Yesterday was one of those unreasonably hard days, and that's why this is my first post this week. Today was much better, however. Everyone did their independent reading first today. That's when they read the books they pick. They did that for quite a while, actually. Then Sam and Sarah went on to their Uncle Eric books and Rachel to The Making of America. She has kind of a bad attitude about it, but I'm having her read it anyway. She's having a hard time with winter already, and especially because it snowed 6 inches today.
We were going to go to the grocery after school for a huge load of stuff; but since it was snowing all day, we decided to go early. We got started and my wimpy minivan started slipping around, so we just came home. We're dying to get to the health food store too, to get our white spelt flour. Some of us can't eat wheat, so we use spelt. We have the whole grains and we grind our own flour from them, but sometimes you just need to lighten it with white flour. We also make our cookies with it. So yummy.
We got the crib set up for baby Eliza today. I'm so excited! Just 4 more days. We had to put the mattress on the lowest setting, because yesterday she pulled herself up to standing in her crib. Crazy. Then we put together bed frames for the girls' beds. They had been on the floor, but I'm not sure that's good for the carpet. So we put them up. Rachel doesn't think she'll like it. We've never had the beds on frames, but this year we decided to get everyone's off the floor. I love my bed on a frame; we're not getting any younger and it was feeling like a lot of work to get up. I'm 46 and Jeff is 10 years older. He was really getting tired of it.
I guess putting up the crib was our service for today, and tomorrow the kids are going caroling and giving out fruit baskets with the teenagers from church. Thursday, we're helping my mom some more. I'm not sure I can count Friday's plans as service. See what you think. We have to fix a couple plumbing issues at the house before the buyer's loan can be approved. Is that service? We can't sell it without taking care of it, but that also means she can't buy it if we don't. And she's very excited to buy it. I guess that could be service. I'm glad it's someone that really wants it. The realtor says she's just a nice person too. That makes me feel good about the neighborhood staying nice and quiet like it is.
See you tomorrow!
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Friday, December 9, 2016
Day 88
Today we got to go to my parents' house and help make Christmas cookies. My mom has been making these all my life, and she makes a ton of them. I think the kids made 15 dozen today. They're nut balls, and they are so good. I can't eat them any more because of the sugar, but I thought we'd get the recipe and try to alter them. I can't wait to try it.
We also packed up some of her breakables from the living room, because right after Christmas they're having their living room floor redone. They have carpet and they're getting the hardwood under it refinished. I think they're going to love it. We're going back next week to help them get ready for Christmas Eve. That's the big night for our family. I guess we might pack up some more stuff, since they have to have the living room completely empty by Jan 2. It's a big room with lots of stuff in it.
I also worked on a nightgown for Mom. She had the pattern pieces all cut out and ready, so all I had to do was sew them up. It was fun; I haven't sewn anything in a while, and the girls and I have some projects we need to start. That gave me a little motivation for it, since it came out really well. I decided that cutting the fabric is the hard part. If I could always have all the pieces ready, I could just whip up whatever I'm making. Sarah was impressed that I could even sew. It's kind of sad that I haven't done it for so long that she didn't know I could. I guess we'll take care of that. We're definitely working on our projects after Christmas. We have material for linen skirts and a couple other things.
I typed out Sam's three sentences from the other day and had him go over them looking for mistakes. He did alright, except I felt like a couple of them were more than one sentence. I think he doesn't think of it because when we talk, we just say the next thing. I mean have you ever thought about where one sentence ends and the next begins. I told him to read them aloud and he'd see that he was having run-ons. He sent an email to Lego tonight to ask them something. I asked if he wanted me to look at it before he sent it, but he didn't show me. The last time he sent one, he did a better job with his structure than whatever else he writes. Just proving my contention that writing for a real reason and a real audience motivates us to do our best. I love all the things that take care of themselves when the kids write for real.
See you next week!
We also packed up some of her breakables from the living room, because right after Christmas they're having their living room floor redone. They have carpet and they're getting the hardwood under it refinished. I think they're going to love it. We're going back next week to help them get ready for Christmas Eve. That's the big night for our family. I guess we might pack up some more stuff, since they have to have the living room completely empty by Jan 2. It's a big room with lots of stuff in it.
I also worked on a nightgown for Mom. She had the pattern pieces all cut out and ready, so all I had to do was sew them up. It was fun; I haven't sewn anything in a while, and the girls and I have some projects we need to start. That gave me a little motivation for it, since it came out really well. I decided that cutting the fabric is the hard part. If I could always have all the pieces ready, I could just whip up whatever I'm making. Sarah was impressed that I could even sew. It's kind of sad that I haven't done it for so long that she didn't know I could. I guess we'll take care of that. We're definitely working on our projects after Christmas. We have material for linen skirts and a couple other things.
I typed out Sam's three sentences from the other day and had him go over them looking for mistakes. He did alright, except I felt like a couple of them were more than one sentence. I think he doesn't think of it because when we talk, we just say the next thing. I mean have you ever thought about where one sentence ends and the next begins. I told him to read them aloud and he'd see that he was having run-ons. He sent an email to Lego tonight to ask them something. I asked if he wanted me to look at it before he sent it, but he didn't show me. The last time he sent one, he did a better job with his structure than whatever else he writes. Just proving my contention that writing for a real reason and a real audience motivates us to do our best. I love all the things that take care of themselves when the kids write for real.
See you next week!
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Day 87--Serving Others
We spent most of the day getting ready for today's service. There's a church in our community that hosts families and individuals that don't currently have homes. Actually it's a whole organization that has several churches that are willing to host people. They stay at the churches for a week at a time. The church gets other churches to do different things like provide dinner, lead an activity, and have a couple people spend the night as chaperones.
So we went tonight to do the activity part. I was so nervous. I had a bunch of questions in my head, and I was just unsure of what to expect. Also, Jeff had to work so he couldn't go. He's always so good at stuff like that. Anyway, we were supposed to do an activity and a little discussion about something positive. So we decided to talk about feeling the Love of God and how we can help others feel that too.
I told a story about how a few years ago, I got a little depressed or something and started wondering if my Heavenly Father had forgotten me. So I decided to write in a little notebook at the end of each day, evidence of His love. While I was doing that I noticed that a lot of the way I know He loves me is by what other people do to be kind. Then, since we're focusing on doing acts of service this month, we had written down small things that everyone has done or had done for them, like smiling at someone or remembering someone's name. We put each one on a slip of paper and had everyone take one and think of a time they were in that situation and how it made them or others feel.
Everyone participated, and it was a lovely discussion. They told us how they've only been together as a group for two weeks, but they're already feeling like a family--like they love each other. One person talked about coming to know Heavenly Father in a way that she never had before. It was very sweet. After that we gave each person a little notebook and pen to write down every day how they can feel Heavenly Father's love for them. We really enjoyed ourselves. I hope we get to do it again and encourage others to volunteer.
After that we were supposed to go visit a lady from church, but she was sick and had to cancel. Our family uses essential oils to help with a variety of health things, so I thought we'd take this lady some oil that helps stop coughing. I called to see if I could just drop it off, and she sounded absolutely terrible. I could barely understand her. I just gave her daughter the oil at the door. I hope she got some relief from it; she's so sick. I'm going to have to call in a day or two and see if she needs more. I didn't put much in the bottle; but from the way she sounds, she'll need it for a while.
We did science today, but nothing else for our usual school stuff. Tonight Sam told me he's concerned that he's "not excelling academically." I said we would sit down tomorrow and address that together. I told him that each of his siblings had that same feeling at about his age, and that's when they each started working harder. I guess it's a sign that they're taking more of the responsibility. He's been talking about wanting to do better for a few weeks, so I guess it's his turn. I love how they each came to the same realization a bit before high school. I guess that's so they could get through it. I'm excited to help him figure out what to do.
See you tomorrow!
So we went tonight to do the activity part. I was so nervous. I had a bunch of questions in my head, and I was just unsure of what to expect. Also, Jeff had to work so he couldn't go. He's always so good at stuff like that. Anyway, we were supposed to do an activity and a little discussion about something positive. So we decided to talk about feeling the Love of God and how we can help others feel that too.
I told a story about how a few years ago, I got a little depressed or something and started wondering if my Heavenly Father had forgotten me. So I decided to write in a little notebook at the end of each day, evidence of His love. While I was doing that I noticed that a lot of the way I know He loves me is by what other people do to be kind. Then, since we're focusing on doing acts of service this month, we had written down small things that everyone has done or had done for them, like smiling at someone or remembering someone's name. We put each one on a slip of paper and had everyone take one and think of a time they were in that situation and how it made them or others feel.
Everyone participated, and it was a lovely discussion. They told us how they've only been together as a group for two weeks, but they're already feeling like a family--like they love each other. One person talked about coming to know Heavenly Father in a way that she never had before. It was very sweet. After that we gave each person a little notebook and pen to write down every day how they can feel Heavenly Father's love for them. We really enjoyed ourselves. I hope we get to do it again and encourage others to volunteer.
After that we were supposed to go visit a lady from church, but she was sick and had to cancel. Our family uses essential oils to help with a variety of health things, so I thought we'd take this lady some oil that helps stop coughing. I called to see if I could just drop it off, and she sounded absolutely terrible. I could barely understand her. I just gave her daughter the oil at the door. I hope she got some relief from it; she's so sick. I'm going to have to call in a day or two and see if she needs more. I didn't put much in the bottle; but from the way she sounds, she'll need it for a while.
We did science today, but nothing else for our usual school stuff. Tonight Sam told me he's concerned that he's "not excelling academically." I said we would sit down tomorrow and address that together. I told him that each of his siblings had that same feeling at about his age, and that's when they each started working harder. I guess it's a sign that they're taking more of the responsibility. He's been talking about wanting to do better for a few weeks, so I guess it's his turn. I love how they each came to the same realization a bit before high school. I guess that's so they could get through it. I'm excited to help him figure out what to do.
See you tomorrow!
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Day 86
We sorted through some of the books for the rearranging of shelves today. We moved another bookshelf into the living room and filled it, and we moved a lot of books from one shelf to another. Tomorrow we'll have to bring down all that fun stuff for the big shelf. We also put a chair in Sam's room for Kamille to nurse the baby while they're here. She told us that Eliza tasted baby applesauce today for the first time. She seemed to like it but couldn't figure out how to get it to the back of her mouth to swallow. Also, Wilson ate more of it than Eliza. He's always loved baby food fruit. He's such a kid!
We're pretty excited that we'll be able to feed her when they come if they continue the baby food. They've waited this long to try to avoid food allergies, since they run in our family. So I don't know if they just got a wild hair today or if they're planning on giving her food now. She definitely looks interested in their food when they eat.
I gave Sam three random words from a book today and had him write sentences with the words in them. When Wilson was younger, I had him write spelling sentences and he always made them as short as humanly possible. I had to eventually tell him each sentence had to have a certain number of words in it. Something like 8 or 11. So I told Sam that Wilson was like that, but I wasn't going to do that to him unless he wrote three word sentences. He ended up writing five or six lines for each word. It was like a story for each instead of a sentence. I was impressed.
So tonight I asked him if he'd mind if I took those sentences and correct his punctuation and stuff, or if that would bother him because they say it can discourage kids if you correct their writing too much. He said he didn't care, but I think I'll type them out first and see what mistakes he catches by seeing it in print instead of his own writing where he knows exactly what he meant. It's a good strategy to type out their writing. I think it's easier for them to find mistakes because they're used to seeing printed material with correct punctuation and spelling.
Sam spent a ton of time today building the Lighthouse Siege lego set out of his own bricks. He was excited to do it because he has a most of the parts he needed to duplicate it. We never buy sets because we don't like spending money, but he does a great job of building something based on the pictures. He also looks up the building instructions sometimes to see exactly how to do it. I think that's more satisfying than just getting a set, even though those are fun too. He's so thorough when he explains what all the functions are and how he made them. I told him he should do a designer video about it like they do on the lego website, but he doesn't like being recorded so he's not about to do that. I can never get him to say anything on our youtube videos either, and he usually turns around and leaves when I even point the camera at him. He said he'd rather do a stop action video. Maybe he could do one with this lighthouse and I'll put it on youtube.
Sarah's been doing an assignment from her science book about weather. She needs to keep a chart of temperature, barometric pressure, precipitation and cloud cover for a few weeks. It's kind of fun for her. We especially like to look up the barometric pressure and see what it is when we have headaches. Sometimes we've looked at a weather website that has predictions for migraines. I don't like looking that up unless I have one already, so I don't have to think about getting one before I actually do.
See you tomorrow!
We're pretty excited that we'll be able to feed her when they come if they continue the baby food. They've waited this long to try to avoid food allergies, since they run in our family. So I don't know if they just got a wild hair today or if they're planning on giving her food now. She definitely looks interested in their food when they eat.
I gave Sam three random words from a book today and had him write sentences with the words in them. When Wilson was younger, I had him write spelling sentences and he always made them as short as humanly possible. I had to eventually tell him each sentence had to have a certain number of words in it. Something like 8 or 11. So I told Sam that Wilson was like that, but I wasn't going to do that to him unless he wrote three word sentences. He ended up writing five or six lines for each word. It was like a story for each instead of a sentence. I was impressed.
So tonight I asked him if he'd mind if I took those sentences and correct his punctuation and stuff, or if that would bother him because they say it can discourage kids if you correct their writing too much. He said he didn't care, but I think I'll type them out first and see what mistakes he catches by seeing it in print instead of his own writing where he knows exactly what he meant. It's a good strategy to type out their writing. I think it's easier for them to find mistakes because they're used to seeing printed material with correct punctuation and spelling.
Sam spent a ton of time today building the Lighthouse Siege lego set out of his own bricks. He was excited to do it because he has a most of the parts he needed to duplicate it. We never buy sets because we don't like spending money, but he does a great job of building something based on the pictures. He also looks up the building instructions sometimes to see exactly how to do it. I think that's more satisfying than just getting a set, even though those are fun too. He's so thorough when he explains what all the functions are and how he made them. I told him he should do a designer video about it like they do on the lego website, but he doesn't like being recorded so he's not about to do that. I can never get him to say anything on our youtube videos either, and he usually turns around and leaves when I even point the camera at him. He said he'd rather do a stop action video. Maybe he could do one with this lighthouse and I'll put it on youtube.
Sarah's been doing an assignment from her science book about weather. She needs to keep a chart of temperature, barometric pressure, precipitation and cloud cover for a few weeks. It's kind of fun for her. We especially like to look up the barometric pressure and see what it is when we have headaches. Sometimes we've looked at a weather website that has predictions for migraines. I don't like looking that up unless I have one already, so I don't have to think about getting one before I actually do.
See you tomorrow!
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Day 85
Tonight for service, the girls tied quilts with the other teenage girls at church. They were very cute doing that. Cute little baby quilts too. Sam was working on finishing the First Aid merit badge while the girls were working on that. Jeff sat and read a book while I tried to come up with a topic for my next MyWritingCheck blog. I didn't. I'll have to think about it tomorrow, since we need to go to bed early. I can't be reading in bed with the light on tonight, because Jeff has to get up for work at 4:30 tomorrow. I'll be glad in a week or two when this early morning working stuff comes to an end. Hopefully he won't have another month like that for a while. It causes him to not be able to sleep.
We arranged some of all those books we took off shelves today, but not many. I think this is going to take a few days. And there might be another bookshelf I want to move too. I took it upstairs and put it by my bed a few months ago, but I don't think I want it there. There are just too many books to have them so far out of reach.
We borrowed some baby stuff from my niece for when Wilson and Kamille come. I'm so excited!! We got a crib, baby gate, booster chair for at the table, and the pack and play for when we go visit Jeff's parents for a couple days. I want to make it as comfortable as possible for them while they're here. I told Jeff that eventually we'll have to just buy a crib and other things for when the kids come with babies. And baby-proofing isn't a problem since we don't like breakables and little stuff anyway (except legos). Just 11 more days til they come!
Sarah's trying to decide if she can cram in another science module before get here. I think she could, but I don't know if she thinks so. I guess Sam will have to do the same, since he started on a study guide yesterday. They're both worried about getting the books done by the end of May. Rachel's loving just reading her book instead of taking tests. Although, she is still doing the On Your Own questions that are throughout the chapters.
I wanted to work on a comedy sketch today, but Sarah insisted on being responsible and doing math first. So I had them all do it at the same time again. I think it teaches them patience. Sam is extremely patient when we do that; he just draws while he waits. The problem is, sometimes I don't realize he's waiting for my attention, which suits him fine. He'd rather draw anyway. We never did get to work on the sketch. I guess that means if we had, we wouldn't have gotten to math. It sounds like such a fun writing project though. I think Rachel and I will have to start on it and the others will join in. Maybe it just seems a little abstract to them before they see anything taking shape.
See you tomorrow!
We arranged some of all those books we took off shelves today, but not many. I think this is going to take a few days. And there might be another bookshelf I want to move too. I took it upstairs and put it by my bed a few months ago, but I don't think I want it there. There are just too many books to have them so far out of reach.
We borrowed some baby stuff from my niece for when Wilson and Kamille come. I'm so excited!! We got a crib, baby gate, booster chair for at the table, and the pack and play for when we go visit Jeff's parents for a couple days. I want to make it as comfortable as possible for them while they're here. I told Jeff that eventually we'll have to just buy a crib and other things for when the kids come with babies. And baby-proofing isn't a problem since we don't like breakables and little stuff anyway (except legos). Just 11 more days til they come!
Sarah's trying to decide if she can cram in another science module before get here. I think she could, but I don't know if she thinks so. I guess Sam will have to do the same, since he started on a study guide yesterday. They're both worried about getting the books done by the end of May. Rachel's loving just reading her book instead of taking tests. Although, she is still doing the On Your Own questions that are throughout the chapters.
I wanted to work on a comedy sketch today, but Sarah insisted on being responsible and doing math first. So I had them all do it at the same time again. I think it teaches them patience. Sam is extremely patient when we do that; he just draws while he waits. The problem is, sometimes I don't realize he's waiting for my attention, which suits him fine. He'd rather draw anyway. We never did get to work on the sketch. I guess that means if we had, we wouldn't have gotten to math. It sounds like such a fun writing project though. I think Rachel and I will have to start on it and the others will join in. Maybe it just seems a little abstract to them before they see anything taking shape.
See you tomorrow!
Monday, December 5, 2016
Day 84
Everyone was sitting at the table doing math at the same time today. I guess I'll never stop having them do that, even though it makes my brain have to go in three directions at once. Maybe that's how I keep a few brain cells alive. Sam and Sarah were working on the Pythagorean Theorem that I introduced last week, and Sarah pointed out that Sam didn't know exactly how to solve for X (or H squared in this case). So I was talking to him about that and I gave him several simple problems. But they were too simple. He says he never knows if he's just getting the answer because he knows how to get the answer or just because he knows it by logic because of the easy numbers.
He wanted us to tell him what the point was in doing it, so I said you use it in life all the time. But he wanted to know exactly how. So I gave him this giant problem where you have $3000 to remodel the kitchen and you spend all these amounts for different things, and how much would you have left? Of course, he got that. The problem is that Algebra is logical. How will I ever get him motivated to learn the procedures when it makes so much sense if you just think about it? Because I'm sure it won't be that long until we come across something that doesn't seem logical.
As we were giving Sam the kitchen remodel problem, Rachel said, "Algebra might be useless. My next lesson is about imaginary numbers!" Ha! So she was working on fractional exponents, and I had no idea what that was about. I don't remember doing that ever, but I hate exponents. That was the part that fried my brain in College Algebra--just last year. Rachel can never remember what to do with complicated exponents from one time to the next either. We decided we have a genetic exponent block.
We traded places with a couple bookshelves today. Actually we call one of them the school shelf. My dad makes all our bookshelves for us, and they're always just the size I request. So most of my shelves are big enough for binders and tall books and the tops have sides that go up about 4 inches, so I can put a row of books up there too--no whatnots on our bookshelves, which Rachel calls wantnots. She actually used to think they were called that, and she wondered why you have them if you don't want them. She's so cute.
So our school shelf is close to 4 times bigger than the normal bookshelves, and we usually have supplies on it. But since we moved last year, our supplies have been upstairs on another shelf and we never use them. So we moved the shelf and I'm going to bring the supplies down so we can have some fun with them again. I'm not sure you can see how huge it is in the picture, but most of the stuff on the table came out of it. It holds an endless amount of stuff. I love it!
Our church is encouraging everyone to do small acts of service each day of December leading up to Christmas, so we've been trying to think of that. I'm imagine that part of what we're getting out of it is that we're thinking differently. We're doing things for people outside our family too; but even if we just do something small and ordinary at home, we're recognizing that it's a service and it makes a difference. Last night, I cut Jeff's hair before bed. I've been cutting his hair ever since we got married, but it's still a service to him. He loves it; he wishes I'd shave it, which is not going to happen. So when we're doing things for each other, we can enjoy it more if we think of how the other person will feel. Even just coming upstairs and finding that the kids made our bed makes us feel good. I'm going to like this. I have found that I've been thinking of myself too much lately because of my health, so I maybe this will help me get some of my old self back.
See you tomorrow!
He wanted us to tell him what the point was in doing it, so I said you use it in life all the time. But he wanted to know exactly how. So I gave him this giant problem where you have $3000 to remodel the kitchen and you spend all these amounts for different things, and how much would you have left? Of course, he got that. The problem is that Algebra is logical. How will I ever get him motivated to learn the procedures when it makes so much sense if you just think about it? Because I'm sure it won't be that long until we come across something that doesn't seem logical.
As we were giving Sam the kitchen remodel problem, Rachel said, "Algebra might be useless. My next lesson is about imaginary numbers!" Ha! So she was working on fractional exponents, and I had no idea what that was about. I don't remember doing that ever, but I hate exponents. That was the part that fried my brain in College Algebra--just last year. Rachel can never remember what to do with complicated exponents from one time to the next either. We decided we have a genetic exponent block.
We traded places with a couple bookshelves today. Actually we call one of them the school shelf. My dad makes all our bookshelves for us, and they're always just the size I request. So most of my shelves are big enough for binders and tall books and the tops have sides that go up about 4 inches, so I can put a row of books up there too--no whatnots on our bookshelves, which Rachel calls wantnots. She actually used to think they were called that, and she wondered why you have them if you don't want them. She's so cute.So our school shelf is close to 4 times bigger than the normal bookshelves, and we usually have supplies on it. But since we moved last year, our supplies have been upstairs on another shelf and we never use them. So we moved the shelf and I'm going to bring the supplies down so we can have some fun with them again. I'm not sure you can see how huge it is in the picture, but most of the stuff on the table came out of it. It holds an endless amount of stuff. I love it!
Our church is encouraging everyone to do small acts of service each day of December leading up to Christmas, so we've been trying to think of that. I'm imagine that part of what we're getting out of it is that we're thinking differently. We're doing things for people outside our family too; but even if we just do something small and ordinary at home, we're recognizing that it's a service and it makes a difference. Last night, I cut Jeff's hair before bed. I've been cutting his hair ever since we got married, but it's still a service to him. He loves it; he wishes I'd shave it, which is not going to happen. So when we're doing things for each other, we can enjoy it more if we think of how the other person will feel. Even just coming upstairs and finding that the kids made our bed makes us feel good. I'm going to like this. I have found that I've been thinking of myself too much lately because of my health, so I maybe this will help me get some of my old self back.See you tomorrow!
Friday, December 2, 2016
Day 83
Rachel's working on the Apologia Advanced Biology book this year. She only needs 1/2 credit for science, so she was planning on doing half the book, but we decided it would still be worth 1/2 credit if she just reads it and goes all the way through it. I'm not going to have her take tests; she's just going to talk to me about it once in a while. Don't you love homeschooling?
Then Sarah was working in her science book, and she hadn't studied it for a few days. She was finished with the study guide and it was time for a test, but she couldn't remember anything about it. I guess the chapter had been confusing too. So I told her that she didn't have to take the test, but she felt like she had to. I told her I didn't care about her ever taking the tests, and she was flabbergasted. She said she thought she had to. Like we weren't allowed to decide not to. I told her I only have her do it because I think it's good practice and the tests are right there--easy for me. She was kind of unhappy; so I told her she could either study and take the test, start reading the new chapter and ignore test, or take the test open book. Then I left the room.
Later she told me she just decided to go on to the next chapter, but she says she's never ever doing that again. Wilson used to be that way too. He was convinced it was cheating to take an open-book test no matter how much I insisted that's what I wanted him to do. Now, Sam and Rachel don't mind a bit. Although Sam would rather not look up the answers because he can never find them. He'd rather just know them.
I spent a lot of the day trying to decide on a writing sample to send with my application to be a Brave Writer instructor. I'm so picky. Today I decided to send a page from my journal. I was thinking of sending something more academic, but Jeff said it was boring and didn't sound like me. He was much more excited about the piece I sent. It was about when Wilson was born.
Then it was fun tonight, because Wilson's actually applying for the job too and we were going over our applications together. He would be totally perfect for the high school classes. He sent in a very brainy academic sample. That's all he's been writing for the last 5 years in college, so what else would he send? After we got done going over the application on the phone, I told him it made me feel like his mommy again. He and I have been writing partners for a long time. It's in his blood, but he didn't always know it. He hated putting pen to paper when he was young, just like Sam. I used to make him write a certain number of words per sentence. I don't do that to anyone any more. But he and I agreed that even though we love writing, it's like having teeth pulled, but editing is like eating cookies.
Jeff and my dad went to the old house to fix a leak in the tub. They're having an inspection Monday, and I really hope it goes well. The only thing that was actually wrong was the tub leak, so it should be fine. But I was amazed how bad the last inspector made things sound. The floor and stairs came out great. Tomorrow, we're going over to put down toe mold or shoe mold, I forget what it's called. I call it quarter round, but my dad says it's not technically that. We have to put it down because we couldn't get close enough to the wall with the sander to get all the paint up. That should be the last thing we have to do. They're wanting to close by the first week in January. Cross your fingers.
See you next week!
Then Sarah was working in her science book, and she hadn't studied it for a few days. She was finished with the study guide and it was time for a test, but she couldn't remember anything about it. I guess the chapter had been confusing too. So I told her that she didn't have to take the test, but she felt like she had to. I told her I didn't care about her ever taking the tests, and she was flabbergasted. She said she thought she had to. Like we weren't allowed to decide not to. I told her I only have her do it because I think it's good practice and the tests are right there--easy for me. She was kind of unhappy; so I told her she could either study and take the test, start reading the new chapter and ignore test, or take the test open book. Then I left the room.
Later she told me she just decided to go on to the next chapter, but she says she's never ever doing that again. Wilson used to be that way too. He was convinced it was cheating to take an open-book test no matter how much I insisted that's what I wanted him to do. Now, Sam and Rachel don't mind a bit. Although Sam would rather not look up the answers because he can never find them. He'd rather just know them.
I spent a lot of the day trying to decide on a writing sample to send with my application to be a Brave Writer instructor. I'm so picky. Today I decided to send a page from my journal. I was thinking of sending something more academic, but Jeff said it was boring and didn't sound like me. He was much more excited about the piece I sent. It was about when Wilson was born.
Then it was fun tonight, because Wilson's actually applying for the job too and we were going over our applications together. He would be totally perfect for the high school classes. He sent in a very brainy academic sample. That's all he's been writing for the last 5 years in college, so what else would he send? After we got done going over the application on the phone, I told him it made me feel like his mommy again. He and I have been writing partners for a long time. It's in his blood, but he didn't always know it. He hated putting pen to paper when he was young, just like Sam. I used to make him write a certain number of words per sentence. I don't do that to anyone any more. But he and I agreed that even though we love writing, it's like having teeth pulled, but editing is like eating cookies.
Jeff and my dad went to the old house to fix a leak in the tub. They're having an inspection Monday, and I really hope it goes well. The only thing that was actually wrong was the tub leak, so it should be fine. But I was amazed how bad the last inspector made things sound. The floor and stairs came out great. Tomorrow, we're going over to put down toe mold or shoe mold, I forget what it's called. I call it quarter round, but my dad says it's not technically that. We have to put it down because we couldn't get close enough to the wall with the sander to get all the paint up. That should be the last thing we have to do. They're wanting to close by the first week in January. Cross your fingers.
See you next week!
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