desire to go back. This is working for him.

Baby steps. Confidence building. Lots of love, support and hugs. It's working.

nothing coming to mind so I'll ramble

I've been meaning to blog but nothing has been coming to mind.

So here's a late-night ramble where free thoughts hit the keys. Of course completely chaotic and unorganized -- as usual.

Today we were supposed to go on a homeschool field trip. It actually would have been a cool trip. I just couldn't do it. I just couldn't face the fundies. I am really glad I kept my mouth shut and didn't tell DS. My husband thinks we should have gone because there might be "just one" family like us. I went to the group's moms night and the ladies were very nice, really, but it just wasn't my cup of tea or glass of beer or actually maui schnapps.

I met the leader of the group this summer at the beach. Our kids were playing together and we started talking. Then we discovered we both homeschooled and she invited me to join the group. I hemmed and hawed. Finally I just was blunt. I told her that yes, I was a Christian but I do not belief in organized religion, I do not attend church, we love Harry Potter, I am a moderate leaning toward liberal in politics, and that we prefer secular curriculum. I also stated that I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion or lack therof regarding religion and I will not now nor ever proselytize. She smiled and said that's okay. (Yeah, right, she can make me come around in the future, huh!) So I joined, I went to the moms night. Yes, the people were nice but it was just too -- goody good for me. What if I slipped up and said, "Oh, shit" in front of them, or better yet, took the lord's name in vain. (Something I tend to do every day.) Ahem.

I haven't attended anything else. Am I teaching my son reverse discrimination? We have known one family in that group for eight years. My son has played with those kids since he was two, although I kind of broke away from them this year. My son plays with the boy down the street, three other kids in the neighborhood, another good girl friend, plus scouts. Is that enough? Do I need to do the homeschool group thing?

I think I made the right decision to not go. I don't think I'll renew my membership next year.

{Please note that this upcoming paragraph is my dry attempt at sarcasm.)

And on another note, I was amazed to learn that homosexuality is caused by drugs and antibiotics in drinking water. Who knew? What I cannot figure out is how the water was infected with drugs and antibiotics since the big bang!

{End of sarcasm.}

I'm sure anyone who reads my blog reads doc's, so you'll know what I'm referring to. This comment has overshadowed me since I read it this afternoon. It makes me so ill. It makes me ill to realize the comment was not challenged. (I refuse to post where it originated, so I guess I'm guilty.) It makes me ill that there was not a public outcry about the homophobia. It makes me ill that people THINK this way. Today. In the 21st Century.

WHY?

I read that post to my son. Yup, to my 10-year-old son. He was amazed that there were such ignorant people in the world. It made him, my super-sensitive, fight-for-the-underdog kid, angry. And it should.

My biggest worry is what will happen some day when a child of someone who THINKS (or rather *doesn't* think) like that comes to them and says, "Mom, dad, I'm gay." What are they going to do then?

What is so wrong about it all!!!

I just don't get it and never will.

Live and let live.

Seed Catalogs

Our spring Gurney's catalog came in the mail the other day. Last night my son discovered it. He knew mom was looking for plants to give us privacy from the new neighbors so he started studying shrubs. I then got my plant books out and we were reading the Latin names of plants, learning about growing zones, soil conditions, pH, amending soil, plant food, etc. It's amazing how much one can branch out from one little old seed catalog. It's even more amazing how fast a child learns when he really wants to learn.

DS made a list of plants for his dream house. He's been designing dream houses since I can remember, but he's just now beginning to consider landscaping his homes. He wants lilacs and snowball bushes. He wants tulip trees. Just like his mother, he wants weeping willows. His home has to be in a warm climate because he wants palmettos and palm trees, too. He studied trees in second grade public school but didn't learn much. We've decided to really study them now and start nature walks and naming trees. (Mom is really bad at this, so we'll probably have to take a backpack full of books with us.) Of course, because we're in Minnesota we'll have to study the coniferous trees right now and wait for spring to study the deciduous trees.

Since my son was little, he has had a fascination with Venus Fly Traps. He has always wanted one, but due to the fact we live in the middle of nowhere, we have never found one. My son took the Gurney's catalog to bed last night and what did he find? A carnivorous kit for only $19.95. Comes with six carnivorous plants, a dome and informational book. Cha-ching. I just told the principle who has been complaining about the teacher's out-of-control spending habits, but the principal said it was okay to order the kit. (Like the teacher would need his approval anyway, ha!) Dear son also wants a packet of catnip seeds so he can grow his own and make the cats happy. He also wants a coffee plant. I think I'll just order the cat nip seeds and forget the coffee plant.

Right now I wish I had a classroom the size of a public school room. I'd devote an entire area for plants and another area for animals. We are going to be ordering a butterfly kit soon and need a place to put it. We're also going to be ordering a tadpole kit. Cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching.

I wonder if I can order a money tree that will produce prolific blooms?

Well, break's over. Back to school.

Geography

Last night I was reading blogs and someone was talking about what to do for geography.

Anyway, I didn't want to pay the big bucks for Runkle, especially not knowing that much about it. Because I live in a small town with no book store, I decided to shop at Amazon. My husband suggested I check out the Idiot and Dummy books. I liked the Idiot book, so I'm ordering it.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geography, Second Edition. Take a peak at the table of contents and sample pages at Amazon. It looks very thorough.

To go along with this, we will use our Geography Coloring book which we already own.

While we usually study geography during our history studies, my son is craving a more structured and formal geography study. I think this will fit his needs nicely.

blog housekeeping and what we did today

Mull-berry, I think I have the link to the adventure mouse fixed, thanks for letting me know.

I have also added a bunch of blogs I read. In my late-night, tired state, I may have missed someone I regularly read and if it is you, let me know and I'll add the link. lol How is that for a weird request -- but bloggers know who reads their blog and who responds and I'm tired. lol

Okay, so here's how our day went. My son and I stayed up a little past midnight last night. He was too energized from late-night skating to sleep. We got up later than normal. I made oatmeal chocolate-chip muffins (from scratch, just call me Martha) and three scrambled eggs for breakfast. Then we played on the computer a bit. Then we decided we really did need to do some school -- but by this point poor DS was so tired he couldn't focus. (Okay, he was whining and making me miserable.) So, ha ha, I made him lie down for a nap. I joined him. He stayed wide awake but told me I snored.

This afternoon the telephone repairman showed up to fix our lines. We have been without our landline for over two weeks. That is a very long story that I promised DH I would not get into. (Hint: If you marry an engineer, he will want to fix everything, but timing is not important.) We now have phones again. I must say it was really nice to not have the phone ringing all the time. It was a luxury, really. I like my privacy. But reality won out, I need a phone.

We did a very relaxed but productive school session this afternoon. My son, who hates to color, colored in his geography coloring book. While he was coloring, I read from a book (forget the name) from the New York Public Library on American geography. When I got tired reading from that, I read a little book that was my moms about all the parts of speech. We then did math again, although DS was still not in the mood to work all his problems, so I made him practice figuring perimeters in his head. He wanted to do geography again, so we did. This time we got our tiny globe bank out and just started looking at it. We were talking about wars, world religions, poles, climates -- we must have talked for about thirty minutes. This kid is a geography nut. He loves it. I need to get my act together and figure out what resources he would love. He asks a million questions that I cannot answer. We then read Tituba again...I'm reading it out loud and seems to be never-ending. I hope to finish tomorrow. We'll see. Ending the day, DS started reading a book called My Favorite Ghost.

So school today was only about two hours, but he still learned.

I made my husband take me out to dinner AGAIN. He owed me over that thing I'm not supposed to talk about. I'll have to make him a really nice dinner tomorrow night.

Goodbye Message Boards

I've made a big decision today. I have decided I no longer need commercial homeschool message boards. They've served their purpose -- taught me about curriculum, scheduling, and homeschooling in general.

I'm having so much more fun with a certain group of people, some of whom I've actually met in real life, plus with bloggers. I've actually received more homeschooling help from my group and from bloggers than I have on the boards anyway.

Time to move on to greener pastures.

Goodbye boards, you're out of my favorites links, I wish you all well -- really, I do, and I wish you peace, understanding and open mindedness.

a clean house

Well, I did it. I got the entire house clean, shining and smelling good. I didn't smell good, though. lol

The house was SO clean that I didn't want to mess up the kitchen and COOK. My husband wanted to make hamburgers and I threw a fit.

He's ticked because we're out $15 for Wendy's. (I won that battle.)

After Wendy's, we went ice skating.

Walking in the door from skating was HEAVENLY.

My house is clean. Ahhhhhh.

Now off to do Sudokus and further contemplate on WHY I never use my real name on the internet.

Pizza Hut's Book It!

It's time to enroll for next year's Book It program from Pizza Hut. My reminder postcard came in yesterday's mail.

1-800-426-6548.

mediocrity

Sunday morning, 11:50 am.

I slept late this morning, awoke to the sound of bacon frying. No, DH doesn't make bacon for everyone, just him. The smell of the bacon grease is nauseating to me, so it's not a pleasant way to wake up. He does this almost every morning. (I can eat bacon prepared in a microwave, it doesn't have that nasty thick smell.)

Last night and this morning I've been in a contemplative mood. I watched The Color Purple last night. That movie makes me bawl every time I watch it -- and I've seen it probably 30 times. After the movie was over, I called my sister and thanked her for being so wonderful. My son watched a few minutes of the movie and kept asking so many questions that it actually started to annoy me. He wanted to know what happened in the end. I said the movie is not just about the end, although it is a good ending. I explained that he would need to watch the whole movie from start to finish to get the feeling -- it's an experience, not entertainment. Okay, at least for me it is.

That movie makes me think of mediocrity in my life. I feel like a prisoner sometimes. I always have. Mostly my life is about mediocrity. I play the bored housewife role only too well. The one aspect that raises my life above mediocrity is my son. I parent very well, I love very well. I try to nourish his brain and emotions. He brings me great joy. After my deep thoughts last night I decided that the mediocrity aspect of my life was a perfect example of bad parenting. My son knows I get bored easily, he knows that I hide out in the house. He knows I have dreams and desires that I never even attempt to fulfill. What kind of example am I setting for him by being this way? Not very good.

Lots of food for thought on a Sunday morning.

This morning I've also been thinking about our past school week. It was fantastic. My son was really "on" and did some great work and learning. His attitude was pretty good, too. We started Real Science 4 Kids Biology, read the first chapter and did the first experiment in one day (as opposed to the week that it's supposed to take.) When we finished my son said: MORE. This just drove home the point that we need to switch the focus of our school away from history toward science. He has always been a science kid -- I have always hated or been scared of science. Okay, I'll face my fears and fulfill his needs. I don't think this RS4K is going to be a good fit for him in that it doesn't go into things on the level he wants to learn. He wants more.

We attempted the chemistry earlier this year. I had to stop. I didn't get it. I'm going to have to start studying chemistry so I can teach it. RS4K is not elementary enough for me. Ah, those memories of being completely lost in high school honor's chemistry are coming back to bite me in the butt. How I got a C in that class is beyond me. I think my teacher took pity upon me because I went to his classroom after school every day and worked hard, though never understanding what I was doing. I think the C was for effort, not understanding.

Back to my contemplating: Why is it that if we have a really good school week, everything else is mediocre or dismal. School was great which means my house is not. Why can't I have both? My kitchen looks like a tornado went through it. I've got bills stacked to pay, checks to order, checkbook to balance, library books to return, a telephone line to get fixed, a broken car window motor to fix, a house to clean, menus to plan, groceries to buy, prescriptions to fill, sheets to change, laundry to wash, floors to vacuum and scrub, etc. Why can't I "do" both and do them well?

I think I know the answer. I expect better from school -- I put my son first. I accept mediocrity with the rest of my life. It's okay that there are dirty dishes in the sink, they'll get done -- that is my attitude about "the household" aspect of my life. That's not teaching my son well. I'm accepting responsibility here: the mediocrity is my fault -- it's bad attitude.

Aim not for perfection. Perfection is a dirty word in my house. Strive for balance, strive for excellence -- not perfection.

As Dr. Phil says (I don't care for Dr. Phil but my sister quotes him all the time) "GET IN THE GAME." Okay, mom, get in the game. Expect better of myself. Do not accept mediocrity.

That is a good lesson for my son to learn, a good example for me to set.

So I'm logging off and am going to go clean the house now. Get in the game, mom -- Just Do It.

Habitat Day

We went to an event this morning put on by our local waterfowl association. It was titled Family Habitat Day. The event was held at our tiny mall and the children were able to build wren, bluebird and wood duck houses for free. (I still don't know what a wood duck is -- next stop, googling wood duck.)

The event was fantastic with a great turn out. There were unattended kids everywhere. I was surprised at the amount of parents that just dropped their kids off. Both my husband and I stayed with our son.

Now for the gripe. I always have a gripe, it seems. We get there five minutes before the appointed starting time and of course they had started already. People everywhere. We found the registration line and waited a good ten minutes to sign up. After that, good luck. There was absolutely NO organization to this event at all. A bunch of the disgruntled parents formed a line to try to get some organization. When we finally got to the front of the line, one of the volunteers handed us all the wood and told us to go to a specific table. He even walked us over to the table. My son put his wood on the table and the volunteer running the table screamed -- and yes, I do mean SCREAMED, "Get back, there's not enough room here, only TWO at a time." He shook his head in disgust. We went back to the front of the line and warned the people behind us about the madman there.

At this point I had had enough. The registration line was gone so I went to talk to the lady at the registration table. I told her of the need of someone organizing the masses. I told her people were cutting in line, *parents* were going out of turn, volunteers were screaming. Her response? This is the way we do it every year. Okay. Thank you very much, this will be our last year attending then. I don't come to an event to get screamed at.

A majority of the parents stayed were the "me first" type. They were pushy, bossy, and rude. The volunteers didn't know what was going on. It really saddened me to see that -- but it's nothing new. Kids seem to understand order, patience and fairness better than parents do.

I am going to write a letter to this organization thanking them for putting such a wonderful event. In that letter I am going to tell them to do two things. One, have a volunteer to direct people where to go -- show them which line is for which bird house. Two, have that volunteer watch and control three lines -- one for each bird house. It's that simple. It would have made the event so much better.

Both my husband and I were really ticked off about being screamed at. My son was hurt. We did not go back to that table and brought the wood home to make that kit here. The other volunteers were all more than helpful, though.

In the end, it was mostly a good morning. I just don't understand why people that take the time to put on such a wonderful event do such a piss-poor job of pulling it off. I know those men spent hours of their free time cutting out the wood and getting it ready. It is just such a shame that they can't think ahead a little to have some organization.

meow

I came in from a break to find we had a new pupil. He demanded a front-row seat, right next to the teacher.







Kitty didn't think much of spelling. He got in trouble for flopping his tail on my son's paper. It's not good to distract the other student.









Kitty really had attention problems when it came to reading. He was looking out the window at the birds.







Kitty got really annoyed with the other pupils. He wouldn't even let the other cat come into the room. Here he's telling the dog to back off, becaue it's his territory.







Kitty really didn't care much for grammar. That tail of his was a constant battle all day. He just wouldn't listen to the teacher's rules: Keep your hands, feet and tails to yourself.




We had a really fun day. Usually the cat is in the room but stays on the floor. Today he just had to be part of the action. We had lots of giggles. We even managed to get everything done. Maybe kitty was good luck.

Monday, Monday

Monday Monday, so good to me,
Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Monday morning, Monday morning couldn't guarantee
That Monday evening you would still be here with me.
The Mamas And The Papas

Okay, take out the evening and replace it with afternoon.

We were having such a good school day, everything from attitude to desire to work ethic to understanding was going right. Right in the middle of our homeschool bliss, darn, the kid down the street rang the doorbell. School was over in a flash. DS had his coat on, was precariously hopping to the door while putting shoes and socks on. Who am I to stop a perfectly good "socialization" opportunity? lol

On his way out the door I just had to do it. I yelled, "We'll be starting biology tonight, dear, and you need to finish your grammar yet, too. Have fun." What a snot mom I am. I'm sure both boys rolled their eyes or better yet, completely ignored me.

I wanted to report that we started our Lial's Basic College Math today. While DS could always read numbers into the millions and billions since he was in kindergarten, he had to do it slowly because he was counting them out in his brain. Today's lesson was on numbers and "click" the light bulb went on when the book discussed "periods" as opposed to just groups. Good grief, that kid could read big numbers faster than I could write them. So then we looked up what came after trillion (really, I didn't know or care) and so on. We were writing numbers bigger than I can fathom. He was reading them faster than I could think them up. He was writing them faster than I could dictate. Honestly, he kept saying "More, mom, more." Obviously we took it to the white board and were going above and beyond the book.

I am very pleased with the explanations in our first day's lessons. Looking ahead, I think the whole book will just click with DS. Yes!!!

Wow, I think success was the theme of the day.

The question remains: Will I really make him do biology and grammar tonight? Ha, ha, ha -- YES, the evil homeschooling mom WILL. Only because nothing good is on TV tonight. lol

Math Spelling List

Math Spelling List

0 - zero
1 – one
2 – two
3 – three
4 – four
5 – five
6 – six
7 – seven
8 – eight
9 – nine
10 – ten
11 – eleven
12 – twelve
13 – thirteen
14 – fourteen
15 – fifteen
16 – sixteen
17 – seventeen
18 – eighteen
19 – nineteen

20 – twenty
30 – thirty
40 – forty
50 – fifty
60 – sixty
70 – seventy
80 – eighty
90 – ninety


spelling for tens place plus ones place numbers: add a hyphen between the tens and ones

example:
twenty-five
forty-seven
fifty-six
thirty-two
ninety-four
seventy-eight
sixty-six

hundred
thousand
million
billion
trillion
quadrillion
quintillion
sextillion
septillion
octillion
nonillion
decillion

googol
googolplex

Happy Presidents Day

Happy Presidents Day.

Had to put a Mt. Rushmore photo up because I lived a hop, skip and jump from it for 11 years. I've seen Mt. Rushmore more times than I can count. Don't ask me my opinion on their updated facilities.
Because we had too many days off last week, we'll be doing school. Even though public school has Monday and Tuesday off. I hope DS doesn't find out because he will whine about it. lol

Today I was feeling much better. I left the house fairly early and drove around for about 40 minutes with my window down so I could get full sun. It was still too cold to walk or be out for very long plus it was so windy. Luckily it was a bright day with lots of sunshine. It really helped -- sunshine is like a magic happy pill. It's amazing how well and quickly it works on low spirits.

We might have to do a little car school tomorrow for more sun. We're about to finish up with our SOTW III CD's. I think we'll start over on III because DS has found it very fascinating.

My husband and I have been having lots of talks about homeschooling this weekend. He tells me I'm trying to do too much. He thinks reading a text or spine for history, plus one book on topic is more than enough. We've already read four books on the Salem Witch Trials. He says it's overkill. His theory is this: a 4th-grade education is like a handful of mud. Throw the mud at the wall. Some will stick, some will fall. That's all you're aiming for in the 4th grade -- some of what you cover to stick. Mastery isn't what you want.

Interesting theory. Goes against my grain. I think he may be right -- or maybe somewhere in the middle. All I know is it takes us an extremely long time to do American history -- but we really do enjoy it.

Joke of the day

Q: How do you keep your husband from reading your e-mail?
A: Rename the mail folder to "Instruction Manuals."

What we use in school

Our Curriculum

Math -- Starting Lial's Basic College Math on Monday -- formerly Singapore

Math Facts -- We do math facts separately from math. We work on them daily. I usually make 100-problem worksheets from a free download found at www.schoolhousetech.com

English -- Rod and Staff

Spelling -- Sequential Spelling

Vocabulary -- lots of workbooks from Spectrum to some from Prentice Hall I got off ebay. Also use Vocabulary Cartoons

Writing -- Have done some exercises in Writing Strands III, have done some Evan Moor books -- Writing Paragraphs, Write a Super Sentence. Have Logos Writing Trails in American History. I have decided to put formal writing off until 5th grade. DS does write in a journal, though. He also writes stories on his own. I have Evan Moor's Write a Story book and we'll probably finish that before the year is out.

Reading -- We read a wide variety of books. Some classics, some that go along with what we are studying, and some I think my son will love. I just bought him some Pokemon books -- Twaddle -- and he devoured them in an hour. We do reading comprehension occasionally with McCalls Crabbs.

Science -- We have RS4K but the chemistry was overwhelming to *me* We have been doing a unit study on the human body from Konos and a study that Doc provided on her blog. We'll finish up with that soon and we are going to start biology in RS4K.

American History -- Hakim's History of Us as a spine, but we do tons of reading. We're currently studying the Salem Witch Trials and reading Tituba of Salem, but will read others. We go very slow with American History because we read so many books with it.

World History -- SOTW CD's. We do car history -- working on volume 3 in the car. In the house we listen to SOTW I. We have the activity books but don't use them.

Typing -- Baron's Easy Typing. DS has done computer typing programs, but he's learning more with the Baron's. (Speed, accuracy)

Geography -- We have no formal program, we just study geography with our history. DS has requested a formal geography program, though, as he loves it. I am open to ideas.

Music -- I am doing a poor job of teaching DS to play the piano. Am thinking of formal lessons. We also listen to a wide variety of music in this house and we talk about different styles depending on what's playing.

Art -- Artistic Pursuits -- DS doesn't like this, I switched to How To Teach Art to Children -- DS thinks this is too juvenile. I think it was Mull-Berry who recommended Abeka, which I think I will switch to -- or else have DH go to Barnes and Noble and pick out some books.

Foreign Language -- We play with the flashcards I purchased with English From the Roots Up. (We have the book EFtRU but never use it.) We run in spurts with this as time permits. We also play Rummy Roots. DS wants to start Spanish and I am looking for something that will fit his learning style. I want a textbook/workbook program with pronunciation tapes. Ideas?

We also read an idiom every day. I read some poetry to DS but he is just like his mother, he hates poetry.

We play games such as Simon, perfection, concentration type games. We play these games for fun, but also to improve DS's short-term memory and speed. DS also has to do a Suduok once a week. We were doing them daily but we just don't have time.

We will be starting logic next year. I haven't chosen anything yet, but will probably go with something from Dandylion Press.

Next year we are going to change our focus from history to science. I'm putting together a bunch of unit studies for DS, looking for spines.

My husband and I have also been discussing text books. It is his suggestion that we look for entry-level college texts that can be modified for DS's abilities. My son is a very unique learner. We've done all the formal testing (privately) because he wasn't working to his potential in public school. He was officially labeled twice exceptional. His weak areas are processing speed, visual processing and short-term memory. The majority of the subtests of the IQ test he hit the ceiling on. While testing results did not confirm this, I believe DS has dysgraphia. He has a very difficult time with handwriting. We recently bought an AlphaSmart because it is portable and cheaper than a notebook computer and he's working on his typing speed. This is another reason we haven't started formal writing yet. He will do all his writing on this when he is typing well.

We have a membership to Family Pass for DVDs. We watch a lot of videos from Standard Deviants to biographies. We also watch discovery channel, science channel, etc. My son (dh and I, too) finally became addicted to Myth Busters after watching a marathon recently. We also watch How's It Made, animal shows, etc.

Things we don't do that I would like to incorporate: Memory work, narrations, copy work -- an area of weakness for DS, note taking, how to study, outlining, etc. There's so many things I want to do and not enough time.

Up, Down, All Around

Joke of the day:

The church had an aging pastor. He got this new glasses with
lined bifocals as the congregation would not afford no-line bifocal lenses for him.The Sunday morning he came wearing this new pair of bifocals for the sermon. The lower reading portion of the glasses improved his reading, but the top portion of the glasses didn't work so well. In fact he was experiencing dizziness every time he looked through them or switched from lower reading lenses to upper distance lenses. Worried about his job, he apologized to the congregation and said, "I hope you
will excuse my continually removing my glasses. You see when I look down I can see fine, but when I look at you, it makes me sick."

tee hee hee

Rant of the Day: I have springfeveritis -- cabin fever-- lack of sunlight infliction -- mild seasonal depression -- whatever you want to call it. Today sucked and I couldn't even get myself too excited over the "troll" visiting my favorite homeschool HAUNT. I was feeling icky all week but I think this darned cold snap really snapped me.

So...tomorrow I'm going to get my butt up, shower immediately, hit a friendly mart store and get a full spectrum light.

This garbage has been cyclical since I moved to Minnesota. Just another reason I don't care for Minnesota -- lack of sunshine.

OH -- if anyone ever tells you that Minnesota's motto is Minnesota Friendly -- don't believe them. Maybe in the twin cities where there are more people, but small-town Minnesota -- forget about it. Rude, rude, rude.

Happy Thought for the Day: My sister is alive and well, her family is safe, even the poodle.

My sister and family just built a big, beautiful home in Colorado. A couple of days ago, a wildfire burned over 700 acres coming up on their property. The fence separating her house from the neighbors burned. She was extremely fortunate that they were the only home that did not get smoke damage.

She was doing her taxes and there was a loud knock at the door. It was a deputy telling her to prepare to evacuate. She put the dog in the car and her taxes in the car, went to the bedroom to pack a change of clothes and then another knock at the door. It was the deputy telling her to get out NOW. She grabbed her suitcase which only contained a change of clothes for her, and out she went. There was zero visibility on the road and she was scared she was going to hit a firetruck. She was amazed at how fast the fire spread because she had just looked out the window and saw smoke far away. They were let back in later that evening. Only a few trees on her property were charred.

Thank you fire fighters, deputies, and anyone involved in saving the 12 houses in the fire's path.

Today, a few days later, they are still putting out hot spots on their property. Scary.

Moral of the story: Don't burn your trash. This fire was caused by someone who burned their garbage a few days earlier and didn't put dirt on it when they were done. High winds scattered the debris and there were burning embers still that started the fire.

This is a photo of the fire -- her house is behind the flames.

My Hot Date Tonight (Exciting times for a 40-year-old housewife)

I hate to cook. I never hated it before I got married. My dh is picky and doesn't like 3/4 of what I prepare. He's a hot and spicy, Mexican and meat and potatoes kind of guy and I'm a bland and mild Mexican and Italian kind of gal. That sounds funny. I actually am 1/8 Italian, but I digress.

Our family is having several issues with food at the moment.

1) DS is on a growth spurt. (I think this one will last through his teen years.)
2) Mom is on an unneeded growth spurt
3) Dad is on a growth spurt, but at 6'5 he only needs to lose 10 maybe 15 pounds.
4) Snacks in this household are un-nutritious and unhealthy (think Goldfish crackers, processed gunk, store-bought muffins, store-bought cookies, etc.)
5) DH and I are starting to have that NO YOU COOK DINNER battle.
6) There's never anything to eat.
7) They know our first names at the local Subway, Taco Bell, Taco Johns and Wendy's

We are in a rut with our dinners.

Here it is 7:00 at night and I won out...DH couldn't stand it any longer. He's cooking dinner. I won't be eating. He's making bacon and eggs. He fries the eggs in the bacon grease and the smell alone makes me sick. I'll have yet another meatloaf sandwich for dinner.

So...time to check my arsenal of cookbooks.

Make-a-Mix and More Make-a-Mix (or something like that), two books I bought off ebay a few year ago. I need to actually MAKE the mixes.
The Freezer Cooking Manual from 30 Day Gourmet: A Month of Meals Made Easy
My old white three-ring binder full of my favorite Weight Watchers recipes that the whole family will eat.

Yes, I need to become a freezer cooker again. You know the type, they spend two days cooking, preparing, throwing it altogether and into the freezer so they can prepare dinner at a moment's notice -- well, enough time to bake in the oven.

The 30-day Gourmet book is an excellent book on how to become a freezer cooker. However, their recipes suck. Our library has Frozen Assets which I need to check out.

Tonight, the kitchen table and I have a date. We're doing some major menu planning. Tomorrow I'm hitting the store and Sunday I'll, gasp, cook all day.

My favorite freezer-friendly recipe that my whole family loves is Bean Burrito Casserole. Recipe below.
Hopefully sitting down and doing this will make my life easier. Hopefully we'll have some decent snacks at our fingertips. Hopefully DH and I won't have that NO YOU COOK DINNER argument.

I said it before, but I'll say it again: I hate to cook.

CREAMY BURRITO CASSEROLE
Makes two 9X13" pans
2 pounds ground beef
1 package taco seasoning (I use about 4 tsp)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 large can of refried beans
1 can olives
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
20-24 flour tortillas, burrito size
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can condensed nacho cheese soup
8 ounces sour cream
milk
Brown hamburger. Add taco seasoning according to directions.Add cumin and chili powder. Add olives, breaking them up with your fingers (or chop them). Stir in refried beans. Mix soups and sour cream in bowl. Add enough milk to make it pourable but still very thick. Spread about 1/2 cup soup mixture into each of two sprayed 9x13 pans. Divide meat mixture evenly between tortillas. Roll enchilada style. Place seam side down in pans. If any meat mixture remains, spread it over the top of the burritos. Pour soup mixture over burritos dividing evenly between pans. Top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees 20-30 minutes. If frozen, let thaw and bake about 40 minutes. If frozen bake about an hour and ahalf.

Don't You Wish You Lived in M~i~n~n~e~s~o~t~a?

Rest of Tonight
Colder. Partly cloudy. Lows around 5 below. Northwest winds 15 to 20 mph. Lowest wind chill readings 20 below to 30 below zero after midnight.

Friday
Colder. Partly cloudy. Highs 5 below to zero. Northwest winds 10 to 20 mph. Wind chill readings 25 below to 35 below zero.

Friday Night
Colder. Partly cloudy. Lows around 15 below. West winds 5 to 10 mph.

Not good for one suffering from springfeveritis.

I will break from my habit of 1) letting my DS take the dog out. DS usually goes out barefooted. 2) I go out barefooted, too, so I will wear shoes and coat and gloves for the few seconds I will be out in it.

YUCK

Introducing Tommy's Island Oasis (aka my son's website)

My son has been begging me to share the link to his website.

He started out great guns and then slowed down. We need to figure out more content for his site.

He would really appreciate some visits and comments in his guestbook.
He also started a blog, but only has two entries. I'll get him writing yet.

http://tommys-island-oasis.tripod.com/index.html

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

It's snowing. It's expected to continue well into the night. Public schools were closed today. Our homeschool field trip was cancelled. The Cub Scouts pack meeting tonight was cancelled.

Ah -- another day off this week, and this one "legal." lol My husband even took the afternoon off work to stay home and play.

I'm enjoying this time off SO much that I decided to take tomorrow off, too.

Funny thing is that when we take school off, we still do informal school. Yesterday we had to drive to Iowa (20 miles from where we live) to do some shopping. We listened to our SOTW CD. Then we discussed it.

For a child that was diagnosed with CAPD, was labeled an impaired visual-spatial learner but currently a conceptual learner, with caveats that he will not learn by auditory means, he sure is learning history and remembering it through those CDs. I think there was an error in diagnosis.

Let it snow. Bring it on. All is well in our world. After we dig out this afternoon, I think hot chocolate, a good book, a warm blanket and the big snuggle chair are in order for DS and I.

Lial's Basic College Math

Our Lial's Basic College Math book arrived yesterday. I'm still waiting on the teacher's manual to arrive.

After looking it over, I decided it was a good choice. A very good choice. My husband thought it looked difficult but doable. My son panicked when he saw the book -- maybe because his first view was a page with 100 problems on it. I told him to look closer, as it was easy multiplication problems that he could handle. That gave him some relief, but he didn't like the amount of problems. The page layout is much more grown-up, too, which I think threw DS for a loop.

I think, gulp, that I am going to take the book apart. Thankfully it has perforated pages. (We don't have a Kinkos or Office Max close so it would be a pain to go to one to get the binding cut.) I will put each section into a binder. The pages are very shiny and slippery. There also isn't a lot of room to work, especially for a 10-year-old with large handwriting. I think that I will probably type up worksheets to go along with the book and put them in the binder. Either that or do it by hand as we are working along. I guess we need to dive in and I'll figure that out as we go.

Our Key to Fractions books arrived the same day and I must say I'm really glad I bought those. So we have two Key to sets....Fractions and Decimals. I think when we start a chapter that we have a Key to set for, I will have DS work the Key to books first, then do the corresponding chapter in the BCM book. I may buy some of the other Key to sets as well. The BCM books introduces concepts on very basic and easy terms that DS will be able to handle. It moves fast, though, and I think the Key to series will help with the confidence and practice factor.

I'm having trouble figuring out where to start. We've been working on fractions. DS is doing well, but I think he needs a lot more practice. I don't know whether to start in the middle of the book and continue with fractions or just start at the beginning of the book. Actually I'd like to just start at the beginning, but here's the thing. We are required to do standardized testing yearly in Minnesota. I want to make sure that DS has adequate coverage of grade-appropriate skills that will be on that test. I think we are far enough with fractions that he will be okay -- but we still need some decimal work and some geometry. And this screws up my methodical plan of starting at the beginning.

I am toying with the idea of doing the standardized test immediately -- with a crash course in perimeters and decimals and just getting it over with so we can go on our merry way. I do know my son will be upset if he's taking "the test" and there is something that we haven't covered. He's very sensitive and he wouldn't handle that well.

There is no way we'll be able to finish this book in a year. I'm thinking two years. If we were to omit the Key to books, I think we could do the program in a little over a year -- but we're in no rush and I want DS to have his math down pat and be comfortable with it.

So, in the end I'm very happy we purchased this and excited to implement the book.

Blogging and time constraint woes

Last night I sat down and wrote a really long entry. Then I clicked "Publish Post" and I got a message stating I could not connect to Blogger. Then my computer froze up.

Gone, all gone.

That's okay, I guess, as it was a late-night, fatigue-induced rambling entry.

We're taking the day off school today. I am just spent. My house looks like a tornado went through it. My mind feels as if a tornado went through it. I am NOT a multitasker. Never have been and probably never will be.

Oh, the joys of homeschooling...being able to do this. Next week public school (and our homeschool calendar) has Monday and Tuesday off. I'll probably have school on Tuesday to make up for today.

One of the most frustrating components of homeschooling is my internal clock. I am a night owl. I am not a morning person. My son is a night owl, too. The problem with this is if you get up at 9, it's at least 10 before you're showered, fed, small chores (feeding and taking animals out) are done and you're ready to start the day. So that makes our school day longer.

We have never been the type of homeschoolers that can have school done in three hours. I just can't believe when I read people's posts stating they're done with school by noon. It boggles my mind. My son is a slow worker, but there's just so much to do that I cannot fathom how "they" get it done in such a small amount of time.

Then we have the component of "the husband." Ah, yes, "the husband" has a fit that I am a night owl. He has a fit that DS is a night owl. The husband is a morning person. He wakes up early and happy. He falls asleep on the couch almost nightly by 8 -- unless, of course, he and DS are playing Runescape online.

The husband is upset that we don't start school at 8 every morning. So is my father. They say I'm enforcing bad habits. They say DS will never be able to get a job and be at work on time. I counter with the fact that I worked for 11 years and was never late. It's called setting an alarm clock. You do what you have to do.

We were making DS go to bed at 9 and that was working much better -- but we got off track somewhere and DS is going to bed at 10 again. He gets up between 8 and 9.

I really need to think this through and come up with some sort of solution. DS never balks when we finish school at 4, but it would be really nice for me to have afternoon time to keep the house up, do laundry, etc. This goes back to multitasking -- I can't multitask, and if I could, I would be able to fold clothes while DS was doing some lessons. But DS needs me in the room so he can stay on task. If I'm not, he's daydreaming. Trying to teach him to focus and concentrate is very difficult -- something that I hope continued practice plus maturity will help.

My dad and my husband keep telling me a strict schedule will help. It's just against my grain to be strict. I can make schedules like crazy -- in fact, it's almost like a hobby. But implementing those schedules, ah, that's the tricky part.

In the end, school gets done, my son learns, his confidence is up, and he's happy. Maybe I should quit worrying so much. Maybe I should ignore two men in my life when they start bellyaching about time. Maybe I should just focus on the positives -- my son is learning well and is happy.

Sunday Ramblings

Quote of the day: Perfectionism is idiotic. -- my son

Ah, music to a mother's ears, that quote. My son is a perfectionist and we are trying to re-train his ways. He gets so frustrated when he tries something and it isn't perfect. Finally, I think we're making headway. I think he's getting it. Thank you, Ms. Frizzle, for your "Get messy, make mistakes" comments in all the MSB books. That helps reinforce that our teachings.

We are recovering from our Cub Scouts Blue and Gold Banquet tonight. I'll blog more on that tomorrow. However, my house is a disaster!!! I was sick Saturday, our normal cleaning day, and no one bothered to lift a finger. Today was spent decorating a cake, preparing our dish to take with us, picking up 50 helium balloons, decorating the hall where the banquet was held and finally enjoying the banquet. After the banquet I ended up staying late and cleaning. I am exhausted.

I declared tomorrow a home ec (meaning we're cleaning up this dump) day. My son cried: But MOM, I want to do school. That's not fair.

Ah, music to a mother's ears again. He wants to do school! Well, we'll have to venture out of the school room, find a spot at the kitchen table for him while I spend hours on a dirty kitchen. I'll then have to dig up his plastic portable lap desk thingamabob and he can do school in the living room with the background tune being the hum of the vacuum.

He wants to do school. I wonder...does he really want to do school or does he not want to clean! I'll just pretend that he desperately wants to do school and feel happy about that. Yeah, that's it, he desperately wants to do school. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

It's a Small World After All

The way we form friendships is changing in this new millennium. I have many online friends. The internet has opened up the great big world and enabled us to meet people that we wouldn't ordinarily meet in our day-to-day lives. I think it's a good thing.

I've been very fortunate in that I have been able to meet some of my online friends. The first meeting I had was in Indiana. We had traveled to Indiana for my dad's family's reunion. While there, I met up with a woman I'll call Amy. We had sons the same age. We met at a local McDonald's. We had lunch, the boys played and we talked. For a couple hours. We were both scared to death that the other was an ax murderer and had a really good laugh about it. We decided that we were both safe and she drove me to my motel (my dad had dropped us off) and before we got out, asked if we wanted to go to the petting zoo. We ran into our room, asked dad what his plans were and then I informed him she's not an ax murderer and we're going to the petting zoo with her. Once outside the motel room, out of site of the parking lot, I snuck a cigarette. Yes, I'm a smoker. It had been a few hours, I was nervous at first, and I really needed a smoke.

When we got back into her car the first thing she said was, "You just had a cigarette." I apologized profusely because I know smokers stink. I told her I had the dirty habit but I didn't tell people because it is such a character flaw. She started laughing and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her purse. She was a smoker, too. Before we left the parking lot, we got out of the car, let the kids play in the grass and we had a smoke together. She was wanting a smoke too and was to polite to mention her dirty habit.

I always thought that was a funny story. Two characters, with nasty habits, being found out.

I've met other online friends, too. There's a bunch of ladies that I know that live in the vicinity of my dad and my son and we got to meet them and their kids this summer. We had a wonderful time. My son enjoyed it as much as I did. While we were on vacation in November, we met up with yet another mom and her kids in South Carolina. Another great time.

While I take privacy and security on the internet very seriously, I still enjoy meeting people and making friends. I think it is wonderful for my son to branch out and meet others beyond our local community. The whole experience makes the world seem smaller in a way. Or perhaps it opens up his world to make it larger.

Another aspect about friendships and the internet is "regulars" on message boards. While I don't post often on any message board any more, I do read some daily. I feel I know the people who post -- their online persona, at least. I get sad when I read sad stories, I get happy when I read about triumphs.

I do start to care about people: Message board posters, bloggers, members of groups. The one problem I am facing at the moment is how do you tell someone you barely know that you are hurting for them, you feel so bad because they are really having struggles. I learned some very sad news last night about someone I met online, someone I admire and like very much. I've never met this person, and chances are that I never will. That doesn't mean my heart doesn't ache for what she is enduring right now. Sending off an email seems so impersonal and can never convey what a face-to-face conversation would. How will this person ever know that she has really been on my mind *a lot* lately, that I wish there were something I could do or say to make her trials easier. How could she possibly know I am very sincere. I guess the only way is for me to blog about it. She'll read it when she is able. Hopefully she'll know. I can't make her pain go away, but sometimes it just helps to know that someone out there sincerely cares.

Another art mistake

We've been using Artistic Pursuits, which I think is a good program but my son doesn't like it. I thought I'd buy the Evan Moor book How to Teach Art to Children because it was listed as being for 1st-6th graders.

Well, that was a big mistake. We've done several lessons out of the book and made some cute designs and bookmarks, but my son thinks it is for kindergarteners. And it kind of is -- youngish.

So...if you want a good art book for K-2, buy this. I wouldn't buy it for older children that want to be more grown up.

Live and learn. Someday I'm going to move to a big town that has a bookstore. Then I'll be able to hold a book in my hands, flip through it, show it to DS and get his opinion. Of course I could have done this at the Evan Moor website...live and learn.

Someone wants a recipe from ME???

Snort, I'm not good in the kitchen. If you knew me in person, you'd chuckle about asking me for a recipe. ;-) (But my CFS is really good.)

I'm in the north so I call it Chicken-Fried. I know others call it country-fried.

Chicken Fried Steak

buy 4 cubed steaks at the grocery store
buy a box of cracker meal
3 eggs
milk
salt and pepper

I use an old electric skillet that I bought when I was 21 at a garage sale for $1. I pour a bunch of olive oil in, set it to 380. (I couldn't do this on a stove to save my life.)

Meanwhile, I get out three eggs, crack them (and pull the shells out of the bowl because I am kitchen challenged) and pour in milk. Mix well. I don't measure the milk -- I just pour some in. Thick and eggy is how I like it.

I rinse my cube steaks off in water (I'm weird) then I dip them in the egg batter, then I dip them in the cracker meal, flip and push hard to really get the cracker meal stuck on. Throw them in the frying pan, and when it feels right (this is the only thing I have a feel for) flip them.

Meanwhile, open a packet of "just add water" country gravy and get that going on the stove. Also start heating your choice of canned or frozen of veggies.

Top it off with some instant mashed potatoes and you've got a yummy, high-fat, un-nutritious meal!

There, that's my recipe. Seriously, this is the only meal I fry.

I do cook -- I'm trying to be funny here -- but I don't like to. I think in a previous life I was very rich and had servants and I haven't adjusted in this life. lol (Or else I'm just lazy. I don't mind doing dishes, though.)

Two Fun Days of Math

Yesterday and today we had fun with math.

Yesterday instead of getting out our Singapore book, or working on fractions from our Painless Fractions book, we grabbed our library books.

We sat in our big chair in the living room and read some books.

First was Millions to Measure by David M. Schwartz. This was a fun book that explained how measurement was and came to be today. Second, we read On Beyond a Million, an Amazing Math Journey. This was a fun book that taught my son the meaning of googol and googolplex. Finally, we started G is for Googol, a Math Alphabet Book. Together, we didn't make it past B because mom got carried away doing binary numbers. I was also tired of reading, so DS took over and made it J on his own. He loved this book and we will finish soon.

It was a fun break from computational math.

Today we read a few chapters from This Book is About Time by Marilyn Burns. This was fun, but I skipped a lot as I was reading. We didn't make it too far, but DS now has an understanding of the time zones. He knew what they were before, but the history behind them was fun to learn (think railroads!) and he has a much better grasp. We then went to our big world map and played what time is it where when it's X time here.

That wasn't enough for our math today, so I grabbed my book of handouts that I made and taught DS Roman Numerals. These have not been covered in Singapore, but something he needed to know. I made a chart for him, and he got the letters down fast. I had printed many worksheets off the net and he did three in about ten minutes. He had a lot of fun. Tomorrow we'll review concepts and read some more of the Time book.

I got all my ideas from Rebecca Rupp's book Home Learning Year by Year. These were all mentioned in the 4th grade section. Well, G is for Googol is mentioned in the 5th grade section. I think these books could be read at a much younger age, too, yet weren't too babyish for a 10-year-old -- which was my biggest worry.

We're stalling right now in math. We have decided to ditch Singapore Math altogether and do something totally crazy. Tonight I ordered Lial's Basic College Math. We are going to start working in that book and using the Key to books as supplements easing him into concepts.

I was really surprised when I read the Table of Contents of BCM. I think it will be very doable for my bright boy. My husband, the engineer, asked me why I hadn't done this a long time ago. He mentioned that he was going to suggest it, but that I spent so much time researching curriculum that he thought I had already decided against a basic math book. I had never even thought of such a book until some friends were discussing it. In fact, I didn't know such an elementary college math book existed. Shows what I know!

Hoping it all works out!

My son was tagged, wants to answer online =)

Tagged
I was tagged by Addie the Adventure Mouse.


Jobs I've had:
school
mowing the lawn
boring house cleaning
cleaning the cars

Movies I can watch over and over again

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Places I've vacationed
Indiana
Colorado
South Dakota
South Carolina -- my favorite

My favorite dishes

Biscuits and Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Goldfish pretzels
Bagels

Sites that I visit daily

My website, but it's not ready to share yet
www.runescape.com
www.puzzlepirates.com (it's a download)
www.popcap.com
www.neopets.com


Places I would rather be right now
South Carolina
California
Miami
New York City


Bloggers I am tagging
No one -- I don't read blogs except sometimes my mom's.

Rest in Peace, Froggy

My son won "Froggy" at our county fair in August of 2004. Froggy appeared healthy, no warning signs that he was ill. My son just found him dead. Sigh.

Rest in Peace, Froggy. There's one sad little boy who loved his fish very much feeling very blue.

Tagged

Tagged by Doc, so here goes:

Four jobs I've had:
babysitter
library assistant
Wendy's
Court Reporter

Four movies I can watch over and over again:
Braveheart
The Patriot
Coal Miner's Daughter
Forrest Gump

Four places I've lived:
Laramie, Wyoming
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Rapid City, South Dakota
Denver

Four TV Shows I love:
Survivor
ER
Reruns of West Wing on Bravo
Wife Swap

Four Places I've vacationed:
Europe
NYC
Orlando
Charleston & Columbia, South Carolina

Four of my favorite dishes:
Filet Mignon
Bean Burritos
Pizza Hut Pan pizza
My chicken (country) fried steak (I cook only one thing really, really well and this is it.)

Four sites that I visit daily:
Google
Yahoo News
Blogspot
WTM boards

Four places I would rather be right now:
Denver
South Carolina
Disney World -- my son has never been!
in a nice but unpretentious house nestled in the woods on an acreage that I own far, far away from neighbors and their darned barking poodles.

Three bloggers I am tagging:
mull-berry
addie-the adventure mouse
samuel men can play, too!

Review of Key to Decimals

I purchased Key to Decimals last week off Ebay. They arrived today in the mail and I couldn't wait to finally see what this Key to series was all about.

Well, my first impression was...that's why it's so cheap, no bright, shiny cover, just a paper cover. No biggie. Opening up the pages my first impression was......EWWWW. They use some old-fashioned (I'm thinking 1980s IBM Selectric typewriter font) and it was UGLY. There's also hand written problems. What I did like was occasionally there were pages with graph paper background. We use graph paper a lot in math to help DS with number size and lining things up properly.

Aesthetics are important to me and apparently they're important to DS, too. I called him over to take a peek. His first comment was, "Mom, that's ugly. Yuck." However, he sat down and did three pages on the spot and got over the ugly font.

I bought the entire decimal set. After I looked through all four books page by page, I understood why this series was so popular. It's to the point, good, solid, very repetitive stuff.

I'm sold. Ugly font and all. I will be buying the geometry set and possibly the measurement.

There's no rush when teaching a child. Mastery is a good thing, and we'll continue using our math program and then following up with work in these books.

Sick Day

This morning I got up, took care of the pets, poured a cup of coffee and sat down at the computer. I didn't feel well. I did my normal morning surfing and as I was about to finish up, it hit.

Mom was sick. Really sick.

DS was eating his breakfast and I informed him that today he needed to read a book and he may listen to SOTW on CD while doing art. Mom's going back to bed.

I slept the entire morning. Hard. I woke up twice, once to see my son at my bedroom window blowing on the glass and drawing pictures on the condensation. The next time I awoke it was to DS saying here, mom, this will make you feel better. He had made me a cute little heart card. It did make me feel better.

DH came home for lunch and I returned to the land of the living. DS had read his book and listened to a few chapters of SOTW. He had made a few pictures out of construction paper. That's it.

I find it amazing that even with a sick day, DS did not turn on the computer, he did not turn on the TV -- no Gameboy, even. He didn't work "hard" but he did do what I asked. He's a good kid and makes me very proud.

I don't have sick days too often. But they do happen. We survived. I'll even be able to put down something in my record book as being accomplished.

Going to bed early tonight and hopefully everything will stay where it is supposed to tomorrow.

Monday Morning Ramblings

I have a whole bunch of disjointed rambling thoughts this morning.

It's cold here. -1. It's an assault to the system going out in it. That cold is brutal and will definitely wake up and incoherent mom taking care of her dog on a Monday morning.

This weekend my son was glued to the computer. He was working on his website. We sent the link to my cousin and my sister. My cousin signed his guestbook and was impressed, waiting to hear from my sister. My son wants me to spread the word -- but I told him he needs some more polish and content.

I see this website as a huge learning experience. So far he's just been using the templates provided, but he's been playing around and amazing me with his ability to do so well. I set the site up and then told him to figure it out. He has. Mull-berry, thank you for the book suggestion. Our library doesn't have it so I put it on my wish list at Amazon. More on buying books later.

Aside from all the fun aspects of building a website, the reason I'm excited for his new-found love is it is the perfect opportunity for him to start writing. Up to this point we have not done a formal writing program. My son has done some Evan Moor books such as the Super Sentence and Paragraph books, he's done a few assignments from Writing Strands, but he wasn't really ready to conquer writing.

I believe that my son has dysgraphia. His handwriting is not typical of a 4th grader. His letters are big and uncontrolled. His cursive is a little better, but not much. It is physically painful for him to write. That's basically the reason we bought the Alphasmart. His typing lessons have been going well, although he hates some of the finger configurations because it hurts his fingers -- but he's had a few timed writings typing 15 WPM with one or no mistakes which thrilled him. And me.

It just seems as everything has come together and the cosmos says it's time for him to write. So today we are going to organize and map out his website on paper. I'm going to make a list of topics for him to write about. (Another benefit of the website, organization!) He started a blog at my request. One two-sentence entry so far.

This is just one of those times, as a homeschooling parent, when you get excited because everything is coming together. For once, I have a highly motivated child for a project he is loving more than anything else he's done in school to date. It can't get any better than this.

The only down side to all of this is that I really would like to buy some books as guides -- for him as well as me. I know I can find it all on the internet, but I'm such a book girl -- I like to have a book in hand that I can read, that DS can read. Our library doesn't have anything that I'm looking for and my husband has an aversion to me buying any more books.

This is the man who can read two paperbacks in one evening. This is the man who, when we were first married, would take me to the bookstore on Saturday mornings and spend $30-50 a weekend on books. (20 years ago that was a lot.) This is the man with four tall bookshelves so full of books the shelves are bowing. The books are double stacked, then more stacked in between the tops of the books and the empty space between the next shelf up. This is the man that gave up his book buying for family. This is the man that goes to the library weekly and gets 12-15 books at a time. Maybe he's jealous that he can't fulfill his book-buying addiction any longer, but he has a problem with me buying books for DS.

I don't think that's a fair statement. I think he has a problem with me spending a lot of money on homeschooling. I don't think I spend a lot by any means, but he has issues. I sneak books into the house. Not good, because I'm a very honest person and it bothers me. I use the library as much as possible, but sometimes they don't have what we want, even through ILL. Sometimes I just want to own the book, to have the new smell, enjoy the feeling of the the clean, crisp pages...

I feel an Amazon spending spree coming on.

Enough of my rambling thoughts. I have a son to get up, a school to run, a day to start, a website to plan.