Art Class and Annoying Neighbors

If you are offended by the picture I apologize, I got a kick out of it. You have probably read me talking about my neighbors in the past. Their children play with my kids, and are friends. However, the little girl is not well behaved, and quite frankly neither is her father. Matter of fact my children are no longer even allowed on their property because I am so concerned about the father. It has been going down hill for over a year now. Now every time the little girl gets mad she goes home and the dad is standing at the fence yelling at my son, even though he had nothing to do with it, hence the picture. Now obviously this is not what I told my son to do, just my own personal thoughts. I did make new rules however. He is no longer allowed to even play with the girl child. She is too young anyways, and if she goes and gets her dad again he is to excuse himself and tell the dad he is getting me and he can take it up with me. I am always right close by, so I am not sure how I missed the encounter. Anyhow it is almost to the point now where these children will no longer be welcome at my home. I feel bad, because the little boy is good friends with DJ, and I know his dad won't let him come over if she can not. But, I feel like it is getting out of hand now, and if this last measure does not work, I will have to cut it off.

Today was painting class, with my mom. I completed the other placemat that didn't get done last class. You can see it below. This time my roses look like roses, and I even made some cute ladybugs. Very pleased with this one. My mom started DJ on a landscape picture, which he will complete next class. You can see the beginning of the project below. The sky is awesome. Caitlin worked more on her placemat, with my mom's help. It still is not quite done. After painting class, Caitlin took up some drawing. I will have to share the drawings another day, didn't get pics yet, she really did quite well. I am so glad we decided to do this. It lightens up the school week, and enhances our creativity. Very pleased with the whole thing so far. Click the images to enlarge them and get the full effect.

No Rain Today

Finally! A day without rain. Only problem is it is still dreary with no sun. I was going to walk today, but still quite congested and don't want to press the issue. So, I put it off again, hopefully tomorrow. I am feeling a bit better today, after a very good night of sleep. It just amazes me how one little allergy episode blew up into something so snot provoking, lol! We had a full day of lessons today, and the penny co-op will be next Monday, since we skipped it yesterday.

Lesson Plans For 02/28/12:

DJ:
Spanish: FLVS
Reading: Treasure Island literature unit
Science: Threatened, endangered and extinct animals, from The National Zoo
Spelling: Chapter 38, then completed
Math: Saxon 65 chapter 74
Writing: Fact and opinion
Reading Comprehension
Language Arts: Parentheses

Caitlin:
Head of the Class: Four cycles
Science: Wetlands, and rainbows
Social Studies: Fire safety
Language Arts: Action words
Math: Graphs, calendar and time
Spelling: Long vowels, and word find

Sick Day, Rain and Google +

Well to start off, I am sick, and miserable. What started out as allergies, due to excessive warm weather and budding of trees, has turned into a raging head cold and congestion. I do not like to be sick! I don't have a fever, nor vomiting. Just feel like crap. I had to work Sat night. I was OK before I left, but my symptoms deteriorated quickly while at work. Since I can not take Benadryl at work, due to drowsiness, I suffered instead and paid for it on Sunday. I do feel a bit better today, and my laryngitis is improving, I can actually yell today. But, I am taking a rest day anyway, just to be safe. That means our Education Co- Op planned for today, will be moved to next Monday, still hosted by me.

Yes, it is raining again, which is only adding to my gloomy mood. Looks like there will only be one day of sunshine this week, ugh!

I read that Google is doing away with Google Friend Connect. You know the thing in the margins of all Google blogs that let you follow others blogs. It seems Google wants you to use Google + and that is what they are recommending you do. So, since I already have Google + you are in luck. Just click the link to follow my profile and I will diligently add updates to it, which I have not been doing mind you. I am not really sure if I have time for that, lol, but I will try.,

Rain, Rain Go Away!

All right I know I was begging for rain, but when it is just dark and dreary and then no rain yet besides, I get tired and irritable. I love the warmth and the sunshine. At least it is warm out, too warm, and humid. As I said yesterday, we were supposed to go to the Refuge for our volunteer day. The other mom and myself decided we would skip this one, as getting stuck in the woods with a thunderstorm approaching along the Suwanee River really didn't sound like much fun to either of us.

So we Caitlin and I painted, and then we had movie day later on, Mars Needs Moms. I didn't care for the movie that much, but I am hard to please after all when it comes to movies, TV, and books.

Caitlin decided since we were not going to the Nature Refuge, that we should paint some animals. Flowers are hard enough, animals are near impossible, lol! So, she picked a seal. You see hers above and mine below. I really have to remember to paint the background first, then add the foreground. I guess I figure if the animal comes out yucky then why should I have already wasted more paint doing the background first. Ugh I frustrate myself sometimes. I think we did good for our first attempts. Then I painted on a Sand Dollar and the really nice fern shown. I signed the fern because I really like it, and I think I am going to frame it. Simple yet lovely, with nice color scheme. That was pretty much our Thursday. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition Series Finale

Extreme Makeover Home Edition is not one of the shows I normally watch. However, my husband and son love it. They asked me to watch the series finale with them to which I agreed. It took place in Joplin, MO which is where that awful tornado went through last Summer killing so many, and devastating so many more. It was very touching and surreal to see what these people have gone through. How they love their community and want to rebuild and stay there. It was two hours long, which for me is a bit long, but it was worth it in the end. I still love the Feng Shui house the best. A great family show has come to an end. I know my boys will miss it.

So what have we been doing the past two days? Besides dodging rain showers, we have been having fun and some school work too, lol!

Tuesday was supposed to be a full day of school, but my husband came home early from work, because he had to go in super early. So just the basics were covered.

Then today we walked in the AM, DJ did Spanish, Math and Social Studies, while Caitlin did Head of the Class, Math, Handwriting, and Spelling. Then we were off to the park for a playdate. Of course it had to rain, but at least the rain waited until it was almost time to go home anyways. That happened last week too, lol!

Tomorrow we are supposed to be volunteering at the nature refuge, but if the weather is nasty, we will just stay home. We have never missed one, so I assume it won't be the end of the world.

Did you ever wonder how pennies are made? Caitlin wondered, and on Monday she will find out. If you want to know too, come back on Monday and I will post links to the lessons we will use.

Happy President's Day

Most public schools had no school today, but we did. We had our co-op day today. Today it was at the other families home, and their mom decided to do a program on George Washington. This is not the video we watched, but they are all basically the same. There was very important thing I learned today. I did not realize that when George Washington was elected president, he didn't even have to want to be president. Basically the Electoral College nominated and elected him, without his want or desire to be president. He begrudgingly went to his inauguration after his mother told him to, on her death bed. Imagine that! You are sitting home minding your own business and you get a phone call stating that without your consent you were made the leader of the Free World. Man oh man! We also went for a very long walk, and the kids made George Washington books. All in all a good day! Next week I am hosting, and the kids are going to be assisting in the lesson planning. This should be interesting, lol!

Place Value Song and Addition Rock

I had mentioned before, that Caitlin is doing very well with her reading now, and I was going to aggressively get more into math. I really want her to start memorizing addition and subtraction, at least one number. She has been using a number line and doing awesome! She gets all the concepts, but now needs to memorize and start regrouping. So, next week she will be watching these two videos each day, twice a day, and maybe the next too.

Yesterday, we went to our Valentines Day Party, with our homeschool group. We had a great time and it didn't even rain until it was time to go. Very muggy and sticky though, today as well. DJ had a reading assignment before we went, and Caitlin did Head of the Class.

Today was not a complete full day, but not a half day either. DJ had to read two more chapters of Treasure Island. He only has two left. He is spitting out about one book a month right now, which is excellent. That doesn't include the reading he does on his free time. He also had Spanish and Math today as well. Caitlin had Head of the Class, Math and Verbs.

All in all a good school week. Tomorrow night I return to work. I am almost looking forward to it. Almost, lol!

Painting Place Mats

All right today was painting class, with Nonie. She brought these lovely cloth place mats for us to paint on. They already had a design on them with leaves, so I chose to paint blueberries, red berries that are supposed to be apples, and some flower varieties at the end of each leaf section. Then I painted some colored vines and small leaves. These were incredibly difficult as far as painting the flowers. The roses don't really look like roses to me. My mom did not actually paint today, rather spent her time helping both Caitlin and DJ with their strokes and blending. This worked well for them. Mine is the only one shown, because I am the only one that actually completed mine. Both kids will work on theirs the next class. They will be doing them for a while, I am guessing, lol. Especially since Caitlin has decided that she is going to paint all the swirls on hers, before she actually paints any flowers or anything else.

I know I am going backwards but lesson plans for Tuesday 02/14/12 were:

DJ:
Language Arts: Hyphens
Health: Growth and Development
Reading: Literature unit for Call of the Wild
Math: Saxon 65 chapter 70 plus Learning Horizons
Social Studies: Middle Ages: Chapter 22
Reading Comprehension
Spanish
Map Skills

Caitlin:
Science: Wetlands
Language Arts: Clothes as Words, verbs
Health: Teeth
Math: Subtraction, problem solving, and time
Social Studies: Plymouth Colony
Spelling
Head of the Class: Three Cycles

Plus before painting class today, DJ read three chapters of Treasure Island, and Caitlin did Head of the Class one cycle.

Graduation Day and A New Co-Op

I am so proud of my husband. In January of 2011 he decided he wanted to be a firefighter. At first I was honestly like OK, you are never going to do this. But, we were supportive. Yesterday was finally graduation day. At the ripe old age of 41 he completed with honors, the most grueling physical fitness, and mental fitness anyone can do. He was awarded two special certificates for perfect attendance, and scoring academically high grades on exams. He was proud, and we are proud of him.

Today, and every Monday, for the rest of the year, we are doing an education co-op with another homeschool family. We started the day with a walk, then we proceeded to watch Lewis and Clark the Journey West, by Nat Geo. Then we had a reading assignment on how a compass works, and then made homemade compasses which was surprisingly simple. We covered fitness, Science and History all in one day, and in a fun way. This will alternate between my home, and the other families home, each Monday. The hosting family will plan the lesson, and serve lunch. The guest family will bring drinks, and be on time and ready to learn. I am so glad I thought of this idea.

I have had the last three Saturdays off, which means I have not worked in almost five weeks. At least not outside the home. I so needed this time off, and have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I have been learning to paint, and have had lots of time to do that. I also used the time to have some extra time with my hubby. With his classes and my work schedule I feel like we have not had anytime together. We both really needed this. Now my pocketbook on the other hand is very sad, lol!

Butterfly Rainforest

Yesterday we went with our 4H group on a field trip to the Florida Museum of Natural History. More specifically we wanted to go into the Butterfly Rainforest. The museum itself is free to enter, and then they have special exhibits you can enter for a small fee. When we first got there it was cold, it has been so hot here, that the butterflies don't really fly around until it hits at least 60 degrees. So we visited the rest of the free museum and returned later in the day. DJ took 260 photos, of and I can not possibly upload them all. I do have to upload them to his blog, eventually. He takes so many photos I can not keep up with them all. It is a small museum, but they change their temporary exhibits every few months. We had such a good time we want to return in the Summer, when millions of butterflies will be out. We did get to see one baby butterfly hatch from the cocoon right in front of our eyes. We were supposed to go to a park in Gainesville after, for some play fun. The traffic was so bad, and I had never been to this park, I completely missed my turn. Never even realized it until I was a good ten miles out of the way. I did not go back. Our friends did text us later and said the park was so packed they went to the little park in our small town, so we went over there for a bit, until it started to get cold again. All in all a wonderful day, with wonderful friends. I am hoping a field trip to NASA is in our groups future, since we are studying flight this year as a group unit. Will have to wait and see.

Physical and Chemical Changes

Oh my, it has been a long time since I took Chemistry class, lol! Though this chapter was much easier than the last chapter to understand, and explain. Thanks to Betchai for clarifying the last post topic for me. The short video below explains physical and chemical changes in a simple way, an is intended for middle school age kids.

Elements, Compounds and Mixtures

DJ just experienced his first really hard and confusing Science lesson. Most of our Science experiences thus far have been animals, ecosystems and such. Now he has moved into some Chemistry type lessons. From the lesson, I have taken away that compounds are exactly the same as the elements on the Periodic Table. If anyone understands this to mean something else please clarify for me, because that is how I explained it to him. Since all the elements can not be broken down any further, that is the exact definition of a compound. So if that is true, why not just leave them as elements and avoid the whole confusing compound part all together? Ugh~! I found the simple video below to help him understand what I am trying to say. Next is physical and chemical changes. I hope that chapter goes smoother, lol!

Lesson Plans For 02/07/12:

DJ:
Reading Comprehension
Language Arts: Semicolons
Science: Mixtures and Compounds
Social Studies: Map Skills
Literature Unit: Call of the Wild
Math: Saxon 65 chapter 67

Caitlin:
Head of the Class: Three Cycles
Language Arts: Spelling, Capitalization
Math: Number Names, Subtraction
Science: Wetlands, Plants and Seeds
Social Studies: Plymouth Colony

Too Much On My Plate?

Could be, but I don't think so, LOL! This is the last week of Fire one classes for my husband, and then graduation ceremony is Sunday. I am so happy this is almost over. Six months of torture. Today was just a regular old Monday. Walk to begin our day, and then school. DJ did his usual Monday routine, reading, Spanish, writing which he didn't finish yet, and Middle Ages. Caitlin did her Head of the Class, then her regular paper assignments.

Over the weekend I found some time to make some new watches, and I can not wait to share them on my jewelry blog. I also think I am becoming obsessed with painting. I watch videos, think about different things I can paint on, and keep trying to learn new strokes and techniques. The kids do extra painting with me here and there. The perfect rose still eludes me. It is driving me crazy. Oh well, practice makes perfect.

Tomorrow we have a regular day, then playdate at the park on Wed with half day lessons. Next week we are starting something new and exciting. One of the homeschool families in our group, and ourselves, are going to start an education co op. We will walk first, then have some kind of educational activities, with alternating homes each week. I am very excited about this. I have not told the kids yet. I kind of want it to be a surprise, especially since Caitlin will make me count down the minutes until it starts, lol!

How was your Monday?

Lysol Quickie Clean Flip Mop

This is not a paid review, but I do love to share products I like every now and then. I needed a new mop, and since most of the house is tile, I decided to try one of these Lysol mops. First off, if you have a very dirty floor, this mop will not do you much good. However, it is awesome for light mopping and small spills. Or dust mopping if you have hardwood floors. But, what I really love about this mop is all the other things I am finding I can use it for. Like dusting the ceiling fans, and in places I can not reach without breaking my neck on a chair. I even use it to wipe down the shower walls in the bathrooms, and to mop the walls of old dirt and dust that you can not see. Trust me you have no idea how dirty your walls are until you try this. I was kind of grossed out. Now I do it at least once a week. Plus you can flip the cloth over and use the other side. If it gets to dry, just spray it with whatever cleaning liquid you like. Do you own one? Do you like it?

Painting Class

I used to blog every single day. Now I am lucky if I get in every other day, lol! Wednesday was painting class. My mom brought these cute little canvas bags for us to paint on. First of all painting on canvas is harder than glass, and you need a lot more paint. I like mine until I added the leaves to my flowers, and then that was that. My moms is lovely as always, and I am going to list hers in my Etsy store to see how people take to them. DJ did a car on his, and Caitlin made a rainbow. DJ is a fast painter. He gets his idea, paints it and then is gone. The rest of us sit there thinking, lol. Caitlin also painted the seagull and orange ocean to the left. I did the other practice ones on paper. Since this is a homeschool blog, I won't blather on about my art and how I am progressing. Since I am a tad obsessed with it, I will be sharing my progress on my Jewelry and Gems blog. I really want to paint on jewelry, that is my ultimate goal. Anyhoo what has everyone been up to this week? How is the weather? It is still fabulous here in FL, even though this is supposed to be our coldest month. We will continue with painting class until forever I guess. At least that is how it looks right now. We are starting a sort of education co op with one other homeschool family. I will let you know how that goes once we actually begin. Have a great weekend!

2nd Quarter Report Cards

I finally got the report cards tallied up. It is only almost half way through the 3rd quarter, lol! Both kids are doing quite well, and I could not be happier. Caitlin is reading almost independently now, and she needs to begin working on reading comprehension and book reports. Since she is still insecure about spelling, they will start as picture book reports. She has also began harder math, since Christmas, and is progressing nicely. She now needs to focus more on money. DJ continues to do very well, though for some reason he thinks he doesn't do well if his grades are not 90 and above. I tried to tell him that this is not the way to look at it. His math grade went up two points, but he is still not satisfied. Again, I told him that he needs to check his answers to catch mistakes before he hands his work in. He refuses to do it, so the A will continue to elude him. DJ also got sloppy in his History assignments, and is lucky to have maintained his grade. He needs to slow down on the exam, and be sure he is using complete answers. Here are their grades in comparison from 1st Quarter to 2nd Quarter. Spanish we just began in December, and DJ maintains an 83 average in that so far.

DJ:
Math: 82 first quarter, 84 second quarter
Science: 88 first quarter, 88 second quarter
Social Studies: 84 first quarter, 84 second quarter
Language Arts: 93 first quarter, 95 second quarter
Reading: 87 first quarter, 88 second quarter
Health: 81 first quarter, 93 second quarter
Writing: Good
Overall Average: 86 first quarter, 87 second quarter

Caitlin:
Math: 97 first quarter, 91 second quarter
Science: 100 first quarter, 97 second quarter
Language Arts: 96 first quarter, 96 second quarter
Reading: Very good and much improved