What a Difference a Week Makes

Lazy Sunday

This morning was one of those Sunday mornings when I felt as though I had been dragged through a knot hole on the way to church. But never mind. The family looked respectable, the service was lovely (confirmations), and I discovered I was in good company. Apparently even the Bishop's wife has been known to exclaim that she didn't even know why she went to church. This following the attempt to try and get herself and her children there, while hubby had gone on ahead. So I guess it has always been thus, when families prepare to head out to church.

Hippie Boy was ill this morning, and opted to stay home and sleep. He never does, so I didn't argue with him. I was feeling under the weather and came home to collapse into my own bed for the afternoon. I have no idea what my family did for the better part of four hours. When I awoke, Hippie Boy informed me that he felt much better, and not to worry, he had "watched church on TV at 11". He also let me know he had learned how he could become "totally ripped in just 90 days". I'm not sure what impacted him most...the service or the infomercial.

Autumn on the Mountain

View out the front windows

My lawn vacuum

Walk in the woods

Fun at the Science Museum

Great Big Bubbles

Pay no attention to the scary blue alien!

This one's for you Uncle Monopod!

Fun at the Food Show

Boo's Dream Car

Boo's Dream Date
"Hey, you're cute! Can I pinch your nose?"

Invisible Children

Ha Ha! As if! This one has never been what you'd call invisible. She's quirky, and opinionated, and full of life. We had a fun girls' night out. Very low key, since we both felt a little under the weather, and THE PLAN was to get home early and get some rest. But her hubby talked her into going out after she got home, so although old Momcat will be hitting the pillow fairly early, baby girl will be out yawning into her coffee cup while her hubby and brother-in-law catch up. Oh well...the best laid plans.

Next week we eat until we bust...food show here we come! After that we'll plan a real night out. Hopefully neither of us will be sick, and we can keep our long awaited date with Panera's and perhaps pick up a few foundation garments? Boy, do we know how to party!

What the World Eats

This is a really cool link, that I think I found first over at one of Big Mama's blog, and I have returned to it several time to linger over the photos and the corresponding information. Food for thought anyhow.

Getting Tagged...again

Well, Leisa over at Aussieopian Family tagged me. Most of you know my position on tagging, though I admit it can be fun, depending on the Meme. Since you know I don't tag, I will post the rules and my answers. If you think it looks like fun, or time lies heavy on your hands, knock yourself out. Send me a comment to let me know you did it. Or feel free to use my comment box to reveal your inner self if you don't have a blog yet. (BJ) By the way, this is a double tag. Enjoy!

First, The Middle Name Meme:

Rules: You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have. When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and to read your blog.

Christine:

C is for Cats: I know they say that in your lifetime you will never be more than 6 feet from a spider. This also true of me and cats. They are with me always, no matter where I go or what I am doing.
H is for Home: Yeah, it's true. It's my favorite hideout.
R is for Reading: Always doing it, even when I should be doing something else...like sleeping.
I is for Italian: Though I'm not, I married one and got the name. It has been a life changing experience.
S is for Sewing: Oh how I hate it, and yet I am so gosh darned good at it, and I make such cool stuff, and it saves so much money.
T is for Teacher: Well this one is just obvious.
I is for Ice Cream: Again, obvious.
N is for Naps: Love 'em.
E is for Elegant: Well, I can wish can't I?

Meme #2. This meme consists of ten questions to be answered.

1. If you could have super powers what would they be and what would you do with them? (Please feel free to be selfish, you do not have to save the world!)

The ability to maximize time and energy...and maybe go without sleep.

2. Were you to find your self stranded on an island with a CD player…it could happen…what would your top 10 blogger island discs be?

Oh, do I HAVE to listen to anything? Can't I just enjoy the peace and quiet for awhile?

3. If you were a smell what would it be?

Autumn leaves.

4. What bird would you most like to be?

Sea Gull.

5. If you were a bird who’s head would you poo on?

Hippie Boy's...just to enjoy the reaction.

6. Are there any foods that your body craves?

Ice cream. Pudding. Chocolate. Chocolate ice cream. Chocolate pudding. I see a pattern emerging.

7. What’s your favorite time of year?

Fall, when the air is crisp and the sky is brilliant blue. I like the feel of summer going, and the holidays ahead.

8. What’s your favorite time of day?

Early morning, when the sun is just coming up and the house is quiet. The smell of coffee perking is required.

9. If a rest is as good as a change which would you choose?

I don't know, I have been known to crave both. Maybe when I wake up from my rest I could find something has changed for the better? Is that wanting to have my cake and eat it too?

10. If you could have a dinner party and invite any 5 people from the past or present who would they be? (Living or deceased.)

My dinner party is for the girls I love and miss so much...

BJ Byz, as the party never really starts until she arrives.

Ann-tastic, because it's always a feast if the coffee pot is on.

Joan, because she shares what she has.

Kateri, because she turned out so well.

Melissa, because she's the real deal.

And by the way, no hate mail from family. You're family. You don't need an invitation, you know I miss you, and SOME of you can smell a party a long way off.

Boys and Girls

Boys are dreadful. They are messy and loud, and often smell bad...yet they can never seem to detect this with their own noses. Their rooms are atrocious. No matter how hard you work to give them a "place for everything", everything ends up on the floor. No matter how many times you throw open the curtains and open the window, they will close it all back up and enjoy their stinky little cave. You must remind them to shower, not leave their dirty clothes squirreled under the covers of their beds, comb their hair, wear socks.

Boys are wonderful. They are marvelously entertaining, especially when they do song and dance routines, swinging their dirty underwear in graceful circles, on the way to the laundry basket. They are comfortably companionable. They will chat if you like, or sit quietly doing their own thing for hours. You can forget they exist for awhile. They are emotionally uncomplicated...even the high strung ones.

Girls are horrid. They are intent upon making you realize that THEY ARE THERE, and in addition they want you to know what kind of mood they are in while being THERE. You can never, ever forget they exist. Even if they are in another room with the door closed, even if they are asleep, you are always aware of their simmering presence. They are in general, potentially as smelly as any boy, but mercifully they begin to obsess about what others think, right around the time they become most ripe. Then they disdainfully look down their noses at their smelly brothers, and smelly boy rooms.

Girls are great. They might be moody, and irritable...but they understand when Mom is too. They understand the nuances of life, when boys just stand there saying, "What?!" They grow up and become friends who understand you, who worry about you, who pamper and indulge you now and then. They never patronize you, because of course they are still a little afraid of you. They do favors for you that no one else will do...partly because they love you, and partly because they are still a little afraid of you.

So the conclusion of the whole matter is this. A few of each is nice. I would even consider collecting more of these people over time...children, grandchildren. But as far as men go, well that's another post altogether. I hope the one I have lasts a good long time, because I don't ever want another one of them. If ever I found myself single, I would just begin collecting cats.

Teaching Textbooks

I was reorganizing my labels for older posts recently, and realized that I didn't have any posts dealing directly with homeschooling. So here is my first one. Today I am going to do a plug for Teaching Textbooks which is some of the pricier yet best curriculum we buy. It is a Math curriculum specifically designed for homeschoolers, and it began with the high school Maths, but now includes junior high levels as well. The first text we bought was Algebra 1, because another curriculum we had purchased just wasn't cutting it. With this other curriculum, our daughter took a whole year of Algebra, passed, but learned little. She frequently found herself lost and confused...looking at an answer key, knowing her answer was incorrect, but unsure why. I read a review of Teaching Textbooks and although it was more than I would normally spend for a single subject, I decided to take the risk.

The package includes a textbook with each day's lesson written out, with practice problems and homework problems. There is also a test book and answer key. But the best part is a set of CD's for your computer, that "teach" the lesson each day. It is put together by the Sabouri brothers, Greg and Shawn, and although I'm not sure who does the teaching, I feel like I know him after hearing his voice almost daily for the last two years. The guy teaches this stuff in a way that makes me wish I could have learned Math from him. I might have actually learned something! His manner is engaging and even entertaining at times...but always clear as a bell when it comes to the concept. At the same time he lectures, the lesson is written out on your computer screen, step by step, like a teacher at the board. In addition, the CD's also have a full breakdown and explanation of every practice problem, homework problem, and even test problem, done in the same manner. So there will never be a time your student can say, "I know I got this wrong, but I don't know why."

I am convinced it is a nearly no-fail curriculum if it is done faithfully, the way it was designed to be used. Best of all, it does not require Mom or Dad to relearn the higher Maths just to limp through with their scholar, though you my find yourself relearning them alongside your student! Our son, who would be an eighth grader this year, has completed Algebra 1 and 2, and is currently doing the Geometry curriculum. He has found all three to be excellent, and plans to continue to use this program. And although the material is not cheap, this quality program is well worth the cost, plus the material is nonconsumable and may be reused with any number of students.

Finally, I would mention that the approach the Sabouri brothers take is holistic, in that they teach the history and philosophy attached to Math, plus they teach much about real life application of the principles being learned. This may engage a student who would not otherwise be enamored with Math. The materials are user friendly, even for the computer challenged. The lessons run directly from the CD's, thus you can work from virtually any computer, and you are not required to load huge "space eating" programs on your computer. This offers flexibility and portability that homeschoolers just love. In every way, it is an excellent program, well worth the money, and I can't even think of a way to improve it!