Cutest Blog on the Block

For those of you using readers -- I updated my blog. Now I've got the cutest blog on the block. ;)

Thanks to those over at Cutest Blog on the Block for the free stuff!

What are Grandmothers Good For?

Snuggling!! Exactly.

Look at Danielle's face... pure happiness!

Thanks Mom for loving the kiddos!

5 Words

My on-line friend Melissa -- not to be confused with Melissa who needs to update her blog -- sent out a TAKE 5 challenge.

Since I am getting back into the blogging swing of things, I thought perhaps this would be a good challenge to accept.

Here we go.

The rules:

Melissa got 5 words from another blogger and she did a post about the words she was given. She then offered to give 5 words to someone else. I thought it would be fun, so now I'm going to post on the five words she gave me. If you want to join in, tell me in the comments and I'll send you your own five words! (I am the cut and paste queen... just so you know, I did NOT make up those rules.)

1. Friends

I LOVE friends. I have recently decided that having friends into my home and my life is important to my well being. I asked my dear husband if we could practice hospitality once a month this year. So far we have done that by having friends over from church after our morning servcie, for lunch. A few months we opened our house up to the ProTeens group from church. This summer I used the pool as an excuse to have friends over. Often on Fridays friends came to swim.

Oh... another FUN friends thing is that 2 of our kids got to have a FRIENDS party this year. Our policy is that the kiddos get to have a "friends" party when they turn 6, 10, and 16. Well -- Dani turned 6, and Mansel turned 10 this year. Friends parties are fun... every once in a while.

I want to find a different way to focus on friends this year. We will be getting to see MORE of our home school friends this year since we have re-joined their co-op. 2 times a month and more if we do any extra activities with them.

Oh AND!! How can I forget? I get to go to ladies Bible Study this year. Third Thursday of the month. I went to the first one already. My friends gathered there... I think I wore out my welcome. It was 10:00 p.m. when I left. I stepped off the porch laughing and chatting -- at the same time -- really loudly... and someone poked me and reminded me that I was NOT in the boonies... some one may be sleeping. That's what friends are for -- a poke in the side every once in a while!

2. Bargain

Oh for crying out loud... what do I know about bargains? I do know that if you clothes shop the season ahead for you kids, you should do so in January and July. Isn't that crazy? In the middle of winter the clothes go on sale and they start putting the summer clothes out. I LOVE the Monster sales at The Children's Place in January and July. It's a great place to get matching clothes for the younger kids. Tori has out grown that store now. It seems they are having a 25% off sale right now... but just hold out a bit longer. It gets better in January.

Other bargains?

My husband seems to be the bargain hunter in this household. He bought a swimming pool off of Craig's List for $500 this spring -- a bunch of stuff included... then he sold the heater for $250. Not a bad deal. Who knew we would need the heater in the 25th coldest summer in the last 115 years? Live and learn. One friend came over and swam this summer and the pool was only warm once. The rest of the time we sat and chatted while the kids did the polar plunge. They didn't seem to mind. It was still a bargain... no matter how you look at it.

3. School

Hmm... I wonder if Melissa remembers that we home educate our children? So -- school is going well here. We are still on track. I made up a chart on Excel -- I'm loving highlighted the things that are DONE! I'm such a list maker! Milo in particular is my favorite this year. I get to read aloud a lot of his books to him. We are reading Understood Betsy right now. We were to read to page 36. I finally stopped on page 47, because it was the end of a chapter and we were in the car and it was getting too dark to read. Poor guy... it was funny watching him try to narrate back all that I had just read. I was getting carried away. I love doing school this way! We are using Ambleside On-line for the boys. Tori is REALLY doing well with her Narnia Unit Study. Dani is flying through 100 EZ lessons. We skip days because she'll do 3 lessons in one day. I knew that would happen. She'll be reading before long. :sigh: I don't really want her to grow up!

4. Faith

Faith -- it is encouraging that I'm still learning. Bible study Thursday night was about grace. Something I don't have much of. BUT... if I'm to exhale grace (to others), I need to be inhaling grace(from God!). Did I get that right Tara? Seems that just when I need this -- God delivers. Another area that I'm working on is memorizing scripture. I've decided that not only are my children going to learn their Bible verses each week -- they are going to REVIEW them each week. It really irritates me that they learn them for Sunday School, then forget them for Monday school. Blah... that's so wrong. So I'm putting them on 3x5 cards. You know I love me some 3x5 cards! Use them all the time -- run them through my printer... I punched holes in these and put rings through them... so they have little Bible Verse packets. We are going to LEARN them... write them on our hearts! While my kids are doing this -- I hope to catch a few here and there.

I'm also getting nudged in Sunday School by my pastor to KNOW the gospel so I can be able to TELL it when called upon. I really want to be able to do this. And he asked us Sunday -- were there any divine appointments in our lives this week? I sort of shrugged on the inside... then he said, "Was your husband a divine appointment?" Oh bother! There is that conviction again.

5. Kids

Oh -- look it there... she saved the best for last! I love talking about my kids. Perhaps I should have broken this up into 5 different posts. KIDDING!!

Wayne is the biggest baby 4 year old I've ever meet. OK -- that's not true. Just wait... I'm going to blog about him helping me in a few days. Oh... he is so cute... especially when he calls me "mama". I'd give him the moon if he said, "Please Mama, the moon?" Today I decided he needed a little discipline. We did some "yes ma'am training". Good grief... I only had to remind him twice and he just spit out that response for every little thing. He is the hardest for me to train -- all he has to do is look at me... with those eyes! WHY did God make the babies so cute. He KNOWS they need training. If it were me I'd make the youngest the ugly ones... so we wouldn't SPOIL them so much. You know I'm kidding.

Tori is a fun girl. I got to cut her hair this week. She is so brave. Be quiet -- I'll post pics later. LOL she is running cross country right now.. Doing fine... better then me. I saw the last place guy come running/shuffling in tonight. Tori was already in the Suburban by then. I said, "Oh -- I'm so proud of him... he comes in last every time, but still keeps on running." Tori just looked at me. DING... "Oh yeah... that's why I'm so proud of him... I can relate really well with him and that last place thing." Ü yes she never said a word. Isn't she a good girl?

Mansel is growing up. I can see peeks of him manhood every once in a while. Oh me... that makes me afeerd. Very afeerd! I've had no brothers... just one husband. I hope he knows what he is doing in the raising boys department.

Milo is growing too. I OFTEN stop him and give him a "middle child" hug. I would never want him to have that as an excuse for anything! He is precious to me. So different than I am... I love him so.

Danielle is playing soccer now. First season for this -- oh me... she is not a quitter. Her team has only 5 players. The minimum you need on the field at her level. She played a team with 8 players Saturday. That means they get no rests. Or if one of you team mates gets :nicked on the arm and he thinks he is choking" (the coaches words... not mine), you only have 4 team members on the field. She was running and running and running... and just wouldn't quit! I was so proud of her. Her coach said she is a good listener. She gets that from me. LOL KIDDING!!

Wayne... Wayne, Wayne... wait -- I started with him didn't I? Well -- you all know... he's cute. Plus I love'em.

How did i do Melissa?

Anyone else want to play? Leave a comment or two -- I think of some good words for you to blog about! Oh YES I will. Come on and play along!!

Croquet Anyone?

The kiddos learned how to play croquet while vacationing at Grandpa and Grandma's house in Loveland CO.

I'm not sure how many of the rules they will remember, or how good their skills will ever be.

I do know for sure -- they will REMEBER playing croquet at the Grandparent's house! Great memories!

AND... I got some photos I will treasure the rest of my life!

Colorado Wildlife

Up close and personal we got to see a Mother moose and her babe.

Mommy Moose and her Baby from Jennifer J. on Vimeo.

Gather the kiddos around and enjoy!

Bicycle Built for Two

Grandpa Phillips has a tandem bicycle.

Some of the kiddos really enjoy riding it with him.

Others not so much... this ride with Dani didn't last long.

But this ride... could have have gone on and on and on...

I'm so glad the kids love spending time with the grandparents!

Thanks so much grandparents!

Bicycle Built for 2 from Jennifer J. on Vimeo.

Kitties for FREE!!

Did you know you can't give away kitties on Craig's List for free? You can re-home them for a fee. What ever that means. So I put them on Craig's List -- for $.50. LOL Some fee.

I'm GIVING THESE AWAY FOR FREE HERE!!

First come first serve... don't every body rush at me at once! Hurry, hurry, hurry! You'll miss your chance if you wait any longer!

Any one want one? They are CUTE!!

Actually -- I think you need both... they need a brother to play with at your house.

Here is the photo -- they are the 2 light colored ones. They need a home.

Their MOM is a great mouser! That trait may be genetic... but don't hold me to it. I see them pouncing on things already -- I think they will be mousers... but who knows?

They are MALES... but the tamest outdoor males I've ever seen. My 5 kiddos hold them, and play with them, and put them in slings, and carry them around in their bags, and they've even been held upside down by guests. (I don't let my kids hold animals upside down). :giggle:

Oh -- another thought... if you took both of these... I just about can guarantee you wouldn't have more baby kitties for a long, long time. ;-)

So -- if you want them give my dear husband a call... he really, really wants to talk to you.

641.745.9264

Wordless Wednesday

Get a Load of This

My dear husband sent me a link to a news story yesterday. Something he thought perhaps I could do from home. Supliment the income.

Cool!

I followed the link... click here... you can follow it too.

So this morning -- I'm reading a news story -- I started a yahoo... then went to WHO TV and read about a mom with ALS, then noticed a link... looked sort of familiar, but a little bit different.

Clicked on it...(you can too) hmm... HEY!! Didn't take ME long to notice... something FISHY!

SAME story - SAME photo -- SAME name -- different town. Amazing... this lady has a twin, doing the same job, in MY TOWN!

Who do they think we are??? She twins don't have the SAME name. :duh:

Proof

Proof that Tori CAN smile for pictures. °Ü° She had been saving her $$ for an iPod touch. Our birthday $$ to her was going to put her over the top. So -- instead of making her wait... I went ahead and bought one and surprised her with it for her birthday. Woo Hoo!!! She was excited. How could I tell? Well just look at that smile!

She is a very subdued girl. It took me a while to figure that out. But that million dollar smile... if you get to glimpse that, then you know exactly how she is feeling!

She had fun with that using Grandpa's wireless internet while we were on vacation. She's cheap (like her mother) and downloaded a bunch of free stuff. LOL Funny.

Anyone else have an iPod touch? Do you ever use it for anything useful? Got any hints?

Colorado Skies

These are a few pics I snapped on our way to Loveland CO this summer.

It seemed to me that from day to day the mountains changed. One could live there a lifetime and not be weary of seeing the mountians and the sky that frame them.

These photos were all taken on the drive westward in a span of 30 minutes. God's creation is BEAUTIFUL!

It would be even better if we hadn't strung those wires on poles all along the way.

Just LOOK at those skies... Amazing!

I'm ready to go back.

Why must everything be underlined? I don't even have that option while I'm blogging... what am I doing wrong?

Rule of 10

I got challenged today. Here is a post about the Rule of 10. I'm going to try this for 1 week.

Anyone else doing this?

Um...

Monday I'll be back on-line. Woo Hoo!!! I can SMELL a new blog coming on...

So... I was running at the track today

Oh alright already -- I wasn't really running. It just sounds so much better to say running instead of shuffling. Be kind to the old lady.

I was running at the track today and a man stopped me and said, "You don't know me from Adam, but did you know there was an attempted child abduction in the park this week here in town."

Ahhhh!!! My kids were scattered all around me... 2 in the bleachers... one by the gate... 1 running behind... well in front of me really.

Yeah right... what are you? Some kind of weirdo? Grow up -- this is Knoxville... teeny weeny Knoxville. I come here all the time -- who would want attempt to abduct my child anyway? Well -- now that you think about it -- they are kind of cute from far away. Sometimes they stink up close...

So I hollar at my kiddos and say, "Keep up with me if you can." GROAN!! Oh... stop yer moanin'. I'm trying to save your hide from an abduction you loons. OK, OK... you can go sit in the middle of the football field while I run around you. Mansel said, "How is that better... they are still very far away?"

Who knows? But I could probably identify the abductors if they ran all the way across the football field while attempting to abduct my child from me.... then I could chase them down as they were trying to flee with said child... since I would be running childless -- I could probably catch them. Maybe.

The kind man had in the mean time lapped me. (Sigh) That happens often while I'm running at the track. So you see... I'm not really running am I? I really am shuffling -- but, oh never mind. Anyway... the kind man said, "Well -- I'm done for the day. I'm Steve Funk, b.t.w. Blah, blah, blah... we chatted some more, but I don't remember it word for word." He did mention that he was a police man from Indianola. I thought as he left... either he is really nice, or really weird. I think I'll google him. Guess what? He really is Deputy Steve Funk from Indianola. Go figure. AND... there really was an attempted child abduction in Knoxville this week -- per this news article on the KNIA/KRLS web-site.

Scary times we live in... bummer... I was living in my never never land... never happen in Knoxville. Now I have to join the parnoids out there. Sigh.

I was really encouraged that a police lapped me actually. I would feel safe if I lived in Indianola. Thank You Steve Funk!

More Ambleside Online

Mansel will be starting year 4. I did year 4 with Tori... she didn't like it much. Mansel is a much different reader than she is. He is already looking forward to starting the school year. His most favorite classes this year were science, in which I had him read and narrate to me out of a reader, and literature... more reading of course.

So -- he will read the following books.

History

This Country of Ours by HE Marshall Charles I-George III
** ***George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster 349 pages
(optional extra) ***An Island Story ch 95 and 96, 1760-1820, George III; Free Audio at Librivox Part 1, Part 2.

History Tales and/or Biography

Trial and Triumph (Church history from a definite Protestant perspective) by Richard Hannula (selected chapters) Read a sample excerpt or purchase the book. Now online Descriptions of some trials of the Christians may be intense; parents should preview chapters to determine suitablity based on their children's sensitivities. If you prefer, you can cover church history in Years 7-9 with a different book, Saints and Heroes.
* Poor Richard by James Daugherty
** *** Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober (note).

Geography

Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling (Mississippi River Page) (map or map) Beautiful Feet sells a set of maps for the Holling books, do a search for Holling Maps

Natural History

The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (a 1911 version is online in various formats here)

Science

We are skipping out on Ambleside Online science books. I'm going to start the boys on the Apologia Science experience. Exploring Creation with Astronomy. With it we are going to use the Lapbook CD that is available. I'm sensing a science fair project coming on. Eventually all the littles will be doing this science together. In 7th or 8th grade I'll switch to the "grown up" version of Apologia for their science.

Mathematics

He too will be working on a worktext from Rainbow Resource. I have plans on them using Practical Math, which is not the same thing as Practical Math as seen here . I look forward to my kiddos being able to make on-the-spot, emergency recalculations for their return and reentry to the atmosphere with notepads and pencils in the days when there were no interactive computers to depend upon. You will find these books to be entirely wholesome, as well as very challenging, for your children. Your children will be drilled by lists of problems that will require them to perfect each arithmetic skill in every possible facet and type of problem in which it can be faced. Oh... I'm just kidding. It's the old fashioned way... that's for sure. It's not Saxon... that's all I'll say. LOL

Foreign Language

Not Latin, because I'm a wimp. He will just use the Spanish CD from Costco.

Literature

The Age of Fable by Thomas Bulfinch preface to 14 (Minerva-Niobe)
* ** The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (Book II, The Further Adventures, is not scheduled and is not included in most versions)
** *** Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
*** The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
short works:
*** The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (listen to it on librivox.org)
*** Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (listen to it on librivox; scroll down)
*** Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving (listen to it on librivox.org; scroll down)

I'm so looking forward to Mansel's school year. I think he will like it too. You know what I did? With Tori she read Kon-Tiki... well -- the AO ladies have taken that out of the schedule for some reason. I'm going to have Mansel read it. I think he will like it. So -- he'll also being reading that too.

Handing writing of course, and spelling.

I've got my schedule on the computer... our days off all planned out. We are going to be doing a 4 day school week, with Fridays reserved for appointments, or Home School Co-op Activity Days.

As always -- the beginning of the school year is so exciting for me. I'm really looking forward to this school year. I'm learning that we doing all have to do school the same way. Tori is going to do one thing, the boys another thing.

Oh -- I can't forget Dani. She's starting school this year. More to come.

Ambleside Online

Mansel and Milo will be doing school the Ambleside Online way. I'm looking forward to this.

Ambleside Online.

Here is what their web-site says. "Ambleside Online is a free curriculum designed to be as close as possible to the curriculum that Charlotte Mason used in her own PNEU schools. Our goal is to be true to Charlotte Mason's high literary standards. Ambleside Online uses the highest quality books and costs no more than the cost of texts."

So -- with the help of Rainbow Resource... we are on our way. I only had to get 3 books from Amazon, for Mansel. That Rainbow Resource is spectacular! Hooray.

Milo will be doing year 2. I know... I should probably start him with year 1, but I'm not going to. He's going to be in 2nd grade, so we'll start with year 2. I'll be doing most of his reading. But he will have some to read on his own as well, and narrate back to me. I love that part!

History

An Island Story by HE Marshall ch 22-60 1066-1553, Harold II-Edward VI, (Our Island Story is the same book) Free Audio at Librivox Part 1, Part 2.

This Country of Ours (TCOO) by HE Marshall ch 1-5
A Child's History of the World by Virgil Hillyer ch 47 on Charlemaigne, skip Alfred - ch 61

History Tales and/or Biography

Trial and Triumph (Church history from a definite Protestant perspective) by Richard Hannula (selected chapters)

* ** The Little Duke by Charlotte Yonge (An author CM used in the PNEU curriculum. This is a lively, literary biography of Richard, Duke of Normandy, great-grandfather of William the Conqueror, beginning in 943 AD. Yonge's historical information about events of the Viking era is meticulously researched, although presented in a somewhat Victorian tone.) Text also here.
*** Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley

Geography

Tree in the Trail by Holling C. Holling -- map)
Seabird by Holling C. Holling

Natural History/Science

The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (a 1911 version is online in various formats here)
* ** The Burgess Animal Book for Children by Thornton Burgess See Kelly Kenar's taxonomy key to research more about the animals in the book
*** Pagoo by Holling C Holling

Phonics/Reading Instruction

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Engelmann, Haddox and Bruner. Milo will be finished with this in 2 more lessons, I believe. Then we go on from there with Pathway Readers. I may pick up some explode the code workbooks. We'll see.

Mathematics

Math Worktext from Rainbow Resource!

Foreign Language

A Spanish CD we got from COSTCO.

Literature

Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb
Pilgrim's Progress Book 1 (Christian's Journey) by John Bunyan - the original language is recommended; read why and see recommended versions here.
* Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (published as "Betsy" in the UK)
** The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (we recommend the edition illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard)
*** Robin Hood by Howard Pyle (this book may be continued into the summer if necessary to finish) Don't let the language put you off this book. After getting a feel for the rhythym and phrases, many moms report that this is a favorite with their children, especially boys. It can be the book that helps transition children to some other challenging AO books. Now available as an unabridged audio with British accent from Audible.com.

Milo will also continue using the Getting-Dubay handwriting curriculum.

He will be using the Spelling CD for his grade as well.

Bible we will all do together with Dad. We are still working on our Bible Curriculum from Landmark Freedom Baptist. Working through Proverbs together.

Dani Starts school This Year

She is SO excited!!

100 EZ Lessons

and

Italic Getty-Dubay workbook

and

A Math Workbook from Costco.

There ya have it.

Do you like to read about school?

Here is what I have planned for school this year.

Tori - 8th grade.

F.U.F.I. I hate acronymns. LOL Ok... well -- hate is a very strong word. Good grief... don't google that one. Bleck. Anyway. Further Up and Further In This is what Tori will be using for her 8th grade year. The web-site says this... "This rich study is based on C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. It covers a wide range of subjects, including English and literature, history and social studies, geography, science, Bible and character building, cooking, and art."

Tori and I have been struggling with SAXON Math. I mentioned this to a friend. She recommended KEYS TO series. She had one of her kiddos do those for a while and really nailed those math facts. I've decided that I don't really like the "spiral" approach to math. Or the Incremental method. I want the learn this and practice it until you get it, then we'll go on. No merry-go-round stuff for us. We are taking a year off from the packaged "stuff" and going to go with the Keys To Series. We are going to STICK this math and get it. Really get it. Then start highschool math stuff in 9th grade.

She'll also still do handwriting. After 7 years of handwriting, she thought she was done. Ahh ha ha ha! Fooled her. I found this neat book in my Rainbow Resource Catalog. That catalog is a GOD SEND b.t.w. Wowza... what took me so long to find that? It's amazing. OK -- back on track. Character Italics. They use the Getty-Dubay Italic handwriting, but have "character" stuff in it. It's for 5th graders... just don't tell Tori. She'll never know. OK -- she can read... maybe I'll embelish her workbook with stickers or something, before I give it to her.

Bible she will be doing her ProTeen memory work and daily Mana book. b.t.w. if there are any local teens out there... well - Parents of teens out there, this ProTeens is the BEST thing I have seen for teens. This is not an entertainment type deal. It gets them into God's Word. A discipleship program. Learn the Word. Figure out how to apply it to your life. Memorize scripture. Serve others. I really like it. Earn points through out the year. Tori has learned a lot and grown tremendously. Of course... you only get as much out as you put in. But there aren't any crazy games, and wild parties... just God's word. They call the youth group ProTeens... they also meet once a month. Do after game activities together. But the emphasis is not on entertainment with this group. I truly love it for my kids!

She will still be doing spelling as well. I've got a spelling CD we got from Costco. We go all out for our kiddos, I tell ya. It has several grades on one CD. She'll be thrilled. (Not really). I've noticed her spelling has gotten better the older she gets and the more she cares about it. We really struggled for a while. She's getting there. So -- we are still going to do spelling... even in 8th grade.

That's it... the basics.

More tomorrow -- that'll be the Ambleside Online stuff. I need a new word. How many times did I use the word stuff in this post. Probably 1 too many.

Did I tell you about the Pool?

Dan found a pool on craig's list. (Love that list). $500. It's about 20 years old. So the folks took it down... we took all their stuff... and put it back up in our yard. Sounds easy enough.

SNORT!! Oh wow... did I just snort?

It was HARD WORK! Dan prepared the ground... it the hottest part of the summer. Crazy... since it is now August and it hasn't been as hot as it was in those 2 weeks in May. Someone mentioned to us that it is our fault it has been cool this summer. We put up a pool. Funny.

So here it is -- the finished product. It came with a heater... but we sold it. Yeah, silly I know... who knew we would need a HEATER in JUNE!!??!! He sold it for $250. Made that pool a bit cheaper. We did buy a new liner... but hey -- very cheap permanent pool.

We fed our friends who came to help, us on memorial day. I think we still owe them a meal or two... they worked HARD. And it rained while they were there. We just kept on working.

I've got proof... see my hair? It's been rained on. I'm so glad Necole is still smiling... this was at the end of the day.

I seem to have gotten the photos out of order... Here we were working on putting in the liner. It was the next day. The hard part was putting up that crazy wall. Well - the really hard part was leveling the hard clay underneath the pool. Well -- the really, really hard part was installing those cement blocks that the uprights stand on and getting them all level and the right distance apart.

But -- all's well that ends well... reminds me of a story. I'll be back soon to talk about Shakespeare... a few of us will be doing Ambleside Online for school this year. I'm so excited... I just can't hide it... reminds me of a song.

I'm Collecting

Vacation is a good time to collect new photos. I can't wait to blog 'em!!