Many years ago, MANY years ago, I spent New Yearís Eve with Kathy.† She had a party at her house.† We were in high school.† I donít remember much of itÖit was a LONG time ago, but I do remember music and laughing and dancing.

Now, years later that is how we rang in 2012.† The only difference is we both had our much loved daughters with us.† How quickly the years pass…how much like a circle life can be.

We headed out to Kathy and Sophieís house New Yearís Eve afternoon.† The plan was to hang out, maybe get something to eat and then go back and get ready to go to some friendís of hers New Years party.

We decided to grab Chinese and all got stuffed at the buffet.† Then we decided to go book shopping.† I mean is there any store better than a book store?† Keilee and Sophie had a blast trying on hats.†† Then Kathy and I had to get into the act.

†Then we headed back to Kathy’s to get ready.† I had forgotten how it is for 4 girls to get ready to go to a party.† Keilee and Sophie were all about their makeup and clothes and bling. † We ALL had on black and grey.† Not planned.

When we got to the party our make-uped, dressed up, blinged up girls quickly starting playing NERF GUNS!

There was a couple there from England and of course Keilee had to quiz him for 30 minutes in a BRITISH accent.† She is so goofy.† He told her that her accent was very good.† She and he discussed William the Conqueror and The Battle of Hastings and more.† She told him about Wales being where King Arthur lived and he told her about living in Prague and she loved every minute of it!

We also played “Pass the Parcel” which is a game they play in England.† There was a ‘parcel’ wrapped in about 15 layers and you passed it around the room with music.† When the music stopped the person holding it would open the top layer and do what the little note said.† Sophie had to go up on the balcony and shoot the Nerf gun and hit 4 people out of 5 shots.† People had to do all sorts of things.† It was so much fun.† Keilee had to stand on one foot, make a counter clockwise motion with her foot and draw an ‘R’ in the air with her hand.

We counted down to the New Year.† Finally it was 2012!!

†Then there was dancing and more dancing.† Keilee and Soph ‘whipped their hair’ so much I am surprised they didn’t have whiplash.

Before we left I made this little video.† Bad lighting but cute.

It was a GREAT start to 2012!† I am looking so forward to this new year.

My word this year is going to be:† YES!

Saying Yes instead of No.† Taking chances, not worrying about everything being planned to the last little bit.†

Just living in the moment.

Hope your 2012 is a wonderful adventure.† I can’t wait to hear all about it!

Homeschooling Rocks!

Karen

We will open the book.† Its pages are blank.† We are going to put words on them ourselves.† The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.† ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.† We served with our church, we had Christmas get-togethers with our dearest friends, we spent time with family.† We laughed and sang and ate too much.

Christmas Eve day we attended church.† They decided to have it on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day.† It was entitled ìBelieveî and it was awesome.† Our preacher tied it in with ìPolar Expressî.† We watched clips of the movie; the little boy who wasnít quite sure he believed any longer.† It was a wonderful message.† The scene where Tom Hanks character says, †ìDoes anyone want some refreshments?î played on the screen and then our preacher repeated it.† They brought carts filled with hot chocolate down the aisles to everyone.† It was a beautiful, heartwarming message.† About the true reason we celebrate Christmas.

Then Keilee and I braved Wal-Mart.† We went with a great attitude.† We KNEW it would be crazy and packed and we decided to just revel in it.† It actually wasnít that bad.† They had EVERY check out opened so no waiting.† Why canít they do that every day???

Christmas Eve night we went to my brotherís house.† He had a roaring fire and we had some snacks.† We watched ìA Christmas Carolî with Patrick Stewart.† It is my favorite version.

We went to bed pretty soon after we got home so Santa could come. Neither Keilee nor I could sleep we were both so excited.† She woke me up at 6:06 and was raring to go.† Mommy and Santa went a little crazy this year after we had promised we wouldnít.† It so easy with just one to buy too much.† I donít buy Keilee that much during the year so I like to get her things at Christmas.† She is so easy to buy for because I know everything she would love!† And love everything she did!

She also got earrings, a Claire’s gift card, a iTunes gift card, bubble bath, socks, an orange, Hello Kitty PJ’s, suckers, 2 awesome necklaces, feather earrings, a bracelet, banagrams and more in her ginormous stocking!

Keilee got me too much!† She saved the money she made Sept – Dec at Skate Day selling her Knit Wits.† She was so excited about what she got me and wanted to give it to me about 100 times.† She picked everything out herself and it was all things I loved.† Here is some of it.† She also got me a long [to my shins] black button up sweater that I loved and a yin/yang necklace that we both wear one half of.† I have wanted “The Pioneer Woman” cookbook all year.† I love it but we would have to plow the back 40 to eat like she cooks everyday!

Here is Keilee with her ‘Goodies’.† She kept saying it was the best Christmas ever.† She says that every year. 🙂

After opening gifts we went to Eddie and Heatherís for Christmas breakfast.† This is a tradition that we have always done with my Mom.† The kids used to wear their pajamas but only Kei wore hers this year.

We got so many things that we loved and we loved giving gifts to all of our family.† Eddie got me a Dutch Oven that is RED!† I love it and plan on using it tonight for the first time.† Daddy got me a sculpture that is very Art Deco.† It is so cool and so ME!

After Eddie’s we came home and then went to Daddy and Marlene’s for Christmas dinner.† I missed my Mother very much.† I think I will always miss her.

Keilee got a gift certificate to Hobby Lobby and we went there Wednesday.† She racked up on yarn and needles.† She is working on a blanket.† I so envy her patience.† I could never make something that would take that long!

I loved everything I got for Christmas but my favorite thing was from my awesome boss.† He got us an iPad!† We LOVE IT.† I could never had afforded to buy one for us.† I thought I wanted one but wasn’t sure.† Kei and I both have iPhones and I wasnít sure how different it would be.† MUCH DIFFERENT I can tell you.† We both fight to use it.† We have looked up things, watched videos, played educational games and so much more.† Keilee is writing a report right now on it about Public Schools.† [her choosing of the topic]

We were blessed this year.† I told Keilee time and time again how lucky we were.† We have neighbors that care about us, amazing friends and wonderful family.† †We have a roof over our heads, food in the house, a crazy dog that we love, a church that is beyond belief and each other.

What more could anyone want?

Homeschooling Rocks!

Karen

“Gratitude, like faith, is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it grows, and the more power you have to use it on your behalf. If you do not practice gratefulness, its benefaction will go unnoticed, and your capacity to draw on its gifts will be diminished. To be grateful is to find blessings in everything, This is the most powerful attitude to adopt, for there are blessings in everything.”† ~Alan Cohen

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”† ~Norman Vincent Peale

1.††††††††††† Keilee and Nomad sharing a beater.† She didnít lick on the same side as he did!!

†2.††††††††††† Oreo Truffles† ….. One of our favorite Christmas goodies.

†3.††††††††††† Keilee at our churchís ìWrapped With Loveî community service.† We wrapped Christmas gifts outside Wal-Mart for 3 nights FREE!!† We had a blast.

†4.††††††††††† Mommy and KeileeÖ Merry Christmas!

†5.††††††††††† Homemade Sugar Cookies from Keilee!† This was such a messy, fun, crazy day.† I am not fond of holiday baking so Keilee said she could do it all by herself.† And she did!

†6.††††††††††† The Girls at Estherís Christmas party.† We played Dirty Santa and had so much fun.† I scored a Target gift card and Keilee got 5 awesome nail polishes!

†7.††††††††††† The kids at Estherís.† Traditional ëpose on the porchí.

†8.††††††††††† The Momís!† I am so thankful for these women in my life.

†9.††††††††††† Gina and I playing Cow Girl!

†10.††††††††† We went to Karen S’s house for food and conversation and laughing so hard my stomach hurt.† Keilee and the kids played Wii.

†11.† ††††††† There also played Red Rover and dodgeball and soccer and hide and seek.† Karen S. has goats and a cow and chickens and dogs.† Keilee was in hog heaven!

†12.††††††††† Keilee and I played so many games this past week.† Clue and Head Bandz and Yahtzee and Scrabble!†††† We laughed and laughed and had so much fun.

†13.††††††††† Keilee FINALLY got an ornament with her name on it. 😉

†14.††††††††† The presentsÖ.all finished!

†15.††††††††† GAS UNDER $3.00!†

†

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful blog friends.† I hope this is such a lovely Christmas, full of laughter and love and giggles and delicious food and hugs and secrets and delight and wonder and the blessing of the season.†

†

Homeschooling Rocks!

Karen and Keilee

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.† ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

†

Even as an adult I find it difficult to sleep on Christmas Eve.† Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine, no matter your age.† ~Terri Guillemets

†

When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things – not the great occasions – give off the greatest glow of happiness.† ~Bob Hope

We had a really good week and weekend.† We got our tree up.† Ok Keilee got our tree up, I helped very little.† We were going to get a real tree this year but our tree is so easy to put up.† I have had 20í trees, big fat touch the ceiling trees and theme trees.† Now we like simple.† Now ìIî like simple.† It is not a ‘bad little tree’† and Nomad approves!†

Wednesday Kei got a great opportunity.† They were going to test a new Mission at the Space and Rocket Center and asked for Homeschool volunteers.† I called Gina and asked if Brit wanted to go and she said, “YES”, so I signed them up.† We weren’t sure exactly what they were going to do but Space and Rocket Center is always the BOMB! And it SNOWED on the way there…wet, sloppy, “not going to stick” snow, but snow nonetheless!† If it isn’t slippery, I love driving when it is snowing.

Now they were going to be ‘guinea pigs’ for 3 hours so I had called my brother who works at Marshall Space Flight Center and asked him if he could get away for awhile.† He picked me up and we went to Sam’s.† Do you have Sam’s?† Similar to Costco’s.† We wandered around and got a few things and then he took me to his office.† This is on Redstone Arsenal and you have to have a badge to get on the base.† We stayed at his office for a couple of hours and I met his co-workers.††† He works with some great people!† I already knew a few of them because he has worked there for years.It made me remember how much I liked working in an environment with great people.† Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to do that, I just remember fun times.

On the way out he showed me the building where Wernher von Braun worked.† Google him or look on link if you don’t know who that is.† He was VERY instrumental in the Space Program.

When I got back to the Space and Rocket Center I saw Kei coming out of a space shuttle with her ‘crew’.† I cracked up because she had her purse!

Here are some pictures Kei made with her iPhone that was IN HER PURSE!† Never mind about the important saving the world moments…lets snap some photos.† I am so proud of her.

All the way home I heard what a blast they had.† They were divided into different groups.† Kei’s group stayed on the ship while Brit’s group had to repair the space ship “Aurora”.† Kei was the pilot and communicated with Mission Control with headsets.† The ship went down and for 20 seconds they were without communications and all red lights began to flash.† They finally re-established contact and fixed the problem. Brit’s group died I think. :)† They stepped out onto Mars before the ‘all clear’ sounded.† There were other groups doing other things but this is dictated to me by Keilee.† :)† They both loved it!

After the Mission Brit came and spent the night with Keilee.† They sang and sang and there may or may not have been a video of dancing to “Barbie Girl”.† Don’t try to deny it, if a picture is worth a thousand words…what is a video worth? Huh? 😉

Saturday Keilee tried out for “The Wizard of Oz”.† She didn’t expect a big role because they are very fair with letting the kids all have a chance.† But she really wanted to be The Cowardly Lion.† She has a strange fascination with tails.† Don’t ask…I don’t.† There were 130 kids that tried out!† Almost all of our core group of Homeschoolers tried out.† Many of them have never done plays and only Chan has done plays with this group.†

All the kids did a really good job.† We found out Sunday night that EVERY ONE of the HOMESCHOOL kids made it!!!† We were so excited.† They are going to have a blast.† Keilee was cast as the Wicked Witch which surprised us both very much.† So I have heard, “I’ll get you my pretty and your little dog too” about a thousand times already.

Sunday after church we met some of our favorite people at Bridge Street to see “Hugo 3D”.† Kei and I read this book [you must read it if you haven’t] and were very excited to see it.† Martin Scorsese directed it and it was wonderful.† It was one of the best “3D” movies we have seen.†

After the film Keilee and Sophie got into a fight about which one of them was marrying Johnny Depp.† It just drives Keilee crazy because Sophie wants Johnny to be one of her 3 husbands and Keilee just knows he is her one and only.† Crappy picture in dark theatre on iPhone but it was so funny.

Then there was ice cream at Maggi Moo’s and shopping.† Kei and Sophie flitted around like butterflies to pollen.† Every store had the cutest things.† Ahhh I wish I was rich.† But we did manage to get a few things.† She found some awesome distressed jeans on sale.† I bought them for her FOR CHRISTMAS! 🙂

We had such a great afternoon.† It is so cool to love the Moms of your child’s friends.† I am so blessed because I love all of Keilee’s friends Moms.

One of my favorite things this week was talking to Jess and Theresa.† They each called me Thursday and I am surprised my cordless didn’t go dead.† We talked and talked and talked.† I just love talking over things with these 2 women.† They are both just the greatest.† If only I could build that street, you know the one…with houses for me, and Jess and Theresa and Helena and Susan and Jenn and Phyllis and H-Mama and Mary and the Roamies [because sometimes 30 or 45 minutes is just TOO far]…it could be called “What a Jolly Street”.† Does anyone remember that book?† My Mom liked it and bought it for me when I was little and I loved it.† I bought it for Kei and she loved it.† We used to read it every night.

We also learned stuff!† Lots of stuff… and there was knitting and cooking and laughing and looking up things and videos and NO TELEVISION.† I forgot to mention that huh?† We are not watching TV until Jan. 4, 2012.† We are taking part in a fast at our church and that is what we decided to ‘give up’.† We are watching 2-3 shows a week or a movie.† But the rest of the time…silence from the boob tube.† I have loved it.† Kei hasn’t hated it. ;)† We chose to watch “Super 8” for our movie this week.† We both really like it!† [Thanks Gina and it went into the mail today ]

A great few days.† Aren’t we blessed?† Don’t you feel so blessed to be able to homeschool?† I know I do.† [most of the time] 😉

Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”† – Anais Nin

“Every person is a new door to a different world.” – from movie “Six Degrees of Separation”

It has been such a homeschooling kind of last few days.† Chan came over last Tuesday and spent the night with Kei until Friday.† I mean how cool is that?† That we can do things like that?† Kei taught Chan how to knit and I can tell you there were some knitting marathons going on.†

There was game playing.† Of course there was very little ‘following by the rules’.

They played “Life” [which I HATE] and I heard things like this; “Oh so you are making your kids work for money”, “I’m soliciting money from the children in the orphanage”, “Let’s pull another bank job for money”.† Ahhh those great lessons games teach us!

Kei knitted some scarves.† I was really proud of her because they were the first ones she had ever knitted.† She is crazy good at things like this!

Thursday night we went to our Library’s Christmas Program.† A professor at a nearby college was reading “A Christmas Memory”.† He has this magnificent voice and we always try to go when he is speaking.† This is one of our favorite Christmas stories.† You should definitely read it if you haven’t.† It is written by Truman Capote about his childhood.† He grew up in Alabama and was always friends with Harper Lee [To Kill a Mockingbird].† It is also on instant on Netflix.† It is wonderfully done.†† My brother reads it aloud every year at Christmas.

†Friday was Skate Day and we went but I didn’t let Keilee skate.† She had ran a fever the day before and had a sore throat so we didn’t stay very long.

I read 11/23/63 by Stephen King.† I downloaded it to my Kindle and while Kei and Chan were doing their thing I read an 873 page book in 2 1/2 days.† I LOVED IT!!† I have always loved Stephen King, but he is not everyone’s cup of tea.† This book had a feel of King, but not really.† It was definitely worth reading!

Saturday we decided to go shopping.† I bought Kei some new clothes, boots, a hat and a few more little things.† Most of them are put up for Christmas!† I look back fondly on the days that I could just buy her clothes and she would love them.† She still likes what I pick out but she MUST try everything on.

Monday we went to Santa’s Village with a Homeschool Group.† Now this place is really for younger kids but Keilee wanted to go because it was the 1st Field Trip she ever went on in Kindergarten.† We both had a blast.

Last night Kei spent hours texting with A and P, Theresa’s daughters.† She had a blast and plans to play an online game with them today.† I think there are Face Time plans in the future too!

Today she has decided she simply ‘must’ write. This second….before she forgets this amazing story she thought of.† Me: “Why don’t you move somewhere more comfortable”?† Kei: “No I have to write this NOW”!

Did we learn?† Well of course silly!† We learned about Vikings and Odin and read myths and played online games about the Vikings.† We did a unit study on Rocks and Minerals and Kei did 2 months of Pet Shop Math and she is reading 2 books at once and she has written and written on stories.† She watched Brain Pop every day, we watched a documentary about Vikings and a movie.† She has watched documentaries about the intelligence of mammals and keeps telling me all these facts that she has learned.† She had an online Knitting Club meeting and had such fun talking about knitting.† We also started “Connect The Thoughts” Christmas study.† It seems really cool so far.

So here it is ….December.† DECEMBER!† I am so not ready for Christmas.† Blast all of you who has your tree up, decorations abounding, baking done and all your gifts bought and wrapped.† I work better under pressure. …..OK?????!!!!!!

Homeschooling Rocks!

Karen

ìTrue learning ñ learning that is permanent and useful, that leads to intelligent action and further learning ó can arise only out of the experience, interest, and concerns of the learnerî† ~ John Holt

HOMESCHOOL MOTHER’S JOURNAL
11/26/11

In my life this weekÖ

Cooking and laughing and spending time with the family on Thanksgiving.

In our homeschool this weekÖ

Kei is writing this hysterical story about a Spider named Star who wanted to find the ëstarsí.† She meant in the sky but everyone she met thought she meant the ìHollywoodî stars so she found herself in Hollywood where she met Madonna and hence the song †ìLucky Starî.† Only my daughter would write a story about a Madonna song!

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to shareÖ

I really need to just post some of my resources.† Isnít it crazy how much is out there?† I also must say our new schedule is amazing.† I love doing one subject daily.† We do Math, journaling and reading every day but the rest is once a week.† We can spend so much time on that subject without me freaking out.† We learned about Charlemagne this week, Kei did a unit study on amphibians and frogs and of course there was all the million of things that are ìKeiís thingsî; knitting and coloring and playing and baking.† I found a really cool coloring site.

I am inspired byÖ

My friend Erica whose daughter was just diagnosed with leukemia.† Her posts and her faith and her strength amaze me.† I wonder if I could possibly be that full of faith and love if it was Kei?† And then I always whisper, ìPlease God donít test meî.

Places weíre going and people weíre seeingÖ

We mainly hung out at home except for Thanksgiving.† We ate at Daddy and Marleneís and met her son and daughter in law who lives out of state.† It was a lovely afternoon.† I donít do Black Friday sales.† I just canít justify getting up at 2:00 AM to save a few dollars.† It isnít that I donít NEED to save the dollars, I am just more of a ìCyber Mondayî kinda girl.† People are crazy on Black Friday.† Did you see the news??† Shootings and pepper spray and tazers.† Good grief.

My favorite thing this week wasÖ

Lying in bed, under my electric blanket, reading ìYou Belong to Meî on the Kindle app listening to Kei and Livvy play in her room.

Questions/thoughts I haveÖ

Does anyone know of a really good King Arthur unit study?† It isnít really covered in SOTW and Kei LOVES that story.† I have searched but canít find exactly what I am looking for.

Iím readingÖ

*See ìMy favorite thing this weekî

Iím cookingÖ

Lots of leftovers, aren’t YOU? 🙂

Iím grateful forÖ

The fact that we are both healthy.† You just never know when something is going to blindside you.† One minute your world is spinning happily and the next it spins off its axis. †We have to all appreciate the little moments.†

Iím praying forÖ

The Campbells

A photo, video, link, or quote to shareÖ

Ericaís latest Facebook post:

I Love watching my sweet girls quietly playing together when they think i am not looking .. It is so nice to have a break from the hospital for a couple of days..we read a book last night to HG about siblings with cancer and how itís ok to be sad.. she was sad &confused and said mommy” I am the oldest why didnt God pick me.”.. Wow what do u say to that .. so after we prayed about it i told her God has made all of us unique in his own eyes and sometimes we go through things hard because God knows we are strong enough to handle it.. now as I am saying this its hard to hold back the tears or really even talk about it because as their Mommy I just want to protect them and when they hurt i hurt.. but I have also realized through my sadness i see their smiles and I never want to miss a moment of “joy” I donít want to spend one moment not appreciating what God has entrusted me with my beautiful sweet girls..So today we are going to turn on the Christmas music , put up all 5 Christmas trees, dance & be silly and just enjoy each precious moment!! So today I pray you all will do the same.. Please continue to lift us up in prayer as we are starting to see the effects chemo has on our sweet girl. and please keep HG in your prayers so she will know just how much she is loved! thank you all for loving us so much and continuing to follow our journey .
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34

So next week it is December!!† Already.† I am looking forward to smiles and laughter and family time.† Time spent with my girl and my dog, favorite movies to watch, favorite foods to cook and lots of moments.† It is all about the moments.

Homeschooling Rocks!

Karen

When you finally allow yourself to trust joy and embrace it,
you will find you dance with everything.†† – Emanuel

HOMESCHOOL MOTHER’S JOURNAL

In my life this weekÖ Birthday parties, more birthday parties, last day of Space Camp, amazing life group with such wonderful God women, friends, BREAKING DAWN!

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to shareÖchillax.† That is my best advice.† Stress gets you nowhere fast.† Life is a journeyÖhomeschooling is a journey.† In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson [and Aerosmith] ìLife is a journey, not a destination.î

I am inspired byÖ my child.† Who makes me happy, makes me smile more, teaches me something every day and loves life in a way I wish everyone could.

Places weíre going and people weíre seeingÖfriends and friends and friends.† What would we do without them?

My favorite thing this week wasÖ sorry, canít pick just one.† Too many wonderful things this week.† Highlights were Makalaís great Art Party [More on that later!], Jakeís 16^th !!!! birthday party and Breaking Dawn with Gina, Britney and Cody.† Midnight showing yaíll.† Our kids were the youngest ones there.† Bad homeschool Moms!† It really was so well done.† I had no problem letting Kei watch it.† I love that Bella was a virgin when she married Edward.

Kei’s Favorite Thing This Week…..PIERCED ears!† Kei had her ears pierced when she was younger but the earring split her ear and fell out in my hand while I was brushing her hair.† I freaked!† I have made her wait until 1.† the ear split closed up and 2.† she wasn’t allergic to metal any longer.†† That happened so off we went.

Whatís working for usÖPet Shop Business Math.† Loving it! LOVING IT!† Kei does it at night she likes it so much.† I have meant to buy this for over a year and finally did.† I think it teaches such great skills.

Questions/thoughts I haveÖAs Kei gets older, I worry that I wonít be able to fulfill all her needs.† I know that a lot of you out there have similar doubts and I hope that by sharing information between us all, we will muddle through.

Things Iím working onÖ After making “THE LIST” actually ACCOMPLISHING all some at least one things on it!

Iím cookingÖ chicken and wild rice in the crock pot.† I just love throwing things in a crock pot.† There is a sense of accomplishment to have dinner ready at 10:00 am!† Anyone have any amazing recipes?

Iím grateful forÖthat I had the money to send Kei to Space and Rocket Aviation Camp.† Her last class was Thursday and she was very nervous about riding the G Force Accelerator and the Space Shot.† She did them both easy peasy.† She was nervous because she gets car sick and was afraid she would get sick on the rides.† She didn’t.

These are NOT my pictures.† They wouldn’t let the Mom’s come and watch.† AS IF!

Iím praying forÖ Ava Campbell.† Her parents, Erica and Mike go to our church.† Erica is the kind of person that lights up a room.† She emits love and smiles and has such a huge heart.† Kei and I are both madly in love with her and her beautiful girls.† She has a 2^nd grader Hannah Grace and the most beautiful baby Ava who will be 2 next month.† Thursday their lives were forever changed when Ava was diagnosed with leukemia.† Please pray if you pray for this child and this family.† Here is Erica and her sweet Ava.

A photo, video, link, or quote to shareÖ If you would like to follow along on Avaís progress here is her facebook page.† I have a feeling that this story may change your life.

Hope this week brings you love and joy and thankfulness.† I can’t wait to read about all of ya’lls Thanksgivings!† Enjoy each other, love each other, HUG each other.

Homeschooling Rocks!

Karen

We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.
Virginia Satir

I will not play at tug o’ war.
I’d rather play at hug o’ war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.
Shel Silverstein

Happy 11.11.11 This is such a cool day.† Kei and I started off talking about how unique it is.† Hope yours is amazing!
In my life this weekÖcalmer, slower, less frantic.† Our new schedule is amazing.† We are both so much happier without a huge amount of check lists to get through each day.† We are exploring things in greater detail.† I have wanted to do this basically ëone subject a dayí for years.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to shareÖfound so many wonderful sites.† How did people do this before the internet?† The resources are incredible.† A few of our new favs:

http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/new Many simulations with free lesson plans to go along with them.† We did one Wednesday on Physics and we both loved it.

http://www.msnucleus.org/membership/k-6.html Great science resources.† You do have to register but it is completely FREE!

I am inspired byÖJessica at Teachable Moments.† Thank you Jess for talking me through our new schedule.

What made me smile… While searching for a video to show the difference between potential and kinetic energy I found this.† What better example than that crazy Wile E. Coyote and RoadRunner!!

Places weíre going and people weíre seeingÖWe mainly hung out at home this week.† Kei did go to her Space and Rocket class and learned to build a fire and construct shelter from a parachute. Because of course every one carries one of those suckers around!

My favorite thing this week wasÖCurling up on the couch and Kei and I taking turns reading aloud from ìKing Arthur and the Knights of the Round Tableî. Also we are watching ìMerlinî on Netflix streaming and loving it.

Questions/thoughts I haveÖ why is bullying acceptable behavior?† Who make that something that just happens.† Feeling blessed that Kei doesn’t HAVE to live with these kinds of people and can walk away from anyone who doesnít treat her with respect.

Things Iím working onÖbeing fine with Kei not wanted to jump out of bed and start ëworkí.† It is ok to do other things first Mom! Really it is.

We are readingÖ

I am reading ìLove Walked Inî by Marisa de los Santos [thank you Theresa] and really enjoying it.†

We are reading ìKing Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtableî together.†

Kei is reading ìCelia and the Fairiesî †

We are both reading poetry to each other.† Rereading Shel Silverstein ìWhere the Sidewalk Endsî.†

Iím cookingÖchili and chicken tortillas and baked chicken and homemade bread!

Iím grateful forÖmy silly dog, who taught me it is possible to love a furry canine who chews up everything in sight, licks my mouth and nose, whines if he isn’t petted, gets dog hair EVERYWHERE, breathes his stinky breath all over me and is the highest maintenance thing in our house!

†What’s working for us...We have cut out TV by 80%.† Let me clarify….we still watch shows and movies but not regular TV.† We are watching things that we feel enrich our lives instead of waste time.† We are also sitting on the couch together talking, knitting, reading, doing crosswords, etc at night instead of just mindlessly watching television.† So far neither one of us have gone insane. 😉

Iím thankful forÖa job that is steady enough to splurge on beautiful yarn for my girl and not have to worry about it.

A photo, video, link, or quote to shareÖ Kei took this picture of herself with her iPhone and I loved the way it turned out.

Homeschooling Rocks!

Karen

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.“† ~Hans Hofmann