It’s Wednesday! Yay! (What We Accomplished… Day # 31-33 8/29-8/31/11)

Apparently I’ve been slacking on the job! Of recording our daily happenings that is. Perhaps it is because I know that soon I will not be able to do it on a daily basis. Eh, perhaps.

Monday was Lee’s last day of paper route. She picked me two pretty flowers (well, there were more than two but for some reason I cannot find the photos of the others )

It’s a photo with my phone camera so it is blurry. That little flower is about the size of my thumbnail

Fox had gotten himself in a wee bit of trouble over the weekend and so I was bracing for a bad day on Monday and Tuesday but no, he was very well behaved. I tried to stay patient with him and feel I did well. That probably contributed to his good behavior.

Here’s what they got done the last three days:

Lee:
Bible: Reading (Numbers 29-30, John 20), verse (Romans 6:1-14), Mere Christianity, Mark Commentary
Math: Life of Fred Beginning Algebra (Lesson 54-56)
History/Geography: The Life of Christopher Columbus, Western Civilization (review, wrote about inventions of the 14th century)
Language Arts: Jensen’s Grammar (Lesson 64-65, Test 13), History of English Literature (Chapter 36) [she was to start Everyman this week but I will postpone it to next week, she will be done with Grammar then and can fit it in that slot]
Foreign Language: – First Form Latin (Lesson 18, introduction to lesson-worksheet 3)
Gov’t/Economics/Civics/Logic: Plutarch’s Lives, Utopia
Science: Biology (pages 57-63, vocabulary)
Composer Study: Ancient Music to Music in the Middle Ages (Gregorian chants, listened to Salve Regina, Dies Irae and a couple that we found on YouTube)

Fox:
Bible: Reading (Number 18-19, Mark 13), verse (Ephesians 6:1-2), Saints & Heroes (all of Bernard)
Math: Life of Fred PreAlgebra 2 with Economics (Chapter 23-24), Khan Academy
History/Geography: Story of the World (Chapter 38-40), Around the World in 180 Days (Antarctica, page 11 & 13, starting research on the hole in the ozone layer), What Everyone Should Know… (pages 231-233, 241-242, 249-252, 259, 262, 274-277, 311- three written narrations)
Language Arts: 30 minutes of reading (Parables from Nature, both days [he finished Otto of the Silver Hand on Friday, I believe]), Robert Frost, Hobbit (chapter 7)
Foreign Language: First Form Latin (Lesson 18, introduction to lesson-worksheet 3)
Gov’t/Economics/Civics/Logic: Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? (1/2 chapter 6)
Science: The Story Book of Science (Chapter 12, notebooking pages), The Sciences (Astronomy), Murche’s Science Reader VI (Lesson 13, vocabulary)
Penmanship: Pictures in Cursive
Composer Study: Ancient Music to Music in the Middle Ages (Gregorian chants, listened to Salve Regina, Dies Irae and a couple that we found on YouTube)

It’s been a good week. Very good. We will be doing some house sitting this week for my dear friend. It works out well since I am turning off my internet today. *GULP* I’ll be okay… I know I will…

See you tomorrow? I guess we will see!

TOS Homeschool Crew Blog Hop- Open to Everyone!

I almost forgot to link up! Just one more day!

I’m on the TOS Homeschool Crew for the second year in a row (although this is the Crew’s fourth voyage!). This year they are doing the first ever TOS Homeschool Crew Blog Hop.

Click the link above to see all the blogs that have been linked up. There is one more day to get in on this! It is open to ALL homeschooling bloggers!

Join us!

1. Please grab the blog hop button to spread the word. (just copy and paste!)

2. Please follow these blogs (they are the wonderful hosts) via Google Friend Connect.

• Glimpse of Our Life
• Our Homeschool Studio
• Our Village is a Little Different

3. Click on the blog hop button to be taken to the linky, and join in! (Please do not link up your giveaways, blog hops, etc. – These will be deleted.)

Book Review: The Betrayal by Jerry B. Jenkins

The Betrayal by Jerry B. Jenkins
ISBN: 978-1414335834
Publisher: Tyndale House
Retail: $14.99

“Detective Boone Drake has just pulled off the most massive sting in Chicago history, bringing down the heads of not only the biggest street gangs in the city but also the old crime syndicate. The story is the biggest in decades, and the Chicago Police Department must protect the key witness at all costs. Yet despite top secret plans to transfer the witness prior to his testimony before the grand jury, an attempt is made on his life.
It soon becomes apparent that someone inside the Chicago PD leaked information to the the shooter. As evidence mounts and suspicion points too close to home, Boone doesn’t know whom he can trust. An investigation reveals that the turncoat might be someone very close to him, even someone he loves—or is someone just trying to cover up corruption at the highest level of the police department? Trusting the wrong person could prove fatal.”

What an excellent book! This is the second book in the Precinct 11 series, the first being The Brotherhood. (Yea, I keep reading the seconds) Sure the scenario of dirty cops at the top being taken down by those near the bottom is overdone (what, you don’t think so?) but it depends on the whole set up of the story. I’d started to read the other books by Jenkins and never got far. They were slow in my opinion. Didn’t grab my attention. This one wasn’t much different at the start. But I was determined to stick this one out. I’m glad I did!

It could be that I prefer movies that have a lot of action in them. This is one of those books. It spans 10 days of action and suspense. I thought I had it figured out about 1/3 of the way through (but really I knew there had to be something more since I still had so much to go!) but it seemed whenever I thought I knew what was up, it was turned around.

Main characters include Boone Drake, shot and should be laying in a hospital bed recovering, Jack Keller, older cop that Boone trained under and his ideal, Pete Wade, the cop at the top, Haeley Lamonica, secretary at the Organized Crime Division and Boone’s girlfriend, Fletcher Galloway, soon to be retired chief of OCD, and a handful of others that are important to the story in ways. It starts with Boone getting the run around after he is shot- no on will tell him what’s going on. No one from his division calls or visits. It’s confusing at the start. But I think that Jenkins did well to have the reader confused as the main character was. Made it much more suspenseful.

It turns out that someone from the OCD leaked important information that got Boone shot and Haeley is arrested for conspiring with a former cop. Not just any former cop; Boone’s former partner who had lost his job for lying under oath to protect Boone. Perfect reason for him to turn against Boone and set him up for something that could have cost him his life.

I really don’t want to give anything away on this one. I think it is safe to say that you know how it ends …but I’m not going to tell you if you are right or wrong!  Good book though. I recommend it if you like action. It takes you through the steps of Jack and Boone as they sift through the information they have on Haeley being the informant to new information they gather on their own- stuff that has been deleted, omitted, or simply ignored by others.

The descriptions are done well for the most part. I was given an advanced reader copy and have never had one before. This one has some typos- missing a few words in the sentences and some strange formatting that wasn’t omitted. The formatting bit didn’t deter me from enjoying the book but the few missing words make me think I may have missed some descriptives. Or perhaps not. It was done well enough that I got the picture and kept reading it to the end.

As mentioned, I received an ARC from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review.

Goal Planning Monday: oh, yeah, I’m trying again

I’m back for another go at this

Goals from before are null and void Moving onward and forward!

I’m going to be specific in my goals and also going to be brave and put days for each of them. We’ll see if that helps.

Every day I am going to try to get back into the habit of washing dishes after use but I’m not going to put that down every day.

Monday-

• Talk to internet company; shut off…*sniff*…internet…
• Paper route done by 1:30 pm.
• All dishes washed and put away.
• Kitchen counters and floor clean.
• Lee also has a Teen Advisory Group meeting at 4pm (lol I know that will get done!).
• Read Bible.
• School done –completely- by no later than 7:30 pm.

Tuesday-

• Downstairs bathroom cleaned and downstairs vacuumed.
• All laundry folded and put away.
• Read Bible.
• School done by 1:30 pm (2 at the latest).
• Composer study (yes, this is something I feel I have to put in writing… and it’s a review item so I really HAVE to do it )

Wednesday-

• Dust, especially in the living room.
• Read Bible.
• Read some of at least two of the review books I have.
• School done by no later than 2pm.
• Evening church at 7:00 pm.

Thursday-

• Clean up dining room area (sort and organize scrapbook/Artfire supplies).
• Read Bible.
• Composer study
• School done by 1:30 pm.
• Work on additions to Artfire shop.
• Grocery shopping?

Friday-

• Read Bible.
• Composer Study
• Major weed pulling- front and back yard (mostly back)
• Window washing (Lee’s job but I must make her do it, therefore it is a goal of mine)
• Car cleaned out (another of Lee’s jobs…)
• Sidewalks and front porch swept (Fox’s job but see two up)
• Clean top of refrigerator and inside *shudder*

Saturday-

• Read Bible.
• Read more of review books. Hopefully be done with at least one so that I can…
• Post review of at least one review book.
• Clean out ‘junk’ drawers.
• Laundry.
• Make chicken enchiladas for freezer (for when my hubby comes home )

Sunday-

• Church.
• Read Bible.
• Plan for the school week ahead.
• Clean house (my chores and make sure kids do their chores).

I think that is about all I can plan for right now. Actually not too bad, just little things every day. For the most part

Book Review: Why Church Matters

Why Church Matters by Joshua Harris
ISBN: 978-1601423849
Publisher: Multnomah
Retail: $13.99

Read an excerpt here. Or read the first chapter here (it includes a bit more than the excerpt).

Church isn’t where we go, it’s who we are.

“We were never meant to live our faith in isolation. The church is the place God uses to grow us, encourage us, and use our gifts for His glory. In this honest, personal, and practical book, Joshua Harris shows you why it’s time to say yes to church and how to find the right one for you-the place where you can fall in love with the family of God.” from the back cover

I’ve never been a member of  a church. I have attended the same church for 3 years now but I am not an official member. Our pastor spoke with my dh about being a member but…we are not members. *It was a mostly mutual decision that hubby and I made.* This book is a very good book for those who are contemplating joining a church and also, I believe, for those who are set against joining.

This book talks about the wishy-washiness of many Christians. We (oh, yes, I include myself in this category) get hung up on the way the services are held or the opinions of some of the members of the church- or we simply love the music that is played (or can’t stand it!). We cannot commit to a local church because we are focusing on the wrong things. While reading this book I took some notes because this is a very good book.

In Chapter 2, Harris talks about the view God has of the church- and the view that we should have. The Church is the Bride of Christ. But what is the church? Who comprises the Church? Believers comprise the Church- it doesn’t matter where we meet but that we do meet. (Hebrews 10:25 clearly directs us to meet together) We should see the body of Christ, the Church, as Christ does: lovingly and adoringly. I cannot, without taking his words, express the importance of the Church to you in this post. When we fail to commit to a church (and the emphasis is on local) we cheat ourselves and others.

In Chapter 3, Thinking Globally, Loving Locally, Harris quotes Brian Habig and Les Wesom, authors of The Enduring Community:

All of us should concern ourselves with the challenges that face people everywhere. But that concern cannot be expressed everywhere. We demonstrate our concern by acting and living where we are.

One way to love locally is to “show your non-Christian neighbors that the new life made available through Jesus’ death and resurrection is also the foundation for a new society.” A Church does this by living the gospel. Harris points out the three things a church should do:

• Baptism (Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:4)
• The Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25)
• Discipline (Matthew 18; 1 Corinthians 5:1-9)

These three things make a church different than say a campus ministry group or a study group.

He goes on to give the main reasons why people are opposed to joining and committing to a church:

• Self-centeredness
• Prideful Independence
• Critical Spirit

All of these are bred by the world’s negative influence. As David, from New York, came to discover, we need to go to church with the view of being a ‘communer’ and not a ‘consumer’. We are not buying something, we are being given something. We need to go to church with the mindset that we are meeting God and to let His spirit work in our lives. I especially liked the comment that was made on page 50: It is easy to walk away. It is difficult to stay and let go of our selfishness, pride and criticalness. 

Harris talks about joining a church and what one should be prepared to ‘give’ when they do: obedience, of themselves, make connections with others, and then to share the passion with others outside of the church.

Chapter 5 is titled Choosing Your Church and it goes through 10 important questions to ask when contemplating joining a church. For the most part I was not surprised by his list but for a couple of questions. One of those questions is “Is this a church that is willing to kick me out?” Who wants to be kicked out!? But that is exactly what Harris is getting to, we want to do what is right but in order for the church we have chosen to be right it has to discipline. That means that if its members are doing things that are unbiblical and/or morally wrong, the church must be willing to admonish them to prevent bad associations from corrupting the rest of the church. That is one reason so many people have a problem with churches! They are not consistent, they are not really different from the world and yet they say they are.

Chapter 8 gives good advice to pray before attending a church. Always have a humble attitude. Those two things will go a long way in helping one to see a church for what it truly is. It is important to find a church that teaches, values, and lives God’s Word.

Towards the end of that chapter Harris talks about ‘tough situations’ and when one would want to leave a church. I won’t outline those here but I found them all to be sound reasons. The book ends with how to ‘rescue’ Sundays (how to prepare oneself to actually enjoy and get the most out of the day) and more encouragement to go ahead and say ‘yes’ to joining a local church.

Overall a very good book. It was a quick read but had so many good points. And biblically it is supported throughout. Only occasionally (perhaps it is only really once?) does Harris make a statement that I believe is his opinion and really cannot be backed completely by scripture. I want to give this book to my husband, to my sister, and to a few friends to read! It is good.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review from Waterbrook Multnomah. I was not required to give a positive review.

God Won’t Do It All…

Before you jump to conclusions about my title, read the entire post. There are times when He will not do it all.

Last night, as I lie in bed, I thought about this post. I wanted to jump up right then to write it but it wasn’t quite formed yet. So I slept on it. Today in my email there is a daily devotion from DaySpring on Matthew 19:26- “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” (Their focus was on “With God all things are possible”) Then it says, “Go for it! He’s got you covered… and then some.” But does he really? I know he has us ‘covered’ but I don’t think that means “Go for it!” –at least not all the time.

We know that in Matthew 7:7-8 it states “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” And also in Luke 11:9-10 we read it again.

James 4:3 “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” There are times when he will not give us what we ask for, for the reasons that are mentioned in the verse above. We want something and we are sure it is in God’s will, in his plan. But it may not be.

There was something I wanted so bad. I prayed for it and it seemed that it was in his plan. All seemed to go the way it ‘should’. But when I look back on it, I made it be part of his plan. I don’t think it was now that I have given it up. It caused me undue stress; it took me away from him and his plan; my home and family suffered because of it. Yet, I had been adamant that he had given me what I wanted because I had asked for it.

God didn’t give me a yes but (and this is what *I* believe) I was so stubborn that it was what I wanted, what I asked for, repeatedly that God let it go as it would. When I would get in a rut because of my stubbornness, I would call out to him and plead for him to release me from the troubles. Fix my problem. And he did a few times. But I came to expect it. I started to get into more troubles because I was not in line with his plans. I know that is what it was now that I look back on it.

He stopped fixing my problems.

It didn’t mean he left me or abandoned me. No. He was still beside me. But he showed me, time and again, that I was traveling my own path. Not his.

When I finally realized this, the pressure was off and he ‘held’ me. It was much like when one of my own children make a mistake and when they realize it, they need comfort. I don’t say “I told you so”. I hold them if they need it; I am there to comfort.

It was another time in my life when I realized that I must be more than just about myself. I am a selfish person so often and half of the time, I don’t realize it! I must be more careful with what I do. Must be more careful with what I ask for, what I seek, what door I knock on. Because many times God will give us what it is that we want but we must be careful to not simply ask so that we may consume it upon our lusts. That was my problem.

I’m glad that God won’t do it all…all the time.

Photos:
Fork in the Road, http://matthewtavares1.com/posts/02/personal-realignments/fork-in-the-road1/
OpenBible, http://www.parkersmillroadbaptist.org/history.html

Camera Phone Friday

So while hopping around to check out others Weekly Wrap-Ups, I saw at Hodgepodge a link up for CPF. If you check out her post, you’ll see that CPF is Camera Phone Friday. NEAT! So I dug deeper to see how it’s done.

Basically, you take photos with your camera on your phone during the week and then share them I think they use something other than what I use (since I’m going to use Live Writers photo features) but I think it’s the same idea.

I know today is Saturday, too, but I just found it! I can put these with my weekly wrap-ups from now on. Cool.

Here’s my first link up with CPF.

CPF 8.27.11 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

L-R: Playing at the water park with friends; Before church with Lee; Kids being animals at the park; My clean car!; Fox lounging before church; Flowers picked for me by Lee on her paper route; Before church with Fox. (The photos of us before church were sent to my hubby since he isn’t here. We miss him a lot!) And one that you don’t see in this collage but can see if you view slideshow is a gem hanging from my rearview mirror. It was given to me by a good friend who lives in Oregon. She has the same one hanging from her mirror.

Fun, fun fun!

Book Review: Life Everlasting

Life Everlasting by Robert Whitlow
ISBN: 978-0849943751
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Retail: $14.99

Darkness loomed, but the music--and the flickering light--persisted. Then grew stronger.
The music stopped, the room emptied, and Baxter Richardson opened his eyes for the first time in months. He should have died from his involuntary plunge off a cliff. But he's alive, and mortal danger remains. Familiar enemies stalk him. New ones hover close at hand.
Meanwhile, haunted by accusing apparitions and the tightening dragnet of criminal investigation, Baxter's wife, Rena, is losing her patience. And quite possibly her mind.
Caught in the middle of it all is Alexia Lindale, a lawyer forced to find her way through deceptive alliances, uncertain romances, and courtroom intrigue. It's a struggle of life and death...and life everlasting.

Book #2 in the Santee series, this picks up where the first book, Life Support, left off. Baxter Richardson is in a coma. Rena, his wife, is possibly losing her mind. There’s confusion about the motives of Jeffrey, Baxter’s brother, as well as his father, Ezra. Rena’s lawyer, Alex Lindale, is growing more confused by the day.

You have to read the first book in order to know what is going on! I don’t know how/why I keep picking the second in a series. This one though is quite confusing without the background from the first book.

Without having read the first book, I didn’t know what was going on when I started this book. I felt like I turned on the tv in the middle of a long movie. But the writing is done well enough that, even though I was not ‘in the loop’, I wanted to continue reading. It is an easy flowing style of writing. Even the intense scenes seemed to be mellow.

There is a definite spiritual underlying- well I suppose it isn’t even underlying. It is out in the open with Ted Morgan, the music minister for a local church, and Sarah Locklear, a nurse attending to Baxter, working through music to bring about a change in Baxter’s condition that can be called a miracle and bring glory to God. There are enough characters to keep it interesting (not quite to the point of being too much) and the relationships are interesting to watch unfold and change.

Of course I won’t tell you the ending- I’m not a spoiler (generally *wink*)- but I thought it was an okay book. I wouldn’t mind reading the first book to see what it was that I missed. On a side note, I’m not sure if I was supposed to feel pity for Rena Richardson or to dislike her but I found myself very annoyed to say the least.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review from Booksneeze. I was not required to write a positive review.

Week #6 Complete and All is Well

Phew… another week done. It feels good to say that Only 150 days of school left haha!

I will start right off and say that the Zoo field trip on Thursday was the highlight of the week. It was hot but it was fun! It’s always great to spend time with friends. Said friends left this morning to visit family and they may not make it back before we move. It is a sad thought but soon they will be ‘right next door’!

Here are a couple photos from that (the second photo is blurry but you can still see our group- minus me- the camera ‘man’ ):

Monday got us hooked on ATCs. Well, actually I think Saturday is when we got our Family Fun magazine but Monday is when we joined the ATC_Fun & ATC_World groups. Randomly we’ve been making them. Here are the ones we’ve made so far.

ATC VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Tuesday Lee saw what she thinks was a meteor and she reported it to the American Meteor Society. It was around 8:30pm and she couldn’t stop talking about it until she went to bed. It was a good day; nice kids+nice mom=good day I think school got done between 12:30 and 1pm this day.

Wednesday we finally washed the car. Of course driving Thursday almost nullified it because there was road construction toward the zoo. It was quite strange. The roads were covered with what seemed to be just gravel….but it stuck to the road.

For some reason I don’t recall yesterday, Friday, very well. I suppose nothing very exciting happened Lee passed her biology test. Fox did excellent on his Latin quiz. Both good things We didn’t go anywhere I don’t think. Fox did get to spend the night at a friends and spent some time at another friends before that. It’s getting close to when we are moving. It will be toughest for him. Oh, my friend stopped by for a “see you later” hug. We refuse to let it be “goodbye” because we will see each other again.

Today, Saturday, and the moving guy did show up (at 7:22 am) to do the surveying of our stuff. I pretty much said, “Everything goes” that way he can be overly prepared Better than last minute, “Oh, this goes, too!”

I woke up at 5:30 am with a horrid headache. It was in the middle of my brain and pressing against my skull. I immediately took some aspirin but it barely did anything. I waited a little while and then took two ibuprofen. I can still feel pressure almost 7 hours later but it is much better. I went back to bed after the guy left and slept until noon. 

So that was our week. How was yours? Click over to Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for more Weekly Wrap-Ups.

Friday, Finally Friday (What We Accomplished…Day #30 8/26/11)

I will do a Weekly Wrap-Up tomorrow but I want to get this down now before I forget.

Lee:
Bible: Reading (Numbers 28), verse (Romans 6:1-12), Mere Christianity
Math: Life of Fred Beginning Algebra (Lesson 53)
History/Geography: The Life of Christopher Columbus, Western Civilization (pages 308-310, compare/contrast 3 writers from the 14th century)
Language Arts: Jensen’s Grammar (Lesson 63)
Foreign Language: – she skipped reviewing on Thursday and took the quiz instead, earning one day of no FL
Gov’t/Economics/Civics/Logic:-
Science: Biology (Test 3- she passed!)

Fox:
Bible: Reading (Number 17), verse (Ephesians 5:1-2)
Math: Life of Fred PreAlgebra 2 with Economics (Chapter 22)
History/Geography: Story of the World (Chapter 37), Around the World in 180 Days (Antarctica, page 10)
Language Arts: 30 minutes of reading (Otto of the Silver Hand)
Foreign Language: First Form Latin (Lesson 17 Quiz)
Gov’t/Economics/Civics/Logic: Plutarch’s Lives (Solon)
Science: The Story Book of Science (Chapter 11)
Penmanship: Pictures in Cursive

Tomorrow the moving guy is coming to survey how much stuff we have to be moved. I feel like I need to have it all piled up for him…but we live here! I have everything as it always is. Well, I should not worry. It’s his job to be able to determine what there is without it being all laid out for him. He’s going to be here at 7:30 am…ugh.

Keep On Keeping On (What We Accomplished…Day #29 8/25/11- Part 2)

We went to the zoo midday with some friends today and it was great fun. There is a water park at the zoo so the kids (and moms) got wet. Good thing! It had to have been over 100*F today.

With the field trip ‘disrupting’ our day we had to start school before leaving then pick it up a bit after getting back. Today was a long day. The kids got done about 7:30pm. I’m very adamant this year with following through with our work.

I let things slide way too much last year (you know, so-and-so came to visit for a day or two at the beginning of the week, then the weather was so nice we had to be outside during the middle of the week, then we were so out of it when Fridays came around that we ended up not doing school for a week- when it was not a time we could/should have taken off). I am not a slave driver. The schedules we have are flexible. I am just firm with ‘school has to be done’.

If it takes a weekend to do a day missed, no problem (in my eyes; it’s not like I have a friend I want to spend the night with lol). If we don’t get to one “elective” subject, that’s fine- we move it to the next week. But we cannot miss an entire week at a time when it isn’t planned if there isn’t a good reason for it. Last year there was always a good reason (we wanted ice cream, so walked down to Main Street and then got sidetracked by going to the library and spent the rest of the day with reading library books [and yes, we read twaddle here –hey, no judging!]. See what I mean?

There are times it is okay to declare it an off day. Just not all the time. And I think unless it is an emergency, we are burned out, or there is a good reason, we have school. And today, since we got back so late, the kids couldn’t go the library anyway. They watched a movie and then resumed school. One thought it was ‘ridiculous’ while the other trudged through with a scowl. But it prevents them from spending their Fridays doing both Thursday and Fridays work (or *gasp* doing it on a Saturday) as well as lessening the time spent on school. At least one of them usually likes to spend time at friends on the weekend. An added motivator. Or it should be.

Anyway, I will get off of my soap box now.

Done today:

Lee:
Bible: Reading (John 19), verse (Romans 6:1-12), Mark Commentary (Chapter 5)
Math: Life of Fred Beginning Algebra (Lesson 52)
History/Geography: The Life of Christopher Columbus
Language Arts: Jensen’s Grammar (Lesson 62) –[she keeps meaning to get Roar On the Other Side in here but she feels like she has a lot to do already so I let you take it slow with that one, it is something I have planned for her to take the entire year to work on anyway]
Foreign Language: First Form Latin (Lesson 17, Quiz)
Gov’t/Economics/Civics/Logic: Utopia, - [we were going to do How to Read A Book but it got late and that is something better left when our minds are sharp, not sluggish]
Science: Biology (pages 51-54, vocabulary [tomorrow I will do review with her before her test Monday])

Fox:
Bible: Reading (Mark 12), verse (Ephesians 5:1-2), Saints & Heroes (pages 107-109)
Math: Khan Academy
History/Geography: What Everyone Should Know… (Cuban Missile Crisis, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, JFK Assassination [he’s doing make up as well as scheduled readings/written narrations]) And wanted to point out here- he has started to add in some personal thoughts in his narrations; that’s good!
Language Arts: 30 minutes of reading (Otto of the Silver Hand), Hobbit (1/2 chapter 6)
Foreign Language:-
Gov’t/Economics/Civics/Logic:- Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? (Chapter 5, narrated/discussed)
Science: Murche’s Science Reader VI (Lesson XII, vocabulary)
Penmanship: Pictures in Cursive

And I did get up this morning and make homemade biscuits and sausage gravy. It was yummy! Tomorrow I think they can have cold cereal

Field Trip! (What We Accomplished… Day #29 8/25/11- Part 1)

Today we went to the Riverside Park Zoo in Scottsbluff, NE. For some reason, my kids were elusive for the most part when I was taking photos! I did get a couple short videos though

While there were no plants that I could see that fit the above description there was plenty of sunshine pouring down on us today! We were all so sweaty! I think it was over 100*F. Interestingly to me it felt hot…but not that bad. My friend didn’t feel the same

And wouldn’t you know, the only photo of animals that I was able to take….were of cats We do like cats in our house

Oh, yes, there were ducks that the kids fed bread to and a ton of fish! The photo with the fish was after the frenzy was over and a lot had swam away.

I thought that I had plenty of room on my SD Card to take photos (and a few videos) while were at the zoo and so didn’t bother clearing it off some before leaving. I was very wrong. The above photos (plus some with my friend and her kids- which I can’t post online) are pretty much all I could take! I also took 3 videos; one of the poor hot raccoon, some birds, and the feeding fish and ducks. Oh! Here are two of Fox that I was able to get (none of Lee without my friend and her kids though- perhaps I will edit those )

Perhaps not too flattering but we’d just gotten to the zoo and it was hot! He didn’t know I was taking a photo or he may have posed And here is one of him finding his ‘real mother’. In the nest, too. Haha!

And there was Lee. That’s the only one I could find!

So our day was awesome. The zoo is fairly small and there aren’t a lot of animals but we enjoyed it very much. We saw lions and tigers…and no bears There was a critically endangered bird called the Waldrapp Ibis there. We saw various monkeys, chimpanzees (a very friendly one that smiled at us), bald eagle, turkey vulture (like we don’t see those on a regular basis in town!), a spider monkey (named Scooter), black and white colobus, a zebra, a pair of Reeve’s Muntjac, Eurasian lynx, black leopard, peacocks walking wherever they wanted, mule deer, a solitary buffalo, a giant iguana, turtles!, ducks, fish, uh, and I’m not sure what else. So, you see there was plenty to …see

I’ll update this post later with what was done during school. It was a great day! *I decided to start a new post with the days school work. This one was already quite long