I'm a Halloween Scrooge. Not really, I just don't care. I'm not morally against it or anything, but my kids can't eat candy, don't like to dress up, and would be too shy to trick-or-treat anyway--if they weren't too old. Handing out candy never was my favorite, and when my kids became unable to eat sugar (they were very young) we thought it was not very nice to them if we gave the rest of the world candy. So we pretty much ignore Halloween.
When I woke up this morning, I had done something to my neck and could hardly move my head. I had stabbing pains when I did move, so I had to go to the chiropractor this afternoon. I had a hard time concentrating on school, since it was giving me a headache too. Pretty much everything does. Jeff was off, so he handled school today. He gave Sam a dictation out of the encyclopedia, which made him move on to giving Sarah a grammar lesson from the encyclopedia. I think it was about figures of speech. And we finished Black Horses for the King, to Sarah's delight.
Then I thought I'd have him do some math from Ray's Arithmetic while I showered. When I came back, they said they hadn't been able to figure out any of the problems at all. They read me one: There are 55 cows and sheep in a field, 1/2 of the cows equals 2/7 of the sheep. How many of each are there? Now, I have neglected buying the answer key for the Ray's books because I can just do the math, but not this time. I cannot think what to do. Maybe it was the headache, but I couldn't figure it out at all. I guess I could count them up and use trial and error, but I'd really like to figure it out without that. If you figure it out, leave me a comment!
Rachel spent the day working on her college application. She was writing short answers to questions. The long essay question it giving her trouble, though. They want you to talk about a risk you took, then you had setbacks or failure, and then were successful in the end. We're having a hard time thinking of anything. I'm not sure everyone in 12th grade has had an experience like that. Maybe I'm missing something. Jeff suggested talking about struggling with math, but Rachel isn't sure since that's a risk, since you just have to do it. I guess it would be easy for most people to think of a risk and failure, but to have been successful in the end is another story.
I finally wrote a MyWritingCheck blog post. I think it's been almost 2 months since I wrote one. It's about reading aloud to get better revisions. You can read it on blogspot here if you want, or you can read it on the website blog here.
On Monday nights we have what we call Family Home Evening where we make sure the whole evening is just for our family. Tonight we made up a live version of the game Clue. We came up with suspect names and silly murder weapons like pickle, rubber band, thumb and goat hair. Then we went around to different rooms guessing who the murderer was. I thought it was going to be a little more fun than it was. Doesn't it sound like fun? Well, it was fun when I won, but it was kind of hard with cards and note papers in our hands. I think we just need to buy the game. But we'll probably try it with Wilson and Kamille when they come for Christmas before we give up on it totally. They make everything more fun.
See you tomorrow!
Monday, October 31, 2016
Friday, October 28, 2016
Day 66--House Contract Fell Through
Well, we got word today that the man that was buying our house doesn't want it any more. I wonder if he wanted out before, or if the bogus inspection actually changed his mind. I wish they would let you talk to each other. This does mean that I can get my oven out of the house before it sells though. I'm totally excited about that. We were not a bit surprised when we heard. I guess we'll have to put carpet down too. Or refinish the floor--more money.
The weather was perfect today, so we took a walk around the neighborhood. Sam and Sarah have been wanting a bike ride, so they rode while Rachel and I walked. They were cute riding circles around us so they could stay with us. They kept weaving in and out going on the road then up a driveway onto the sidewalk right in front of us as we were getting ready to cross it. They thought they were so funny. We just love October weather.
More Black Horses for the King. Sarah keeps asking why I like that book. I have no answer. I just want to know what happens. That means it's good right? After we finish it, we're going to blast through Anne of Green Gables. Of course, that might make us want to read all the books again.
Sam did some research today on the Lego Ideas website. I guess you can build something and post it there; and if you get enough people to like it, they might eventually make an actual Lego set out of it. He's totally excited to come up with something new. I guess some people would say that's not school, but that's extremely educational. He's learning plenty by doing that. He told me yesterday that he gets ideas of things to build from playing the little games on the Lego website. School all the time.
Rachel started her application for college today. It's going to be quite a process. Some of the essay questions have her doing some serious thinking. It's going to be good for her. I can't wait to read some of her answers.
See you next week!
The weather was perfect today, so we took a walk around the neighborhood. Sam and Sarah have been wanting a bike ride, so they rode while Rachel and I walked. They were cute riding circles around us so they could stay with us. They kept weaving in and out going on the road then up a driveway onto the sidewalk right in front of us as we were getting ready to cross it. They thought they were so funny. We just love October weather.
More Black Horses for the King. Sarah keeps asking why I like that book. I have no answer. I just want to know what happens. That means it's good right? After we finish it, we're going to blast through Anne of Green Gables. Of course, that might make us want to read all the books again.
Sam did some research today on the Lego Ideas website. I guess you can build something and post it there; and if you get enough people to like it, they might eventually make an actual Lego set out of it. He's totally excited to come up with something new. I guess some people would say that's not school, but that's extremely educational. He's learning plenty by doing that. He told me yesterday that he gets ideas of things to build from playing the little games on the Lego website. School all the time.
Rachel started her application for college today. It's going to be quite a process. Some of the essay questions have her doing some serious thinking. It's going to be good for her. I can't wait to read some of her answers.
See you next week!
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Day 65
It was raining when we woke up today. That's like hitting a brick wall first thing, isn't it? It didn't rain all day though, so that's something. We read quite a bit of Black Horses for the King today. I'm thinking we just have a couple more days on it. I like it better than the kids. Especially Sarah. For some reason, she just can't get interested in listening to it. Every time I ask if they want more before I stop, she says no.
Sarah doesn't love her Physical Science book as much as she did her General Science. I told her today that she didn't love the General Science right away either. She doesn't remember that, but it took a while to get excited about it. She's almost done with Module 5, so I would think it would be kicking in soon. Actually, I looked at the topics and I think it will be a couple more modules before she starts loving it. I shouldn't say that. She has had plenty of times already when she loved it; it just needs to stick. Sam's getting a little tired of the geological chapters in his book too. I don't know what's come over them. Maybe we need a break from the textbooks to just do some hands on for a while. They love the TOPS science books. We've done some electricity and some adhesion and cohesion. We have an analysis book we haven't done much in; we'll have to see.
Rachel worked on writing the synopsis for entering her book in a publishing contest. I can't remember if I told you about that already. We looked at the kind of books they publish, and Rachel's book is along the same lines as those. So hopefully she has a decent chance of being selected. She's still not sure whether she wants to enter or just go ahead and publish it ourselves. I have a friend that's self-publishing a book that just came out today, and that looks pretty exciting. I guess she'll have to decide in the next couple days; the contest closes Monday.
Math seems to be stumping us this week. Sometimes I feel like I hit a speed bump and I can't think what to teach or how to teach it. Sarah's working on solving for unknowns algebraically which is new. She's getting it better than she thinks she is. It's always a bit tense for her when she learns something new in math. I think she feels unsure of herself for a while. Sam and I are reviewing some things before going on. He's been kind of negative about it lately, so I didn't want to teach much that's new for a time.
It's time for us to choose topics for research papers. This time I want Rachel to actually do some research too. I mean like hands on research, working with people in some way, even if it's just a survey they fill out. Wilson's taking some research methods classes in psychology, so I'm going to have to get him to help her. I hope they can pick topics that they'll want to stay with. They're always wanting to switch topics after a week or two when they find it less interesting than they anticipated.
See you tomorrow!
Sarah doesn't love her Physical Science book as much as she did her General Science. I told her today that she didn't love the General Science right away either. She doesn't remember that, but it took a while to get excited about it. She's almost done with Module 5, so I would think it would be kicking in soon. Actually, I looked at the topics and I think it will be a couple more modules before she starts loving it. I shouldn't say that. She has had plenty of times already when she loved it; it just needs to stick. Sam's getting a little tired of the geological chapters in his book too. I don't know what's come over them. Maybe we need a break from the textbooks to just do some hands on for a while. They love the TOPS science books. We've done some electricity and some adhesion and cohesion. We have an analysis book we haven't done much in; we'll have to see.
Rachel worked on writing the synopsis for entering her book in a publishing contest. I can't remember if I told you about that already. We looked at the kind of books they publish, and Rachel's book is along the same lines as those. So hopefully she has a decent chance of being selected. She's still not sure whether she wants to enter or just go ahead and publish it ourselves. I have a friend that's self-publishing a book that just came out today, and that looks pretty exciting. I guess she'll have to decide in the next couple days; the contest closes Monday.
Math seems to be stumping us this week. Sometimes I feel like I hit a speed bump and I can't think what to teach or how to teach it. Sarah's working on solving for unknowns algebraically which is new. She's getting it better than she thinks she is. It's always a bit tense for her when she learns something new in math. I think she feels unsure of herself for a while. Sam and I are reviewing some things before going on. He's been kind of negative about it lately, so I didn't want to teach much that's new for a time.
It's time for us to choose topics for research papers. This time I want Rachel to actually do some research too. I mean like hands on research, working with people in some way, even if it's just a survey they fill out. Wilson's taking some research methods classes in psychology, so I'm going to have to get him to help her. I hope they can pick topics that they'll want to stay with. They're always wanting to switch topics after a week or two when they find it less interesting than they anticipated.
See you tomorrow!
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Day 64
We did a freewrite today. It's been over a month since we've done one. I decided we'd write about what we could hear since we're all very quiet when we write. It was pretty fun. As you can imagine, we all wrote about the same things since we were sitting in the same room; but we all say things so differently. After I read mine, they said it sounded like I was writing a book. "A professional freewrite," they said. I thought I'd include a little bit from the beginning of each one.
Sam: "OK I hear a lawnmower making a grinding type noise and an echoey airplane and a buzzing plane going by and everyone else writing and Dad coming in the front door and Mom and Sarah snickering and Dad interrupting and Sarah asking if we're timing this and Dad creaking around and nothing else interesting."
I love that it's totally unpunctuated. I think that let him feel like he could write more. He's been bothered by his writing lately. He's ready to change it; I'm just not sure exactly how I need to help him.
Sarah: "Alright, I hear a little airplane noise. It's either an airplane or the buzzing motor sound of a weed eater or a lawn mower. I hear the others writing, scratching their pens on the paper or the soft, whispery noise of hands moving across paper. . . "
Rachel: "I hear Sam breathing. There is a weed eater on outside. An airplane is humming, probably going to the little airport. Mom just flipped a page in her notebook. I heard it catch on its way around the binder. Sam's binder is crinkling because he is using his knee as a hard surface. . . "
Me: "I hear a small airplane, or maybe that's just a lawn mower or weed eater. It could be the back neighbor's wood saw that he sometimes puts in his driveway to use. Now I hear an airplane for sure. It's a small one. I acn also hear the cars and trucks on the road. My hand is making sounds as it moves over the page while I write. I can hear everyone else's hands moving across their papers too. I can hear my pen but not anyone else's. There's Jeff coming in from his walk."
I love how everyone's is so different even though we all heard the same things. When I was a senior in high school, I had to go stand near the front door of the grocery and write down everything I saw and heard for 15 minutes. I had to do it with a partner and then we were supposed to see how different they were. It was amazing.
We also did science, math, and listening to a few news clips. We don't listen to much news, but it's hard not to want to hear a bit of election news, even though we already voted. It's all so ridiculous.
See you tomorrow!
Sam: "OK I hear a lawnmower making a grinding type noise and an echoey airplane and a buzzing plane going by and everyone else writing and Dad coming in the front door and Mom and Sarah snickering and Dad interrupting and Sarah asking if we're timing this and Dad creaking around and nothing else interesting."
I love that it's totally unpunctuated. I think that let him feel like he could write more. He's been bothered by his writing lately. He's ready to change it; I'm just not sure exactly how I need to help him.
Sarah: "Alright, I hear a little airplane noise. It's either an airplane or the buzzing motor sound of a weed eater or a lawn mower. I hear the others writing, scratching their pens on the paper or the soft, whispery noise of hands moving across paper. . . "
Rachel: "I hear Sam breathing. There is a weed eater on outside. An airplane is humming, probably going to the little airport. Mom just flipped a page in her notebook. I heard it catch on its way around the binder. Sam's binder is crinkling because he is using his knee as a hard surface. . . "
Me: "I hear a small airplane, or maybe that's just a lawn mower or weed eater. It could be the back neighbor's wood saw that he sometimes puts in his driveway to use. Now I hear an airplane for sure. It's a small one. I acn also hear the cars and trucks on the road. My hand is making sounds as it moves over the page while I write. I can hear everyone else's hands moving across their papers too. I can hear my pen but not anyone else's. There's Jeff coming in from his walk."
I love how everyone's is so different even though we all heard the same things. When I was a senior in high school, I had to go stand near the front door of the grocery and write down everything I saw and heard for 15 minutes. I had to do it with a partner and then we were supposed to see how different they were. It was amazing.
We also did science, math, and listening to a few news clips. We don't listen to much news, but it's hard not to want to hear a bit of election news, even though we already voted. It's all so ridiculous.
See you tomorrow!
Monday, October 24, 2016
Day 63
Sarah and I were feeling kind of sick yesterday, so all the getting up early that happened last week didn't happen today. We pretty much just had time for me to jog on my little trampoline, have family scripture study, eat, try to teach a new math concept (bust), and leave for a funeral. After the funeral, we went to my parents and cooked an early dinner for us all. Then we came home to a completely messy kitchen, which we didn't clean, and watched a movie (after making some cake and cookies).
While we were at my parents, we went over the house inspection report that they did on our house last week. It was terrible. There really isn't anything wrong with the house, but the inspector made it sound like things were about to break all over the place and he scared the buyer. He says he still wants it, but he wants us to do all these unreasonable and ridiculous "repairs" to it. We aren't offering to do much--since there's nothing much wrong. I hope he actually buys it. We are selling it so incredibly cheap, I can't believe he asked us to do anything at all. I figure we have to do a couple things to make a gesture toward an agreement with him, or he might back out.
We got to have our weekly video conference with Wilson and Kamille and Eliza yesterday. Oh, my goodness. That baby! She responded to her name and just about came out of her skin with excitement to see us on the computer screen. She couldn't stop smiling and giggling and eating her hand! Here are a couple blurry screen shots, but you can still see her extreme cuteness right?
See how excited she is to see her grandma in this one? I'm on the bottom right being crazy.
See you tomorrow!
While we were at my parents, we went over the house inspection report that they did on our house last week. It was terrible. There really isn't anything wrong with the house, but the inspector made it sound like things were about to break all over the place and he scared the buyer. He says he still wants it, but he wants us to do all these unreasonable and ridiculous "repairs" to it. We aren't offering to do much--since there's nothing much wrong. I hope he actually buys it. We are selling it so incredibly cheap, I can't believe he asked us to do anything at all. I figure we have to do a couple things to make a gesture toward an agreement with him, or he might back out.
We got to have our weekly video conference with Wilson and Kamille and Eliza yesterday. Oh, my goodness. That baby! She responded to her name and just about came out of her skin with excitement to see us on the computer screen. She couldn't stop smiling and giggling and eating her hand! Here are a couple blurry screen shots, but you can still see her extreme cuteness right?
See how excited she is to see her grandma in this one? I'm on the bottom right being crazy.
See you tomorrow!
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Day 62
I'm posting on Saturday because I had too much of a headache to post last night. It's not much better now, but here we go.
I took Sam to the surgeon yesterday, and he took the itchy tapes off the incisions! What a relief for him. He was very excited. He can't do push ups or sit ups for another three weeks, though. He's anxious to start that again. I'll bet he had so little pain and is healing so quickly because of all the exercising he's done this year. He's been exercising after everyone goes to bed, and we never see him do it. The girls didn't even know he was doing it. Wilson used to do that too. Another way those boys are just alike. Sam has one more check up in a month and then that'll be it.
Rachel took her ACT today. She was so worried about the math, but she said that part wasn't bad at all. English was good too. It was the reading and science that got her, which is funny; because she reads fast enough and knows what she's read. I think it was hard because of the short time period they give you. She had to fill in about 7 totally random answers in the last minute on the science portion. I think the score will come out much better than she has thought.
So yesterday, after I had Sam at the doctor, we pretty much didn't have school. My head started hurting worse and worse. It was the weather mostly. Today that's evened out some, and I feel a little better. I really wanted to spend the day writing--blog posts for MyWritingCheck.com, a paper that I have to write for my college class, this blog, and my homeschool book. This is the only thing I've written so far. And now we're going to eat dinner, watch a movie, and go to bed!
See you next week!
I took Sam to the surgeon yesterday, and he took the itchy tapes off the incisions! What a relief for him. He was very excited. He can't do push ups or sit ups for another three weeks, though. He's anxious to start that again. I'll bet he had so little pain and is healing so quickly because of all the exercising he's done this year. He's been exercising after everyone goes to bed, and we never see him do it. The girls didn't even know he was doing it. Wilson used to do that too. Another way those boys are just alike. Sam has one more check up in a month and then that'll be it.
Rachel took her ACT today. She was so worried about the math, but she said that part wasn't bad at all. English was good too. It was the reading and science that got her, which is funny; because she reads fast enough and knows what she's read. I think it was hard because of the short time period they give you. She had to fill in about 7 totally random answers in the last minute on the science portion. I think the score will come out much better than she has thought.
So yesterday, after I had Sam at the doctor, we pretty much didn't have school. My head started hurting worse and worse. It was the weather mostly. Today that's evened out some, and I feel a little better. I really wanted to spend the day writing--blog posts for MyWritingCheck.com, a paper that I have to write for my college class, this blog, and my homeschool book. This is the only thing I've written so far. And now we're going to eat dinner, watch a movie, and go to bed!
See you next week!
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Day 61
No name for the blog today. Maybe I should call it falling asleep on the couch. I was so tired today that I really was falling asleep. That's the second time in a month or so. I've had fatigue and gotten tired for years, but I usually don't fall asleep. It's more like exhausted than sleepy. But if I don't sleep great for just a night or two lately, I just can't stay awake. I guess it's good that I'm headed for bed at 8:30! Of course, headed for bed means reading and writing for a while; but at least I'm not starting at 10:30 like usual.
It was raining today too, which drains me of energy. I wish I could live where it just rains a few minutes and then it's just sunny. Oooh, Hawaii! Sarah kept wanting to go play badminton in the rain, but it was too gross. Rain takes it out of Rachel too. She's planning on living somewhere deserty when she's older.
I worked on statistics with Sam again today. I probably need to go over that with Sarah too in addition to her Pre-Algebra. She's doing great with math. Once in a while, she gets frustrated; but it's nothing like it used to be with tears and everything. I'm sure Sam will be fine with the Pre-Algebra next year. I'm going to spend this year doing things with him that will be in the Pre-Algebra book, but without the rules and procedures. If he gets it all down this year by logic, maybe the procedures won't trip him up.
Rachel and I went over the practice ACT some more today. We found a chart that turn raw score into ACT score and we figured it wouldn't be as bad as she thinks even if a lot of the math is guessing. I knew that, but she's just so unsure. I sort of wish she had taking some tests with other kids or timed ones or something. I don't know if that means I'll have the others do more things like that before they have to take the ACT or not. I'll have to think about it.
Sarah did a science experiment about distillation today. She had to put a bunch of salt in water, boil it, and gather the steam. She said the water she gathered was not salty. Maybe we should do that to our very hard water instead of using the water softener. I'll never get used to having slippery water!
Sam gets to go see the surgeon tomorrow. I hope the doctor does something to loosen the tapes they put across the incisions. They're itching Sam to death. I wonder if the doctor will tell him he can exercise again. He's ready to get back to push ups! Well, I don't know that he's completely ready, but that's what he wants.
See you tomorrow!
It was raining today too, which drains me of energy. I wish I could live where it just rains a few minutes and then it's just sunny. Oooh, Hawaii! Sarah kept wanting to go play badminton in the rain, but it was too gross. Rain takes it out of Rachel too. She's planning on living somewhere deserty when she's older.
I worked on statistics with Sam again today. I probably need to go over that with Sarah too in addition to her Pre-Algebra. She's doing great with math. Once in a while, she gets frustrated; but it's nothing like it used to be with tears and everything. I'm sure Sam will be fine with the Pre-Algebra next year. I'm going to spend this year doing things with him that will be in the Pre-Algebra book, but without the rules and procedures. If he gets it all down this year by logic, maybe the procedures won't trip him up.
Rachel and I went over the practice ACT some more today. We found a chart that turn raw score into ACT score and we figured it wouldn't be as bad as she thinks even if a lot of the math is guessing. I knew that, but she's just so unsure. I sort of wish she had taking some tests with other kids or timed ones or something. I don't know if that means I'll have the others do more things like that before they have to take the ACT or not. I'll have to think about it.
Sarah did a science experiment about distillation today. She had to put a bunch of salt in water, boil it, and gather the steam. She said the water she gathered was not salty. Maybe we should do that to our very hard water instead of using the water softener. I'll never get used to having slippery water!
Sam gets to go see the surgeon tomorrow. I hope the doctor does something to loosen the tapes they put across the incisions. They're itching Sam to death. I wonder if the doctor will tell him he can exercise again. He's ready to get back to push ups! Well, I don't know that he's completely ready, but that's what he wants.
See you tomorrow!
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