Homeschool Evals Done, Family Coming, Hurricane Watches Up and Zika WOW!

Wow, it is heating up here, in central Florida.  We did our evals last week, and all went well.  We have family visiting next week, and the week after, so we are preparing for that.  Along with that, we are still watching TD 9, trying to form into a TS, in the Gulf of Mexico.  It has slowed down a bit, and appears to be strengthening.  What does that have to do with homeschool?  Lots, actually.

Hurricane preparedness, like most Floridians, is something we have not had to even think about in many years now.  So, we have been lax.  Now, my children will learn exactly what I do each year to get prepared.  Tomorrow I will post some info on hurricane preparedness.  Right now, even with just a depression, this system is really large and 7 inches of rain is a lot of rain in Florida.  We are not in a flood prone area, but all areas will be susceptible to tornadoes.


Also, I just heard on the news that Zika has now spread to the Tampa Bay area.  This is a huge concern, especially with a tropical system approaching, and standing water that will likely be left behind.  I took a CEU class on Zika, and I was amazed how much we really are not sure yet of this disease.  So, as part of hurricane preparedness I will be posting mosquito control, with a focus on Zika prevention for lay people.  Stay tuned!

Welcome To The Jungle

The other evening we met our fears and ventured into the dense marshes local to our house. We got a cool picture of this toad and the sunset was stunning.

LOL just kidding. I won't go anywhere near marshes this time of year. The sunset was taken on the opposite side of our home and the toad lives in a old pool pipe in our backyard. This toad is very cool. We have owned this house for exactly four years today. Every summer I hear him down at the bottom of the pipe croaking. We have never seen him in person though. The other evening Caitlin spotted his eyes in the dusk of evening. We got this shot of him peaking out of his pipe. I assume it is the same frog because it is such a great and safe spot to make your home. Now for a Science project I will have the kids look up the kind of frog, or toad that it is, and learn all about it.

The flooding in my hometown in upstate NY is slowly receding. My sister's home was spared, but so many others have lost everything. Even the hospital I used to work at had to be evacuated. I worked there for many years and this never happened. My little hometown is not even recognizable.

Last night, just after midnight, a pipe under the hose exploded. Thank goodness my husband was still up and quickly turned off the water to the house. You don't realize how much you appreciate flushing the toilet until you can't. I feel your pain Anne. Luckily we have the pool and could scoop the water out of there to flush the toilets, which my husband didn't think of. He was able to fix the pipe himself, saving us a boat load of money.

Wow Nasty Storms, Flooding, Satellites

I have been awake since 3:30 AM dealing with nasty rain, thunder, lightning, and wind. My husband, and kids pretty much slept through it, but my loving dog needed to sit on my lap, for six hours. I finally could just get back online, the wind kept knocking out the power. We have been in tornado watches, since last night. They finally ended for us, but it just came over the weather radio that one was spotted just south of here, in Pasco, and Lake county. We really did not need the 4 or 5 inches of rain, we got over night. All the local springs, Manatee, Hart, and Fanning are all flooding, as well as the Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers. They are not expected to crest until sometime Saturday. While we are not immediately close to any of these bodies of water, we do know people who are. It is a stressful kind of time.

Today for science we are covering Satellites. I came across this very cool website, that is free, and awesome. Check it out for all your space learning needs. Go here to check it out.

Lesson Plans for 4/15/09:

Social Studies: Cultures- Chinese New Year
Writing: Write a story about respecting others
Math: Subtract 4 digit numbers, multiplication, division
Language Arts: review skills, possessive pronouns
Spelling: Lesson 27- write each spelling word two times each, and circle the vowels
Vocabulary: Lesson 27- use each vocabulary word in a sentence.