Monday

This is just a quick visit to say "hello".

There is nothing much going on here at the moment.  My weather pixie shows rain in our area, but it isn't raining here and hasn't since Saturday.  We are supposed to have a very hot and humid week (perhaps B should try frying that egg on the sidewalk this week). 

Eler Beth is getting into the hang of doing lessons every day, but we're still taking it easy.  School here starts on the 9th, but Andrew's Prosser classes don't start until the 15th.  There are lots of great back-to-school sales going on this week, and I am going to try to take advantage of them without overdoing it.  After all, I don't need as much as I used to.

I'm going to set a timer and give myself about 90 minutes to read and comment in journals today.  Whoever I don't get to today I'll have to visit tomorrow.  I'm trying to get myself back into some good cleaning routines while I get the kids back into school routines.  I think I need to visit the FlyLady again.  I've let things get a little cluttered this summer.

Goodbye for now, and I hope everyone has a great week!

Hot Enough

During dinner at our house, Eler Beth's friend, B, announced to us:

"You know, it isn't true that it's hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk!  D and I tried it, and it didn't work!"

I thought Thomas was going to choke on his roast.

Spammers

I feel so honored!

I logged on and read my comment alerts last night and found that 9 or 10 of my last entries had been comment spammed by some guy wanting to plug his website.  At least, I assume it was a guy.  I hope he doesn't decide he wants to come back to my journal and leave a real comment, because I blocked his ability to do that.

I'm sure I wasn't the only special one he singled out!

Tags: comment spam

I Rang The School Bell Today

Local schools start the 2007-2008 year in only 16 days.  I had planned to start Eler Beth's lessons at the same time.  But I got to thinking that it might be a good idea to ease her into it a little bit early.

Last year we took her out of school halfway through the year to begin home schooling her.  She was already in the school "mode", so there really wasn't much transition shock.  But I started thinking over the weekend that perhaps it might be a bit of a shock and stresser to her and to me to suddenly start our home school routine.  It was always a bit stressful to get the kids off to school on those first few days, but once they were out of the house, I wasn't feeling the stress the rest of the day; or, at least, until time for homework!  So since this weekend I was working on her curriculum, anyway, I asked her how she'd like to do a few lessons each morning this week, just for an hour or so to start getting back into the right mental condition.  She thought it sounded like a wonderful idea.

Well, that was yesterday.  Now she thinks it stinks! Ha Ha!

But I can see from how our morning went that it was a very good idea.  It is going to take her a while to be able to sit still and keep her mind on the work she is supposed to be doing.  It is going to take her a while to get into the habit of doing something  quickly, instead of whining and comlaining and wasting time.  And, let's be honest, it is going to take me a while to get back into that kind of patience to lead her studies without pulling out my hair or hers!  By the time area schools start their classes we should be able to put in the 3-4 hours of school we have scheduled daily without stressing Momma to the limit.  Plus, I assured her that while the other kids are in school, she will occasionally be able to take a day off, or run off with me to the park or zoo, or even take a whole week's break.

She's been doing a summer reading program anyway, and just started a new book, so I built reading lessons around that book.  We did that and some math, and then we did some science.  Her science unit will include the anatomy of cockatiels, in particular the different types of feathers and wings.  I thought that would be a fun thing for her since she has cockatiels.  Later we'll use the cockatiels unit to do reading, language arts, and composition.  I really didn't give her much to do today; it was more a lesson in re-learning how to sit and follow directions for a sustained amount of time. 

I was right.  I really didn't want to jump into the deep end of a full days' worth of school on August 9.  Wading into the shallow end and testing the water today proved that without a doubt.

We'll do another hour or 90 minutes tomorrow and for the rest of the week.  But I'll also reward ourselves with a trip somewhere on Friday.  My little sixth grader will deserve it by then -- and so will I!!!

Tags: home schooling

Spending Time On The Waterfront

I don't know why my sleep was so messed up.  I went to bed early on Thursday and slept in a bit on Friday.  Then Friday afternoon I took a nap, so I guess I messed myself up.  I did finally get some rest today.  I slept from about 7 to 10 a.m.; then Eler Beth and I spent a few hours at Waterfront Park.  I took another 2-hour nap this evening, and I think I'll be able to go to bed on time tonight.

I enjoyed our time at Waterfront Park.  It is a really pretty park on the Louisville waterfront that includes walking and biking trails, picnic tables, and a wonderful playground for the kids.  They have it layed out beautifully with gentle little hills and a nice variety of plant life.  We picked up lunch at McDonald's and ate it there, then we walked and talked.  She's getting a bit too old to take a lot of interest in the playground, although I am surprised she didn't at least swing for a few minutes.  But she saw lots of birds (even red-winged blackbirds), and there were ducks on the river.  We watched several impressive barges and other watercraft going upriver.

And, she just happened to have a fishing pole in the car! lol  She has never fished in the Ohio, and she was determined to do so.  We don't eat anything out of the Ohio.  Thomas' saying is that any fish you catch in the Ohio can be cooked in its own oil!  But she wanted to see if she could catch anything and then she'd throw it back if she did.  She didn't catch anything, though.  It was pretty windy and the river was choppy.  She didn't have any live bait with her, only some artificial bate in the tackle box in the car.  She had a great time, though.

It was the perfect weather.  Sunny and breezy and not too hot at all.

I'm About To Be Bad Again!

I know I'm going to crash, but I just can't get to sleep.  I did lay down about 2:00, but then Thomas got up at 3.  I had just barely begun to drift off, and then I couldn't go back to sleep.  I got up right before he left at 4, and then got right back on the computer.  At least I'm getting caught up with reading some journals. 

Andrew spent the night at a friend's house, and Eler Beth was up late, so she'll sleep later than usual.  I'm going to eat breakfast, and then if that makes me sleepy I'll try to get 3 or 4 hours' sleep.  If it doesn't make me sleepy, then you may be forced to bear with a few more entries this morning.  Hmmmm.

And what do I want for breakfast?  I have a craving for biscuits and gravy.  But I don't want to make them myself.  There's a Dairy Queen just a little ways down the highway, and I happen to know that they serve very good biscuits and gravy.  So I think I'm going to sneak off and get me some and come home and eat them.   Sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?  I don't indulge in such things very often.

I'm also going to log off and restart my computer, because it has been on for so long.

I hope everyone has a beautiful Saturday!

If You Don't Already Know Katie . . .

Then drop by and give her a read, particularly this entry here!

She's a riot!