An Interesting Self-Portrait

Whitney was supposed to be working on a self-portrait for art this week. She decided that she had already completed enough self-portraits of herself, so she sat her kitty down on the paper and helped him draw his own portrait!

Born to Run

We have been filling our days with many long walks....maybe even a little forced running with our Siberian Husky puppy. I think the above image is pretty accurate! We have been walking about ten miles a week which makes me wonder if we are training for a marathon....

Back On the Scene!

I feel like I have been totally out of the blogging loop for several weeks now and when I actually sit down to write something, I cannot get my mind to stop spinning and actually post anything that makes sense! Life is crazy with all of the coursework that is happening at our house right now. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving week when we can all take some time to just be together without worrying about endless deadlines.

I thought I’d post about what is going on right this minute….

Listening...

...to the sound of the air bubbles in the saltwater tank.

...Demon howling (AGAIN!). That dog really needs someone to talk to.

...Bach because I am forcing myself to relax!

Watching...

...text messages appear on my phone.

…the clownfish searching for food in Megan’s tank. I wonder if she has fed him lately?

…Demon licking the dirt off the glass door (gross!).

...all my e-mail downloading for the day.

Thinking...

...we are going to be so busy this next month as we all finish semester projects for school. Christmas break will not be here soon enough!

...we need to find a hobby for the dog, other than escaping the back yard. Waking up at 3am to deal with his naughtiness makes for a VERY long day!

Surviving Week One of the 2009-2010 School Year

We have managed to conquer our first week of school for three of the girls this week. I would say we have definitely accomplished a lot! This is a condensed list of all the learning that has taken place in our home this week:

• 25 math lessons: place value to billions, inequalities
• 17 literature lessons: “Chanticleer and the Fox”, “It Could Always Be Worse,” “Chura and Marwe”, “The Tiger’s Whisker”, “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”, “The Story of Scarface”; “Beowulf”
• 15 language arts lessons: vocabulary, spelling, parts of speech, kinds of sentences, conjunctions and interjections, prepositions
• 13 social studies lessons: Geography, American History after 1865, American Government
• 10 science lessons: ecosystems, producers, consumers, decomposers, physical systems, measurement and the international system
• 10 Spanish lessons: greetings, Spanish alphabet, Spanish comparisons
• 4 art lessons: kinds of art, an artist’s role

That’s an amazing 94 lessons in just one week! We even survived it all with no tears or temper tantrums. I was very impressed with how cooperative and excited Jordann and Whitney were to begin their school year. I am hoping that it will still be smooth sailing as I begin my semester on Monday.

A New School Year Begins

It's hard to believe that summer is coming to a close and that we have just begun a new year of school for the girls. We are continuing our journey with home education and will be maneuvering through 4th grade, 8th grade and 12th grade. Let the fun begin!

I had to take some photos of the girls on their first day of school. I was even able to capture a few without them rolling their eyes!

I will be returning to school next week and forging ahead in my quest to finish my teaching certification, while Megan will begin her second year at college late in September, pursuing a secondary teaching certification in History.

We are all looking forward to learning new concepts and ideas, as well as getting back to a more structured schedule for the fall. I hope we all still feel that way after the first day of school is completed!

A Solemn Summer

Our family has spent the summer coping with the declining health of my father and his diagnosis of end stage renal failure. There have been many peaks and valleys over the last couple of months, but his condition seems to be stabilizing. We are reflecting about the impact he has had on all of our lives and cherishing the time we have left with him.

We are striving to return to as much normalcy as possible for the remainder of the summer and make educational plans for myself and the girls.

Automobile Lapbook

This week I've been working on the automobile lapbook.

I have learned about the transmission, the clutch, the engine, the crankshaft, and the first car made.

Carl Benz was the first person to invent a car. It wasn't safe and it could sometimes knock an arm off the driver when the driver was trying to start it.

Henry Ford later invented a much safer car - The Model T Ford. This car was also affordable, but other cars that were invented were mostly for wealthier people.

After learning about old automobiles and the inventors, the older automobiles are really cool. It's really neat to learn about how the cars changed throughout the years.

I look forward to learning more about cars. Although, I don't have to do a lapbook to learn about cars, all I have to do is listen to Dad!

This is the fourth lapbook I have finished. I am currently working on the Renaissance lapbook and it is really exciting!