Some fun stories about dad!
1. We had some Omaha Steaks delivered yesterday while Matt was at work. They were from his company, which was very nice. He has been working some extra long hours lately, so it was a very nice thing to do!
In the bottom of the cooler, there was a big bag of dried ice. Do you know what you can do with dry ice?? Matt did! A. You can put it in a bowl of water and watch is bubble all over. B. You can blow up pop bottles (yes, he did!) C. You can put it in a cup of grape juice and then you have carbonated grape juice!
2. I went out for supper last night and left Matt on supper duty with two children who are allergic to everything. Courtney wanted sausages and panacakes, so I told Matt how to do it. I told him to use apple sauce instead of oil in the pancakes, so instead of using regular apple sauce, he used strawberry applesauce! The kids thought pink pancakes were pretty neat!
3. Usually on the weekends, Matt has been taking Courtney for bike rides around 7 am. They usually ride around Lake Zorinksy and come home. Today, I didn't know where they went.
When they got home, Courtney informed me that she had went to the grocery store and got donuts! I said, "Courtney, you can't have donuts." She said, "Daddy let me....and it was chocolate too!!" Ugh!
4. Now they are sitting in front of the TV playing video games.
I think Matt will get the "super-cool dad" award for the weekend!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Computer Time
I am taking a class this summer called "Using the Internet in the Classroom." It is an online course that requires me to sit and work at my computer for sometimes an hour at a time.
By the time I am done with homework, I am done being at my computer.
Please excuse my lack of blogging.
By the time I am done with homework, I am done being at my computer.
Please excuse my lack of blogging.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Dentist Visit
We were at the dentist about a month ago for our regularly scheduled cleaning, but today Courtney and I made another visit.
On Wednesday after we got done swimming, we were going to the car and Megan was chasing Courtney in the parking lot. Courtney tripped over her own feet with a swimming bag in her hand and landed face first on the cement. I heard this blood-curdling scream and looked over and she was on the ground. I was buckling Christian into his carseat when this all happened.
I got over to her and had her open her mouth- I always make sure the teeth are still in place! They were all there and still straight, but they were covered in blood. Her upper lip was starting to swell. I had her get in and we went home right away. When we got home, I discovered that she had bit the inside of her upper lip pretty bad. She also said her teeth hurt. By night time though, it was much better.
Today I mentioned to her that I was going to the dentist and she said, "Mom, my teeth still hurt...sometimes." What? I thought they were fine! So I called the dentist back up and got her in too. I was afraid that when she hit her teeth, she did some damage and they may need to be pulled. You never know.
So I took her in today and the first thing the hygenist said was, "Look, she chipped her front tooth." I thought it looked different, it's very little bit though, but you can tell. She took an xray of her front teeth and nothing looked out of the ordinary. We saw her adult front teeth coming in too! She was going to have the dentist look at her xray on Monday and get back to me. She told me watch her teeth, if they start to bubble up by her gums, then she may have an abcess and they would have to do a root canal on her baby tooth. She also wanted me to watch her teeth and if they turned black, we would probably have to pull them. Hopefully there is no damage and everything will be just fine!
I, on the other hand, have an infection in my gums (gingivitis) between two of my back molars. Because my teeth don't line up properly (thanks dad!), I always have trouble with my teeth. It's been hurting pretty bad for about a week, so I finally went in. Again, the hygenist recomended Invisalign. I hear this about every time I go in. :) I should really consider it. She said that would line my teeth up and I would stop having problems like this. She said it will also help my TMJ trouble. I know, I know. Hopefully I can get Invisalign sooner rather than later!
On Wednesday after we got done swimming, we were going to the car and Megan was chasing Courtney in the parking lot. Courtney tripped over her own feet with a swimming bag in her hand and landed face first on the cement. I heard this blood-curdling scream and looked over and she was on the ground. I was buckling Christian into his carseat when this all happened.
I got over to her and had her open her mouth- I always make sure the teeth are still in place! They were all there and still straight, but they were covered in blood. Her upper lip was starting to swell. I had her get in and we went home right away. When we got home, I discovered that she had bit the inside of her upper lip pretty bad. She also said her teeth hurt. By night time though, it was much better.
Today I mentioned to her that I was going to the dentist and she said, "Mom, my teeth still hurt...sometimes." What? I thought they were fine! So I called the dentist back up and got her in too. I was afraid that when she hit her teeth, she did some damage and they may need to be pulled. You never know.
So I took her in today and the first thing the hygenist said was, "Look, she chipped her front tooth." I thought it looked different, it's very little bit though, but you can tell. She took an xray of her front teeth and nothing looked out of the ordinary. We saw her adult front teeth coming in too! She was going to have the dentist look at her xray on Monday and get back to me. She told me watch her teeth, if they start to bubble up by her gums, then she may have an abcess and they would have to do a root canal on her baby tooth. She also wanted me to watch her teeth and if they turned black, we would probably have to pull them. Hopefully there is no damage and everything will be just fine!
I, on the other hand, have an infection in my gums (gingivitis) between two of my back molars. Because my teeth don't line up properly (thanks dad!), I always have trouble with my teeth. It's been hurting pretty bad for about a week, so I finally went in. Again, the hygenist recomended Invisalign. I hear this about every time I go in. :) I should really consider it. She said that would line my teeth up and I would stop having problems like this. She said it will also help my TMJ trouble. I know, I know. Hopefully I can get Invisalign sooner rather than later!
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Compassion...even for hungry polar bears!
Today we spent about half the day at the zoo. At the end of our time there, I decided that we could go see an IMAX movie. It would be a great way to sit down and relax before heading home.
The movie we watched was "Polar Bears" in 3D. Now I thought this would be a cute little movie about polar bears and we would have no problem. I was wrong! Do you remember my sweet little compassionate daughter named Courtney? She cried at the polar bears movie today! I thought we were going to have to leave, it was really pulling at her heart strings!
The movie was showing how the polar bears live on floating ice and they eat seals. The movie explained how the ice caps are melting and how the polar bears are having a hard time finding food to eat. It showed how one mama polar bear swam for nine days straight just to find food for her cubs.
After they showed all this, I hear somebody sniffling beside me. I asked her what was wrong and she kept saying, "This!" I asked her, "This what?" She said, "This whole movie!" I still couldn't figure it out. I asked to her explain why she was crying. She said, "Why don't the polar bears have anything to eat??" She had caught on quite well! She was sad over the fact that the ice caps were melting and the polar bears were having a hard time finding food! Poor thing!
It then got to a part where they showed a mama polar bear and her two cubs happily on the ice. The male polar bear has no part in their lives, but if he cannot find a seal to eat, then he comes after polar bear cubs. They showed the male coming after these certain cubs and I kept glancing at Courtney to make sure she was alright. In the end, the mama polar bear gave the male a growl and he left them alone. (Before this, the mama bear and cubs had ate a baby seal and you could see the remnants and blood on the screen, yet Courtney was fine through this part. The male polar bear had smelled the blood and that is how he found the mama and the baby bears. I kept telling Courtney, "Don't watch if you don't want to!" I saw her hide her face a few times, but in the end, she made it through.)
Tonight she came into my room half in tears again. I am getting used to this compassionate side of her, so of course I asked her what was wrong. Her response was, "I just read that book about slaves again and it scared me."(Yesterday we read a book entitled "If I was there during the Underground Railroad." She was really interested in it and asked a lot of questions.) I asked her what part scared her and she said everything! Wow, she seemed fine with it yesterday! I think she's starting to understand how bad slavery was and how scary it was when the slaves escaped. I think she was just processing it tonight. I gave her a hug and told her she needed to read a different book before going to bed. She was convinced she was going to have scary dreams from the slave book.
The movie we watched was "Polar Bears" in 3D. Now I thought this would be a cute little movie about polar bears and we would have no problem. I was wrong! Do you remember my sweet little compassionate daughter named Courtney? She cried at the polar bears movie today! I thought we were going to have to leave, it was really pulling at her heart strings!
The movie was showing how the polar bears live on floating ice and they eat seals. The movie explained how the ice caps are melting and how the polar bears are having a hard time finding food to eat. It showed how one mama polar bear swam for nine days straight just to find food for her cubs.
After they showed all this, I hear somebody sniffling beside me. I asked her what was wrong and she kept saying, "This!" I asked her, "This what?" She said, "This whole movie!" I still couldn't figure it out. I asked to her explain why she was crying. She said, "Why don't the polar bears have anything to eat??" She had caught on quite well! She was sad over the fact that the ice caps were melting and the polar bears were having a hard time finding food! Poor thing!
It then got to a part where they showed a mama polar bear and her two cubs happily on the ice. The male polar bear has no part in their lives, but if he cannot find a seal to eat, then he comes after polar bear cubs. They showed the male coming after these certain cubs and I kept glancing at Courtney to make sure she was alright. In the end, the mama polar bear gave the male a growl and he left them alone. (Before this, the mama bear and cubs had ate a baby seal and you could see the remnants and blood on the screen, yet Courtney was fine through this part. The male polar bear had smelled the blood and that is how he found the mama and the baby bears. I kept telling Courtney, "Don't watch if you don't want to!" I saw her hide her face a few times, but in the end, she made it through.)
Tonight she came into my room half in tears again. I am getting used to this compassionate side of her, so of course I asked her what was wrong. Her response was, "I just read that book about slaves again and it scared me."(Yesterday we read a book entitled "If I was there during the Underground Railroad." She was really interested in it and asked a lot of questions.) I asked her what part scared her and she said everything! Wow, she seemed fine with it yesterday! I think she's starting to understand how bad slavery was and how scary it was when the slaves escaped. I think she was just processing it tonight. I gave her a hug and told her she needed to read a different book before going to bed. She was convinced she was going to have scary dreams from the slave book.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Getting back to Normal.
Camping is about a five- day ordeal around here.
Here is how it went this time:
Thursday- bring camper to house, clean the inside, clean awning, watch awning break in the windstorm.
Friday- wash clothes, wash dishes, clean house, pack camper (I always like a halfway clean house when I come home plus I want to take only clean clothes along.) Drive to campsite and set up.
Saturday- camp
Sunday- camp
Monday- pack everything up and drive camper back home. Unload everything and clean out camper. Put some things back away.
Tuesday- Wash clothes and wash all dishes from the weekend. Put everything back away. Rest from the weekend.
I would love to go camping more often, but it is just a lot of work! Matt and I have decided there is a 3 night stay minimum to camping trips. It would really help if we could keep it loaded at all times and plugged in, but we can't in town, especially in our neighborhood. We actually got a nice letter in the mail last year when we had our camper in front of our house for too long.
Today I finally felt that there was some sort of normalcy back in our day. There are still a few things to put away and the camper still needs to be wiped out and vaccuumed, but that can wait. It is back in our driveway because Matt needs to fix the awning. The freshly washed towels, sheets, and dishes can go back out there too.
Did I mention that in addition to our awning breaking last week, our jetski broke this weekend along with our camera? Did I mention the dishwasher doesn't work either?? Now that I think about it, I think my washer has something going on too. It ran all night the other night, it was stuck on 1 minute!
Here is how it went this time:
Thursday- bring camper to house, clean the inside, clean awning, watch awning break in the windstorm.
Friday- wash clothes, wash dishes, clean house, pack camper (I always like a halfway clean house when I come home plus I want to take only clean clothes along.) Drive to campsite and set up.
Saturday- camp
Sunday- camp
Monday- pack everything up and drive camper back home. Unload everything and clean out camper. Put some things back away.
Tuesday- Wash clothes and wash all dishes from the weekend. Put everything back away. Rest from the weekend.
I would love to go camping more often, but it is just a lot of work! Matt and I have decided there is a 3 night stay minimum to camping trips. It would really help if we could keep it loaded at all times and plugged in, but we can't in town, especially in our neighborhood. We actually got a nice letter in the mail last year when we had our camper in front of our house for too long.
Today I finally felt that there was some sort of normalcy back in our day. There are still a few things to put away and the camper still needs to be wiped out and vaccuumed, but that can wait. It is back in our driveway because Matt needs to fix the awning. The freshly washed towels, sheets, and dishes can go back out there too.
Did I mention that in addition to our awning breaking last week, our jetski broke this weekend along with our camera? Did I mention the dishwasher doesn't work either?? Now that I think about it, I think my washer has something going on too. It ran all night the other night, it was stuck on 1 minute!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Our Camping Trip
Here are a few details from our trip.
1. We really didn't want to go jet skiing anyway. (insert sarcasm!)
First, Matt forgot the keys to the storage shed in Omaha, so he went back home on Saturday morning to get those.
Second, once we had the jetski there and running, we discovered that it still had 2011 stickers on it. It wasn't registered for 2012 and technically, we couldn't put it on the water.
Third, we illegally put it on the water and the third time around the lake, it decided to quit running. The inside had filled up with water and Matt literally pushed it back to shore. He was a little irritated that nobody offered to tow him to shore. Once we got it to the shore, another camper and his son helped to drain the water and get it onto the jetski trailer. Matt backed the trailer right onto the beach, but when Matt went to pull the trailer out of the water, the truck just spun in the sand. Therefore, this other camper used his jeep to pull Matt's truck which pulled the jetski trailer out of the water. On Monday morning, Matt made another trip to Omaha to take the jetski to Leisure Life to get fixed.
2. The baby bunnies passed away while we were camping. They were doing great and eating well until we came back into the camper after the jetski fiasco. I took the lid off our box and Bunny was upside down and Spot was sitting on top of him. Bunny was dying. :( He was barely breathing and couldn't even hold his head up anymore. Courtney was VERY upset! Matt took Bunny and laid him by some trees by another lake to let him die. He did not let the girls go with him.
During this time, Spot wasn't looking good either and we pretty much assumed this bunny would die overnight and he did. Matt took this bunny back to the same trees and put him down too. We had warned Courtney that this might happen because he wasn't looking so good, but she just said that Spot was sad because Bunny died and he needed a friend. She swears that he was crying in his box. She cried over Spot this morning and again at lunch time, but she hasn't mentioned him since.
We learned a lot from our baby bunnies we had for 5 days. We fed them goat's milk every morning and night and we learned what baby bunnies need to live. We came back to the camper one night and they had their eyes open- how exciting that was! We watched them jump up so high that they lifted the lid of their shoebox and we also saw them peeking through the hole in the side of the box. They were super-duper cute and it was amazing to look at their little claws and little teeth. The morning that Bunny died, he was being a character. Matt was feeding him and he would open his mouth for the milk (we were using a syringe). He stuck his head out as if he wanted more milk. He was hungry! We also knew that baby bunnies can die if you overfeed them, but we didn't think this was the case. We think maybe the milk had gone bad, but we also know that babies need their mamas and these bunnies did not have their mama. She wasn't so smart when she built her nest in our backyard! We know all along that they probably would not make it, so we were halfway expecting it. It was a good lesson for everybody.
1. We really didn't want to go jet skiing anyway. (insert sarcasm!)
First, Matt forgot the keys to the storage shed in Omaha, so he went back home on Saturday morning to get those.
Second, once we had the jetski there and running, we discovered that it still had 2011 stickers on it. It wasn't registered for 2012 and technically, we couldn't put it on the water.
Third, we illegally put it on the water and the third time around the lake, it decided to quit running. The inside had filled up with water and Matt literally pushed it back to shore. He was a little irritated that nobody offered to tow him to shore. Once we got it to the shore, another camper and his son helped to drain the water and get it onto the jetski trailer. Matt backed the trailer right onto the beach, but when Matt went to pull the trailer out of the water, the truck just spun in the sand. Therefore, this other camper used his jeep to pull Matt's truck which pulled the jetski trailer out of the water. On Monday morning, Matt made another trip to Omaha to take the jetski to Leisure Life to get fixed.
2. The baby bunnies passed away while we were camping. They were doing great and eating well until we came back into the camper after the jetski fiasco. I took the lid off our box and Bunny was upside down and Spot was sitting on top of him. Bunny was dying. :( He was barely breathing and couldn't even hold his head up anymore. Courtney was VERY upset! Matt took Bunny and laid him by some trees by another lake to let him die. He did not let the girls go with him.
During this time, Spot wasn't looking good either and we pretty much assumed this bunny would die overnight and he did. Matt took this bunny back to the same trees and put him down too. We had warned Courtney that this might happen because he wasn't looking so good, but she just said that Spot was sad because Bunny died and he needed a friend. She swears that he was crying in his box. She cried over Spot this morning and again at lunch time, but she hasn't mentioned him since.
We learned a lot from our baby bunnies we had for 5 days. We fed them goat's milk every morning and night and we learned what baby bunnies need to live. We came back to the camper one night and they had their eyes open- how exciting that was! We watched them jump up so high that they lifted the lid of their shoebox and we also saw them peeking through the hole in the side of the box. They were super-duper cute and it was amazing to look at their little claws and little teeth. The morning that Bunny died, he was being a character. Matt was feeding him and he would open his mouth for the milk (we were using a syringe). He stuck his head out as if he wanted more milk. He was hungry! We also knew that baby bunnies can die if you overfeed them, but we didn't think this was the case. We think maybe the milk had gone bad, but we also know that babies need their mamas and these bunnies did not have their mama. She wasn't so smart when she built her nest in our backyard! We know all along that they probably would not make it, so we were halfway expecting it. It was a good lesson for everybody.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Week in Review
I noticed that I haven't blogged in a few days. Here is what has been going at the Ruwe house.
1. I started an online class. I am required to take two classes every five years in order to keep my state teaching certificate, since I am not teaching full time in an accredited school. I am taking a class called "Internet and Education" and it started about a week ago. During my free hour after children go to bed, I am usually working on that class. It will be a little challenging, but I have already learned something. Do you know the difference between a digital native and a digital immigrant?? It's a nice class because I can apply it to every grade and every subject. We have to do projects every 10 days and I can tailor it to what I teach, I think it will work out nicely!
2. The bunnies are still alive. They hang out in a shoe box most of the time with an old kitchen towel. They like to be covered, so we always give them a spot to go and then cover them up. Matt has been on feeding duty, he says they're not eating well, but they're still alive! Their eyes are not open yet either, we read online that they will open up about 10-13 days after they were born. These are some young bunnies! And soooo cute!
3. I received Megan's Sonlight Core D set of books in the mail today. I bought Sonlight Core E yesterday, so I am set with history, read-alouds, readers, and language arts for the next two years. ( I guess this means I am homeschooling for 4th grade too??) I also got about half the science books with each of these sets. I ordered another 6 books online yesterday. I had to get their math and a few missing books. I have to get four more books and I am done. These are workbooks and I want to wait a bit and see if any used, but not written in, books will show up on ebay. Matt asked me why I was getting so many books this year. I told him that I am teaching two kids, plus I am doing a new Bible program, which calls for quite a few books. I asked Megan if she wanted to start school tomorrow and she looked at me and said, "But mom, it's still summer!" I know! I was just kidding!
4. The kids have been at Vacation Bible School every night from 6-8, we went there tonight and watched them sing two songs that they have sung all week, they were cute and the girls really had a good time! I really wish our church would do vacation Bible School. Every summer, we attend VBS at a little church by our old house over on Blondo Street. We're been doing this since Megan was 3.
5. Courtney and Christian are still on their diet. It's getting to be pretty normal anymore. We eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and lunch meat. Courtney figured out she could have potato chips, so those were a treat last week! She's been taking her own snack to Bible school every night too. The diet seems to be helping Christian, but I don't know about Courtney. Hopefully it is!
6. Christian is officially two. Is it bad that his parents lost his birthday present? We bought him a steering wheel to put on the swing set and Matt and I don't know where it went. Yikes! I'm glad he's only two and doesn't realize he hasn't gotten anything from mom and dad yet!
7. Check out this equation: Camper outside with awning out + bad wind = half of the awning blown onto the top of the camper and parts are broken. Matt was not home at the time (taking girls to Bible school) when the awning blew up. When he got home, it was pouring rain and he got a wooden ladder and pulled it all down! I was helping. He said, "I hope I don't die!" I was a little concerned- metal awning poles plus lighting! We are planning on going camping tomorrow, so hopefully he can get it fixed in the morning. We did get the awning rolled up, so we can take the camper somewhere, but it still needs to be fixed! That was a pretty big storm!!
1. I started an online class. I am required to take two classes every five years in order to keep my state teaching certificate, since I am not teaching full time in an accredited school. I am taking a class called "Internet and Education" and it started about a week ago. During my free hour after children go to bed, I am usually working on that class. It will be a little challenging, but I have already learned something. Do you know the difference between a digital native and a digital immigrant?? It's a nice class because I can apply it to every grade and every subject. We have to do projects every 10 days and I can tailor it to what I teach, I think it will work out nicely!
2. The bunnies are still alive. They hang out in a shoe box most of the time with an old kitchen towel. They like to be covered, so we always give them a spot to go and then cover them up. Matt has been on feeding duty, he says they're not eating well, but they're still alive! Their eyes are not open yet either, we read online that they will open up about 10-13 days after they were born. These are some young bunnies! And soooo cute!
3. I received Megan's Sonlight Core D set of books in the mail today. I bought Sonlight Core E yesterday, so I am set with history, read-alouds, readers, and language arts for the next two years. ( I guess this means I am homeschooling for 4th grade too??) I also got about half the science books with each of these sets. I ordered another 6 books online yesterday. I had to get their math and a few missing books. I have to get four more books and I am done. These are workbooks and I want to wait a bit and see if any used, but not written in, books will show up on ebay. Matt asked me why I was getting so many books this year. I told him that I am teaching two kids, plus I am doing a new Bible program, which calls for quite a few books. I asked Megan if she wanted to start school tomorrow and she looked at me and said, "But mom, it's still summer!" I know! I was just kidding!
4. The kids have been at Vacation Bible School every night from 6-8, we went there tonight and watched them sing two songs that they have sung all week, they were cute and the girls really had a good time! I really wish our church would do vacation Bible School. Every summer, we attend VBS at a little church by our old house over on Blondo Street. We're been doing this since Megan was 3.
5. Courtney and Christian are still on their diet. It's getting to be pretty normal anymore. We eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and lunch meat. Courtney figured out she could have potato chips, so those were a treat last week! She's been taking her own snack to Bible school every night too. The diet seems to be helping Christian, but I don't know about Courtney. Hopefully it is!
6. Christian is officially two. Is it bad that his parents lost his birthday present? We bought him a steering wheel to put on the swing set and Matt and I don't know where it went. Yikes! I'm glad he's only two and doesn't realize he hasn't gotten anything from mom and dad yet!
7. Check out this equation: Camper outside with awning out + bad wind = half of the awning blown onto the top of the camper and parts are broken. Matt was not home at the time (taking girls to Bible school) when the awning blew up. When he got home, it was pouring rain and he got a wooden ladder and pulled it all down! I was helping. He said, "I hope I don't die!" I was a little concerned- metal awning poles plus lighting! We are planning on going camping tomorrow, so hopefully he can get it fixed in the morning. We did get the awning rolled up, so we can take the camper somewhere, but it still needs to be fixed! That was a pretty big storm!!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Operation Save the Bunnies
Today we had a little bit, I mean a lot, of drama at our house. And it was all over baby bunnies.
It was later this afternoon and the girls were outside playing with Dell. Christian and I were hanging out in the kitchen and Megan runs in and says, "Dell is eating another animal." I thought it wasn't a big deal and let it be. I didn't really worry about it until about two minutes later. Courtney runs in all frantic and in tears, "Mom, Dell is eating a baby animal!!!" I ran out there just in time to see Dell picking up a baby animal and putting it in her mouth. Poor Courtney was ready to come unglued! I went over to Dell and told in a very serious manner to get in the house!! I swear I saw her swallow a poor thing on the way from the door to the lawn and as I got there, she dropped whatever she had and ran inside I put her in the bathroom right away because she tends to get sick when she eats something bad.
Now that she is put away, I have to go back outside and see what this thing was. Dell had obviously dug these things up because there was grass and animal hair right by the hole. I determined to myself that they were moles. They were little and they looked like moles and we have had them in our yard before. I saw one alive by the hole yet, so I let it be. I had to deal with Courtney. I took her inside and just sat and held her while she cried. "Why did Dell have to eat the babies?? I don't like Dell anymore. I even heard them squeaking as Dell was eating them" (sob, sob, sob!!) The poor thing had seen Dell eat the baby moles just like I did. If you don't know Courtney, she has a HUGE heart, especially for animals lately. It just breaks my heart to see her so distraught!!
We sat down to eat supper because we had Bible school tonight and Courtney refused to eat, she said she wasn't hungry. We talked about the moles the whole meal while Courtney still cried. Soon, Matt came home. We explained to him what had happened and he went outside to check out the hole. I told him I had saw one by the hole, but I swear Dell had dropped one quite a ways away from the hole. Matt went outside and looked down at the hole and there was a baby rabbit!! They weren't moles, they were rabbits! He picked that one up and came and showed Courtney. Now she was happy that they weren't dead and started to cheer up, even though she is still convinced that Dell ate one, or two.
Matt them decided that we were going to take care of this rabbit. We told Courtney that while she was at Bible school, we would go to the pet store and see what baby rabbits eat and how to take care of them. She went into the garage and found a shoe box, so we got an old towel and put the baby rabbit in there.
Matt went back outside then and when he came in, he had the other baby rabbit in a cup. He had found this one in the grass, this must've been the one Dell dropped. It didn't look good at all, but he added it to the shoe box and we left for Bible school.
Two hours later, we came and didn't know what we would find. Two dead rabbits, one dead, one alive, Dell puked a rabbit up, we didn't know! Well, both rabbits were alive and doing well. The hurt one had actually moved and burrowed into the towel like the other one had. We got the milk out that we had bought at the pet store and tried to feed them, but they didn't take the milk. Their eyes are not even open yet! They looked like they just wanted to sleep.
We know that these rabbits might not make it. The man at the pets store told us that if the mama came back and realized that her babies smelled like something else, she would kill them. (We didn't tell Courtney this.) We were also reading online that professionals even have a hard time keeping baby wild rabbits alive, but we'll do this for Courtney.
In the end, we aren't sure if Dell ate a rabbit or not, she's been fine all night. Now the rabbits are in her house, I wonder what she would do if she knew they were in the shoe box on the counter!!
It was later this afternoon and the girls were outside playing with Dell. Christian and I were hanging out in the kitchen and Megan runs in and says, "Dell is eating another animal." I thought it wasn't a big deal and let it be. I didn't really worry about it until about two minutes later. Courtney runs in all frantic and in tears, "Mom, Dell is eating a baby animal!!!" I ran out there just in time to see Dell picking up a baby animal and putting it in her mouth. Poor Courtney was ready to come unglued! I went over to Dell and told in a very serious manner to get in the house!! I swear I saw her swallow a poor thing on the way from the door to the lawn and as I got there, she dropped whatever she had and ran inside I put her in the bathroom right away because she tends to get sick when she eats something bad.
Now that she is put away, I have to go back outside and see what this thing was. Dell had obviously dug these things up because there was grass and animal hair right by the hole. I determined to myself that they were moles. They were little and they looked like moles and we have had them in our yard before. I saw one alive by the hole yet, so I let it be. I had to deal with Courtney. I took her inside and just sat and held her while she cried. "Why did Dell have to eat the babies?? I don't like Dell anymore. I even heard them squeaking as Dell was eating them" (sob, sob, sob!!) The poor thing had seen Dell eat the baby moles just like I did. If you don't know Courtney, she has a HUGE heart, especially for animals lately. It just breaks my heart to see her so distraught!!
We sat down to eat supper because we had Bible school tonight and Courtney refused to eat, she said she wasn't hungry. We talked about the moles the whole meal while Courtney still cried. Soon, Matt came home. We explained to him what had happened and he went outside to check out the hole. I told him I had saw one by the hole, but I swear Dell had dropped one quite a ways away from the hole. Matt went outside and looked down at the hole and there was a baby rabbit!! They weren't moles, they were rabbits! He picked that one up and came and showed Courtney. Now she was happy that they weren't dead and started to cheer up, even though she is still convinced that Dell ate one, or two.
Matt them decided that we were going to take care of this rabbit. We told Courtney that while she was at Bible school, we would go to the pet store and see what baby rabbits eat and how to take care of them. She went into the garage and found a shoe box, so we got an old towel and put the baby rabbit in there.
Matt went back outside then and when he came in, he had the other baby rabbit in a cup. He had found this one in the grass, this must've been the one Dell dropped. It didn't look good at all, but he added it to the shoe box and we left for Bible school.
Two hours later, we came and didn't know what we would find. Two dead rabbits, one dead, one alive, Dell puked a rabbit up, we didn't know! Well, both rabbits were alive and doing well. The hurt one had actually moved and burrowed into the towel like the other one had. We got the milk out that we had bought at the pet store and tried to feed them, but they didn't take the milk. Their eyes are not even open yet! They looked like they just wanted to sleep.
We know that these rabbits might not make it. The man at the pets store told us that if the mama came back and realized that her babies smelled like something else, she would kill them. (We didn't tell Courtney this.) We were also reading online that professionals even have a hard time keeping baby wild rabbits alive, but we'll do this for Courtney.
In the end, we aren't sure if Dell ate a rabbit or not, she's been fine all night. Now the rabbits are in her house, I wonder what she would do if she knew they were in the shoe box on the counter!!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Papers are notarized!
One other thing I got accomplished yesterday...I got our homeschool papers notarized!! Now they are ready to be sent off to the State Department of Education, so we can continue with our exempt school status (permission from the state to homeschool!)
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Birthday/ Anniversay Weekend and book shopping
What? Is it really Matt and I's anniversary tomorrow??? Just kidding. :)
I am still a little bitter that Christian stole our day.
Anyway, we have been hard at work here at the Ruwe house trying to get ready for the big birthday party tomorrow! We have been shopping, cleaning, organizing, getting my rooms put back in order after painting a month ago, finally deciding on curtains, etc. I have been working at it all week, so hopefully everything will be ready to go by 4 pm tomorrow. (I like having parties later in the afternoon- it gives me a couple more hours to get things done!)
Besides getting ready for the party, I have also been shopping. As in used homeschool books shopping! There was a used homeschool book sale today and of course I had to go! There were probably 25 tables each rented out by moms and dads who wanted to sell their old homeschooling books. Note to self: Next time, take cash. I didn't even think about taking cash until I went in and started to consider buying things. I only had a check book. I wondered if I was going to write a check out at every table I bought a book at. After my first purchase, I got back into my car and went to the bank ( I tried to get money out of the ATM, but it wasn't working, so I looked at the door and it said it closed at 12, guess what time it was? 12! I opened the door and ran in quick. I don't think the lady behind the desk was too happy with me!). After getting some cash and returning to the sale, I was ready to shop!
Along with remembering to take cash, I will also remember to go the last couple of hours to the sale. Over and over, I got told, "These are free, just take them! I don't want to take them home with me!" Or "The sign says 50 per book, but how about I sell them to you for four for a dollar?" My favorite was, "Just make me an offer! I don't want to carry these books back out to my car!" People were pretty desparate to get rid of their stuff! I remember one lady saying, "I'm getting space on my bookshelf back." I responded with," I need more bookshelves!"
I went to one table and on the floor was a big bag full of books. The sign said, "$100 Sonlight, 4th grade" I looked at it again and it was exactly what I would be using for Megan for 4th grade. This was Core E and I am using Core D this coming year. This would be American history from 1850 to the present. The lady behind the table said that her friend was selling this set, but there were about 10-15 books missing plus the instructor's guide. She also had half of a science set included in this bag on the floor. I asked a couple more questions and told her I would think about it and call her this weekend. I was hesitant to buy it without an instructor's manual.
I keep on looking at more tables and then I get to a table that had a big Sonlight binder on the table. I looked at the title, "American history, Core E, 1850 to present." Is this for real? Nobody else saw this? One person was selling the books and a completely different person was selling the instructor guides?? I flipped though the binder and it was spotless. There was no writing anywhere and it included all the language arts lessons too! I expressed intrerest in it to the lady behind the table and she said, "Just take it, I don't have a need for it." I looked at her kind of funny because this is probably worth $50-$75!!! She had a price tag of $10 on it. I replied, "I'll give you something for it." She replied, "Ok, $5." Sold!! (Do you know how hard it was this year to find a set with language art lesson plans and worksheets that were not written on??)
So I went back to the original lady with all the books and showed her my steal! Now I was really interested in those books. She gave me the list of books that were missing and I wrote down all the books that were in the set. I didn't want to make such a big purchase on-site, especially without talking to Matt about it (plus my phone was dead, so I couldn't call him) and I did want to make sure the instructor's guide matched up with the books, which I am sure it will. I told her I would call her by Monday with my decision! There were probably 30 books in her set. I talked to Matt about it and he said I could go ahead and get it. I just need to put it away a year! I am not even going to worry about buying the rest of the books this year.
I also got quite a few books about dinosaurs for Christian, a music book, an art book, a pop-up European cities book, some horse books for Megan, Pocohantas for Courtney, a little song book for Courtney, some early American history activity books, some American history coloring books, and some other various books. I came home with a whole bagful! Most of these were $2 and under!
Too bad they didn't have any books I was actually looking for! Now to get on ebay and order the rest of what I need in the fall.
I am still a little bitter that Christian stole our day.
Anyway, we have been hard at work here at the Ruwe house trying to get ready for the big birthday party tomorrow! We have been shopping, cleaning, organizing, getting my rooms put back in order after painting a month ago, finally deciding on curtains, etc. I have been working at it all week, so hopefully everything will be ready to go by 4 pm tomorrow. (I like having parties later in the afternoon- it gives me a couple more hours to get things done!)
Besides getting ready for the party, I have also been shopping. As in used homeschool books shopping! There was a used homeschool book sale today and of course I had to go! There were probably 25 tables each rented out by moms and dads who wanted to sell their old homeschooling books. Note to self: Next time, take cash. I didn't even think about taking cash until I went in and started to consider buying things. I only had a check book. I wondered if I was going to write a check out at every table I bought a book at. After my first purchase, I got back into my car and went to the bank ( I tried to get money out of the ATM, but it wasn't working, so I looked at the door and it said it closed at 12, guess what time it was? 12! I opened the door and ran in quick. I don't think the lady behind the desk was too happy with me!). After getting some cash and returning to the sale, I was ready to shop!
Along with remembering to take cash, I will also remember to go the last couple of hours to the sale. Over and over, I got told, "These are free, just take them! I don't want to take them home with me!" Or "The sign says 50 per book, but how about I sell them to you for four for a dollar?" My favorite was, "Just make me an offer! I don't want to carry these books back out to my car!" People were pretty desparate to get rid of their stuff! I remember one lady saying, "I'm getting space on my bookshelf back." I responded with," I need more bookshelves!"
I went to one table and on the floor was a big bag full of books. The sign said, "$100 Sonlight, 4th grade" I looked at it again and it was exactly what I would be using for Megan for 4th grade. This was Core E and I am using Core D this coming year. This would be American history from 1850 to the present. The lady behind the table said that her friend was selling this set, but there were about 10-15 books missing plus the instructor's guide. She also had half of a science set included in this bag on the floor. I asked a couple more questions and told her I would think about it and call her this weekend. I was hesitant to buy it without an instructor's manual.
I keep on looking at more tables and then I get to a table that had a big Sonlight binder on the table. I looked at the title, "American history, Core E, 1850 to present." Is this for real? Nobody else saw this? One person was selling the books and a completely different person was selling the instructor guides?? I flipped though the binder and it was spotless. There was no writing anywhere and it included all the language arts lessons too! I expressed intrerest in it to the lady behind the table and she said, "Just take it, I don't have a need for it." I looked at her kind of funny because this is probably worth $50-$75!!! She had a price tag of $10 on it. I replied, "I'll give you something for it." She replied, "Ok, $5." Sold!! (Do you know how hard it was this year to find a set with language art lesson plans and worksheets that were not written on??)
So I went back to the original lady with all the books and showed her my steal! Now I was really interested in those books. She gave me the list of books that were missing and I wrote down all the books that were in the set. I didn't want to make such a big purchase on-site, especially without talking to Matt about it (plus my phone was dead, so I couldn't call him) and I did want to make sure the instructor's guide matched up with the books, which I am sure it will. I told her I would call her by Monday with my decision! There were probably 30 books in her set. I talked to Matt about it and he said I could go ahead and get it. I just need to put it away a year! I am not even going to worry about buying the rest of the books this year.
I also got quite a few books about dinosaurs for Christian, a music book, an art book, a pop-up European cities book, some horse books for Megan, Pocohantas for Courtney, a little song book for Courtney, some early American history activity books, some American history coloring books, and some other various books. I came home with a whole bagful! Most of these were $2 and under!
Too bad they didn't have any books I was actually looking for! Now to get on ebay and order the rest of what I need in the fall.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
One Reason...
Some day I am going to come up with a list of why I love homeschooling. Actually I had one done once and it got deleted and I hadn't taken the time to write it up again.:(
As for now, I will give you one reason why I love homeschooling. It is friendships!
I know, odd, right? But here is why I think it is so important, especially in a homeschooling situation!
1. When you go to public school and there are 100 kids in a class and they are divided into 4 classes. Every year, they mix all the kids up and make up new classes. How can you ever get to make good friends?? You have a friend for 1st grade, then you have to make new ones in 2nd grade, and so forth. How irritating! With homeschooling, the classes never change!
I am very thankful that my kids (and myself) are starting to develop friendships that will get started now and will last for awhile. I see my kids starting to make friends and I know that there will never be a situation that should inhibit them from getting together (like changing classes). I know we will be able to hang around these people for awhile (maybe even years) and get to know them better. It is so much fun raising your kids alongside another family.
2. When you are homeschooling, you tend to have your kids with you. If you do anything, your kids are usually along. If you have a playdate or anything, the parents usually stay. This is a great situation! Not only do the kids get to develop relationships, but so do the moms!
3. It is so neat to start to make friends with people who have the same values and morals in life as you do. It is nice that they believe the same things you do and you can talk about religion and not get in trouble! Our kids can also talk about religion and not get looked down upon or even be scared to talk about God and Jesus!
4. It is nice to have other people around who know how hard it is to homeschool, but also know how much of a blessing it is!! They understand what I am going through and are there for encouragement, not discouragement. We can bounce ideas off of each other and talk about our daily struggles. We can be open about our thoughts and how we handle certain situations. What a blessing that is!
As for now, I will give you one reason why I love homeschooling. It is friendships!
I know, odd, right? But here is why I think it is so important, especially in a homeschooling situation!
1. When you go to public school and there are 100 kids in a class and they are divided into 4 classes. Every year, they mix all the kids up and make up new classes. How can you ever get to make good friends?? You have a friend for 1st grade, then you have to make new ones in 2nd grade, and so forth. How irritating! With homeschooling, the classes never change!
I am very thankful that my kids (and myself) are starting to develop friendships that will get started now and will last for awhile. I see my kids starting to make friends and I know that there will never be a situation that should inhibit them from getting together (like changing classes). I know we will be able to hang around these people for awhile (maybe even years) and get to know them better. It is so much fun raising your kids alongside another family.
2. When you are homeschooling, you tend to have your kids with you. If you do anything, your kids are usually along. If you have a playdate or anything, the parents usually stay. This is a great situation! Not only do the kids get to develop relationships, but so do the moms!
3. It is so neat to start to make friends with people who have the same values and morals in life as you do. It is nice that they believe the same things you do and you can talk about religion and not get in trouble! Our kids can also talk about religion and not get looked down upon or even be scared to talk about God and Jesus!
4. It is nice to have other people around who know how hard it is to homeschool, but also know how much of a blessing it is!! They understand what I am going through and are there for encouragement, not discouragement. We can bounce ideas off of each other and talk about our daily struggles. We can be open about our thoughts and how we handle certain situations. What a blessing that is!
Monday, June 4, 2012
Getting Ready for next school year.
I kind of have school on my brain all the time. I usually have a thought or two swirling through my brain at any given moment.
This weekend, I got a lot done.
I filled out the homeschooling papers for next year. I need to get those in by July 15th. You have to have them approved 30 days before you start school, so we need to get them notarized and off to the Nebraska Department of Education soon. I also need to send along Courtney's birth certificate this year to prove she is of school age. I had to send Megan's there last year.
I was very busy on ebay this weekend. It is amazing what you can find. I was waiting for school to end and for people to put all their old stuff up.
This is what I got for next year.
1. Sonight Core D American History. We used this same curriculum for world history this year and loved it. This includes all Megan's read-aloud books and history. We will be studying American History until 1850 for third grade and then the rest of American History for 4th grade.
Along with her read-alouds and history, I also got her the Advanced Readers. This last year, I got her 3rd grade readers, but those were way too easy! She breezed though them pretty quickly. For Core D, there was an option of regular readers or advanced. I happen to find a Sonlight set with advanced! The bonus of Core D is that all the readers and read-alouds all relate to what you are studying in history.
I also got Sonlight Language Arts D package with this too. I did this last year with Megan and honestly, I was not very happy with the phonics or grammar sections, but I loved the writing sections. They really challenged the kids to be creative and to think outside of their box. We probably laughed and cried the most at these writing assignments. (Laughed because we had such a fun time creating stories and essays, cried because I made Megan do them!)
I also get the lesson plans for all these sections plus the student sheets, which are NOT written on! That makes me happy!
As a bonus, I also got the lesson plans, student sheets, and three books from Sonlight's D science program. If I want to use this program in a couple of years, I just need to get the missing books.
2. To make up for the fact that Sonlight does not have a lot of grammar or sentence structure activites, I found a teacher's manual and student book from Rod and Staff to make that information up. This set is usually $27 online and I got it for $10.
3. I also plan to do Bible together next year. I am not happy with Sonlight's Bible program, so I went and found a different one to use next year. I decided to try Bob Jones University Press for Bible. I ordered a student book, materials, and a test last week off ebay and on Saturday, I got the teacher's manual. Usually this is a $54, but I got it for $6. They said that it was brand new too! So hopefully it is! I am doing 3rd grade level for this, I think it will be fine for Courtney. I need to order an extra workbook since I will need two of them.
4. Finally today I ordered one last thing. I really want Courtney to have a solid foundation in phonics. Since I'm the one teaching her how to read, this is how I want her to learn :) Rod and Staff (again) has some great phonics books for the lower levels. I found a set on ebay of course. It had the Pre-K, 1st grade, and 2nd grade phonics books. This is usually about $68 and I got it for $9.99! Pretty happy! I don't plan on using this every day with Courtney, but just to supplement if I need. I also thought I could go through some of it this summer. I figure for $10, it's worth it to help her understand a little bit more. I am using Sonlight Language Arts with her too (1st grade level), so I will just need to get started and see how it goes. (Yes, I figure we can skip the kindergarten level since she knows all her letters and sounds and it already putting words together).
I already have Courtney's Language Arts here and Sonlight Science (kindergarten level here). Again, both off ebay for discounted prices! I am going to start at kindergarten science with both of them. Megan has not had a lot of science the last 3 years, so I thought I would start at the beginning. It is made for K-2nd graders anyway, so I think it will work out great. There are lots of hands on activities and lots of cutting and pasting for Courtney. :)
I do need to order Math sometime too for both girls. We are going to do Horizons for kindergarten math and 3rd grade Math. I looked at some different programs, but I couldn't really switch because a lot of what Megan had learned in 2nd grade math, these other programs were starting to teach them in 3rd grade. I don't want Megan going backwards! I was not 100% happy (I was about 98% or so happy) with Horizons last year, but it is a good program! I think it will give Courtney a good solid start with math!
Last but not least, the state requires us to teach our children health. I used Abeka last year for 2nd grade health and didn't like it. The books were a little outdated, like when talking about using the phone, they had pictures of the old phones with cords in the books and no mention of cell phones! I am going to try Horizons for health this year. I think I can use 3rd grade for both kids. I only plan on doing health once a week.
Art, music, and PE are also subjects I need to work in there. Megan is going to take dance again and Courtney wants to take gymnastics, so that might be PE. We could have a set music time (me play piano, girls sing and dance), and we can do crafts or buy a simple art book. These can be once a week activities too.
Megan has also requested to learn Greek and Latin roots. I didn't push spelling or vocabulary with her last year because she is pretty good speller, but she really has an interest in other languages. We will have to see about this. I'm going to have plenty of other subjects to cover! I can't wait for all this stuff to come in the mail this week!
This weekend, I got a lot done.
I filled out the homeschooling papers for next year. I need to get those in by July 15th. You have to have them approved 30 days before you start school, so we need to get them notarized and off to the Nebraska Department of Education soon. I also need to send along Courtney's birth certificate this year to prove she is of school age. I had to send Megan's there last year.
I was very busy on ebay this weekend. It is amazing what you can find. I was waiting for school to end and for people to put all their old stuff up.
This is what I got for next year.
1. Sonight Core D American History. We used this same curriculum for world history this year and loved it. This includes all Megan's read-aloud books and history. We will be studying American History until 1850 for third grade and then the rest of American History for 4th grade.
Along with her read-alouds and history, I also got her the Advanced Readers. This last year, I got her 3rd grade readers, but those were way too easy! She breezed though them pretty quickly. For Core D, there was an option of regular readers or advanced. I happen to find a Sonlight set with advanced! The bonus of Core D is that all the readers and read-alouds all relate to what you are studying in history.
I also got Sonlight Language Arts D package with this too. I did this last year with Megan and honestly, I was not very happy with the phonics or grammar sections, but I loved the writing sections. They really challenged the kids to be creative and to think outside of their box. We probably laughed and cried the most at these writing assignments. (Laughed because we had such a fun time creating stories and essays, cried because I made Megan do them!)
I also get the lesson plans for all these sections plus the student sheets, which are NOT written on! That makes me happy!
As a bonus, I also got the lesson plans, student sheets, and three books from Sonlight's D science program. If I want to use this program in a couple of years, I just need to get the missing books.
2. To make up for the fact that Sonlight does not have a lot of grammar or sentence structure activites, I found a teacher's manual and student book from Rod and Staff to make that information up. This set is usually $27 online and I got it for $10.
3. I also plan to do Bible together next year. I am not happy with Sonlight's Bible program, so I went and found a different one to use next year. I decided to try Bob Jones University Press for Bible. I ordered a student book, materials, and a test last week off ebay and on Saturday, I got the teacher's manual. Usually this is a $54, but I got it for $6. They said that it was brand new too! So hopefully it is! I am doing 3rd grade level for this, I think it will be fine for Courtney. I need to order an extra workbook since I will need two of them.
4. Finally today I ordered one last thing. I really want Courtney to have a solid foundation in phonics. Since I'm the one teaching her how to read, this is how I want her to learn :) Rod and Staff (again) has some great phonics books for the lower levels. I found a set on ebay of course. It had the Pre-K, 1st grade, and 2nd grade phonics books. This is usually about $68 and I got it for $9.99! Pretty happy! I don't plan on using this every day with Courtney, but just to supplement if I need. I also thought I could go through some of it this summer. I figure for $10, it's worth it to help her understand a little bit more. I am using Sonlight Language Arts with her too (1st grade level), so I will just need to get started and see how it goes. (Yes, I figure we can skip the kindergarten level since she knows all her letters and sounds and it already putting words together).
I already have Courtney's Language Arts here and Sonlight Science (kindergarten level here). Again, both off ebay for discounted prices! I am going to start at kindergarten science with both of them. Megan has not had a lot of science the last 3 years, so I thought I would start at the beginning. It is made for K-2nd graders anyway, so I think it will work out great. There are lots of hands on activities and lots of cutting and pasting for Courtney. :)
I do need to order Math sometime too for both girls. We are going to do Horizons for kindergarten math and 3rd grade Math. I looked at some different programs, but I couldn't really switch because a lot of what Megan had learned in 2nd grade math, these other programs were starting to teach them in 3rd grade. I don't want Megan going backwards! I was not 100% happy (I was about 98% or so happy) with Horizons last year, but it is a good program! I think it will give Courtney a good solid start with math!
Last but not least, the state requires us to teach our children health. I used Abeka last year for 2nd grade health and didn't like it. The books were a little outdated, like when talking about using the phone, they had pictures of the old phones with cords in the books and no mention of cell phones! I am going to try Horizons for health this year. I think I can use 3rd grade for both kids. I only plan on doing health once a week.
Art, music, and PE are also subjects I need to work in there. Megan is going to take dance again and Courtney wants to take gymnastics, so that might be PE. We could have a set music time (me play piano, girls sing and dance), and we can do crafts or buy a simple art book. These can be once a week activities too.
Megan has also requested to learn Greek and Latin roots. I didn't push spelling or vocabulary with her last year because she is pretty good speller, but she really has an interest in other languages. We will have to see about this. I'm going to have plenty of other subjects to cover! I can't wait for all this stuff to come in the mail this week!
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Dance Recital!
Megan did a great job at her dance recital last night! It was an awesome night of worshipping God through dance!
I posted many more pictures on my facebook page. Megan did an awesome job!!!
We are all signed up and ready to go again next year! Keep up the good work Megan!
We are all signed up and ready to go again next year! Keep up the good work Megan!
Friday, June 1, 2012
Done with School!!
We are officially done with 2nd grade.
Our first homeschooling year is under our belt.
I would love to reflect on this moment. This has been a year of transition, but I don't think I would change it for the world. I absolutely LOVE homeschooling and I think Megan enjoys it too! We had a very rough start, I will admit, but by about January, we seemed to get on track and get things going. I am glad I stuck with it and had perserverance. My goal was Christmas and I made it all year. What a joy it has been!!
We finished up her final book report this afternoon and read the last four chapters in our history book. We had to cover the Korean and Vietnam War in our study of world history. :) I couldn't just stop at World War I like our book wanted us to. I still would like to show Megan and Courtney pictures of the Berlin Wall, we talked about that today too.
Now what are we going to do?? Or I could just take a break for a little bit....
(Written two days later)
I was putting Megan's school books away today and she grabbed her history book,which is about 400 pages and 91 chapters. She didn't want me to put it on the shelf, she said, "Can I have my favorite book please??" So I gave it to her! Next thing I know, she's laying on her playroom floor reading chapter 1!! Wow, we read that chapter last August! We learned world history from creation until now in one year! What a good basis she has gotten in history! This was the book that we were supposed to stop reading at chapter 84, but she wanted to read the last 8 chapters and finish the book, so we did! Next stop is American history for the next two years!
Our first homeschooling year is under our belt.
I would love to reflect on this moment. This has been a year of transition, but I don't think I would change it for the world. I absolutely LOVE homeschooling and I think Megan enjoys it too! We had a very rough start, I will admit, but by about January, we seemed to get on track and get things going. I am glad I stuck with it and had perserverance. My goal was Christmas and I made it all year. What a joy it has been!!
We finished up her final book report this afternoon and read the last four chapters in our history book. We had to cover the Korean and Vietnam War in our study of world history. :) I couldn't just stop at World War I like our book wanted us to. I still would like to show Megan and Courtney pictures of the Berlin Wall, we talked about that today too.
Now what are we going to do?? Or I could just take a break for a little bit....
(Written two days later)
I was putting Megan's school books away today and she grabbed her history book,which is about 400 pages and 91 chapters. She didn't want me to put it on the shelf, she said, "Can I have my favorite book please??" So I gave it to her! Next thing I know, she's laying on her playroom floor reading chapter 1!! Wow, we read that chapter last August! We learned world history from creation until now in one year! What a good basis she has gotten in history! This was the book that we were supposed to stop reading at chapter 84, but she wanted to read the last 8 chapters and finish the book, so we did! Next stop is American history for the next two years!
Dishes!
I can't believe it. Every single dish in my house is clean. They are either drying on my counter from handwashing them or they are put away. There is not one dish even in my dishwasher! This is definitely a first!
On a side note, it's funny to watch Christian put dishes away. He likes to "help" unload the silverware out of the dishwasher, after I take the sharp knives out of course! He knows where everything goes too. I had to laugh today though, he picked up a big slotted spoon and said, "bubbles." Why does he associate that spoon with bubbles? Because him and Courtney like to fill up the bathroom sink with water and bubbles and then they play in the bubbles with the slotted spoons! When he pulled a second spoon out, he said, "sissies bubbles!"
On a side note, it's funny to watch Christian put dishes away. He likes to "help" unload the silverware out of the dishwasher, after I take the sharp knives out of course! He knows where everything goes too. I had to laugh today though, he picked up a big slotted spoon and said, "bubbles." Why does he associate that spoon with bubbles? Because him and Courtney like to fill up the bathroom sink with water and bubbles and then they play in the bubbles with the slotted spoons! When he pulled a second spoon out, he said, "sissies bubbles!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)