It can't always be good.

As much as I prefer to only know about the good things coming my way, I realize I HAVE to accept everything in my future won't be peachy sweet.

I have mentioned before that I have been working, and growing, my skills with divination.  So I asked a question.  It was a very important question.  I got answers.  I didn't want to accept the first answer so I tried again, then again and two more times after that.  I got the same answers, each time with a little more information, however the same results.  I sat perplexed for a moment.  So, I asked a question of how to gain a more positive result.  I didn't love this answer either by the way.

I have come to realize we all have the power to make whatever future we want, for the most part.  I also realize that sometimes conflict is necessary.  I sort of have felt that I could use a break from conflict and strife, having had so much of it over the years.  However, there are more lessons to be learned and even more obstacles yet to overcome.  The best I can do is keep a positive outlook, hope for the best, and learn my lessons.

Progress?

Last week, with the holiday and all, I didn't want to have our regular "school" so I made a creative fiction writing workshop for the kiddos.  They loved it.  Ken and I got a kick out of what the kids wrote.  I knew my daughter had a gift when it comes to writing, but my son is a natural.  I love his simplistic, clean style of writing.  He delivers just the right wording to make his point.  I'm truly impressed.  I think my husband was taken aback with how dark my son could get in his writings.  You see, I didn't ask them to write typical age appropriate responses to prompts.  I chose things like, write from a villains point of view.  I had the them do plenty of background on who and what type of villain they would create.  Like I said, they ate it up.

This week wasn't so challenging because the kids were happy to get back on their normal "school" schedule. Unfortunately I'm not quite as together.  I started working a part time, work from home, job.  I have discovered that I much rather enjoy working as a stay at home wife, homeschooler and of course mom-in-chief.  Or as I also refer to myself, home manager.  My duties have been seriously put on the back burner because of the training for the part time gig.  I'm so over it at this point.  However, we've purchased a second car and I have to make good on the difference of the car note, so it is what it is at the moment.

I truly hope my hubby will reconsider moving a little further north of where we are now so we could save more on gas and maybe I could drop this whole part time job thing.  We'll see, I have my ways... wink, wink!

Happy Blue Moon

How could I have forgotten to mention.  It's a Blue Moon tonight.

And We're Off and Running...

I've taken a serious backseat to posting here because I've been in full back to school mode.  Plus I've been training for my new part time at-home job so I've been extra busy.

Well here's what I've been up to:

• Still canning peppers and tomatoes!
• Reading everything from Arabian Nights to Silver Ravenwolf's "Hedge Witch" with a bit "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" for extra fun.
• Knee-deep in middle school Chemistry and advanced Biology and Anatomy.  Oodles of fun, I tell ya!
• Finally bought a second car - yes we were a one-car family.  Ironically I haven't really gone anywhere except Aldi's, Harris Teeter and the library.
• Still exploring Charlotte more and more (on the weekend mostly with the hubby)
• Magic Mike - yeah, I had to.
• Sadly, no writing.  I'm so disappointed with myself.
• Making friends, or more like dating potential friends.
• Readying up for football!
• Growing little by little with divination.

I'm sure I've done other interesting things, but clearly they escape me.  Or they're just too OUT THERE to post in this blog! hahaha

Mommy's Study!

I came to the realization some time ago I need a space just for me.  I know not everyone has the room in their house to even consider designating a personal study/office/etc.  I am very lucky we're not a formal dining type of family.  Basically I have taken over what was designed to be the house's formal dining room.

When we first moved in it was a very bright yellow.  I'll spare you the before pictures.  I also can't find any pictures before I painted, so there's that too.  ;-)  However, I decided to use the same color I had recently used for painting my son's room.  It's Valspar's Green Pastures and it's so calming.

I plan to get new comfy chairs, shelving and a console table.  This is just some extra furniture we've had for a few years now.  Those chairs are so NOT for curling up with a book.  I'm working on being more patient, so I'll survive using them for now.  I've been online checking for inspiration.  I get most of my decorating fix from blogs and of course Pinterest.   However, yesterday the Holy Book was delivered to me.  Oh yes, the 2013 Ikea catalog!!! Just what I needed.  I. Am. So. Psyched.

I'm hoping by Christmas I'll have this room pretty much done.  I plan to paint the hall and staircase too.  That's going to be a challenge because I have some issues with height.  Oh well, should be something fun to write about later, right? ;-)

More Back to Schoool

How could I have forgotten about the supplementary workbooks, etc!  Silly me :-)

Within each of my kid's history curriculum I'm weaving in Knowledge Quest.  I've also picked up a workbook to help my son with the periodic table for Chemistry.  I mentioned Spellingcity.com, but I should have also mentioned the spelling lists are free along with the games, practice activities and tests!

This year both students will spend a bulk of the their study time on Science.  This is purposefully done on my part.  My daughter would like to become a doctor and my son has a natural interest in science, especially experiments.  But then again, don't most children want to explore and do experiments anyway?

We'll use our library and continue to use amazon.com and our Nook's to fill in the rest of blanks.

Did I mention how excited I am for us to get started?  Ari says she is looking forward to the routine of it all again and Rodney would prefer to sleep half the day, eat, play and watch TV indefinitely.  Rodney's preferences fuel my entire approach to homeschooling practically year round by the way.

Back to School Next Week

I'm getting excited about starting our homeschooling back up next week.  Since I obsessively plan just about everything anyway, building a curriculum, scheduling and organizing has kept me in a great mood these past few weeks.

I posted our preliminary ideas for my daughter's 11th grade and my son's 7th grade school year, but here's what I've made a final decision about.


Logic:  

Math:  

Spelling:

Vocabulary:  

Grammar:  

Writing:  

History:  
 http://www.classicalhouseoflearning.com/logic-stage-literature.html#MiddleAges

Science:  

Foreign Language:  
http://www.rosettastone.com/homeschool-spanish/level-1

Art Appreciation:     
We'll integrate Art Appreciation using suggestions from The Well Trained Mind and using the Activities provided with Classical House of Learning lesson plans.

P.E./Sports:  Soccer in the Fall and Basketball in the Winter.

*********************************************************************************
Here's the plan for the 11th grade:

Rhetoric:  Writing exercises using the Presidential election.

Precalculus:  

Vocabulary:  


Writing:  


History:    
And hopefully, The History of the Renaissance World  also by Susan W. Bauer
The following list may seem more than ambitious for some, maybe less for others.  One important note is that we're taking more than an average school year to get through the list.  Some of the following may become impossible and therefore get abandoned, while I'll have my daughter skip others if necessary.  The best thing is SHE's excited to read through the following classics!

Augustine, Confessions
Augustine, City of God
The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)
Tales of the Arabian Nights
Beowulf
Dante, The Inferno
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Patience, Pearl
The Canterbury Tales
The Faerie Queen
Don Quixote
Gulliver's Travels
Edmund Burke, "On American Taxation"
The Declaration of Independence
Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist
The Constitution of the United States
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
John Keats, "Ode to a Nightingales" and other poems
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher" and other stories
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter


Science:     

Also using

Fundamentals of Biology http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/biology/7-01sc-fundamentals-of-biology-fall-2011/.

Foreign Language:    Rosetta Stone Japanese Level 2

Sports:  Volleyball