Reflections of a mother of seven... on a life of faith, homeschooling, adopting the older child, adopting the medically fragile child, and other utterly exhausting endeavors.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Lazy Sunday
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.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
Monday, October 8, 2007
Invisible Children
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!
Saturday, October 6, 2007
What the World Eats
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Getting Tagged...again
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Boys and Girls
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.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Teaching Textbooks
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!