Must.slow.down

I'm tired.  I wake up tired.  Of course, I get up with the hubster at 4:00am (and Julianna got me up at 2:30am running a slight temperature, so by the time I got her meds given, cup of water, different pjs, etc. it was time to get up) so no matter what time you go to bed, at that time in the morning, you are still tired. That's why I NEED the one cup Keurig thingy.  Liquid motivation mid-morning and afternoon.  See how I can justify purchases?  It's on my list for Santa and I have been good this year, so he better listen.  Man, I think I need a new camera too.  Mine went kaflooey recently.  Tells me to "change the batteries" even when it has new ones in it.  Bossy thing!  I think it has a protection plan on it, so I should check into that.  Another thing to put on the list. Oh, and I think I'd like some type of iPod radio/speaker thing.  Gosh, I don't think I've been that good.  Bummer.  *sigh*  I'm tired.  Did I say that already?

Let's see.  What did we do last week?  What didn't we do is a better question! It was a busy, busy week.  Friday was the only day we did not have a class or field trip or errand or appointment.  I didn't get out of my jammies until it was time to get ready for the ladies tea that night.  Shameful, I know.  Good thing we never have drop in guests.

Monday -  Field trip day.  We went with Tiffany (http://tlufkin.blogspot.com/) and the gang to the pumpkin farm.  We had the run of the joint.  That's the way I like it.  I'm not a huge fan of crowds.  (So, why are we thinking of going to Disney? *shudder*) The activities offered there were enjoyed by all.  The kids were going down the slides/moon bounces forward, backward, on tummies and backs. I wish I would have thought to wear dark socks on Julianna (those white ones will never be the same) and I wish I had the ability to bottle an ounce energy they have. Mercy!  Julianna said her favorite part of the day was throwing hay onto Mom while on the hayride.  Gee, thanks, kid. 

Tuesday  -  Flu mist day.  Thankfully it wasn't a shot this year.  There was still much anxiety before the visit.  She thought they were going to give her a shot up her nose despite allllllll the explanations and online videos I showed her.  When it was over she said, "Was that it?  That was kinda lame." Sheesh.  We started our unit on India.  I found instructions on how to wrap a sari, so we took a sheet and improvised.  It was cute.  I want to start lapbook on Asia now that our study of the continent is almost complete (Israel this week (which has woefully much less resources than the other countires have so far) and next week we end it with Thailand. 

 Wednesday - Julianna had her afternoon class at our umbrella school.  Dad was off, so we dropped her off and spent 2 1/2 kid free hours for the first time in 4 years that didn't include paying for a babysitter to attend a church meeting or function.  Pathetic.  We need to do more date nights, but it just gets expensive when you add in babysitter fees, dinner, blah.  We went to Target.  Up side, got a couple of J's Christmas presents, so that was a good thing.  Maybe next time we'll go grocery shopping.  We're wild and crazy like that. 

Thursday - Every month we go to a nature class for homeschoolers through our local parks and recreation department at a county nature center, Fountain Rock, http://www.frederickcountymd.gov/index.aspx?NID=2934.  We love this park.  We've done two of Julianna's birthday parties there and have spent a portion of our savings in feeding the fish, ducks and turtles in the rock quarry pond.  This class was on Stream Ecology (I'm sure my non-tree hugger being would have exploded if I were in the class, so I sat out and chatted with my fellow homies, Tiffany and Jessica (http://diaryofahsmom.blogspot.com/).  The kids eventually made their way outside to get on their stream gear (i.e. wading boots) that were, well, poor fitting on all the kids.  I have visual proof.  They sure did look cute though.  When Julianna found out that they would be exploring the creek she said, "Mom, I told you I should have worn my bathing suit." Lol  Of course, she ended up getting her ginormous boots stuck in the "quick sand" and fell in the creek.  Bottom half got the brunt of it, but she had a blast anyway.  She learned about "prayfish" (crayfish) and something called a curlie.  I need to look that one up, but she had quite a description of them, so it must be a water creature of some kind. 

Xander sporting the newest fashion of the oversized sporting goods runway.

Chanel is hoping no one see her in this fetching garb.  Julianna had to have her boots folded WAY down and they were still veeeeery big.  lol

 

 

***Be warned:  Video sound is kind of loud b/c of wind.***

Friday - Jammies day.  We did get take out Indian for dinner to celebrate the completion of our romp through India.  Was lousy.  I hate spending money for bad food.  :/  I should have made it myself, but I was too lazy.  Next time I will. 

Yawwwwn. 

60 days until Christmas!!

Jus' Sayin'

A more substantial post is coming soon.  :) 

I love lists!

I am forever making lists...now if I stick to what's on them is another post, but they will be made.  Before going on a trip (especially vacation) or planning a party, the lists will be pages long, all categorized.  What can I say? I'm a list-y kinda gal.  That said, here is our week in list form. 


***  We studied Japan this week which included making "ormagami" and learning about the capital city, "Tonokyo" (pronounced like Pinocchio with a /t/.)  We pretty much mispronounced our way all over the country. 

Julianna in a kimono we found in her dress up box.  She looks zoned out, man.  Mama's crackin' the whip too hard on this poor homeschooler.  lol



Our "ormagami" family.  I made one large one (mom) doll, then we had to add one a little smaller (big sister), then triplet babies (2 girls and a boy), then another big one (dad) and finally another set of tiny triplets (another 2 girls and a boy.) 




These are some of Julianna's origami originals.  




***  We switched our math to Singapore Early Bird Kindergarten.  I think I'm going to like it.  The beginning covers very basic concepts, but it sticks with one concept per unit with a review at the end.  The textbook is much more colorful and the activities are much more varied.  So far, so good.

***  Not homeschool related, but I made a couple awesome desserts this weekend.  Oh.My.Goodness.  Slap your mama, good.  No lie.  One was a frosting appropriately titled, "That's the Best Frosting I've Ever Had" and the other was apple dumplings that use a can of Mountain Dew in the mixture. I asked my hubster what he thought the Mt Dew did in the recipe.  His reply was, "Makes it happy."  Delicious, I'll tell you.   Ask nicely and I'll make you some. 


*** In science, we carved two of the pumpkins we got the week before.  While I cleaned the bazillion slimy seeds for roasting (which turned out quite yummy), Julianna made entries in her science journal.  She is very detail oriented when she is drawing.  She is quite observant overall and notices things that I totally miss.  It's always interesting to see what she comes up with. 

Before the pumpkin massacre began.  Poor things have no clue what's about to happen.





Julianna's reaction to pumpkin "guts"




Her narration says: "Today in science, we cut open pumpkins."


"We pulled out the seeds"


"We put the seeds in a yellow bowl."




*** Miscellaneous pics

A fall tree picture we made



Parachuting on the deck (Yes, that is a white garbage bag.  Why do you ask?)



 

Little Snippets of Happies

Happy #1: This week my honey bunches and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. I don't have a picture to post because we got married before the digital age and I'm too lazy to scan one of in, so if you'd like to see us before we'd lost our minds, I have a tiny little wallet sized picture somewhere in my purse.

Happy #2: I'm enjoying our Geography studies. We are working our way through Asia, at the moment. ("Ni Hao" from China and "Ahn Neyong Ha Seyo" from South Korea.) A lot of the information is waaay over Julianna's head, but I try to do a lot of visual representations (for the different country characteristics: religion, money, capitol city, etc.) and crafts and that seems to keep her interested. One thing we do is look up a missionary for the area we are studying and we pray for them specifically during the week after our lesson and at bedtime. I've tried to contact the missionaries, but something is wrong with the email submission on the UPCI webpage, so I don't think the messages went through (Note to self: contact the web people to see what's up.) Next week we will go to Japan.

This is a paper doll we made. (Found a great site with tons of awesome printables for range of grades. This was from the Paper Dolls from Around the World section. Loving this site! http://www.education.com/worksheets/)
Ancient Kings in South Korea used to have very ornate crowns, so we made us one of those.

Can't you feel the joy emanating through your computer screens? Feel the love, people.

Our fairy doll with crutches, in honor of Pastor Sean. (She has nothing to do with South Korea - I'm sure she was made in China - I just wanted to put her somewhere.)


Happy #3: **Cue Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" or just hum the tune along with the angels singing whilst reading the next section** These are the newest members of our family. Aren't they just beautiful? (Bad angle on the shot, I know. My laundry room isn't big enough to get a shot that does them justice.) They are soooooo quiet and they play me a happy little tune when they are done with their work. The clothes have a fun little time in the washer and dryer, but are still confined to blue IKEA bags (Yes, those are my laundry baskets. Easier to carry and they are .59 cents.) for the next day...or so. (Ha! Who am I kidding? They are lucky to be put away within the week. Most of the time we dress out of the basket. Horrible habit, I know. I hate folding and putting away. Confession time finished.)


Happy #4: For the past couple days, we have had a monarch butterfly hanging around our butterfly bushes. She is just beautiful. It's the first one I have ever seen out in nature or rather the first one I've seen while actually looking for it. I'm thinking of setting up a MB rest stop in our yard by planting flowers/plants that they like. Apparently, they will stop during their migrations. They talked about doing that in a nature class Julianna took. Sounds cool to me! I'd love to have them around.


Happy # 5: Fall! I love Fall. I love all the homey Yankee Candle scents, any food item made with pumpkin : pumpkin pies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin dump cake, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin cheesecake - I love them all! - going to the pumpkin farm, changing of the leaves, cooler days and nights, FOOTBALL, baby! Love, love, love the Fall! Plus, it's one season closer to snow!

John, the pumpkin
You can run, Dude, but you can't hide.
Excessive much? Yes, that is 6 cans each of the large pumpkin and 13 small cans. We will have pumpkin desserts this fall!

Pumpkin Patch!
The one (of two) she picked out.
Our bounty

Scolding Milo, the calf, after he tried to take a nibble of her skirt.

Happy #6: Our groovy tie dye leaves on our fall tree. They turned out really cute. Hard to tell by the pictures, but it looks cool.

Dig it, man!


Julianna "climbing" the tree. Ha!


Unhappy of the week: Julianna's first trip to Urgent Care Friday evening for a gaping wound on her chin caused by hitting it on the side of the tub...actually it was just a little one, but since the cut was "open" her doctor's office said to go to ER in case sutures were needed. Luckily they weren't. She probably won't get to go to gymnastics on Monday, which she is bummed about. My only pics are on my phone and I can't figure out how to upload from there to here, so just take my word for it, she looked quite pitiful.

Geesh, I'm a chatty Cathy tonight, so if you are still reading, it's because you love me...I love you too!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

Uncle...Mercy...I give...you win...I'm done...yes, it's been "that" kind of day. Maybe we should only do a 4 day school week. Fridays are tough due to short nights and early mornings. Glad the weekend is in sight and Dad is on his way home from work. 'Nuff said.

I think I'm a homeschool curriculum schizophrenic. I cannot seem to find what is the perfect fit for us (especially in the high level academic pursuits (i.e. phonics) we are currently navigating) which is causing high stress in my life. I am not feeling all warm and fuzzy with the A beka phonics program. It seems like a solid program. I have heard nothing but good things about it. J is bored with it. I'm bored teaching it, but I'm not sure where to go. Should I jump ahead into the higher lessons or jump clear ahead to Grade 1? For the past couple days, I pulled lessons from The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. Yesterday was fabulouso, today, we won't talk about it. I don't want phonics/reading to be a constant fight. We just went through the -an word family, why, oh, why are you guessing at the words and coming up with -at words again?!?!?! Soooundddd it ouuuuuut! Help me, Rhonda! I need one of those clear cut, organized, pretty packaged curriculum plans for the year...or a valium, whichever is in closer proximity.

Anyhoo, our week in pictures.

We studied China this week in Geography. This is our Chinese lantern.


Our Chinese Fan - 2nd attempt. I didn't read the directions clearly, so Fan #1 was a bust. It has butterflies all over it, but they aren't very clearly seen. Bottom picture is of fan and another Chinese lantern that Julianna made for the staff at the Chinese restaurant that we will be dining at tonight to celebrate the end of our China week.



Since it's Fall, we decided to make some purty coffee filter fall leaves for a tree for our window. They really turned out great. Very tie dye-ish. I'll post pics of the finished product next week (which means it won't be put together until next week.)


Our name picture Science project which was made using magnetic letters and the sun's rays. (And a couple rocks from the flower beds to hold the paper down in the windy weather.)