Camping in Cold Weather

The Engineer has gone on a backpacking trip for the weekend with his Boy Scout troop. Poor guys! It's cold! The low is almost down to freezing tonight and will be slightly warmer on Saturday. The highs only get to about the high 40s, possibly low 50s. The Artist and I had gone on our AHG troop campout last weekend, and I was cold enough then! I'm so glad we're not camping this weekend.

I've been spending many hours over the past few days trying to determine what to do about the Engineer's schooling next year. I'd really like to move him more toward independence, and I'm thinking that we'll use Sonlight, particularly Core 100. I think I'll have the Artist do Core G, but very loosely. I plan to get the Core G IG but rely on the library for the books that we use. That will automatically whittle down our book list, which will be a good thing, as well as our budget. It will already be very expensive to buy Core 100 for the boy. I'd like to also use Science Core G for the girl, which is not cheap. I'd been wondering what to do about her science for next year, and Science G looks pretty good. However, it is likely that I will opt for a less expensive science option. I think I'll keep on her Teaching Textbooks, using 6 next year, as TT5 has been working out pretty well this year. I'd like to move the Engineer onto TT Algebra next year, but he's not excited about that option. We'll see. I need something that bridges the gap between his math studies and my math knowledge better. I don't know if TT is the way to do it, but I feel inadequate in helping him with the Life of Fred books. ???

With Core 100, the Engineer will do the Bible, History, and Literature, but we'll continue using IEW for language arts for both kids. He'll also continue to do science at One Day Academy, which has been working out pretty well for us.

IEW may be experimental for the Artist and me next year because I'll most likely be pulling source texts from her other subjects and applying the 9 units to them. I haven't had to do that yet, so I'm a bit nervous about how it will turn out and my ability to teach the system properly. I'll have to do a lot of review along the way, I suppose. She won't be ready for SICC-B yet. I'm keeping that until 7th grade for her. Her brother is using that this year in his 7th grade, and it seems like a good fit.

I'm planning to have the Artist continue with Core H in her 7th grade, using only the IG and library books again. But I'm hoping to use Bible H for her 6th and 7th grades instead of using the Bible G in 6th. Then we can take our time through the books rather than racing through them. Besides, that will give me some room to add in the logic and current events training in 7th grade as well, like the Engineer's been doing this year.

Another thing I'm pondering is using the Mystery of History books (and Genevieve Foster books?) as the Artist's history spines for Cores G and H. (I'd actually forgotten about the GF books until this moment.) I suppose I could also use those books to pull the IEW source texts from... at least for the first year.

Well, I haven't done any editing tonight as I'd originally planned. I got lazy tonight as I finished reading a book and figured I'd just finish up tomorrow. The Artist and I had planned to do some service hours in the morning helping to pack Operation Christmas Child boxes, but I've got my editing, a lot of cooking (dessert I didn't make tonight, soup for Sunday's church luncheon, and treat for Saturday evening with friends), and running to get done. I hate to make my activities the priority, but the girl doesn't want to go anyway, and I really only have Saturday to do my things. Sunday is mostly about preparing for the week and making dinner.

It's late. I'm turning in.

Monday after camping

The Artist and I went camping last weekend. I was so happy to sleep in my own bed again. She and I went for our AHG troop's fall family campout. Kirk doesn't like camping, and the Engineer gets bored without older boys to hang out with. This weekend included my leading of an optional Fire Safety & Fire Building merit badge workshop. The workshop had actually been rescheduled due to rain that made our original location soggy. Overall it went well. I won't go into details here, but suffice it to say that I'm done with fire and smoke for a while. That doesn't keep me from planning the spring campout for the Explorers and older ranks. :-)

We have wrapped up homeschool for the day, and the Engineer and his dad are riding bicycles. Kirk got the Engineer a bike off Craigslist so that he could go on the annual bicycling trip with his troop. They practice bicycling longer and harder routes for a few months before the trip, and the Engineer's old bike was not up for the challenge. The Artist and I finished a simple sewing project, drawstring bags, and she's off doing something as well.

I've got a Mom's Night Out event tonight to go to, which I'm looking forward to very much. The ladies in this co-op, called Faith at Home, are so nice. Tomorrow night is another Mom's Night Out with another homeschool co-op. I know several women that attend, but I can never seem to join them. They meet once a month. Anyway, I am hoping to join them tomorrow as well. The difficulty is that I have a client project to work on! I will need to finish getting dressed (yes, I'm still half in pajamas) and work on that manuscript so that I can go out and spend time with friends.

After reviewing several old posts, I'm realizing that short and sweet is better, so I'm going to make a greater attempt to write something more frequently and not worry about getting everything. I miss my little kids. However, I love my present-day kids so much. I'm sad that I can't have copies of each age of my children to continue to love. I supposed I'd have a very busy household if that were possible!

Onset of Autumn in Austin

November was ushered in very decisively with fall weather. That's not to say that we haven't had warm afternoons, but the chilly mornings have become a mainstay, along with cooler evenings. Today brings in a storm system that is supposed to rain here for a day and a half. The heavy rains are supposed to arrive before dinner, so I'm hoping to get a run in before then.

My husband's been in Houston over the weekend and is to return home today. The kids and I have been carrying on, and my time has been very restricted as a result. Fortunately, the monster (the dog) has been behaving himself relatively well, but I imagine that he will take it all out on my hubby when he gets back.

It's been almost two years since I posted last. I opened a notebook that I'd begun when the Engineer was 3.5yo and the Artist was 16.5mo and read the few entries that are in there. My kids enjoyed hearing them. I'll add them here:

Tue 1.24.06
(3.5yo) runs around house yelling, "Push my button! Push my button!" while wearing a large one-button toy remote clipped to the neck of his shirt.
I asked him about this the next day when he clipped it on again, to which he replied, "It makes everyone stop, that's how I get through." When I asked if I could borrow it sometime, he heartily agreed.

Wed 1.25.06
(16.5mo) asked for crackers when we got in the car to go to MOPS after dropping off at preschool. She had not eaten much breakfast and I had some baby cereal (hot) to feed her at MOPS. So I said, "no, honey. You'll get some cereal at MOPS," and buckled her in. As I got in the driver's seat, she said her first full sentence, "Pweeth, mom, kkakk kkakk. Pweeth." (Please, mom, cracker, please.) Of course I couldn't resist rewarding her with a laugh and a cracker!

In the evening, as I was changing diaper, she spilled some Goldfish crackers on her chest. I said, "oh, did you make a mess on your shirt?" to which she replied, "kkakk kkakk en shur" (cracker on shirt). :)

(3.5yo) continues to dress himself! He loves to paint and create various art pieces for myself, Dad, or .

January 31, 2006 (Tue)
words at almost 17 mos (in 4 days [meaning a 4-day time period] in no particular order)
Mama (Mom / want to nurse)
Daddy
Baby
Dad (Grandad/Gran)
Dog
Meow (cat)
Duck
Ee (eat)
Kkakkakk (cracker)
Peess / Pweeth (please)
Eye
Shoe
Juice
My (mine)
Do-Tee (Dora)
Ba-pa (Backpack)
Gurbur (video / Gerbert --I have no idea what "Gerbert" refers to)
Aisy (Maisy)
No
Bath
Uh-oh
T (t.v. / video)
Uh-muh peess (I want some more please)
boo [as in book wthout the "k"] (book)
tee (toothbrush / teeth)
star
horsie
yes
ball (ball / balloon)
pee-pee (where pee-pee comes from / diaper / crotch)
pah-tee (potty)
ti-shoo (nose running / tissue / nose congested)
op (help)
kachoo (catch you! chase)
weahyu (where are you?)
shur (shirt)
dat (that / this)
pay (play)
pate (plate)
wow
ddejoo (thank you)
ba (banana)
walk
pats (pants)
hi
bye
ashy ashy...(all) down! (ashes, ashes, we all fall down)
adee (raisins)
money
adee (Eddie from Maisy)
boo! (hide-n-seek)
towch (couch)
tiss (kiss)
Max
all done
cow
dance
watch
'kay
aw done
achee (ouchie)
bird
bug
box

March 11, 2006 (Sat)
3.5yo
As I'm washing up in the bathroom, walks in and I say, "hi, shortie" followed by walking in to whom I say, "hi, shortie. Hi to both my shorties. How long you going to be short, ?"
"I dunno"
me "you think you'll be short a long time?"
"I hope so"
me (laughing) "I hope so, too!"

So that's all I have in that notebook. Of course I feel terrible that I didn't record more of their lives while they were so little.   :-(    I am very glad, on the other hand, to have this record of my kids' lives, although it is sporadic and can only capture a small portion of them. Well, it is obvious that I felt compelled to write about them so that they will have some record of their young lives that can entertain and elucidate them in future years. I hope one day to turn these posts into a book for each of them that they can carry with them. I suppose I could make the settings private so that I could truly personalize these posts and add their names, but all of the information would be stored online anyway, and I don't want to risk their privacy for that. My kids will know of whom I'm speaking when they read these anyway.

The Engineer is working at a 7th grade level this year, and the Artist has graduated to working at a 5th grade level. They continue to take homeschool P.E. once a week, and they each have a class at One Day Academy that they take. The Engineer is taking Physical Science, and the Artist is taking an art class called Building Art Skills. She has been unhappy with this class so far this year, and I'm hoping things will change for the better soon. I spoke with the teacher last week, who informed me that they had been doing a foundational basics approach for the last 6 weeks and that they were beginning on projects now, which should be much more challenging and engaging for her.

This year is our first "real" year of Latin. We'd used Getting Started with Latin last year because I'd been so discouraged at my kids' inability to learn foreign languages with other curricula. Getting Started take almost a remedial approach and is very slow. Well, lo and behold, the kids started to retain some Latin! They did well enough with that last year that I took the leap for this year and invested in First Form Latin by Memoria Press. They're really doing well with it, and I'm so happy. The program is laid out very well (although it is not perfect), and they don't struggle with it as they struggle in some other areas of school subjects.

We are still involved in Boy Scouts and American Heritage Girls. In fact, the Artist and I are going to a family campout for our troop this weekend. The Engineer and their dad don't go with us. The Engineer usually doesn't have any peers to hang out with, and their dad just doesn't like camping. :-)

Well, I've got a lot to get to, so I'll wrap it up here for today.