Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Naturalist, Sharks, Spec Ed question

We have really enjoyed reading The Flower Hunter , by Deborah Kogan Ray this week. Deborah tells the story of William Bartram, America's first naturalist using his journals, maps and drawings. The end of the book has a bibliography, biographical notes and a list of Bartram's plant discoveries. The book also contains an engraving by William Bartram. "Billy's" father, John Bartram, was His Majesty's Botanist to North America, making him America's first Botanist. Benjamin Franklin was a close friend of the family.

If you are studying Colonial America, Botany, or Nature Studies this book would make a great addition to your study. I would imagine American libraries would carry it.

In the science world these facts amused us: "Last year, worldwide, 3 people died due to shark attacks; in comparison, 150 people died from coconut strikes, 200 people died due to elephants, and 2 million people died from not washing their hands and contracting bacterial diseases." (Exploring Creation with Zoology p 110) Swimming in the ocean is much safer than eating. ::snort::

Zander had trouble with recalling sounds in, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and so today I simply went to the list of sounds in the front of the book. He nailed them all.....but again had trouble with them in the lesson. In the list there are NO helps - just the letter. I wonder if the arrows, pictures and such distract him? Anyone with a child with sensory issues on the spectrum had experience with this? The good news is that now he's obsessing over learning to read, excited about it, and now we're finally learning to read. I told him he had to finish 1st grade this year. I'm ready to move on. ::snort::

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Wednesday Already?

The pace DID slow down after this weekend.

The Chaplain Spouses started our week with breakfast together, hosted by our Wing Chaplain's Wife. I do wish each chaplain's wife could be blessed with support like Annette, but since we aren't....I'm thrilled God saw fit to give her to us! ::grin::

I worked on and finished two more PORFs for regional travel. It would appear I'm really going to be traveling a lot in the near future. This caused me great angst. I do NOT love looking for airline tickets...and it's only harder when I have no clue when I'll be able to BUY the tickets. I hope I guessed amounts right. I went with the mid-high price tickets, as the cheap ones may be gone when we get approval.

This reminds me that I need to book a ticket for Nate, the GREAT, who is going to watch the kids for a couple of weeks in March.

I started the selection process with our local PWOC board. They requested I help their team.

I wrote a President's Letter for PWOC. Go check out Asia Region's Blog, find a post and leave a comment...even if you aren't PWOC. Tell Lauren what a great job she's done. It's very warm and welcoming. I love my tab....I didn't want "President," because I didn't. ::blush:: So she made me a tab that says, "What's De'Etta Up To?" I keep hoping the answer will be up there one of these days. ::snort::

We've gotten three days of school done, piano lessons, drama and Japanese lessons.

I've loved Polish Pottery for years but couldn't see spending so much for plates. Then Windy and Annette both told me they USE their Polish Pottery and it holds up well. Our BX doesn't often carry it. At the spouse breakfast everyone was talking about the pottery over at the BX. After breakfast I found 4 plates. I was shocked at the price. Renee assured me mismatched is the rage. ::snort:: I decided I'd buy the 4 plates they have and see how they old up. THEN I remembered I had three electric blue plates which haven't broken (3/16).

From 2010-01-27
From 2010-01-27

I baked bread today - *Hamburger Buns for our BBQ Chicken Sandwiches. This is HUGE...baking bread signifies that I'm HOME, I've SETTLED, a new ROUTINE is established (as scattered as it is). ::snort::
From 2010-01-27

*I can't believe the recipe isn't on the blog. I'll have to fix that some day soon. It's a good week....and it's over 1/2 over. OH, an exercise began today...that should make the rest of the week interesting.....and....and....:::drum roll::

My college friend, Kim, and her little girl are coming up this weekend from Tokyo. I can't wait to see them.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...