Saturday, February 25, 2012

Lisa's Logbook - February 25


Challenges:
1 - Parenting - every day something new, plus the same-old same-old
2 - Keeping my temper (ok, just being real here....)
3 - I think the guy who was supposed to take over for me as Registrar is going to flake out and not do it.

Successes:
1 - Completed our green belt testing! Now we are ADVANCED students. Oh my.
2 - Got all the Wordsmith papers graded.
3 - Have a good number of students registered for the essay class I will be teaching beginning mid-March.

Projects:
1 - Working on getting the co-op schedule done. Almost there!
2 - Planning my next essay class
3 - Starting my 2012 Mixbook - going to scrap as the year goes along so I don't forget the details. Going to do a 2011 Mixbook as well.

From the Library: interloaned the first season of The Big Bang Theory - about halfway through watching it. Sometimes I laugh out loud!
Netflix: Watched a production of Shakespeare's Richard III - starring Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Robert Downey, Jr., and Kristin Scott Thomas. Really good and boy, Richard III was a scoundrel!
Brit Lit: Finished The Scarlet Pimpernel (which I have read before), and am starting El Dorado (a sequel).

Recipes: Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring (found, of course, on Pinterest)
What's New: Bought a purse last week at Goodwill (brand new, with tags, bigger than my old one, with a shoulder strap and lots of compartments. LOVE IT!) Also found a neoprene envelope that fits my Kindle with its book light installed - 99 cents! YAY!

Serendipity: Driving back and forth to robotics with David gives us lots of time to chat - at least when he's not napping. lol

Disappointment: Dreamcoat was sold out on the day we hoped to go. :-(

Fun Times: Got to go to a movie (This Means War) and for dinner with a couple wonderful ladies last weekend.

Anticipating: MARCH - I hate February.

Writing Progress: again, nothing.....


Sunday, February 19, 2012

Lisa's Logbook - February 19

Two weeks have passed since I posted the logbook. Last weekend was filled with sisterly activities and no time online!

Challenges:
1 - The numbers on the scale are going the WRONG WAY.
2 - Wondering if my registrar replacement is flaking out on me - need to find out this week what's going on with him and get that all squared away.

Successes:
1 - Decided NOT to teach at co-op next year. Another step on the road to fewer commitments.
2 - Friday was co-op and girls' night out. I usually eat pizza at co-op and something fattening at Applebee's. Instead, I had salad with chicken and raspberry vinegar for lunch and tilapia for dinner. Stayed within my calories!

Projects:
1 - Helping to get the SOF yearbook done
2 - Going to get those boxes out of here. I'm not gonna sell that stuff, am I?

From the Library: Carrie Bebris' Mansfield Park mystery featuring Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, a book on managing chronic pain, and still trying to finish CS Lewis' book on literary criticism
Redbox: Snagged Anonymous to watch tonight

Netflix: Have been watching old episodes of How I Met Your Mother
Brit Lit: Finished A Study in Scarlet (a re-read) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and am starting a re-read of The Scarlet Pimpernel - both are books I am teaching to a group of homeschoolers
Rollicked: The Turn of the Screw (with Colin Firth & Jodhi May); also the new release of The Tempest starring Helen Mirren, Russell Brand and an array of other skilled actors

Recipes: Had Emily bake some tasty chocolate peppermint cupcakes from The Butch Bakery Cookbook - yummy!


What's New: Made a clothes run to Goodwill - all purple tag clothes were $1! YAY!


Serendipity: found my missing pair of wool socks (in my pajama drawer)

Disappointment: I don't get to go see Van Halen at the Palace Monday night. :-(

Fun Times: Fifteen ladies at book club - can you imagine? GOOD TIMES!  Also got to have a sleepover with my good friend!

Anticipating: Karate testing, seeing Dreamcoat

Writing Progress: Once again, that's a big FAT zero.

Monday, February 6, 2012

A Look at February's Lessons

Bible - Our hymn for Bible this month is Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. We'll be completing Volume 2 of Bible Study Guide for All Ages this month. (It's our second time going through this series.) We are currently reading 1 Peter and we'll continue on to 2 Peter, 1 John, Jude, and Revelation. That should take us through to the end of the month. I keep meaning to add in some Bible memory, but it is one of the things that always slips off the list.

Language Arts - Literature - David and Emily are reading A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which is the first of 4 Sherlock Holmes novels. Conan Doyle also wrote 56 short stories about Sherlock Holmes and they will be reading two of those. Chapter summaries will be completed for each of the 14 chapters in the novel. They are also writing an essay as culmination of our study of The Count of Monte Cristo and they'll be gathering with their co-op class to watch the film of that book and have a discussion of the differences between the novel and its film adaptation.

James is finishing up Tom Sawyer and will move on to The Summer of the Monkeys, which was written by the author of Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls. He'll be doing some different comprehension and language arts activities instead of writing chapter summaries for this book.


Language Arts - Other
Suzy is reading the A Beka Book Aesop's Fables and doing much better than I anticipated. Her frustration is very high but her skill is better than I had imagined. She can't STAND not being able to do something well. She is also still working in the Pyramid book to learn skills for multi-syllabic words. When she finishes, I will have her do that section over for mastery. She is also working in Explode the Code online. I realized she has not been signing in as much as she should, so I will redouble my efforts to make sure she does that daily.

David and Emily are reviewing some comma skills with this website. James is working on alphabetization with Alphabetter. Suzy and James are studying Spelling Power daily and working on typing and penmanship a couple times a week.

James and Emily are taking my Wordsmith writing class with a group of other students and they are covering writing descriptions of people and places this month.

All the kids are writing once a week in their communication journals, which I love doing with them! They are also still working on editing their NaNoWriMo novels, with the goal of being done by the end of the month.

Math - David continues with Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2. I bought him a scientific calculator which has helped him greatly. Right now he is working on graphing first degree equations with two variables. He is working independently to master the material. Sometimes I wonder if he should be receiving more actual instruction, but he seems to be thriving on the independent study method.

Emily is doing remedial math and has proven that she knows her math facts - a huge relief to me!

James finished Teaching Textbooks 6 and I borrowed a copy of TT7 that he has begun. I noticed he was working on Roman numerals.

Suzy is doing Teaching Textbooks 4. She is on Disc 3 of 4 and is working on division.

History - David and Emily continue with their study of the modern age - focusing on the 1960's this month. I think I need to get a little more focused on what they're doing, since I think they're only managing the bare minimum (and Emily may not even be doing that much).

Emily, James and Suzy continue with their Michigan History class once a week, which they are enjoying greatly.

Science - David's physics topics this month mainly consist of Thermal Physics and Static Electricity. Of course, he is getting a TON of hands-on electrical and programming work at First Robotics League. He is there five or six days a week.

Emily dislikes teaching the younger two their science topics. They're not very co-operative, but I make her do it anyway. It's good for all of them. In Considering God's Creation, they are covering trees and insects and beginning the classification of animals.

Other
David is still working on his online ACT prep course through Kaplan in anticipation of taking the test in April (or possibly June). He is also taking a Government class through co-op and he has assignments sometimes for that class as well.

Emily and James are taking the Red Cross Babysitting class through co-op, so in April, they will have their Babysitting cards. I have volunteered Emily to work with a local mom of 4 young children so she can get some hands-on practice.

We skipped Art class this month, but the kids participate in Sketch Tuesday each week (though lately we have not been sharing ours online).

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Lisa's Logbook - February 4

Challenges:
1 - I have no working printer. Thankfully the library is nearby.
2 - The vehicles are still giving us trouble.Thankfully one is running ok.
3 - Life is getting hectic. Time to work out is hard to come by. But I am determined. And thankfully, the treadmill is working well!
Successes:
1 - Finally finished The Count of Monte Cristo! Whew, that took a long time and we were reading the ABRIDGED version!
2 - Am all caught up on grading papers!
3 - Went all week without candy

Projects:
1 - Making denim Christmas stockings - I've cut out six of them.
2 - TAXES
3 - getting at least one of my finished books e-published for Kindle

From the Library: Francine Rivers' Mark of the Lion trilogy on CD - have wanted to re-read this for several years now.
Redbox: Grabbed the new release Drive to watch tonight
Netflix: Discovered a TV series called Jericho; I also caved and watched a couple more episodes of Glee Season 2. Oh, and From Prada to Nada was entertaining! (a modern Californian/Hispanic version of Sense and Sensibility)
Rollicking: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James - oooh, creepy!

Recipes: James and I created a potato-white bean soup that was SO GOOD! Probably because we put a pint of heavy cream in it. lol


What's New: a red enamel-lined stock pot to replace my old one-handled pot. It's bigger too! Also a new plunger. When you need one, you REALLY need one.

On Order: a new cord for the soccer laptop. The old one has to be positioned JUST RIGHT or it won't charge.

Serendipity: found out that one of the local high schools fixes vehicles for a $10 lab fee and the cost of parts.
Disappointment: Found out that the problem with my Voyager is beyond the skills of the local high school auto mechanics class (and probably also of my husband)
Obsession: feeling a Jericho obsession coming on - self-limited it by telling myself I can only watch while running on the treadmill!
Fun Times: hung out with my friend for an afternoon working on the yearbook - difficult projects are more fun with a friend (and SHE is in charge - not me! lol)


Anticipating: Brit Lit Movie Night on Monday and then Sister Weekend!
Writing Progress: Did a bit of research into e-publishing via Kindle