First Grade College Planning

There has been a lot of talk about college lately as my 10th grader is starting to do some college planning. Last night before bed, first grade and I were talking about life and stuff when he mentioned that when he goes away to college that he would miss me. I told him that he would always be able to come home for visits anytime he needed to and he said, "When I come visit you, I will bring you a fish sandwich."

The door to my heart... a fish sandwich! LOL!

Girls, Girls, Girls

My daughter is the only girl with 3 brothers, 1 foster brother and 2 little boys that come over for after school for care during the week. While she likes being called "The Princess", she has strong feelings about not having any other girls around... and she is not shy about expressing those feelings. LOL! Last weekend, we had family visit us from out of state and amongst the cousins were 3 girls, my 2nd cousins. What fun!

We went skating at our local YMCA, but could not go swimming as 1 of the cousins could not get her hair wet....sigh...but after skating there was giggling and spats and silliness and drama and multiple clothes change and tears and incessant chatting and popcorn, chips, twizzlers, nachos, ice cream, cake, 4 movies (none of them seen all the way through as they would change their minds and then change the DVD midway through the movie) and finally, quiet... as they crashed from the sugar high!

We survivied the weekend and funny thing, she has not been complaining as much about being the only girl. I think she is use to the drama-free life that boys provide. ~Smile~

The skate park at the Y... more falling than skating! LOL!

Week 30, 10 To Go

We are beginning our 30th week of the 2008/2009 school year. We have about 10 weeks to go. Our spring break is April 13- 17 and it will be a much needed break.

I have not done progress reports as usual, but good progress is being made by all.

On the baby front... we still have our little foster baby, AKA: Littlest Rottie, and he is growing so big. It always amazes me how my kids share so much heart for the children that come in and out of our home. This will be a tough one for my 5th grader as she has really enjoyed helping to care for the baby. She does such a great job of being aware of his needs and kisses and hugs on him continuously. He hears her voice when she walks in the room and he just lights up. He 'talks' so animatedly to her... both will miss each other very much.

On we go...

Lamination

I have discovered lamination and I love it. When the crew needs extra practice on skills, I often print something off from one of the many sites that I frequent and that paper is consumed. I first figured it out by putting a piece of paper in one of those plastic protective sheets and letting preschool use a dry erase marker. Then it happened... I was ordering school supplies on E-bay and the automatic feature that says: You might also like... showed a lamination machine. I found a nice (and by nice I really mean affordable) one and won the bid. This will not only save on paper, but it will save a great deal on ink....my biggest cost for school.

Patterns

Because I am taking it very slow with preschool, I sometimes find out that he has a delay in an area. Once we teach him a new skill, he is usually pretty quick at learning it and loves to repeat what he is learned. As mentioned before, I am not big on worksheets for preschoolers, but he really loves having "scoo wuk" like the bigger kids. This particular unit on patterns comes from the Harcourt Brace Math Workbook.

Technology Strikes Again

In first grade science, we have just begun a unit on energy. In part 1 it introduces the sun as a source of energy. It uses the example of light turning to heat energy and suggested letting the children see, safely, how a light bulb gives off light that turns to heat that can be used as energy. So I turn on the lamp and describe to him how the light bulb will get hot and was going to let him put his hand near it, not touch, to feel the heat. He puts his hand near it and looks perplexed. As it turns out, I have those energy efficient, florescent bulbs in all of my lamps and they don't get hot. Ha Ha Ha. Oh the good ol' days when light bulbs gave off heat.

Skating

Have A Good Weekend!

The Boy Can Tell Time

First grade continues to do well in math and seems to pick up new skills fast in this area... if only we could transfer some of that skill to Language Arts. LOL!

As Seen On TV

My mother tells me that my grandmother always loved buying stuff from the t.v. My brother and I love laughing at the advertising tactics used to sell items today: Like the guy with the headset selling really absorbent towels....hilarious!

This weekend, my brother bought me and my mother Snuggies! I love it and have had so much fun reaching for things while staying warm inside. LOL!!

Sometimes.... it's fun to splurge on nonsense.

Look What Preschool Learned

I have to admit that first of all... I can be kind of cheap. I would imagine that there are great learning tools out there to teach these things, but all of my kids learned using cardboard and shoestrings. I showed him about 10 times and then:

TAAA DAAA!!

More Than Half Way

We are more than half way through our courses... in fact, 5th grade has completed her Bible core for the whole year. 1st grade is on unit 7 out of 10 for all of his courses ( it takes about 3 weeks to finish a unit) and 10th grade is in units 7, 8 and 9 (out of 10) in various courses.

I have started shopping for next year's curriculum. Found a great deal for 2nd grade and in fact, it was delivered on Friday. 11th grade was easy to find too, but I keep getting outbid on 6th grade curriculum ( I am a very competitive E-Bayer. LOL!)

Anyway....

On we go!

Lessons For My Heart ~ My Tribute To Pop-Pop

I have a friend in blogland, LA, who writes wonderful stories of life. Last year, she began writing stories about Pop-Pop, an elderly family member that was living in a nursing home, but would be moving into the family’s home. Right away, God made a special place in my heart for Pop-Pop. I loved hearing stories about him and felt happiness and heartache as he faced the life and living decisions that had to be made.

In February 2009, Pop-Pop accepted Christ as his Savior, and very shortly after that, he died.

I never met Pop-Pop, but I loved him and learned so much from reading about him.
Through reading short snippets of his life, I was reminded to recognize these fruits:

Love: The love that a family has for an elderly family member is built on love that was shown from the same. I love my children and want to build for them such a firm foundation of love that when I am old, we can all stand on it together.

Joy: Pop-Pop found joy in telling jokes; I guess even the corny ones. I know that I must provide a joyful atmosphere, so that my children seek joy instead of chaos.

Patience: The patience that Pop-Pop’s family showed had the most profound effect. I know that I will need my children to show patience for me as I age and slow down. God has been so patient with me and I try very hard to be patient with my children even when we are going down the same road that we have been down over and over again. It is not only patience that is needed, but a softening of the heart that sees through the eyes of love and grace.

I believe that Pop-Pop must have shown all of these things and more to his family as they have in turn shown such a measurable amount of love, joy and patience to him during what turned out to be the last months of his life.

The evidence of the fruit that you show is the fruit that is shown to you by your children.

So long, Pop-Pop. I can’t wait to meet you.

Peace,
:)De