Book Review

I’m going to take a break in the middle of my What in the World Are We Going to do This Year? series and do a little book review.

I just finished Moon Over Tokyo. I loved it. I have really loved all of Siri Mitchell books. She is a fabulous writer. I love how her books are not sappy, or I guess there not formula “Christian” books. Her characters are Christians, but they are real people too, with flaws. I guess I like her books because her characters don’t have it all figured out. And as an author she makes you think about why you think the way you do. Sometimes we Christians have hang ups and she has made me think about a few of mine. Are they really what Christ would want me to think, or just something I have grown up believing in the Christian circles? There is sometimes a difference.

A friend gave me Kissing Adrian last year and I loved it so much I went on a Siri Mitchell kick and read all her books. I think The Cubicle Next Door is my favorite so far, but I have really enjoyed all her stuff.

So there you have it. Go get a Siri Mitchell book; you’ll be glad you did!

What in the World Are We Going To Do This Year? Part 2

*****I did not add links this time because most of the link's are in Part 1. If you want to know more about any of the things I use, leave me a comment and I'll point you in the right direction*****

Today I’ll tell you what I am doing with E my very studious 5th grader. She is so easy to teach. It is a good thing God did not give me only her or I’d be an arrogant homeschooler. I think I could just give her a library card and she’d learn everything she needs to know (except math).

She asked me to get her bird, flower, and insect books specific to Colorado for our trip. She spent much of the vacation telling us what every flower and butterfly was named.

Her aunt gave her a hummingbird feeder and a book on hummingbirds for her birthday and she brought it to CO and had a great time identifying the Hummingbirds that came to the feeder. I’m telling you this child is so easy to teach.


So here is what she will be doing next year.

Language Arts – I will be using the new and improved Sonlight LA 3 with E & G. She will also be taking a writing class at Co op. She will continue to do her journal writing daily, using the Love to Learn journal I mentioned in A’s post.

Spelling – I don’t worry too much about spelling with E. She is a natural speller (See! I’d be totally arrogant if she were my only child.) She wants to do Spelling Power so she can get better. We do it as I have time.

Math – Bob Jones 5th Grade and Calculadder

History – Sonlight Core 3 along with A & G. She will read the readers aloud to A. The readers will be a bit easy for her but I will be adding more reading to her schedule with the Geography study.

Geography – Simply stated. I posted a while ago about this. I am very excited about this study. I think it will be a lot of fun. You can go check out that post if you like. E will be doing a lot of independent reading on the various states.

Electives –

Typing – She has just started a typing program on the computer. Spell Write Type.

Spanish – We have access to the full program of Rosetta Stone through the library. It will get too tough for her pretty quickly, but for now she is having fun with it.

Classes at the Homeschooling Co op –

American Girl – This is a hands-on classed based on the books. They do two dolls a year.There is also a play at the end of each semester.

Writing - This is the first year she will be taking the writing class.

Science – She will be taking a hands-on science class at co op.

Art – E is quite a talented little artist. She has been taking art classes with the same teacher at co op for 3 years. Next year will be her 4th year to take art. It is one of her favorite classes

Sometimes community stinks.

*****Read at your own risk, I’m feeling whiney*****

This summer has not been an easy one. I don’t like to be a whiner and I try not to complain. One of the things you have to learn quickly when you have a chronic issue like Fibromyalgia is that you can’t let it define you. I refuse to let it be the filter by which I sift all my decisions. However, it won’t let me forget I have it.

This summer, a friend in my Sunday school class had a hysterectomy, and I brought her a meal, My SIL has had an 8 week bout with Phenomena and I have tried to help out where I could (with her 8 year old twin boys and with meals) but I did not really feel like I could do too much, and then I feel guilt. Sigh.

I also had my other SIL’s 8 & 10 year old girls here for 4 days while their parents were away at a wedding.

Another friend just had a baby. I have worked on baby showers and brought meals, etc. These are things I want to do, things that I need to do.

My best friend has been sick for 2 weeks (while we were out of town, I did not find out till I got back) and found out today she has West Nile Virus! I want to help her and her family, that is what friends do!

Also today I got a call from the Helps Ministry at church asking me if I could serve this month. I tried to explain that I have been serving my friends and family, I just haven’t been doing it under a “program” and that I have a condition where I don’t know how I’m going to be from day to day, blah, blah, blah. I hate saying it as much as I’m sure people hate hearing it.

I also got a call today from the Children’s Pastor at our church asking of D was going to be at the meeting tonight for the AWANA directors. Last year D was the director for the 5th and 6th grade boys and I was the secretary. It was our 2nd year in this position and I’m not even sure how many years we’ve served total in the AWANA program.

We decided to take a hiatus this year. I know we told people including the Children’s Pastor but I guess they did not remember. I had to call D at work and tell him he needs to call the Children’s Pastor again.

Okay, I know this is starting to sound like a big whine, so I’ll get to the point.

I am tired of being needed.

There are days that I am in a lot of pain and it is all I can do to take care of my family. I am not receiving help from the church or friends and I am okay with that. But I do get frustrated when I am barely keeping my head above water and I keep getting calls about others needs.

I think I also am suffering from Vacation Hangover. I want to go back to a place that is cool and beautiful and no one knows me or my family. If no one knows us no one can need us.

Trust me, I know that last statement is not biblical or right, but that is how I am feeling at the moment. Community is sucking the life out of me.

*****Whine concluded, tomorrow’s post will be upbeat and homeschool related, thank you for your patience*****

In The World Are We Going To Do This Year? Part 1

Over at The Well Drained Mind, we are having a little Homeschooling fun. Go check it out!

The idea is that everyone is going to write a post on their own blog on a certain daily topic Randi has come up with regarding Homeschooling. This will start next Monday the 6th and go for a week.

To get the juices flowing, I thought I’d start this week by posting what I am planning on using for each of my kids this next school year.

Today we’ll start with my 3rd grader.

A is the baby of the family. She is 8 years old and in 3rd grade. A is dyslexic and will be going to a dyslexia remediation program at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. This program is 4 days a week, 2 hours a day, for 2 school years.

I have done this program before with G and it is intensive. With this in mind I have made my decisions about her school year. So here goes…

Language Arts – All of her LA will be done at Scottish Rite (SR). She will read aloud to me at home and do her homework from SR daily. She will continue to do her journal writing daily. (I love the Love to Learn Daily Journal)

Math – Bob Jones 3rd Grade and Calculadder

History – Sonlight Core 3 along with G & E. I’m not sure how much of the reading she will do, I may have her sister read the readers aloud to her as she is not quite on the level of 3rd grade readers and while E is a very good reader, she needs the reading aloud practice.

Geography – Simply stated. I posted a while ago about this. I am very excited about this study. I think it will be a lot of fun. You can go check out that post if you like.

Science – Various unit studies. We watch a lot of documentaries, and she loves to get various science related picture books at the Library.

Electives –

Typing – She has just started a typing program on the computer. Spell Write Type is the name.

Spanish – We have access to the full program of Rosetta Stone through the library. It will get too tough for her pretty quickly, but for now she is having fun with it.

Classes at the Homeschooling Co op –

American Girl – This is a hands-on classed based on the books. They do two dolls a year. There is also a play at the end of each semester.

Book Club – I teach this class. It is based on the Five in a Row model which I love (I used FIAR at home when my kids were younger and loved it!). Obviously we don’t do it for five days, but we have a lot of fun with the picture books.

A good Time Was Had By All!

Thank you for the birthday wishes. It was a nice day.

My kids outdid them selves this year. I did not get any orange fingernail polish!

B & G got me a bed tray. I used to have this pretty white, wicker one but A decided to use it as a chair and broke it. I have missed my little tray so I was glad to get another.

E got me some Starbucks because she knows how much I like coffee.

A got me a magnet. It is from a working gold mine we stopped at in CO. She knows I like to get a small magnet from every place we visit on a camping trip. I put them all on the vent a hood in the camper.

D got me a bike. It has been years since I’ve had a bike, and I decided I wanted one. It is a Schwinn. I really like it. It has that old fashioned look to it.

I rode it yesterday and learned two things. One, I have not used those bike riding muscles in a LONG time, and two, I won’t be spending much time outside on that bike for at least another six weeks.

It is just too darn hot to be outside here. It must be 150 degrees with 134% humidity, and y’all know I don’t exaggerate!

So, while I love my new bike, I’ll put it away until us Texans are a bit further away from the sun.

By the way, stay tuned. I have some homeschooling posts coming up. I have to stay close to my roots after all.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my birthday. I am 29…again. We’re not doing much special because we spent all our $ in Colorado.

D and I are going out to eat tonight, and then on Friday we’re going to see the Bourne Ultimatum. I am quite fond of Jason Bourne. He’s bad, or cool, or fat, or whatever those words translate too in today’s popular culture. (Hummm, am I showing my 29+ age here?)

I have to admit, I’m a bit tired of birthdays when mine comes around. 4 out of the 6 of us have birthdays within 5 weeks of each other, with D’s being only 4 weeks after that. A is the only one who gets her own birthday in March. By the time mine rolls around I’m just flat tired of birthdays.

However, I’m happy to not make dinner and eat cake. I’m always up for cake. Especially chocolate cake.

D always takes our kids out to buy me gifts. He lets them pick what they want. Last year I got some orange and royal blue fingernail polish. I always love to see what the kids pick out for me. They make me smile.

I’ll let you know what my creative little ones picked this time.

Ahh, and by the way, there will be no photo collage of my growing up years. I do have some pride left.

The Story of the Maniacal Double Tow-er.

We had just started our journey northwest to the land of cooler weather and smaller mosquitoes. Anticipation filled the air. The entire family was speaking nicely to each other and happily handing things over the seats to each other with a smile and a ‘thank you’.

The possibilities were endless; would we see deer, would we happen upon a bear, would D get Tricia to drive while towing the RV? Many unanswered questions loomed.

The drive through west Texas seemed endless, I am sure that is where the author of the song ‘don’t fence me in’ was standing as he penned the famous words ‘give me land lots of land with the starry skies above…don’t fence me in’. I heard it said while we were near Amarillo, ‘nowhere can you look farther and see less than in the Panhandle’ I have to tell you, there is some serious truth to that statement.

As we drove on and on and on we began to grow numb to the speed and traffic. There were many, like us, towing RV’s and heading north to the land of mountain breezes, and cold, fast flowing streams. We got used to seeing those with diesel trucks fly past us and our little V8 engine.

We began to notice a rare breed of RV’er; The Double Tow-er. These are the ones brave enough to try to tow two things at once. The set up was like this; one huge diesel truck pulling a 5th wheel, pulling another trailer, often a boat trailer or a trailer carrying 4 wheelers or motorbikes.



It was just such a set up we came across outside of Amarillo. We were in a turn in the highway where there was a bit of a dip as well. We were on the inside lane passing the double tow-er when he began to loose control of his rig. He first swung to the outside, but, as any good tow-er knows, what goes out must come in. As soon as D saw him sway to the outside he hit his brakes. But we did not have enough clearance. As he swung wildly back to the inside, D hit the breaks as hard as he could while swerving into the shoulder to avoid being hit by what has become known as The Maniacal Double Tow-er.

He then realized that if he went too much into the shoulder we would flip. There was very little shoulder before the long slide to the bottom of the ditch.

As D tried to steady our rig on the shoulder, the Maniacal Double Tow-er swung passed our bumper missing us by inches.

Needless to say, everyone in the car was screaming, and D was white.

Once the vehicles and hearts of those contained therein were back to normal, we began to pass the Maniacal Double Tow-er. He had slowed considerably, and had both hands on the wheel looking straight ahead. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man look more afraid…except maybe D.

Interestingly enough, D never once during the entire trip, asked me to drive.

What is the moral of this little tale? Beware The Maniacal Double Tow-er!

We’re Baaaack!

We had a great time on our Colorado trip. I have hundreds of photos but I will spare you all of them. Many are of the scenery. When you live in flat TX, the very idea of things sticking miles up out of the ground is just shocking. Thus the many, many photos.


Here are my kids, shortly after we got in the car for the first time. Everyone was so excited. They all had their own headphones and tape/CD players and they listened to several books on the way.


This is what it looked like on our way out of Dallas. Typical; and it was only 3 in the afternoon.

Here are a few of my favorite shots. Some I took and some G took. He is becoming quite the photographer.

This is the quintessential family vacation shot.






We watched this storm come over the mountain, it was truly breathtaking. We were camped at the base of the mountain.


This is the view from the top of Raton Pass. G took this shot.


This is where we stopped and had a picnic after we went over Raton Pass.


This was our view while we picnicked.


THis is a photo G took at the Great Sand Dunes. What a creative shot. The underwater stream had bubbled up at the base of the dunes. It was really cool.


This is the view from one of our campsites. Yes, my friends, that is Pike's Peak. And Yes, I did climb to the top...in my car, but does it count? Because I was totally out of breath when I got to the top, even though the van did all the work.

What was I doing all this time? That is me in the passenger seat with the map. I was the navigator. We all had walkie-talkies, and I would tell everyone where to go. Why they trusted me with this job I’ll never know. We didn’t get lost much or drive off a cliff so I guess I did okay.


Here is a photo of the kids on the way home. Same kids but now they’re very tired and DIRTY.



And I’ll leave you with this last photo. This is what happens when you forget to empty your coffee pot and then leave it unattended for 10 days.

Yummy!

He's been set free!

The boy has been released from his wire prison!

The Dr. wanted to leave them on for another two weeks but we begged, cajoled, whined and cried, and finally he relented.

He told us we need to keep B on a soft food/no chewing diet for the next two weeks. Then he made us promise…twice, and then sign in blood.

The first thing B did was go brush his teeth; I don’t think he’s ever been happier to brush his teeth in his life. I don’t think he’ll ever take brushing his teeth for granted again.

Then he ate pudding, a lot of it, then yawned, and then yelled at his sister.

Ahh, all is right with the world again.

We leave for Colorado in 2 hours. YIKES! I must now get off the internet!

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

Well, we’ve packed everything in the camper, short of the kitchen sink, but only because it already has one.

I have packed more books than the kids can read in a month. I have packed enough books on tape to get us to Alaska. I added new songs to all our MP3 players, (yes we all have them), and purchased a new plug in thingy so that when all else fails, they can watch a movie on the laptop.

I think I have managed to make it possible for us to make it to our family vacation destination without having to speak to each other at all.

I have to take B to see the Oral Surgeon tomorrow, first thing in the morning. He is going to take an X-ray to see if he’s been wired long enough. We are praying he gets unwired.

Then we come home, load in the car and head off for Colorado.

How’s this for trust…I have absolutely no idea where we are going. I have the name of two of the five State Parks we are staying at, and I know the state we’ll be in. That is the extent of my knowledge of this vacation. I do know however, that once we are out of our neck of the woods, D is going to start asking me for directions.

I am going to laugh and remind him that he told me to relax, it’ll all be okay, we have a map, we’ll find it.

I love family vacations!

The blog will be quite for a few days. Something tells me I might have trouble finding a Starbucks to pop into to check my email and update my blog, up in the back country of Co.

See ya in two weeks, unless we run out of books on tape and have to come home early.