Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Freezer Challenge Winner

I've decided that for ME this challenge is NOT over and since the graphic does say 2007 and not Summer 2007, I'm going to keep right on in my quest to fill this freezer. I have a good start...but I've not gotten a lot of things done that I would have liked to get done. My goal is to have enough meals in the freezer that if I don't WANT to cook over Christmas, I won't have to. ::snort:: If any of y'all want to continue on, feel free to do so.
Now doesn't THAT sound appealing? Come to my home for the Holidays and I'll feed you frozen dinners! ::snort::


HOWEVER, I realize that most have completed their freezer challenge. And the winner is :::drum roll::: Michele at Dei Gratia, By the Grace of God! Winner was randomly selected from all who had commented.

I promise to figure out how to send you and Gilda gift certificates by the end of the week. Congrats!
School Daze

Today, I tried something new, again. I let Nolan sit in on the history books for lower grammar (he's a 3rd grader so technically this is a good fit). This gives Zander someone nearby and it gives Nolan less text and more pictures. Nolan joined Arielle and I for the literature and the core history of Upper Grammar. Rather than continue reading "Pyramid" by David Macaulay to Nolan and Arielle, I asked Arielle to read it on her own. She is happy to do that and Nolan is happier with less technological info and bright photos. LOL

Today we actually had time to visit the Internet links in our Usborne Internet linked books. Cool. We went on an Egyptian Animal Safari. We took a quiz on Egypt and watched a slide show on farming. We wrote our name in Hieroglyphics.

Stacia fell asleep while I read "A Place in the Sun" to Arielle and Nolan. We'll pay for it later, but we were able to read ahead a bit and make our simple step pyramids. This project comes from the book "Ancient Egyptians and their Neighbors". I think this may be a TOG book, but I got it from the library. It's great in that the projects are simple and work will with a variety of ages. That said, Jared and Zander both opted out of making a pyramid. What am I going to do with the extra boxes of white sugar cubes? We don't use them any longer. LOL

Well - school is done and I'd best get moving on dinner. I'll update more about life later tonight - if I get a minute.

What was in the box????

Did I leave you all hanging?

Well, 3 1/2 weeks ago we got the trac phone that WAS in the box. Yesterday there were 8 Nancy Drew books, some mystery children's books, a drawing pad, how to draw book, two computer games (Axis and Allies and a Flight Simulator), stationary, whoopee cushion, 2 CD's, a paper by Nicholas, and THREE packages marked Top Secret for the older boys. They try to fool me but I KNOW what was in the packages. The girls have not fully embraced the new style of eating that has descended on our home. The "top secret" wrapped packages were full of contraband candy and chocolate....I'm sure with high fructose corn syrup and artificial dyes etc. Ah well - they were wrapped so the youngest and most vulnerable were not exposed to them. ::snort::

What was not in the box was a phone charger and a RISK computer game....we keep hoping.

BTW, yesterday I received an email from the Feingold Association with the results of a study done in the UK. You can go here to read about the study. They did a double blind study and results show that some food additives etc DO cause hyperactivity in children. Meanwhile, in the US the doctor's continue to say that there is no PROOF that Feingold makes a difference for these children. I understand that our experience is anecdotal and not scientific, but I've got two boys that don't function when they eat those additives..... Since we don't have TV, I don't know if this study is being reported in the media - I hope so.