Wednesday Happenings

Nearly done with my lists....no cute graphics....just lots of tiny books and such. ::snort::

Sometime today, while working at the computer and surfing for URL's, I decided to host a Tapestry Tea. They'll send me a DVD with Scott and Marcia talking, catalogs, brochures and the Egyptian Unit Study (which is 3 or 4 weeks of Year 1) to pass out. I figure there may be some here who are curious and even if they don't plan to change their curriculum they would like to see TOG in person. Who knows? It may be a way to find a few Year 1 families to "co-op" with. I'm not sure how to get the word out - I want to do it early in June. Maybe I'll make a hand out for this weekend's event...we shall see.

Cooked Cindy's Alice Springs Chicken today - without bacon. I barely miss it any longer, though I could have used Turkey Bacon (dog treats as my boys say - best to just skip it). We steamed up more asparagus too.

I got the weekly produce order in. I think we're really nearing a broccoli break...but I had lots of $ this week to spend... a big week. LOL

Well - off to finish co-op newsletters and resource lists.

Unexpected FUN

Yesterday, Tricia called and invited us to the park.

Today, Charly called and asked if she could drop by. We were game. She has a daughter a couple of years older than Arielle, a son Zander's age, and a toddler Stacia's age. We were excited at how well Mick and Zander played. A year ago Charly and I were both searching for answers for our little ones. They are both on the spectrum....our answer has been a lot of diet and behavioral work. Charly and Mike began there and then have had a lot of tests etc....anyway.....all that to say that we had a delightful day visiting...and watching our children PLAY...TOGETHER for the most part. I think you would have had to walk a bit of our path to know how incredibly special that is....and how wonderful to have a friend who understands if your child does something "atypical" or downright off the wall. ::snort:: I'm going to miss Charly and her family when they move this summer. There are times I dislike the military lifestyle very much. This lifestyle has taught me to make the most of potential friendships. We don't have years to let friendships slowly grow.....but it also makes us a bit "off putting" to those who live in an area for a long time. They don't always want to invest in relationships with friends who are sure to move....or understand why we jump so totally and almost aggressively into relationships....

Here's the secret. We have to. If we don't, we won't ever have friends....and if we wait we may move....or if we're all military...they may move. ::snort::

I'm thrilled to have FRIENDS this year....we are establishing some nice roots in our new location. It took longer than it has in past moves, and I thank those of you who prayed and believed that eventually we'd feel at "home" in our new "home".

SCHOOL UPDATE

Our schedule was thrown off today because I had a strange, strange a.m. I woke up at 3 a.m. with Stacia. I got her back down around 4:30 a.m. I knew I had two handouts to finish by Saturday (for homeschool 101) and so I decided to work on them. I had a long list of curriculum resources that cyber friends and local friends had helped me compile...but I needed to find weblinks for each entry, phone numbers etc. I worked until 7 a.m. I had no idea how late it was getting. Mike walked through the library on the way to work and commented that he thought I had gone to Curves. Oops - I'd forgotten. So - he told me I should go catch a bit of sleep since the children were still down. I did.

In other words - we got a late start. While the younger two worked on their independent work, I worked on the handouts a bit more.

We had friends over for a bit after lunch and then finally began schooling at about 2:30.

Arielle read "From the mixed Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" to Nolan. I ate (which I'd forgotten to do until this). Then we read our TOG books.

This week we are studying Dragonflies and Damselflies in our Zoology book. I found a great book at the library with awesome photos. It's titled, "A Dazzle of Dragonflies" by Forrest L. Mitchell and James L. Lasswell. I don't agree with much of the text...but the photos are "dazzling". It compliments our science book well.

We caught a big, flying bug in a jar today. It was fun to study him and let him go. All in all a good day of school.

Tuesday Recap

Hmm....Curves.

School.

Grocery shopping.

Treated Nolan to a whole Chick Fil A shake for HIMSELF while we waited for Cy to get off work. He wasn't sure he'd like one, but agreed it was wonderful once he tasted it. ::snort::

Grabbed kids and met Trish at the park for exactly one hour. Had to sit down once because of dizziness...but did not pass out in the porta potty which has now become my biggest pregnancy fear. ::snort::

Made dinner...oven friend chicken and fries, corn on the cob, salad, fruit...

Ran to Bible Study while family ate.

Visited with a young student after study. Please do pray for her as you think of it.

Got home quite late from study and all the kids were down for the night.

Stacia woke up at 3:30 a.m.

Goals for Wednesday:
Put in produce order
School
Curves?
GET ENOUGH CALORIES IN (healthy ones)
Work on produce newsletter
Work on handouts for Homeschool 101

Menu - Week of 16 April

Fresh Fruit, Salad and Steamed Veggies @ each meal

Monday - Mac and Cheese, Tortellinis

Tuesday - shake and bake chicken, steamed green beans

Wednesday - Turkey Meatloaf, grilled corn on the cob and grilled squash

Thursday - Alice Springs Chicken (no bacon) from Cindy, steamed asparagus

Friday - Pizza

Saturday - Crustless Jarlsburg Quiche/broccoli

Sunday - dine out

Busy Day

Wow! I really got things done.

I DID pay the bills.

I DID work out at Curves...being careful to slow way, way down at the first hint of dizziness.

WE DID finish school.

I DID take a nap.

The Dr. did call back. I sort of KNEW that the receptionist should have asked more questions and worked me in sooner than the end of May...but I hate to make waves. Evidently, Dr. Laura has decided that I will be seen in April. She thinks I need care before the second trimester but isn't terribly alarmed with my symptoms. OK are you ready? THIS is what I'm to do...."take it easy", "don't drive if you feel this coming on", "rest"....since I've had 2 second warnings...this should be interesting. It could well be hormones, or anemia, or low blood sugar...I don't have other symptoms of high blood pressure so I don't think it's that. I am trying to be sure I eat every couple of hours. Isn't God funny? I've really been having trouble keeping up this eating style the last couple of weeks...but believe me it is easier that falling out of the shower. ::snort::

I sat in the van and read while Josiah took out a car on a test drive. It turns out it is owned by a past wing commander of the base.

Went with Josiah for group cap and gown photos. A mom there had just heard I was pregnant. What fun. I'm blessed not to have heard a lot of nasty comments yet. We have noted, when we lived in TX before, that people down here seem to be more accepting of big families. The further North and West we get on our moves, the more strange looks and nasty comments we get. ::snort::

Josiah and I dropped by the library and picked up more books for the next few weeks of school. I saw a few I wanted to pick up to read - but then I remembered my rather substantial spring reading thing list. LOL

All in all a good day.

SCHOOL TODAY

The younger kids and I finished up our four week study on the American Civil Rights Movement today. Chris, on SHS, posted recently that the difference she saw between Sonlight Curriculum and Tapestry of Grace was that SL was "literature based" and TOG is "history based". This helped me articulate the difference I see in the two programs. Both are GREAT programs that center on a lot of wonderful living books.... When we studied the Civil Rights with SL we had more engaging historical fiction books. I don't think we've read a single fiction counting in the grammar levels with TOG during this study. We have read some really awesome, engaging, non-fiction history books - written for younger children. *Through my Eyes* by Ruby Bridges tells the story of the year Ruby was the only black child to attend William Frantz elementary in New Orleans. This book was great. I especially loved how she brings out the role that faith played in her experiences then and now.

When I first began using TOG I really missed all our historical fiction. Now, I'm coming to really appreciate biography books. I'm also learning that sometimes those historical books distort history. ::snort::

We began a new unit in our Zoology study today. "Interesting Insects" - we shall see. I'm not totally sold on the concept.

I'm exploring new options for next year. I'm really interested in Character Quality Language Arts. I'm not sure. TOG has most of these subjects in their manual...but I like the idea of combining character studies with LA studies. I also like the programs that she's used as basis for this new program. I like it being multi-age.....not sure if I NEED it. I'm hoping to see it at the Arlington Book Fair - but it doesn't look like this vendor will be attending.

Jared has been working on 2 and 3 digit multiplication with worksheets I've made at the Math U See website. I think it's clear he'll be able to go ahead and skip ahead to fractions. Somehow he just missed that one concept in Saxon...and kept scoring high enough that I didn't flag it. Bad homeschool mommy. It happens. I've place an ad on the website of our local support group. I am about ready to simply order the fractions and alpha now so that we can begin working on the new math now.