I see people posting all the time about all the amazing things they do in their homeschooling weeks.  I seem to not post so  much about that.  Our weeks seem so busy that I fill up my posts with pictures of things we have done.

This week was busy.  Keilee had a dentist appointment, we had to do our once monthly grocery shopping [well I do buy groceries other times but once a month I buy ‘BIG’ groceries], we had Co-op, a friend came and spent the day with Keilee and more.

We spent a few hours in the closet.  Spring in Alabama means Tornadoes.  I have lived most of my life here, tornadoes have never bothered me.  Until April 27, 2011.  The day that forever changed the way I, and so many other Alabamians look at tornadoes.  Now they make me a bit nervous.  After a couple of hours all the bad weather passed.

1.  Best friends at Co-op.  Keilee and I both love this group of girls so much.
2. Keeping up with the weather via iPad.  In the closet.
3. I ordered Keilee Snap Circuits after reading all the great reviews from all of you. She LOVES them.
4. Giving Nomad a hug after the tornadoes had passed.  We were all 3 in a small hall closet.

Our neighbor had a man mowing her yard and THIS flew out of the blower.  Keilee took it and put it in a box with grass.  He seemed fine, just scared to death.  She then called her Vet office and they told her to put it in the yard and see if it hopped off.  She had to do a photo shoot with it first.  And of course she wanted to keep it.

The trailer for Space Warriors came out this week!  This is the movie that Keilee was in as an extra all last summer.  SHE was IN THE TRAILER!  We were so excited.  She is at about .06 seconds and .13 seconds.  This is a scene at the welcoming ceremony at Space Camp.  If you pause it at .13 you can see Josh Lucas speaking and BooBoo Stewart and Thomas Horn.  Keilee is in the blue shirt on the left next to the girl with the red shirt.  The first thing is a picture I took of the video when you can see her.

Here is the trailer.

Also “Little Josephine” premieres next Thursday.  This is a short film that will be shown in film festivals worldwide.  Keilee plays Amaya, the fairy.

The funny thing about these 2 events is that the premieres are on THE SAME DAY!  April 25th.  Keilee said, “Oh my gosh I have been in 2 movies my entire life and they both premiere on the same day”.  We can see Space Warriors in the theater though.  So we will be walking the red carpet for “Little Josephine” [Just kidding, no red carpet will be there, I don’t think]

Wednesday we spent the day at a local park for Keilee to film her video for “7 Cool Homeschoolers”.  She had planned it all out the night before.  She took the lyrics and wrote exactly where she wanted to film each part and different things she wanted to do.  She is VERY good at this sort of thing.  Her friend Kayla was over and went with us.  We both felt like Production Assistants dragging Keilee’s things around.  Because of course she changed clothes…and boots! 🙂

This week was “Music Video”.  She actually had a hard time finding a popular song she liked with no ‘bad’ words and no suggestive lyrics. Sad… Here is her video.

Favorite Photo of the Week:
We went on a Wildflower walk.  Keilee didn’t even want me to take her picture [“I look awful, my hair, blah blah] and I LOVED this one.

Favorite Homeschool Things:

• Snap Circuits  This is the kit I got.  There are several to choose from.
• Kno books [I had a coupon for $10 and used it to get “Ecology” for the iPad.] These are VERY interactive books that you can even write in.  You actually ‘rent’ the books for 12 months.  The one we got was $12.99 and with the coupon I only paid $2.99 for it. So far Keilee is LOVING this!
• Ecology Crash Course
• Keilee made a Paper Dragon.  This didn’t turn out exactly like it was supposed to.  She is going to try it again.  We got this from Homeschooling Ideas.  If you haven’t signed up for this newsletter DO IT NOW.  Julie has AWESOME stuff here!!!!
• She spent an hour or so on ICivics.  I had seen this on Theresa’s site! Thanks Theresa.
• Lots of Khan Academy Algebra.  She uses the iPad app for this.  We have used Khan for YEARS.  I love it.  I just adore Salman Khan. He rocks. 🙂
• SAT daily app.  Keilee really, really likes this for some reason.  She has always had a very good vocabulary but she has started using these new words in every day conversation.
• She has been asking for Standardized tests!  She has been doing page after page of these.  More on this in a later post.
• Reading “Roanoke” on iPad.  This was a free Kindle book one day and I grabbed it for her.  She has been fascinated by the story of Roanoke since she was about 8.
• Math Apprentice  This is another site I found through who?? I can’t remember! ACK.  All I know is that all these shared resources between HS Moms are the best.
• She is reading all the Animal books she can get her hands on.  I grab these for FREE on Free Homeschool Deals.  It is also a newsletter you sign up for.  I have gotten TONS AND TONS of Kindle books here.  The Animal books are a lower level but she still gets information from them.  Thanks Jamerill!!!

So there is a look inside the life of these 2 Homeschool Girls.  I am sitting here writing this and Keilee is at her intership.  I have the TV on and am listening to the search for one of the bombers of the Boston Marathon.  They break in with information about the number of deaths in the Texas explosion.  This has been a hard week for the United States.  Please pray for everyone affected by these horrific tragedies.

Have a lovely weekend,
Homeschoooling Rocks,
Karen

“Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.” ~Leo Buscaglia

Happily linking up with
Mary at “Collage Friday“

Some weeks I just feel like I have nothing much to say.† This week is one of those weeks.† It isn’t that we didn’t do anything because there is always things going on.† I find myself taking fewer pictures than I usually do.† And 99% of them are with my iPhone.

That being said here is our week.

The BIG NEWS is I got Keilee an iPad Mini.† Now we have an iPad but we were always fighting over it.† I find myself using my iPad more and more and my PC less and less.† Her laptop had completely stopped working and it was on its last leg anyway so we talked about it and she decided she would rather have a Mini than a computer.† I tried to talk her into a regular iPad but she wanted the Mini.† She LOVES it.† This is the most expensive single thing I have ever bought her.† I was so happy that I could do this for her.† I think since it is ‘hers’ she likes it more.† She can set up Instagram and Pinterest and things like that.† She has been a PINNING FOOL this week.† She started out with 7 pins from the account she had months ago to almost 300!!

Lots and lots of play practice.† Show Week is next week and we will both be a little glad for a break.† We just always have so much going on and practice 3 nights a week is a lot.† Keilee’s role is very cute.† She is playing a very annoying wedding circulation planner.† She is also very uncomfortable in the tighter of the 2 dresses.† She NEVER wears things like this!† The boy in the picture is the same age as her!† It is so obvious that girls mature earlier than boys for the most part. 🙂

Keilee did so much artsy sort of things this week.† She goes in cycles, never picks it up for weeks and then does nothing else.

After we had sliced an avocado, Keilee looked up how to grow the pit and decided to try. We don’t really live in a warm enough climate but she still wanted to try.† We can already see changes.

Here are some snapshots of some of our week:

1.† Keilee is working on a 20th Century Lapbook. She showed me how she added her own description of Hitler.
2.† Co-op.† This has been such a positive experience for us both.† Keilee has got the best friends there and they always have such a ball.† The girls are all within 1 year of each other.† Their teacher was sick last Monday so they made a video with Video Star.† I was in the next room and all I heard was laughter and singing and talking.
3. Coding† She is working through the Computer Science classes on Khan Academy.† Very cool.† Already she is doing things I have no clue about.
4. A SteamPunk dollhouse she is working on.† This mess would have driven me crazy at one time. Now I just take deep breaths….

What we are reading:
Daily Devotion: Jesus Calling

 

 

 

Read Aloud: Wonder [Thanks Jess!]

I am reading:† I just finished the 3rd book in the “Matched” trilogy; “Reached“† I loved these books.

Now I started the final book in the “Pandemonium” trilogy; “Requiem“.† Love, love.

Keilee is reading:† “This Book is Not Good for You“† It is Book 3 in a series that she loves.† LOVES!!

Audio Book:† We are listening to “The Hobbit”

What we are watching:
Keilee found this show called “My Fair Wedding” that she likes. It’s a’ight.† I don’t love ‘wedding’ shows. † We are also watching “Castle” our favorite show and “Once Upon a Time”.† Those are really the only 2 series shows that we watch every week.† Keilee is always watching documentaries but I am not sure which ones she watched this week.† I also just got the first 2 discs of “7th Heaven” I never watched that show but we have heard or read about 3 references to it lately so I decided to check it out.

Keilee’s week:

• Khan Academy
• Lapbook of Modern History
• Art Journaling
• Lots of reading
• Lots of Pinterest
• Reading about Animals, Animals and did I mention Animals?
• Working hard on a SteamPunk dollhouse she is making out of boxes.
• Lots of Coding and Computer Science
• Working on her ideas for a new Video channel she is a part of
• Play Practice
• Working on her script for “WonderGlass”
• Watching “Mysteries In History” on Netflix [she really loves these]
• She is working through this book I got on Amazon.† I had found the Teacher workbook at a thrift store jammed full of great resources so I ordered her the book. She reads the chapter and does the questions on her own.
• At her Internship she watched a dog that was getting an abcess drained.† [Gross huh?]. She is still walking the dogs and doing lots of jobs around the clinic.† She even MOPPED the floor! She has never mopped a floor here!† She also made what we call “Doo-Doo Cookies” to take Friday.† She said they loved them.
• She has watched several Crash Course videos.† We are HUGE fans of John and Hank Green.† I love† John Green.† If you haven’t checked out their YouTube channel I would highly recommend it.† One thing I love about John Green is he is a Christian. He actually wanted to be a Minister at one point in his life.
• Knitting
• Drawing on the iPad
• Instagram.† I love Instagram.† One thing I love about it is how Keilee and I have both gotten to know my blog friends kids better.† I love seeing all of their pictures and seeing the dialogue that goes on between all these homeschooling girls all over the country.

I will leave you with a little Spring.† I am so ready for it, aren’t you?

Well I guess I had more to say than I thought.† How was your week?

Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

“March is a month of considerable frustration – it is so near spring and yet across a great deal of the country the weather is still so violent and changeable that outdoor activity in our yards seems light years away.” ~ Thalassa Cruso

Happily Linking with
Mary at “Collage Friday”
Savannah at “Homeschool Review”

One thing that has always amazed me is how, when I get an idea from a blog or article about something I want to try in our HS, I see it everywhere.† Everyone is interested in the same thing.† I don’t know if I just read like-minded bloggers or what but the sharing of ideas, resources and things that work has always been one of my favorite parts of home education. Love it!

I have been interested in Project Based Learning for some time.† I have a folder for it and the earliest information I have is from 2010.† The idea of it appeals to me, in fact in my perfect world I would gather all my favorite bloggers and friends and let our children do nothing but projects, one after another, always learning and laughing and exploring.

Keilee mainly makes her own “Weekly Plan“.† This past week was “Do a Project”

She has 2 ideas she is working on at once but the one she spent the most time with this week is a Movie on iMovie.† She is doing her version of “Wonderland”† It is called Wonder Glass.

She has spent hours this week writing a script with Scripts Pro on the iPad, doing a complete storyboard after researching storyboards and exactly what they are supposed to do, picking out costumes, writing down locations in our town where she wants to film and talking to a friend about being in her film.† She has been so ‘busy’. Don’t you love it when you kids are so busy and involved that they just don’t stop?

The Script:

The Storyboard [This is 11 pages!]

She has picked out some costume choices, she wants it to be modern age.

I am looking forward to her doing more and more of this Project Based Learning sort of things.

Another thing that has interested her this week is “Coding”† She has been a little interested in computer programing at different points in her life.† I got Scratch years ago and she programmed on it on and off.† I also have Alice which she likes.† She and I watched a video that was on FrogCreek’s site and since then she has been raring to go.† She has found a couple of apps:† “Daisy Dinosaur” and “Move the Turtle“† Also Code.org is a great place to start.† Here is the video that inspired her: [Thanks Frog Creek!!]

What I Am Watching:
Sherlock – Ok people have been telling me forever that I should watch this.† The thing that held me back is that it is only 6 episodes.† But they are 6† lovely, 1 1/2 hours each, episodes.† This is my new favorite show.† I just got consumed watching it.† I loved it so much.† Netflix Streaming, watch it now!† It is brilliant!† I promise.† When the last episode was coming to an end I was very sad.† Keilee was in her room and I screamed “I wish Sherlock would text me”† [He texts a lot].† She came into the den to ask me what was going on and I explained how the show was wrapping up and I wasn’t too happy with it.† Well about 15 minutes later I get this on my phone:
I was cracking up.† She had snuck into the den and changed her name on my phone to Sherlock, went back to her room and sent me a text.† Love her.

They made cupcakes and homemade cinnamon rolls in Co-op:
Other things in our week:
1.† Cartwheels in the street.
2.† Maggie, one of our dearest friends, needed to do a poster on Animals. [She is in Public School] and Keilee begged to help her.† They had a great afternoon and Keilee got out her Rainforest Lapbook and they used components of that.† Turned out awesome.
3.† On the way to Co-op, the blue is the Tennessee River.
4. Texas Hold Em app.† Seriously we have both spent hours on this.† So much fun!

Here is the poster:

In other news this week, Keilee got an iPhone!† She has had one for years but it functioned like an iPod.† She had a text app for texting.† Well this week my Daddy called and said to have her ready.† He picked her up and next thing I knew she was texting me.† He got her a 4S iPhone and she is loving Siri.† 🙂

Today was her 2nd day of her internship and she had a blast.† I got these texts from her.
She already has a name picked out see? Silly girl.

It is a small chance of snow tonight.† March 1st.† Like I told Jenn at Little Homeschool on the Prairie, “I will believe it when I see it”.

Happy Friday!
Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

“I think the big mistake in schools is trying to teach children anything, and by using fear as the basic motivation. Fear of getting failing grades, fear of not staying with your class, etc. Interest can produce learning on a scale compared to fear; as a nuclear explosion to a firecracker.” ~ Stanley Kubrick

Happily Linking with
Mary at “Collage Friday”
Savannah at “Hammock Tracks“

As I sat in my house on Friday, alone but for the dog, I began to think about the time when Keilee is no longer here 24/7. In a few years, this will be my life, life without her talking all the time and dancing and singing and asking questions and laughing and scattering projects and yarn and pieces of her wherever she goes.

I try to tell myself that she is barely 13 and I have many years but then I remember how quickly time passes.

She came home from the Animal Clinic full of stories, and kept remembering more and more as the days went by.  And I thought to myself how eternally grateful I am; grateful that I have had the opportunity to home educate her.  That I didn’t have to hear about things hours after they happened or not at all if she chose not to tell me.  That all those firsts were with me.  That I didn’t miss one.single.thing.

Homeschooling is not always sunshine and bonding and happy.  Some days I want to scream [and occasionally do], some days we get so frustrated with each other; this child growing into a young woman and I; some days I threaten the dreaded words “Public School” and I know she knows I would never.  Some days I worry myself sick over this Interest Led/unschooling way we have adopted.  The “What Ifs” consume me.

But…

Most days I am 100% sure that this is OUR perfect life.  These days, mostly calm and stress free, that ebb and flow.  There are few alarm clocks and deadlines and rushing.  There is learning, always learning.  We do not learn 100 new things each day, but we do learn every day.  It may not look like the school down the road but that was never my intention.  I never ever wanted to recreate school.  There are no schedules and 1 hour blocks for Science or Math.  There are no lines or lockers or mean kids or teachers who simply do not care anymore.  Our days have laughter and wonder and discovery and knowledge and amazement and moving and flitting to one thing and another.

Her interests, her passions, the things that consume her.  Animals for 4 hours? Why not?  A day of history documentaries? Well of course you can.  Playing on Webkinz or Eden or the iPad for 4 hours? Be my guest.  Read all day? Yes please.

Time is so fleeting, it passes in an instant.  I pray to cherish each one, to live in ‘this’ moment, to say “Yes” as often as I can, to walk away from the computer to play a game, or dance in the kitchen or snuggle on the couch.

This poem I wrote on April 27, 2009.  We were in our 2nd year of homeschooling.   Almost 4 years later I still feel exactly the same way.

 

I COULD

I could send her to school,
And from 8:00-3:00 have no clue
How many times she laughed,
How many times she learned,
How many times she questioned,
How many times she understood,
How many times she wanted more information,
How many times she bounced in her chair from excitement,
How many times she was proud of something she did.
I could send her to school and she could get her exercise and sunshine,
In 20 minute doses, if she had on the right shoes, and no one misbehaved and everyone was quiet.
I could send her to school
And let her eat the processed high fat, low nutrition fare they feed millions of children a day,
if she had enough time to eat and didn’t talk too loud and if no one grabbed her food.
Or..

I could homeschool her.

Yes indeed, Homeschooling DOES rock,
Karen

“You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.” ~ Clay P. Bedford

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” ~ Buddha

Notice a theme in my title?† The 2 things that are Keilee’s passions.† She got huge helpings of both this past week.

We went to a Dog Parade for Mardi Gras.† They had the cutest dogs.† Keilee begged and pleaded to take Nomad but seriously our dog is lovely and sweet alone with us but he is CRAZY in public.† So we just watched this time.† All these pictures were taken by Kei.

We just walked around downtown and saw people dressed up and smelled yummy food cooking and enjoyed the atmosphere.† Of course Keilee had to wear her tutu and mask. 🙂

Monday we were able to go to a FREE Jack Hanna show.† Keilee maneuvered her way until we were able to sit dead center on the front row.† She has lots of experience with that at church.† She insists on sitting on the front row at church and I kid her that she acts like she is going to a concert the way she pushes [nicely] her way to the front.

He brought some fascinating animals.The bird is called a Red Legged Seriema who grabs his prey and slams it against a rock.† It was SO cool to watch!† Once again all pictures were by Keilee.

Kei had practice a couple of times this week.† They also had a photo shoot.† Her role is so funny and fun to play.

A publicity shot for “Little Josephine” came out and we were excited to see the photo.† I can’t wait to see how this movie turned out.

Kei crocheted some flowers to wear on her knitted headbands.† She isn’t very good at crochet.† It is funny because everyone tells her that crocheting is easier than knitting but she disagrees.

A video to share:† Keilee doing a one handed cartwheel at play practice.

 

Other things Keilee did this week included:

• We are reading “Jesus Calling“ together every morning and also “21 Teen Devotions for Girls”
• Keilee worked all week on a lapbook I got from Hands of a Child last week during their 10th Anniversary blowout sale.† It is Veterinary Science and Animal Care.† While she doesn’t want to be a Vet this has great info on animals.
• We put up a new Bird feeder.† All our feeders are in the backyard and we can’t see them from our living room.† It took about a week for the birds to discover it and about 3 days for the squirrels to find it.† The squirrels can’t reach it and we have laughed ourselves silly watching them try to get to it.† Needless to say Nomad isn’t happy about wildlife outside “HIS” window.
• We found a new game at the thrift store and have enjoyed playing.† It is called “Knowledge” It is VERY similar to Trivia Pursuit.† I spent hours and hours and hours of my life playing that game years ago. 🙂
• Keilee started a new blog about a month ago called “Teens Can Change the World“.† It coincided with her 13th birthday. :)† She has really blown me away with the topics she has written about.† Check it out if you get a chance.† She said to me, “Mom please mention it on your blog so people will maybe read it” :)† My FAVORITE post she has written is “We Allow That?“
• Vine has had an update with a BLOCKING function.† I love it, we love it.† It is so awesome to see 6 second snippets from people all over the world.† Plus Keilee has decided to get really creative in her videos.† I love anything that inspires her creativity.

And the BIG news this week is that Keilee got a phone call from the Vet that she sent the letter to.† She starts next Friday doing an internship each Friday from 8-12.† She is freakingoutjumpingupandownsquealinglikeamouse excited.† The Vet told me that she would be cleaning cages, walking dogs, giving baths among other things.† Also that she could sit in on surgeries if she wanted to.† They also do large animals and she may get the chance to go on some calls for those.† I would go with her on these visits.† I love the fact that she is just turned 13 and already being able to do these things.

The weather has been semi nice this week but a cold front is moving in with a chance of snow.† We shall see.

So there’s our week…how was yours?

Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

ìPetting, scratching, and cuddling a dog could be as soothing to the mind and heart as deep meditation and almost as good for the soul as prayer.î ~Dean Koontz

“Lots of people talk to animals…. Not very many listen, though…. That’s the problem. ” ~Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

Linking with
Mary at “Collage Friday”
Homeschool Mother’s Journal

 

As Keilee gets older we get more ‘unschooley’. Do you like that word I just made up? 🙂 I have talked to many of you about the fact that I get ‘freaked’ out at times with the ‘oh my gosh what if she doesn’t know this or that’, but those moments are coming further and farther apart.

She is so passionate about so many things that I don’t worry.† Now she isn’t passionate about every.single.thing but really….how many times have you ever had to diagram a sentence since school?

I am a firm believer that in this world we live in, this world with instant access to anything in the entire world you want to know literally at [or under] your fingertips, I shouldn’t sweat the little things.† Want to learn to knit? fish? make a cake? do an algebraic equation? quilt? learn about force and motion?† Battle of Gettysburg?† Quantum Physics? make butter? Calculus?† Go to YouTube, or TED talks, or Khan Academy or Google it.† I will bet you within 5 minutes you will be exactly where you need to be to learn ANYTHING.† You can go as deep as you want into the Rabbit hole.

So…here is where her rabbit holes led us this week…..

Cupcakes in Co-op class:

She finished Book 2 of the series she is reading.† She LOVES these books.† I grabbed the rest of the series on the iPad at this site.† Free.

She made a video with Video Star using “Castle on the Cloud” from Les Miserables.† This was her look for ‘the lady all in white’, I didn’t take a picture of her as Cosette.

Here is the Video:

She got this book from Amazon.† It has been in my Cart for 8 months…at least.† It wasn’t the cheapest book, but it is glorious for my animal loving girl.† She was giddy.† She has spent hours and hours reading and sharing information with me.

She decided to do a poster on Animals after seeing the awesome poster that Lauren, Susan’s daughter over at “Learning All the Time” did.

She got contacts this week!† The first of January she learned that she needed glasses all the time.† She has noticed a huge difference with and without them so I told her I would get her contacts.† I remember getting them when I was 15.† I wanted them so badly.† She went, got fitted and has worn them every day with zero problem.† I am so proud of her.

She decided to make a report on New York City which morphed in New York in general.† She did the poster and then made a Power Point presentation on the iPad.

Here are some shots from the PP presentation [For some reason I had her ‘decorated’ hand in both collages…oh well. 🙂

She also called 2 Vet clinics about volunteering.† Then she sat down and wrote a letter to one of the doctors about why she wanted to volunteer.† She is so passionate about animals.† I don’t think I had passions at 13.

We met friends for dinner since one of our friends is moving to Texas for a few months. Keilee had to ham it up when she saw this man!

We threw our pumpkins outside to see if they will decompose and maybe we will have pumpkins next year.† They just now started decomposing!† And even then Keilee had to knock them with a brick to get them going.

Keilee is in a play, Father of the Bride.† She has a small role but the character is SO cute.† She gets to use a very thick stereotypical New Jersey accent and it should be really funny.† [Not like your lovely accent Theresa ;)]

1. Father of the Bride
2. Animal book
3. Cupcakes Keilee made for our church staff on Baptism Sunday.

What we are watching on Netflix/ Streaming and DVD’s

1. The Mentalist, Season 4 [I LOVE Patrick Jane.† LOVE HIM]
2. Dog Decoded: Nova
3. National Geographic Explorer/25 Years
4. Animal Atlas – Animal Mysteries

Apps we are playing:

1.† Backgammon [We have spent many an hour playing this game.† I was so glad to teach††† Kei how to play]
2.† Family Feud& Friends[Thanks Jenn!]
3. Line Runner [I STINK at this, Kei isn’t that much better :)]
4.† Geared HD
5. Starry Sky [Very fun and educational, Kei is MUCH better at this than I am]
6.† Ruzzle
7. Bad Piggies
8. IDaft
9. Vine [A word about Vine, it is all the rage and it has great potential but it needs work.† It is made by Twitter and basically similar to Instagram but you post 6 second videos.† The problem is there is NO blocking and there is Porn on there.† I have a feeling they will be making changes very soon and Keilee does have an account but she is never allowed on there unless I check it first to see what the ‘Activity’ has been.† I am HomeschoolGirls and she is Keilee

So all in all a great week for us both.† I am so ready for Spring even though we didn’t get snow.† I wouldn’t mind one little snow, around 4″, that lasts about 24 hours.† 🙂

Hope your week has been awesome,

Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

“This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”† The Matrix

Linking with
Mary at “Collage Friday”

 

Stan, my boss, has been trying to get Keilee and I to come to New Orleans for 2 years.† I had told Keilee that I would take her for her 13th birthday and after a tough 6 months we were ready for an adventure.

Stan is filming a movie and told Kei that she could get an extra role.† We decided to take the train.† We both have ridden a train for a 3 hour tour [why am I humming Gilligan’s Island now?] but this was a 7 1/2 hour trip.We packed way too much, got Daddy to take us to Birmingham and hopped on.

WARNING: This post will have WAY too many pictures but you just can’t go to New Orleans without taking tons of pictures.

The trip down:† The train ride was wonderful.† We rode Coach but had plenty of room.† We packed our lunch and spent the trip playing cards, watching DVD’s, reading and just laughing and talking.† It was so awesome to just watch the towns and states go by.

We got there around 7:30.† Stan had a Production meeting and he sent a driver!† We got† off the train to see a man dressed in a suit holding a sign that said, “Karen and Keilee”.† He loaded our bags into his Lincoln Town Car and off we went.† The hotel was beautiful.† It was a Westin and Stan had gotten a room for the film and wasn’t using it. This is one of the main reasons we were able to go. FREE room!!† After we were settled in we just walked around and got something to eat and came back to the room.

We woke up Monday and started walking and couldn’t believe all the wonderful things we saw.† We walked almost everywhere.† We did catch the bus a couple of days when we were going too far to walk.† Stan also chauffeured us a couple of times.

Our first stop was for breakfast at Cafe du Monde.† Every.single.person that we told we were coming to NOLA said to go here for beignets.† They were delicious!!!

We saw so much street art, and performers, and musicians.† It was unlike anything I had ever seen before.

After eating we decided to explore Saint Louis Cathedral. This church has been in existence since 1727!† In mostly burned down in 1788 and was rebuilt the following year.

We stayed so busy the entire time.† Here are bits and pictures of the most interesting things we did.

WORLD WAR II MUSEUM
This was awesome.† What is so cool is that we are studying this now.† We had no clue New Orleans had this museum when we first planned our trip.† Keilee adores museums more than just about anything.† She said in her perfect world there would be a town with museum after museum after museum.† This one was spectacular.† I learned SO MUCH!

Every few feet they had little media areas with videos and audio by real people who were there during the war.† They also had tons of 7 to 9 minute videos.† It made everything so much more real to actually see and hear people talking about it.

The museum was full of older gentlemen and several of them came up to Keilee and I and told their stories.† It was just so moving.

We spent a† couple of hours of Tuesday and Thursday on the set.† Keilee had a chance to be an extra in the movie.† They were filming 2 days at the zoo.† The call was for 5:30 AM and lasted most of 2 days.† After talking about it she decided not to do it.† She said she would rather explore New Orleans.† She has been an extra before and it isn’t that exciting.† She did get to meet Alexis Bledel [of “Gilmore Girls” and “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” fame].† Keilee just went up and started talking to her and they chatted for about 5 minutes.† She asked Keilee her name and Kei told her how Gilmore Girls was both of our favorite shows of all time.† The top right picture is Keilee and my boss Stan talking about the film business.† He has been in it for over 30 years.

THE NEW ORLEANS ZOO
Keilee’s love for acting runs neck in neck with her love of all things animals.† We spent 4 hours at the zoo.† The weather was perfect and we both had such a ball.† I so wish that there was a zoo near here.† She would love to do some of the programs they do.† We took TONS of pictures here.† Actually Keilee took all of these unless she is in the shot.

It was fascinating watching how the elephants stood on big branches and broke them.† Elephants are just so beautiful. There is something wise and old as time about them.

Otters are one of Keilee’s favorite animals.

The big cats were gorgeous.† It was a warm sunny day and most of them were just relaxing in the sun.

This was the “Petting Zoo” portion of the zoo.† We spent a lot of time here.

A gorgeous cockatoo.† We learned they live to be 80 years old and how many end up at the zoo after people realize how much work they are.† What a personality this sweet girl had!† She was so beautiful.† And look at this parrot!

Seriously I could have stayed for hours just watching these.† So sweet and funny.

This was a male and female and we just fell in love with them.† They were so unbelievably loving toward each other.† We watched them for 20 minutes and at no time did they not touch each other in some way.

This orangutan was our favorite.† He was playing it for all it was worth to his audience.† A guy had a potato chip and he spotted it and jumped as close as he could get and held out his hand.† He also kept blowing kisses to all of us.† We loved him.

I have always felt torn about Zoos. On the one hand where else can you see such beauty all in one place but on the other hand it is sad to me for them to all be in cages.† Even though zoos do so much good for endangered animals.† I love the giraffes.† Giraffes are my favorite animal and has been all my life.

The last pictures are of the sea lions.† Seals are Keilee’s favorite animals.† She had such a hard time getting good pictures because they never stopped moving.† She wanted to jump in there with them so badly! 🙂

The weather was beyond perfect.† 70’s all week long.† We both got so much sun and thankfully had brought clothes that we didn’t burn up in.† They are getting ready for Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl and there were people everywhere setting up stands and all sorts of things.

The day before we left we took a New Orleans tour and Cemetery tour.† We had our own tour guide.† She was a historian and told us SO many things we didn’t know.† It was like a 3 hours history lesson.† The cemeteries were fascinating.† I had wanted to visit these most of all.

We learned that the graves are not built above ground because of the weather but because that is the way the French and Spanish had always done it.† The tradition has continued because of the flooding.† She explained how the bodies would be buried and then dug up after 1 year and 1 day, the bones ground up and placed at the bottom of the crypt and the coffin destroyed.† It is now ready for the next family member.

Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo Queen, is supposedly buried here.† Her tomb was very interesting.† It was 3 “XXX” all over it and people had left all sorts of things.† This is what we found when we researched it:
The thousands of Xís are largely the result of tour groups, who have paid to learn how to practice Voodoo. Their instructions always include breaking a brick off of other tombs (notice the neighboring tombs depleted of their bricks) and a combination of steps which involve spinning around three times, scratching three Xís on the tomb, knocking on it, or rubbing a foot on it or hollering at it or kicking it, etc., (everyone does it slightly, if not very, differently from everyone else) and then leaving an offering to get a wish granted. (Incidentally, since 2005, it has been illegal to mark on Marie Laveau’s, or any other, tomb in New Orleans.) Also, once a year, on All Saints Day, the Monette family, whose tomb is just across from Marie Laveau’s, repaints the entire tomb white.)

1. Nicholas Cage’s tomb.† He has already had it built.
2. The Italian Mutual Benevolent Society tomb
3.† New Orleans Battalion of Artillery

After the cemetery tour we toured Armstrong Park and other places of interest.

The entire vibe of the city is unlike anything I have ever seen.† I have lived in San Francisco and it wasn’t like this.† Everyone seemed to be happy and full of joy.† There is music everywhere and wonderful smells of food.† We spent a couple of hours at the French Market which was such fun.

Stan took us out to eat our last night at a wonderful restaurant called Muriels.† The food was unbelievable.† Keilee got a fish called Puppy Drum that we had never heard of.† She also ate Cream Brulé for the first time.

Stan decided to upgrade our tickets home to first class on the train so we got a sleeper car!† It was AWESOME!!!† Seriously I think I would rather do that than fly.† We got all of our meals, which were delicious and met some of the greatest people.† It was a perfect end to our trip.

This was just what we needed.† We have been home for 3 days and I don’t feel like I usually do after a trip, just glad to be home.† I want to go back!† It was that awesome.

I have had a couple of non-homeschooling people say to me, “So do you have to make up a lot of work that Keilee missed?” and I just laugh to myself.† Really?† We learned more in a week than we would have learned in 2 months sitting at home.† 4 hours of WWII, 4 hours of animals, 3 hours of the history of New Orleans and more!† Learning at its very best.

I am so thankful that we had this opportunity.† It was a perfect 13th birthday for my girl!

Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

ìThe world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.î ñSt. Augustine
ìTwenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didnít do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.î ñMark Twain

Things in my life have been so strange lately. From my site getting hacked [it is fixed now] to being without a computer for almost a month [I got it back today!], to being unemployed for 6 months [I’ve started back now for at least 5 weeks] to Christmas and then Kei’s birthday.

I.am.ready.for.normal.

Many of you followed us on Instagram to see what Keilee did for her 13th birthday. The response we got there was unbelievable! Keilee has wanted to spend her special day doing “13” things for others. She researched and made signs and made lists and got everything ready. She got $100 for Christmas and she wanted to use it for doing Random Acts of Kindness. And it took almost every bit of her money.† She was adamant that this is what she wanted to do.† So I told her to go for it. [Secretly I was thrilled that she wanted to do this.] We have been so blessed the past year, unbelievably blessed and she wanted to give a little of that blessing back.

So…here is “Keilee’s 13th Birthday”

We start her birthday the same way we have done since she was 3. We go to IHOP for breakfast. This is the same hat she has worn since she was 3! I asked her if she wanted a new one but nothing doing. This is taped all over to keep it together. 🙂

After that the FUN began. She had gotten everything together that could be gotten together the day before.

1st Stop:† The Mailman. She made cookies and put a card that she put or gave everywhere we went.

#2:† The Park. She threw about $4 in change all over the sand area and on the huge wooden play house. All in quarters.

#3 She made cookies for the Firemen. On the way there she insisted we stop for a gallon of milk. 🙂

#4 Crayons and Coloring Books for the Children’s Area of the ER. She remembered from when my Daddy was in the ER that there was nothing for kids to do.

#5 : A change machine in the ER.

#6 Pay for the Car Behind Us.  We went to Starbucks and told the girl what we were doing.  She called everyone in the store over to the window to look at Kei and tell them what she was doing!

#7 Give someone a Wal-Mart Gift certificate.  She and I said a prayer that we would find the person who needed it the most, then she bought a $10 gift card and walked around until she found someone.  She gave it to this younger woman with a baby and about a 2 year old.  She handed it to her and told her what she was doing.  The lady said, “Is this for real?” and Keilee told her it was.

#8 Put $1 bills in Children’s book at the library.

#9 Give 13 Balloons to people in a nursing home.  This was her favorite.  She could see the reactions plus this is where my Mom was before she died.  Keilee spent 2 months when she was just turned 8 here.  She would walk all over the place talking to the patients, playing dolls with them and visiting.  There was one lady who Keilee LOVED named Mary.  Mary wasn’t very old but due to circumstances she lived there.  She remembered Keilee and kept saying, “Keilee! Keilee!”.  I almost cried.  I thought it would be hard to be back there but it was wonderful.  Every single person asked Kei to tie their balloon onto the back of their wheelchair.

#10  Give a candybar to a cashier.  We bought something small and Keilee asked her what her favorite candybar was.  She told Keilee and Kei said, ‘Ok I will try that” then bought it and gave it to her.  She was thrilled!

#11 This was supposed to be to leave quarters in a bag on a washer but we saw this woman and Keilee just walked up to her and told her what she was doing.  She couldn’t believe it and just  hugged Keilee and gave her a kiss on her forehead.  So precious.

#12 Leave dollars in the kid’s section of Dollar Tree

#13† Take 13 Stuffed Animals to the Firemen for kids.  [We did the firemen together but Keilee did her video in this order so I did too. :)]

What a DAY! This was our best day in a long, long time and Keilee’s best birthday.  What I loved about it was that she will never forget how she spent her 1st day as a teenager.

This was one proud Mama.

She got home and made this video with cards that she had already made.† Enjoy.

We are so ready for ‘normal’ here.  I am ready to visit and LEAVE comments and blog every week and do school and just live our lives.  It has been so crazy lately.

Happy weekend to all!
Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another. ~Charles Dickens
For it is in giving that we receive. ~St. Francis of Assisi

Linking up [FINALLY AGAIN]
with Mary at “Collage Friday“