Diary of a Homeschooling Mom

Sic 'em Bears!

2009-09-26T18:36:00.001-05:00

Baylor fans cheering on the Bears against Northwestern.

Friday Update

2009-09-25T15:07:00.013-05:00

Well, another week has gone by since I posted last. We had the Cub Scout Campout last weekend and started back up with school activities on Monday. Now, I don't know what happened to our school schedule, but our progress has slowed down considerably! Monday and Tuesday we had school pretty much the entire day. :( First of all, we got started late. My fault as well as the kids not getting ready. That is the major factor. But I've also cut down on some subjects (cutting in half the number of days we cover particular subject). But I'm not seeing any of the benefits of that just yet.

Anyway, we got better by Wednesday. We had to because that was our last day of book work for this week!

Thursday was a big day. We got up at 6am, hit the road by 7am, and got to SeaWorld for Home School Day by 9am. Now keep in mind that it has been raining a lot lately. So the whole day was drizzly with some dry spells punctuating the day. We followed the self-guided tour and walked a LOT! We saw the dolphins, the Coral Reef Aquarium (with lots of wonderful coral reef dwelling creatures like jellies, butterfly fish, eagle rays, eels, lobsters), sharks, sea lions, seals, Asian otters, puffins, murres, a variety of penguins, alligators, red-eared slider turtles, Japanese koi, flamingos, killer whales, and a walrus!

After lunch, we watched two presentations. One was at the Shamu Theater and featured the Shamu Family of three killer whales. As always . . . awesome! The second presentation was at the Sea Star Theater where we saw the walrus, three sea lions, and an Asian otter. The Transformer wanted to sit in the front row at the Sea Star Theater with some friends. He got to see one of the sea lions perched on the railing directly in front of him!

My two favorite parts of this field trip were (1) the per person ticket price of $8 and (2) the rain starting to come down heavily immediately AFTER the final presentation when everyone was clearing the park!

Although we were already tired from this outing, I had decided to go check out the Witte Museum for a brief time while we were in San Antonio. They have an HEB Science Treehouse, and I wanted to get an idea of what the museum was like--if it was worth it to drive down to San Antonio just to go to the museum. We are members of the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, so we have free admittance to the Witte Museum under their partnership program.

Well, the Witte Museum is primarily south Texas history. We walked through certain areas, but I had given us a time limit of one hour in order to get home in time for dinner and Cub Scouts. We had to walk through a courtyard to get to the Treehouse and saw some log cabins off to one side there. The rain was coming down pretty steadily so I didn't want to explore them yet.

At the Treehouse, the kids had a great time. There was hardly anyone there (it was about 2pm) so they had free run of the place. It has four stories total with an outdoor area on the top level. Also, the Treehouse is named for the faux treehouse that is attached to the building and is two stories. Each level had something that held either both or one of the kids to it for some time. We ended up spending one and a half hours there before we could all feel good about leaving.

It is definitely worth another trip, but I'm not sure I want to drive 1.5 hours to get there and another 1.5 hours to drive back. On our next trip to S.A., though, I will definitely want to take the kids there again.

We got home around 5pm, had dinner, and headed out to the Cub Scouts pack meeting at 6:30pm. It lasted less than an hour, and we headed home. I was exhausted.

This morning, we met up with the Austin Home School Nature Explorers Club and hiked St. Edwards Park. The sky lit up with the sun around 11am, and it got hot! The hike was easier than last week's and muddy in places. The creek was high and looked so fresh and clean! The sound of the water falling over the rocks was just musical. We stopped at an open area on an incline and sat down to listen to Ms. Carrie read a story about a box turtle. Then the kids drew in their nature notebooks--some more than others. In the meantime, my son found a frog and was showing it off to everyone. It was tiny. Okay, I admit, it might have been a toad. It was hard to tell. It was brown and looked dry (like mud had dried on it). With the boys handling it and with it trying to escape, it was hard to focus on the hind leg length and to see if it had warts. And it was tiny.

Our return trip home was uneventful. But I realized how t-i-r-e-d I was and decided to take a nap. The kids were gracious enough to allow that, so our Park Day plans were necessarily cancelled. Now I need to get them in gear to go to their KinderGym class at the YMCA. They are supposed to have a routine that includes a jump, roll, and balance prepared for the teacher. They just came up with it now. :)

Off we go!

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We just got back from KinderGym. I've posted some video of each of my children doing his or her "routine."

Tent City

2009-09-19T19:43:00.002-05:00

There were about 19 tents set up here. I couldn't get a good angle to get more tents in the shot. It was a nice night. We slept with the rainfly off and got to sleep "under the stars" in a way. Our tent is the one in the middle with the whitish top half and the brownish bottom half. The only thing that was a bummer was that we all got bit from the insects. By the time we retired, I had put on three layers of bug spray! My daughter's legs are so munched on now . . .

Announcements

2009-09-19T19:41:00.003-05:00

Cub Scout courtyard campout. This in the courtyard of the sponsoring church. It was getting dark before I remembered to take some pictures!

KinderGym II at the YMCA cont.

2009-09-11T16:35:00.001-05:00

The Transformer in the middle of a series of forward rolls.

KinderGym II at the YMCA

2009-09-11T16:34:00.002-05:00

The Kitty Cat "sticking it" after a forward roll. The instructor is great!

School!

2009-09-10T22:17:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I haven't posted much in the way of school lately. After our trip to Galveston for the Kitty Cat's birthday and Labor Day weekend, this week went into high gear. We got back Monday night, so there wasn't much we could accomplish other than unpacking.

Tuesday morning I got back into my workout schedule. Yay! I had actually missed working out---who'da thunk it? I scrambled to get prepared to lead AHG Pathfinders next week as well as gathering all of my information to finalize the curriculum for the day and contact the parents. I also had the kids back in school. With only Tue through Thu to do our book work, they were long days. Tuesday night I went to the Austin Charlotte Mason monthly meeting to meet with other CMers and discuss "Masterly Inactivity." It was a lot of fun, and I stayed late. :)

Wednesday brought the Kitty Cat to her annual well-child visit. She asked me point blank if she was going to get shots that day. I don't like to lie to my children, but "yes" blurted out of my lips before I could stop and consider another answer. Then I said "maybe," but the damage was already done. She threw a huge fit, screamed, cried, pouted, told me to "Shut up!" and so on. Anyway, long story short, she did go to the doctor's office and ended up not having to get any shots. In fact, no more until she turns 11! You should have seen the smile on her face! :D

Today brought in our last day of book work for the week. Then we went to the Transformer's first den meeting with his new Cub Scout pack. Okay, 2nd grade boys are crazy. Oh my gosh. I am glad that they want the dads to lead. And I can understand why all the meetings are limited to one hour's duration. In fact, the den leader told me that the last 15 minutes of each meeting is spent with the boys playing outside on the trees or in the playground! So that's really only 45 minutes spent working on their scouting activities. Our last pack's den meetings last 1.5 hours. The first 1/2 hour was with all ranks. The last hour was within each rank. However, a lot of the younger ranks ended up playing/wrestling during the last 15 minutes of each meeting. Yet they lasted for 1.25 hours! Granted, it was during the day too. Our meetings with the new pack are in the evening.

So, tomorrow, we are supposed to meet with a new group of Nature Study homeschoolers for a hike and study session. However, it rained today for the first time in forever with a 50% rain forecast for tomorrow and Saturday--so the hike may not happen. Keep our fingers crossed! The topic for tomorrow's meeting is Animal Tracks. Should be fun!

After the hike (if it happens and it isn't soggy), we may start going back to the local Friday park day for a few hours. We were really erratic about our attendance last year. I am hoping to be more consistent this year so that the kids can really make some good local friends.

Then the kids start a gymnastics class at the YMCA (for 5-7yo, just perfect for my kids!) at 4pm. By the end of Friday, the children should be nice and worn out. After we get home, I get to wrap up preparations for the Kitty Cat's 5th birthday party on Saturday. Her actual birthday was last Friday, but we didn't want to compete with Labor Day weekend for guests. We are expecting a total of 13 children as guests, and about 12 adults. She is having a Princesses and Knights Tea Party, so we'll see how that goes. I'm doing all right setting up the Princesses and Tea Party part, but the Knights part isn't coming along so well. The biggest difficulty is being on a tight budget. I've already spent more than I had intended to.

Anyway, it doesn't end there! On Sunday afternoon, AWANA starts up, and the Transformer wants to go check it out to see if he wants to join. So we'll go there and see what this one is all about. Both of my kids had done AWANA for a year in CA, but did not join last year.

Monday night is the first AHG troop meeting, during which I will lead the Pathfinders. Eek! And on the week goes, leading up to the first AHG service project at a nursing home on Saturday, along with the first Cub Scout pack's campout Saturday through Sunday. So this week and next are pretty crazy. But by then we'll have a new rhythm, and our schedule will feel easier. (I hope!)

In the meantime, the kids are keeping up with their studies! Whoo!

Sunday at the Beach Part 2

2009-09-06T17:43:00.002-05:00

The rest of the fam . . .

Sunday at the Beach

2009-09-06T17:41:00.002-05:00

A rare picture of me.

Saturday of Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-05T11:48:00.002-05:00

Here goes the intrepid Transformer with his boogie board.

Happy Birthday Kitty!

2009-09-05T11:46:00.001-05:00

Here's the birthday girl at the beach celebrating 5 years of life.

Popcorn Show and Sell

2009-08-30T17:50:00.001-05:00

Although our registration with the new pack is not yet official, the Transformer got to participate in a pack activity on Saturday. You can see him here working the exit door at Lowe's with fellow Wolf Scout (pictured wearing his old Tiger colors). Although he did all right with the door solicitations, the Transformer much preferred logging the sales, pitching the product on display, and handling the money. We were so glad for the canopied shade over us as it was dang hot.

Week 2 Wrap-Up

2009-08-16T21:50:00.013-05:00

Another week flew by! The second week went much better than the first week. Most of our scheduling conflicts have been resolved, and we are getting into a rhythm. We took Thursday off from school so that we could join other homeschool families in Buda for a game of kickball. It was hot, but it was fun! I didn't play this time so that the Kitty Cat could play in the playground with my supervision. The Transformer did really well.
(The plant above has lettuce edging but very rough, barbed edges.)

On Saturday morning, we had our second nature walk, during which I took pictures of too many plants to identify! I also got a picture of a skull. To expose my ignorance of most things nature, I can't claim to know any names of the items I took pictures of. I am hoping to revisit this post as I discover what their proper names are and update the picture captions to reflect that.
(The skull measured about 4 inches in depth, 2.5 inches wide.)

We are looking into beginning our third week of school tomorrow. This Wednesday, the Transformer will have his final kickball class through the YMCA. Last week's class was cancelled due to rain and no adequate indoor space available to use. Additionally, on Thursday, we will attend the local Cub Scout Pack's Ice-Cream Social to see if we might transfer from our current pack. Then on Friday or Saturday, we will go to a garage sale that is supposed to have lots of nice clothes my daughter's size to update her wardrobe.
(I love how the tree's leaves above are so droopy. My husband thought it might be a ficus. The pictures of the flowers on the right came out so blue--hard to get true purple on computer, I guess.)

Lastly, I am now in the planning stages of a Princesses & Knights Birthday Tea Party for the Kitty Cat, who will be turning five years old in two weeks! The party itself will not be until the week after that to avoid Labor Day weekend and potential guests being out of town.

(I love how the leaves on the tree to the left were so strictly horizontal! It was really hard to see any of the leaves from the side. This tree was just next to the tree above with the droopy leaves and made such a wonderful contrast to it. The fuzzy flowers on the right reminded me of the Who characters' hair from Dr. Seuss! The flowers are so soft and feel like they must be related to cotton.)

2009-08-08T15:59:00.003-05:00

Our first week ended well. Yesterday we went on a nature walk first thing in the morning and collected some leaves to paint on Tuesday. Friday is more of an "odds and ends" day, in which we don't have anything from the regular science curriculum, for example, and catch up instead on web links that we had opened over the course of the week. Additionally, the kids have a longer piano instruction time.

I think I have worked out a lot of the time issues with our schedule now, so next week should go more smoothly--that is, if my computer and our internet access behave themselves. And the Rosetta Stone Student Management System software. It's so nice to have a multimedia homeschool, but it certainly has its risks too when the system goes down.

Anyway, the pictures you are seeing on this post are from the Austin Sumobot Tournament that we went to today as spectators. (You can see my son wearing the striped shirt in the photo on the right.) The Transformer is so interested in robots and wants so badly to participate in a Lego Robotics club. However, I don't really know the first thing about robots or how to get him involved. And it appears that most clubs require a minimum age of 8.

Anyway, I had joined the Austin Robotics Yahoo! group and found out about this Sumobot competition. It was really cool and a lot of fun. There is a class that is being offered in the spring for beginners in my son's age group; however, it is all the way up in Round Rock. I'm just not that excited about driving up that far every week. I am considering it, but I am also hoping desperately that something closer to us is available and affordable.

Details, Details

2009-08-05T21:21:00.005-05:00

Okay, so I know you want all the details as to what we're going to attempt to cover this year.

Well, we've got the basics: Bible, language arts (Explode the Code, Primary Language Lessons, Sequential Spellling, Winterpromise LA/PreK-K), math (living math, Miquon, Ray's Arithmetic, MathTacular!). We are also incorporating a science curriculum this year. I had previously attempted to incorporate my own, but it just wasn't happening, so I decided to go with Sonlight's Science K program. We are also covering Korean (Rosetta Stone) and introductory French (Flip-Flop). Why French? Well, I have a free introductory curriculum that I thought we'd try. :)

In addition, we have a short period of physical education EVERY day! That's right. We are getting really ambitious this year! It's high time. We're in our fourth year of homeschooling, can you believe it?

Okay, we've also got history (both U.S. and world), geography, literature, and poetry. Most of the previous subjects are a mixture of the unofficial Ambleside Online Year 0.5 created by moms who live in states that require Kindergarten and Sonlight's Core K. We've incorporated a regular schedule for folksongs, picture study, composer study, handicrafts, computer time, creative arts, AND piano! Whew! Piano instruction is actually taking place on a keyboard. We are using the Phonics 4 Piano books (also known as Pianimals). So far the kids love it!

We will also have weekly nature walks with brief nature studies on the other four days of the week. We will also spend time once per week (on a different day than the nature walks) working on our nature notebooks.

I am combining the kids for all subjects except for language arts and math, although there is overlap there as well (the Transformer participates in some of his sister's work as reinforcement--mostly in math). The Transformer gets to narrate most of the readings, while his sister has that as an option (I just ask her to tell me one thing about whatever I read just to check whether she was actually listening or not).

The Kitty Cat is not doing the Rosetta Stone (too advanced for her) and has free time when her brother is working on subjects that she is not included on. The Transformer is also having minor supplementation to his science studies. He also gets a little bit more computer time, but more by default since the topics are too advanced for his sister.

We are covering a LOT of ground in just over 4 hours of school. However, I think the pace is just right to keep the kids from groaning about getting bored. I am also an overachiever so things may fall by the wayside as the year goes on. I hope not entire subjects, however. Just random books and other resources.

Well, there you have it. The details.

Above is a picture of our schoolroom, aka the Discovery Schoolhouse. It would have been great to get a picture with the kids, but my hands are usually full during school hours. I will try, however, to get another picture at some point of an active schoolroom.

Easin' into a new schedule

2009-08-04T16:31:00.002-05:00

has been going well today. We finished school within 20 minutes of our scheduled ending time--which was great, of course! We got to do some watercolor painting and science as well. Traditionally, I had not been very good at continuing to expose the children to both creative arts and science on a consistent basis for school, so I am making a concerted effort to do that this year. We are keeping to very short CM-type lessons and getting a whole lot covered in a very short time! We start at 8:40am and end around 1pm. That includes P.E.! Aren't you proud of me? ;p

First Day of School! First Day of School!

2009-08-03T22:04:00.002-05:00

We officially began our 2009/10 school year. The Transformer has been promoted to 2nd grade--whoo hoo! and the Kitty Cat is now a Kindergartener!

Unfortunately, our first day did not go so well. I keep many files on my computer, and have software that I use for certain subjects on another computer. I made the mistake of not restarting my laptop to be ready for today, and the loading speed was just horrendous. Too late, I realized that I needed to restart it. That took up a bit of our morning time. Also, I had neglected to account for taking school pics in the morning before classes, so that got us starting out about ten minutes late. Then when it was time for the Transformer to work on his Korean, I had difficulty with the software that we are using and had to uninstall and re-install the whole thing. argh.

Then, when I thought we were getting back on track and were only about thirty minutes behind schedule, our internet service started to go down. Along with my daily plan. ACK! Well, Kirk worked on that and got it back up and running. After that, the rest of the day went relatively normally. Including the bickering and complaining that happens on one of our less popular days.

Tomorrow will be a better day, for sure.

Also, tonight was the American Heritage Girls Parent Orientation and Girl Registration Night. I finally met my Assistant Leader in person, along with all of the girls we have so far in Pathfinders. We had a total of five girls tonight, and I hope that we will have more as people will continue to register during the course of the week. Even so, I think we have a good group of girls.

As for me relaxing. . . I think I get to do that on Wednesday. or Thursday. :)

Mimosa Tree

2009-07-31T09:53:00.005-05:00

This is my new favorite tree! The owner of the property happened to come out as we were admiring her trees and identified them for me. They have leaves that are all broken up like ferns, seed pods that look like snow peas, and these wonderful fuzzy pink flowers whose petals are made up of little, soft spikes. When I touched the flowers, hardly any sensation registered on my fingertips.

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From reading a number of posts online, I gather that many people consider this tree to be quite invasive and destructive when the roots push up fences and so forth. From http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00240/mimt.htm

History and Description
The mimosa tree is from Asia and Africa. It is sometimes called a Silk tree. It grows to an average of 20-30 feet. It is a deciduous tree, which attracts bees and butterflies. A mimosa tree has a single trunk and fern-like leafs with fragrant pom-pom like flowers.

Uses
It was introduced in 1745 as an ornamental tree. People plant it in their yards to add beauty to their surroundings.

Reproduction
It spreads by animals and water-dispersed seeds. In wet areas, the seedpods float downstream. This enables them to reproduce quickly. The Mimosa grows better in dry-to-wet places. It is able to survive the winter in the southern U.S. but flowers better in warmer, drier climates. The flowers come up from May to July and the fruits and seeds come up from June to February.

Ecological Threat
Mimosa trees grow rapidly and reproduce easily. One mimosa tree can produce over two hundred thousand seeds each year. This threatens the native species.

Control
Pull the seedlings or shallow-rooted plants when the dirt is wet. If it starts to grow again, cut down the re-growth. Using chemicals also works. Roundup is very effective for controlling the spread of the mimosa tree.

Here is an image from the Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants. For more information on this beautiful tree, go to http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/node/29

Sunflowers!

2009-07-31T09:40:00.005-05:00

Here are some flowers I can readily identify! I can't claim to know the variety. however, so I will try to look that up. These were growing in the greenbelt that runs through our neighborhood.

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Okay, here's what I found out about these sunflowers:
Sunflower
Scientific Name: (Helianthus annuus)
Definition: The sunflower, or common sunflower, is a late summer-fall flower with yellow petals and a brown central disk. Sunflowers may grow to 10 feet tall. Grows throughout Texas.

This is the image that was shown with the above information. The seeds look a bit more defined than the ones that I saw, but I am guessing that is more a matter of seed maturity than difference in variety.

You can find the original information at http://www.lone-star.net/wildflowers/flowers.htm

Flower Identification

2009-07-31T09:31:00.004-05:00

It's so amazing that yellow and orange and pink petals can all be on the same flower. This beautiful bouquet was next to the sidewalk along our street. I am terrible at identifying names of God's creations so if anyone reading this post has any ideas on what kind of flowers these are, I would really appreciate your leaving a comment!

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I have identified the flower! It is Texas Lantana (Lantana horrida). Apparently it is named for smelling horrible! Looks like I'll have to take a smell test the next I am by the flowers. Here is some more info:

Texas Lantana

Lantana horrida has a great show of flowers that last from spring till frost, the flowers a yellow color and and fade to an orange color along the outside edge and are great at attracting butterflies into the garden. Texas Lantana is drought tolerant, salt tolerant, deer tolerant, and has outstanding heat tolerance. Texas Lantana is native to the Rio Grande Plains and Southern Edwards Plateau in Texas. The leaves are smaller and rougher than Lantana camara, perhaps to help with the drier conditions of its native habitat. The name Lantana horrida comes from the smell of the foliage which is known to smell strong or Horrible!

Hardiness: USDA Zones 7-10
Plant Use: Flowering Perennial
Exposure: Full Sun to Part Sun
Water Requirements: Low

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You can find the original information at http://www.magnoliagardensnursery.com/productdescrip/Lantana_Texas.html

My son's final basketball game

2009-07-25T12:52:00.001-05:00

You can see him in white playing some great defense! In the last 3 minutes of the game, he got trampled and hurt his knee. He's pretty tough, but that made him cry, and he crawled off the court as I ran to pick him up. By the end of the game, he was good as new! Thank the Lord. All the kids got participation trophies afterwards. The Transformer is quite proud of his.

VBS Family Night

2009-07-15T21:31:00.008-05:00

The kids had a great time at Family Night. We saw a family from our home church there as well, so the kids were particularly excited to see their friends. The evening started in the sanctuary where the kids sang some songs and we saw a part of an ongoing skit and heard about the fundraiser benefiting a mission in Mexico.

Then we went to get food tickets. The line was so long, we just let the kids play in the bounce houses first. Once we got the tickets, we went to go get food (hot dogs and corndogs), but they were ALL OUT. No food left. There was still plenty of cotton candy, snow cones, and popcorn. (sigh)

Anyway, the kids got snow cones, and we got the unused tickets refunded. They got to ride a cute kiddie train pulled by a tractor. The driver really drove fast and spun the kids around in a circle. They loved it!

(Above left) The Kitty Cat up a tree. (Above right) Friend from church.

We got home late and fed the kids late and got them to bed late. Tomorrow's another VBS day AND my birthday! We will probably celebrate the latter on Friday night.

Last Week of VBS for This Summer

2009-07-15T11:48:00.003-05:00

The Transformer and the Kitty Cat are in their final round of VBS for this summer. So far they seem to be having a great time. For some mixed-up reason, both of them are in the same "crew" although the crews are supposed to span two adjacent grades at a time. Anyway, they seem to be happy with the arrangement. The Kitty Cat is the youngest one in that group and the smallest by far! Tonight they are having Family Night, so I will try to post some pics.

The Transformer is continuing his summer basketball, which will end at the end of next week. The following week he will begin kickball. Otherwise, we'll just be participating in random summer events until school begins August 3rd!

Friday Kickball

2009-07-10T21:17:00.002-05:00

Well, this morning we played kickball with a bunch of wonderful people down in Buda at 8:30 this morning! It was still hot. We stayed for about two hours, although the game continued. We had a wonderful time--I even got to run in to homebase! :)

Then we were off to stop by the house briefly, then up to NW Austin for a playdate, back down to central Austin for basketball practice, then back home for dinner. Unfortunately, I got a headache, possibly due to dehydration. I'm terrible at keeping up with my water intake when we are out of the house.

Anyway, back to the kickball. The kids are signed up for VBS next week, so we will have to miss the game then, but we hope to join the group again the following week for more fun. I'll try to get pics next time.

Happy Independence Weekend!

2009-07-03T12:31:00.001-05:00

Pirate's Beach on Thursday afternoon with a cousin.

Future Ballplayer

2009-06-27T10:14:00.001-05:00

The pre-dribble in action.

Playin Basketball

2009-06-27T10:08:00.001-05:00

Here's the pre-dribble--two-handed ball drop and catch.

Last Day of Rookie Leaguers

2009-06-27T10:06:00.001-05:00

The Kitty Cat playin' some basketball.

Last Day of Intense Heat!

2009-06-26T16:37:00.001-05:00

Final closing ceremony at Cub Scout Day Camp and retiring of the colors.

The Kitty Cat on Stage

2009-06-26T11:29:00.001-05:00

My little girl on stage for the finale of VBS week at a local church. She's in the middle glowing like a little angel.

Bows and Arrows!

2009-06-24T14:21:00.002-05:00

My son working on his archery badge at Cub Scout Day Camp.

New Week of Activity

2009-06-22T15:30:00.002-05:00

So last week's VBS ended well. The Tranformer claimed that he was glad that it was over, and in the same breath told me that next year it was going to be 3-D VBS (picture wide eyes here). :D

Today, the Transformer went to Cub Scout Day Camp, which is from 8:30am-4:30pm. He will have 5 FULL DAYS of activity this week! I do expect him to be tired when he gets home, but somehow I won't be surprised if he isn't either. He WILL sleep hard though. I'm not sure how that is going to affect his basketball practices this week though.

Argh. I just realized that there is a time conflict between the Kitty Cat's Rookie Leaguers class on Wed and end of day camp/pick-up time for the Transformer! ugh.

Well, anyway, the Kitty Cat started VBS at another church today, 9am-12pm. She really liked it and is happy to go back tomorrow.

VBS Continues continued.

2009-06-18T16:11:00.005-05:00

Here are the kids' morning hairdos for Crazy Hair Day at VBS today. The Transformer was embarrassed about his unconventional hairdo. He had imagined a more "traditional" mohawk, if you will. I think it went over well, though. The Kitty Cat did NOT want "crazy" hair, she insisted on "beautiful" hair. These kids. (sigh)
There were a lot of colored hair there, of course, but I wasn't willing to go that far. Too much of a mess, and I get to be the one to clean it up!

Tomorrow is VBS t-shirt day.

VBS Continues

2009-06-18T12:02:00.003-05:00

VBS continues. Tuesday was Hat Day. Yesterday was Jersey Day. Today is Crazy Hair Day. I've got some pics of the kids' hair that I need to upload. I actually need to leave right now to go pick them up but wanted to post really quick and put this picture up here so you can see the main room that the kids meet in (get dropped off and picked up in). This is the church's main worship hall, and the kids and volunteers fill the place up!

The guy on the left onstage is the youth director, and this is at the beginning of the day. The side you can see closest the wall is where the Kitty Cat sits with the Kindergartners. The side I'm taking the picture from, next to the opposite wall is where the Transformer sits with the 2nd graders.

VBS Begins

2009-06-15T20:13:00.002-05:00

The kids started their first week of VBS today. They are attending from 9:30am-12:30pm every day this week. After dropping them off, I was heavy hearted. I have dropped my son off and driven away from places many times; however, I am not accustomed to doing this with my daughter. I felt the same way with my son when he was the age that the Kitty Cat is now.

I got home and wanted to cry. Well, instead of that, I worked out, showered, took care of some stuff, and it was time to go pick them up. They both had a great time and are looking forward to returning tomorrow.

Additionally, today we had a playdate with some new friends. It lasted three hours, so our whole day was filled with activity.

Tomorrow evening, the Transformer begins his basketball training class at the YMCA near us. Those classes will be on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. These are separate from the team practices (and games) that are at the YMCA downtown. So this week marks our activity-every-day summer schedule. :^D

Summer Basketball

2009-06-13T11:17:00.001-05:00

The Transformer's first basketball game ever. He dribbled pretty well! He has only had one practice so far--last night.

The Kitty Cat's Summer Class

2009-06-10T17:53:00.004-05:00

The summer has been pretty uneventful so far for us. The kids have been a bit crazy without a schedule to adhere to and have been watching WAY too much t.v. and having WAAAYYYY too much computer time.

We finally got to a "scheduled" item today. The Kitty Cat started her 3-week Rookie Leaguers class through the YMCA. It is an intro class for 3-5-year-olds to soccer, basketball, and t-ball. Today they practiced soccer. I neglected to get a picture from the actual soccer play, but here is one from warm-up time.

Friday evening, the Transformer will begin his "schedule" with basketball practice. Then the next day, Saturday, the Kitty Cat will have her class again, and the Transformer will have a basketball game. Next week, they will be starting their 3-week stint in VBS. They will attend together next week at a church that some relatives attend. It should be fun for all involved!

Week Long Procrastination

2009-05-30T18:28:00.012-05:00

I am possibly the laziest blogger. I have a problem. I have to work really, really hard to blog consistently. I have started blogs then let them dwindle away. Actually, in that light, I've been doing pretty well with this one! Well, as summer has begun, my motivation to keep up with posting has flagged. To add to that, I haven't been getting many pictures with my phone. Rather I have been using my camera (crazy, huh?), and I am way too lazy to connect the cables to my computer, download, then upload here. With my phone, I just upload it directly to this site, and I'm pretty much done. Even uploading pics today has taken a L-O-N-G time. :(

Well, on to the updates. We had a great Memorial Weekend at the ranch. Kirk and the boy did a fair amount of fishing on the "pier" behind the guest house that we stayed in (the "white house"). There was another guest house on the property (the "yellow house") as well as the main house. The ranch is huge!

We rode on an amazing zipline (about 1/4 mile?) and slid on a slip-n-slide that was about 1/2 the length of the zipline. We actually had a jeep come and pick us up from the bottom of each to get us back to the top. Crazy. You can see the Transformer getting hooked up just above on the right. That's me on the left side on the platform. Just in front is the 9-ft tall slip and slide. The zipline was directly over it.

We also went swimming in the pool at the yellow house. It was pretty cold. The weather was weird all weekend. Pouring down, misting, then hot, hot, hot sunshine. Then rainy again. Back and forth. We did alright despite it though.

I, unfortunately, have few pics because my cellphone died, and I didn't take a charger. The camera ended up staying at the white house and never got used. My husband got a lot of video but hasn't sent any to me so I can't share them with you.

I do have pics from before and after that I haven't posted yet though. They are primarily from the Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet during which all ranks were promoted. You can see the Transformer getting his gold Wolf neckerchief and slide.

To the right is the Kitty Cat (in the middle) with her two best friends from Cub Scouts on either side.

Also are pics and videos of the soccer season wrap-up. Each of the kids received their participation trophies. This is the Kitty Cat's first, so she was particularly excited about it for awhile.

This video is just a short clip of the Kitty Cat getting her first trophy.

To the left is the Kitty Cat's KinderSoccer team (Go, Dragons!). To the right is the proud achiever.

On the left side here is the Transformer's 1st-2nd grade soccer team (Go, Dragon Warriors!). There he is, spent, on the right. His game was at 1pm on a 95+ degree day.

The children's team names were not only similar, the teams had exactly the same number for their respective league, #4!

So they have a break from all activities for one and a half weeks. Then the Kitty Cat begins Rookie Leaguers, a 3-week intro class to soccer, basketball, and t-ball. In two weeks from now, the Transformer will begin learning how to play basketball! Should be fun. The week after that, they both begin VBS. I will write intermittently over the summer, as we have interesting or fun things to report. Stay cool!

Fishin' on the pier in Athens TX

2009-05-23T08:54:00.001-05:00

Boy's catch on Saturday morning! Kirk's still working on his. The girl has already retired for the morning.

Last Day of School!

2009-05-21T13:47:00.001-05:00

School is over! We are so ready for summer and Memorial Weekend. We have been invited to a ranch this weekend for some fun! Will post about it next week.

End of School Coming Up!

2009-05-15T14:32:00.002-05:00

We've been working hard all week to make summer come faster. How are we doing that, you ask? Well, we're homeschoolers, we've got flexibility and authority! Whoo hoo!

So we are compressing the last several weeks of our scheduled curriculum into this week and next week so that we will be all done with this school year before Memorial weekend. My reason for this is partly because both I and the kids are getting antsy with school but also because we have been invited to a Memorial weekend ranch party, and I KNOW it will be hard to get back into the "last few weeks of school" mindset again. I'd rather get back to a "let's play now and clean up and let Mom get her schoolwork done" kind of mindset instead when we return from several days of fun and frolic.

We've done well this week so far. In fact, we have added in many resources since we started using the CM Organizer so we are doing more than several weeks worth of work in two weeks! I know it stretches the kids' patience and is not very CM . . . but it's necessary for our sanity to get some boredom time in too.

They won't be bored for too long, however, since they are signed up for three weeks of VBS and/or Cub Scout Day Camp during our break. Additionally, the Kitty Cat is signed up for three weeks of introductory sports with the Transformer signed up for basketball training. I'm waiting on signing him for the basketball season because it doesn't look like there are many people signed up yet. In fact, only one person is registered for his league right now. Those are the only things they have going for sure over the summer. Otherwise, we will go to free summer movies, storytimes at the museum and library, swimming, and whatever else may turn up. In the meantime, I am hoping to get a lot accomplished for my own studies so that I can be up and running for a profit soon!

At the Speed of Training Wheels

2009-05-14T15:25:00.002-05:00

Riding bikes on the bike path at the park on a hot, quiet Thursday afternoon.

2009-05-06T21:28:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went to 1st Tuesday at the Austin Stone for the first time. It was wonderful! The Kitty Cat went into childcare and said she enjoyed it and would go again. The Transformer went into the Perspectives class, which is for elementary-aged children, and said he really enjoyed it and would go again. Kirk didn't go because he had a bad toothache, which he is recovering from after treatment this morning.

I ended up running into someone I know from Community Group! We sat together and were grateful to have found each other because each of us was attending for the first time. We prayed, sang, prayed, had communion, sang some more, then had a corporate prayer before being dismissed. It lasted 1.5 hours. We got there late so I'm not sure how it started out.

Well, from there we got a list of needed items for many people in the St. John neighborhood in north Austin who had lost their homes and possessions in an apartment fire Monday. So today, instead of having school, I had the kids help me pull together some items that we could donate to the victims. We are planning to drive them up to the receiving center tomorrow.

Quiet Monday (or Not Crazy Monday)

2009-05-04T17:42:00.001-05:00

A rare picture taken of the Transformer's soccer practice. He's improved quite a bit since the beginning of the season.

2009-05-03T21:29:00.001-05:00

noodle2
Jeanette

2009-05-03T21:28:00.001-05:00

More noodle
Jeanette

Noodle Art

2009-05-03T17:13:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately, the audio quality on this is really poor. Such as shame as it is really, really cool.

Noodle Art

2009-05-03T17:08:00.001-05:00

Transformer wrapped in noodles.

We had gone to the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum to watch Monsters vs. Aliens on IMAX 3D. Afterwards, we took a little walk across the street onto the UT Austin campus to check out the Blanton museum there. Around the corner, we spied this crazy interactive sculpture made of yellow tubing hanging down. The kids had a blast! We really enjoyed it as well.

Big Ol' Glasses

2009-05-03T15:02:00.002-05:00

At the IMAX 3D Monsters vs. Aliens!

Slow Days

2009-05-01T21:18:00.002-05:00

Yesterday and today were pretty uneventful days. Other than school, and volleyball tonight, the kids have had free rein to play. Yesterday was an impromptu super soaker/water hose battle between my son and his friend. The little girl got caught in the crossfire and was pretty upset about it. Until it became funny.

Volleyball was fun. Kirk's brother joined us. It was so muggy tonight though. I'm worried about the actuality of our playing come June-August. I guess we'll play as long as we can.

Today began my formal training period for leadership in Cub Scouts. I thought I would volunteer to lead the Wolf Cubs next school year but wanted to get an idea of what was expected first. Fortunately, I can do the training modules before offering to volunteer for anything specific. I'm almost regretting not volunteering at Day Camp in June. Almost. It would certainly give me some real-world experience in working with the boys in a formal capacity and, most importantly, would be limited to that one week. But the little Kitty Cat is already registered for VBS that week, so I can't be driving back and forth to get each kid where he or she is supposed to be.

I had also been planning to volunteer to lead the Pathfinders at the local AHG. I may still do that. The reason I hesitate is because another troop may be chartered soon at the church where we go for Cub Scouts. Even if it were to be approved and followed through, however, my little Kitty Cat would very probably be the only Pathfinder. All the other girls would begin at Tenderfoot or higher, and the AHG ranks generally span 3 years/grades. Pathfinder is the only one that lasts for one year (K). From our experience a few months ago, I know that the local troop meets as a troop for all of ten minutes, then breaks into ranks for an hour and forty minutes or so, then recongregates for the last ten minutes. If the structure of the meetings are determined by HQ, then the Kitty Cat will be in a class all by herself or possibly one other girl for most of the meeting. All of her friends at Cub Scouts are at least two years older than she is.

So. I am considering going ahead and registering her with the local troop so that she can be in the company of other girls and I can gain experience leading her rank but also participate as much as we are allowed to in the new troop in order to support its fledgling year. I just don't think we can contribute to it financially, which could possibly affect its approval if not enough girls are listed for the proposed charter. ???

Tomorrow holds soccer games in store for the morning. Then church on Sunday as well as working with the preschoolers during the second service for me.

Wrapping Up Swim Classes

2009-04-29T21:39:00.002-05:00

The kids are done with swim classes as of today! The Transformer was recommended to register for the next level up (Minnows)! The Kitty Cat is progressing very slowly. We will begin frequenting the public pools, as well as the YMCA pool, for recreational swim times when we can all go together as a family. I am thinking that I will again register the children for swim classes around February or so of next year. That will warm them up for next year's swimming season, and perhaps the Kitty Cat will be more ready to learn to swim. The Transformer would register as a Minnow and perhaps be in the advanced level (don't remember the name) by summer next year, making him eligible to participate in swim clubs, if he so desires. :)

So now we have only Cub Scouts and soccer that the kids are actively participating in. They are enrolled for VBS at two different churches together, while the Kitty Cat is additionally registered at yet another for a third VBS while the Transformer is in Cub Scout Day Camp. At the YMCA, I am planning to enroll the Transformer for summer basketball, while the Kitty Cat participates in Rookie Leaguers, which is an introductory class for young 'uns to basketball, soccer, and t-ball.

Then I plan to allow them enough time to get bored over the summer so that they will be eager to get started with the new school year at the beginning of August. Also, we may have to move in July so I need to plan around that as well.

In May, the local AHG is having an ice-cream social that the public is invited to in order to learn more about AHG. I am planning on going to that with the Kitty Cat. If we can't get a new AHG troop started that can run concurrently with Cub Scouts, I am planning to register the Kitty Cat at the local one where I will also volunteer as a leader. I am also thinking of volunteering to head up the Wolf Cub rank in our den. Lots to consider and pray over.

Austin's Park

2009-04-28T22:13:00.005-05:00

Today was a pretty quiet yet productive school day. We finally got to some American history readings that I had been wanting to do. We've been holding off on a lot of written work while the Transformer's hand heals more. The gash is still quite visible, although it doesn't hurt him.

After some waffling, due to the soggy weather, we went ahead and went to Austin's Park up in Pflugerville for the afternoon and evening. Although it was not spectacular, we ended up having a good time. Upon first impression, my husband and I were ready to be disappointed (and were for short while), but things started looking up when we got into the bumper boats. Whee! Got nice and wet and had a great time.

We also rode Go Karts, as you can see here, as well as playing miniature golf, climbing a rock wall, playing Lazer Tag, and playing lots of video games. The kids also rode the little train and a ride called Little Shot of which a video is shown below.

On the downside, the soles of my feet were hurting pretty bad by the time we left. On the upside, we all agreed that it was a pretty good birthday celebration for the Transformer. :)

Blue Monday

2009-04-27T14:04:00.004-05:00

Actually, it's not so blue. It's dark out due to the wonderful thunderstorm we've been having for the last few hours. Here's a brief video of it. Listen towards the end for the thunder. The lightning and thunder have been pretty dramatic. I didn't manage to capture much drama on camera though. My husband was up at 3:15am and said he counted over one hundred lightning strikes in one hour at that time. We were apparently on tornado watch while I was slumbering peacefully. No thunder at that time, he said.

Our hike/cleanup of Bull Creek with Cub Scouts was cancelled, as was the Transformer's soccer practice. We've still got swimming this afternoon though, so we will be venturing out into the wet. I'm glad this Monday isn't crazy like last week!

Leading Up To and Including the Pack Campout

2009-04-26T16:21:00.007-05:00

Wow. I haven't posted since last Tuesday. Well, let me try to catch you up here.

Wednesday was uneventful. The Kitty Cat had her swim lesson, but the Transformer had to stay out of the water because of his wound. Thursday was very busy. First, it was the Transformer's 7th birthday! Unfortunately for him, many other activities had been planned for that date, two of which were really out of our control.

We started out by taking the Transformer in to see the doctor for his annual well-child checkup. He was prepared to get vaccinations, but it turned out that he only needed a chicken pox booster. Yay! We saw a physician's assistant that morning, who checked his hand and said that it looked like it was healing great. We talked about his postnasal drip and decided on giving him Claritin every morning. Seems to be working fine so far. We came home for lunch and a brief present opening from Aunt Kay, then headed back out to check out the archaeological dig at Zilker Park. We stared in the hole for about 30 minutes. They weren't doing much in the way of excavating. The recent rains had caused a small mudslide that needed to be scooped out.

After going to Zilker, we went to KXAN for a tour with the other Tiger Cubs (for Achievement #4G). That was pretty cool. The cubs liked the chromakey (green screen) best. From the TV station, we went back home for a hurried dinner, a quick Happy Birthday song and cake eating, and then back out to go to the Pack meeting. A very busy day, indeed.

Friday, we took pretty easy. We did a little bit of school, but I felt bad that the Transformer didn't get to do much of what he wanted on the previous day, so I let him just play most of the day, along with his sister. That evening, we went out so that Kirk and I could play volleyball (had been over a month for me!).

Saturday was rushed as well. Both of the kids had soccer games with pictures beforehand. Then Kirk took off with the Transformer to go to the Pack Campout, while I took the Kitty Cat to her game.

Once we had split up for the weekend, things calmed down a bit. For us anyway. Kirk and the boy, of course, participated in all things camping. Apparently it rained a bit on them. The pictures in this entry are all from their campout. They apparently had a good time and discovered that the Transformer has a bit of marksman in him!

To the right is a picture of the Kitty Cat's friend, RW. She was the reason that I had considered going as a whole family, since the girls could hang out together. I'm not sure if any other girls had gone. To the left is RW's brother, JW. He is a Webelos II now (just graduated into that rank).

The Alamo

2009-04-21T23:13:00.003-05:00

We went to see a presentation by The Daughters of the American Revolution today at The Alamo in San Antonio. Although we got in a few minutes late, we enjoyed the presentation. Following are some pictures.

To the left is a "Buffalo Soldier" talking about Buffalo soldiers from America's past--originally cavalry from the northern regions who wore buffalo hides as a cheaper alternative to the more expensive wool coats that were promised to be issued upon further service commitments.

To the right is a gentleman showing a variety of weapons used back then, including rifles, pistols, ammunition, and the like. Here, he is holding up the famed Bowie knife. It looks a lot bigger in real life!

There was a "creek" that ran through the middle of the compound, which apparently used to be an irrigation system. Anyway, there were giant koi in the water. The one pictured here was massive! He was so amazingly big that I had to get a picture of him. Unfortunately, you have nothing to compare him to in the photo. I would estimate him to have been about 2 feet long, no lie.

Here is the famed facade depicted in millions of postcards of the Alamo. It is in fact the facade to the Shrine where the Texans who perished are honored. Inside were plaques with each fallen hero's name and place of origin. There were funeral-type flower arrangements everywhere.

After our tour of the Alamo, we went to eat lunch at a little ice-cream shop (where they served a short menu of sandwiches) and then headed toward the Riverwalk to see what that was all about. It turned out to be a very cute, subterranean "city" of sorts. Restaurants lined the murky, green water on both sides. The river is shaped like a T. Boat rides are offered, and many were employed. The kids begged for rides, but I wasn't willing to shell out the bucks today. I told them we could come back and spend money with Daddy. ;) Little bridges allow one to cross the river conveniently and in many places. We didn't see anyplace that the water ended.

We ended our trip to San Antonio by driving to the Witte Museum, just to get a sense of its location. We didn't have time to go in, but my interest in visiting it has solidified upon seeing its exterior. Since we are members of the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, we would enter the Witte free via its partnership program. I think it might be worth the 1.5-hour drive there. A friend suggested combining it with a trip to the San Antonio Zoo. Feels like another field trip in the making!

Monday, Monday

2009-04-20T22:28:00.004-05:00

Today took a little turn on the word "crazy." We started out with the usual craziness: school, Cub Scouts, swim class for the Transformer, swim class for the Kitty Cat, soccer practice for the Transformer.... erk! Drop everything. The Transformer has sliced his hand! Repeat, the Transformer has sliced his hand!

Okay, back up. What happened here? Well, in short, he was beginning to climb up a chainlink fence by the soccer field in order to get a soccer ball back from the other side. His right hand got caught in some metal that then lacerated his hand.

I had dropped him off for practice and had gone back inside to get the Kitty Cat out of the water and dressed. The soccer coach brought the Transformer in to me and told me what had happened. The poor child was crying his heart out. We got him bandaged up at the YMCA, then Kirk met us, and we all drove over to the ER together. His laceration was cleaned and glued and bandaged. Prognosis is good, and all is well. Until the hospital bill comes. :(

Before all of this, I had gotten him to put his shinguards on while waiting on his sister in class. Then I handed him the soccer ball as I turned to get the water bottle, saying, "Let's get you out to practice." He yelled back, "Mom!" My reply, "What?" "You hit my mouth with the ball and hurt my tooth!" I looked and, sure enough, that baby tooth that had been hanging on for weeks had gotten knocked out of the gum! I told him to pull it out! Yay! That tooth had been driving me and my husband nuts for weeks.

Tomorrow we are going to see the ALAMO. That should be fun. A nice long drive to San Antonio. I'm not all that prepared for it, so I will go do that now.

Wed and Thu Recap

2009-04-16T18:05:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was a relatively uneventful day. School, then swimming. The kids got to go to a babysitting facility for a few hours while hubby and I went to an appointment. They seemed to enjoy it and said they wanted to go again.

Today, we started out with a nature walk. Pictures below of mostly flowers and children...

We started school late, but got to enjoy a morning together as a family (including the dogs!). We started school at noon, took a break for lunch, then resumed until about 4:30-ish. Had to run an errand. When we got back, I attempted to finish up some things for school, but when my son protested, I relented and gave the kids the rest of the day off.

Tuesday Slowdown

2009-04-14T21:26:00.002-05:00

Today was much better than yesterday. We got a lot of school done. My Transformer graduated from The Reading Lesson today! I awarded him a certificate that officially deemed him a Reader for Life. He was pretty proud, I think. He read the last two passages in the book to his Dad to demonstrate where his reading level is now. Tomorrow he will move onto primers and readers. After those (about three of them), he will start on library books like Frog and Toad. :D

My little girl is doing wonderfully with her blend ladder activities. She does not complain as much as she used to. Also, her writing of the lowercase letters is great, but she doesn't reproduce them on her own. When she writes her own words out, she still uses uppercase primarily. She uses lowercase for letters that she does not know how to write in uppercase.

For math, they are loving doing Living Math. Basically that means that we are using literature for math (the term literature being used loosely since most of the books are not literary). The books make math fun and put it into context, such as storylines that require calculations. They could be mysteries, adventures, or other themes. We've been working on patterns lately to work on the fundamental aspects of math for the Kitty Cat. Since the Transformer is working on addition, subtraction, and multiplication in his Miquon Orange Book, the patterns provide more foundation exercises for him. I had put away Ray's Arithmetic for him when he was struggling with place value and transposing the numbers in the teens; however, I think maybe over the next few months, I will reintroduce him to Ray's, since I believe that his brain will have developed enough by then to comprehend those concepts better. He is starting to understand those things via his continuing work in Miquon, so Ray's should help to solidify that understanding. The Kitty Cat may pick up on some of those things, but I don't plan to implement any formal math for her until she is about 6yo.

On another note, I am really loving the CM Organizer. Other than finishing out the weekly themes that I have set up for the remainder of this school year, I think I will be able to fully rely on the organizer to implement our daily school activities. It so nicely lines up resources to be used one after another with no implied rush to complete anything. Any resource not accomplished that day is left alone until the next weekday that it is scheduled for. What flexibility! :)

Is it the end of the week yet?

2009-04-13T20:50:00.002-05:00

I'm tired. Very very tired. We had school this morning, at which we got a lot of stuff done (thanks to the CM Organizer!). Then lunch, Cub Scouts, the Transformer's swim class, the Kitty Cat's swim class, the Transformer's soccer practice, back home for a hurried dinner while I sat in my virtual class... I was starting to fall asleep during my class! I'm looking forward to tomorrow when the pace will be much slower. I guess we get the crazy day out of the week early though...

Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum

2009-04-11T09:44:00.003-05:00

Friday was spent at the museum. We joined as members and got a $10 discount + free parking for that day (worth $8)! Additionally, we get unlimited entry for one full year, 4 tickets to the regular shows at the 3-D IMAX theater, 4 tickets to the 4-D theater, and 6 free parking tickets. We also get $1 off each ticket we purchase to either theater. All for a total of $50! (That includes that $10 discount, btw.)

The museum was great. Despite the fact that it is a history museum of a limited geographic area, we really enjoyed it. The kids had a great time as well since the museum has many little theaters to present the history of Texas in addition to the traditional installations.

This month, we missed the 1st Saturday event TEXplorations Family Storytime. We will hope to make it next month. Maybe we can also go to the IMAX theater then. Saturdays may be tough to get in!
Before heading to the museum, we had hoped to check out the dig at Zilker Park. We drove through both parking lots and couldn't find anywhere to park. Too many cars and nobody leaving. The kids were also upset because we were supposed to get cotton candy at the Zilker Food Stand too. We will try again next week or so.

We unfortunately ended the day with me having a headache. I had to plow through the evening study session anyway because I was behind in getting all of my assignments completed in time. Finally turned in around midnight. Will spend a good portion of today getting the rest of my schoolwork for copyediting done for this week.

Spring Planning

2009-04-09T22:50:00.002-05:00

Spring is all about planning for the new school year. Well, at least it is for me. I spent HOURS adding resources into the CM Organizer that I am hoping we will use over the next few months to year. The resources are pulled from the unofficial AO Year 0.5; Sonlight's Core K, Science K, and Readers 1 and 2; and additional resources for language arts, math, and science.

It's so exciting to be planning for 2nd grade and kindergarten! I know CM would shake her head at me doing a kindergarten year for my Kitty Cat, but she is ready, and I don't believe that she should be held back because she is not 6. She is already blending sounds and will soon be reading Bob Books. She likes hearing the "stories" that we read, and I don't make her do much anyway. Her brother is the one that gets mad because he's been homeschooling since he was 4yo and wants me to give her more work. Anyway.

Tomorrow we are going to the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. We are planning on getting a membership, so I hope that the museum is a fun place to visit!

Very Very Sick Day and a Very Very Normal Day

2009-04-08T22:19:00.002-05:00

Tuesday was a very out of the ordinary day. The Kitty Cat woke up at 3am early Tuesday crying that her ear hurt. Long story short, the doctor confirmed an ear infection, so Kitty Cat is now on antibiotics. She was the saddest little girl all day. She threw up regularly all day (tummy-fulls of mucus) and was unable to eat anything except dry Cheerios for breakfast.

Well, thanks to some prayers and 2 rounds of antibiotics, she woke up at 7:30am today full of energy and volume, chatting with the dogs and just ready to tackle life. She did get cranky when she realized how hungry she was, but that was taken care of in short order. Although I was nervous about allowing her to eat too much out of the gate, my husband let her eat a whole lot. And she did eat a whole lot! Her appetite has been great all day.

Although we cancelled school yesterday, we were back in session today. The kids were also back to their usual bickering and such.

While his sister was taken ill, the Transformer decided that he was going to set up shop out on the sidewalk in front of the house. He set up these colored teeny shells that he had, as well as some paper boats, in an effort to make some money (to feed his Transformers action figures habit). Well, other than his sister buying a pink paper boat, he didn't get any customers. I think only one person walked by on the sidewalk during the 2 hours or so that he was out there. It was really interesting to watch him from inside too. He started shouting out,"Shell and Paper Boat Stand! Shell and Paper Boat Stand!" rhythmically, while walking up and down the sidewalk. After tiring of that, he started calling out the prices for his wares. It was the cutest darn thing! I kept trying to think of what examples he might have seen or heard for doing that, and I just couldn't come up with anything. I think he'll do great in popcorn sales for Cub Scouts next school year. :)

Because of my daughter's illness, we were unable to go to First Tuesday service for Austin Stone. I was disappointed, I admit. We will try again next month.

Today, the kids had swim classes, and then we went to the library for movie night to watch "Bee Movie." We got there about 12 minutes late so missed the opening of it. It was a cute movie. I'm not sure if Jerry Seinfeld should do any more lead roles in animation, however. I'll have to ponder that more before I can commit to that statement.

The Transformer's birthday is coming up. I want to do something wonderful for him, but I'm not sure what that will be. I had told him no party. Mostly because we (my husband and I) hate inviting people to have them bring presents. We would rather he shared an experience with some friends. I'll have to think harder on what we can do.

CM Organizer

2009-04-06T19:59:00.004-05:00

Today went well. We finished up the day with the kids having their swim classes and the Transformer having soccer practice.

I'm using a trial of CM Organizer from the SimplyCharlotteMason.com site. I had tried it last year or so, and it wasn't right for me at that time. However, I decided to give it another shot and have really been enjoying using it. I started using it last week to keep track of what my children had covered but really didn't have it set up with enough resources to fully rely on it until today. I'm still referring to my Excel printout but should be able to wean myself onto completely relying on the online organizer soon.

As for what we did today, we started our last worksheet for the Bible Study Guide for All Ages (Unit 2). After we complete it this week, we will move onto reading from Bible story books from the unofficial Ambleside Online Year 0.5 booklist. It will be a nice change of pace, I think. I had thought we would try to follow the KidStuff curriculum that the kids do on Sundays, and we will try that too, I think.

The Transformer is doing great with his reading! He is on the next to last lesson in The Reading Lesson, so I imagine he will be done with the whole book in two weeks or so. He's doing some remedial work in a language arts workbook just to review some things and to give him some easy work. We'll move onto some other stuff as we continue to finish up some other items in this year's curriculum plan.

He is continuing to work on Miquon's Orange Book (Level 1). He was starting to get a bit lazy and lost in his work (high percentage of wrong answers), so I am having him use the Cuisenaire rods for each problem he does. He will actually use them, kind of, guessing at what other rod should be making up the answer; I am therefore having him actually pick out the missing rod so that he has physical evidence of the correct answer.

The Kitty Cat has been working on blend ladder activities from My Father's World. She is doing really well! Each set of blend ladder activities ends in writing out 3-4 words. I have her build those words on the blend ladder with her crepe letters and printed ladder. Then I have her copy them, making sure to form her letters correctly. At this stage, she writes on unlined paper because she becomes overwhelmed with lined paper.

I am hoping that I can get more structured and intentional about the subjects that we cover, incorporating more subjects regularly, such as handicrafts, foreign language, and artist and composer study.

I still have a lot to learn about CM methods, that's for sure.

I have to admit, Sonlight's new catalogue arrived, and I couldn't help myself. I just started dreaming about using one of their IGs and their booklists, etc. I felt so committed this time to stop flirting with using it and finally just do it. But in about a day's time, I had come back full circle to embracing CM philosophy. That doesn't mean that I won't use Sonlight's booklist. I am probably going to use their science curriculum since I really need some structure and guidance in that area.

Well, we'll see how things shape up for next school year soon...

YMCA Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-05T16:55:00.008-05:00

was fun except for the Easter Egg Hunt part. That was a resounding failure.

We got there about midway through the festivities, and the children immediately wanted to go into the petting zoo. Almost all of the pictures on here are from the the petting zoo.

Then the organizers called for the last Easter egg hunt for the day. Apparently there had been several earlier that we had missed, which had been for different ages. This last one was for "everybody." Well, at the sound of "GO!" the kids swarmed onto the field like a cloud of locusts devouring crops in Egypt.

At the end of the swarm, little children here and there were crying because they had found ZERO eggs. Older kids were about to cry because they had found only THREE eggs. And the older kids didn't feel any better that the younger children had found ZERO eggs. I couldn't believe that they 1) wouldn't have had more eggs, 2) wouldn't have limited the hunt to those children that had not participated in previous hunts, 3) did not have the younger children begin 30 seconds earlier with the older children following, 4) or... I don't know--something! After a bit of crying, the children decided to go into the moonwalk.

They jumped for about 30 minutes or so and wanted to go back into the petting zoo. So we (and others) closed out the petting zoo. The saddest thing happened at the end of that time. I don't know if any children noticed, but one of the little bunnies was dragging its hindquarters, and the owners picked it up to take it back to the "barn," otherwise known as a trailer. Kirk figured that someone must have stepped on it and broken its back. I'm so upset and sad for that bunny.

All in all, the children had fun. I just so terribly wish that the bad parts had not happened. We came home and finished up the day's Easter festivities with some egg dyeing.

Saturday Soccer

2009-04-04T21:29:00.006-05:00

Today was soccer day, as will all Saturdays (minus next week) be for awhile. First we started with the Kitty Cat's KinderSoccer at 10am. Here's a picture of her below during practice just before the game. To the right is the Transformer posing before his game at noon.

Although he is wearing a blue jersey here, as his team was scheduled to wear, he ended up playing for the other team since they were short by a lot of players. Specifically, the Transformer's team had 9 players with the other team had 4. Yep.

You can see him here wearing the white jersey and playing goalie for the other team. I waited a long time to get a picture of the ball in play near him, but by the time that happened, my camera shut off due to inactivity. I couldn't get it going fast enough to capture anything. So this is what you get--a picture of a little guy waiting to do his job.

Below is a movie of the ball in play during the Transformer's game. This time he is on the field chasing after that ball.

Sick Little Girl

2009-04-03T19:32:00.002-05:00

Today was Handbook day, meaning that instead of our usual school subjects, we spent today working on outstanding scouting projects and badges. Although we got started late (again, what's new?), we made some progress. I, in my bathrobe and pajamas, and my son, dressed and ready to go for the day, finished up his Texas Badge that he had started about a month ago. I learned a lot about Texas in the process. Oh, as did he. I think. Won't really know until I ask him something and receive a blank stare in response.

After the Texas Badge, which he earned also for Contenders, we worked on his Rocks and Minerals Badge for Contenders. He got through 2 questions, both based on Scripture. It was pretty painful for him because it entailed lots of writing (copying) which he is just not accustomed to yet. He did alright though. I can't say that I behaved very well. I was getting crabby and impatient with his lack of attention and having to repeat everything 5 times.

My daughter worked on writing out the whole alphabet, capitals and lowercases, in order to finish up her ABCs Badge. She cried a lot doing that. Mostly because I was working with her brother on the Texas Badge and left her to copy the letters I had written down for her, but also because she was extremely congested and has been sick for a few days. Oh, and I had given her ruled paper to write on. So I told her to not work on it until after I was done with the Transformer and his TX Badge, and then I gave her unlined paper to write on while I coached her on forming her letters correctly. Then everything went swimmingly.

Let's see. After that, I just let the kids run wild while I finally got into the shower at 4pm. Well, actually a bit after 4pm. I know, it's just shameful. But the good thing is that I can just roll out of bed tomorrow and change clothes and be ready for the day. :)

Because of my little girl's cold, I elected to stay home with the kids (and since the Transformer wanted to watch Monster House for the third time); Kirk went to play volleyball without me.

We look forward to spending tomorrow as a family (unlike last Saturday) going to both of the kids' soccer games--the Kitty Cat's at 10am and the Transformer's at 12pm.

Thursday Lights Out

2009-04-02T18:39:00.012-05:00

The power went out today from about 12:30pm to about 6pm. The wind gusts were so strong that somewhere power lines were interfered with and 4000 homes lost power here. Life is initially so very very boring when the electricity goes out, but after some necessary diversions, one is led to the conclusion that it was a blessing in disguise.

In lieu of being glued to the computer all day, as has been my practice lately, I was forced to do something with the children. Therefore, I decided to pull out all of our painting supplies to fulfill my daughter's long-ignored wishes of "painting, Mom, please!"

Here are the results of our artistic abandon. (If you want to see more detail, click on the picture, and you should get a larger image.)

To the left above is a butterfly by the Kitty Cat. To the right above are two paintings by the Transformer. As you can see from the top picture, his first choice in art is depicting Transformers. After his sister produced a butterfly, he decided to paint his own.

Being uninspired to be inspired, I decided to find my inspiration within the covers of an art book we recently purchased, The Story of Painting by Sister Wendy Beckett. Above is my rendition of a detail from Kirchner's Berlin Street Scene. You can see how my painting is almost indistinguishable from the book's image pictured on the right. Well, except for the curl of the cheap paper on the bottom left.

Here is a pic of the entire artwork:

Uh... ignore Hitler on the right side of that image.

I actually painted the following art before the one shown above. This is from another detail, but this time the image is from Paul Klee's work called The Golden Fish. Note my amazing attention to detail and my own twist on the fishes' personalities.

Below, you can see the entire piece depicted in the book. The two little guys from above are in the bottom right of the larger work. Note how they stand out and seem to command the viewer's attention, despite the magnificent golden fish that is obviously hogging the shot.

Despite my newfound status as an artist extraordinaire, as evidenced by my children's amazement at what I had produced, I am yet quite humble about my abilities. Despite that, I would not be embarrassed by any accolades that you might want to post in the comments section.

After our artistic adventure, my little girl wanted to cash in on her earned 1-on-1 time with me (from her behavior incentive map), so we went on a hike. There is a greenbelt just a block away from our house, so we walked through there, mysteriously ending up at the playground about 20 minutes later. I had never figured that letting my 4.5yo daughter lead was going to do anything other than have us go in circles or get lost. Apparently she knows the trails.

Here is the beginning of our "hike."

This is where we ended up.

All in all, not too bad of a day for losing our beloved electricity. I just hope it never happens again.

Another Lazy Schoolday

2009-04-01T18:38:00.003-05:00

Today was uneventful. We had school this morning, then out for an appointment, and back to the house to watch Monster House. The kids were so excited to watch it, but I was a bit worried about it being too scary for the Kitty Cat. She did alright although she needed to have her dad sit by her for a few scenes.

I should note that my dear son, the Transformer, elected to read Genesis 22 by himself without any prompting from me. We had just been studying from Gen 22-23 for Bible study this week, and Genesis 22 tells the story of Abraham being tested by God. Anyway, he read from verse 1 all the way through verse 17 before tiring! I helped him out with some individual words, but he just kept going. I thought he would stop after a few verses. Amazing.

The children are playing in the backyard now. Although it is Wednesday, swim classes for April don't begin until next Monday so we have a day off from activities. In about 20 minutes, I will attend a webinar on "Bringing Joy to Your Homeschool Math and Science Lessons." Maureen Whitman will present how to use literature to teach your children math and science. Should be interesting!

End of March!

2009-03-31T22:15:00.002-05:00

Today went a little better than yesterday. We got started by 10am. Still not early enough to get all of our readings done, but I am committed to having a low-stress first week back.

The kids had a playdate this afternoon with two brothers that they met through YMCA swim classes. They had a great time!

This evening we went to our Community Group and studied Scripture and prayed. It was a good meeting, but without much social time, I didn't feel as connected tonight as I had been at previous meetings. :( I hope that I will find a balance there between corporate worship and personal social time. Maybe I just need to have playdates separate from our Tuesday night meetings. Next week we are not meeting due to First Tuesday, a monthly time of communion and prayer for our church body. The elementary age children participate in a Perspectives class, which apparently is mission-focused. Will report on that next week.

First Day of School After Spring Break

2009-03-30T20:31:00.002-05:00

It was a bit of a trial to get back into our school routine this morning. I don't think we even got started until 11am! We managed to do our Bible study, language arts, math, and some literature, but that was about it. We had to go to the library to make a return and pick up a reserve item, then the kids had swim classes, followed by the Transformer's soccer practice immediately after swimming.

He has been struggling with his asthma in the last week or so, so he was coughing a bit during swim and soccer. Having them back to back didn't help. Next week, I have him scheduled for an earlier swim class so that he can have a break between activities. The Kitty Cat will continue her swim class at the current time since there is no concurrent earlier time option with her brother.

Speaking of swimming, the Kitty Cat is enrolled for another month at the beginner level, while her brother is enrolled next month in the advanced beginner level. Go, Transformer!

First Day of Soccer

2009-03-28T17:33:00.007-05:00

Well, today began the soccer season for the YMCA in Austin. The Kitty Cat is in KinderSoccer and the Transformer is in 1st-2nd grade soccer, so they are on different schedules. Fortunately, we managed to get the Transformer onto a team that would allow us to spend most of our Saturdays together as a family.

However, today we had to split up since each of their teams had a 10am game. I took the Kitty Cat to her game, and Kirk took the Transformer to his game. It was freezing! I think the temperature was around 50 degrees by 10am. They both had a great time. I got some footage of the Kitty Cat, but I need to get some footage from my husband for the Transformer. You can see her on the left with the pink sleeves.

The Kitty Cat was having a ball just running all over the field. She took a few shots at the ball but hesitated at other times. She stayed pretty close to the coach while on the field. (In KinderSoccer, there are few rules, and the coaches and referee are all running around on the field with the players.) They have 15 minutes of practice just before games, meeting only for an hour on Saturdays for practice and game.

The Transformer will have practice for an hour every Monday evening as well as a game every Saturday.

Galveston for Spring Break

2009-03-28T17:03:00.015-05:00

We got back late last night from our trip to Galveston. On the way back, we dropped in on an old high school friend whom I hadn't seen in 20 years. It was a great visit with a wonderful family that showed us a lot of hospitality.

Below are some videos and photos of our trip.

This video is a brief shot of the beach nearest my parents-in-law's house in Pirate's Beach. It is shorter by about 30-40 yards than it was before Ike swallowed it up. You can see that houses are on the waterline; those are condemned, now state-owned. The ones just behind them may also be state-owned due to their proximity to the new waterline and vegetation line.

Here we all are, enjoying ourselves on the beach. It was pretty overcast the whole time, with rain pouring down by Thursday and Friday. We did, however, get to be outside on Tuesday and Wednesday, with a bit of sun peaking through on Wednesday. The dogs managed to stay out of the camera's view each time I took a shot, but you can see evidence of them by the rope leash that is encircling my husband.

Above is a video of us fishing in the bay by the Pirate's Beach Country Club. There was a lot of renovation going on there, of the clubhouse as well as of residences in that area. Fishing was slow but fun.

Here's a picture of our catch for that day (Wed). A catfish got caught with squid bait, while the croaker was caught with shrimp. He actually hitched a ride as I was reeling in my line for the last time! My husband elected to let them go at our daughter's insistence that they be allowed to live.

The next day, we went to Rosenberg Library to check out the water damage and to access their wi-fi network. It was really sad to see so much of the library closed down for repairs. The children's section had been on the ground level (which is actually below ground level) and had suffered 10 feet of flooding during Ike, along with other rooms on that level and below. When we visited, they had half a floor open for use with no bathrooms available. The children's books filled less than a quarter of the shelves in a room set aside for them.

The kids insisted on climbing onto Henry's lap so I obliged them and made them pose for a photo.

Here are the kids once again atop a hill of dirt (to be used to replenish the beach) on another day spent at the beach. They couldn't get enough of that sensory experience despite the cold wind and dark skies. It was too cold for me after about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. My husband and the kids spent another hour there and then our daughter returned to the house with me when I came back out. My husband had to insist on going back to the house another hour later because the Transformer was having too much fun to leave. This may have been the pivotal point at which his coughing was exacerbated. He is continuing to cough loudly as I type.

My parents-in-law came down on Thursday so we got to spend time with them as well from then through Friday. Thursday night we went to The Rainforest Cafe for dinner, going on the Rainforest Ride beforehand. Despite the poor weather forecast and the downpour finale, we had a great time.

Last Monday's Field Trip to the Capitol Building

2009-03-28T15:55:00.027-05:00

Well, last Monday seems far away. We went on a tour of the Texas Capitol Building with the Transformer's Cub Scout Den. It was a great trip; pretty much everyone enjoyed him or herself. Here is a picture of the Capitol Rotunda.

We were split into two tour groups. Although our group had a good and lengthy tour, the second group apparently had an abbreviated one, ending at the same time as ours though they started 15 minutes after we did.

At the end of the Capitol Building tour, several of us (some elected not to go) headed over to the Capitol Visitors' Center (CVC) where we saw a video on the history of the Capitol and were able to look through telescopes at key architectural elements, as well as do some interactive projects by hand and computer. Because of our scheduled spring break, we could not stay as long as my son wanted to. He was really disappointed that he couldn't browse through more of the online links. When we asked, we were told that those links were not available on the internet, only at the CVC.

A photo of the Kitty Cat
and her Capitol tour
buddy.

The left picture is a view of the session in progress from the Gallery (you can see the Gallery on the other side near the top of the pic). The Gallery encircles the session floor. On the right, you can see my son and a fellow scout sitting in the Gallery seats.

This last picture shows the scouts in rapt attention to the video that is playing. It featured "secret places" in the Capitol Building that are not open to tours, including a historic office space and a staircase that leads up to the top of the dome.

Most of what the tour guide told the scouts went over their heads (well, the Tigers anyway), but that didn't stop them from asking questions! All in all, a fun trip.

Spring Break

2009-03-22T21:49:00.003-05:00

Well, it's Sunday night. I thought I'd drop by and let you know that I'm taking the week off from blogging. We will have school tomorrow, then we have a Go-See-It at the Capitol Building. After that we'll make a stop at the library, trade out some books and videos, then off to swim classes. After that we're hitting the road for a mini-vacation. I'll post some pics and update some stories after we're back, which may not be immediately since soccer will start this coming Saturday morning. Have a great week!

Blacksmith Shop

2009-03-20T21:40:00.001-05:00

This was my son's favorite stop at Pioneer Farms. We stopped there
three times! The third time, the shop was closed as the farm was
closing for the day too. The gentleman in the center is the
blacksmith. Happy to answer all the many questions that the kids were
asking him. The Transformer was just transfixed at seeing how metal
tools were made. He was content to just watch him heat the knife,
shape it with the hammer and anvil, reheat it, reshape it, and so on.
I have to admit, it was pretty cool watching metal be manipulated like
plastic.

Weaving and Spinning Room

2009-03-20T21:37:00.001-05:00

Here's one view of my favorite place at Pioneer Farms. You can see the
baskets in the middle with all the uncarded cotton and wool (with
seeds removed). The carding brushes are on top. Both of my kids really
enjoyed trying them, especially the Transformer.

James Bell Homestead

2009-03-20T21:35:00.001-05:00

This is a picture of my children in front of the children's room in
the James Bell home. It is a circa 1858 Greek revival home of
well-to-do cotton farmer James H. Bell.

Pioneer Farms

2009-03-20T21:32:00.002-05:00

We went to Pioneer Farms today for Homeschool Day. It was great. We
got there about 10:20am or so and left after 2pm when they shut down.
Got to see several homesteads with working kitchens, lots of
volunteers in costume, horses, cows, donkeys, hogs, cats. My son asked
lots of questions and got lots of answers. His favorite was the
blacksmith shop where he got to see the blacksmith heating up a knife
and shape on the anvil.

My favorite rooms were seeing the working kitchen with the woodburning
stoves, as well as the weaving room and seeing all the tools used to
make rugs from cotton (mostly) and wool, including carding brushes, hand spinners and
spinning wheels, a swift, and weaving looms.
What fun!

One of those days...

2009-03-19T21:21:00.002-05:00

...where it feels like you don't get much done in the way of school. We actually did get the basics done, but I had hoped to cover more than that because we will not have "school" tomorrow due to our field trip. Also, we will have school on Monday, but the rest of the week will be Spring Break.

We didn't start school until noon today. Noon.

We did manage to get our Bible study, Language Arts, and Math done today. We then had to eat lunch, I had to get showered and dressed, and leave for KinderGym. I had hoped to get back to some books after KinderGym, but that was not to be.

My son was almost out of control again at the gym class. I don't know what it is about that kind of environment that just makes him crazy. Maybe because it is indoors? He's fine in swimming class. I'm going to guess that it is the fact that he is not contained in water and that he is allergic to four walls and flourescent lighting. My daughter was also a bit aggro. Just a little bit.

Anyway, tomorrow we are off to Pioneer Farms for Homeschool Day. I think it will be great fun. Then we are supposed to see some bands perform at South by Southwest (SXSW) midafternoon. Then we'll have dinner, and the grownups will play volleyball at the park.

Sick Day

2009-03-18T17:25:00.003-05:00

Our homeschool routine was disrupted by my poor soon having a severe asthma episode beginning the middle of last night. He coughed from 3am and is only now (5pm) getting to a point where it is not continuous. We went to see his doctor, and she has recommended several things including antibiotics to fight the infection building in his ears from fluid build-up. Apparently there is already pus on the right side.

We did some read-alouds today, but that was it. We'll try to pick up somewhat tomorrow, but then Friday we'll be off to Pioneer Farm.

Soccer Kids

2009-03-17T16:42:00.004-05:00

Well, I had not signed my boy up for soccer thinking that he would take flag football instead (his preference). The class did not start as scheduled and turns out to be moving to a later start date. I got a schedule for the soccer games for my daughter, and in speaking about her playing soccer, my son started demanding to play soccer too. Well, long story short, I signed him up today. So both of them will be playing. It should be fun for all of us!

As for flag football, since it will run concurrently with soccer, we have elected to not sign him up for it right now. We will instead register him for Upward Flag Football through a local church in the fall.

Swim Classes Cancelled for This Week

2009-03-16T18:10:00.002-05:00

This is the alternate activity for my kids today since swim classes
have been cancelled for this week due to Spring Break. Yes, apparently
around here, Spring Break has capital letters. Back in CA, it was a
lot less formal. Spring break was whenever you called it. Here, it
seems that everything is rearranged or cancelled to allow for all them
schoolin' folk to take some time off from school. We have, therefore,
succumbed to the pressure and will be taking our Spring Break next
week. To be confirmed later. ;)

Arts and Crafts for St. Patty's Day

2009-03-14T13:17:00.001-05:00

We went to Poquito Picassos this morning, and the children made crafts
to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. The clover is my son's work while the
necklace is my daughter's. In her usual style, she donated her work
(to me).

After their class, we went to Michael's to pick up some more pipe
cleaners (or chenille stems or whatever else they are called) to
finish the weaving baskets that the girls at GirlsClub started last
week. They will serve as handles. While we were there, we picked up
more yarn for the Transformer blanket, a 3-D chalk set (really about
the glasses than the chalk) that was on sale, and 2 plastic canvas
kits. As I considered having my daughter learn embroidery, I just am
not comfortable with her handling such a tiny, sharp needle right now.
So I will have her begin with plastic canvas (which is also a badge)
and then work on knitting embroidery before I allow her to learn
proper embroidery. My son also wanted in on the plastic canvas
projects so the 2nd kit is for him.

On a final note, I ordered Far Above Rubies on CD today. It was priced
at half off until Monday so I wanted to take advantage of that deal.
We won't be able to use it for many years, but I just couldn't let
that deal go by. And since I think many years into the future, I
figured it would come in handy in other ways until my daughter can
actually use it. In a few weeks, Blessed Is the Man is supposed to
become available on CD as well. I imagine for a similar price.

Friday Learn Your World

2009-03-13T20:56:00.002-05:00

Today's project apparently had the teacher make some green goo while the children looked on. Then they each got a piece to play with. I'm still working on the educational component of that one. Primarily because, as soon as we had exited the building, my son said, "How did she make these?" I told him to ask her tomorrow when they saw her again for Saturday's class. Watching how to make it did not register anything for him at all apparently.

KinderGym Today

2009-03-12T19:36:00.001-05:00

That's my little girl doing a supported backflip. Her brother is waiting next in line.They were working on somersaults, balance beam, and backflips today. Fun!

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

2009-03-11T21:27:00.002-05:00

I am happy to report that the new behavior system is working great! Today was more representative of reality than yesterday, of course. However, all disagreements were resolved quickly and relatively easily. A gentle reminder that a certain course of action would take them backward on the trail was sufficient to stem the tide.

At this point, both children have made their first goals, which is the privilege of choosing a movie that they would like to see, whether in the theatres or on television. The Transformer is holding out for either Speed Racer or the new Transformers movie, which apparently isn't out yet. The Kitty Cat has decided on Wonder Woman, even though it is an episodic series. They will get to fulfill their wishes next week.

The next goal on their journey of obedience is 1-on-1 time with Dad. Looks like he's going to be busy!

In addition to this morning's lessons, we made a quick run to the library to return a bunch of books and videos and to borrow more. Then it was off to the YMCA for swim lessons, a quick trip home to drop off the wet gear and have a hurried dinner, then off to another library branch to watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars for their monthly family movie night. It was pretty good. The kids particularly like that they get popcorn and lemonade there. :)

The weather has turned from hot and windy to cold, rainy, and gloomy. As this forecast seems to go through at least tomorrow, possibly Friday, I'm looking forward to slowing down our activities somewhat. Tomorrow's agenda includes KinderGym in the afternoon. Friday has us at the YMCA for the Science and Nature class. We probably won't go to Park Day due to the weather, and I imagine that our volleyball game will be cancelled due to soggy sand.

Behavior Incentives Map

2009-03-10T17:18:00.000-05:00

Here is the map. Ignore the silly napkin in the center. It was the
most expedient way to cover up my daughter's name. The paths go in a
clockwise direction. HOME is at the top, followed by Movie, 1-on-1
Time with Dad, Activity, 1-on-1 Time with Mom, Treat, and finally
Field Trip.

Behavior Incentives Chart

2009-03-10T17:16:00.001-05:00

Here is a pic of the chart uploaded from my phone. If you click on it,
you should be able to see a larger image.

Behavior Incentives

2009-03-10T16:44:00.004-05:00

This morning, the first order of the day was to establish a new system to motivate the children to want to be obedient and behave in a positive way regularly. With input from my husband, I established a "game" of sorts to encourage positive behaviors while minimizing negative ones. Since today was the first day of implementation, the children have been quite enthusiastic about pursuing it. They have been doing well, but as I typed, they had started arguing. After reminding them about the repercussions on their charts, they have now made up and are playing well together.

So, what is this system, you say? Let me explain.

First of all, I made up two lists: one labeled Backward (for negative behaviors) and the other labeled Forward (for positive behaviors). Basically, they each have a map on which they follow paths that lead to certain goals. There are a total of six goals and Home. They start at home and have ten "steps" to get to the first goal, which is "Movie." For each positive behavior, that child gets to move forward one step towards the next goal. For each negative behavior, the child moves backward away from the goal. They cannot move backward into a goal. Only forward. The only behavior that nets them more than one step is obedience at the first request, which earns them two steps.

I'm going to try to upload an image of the behaviors and maps so that you can see how it is laid out.

Each of the six goals, in order, are: Movie (get to choose a movie to see), 1-on-1 Time with Dad, Activity (get to choose an activity to participate in), 1-on-1 Time with Mom, Treat (get to choose an edible treat outing), and Field Trip (get to choose a place to visit). When they get back to Home, they might earn a new toy or something. I haven't figured that part out yet.

Between each of the goals are ten steps. It seems like it would be easy to get ten and hit each of the goals quickly, but the negative behaviors taking them backward on the steps slows this process down. They determine how quickly they get to each goal.

I elected not to include all behavioral aspects in this system (such as saying "please" and "thank you") since those are acts that we all do anyway. I really tried to focus on those things that we parents end up repeating until we turn blue. The system and its details will change over time, I suspect, but so far it is working like a charm.

Monday's Child

2009-03-09T23:17:00.002-05:00

Today we got started a bit late with school. We covered the basics and then had to go to Cub Scouts where I was leading the GirlsClub activity for this week (as well as for next week). The den's Circle Time was for working on the Texas Badge.

The girls, in the meantime, were working on basketweaving. Yeah, it sounds simple, but it's not. I even got a cheater kit so the little ones wouldn't struggle too much. I'll try to post a picture of it next week, then you'll see what it looks like. The girls start out with plastic rectangular baskets (looks like a portable drawer) that have vertical rails along the sidewalls. Then they weave long rainbow-colored paper strips between the rails' vertical posts. They alternate the posts that they weave around with each subsequent row of paper.

Well, some of the older girls did great with it and completed a good portion of it. The younger ones struggled more, as did some older ones. One got really frustrated so I worked with her for a while, observing her technique to see where she might be making her errors. Her persistence paid off, and she improved quite a bit.

When we pick up next week, the girls will finish up what they can of the weaving strips. Then we'll add pipe cleaner handles and felt for inside the base of the baskets to finish them off. Then they'll have cute baskets to hold trinkets in as well as experience in basketweaving.

After scouts, we got to come home and rest for almost an hour. Got dressed for swim class (kids) and exercise (me) and went to the YMCA. After the kids' swim class, I put them in Childcare so that I could work out for 1/2 hour. In that time, my son managed to get put in time-out twice. I won't go into details here except to say that the rest of the day did not fare much better.

I had my virtual class to attend just after dinnertime, during which time I had the children watch the Eyewitness: Rock & Mineral video that we had borrowed from the library. They both liked it, my son in particular. As soon as it ended, though, he started asking me if he could go on the computer (to look up something on a Transformer robot). He had started the day with that question, to which I had said that today was not a good day because of our tight schedule. He continued to ask me the rest of the day, and by evening I had had it. It was 9:30pm by this time, and he couldn't seem to understand that the day was over, his bedtime had passed, and he needed to be in bed, asleep. Well, he's asleep now. I pray that these trying-behavior days come to a close soon. It's exhausting.

ASNC Take 3

2009-03-08T18:28:00.001-05:00

Here is one of the many large birds that are housed at the ANSC. I'm
embarrassed to say that I just don't remember what kind of bird it was
except to say that it was a hawk. There were many other birds of prey
there, including a variety of owls, vultures, and hawks.

ASNC Animal

2009-03-08T18:26:00.001-05:00

Here's the resident coyote. Unfortunately, at the pace that the kids
were setting, I didn't get to read about its history. It's amazing how
its nose looks just like a fox's, but the body coloring is very much
wolfish.

Austin Nature & Science Center

2009-03-08T18:23:00.001-05:00

This is a bobcat taking a snooze at ANSC. So cute! It is pretty big,
about the size of a medium dog (on the smaller side). He was
apparently raised in captivity and declawed (???) and so can never be
released back into the wild.

I took the children to the ANSC today to meet a friends and her kids. We all enjoyed it quite a bit. The kids were running all over the place. They got to see fossils and other natural objects. They enjoyed digging in the Dino Pit as well as looking at all of the animals.

We were there for about 2.5 hours, after which I am exhausted. Great field trip!

Mithing Teef

2009-03-08T18:06:00.001-05:00

Another tooth finally came out this afternoon! Eating is definitely
continuing to be a challenge for this child.

Teaching Little Ones at Church

2009-03-08T11:31:00.003-05:00

I'm back from my first morning of teaching at church. I was told that I would be teaching older 3-year-olds, but apparently most of the kids are early 4s. Most of the kids were also boys. And being my first day, they didn't know me, nor I them. The ingredients for a tough morning. I know it will take a few months for the kids to get comfortable with me. I felt a bit frazzled this morning. But now I know what to expect for next time and for whom I am praying.

After a few months, I should know if teaching is one of my spiritual gifts. And if it is, if this is the right age group for me to be using it with.

Poquito Picassos Arts and Crafts Class

2009-03-07T21:44:00.003-06:00

The kids went to their arts and crafts class this morning. This was the one that we thought was also on Wednesdays due to a typographical error on the registration website. They made little construction paper ducks. My daughter gave hers to the teacher as a gift before I even got back to get them so I didn't get a good look at it. It was creative, in the way all of her projects are. My son had a very cute, realistic yellow duck (okay, except for the yellow part). They really enjoyed it. The teacher was the same on that they had yesterday for the Learn Your World class on science and nature so that is great that they can have some consistency there.

As an aside, I'm getting a bit frustrated with Blogger. I chose this service specifically because I could upload posts (including pics and videos) directly from my cell phone. Initially it worked great. I could post things in realtime. But something changed on Thursday, and I am no longer able to upload directly. ??? So now I have to send posts to my email, then sit down at my computer and email them to this blog. No more realtime.

Saturday Morning Green Thumbs

2009-03-07T21:33:00.001-06:00

Impromptu gardening lesson with Dad. They're planting watermelon and
tomato seeds.

Friday Fun Day Finale

2009-03-06T15:58:00.002-06:00

Finally getting to ride the Zilker Zephyr! It is 90 degrees right now.
As you can see, we've been quite busy today. In fact, we had an encore
after the finale in which we walked down to the Barton Springs Pool
and dipped our feet in. The water was the perfect temperature and felt
so good! There were a bunch of people down there, bikinis, trunks, and
day clothes, swimming around in the water with their dogs. We saw the
cutest little Boston terrier named Millie who loved to swim out and
fetch her tennis ball. But then she wouldn't relinquish it to her
owner to the point that the owner would pick up the ball AND the dog
with it! The dog dangled in midair and refused to let go of the ball.
When she was put down, she still refused to let go except to get a
better grip on it.

Anyway, that was our "field trip" outing. The kids had a great time, as
did I. Now I'm exhausted and trying to regain some energy to play
volleyball tonight.

The Wheel and Its Possibilities

2009-03-06T15:53:00.001-06:00

The perennial engineer. I found out later that he was using the wheel
to sand some twigs down and make them smooth. So where I saw a rubber
tire on a retired fire engine, he saw an oversized rubber sanding
attachment to a drill!

Music Lesson

2009-03-06T15:51:00.001-06:00

Does this count?