Florida Trip January 2013 part 2 ….Lego Land

OUR FIRST amusement park — EVER.  Also Big Brother’s FIRST EVER LEGO SET.

Florida Trip January 2013 …part 1 family

We got to visit with part of Daddy’s  family; two of this Aunts (Great Aunts to the boys) and one of his Uncles (Great Uncle to the boys).

 

Aunt Nancy 

Uncle Ernie

Aunt Pat

i did a guest post …

I did a guest post about home schooling …. http://www.peekyloulane.org/1/post/2013/01/guest-post-from-a-homeschooling-pro-in-my-opinion-if-youre-thinking-about-it-read-this.html check it out (and the rest of her blog too)

1.16.13

Another reason I love home school ….math book today, doing subtraction, tried to tell us “you can’t subtract and get a number less than zero (or you are in debt)” — but left it at that, and did not address negative numbers.  The directions for the pages said to “mark out subtraction problems you can’t do”.  The student was also supposes to “break down” a number in to as many subtraction problems as possible, “remember do not subtract more than your biggest number”.   Well Big Brother already knows negatives numbers (the number line goes both ways, right?).  So we did all the problems and just had our negative answers, easy as pie.

Big Brother:

• Handwriting
• Math:  pages 80 to 84
• Phonics: work book pages  78 to 85
• Sight word flash cards

Together:  (Momma reading)

• Bible: 13 to 33
• SOTW Vol: 136 to 152

Little Brother

• Handwriting (his name)
• Getting Ready For The Code Book A: 56 to 63

Then we took a page from Charlotte Mason and took a walk in “nature”.  It was just a park walking path, but it got up out, got our bodies moving, and saw some of God’s creation.

Practical Reasons for Modesty

Modesty ~ synonymous with chastity, or purity of manners.  In this sense, modesty results from purity of mind, or from the fear of disgrace…unaffected modesty is the sweetest charm of  female excellence, the richest gem in the diadem of their honor.

— Noah Webster 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language

What was once considered pornography is now brazenly displayed on the magazine covers that assault our eyes at the grocery checkout.  http://www.ladiesagainstfeminism.com/artman/publish/Femininity_amp_Modesty_16/Modesty_and_the_Christian_Woman_132100132.shtm

This is another; yes another, post about Modesty.  This is a discussion of why modesty really matters; not in theory but in practice.  Why does discriminating behavior and dress really matter.   On a day to day basis, in the real moments of your life, at PTA and at the store, how do the choices you make about what you where effect you, and those around you?

There is always a thin line between legalism and liberty and I am going to attempt to walk this fine line as biblically as possible.  http://anunveiledface.wordpress.com/2007/11/19/modesty-and-christian-women/

(an AMAZING article I wish I had written.  Please take the time to read it.  it is long, but well written and presented and full of good meat to consider)

Modesty is the voluntary personal responsibility to behave & dress in such a manner as to not purposely draw attention to oneself.  This is crucial for a Christian woman; first and foremost because we’re representatives of the LORD Jesus Christ; but it goes beyond that.   How you present yourself, how you dress, how you act, directly effects the interactions that create your life.

I put a high level of importance on modesty.  I cover my body and endeavor not to dress to attract attention.   I do this not merely because of my faith in God and my respect for my husband.  I seek to dress unassumingly for many practical reasons also.

1. My body belongs to me, God and my husband not to the odd man of the street looking at me. I protect myself for myself and husband.   I do not want to be leered at; I do not want to be watched.  I control my body and that also means I control who sees it.  I do not want to play a role in the unclean thoughts of some random man-on-the-street.

2. I do not seek to make another stumble; yes I have the right to go around with my breasts hanging out, but if that makes another struggle what have I gained by exercising that right?  Just because I can, doesn’t mean I should.  Doing things just “because I can” is a very immature attitude and not one befitting an adult, much less a mature Christian.

In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with  shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
1 Timothy 2.9-10

3. I want to be respected for who I am, not for what I look like.  I want my mind, my intellect and my experiences to speak for me, not my clothing.

and possibly the most important reason for modest in my daily life  (after, of course, my respect for my God, myself and my husband), one of the most practical arguments for discretion I know of:

4. I do not want to interject sexual tension or a sexual aspect into peer relationships.  I want to have a good working relationship with my co-workers that are based on personal and professional respect.  I want to feel at ease with friends’ hubby or my husband’s co-workers.  I do not want sexuality or sexual feeling or thoughts to be a white elephant in the situation.

Think about it…

today 1.15.13 school

Another things, I have long advocated about home education is that it allows sibling to learn together, and give the grace of time to the younger student who might on the cusp of being ready for school, but at the same time is really not ready.

I love home schooling my boys.  I can meet the needs of their “attention”.  For example:  Big Brother is capable of covering more work (math and phonics here, work text, lessons and practice) then he can handle in one “table time”.  He can handle more learning, just not the time commitment.  So we have started doing phonics / math table time twice with other subjects (momma read subjects) in the middle.

So the core of his school time looks something like this:

• Handwriting
• Phonics work book
• Flashcards of sight words
• Short break
• Math work book
• Short break
• Momma read history and Bible
• Phonics work book
• Short break
• Math workbook (or manipulative)
• (then later in the day he practices reading to me out of a book)

Home schooling is also allowing Little Brother to start coming to the table little by little as his attention allows; he most certainly is not ready to sit more than 5 to 7 minutes at a time.  Here at home, I can make that work.  When he is done, he is done and there is no pressure or expectation he needs to do more.

Big Brother:

• Handwriting
• Math:  pages 72 to 79
• Phonics: work book pages  70 to 77

Little Brother

• Handwriting (his name)
• Getting Ready For The Code Book A: 3 pages

Sensory day at the beach

 

 

It was 81 and sunny this afternoon so off to the beach we went.

The photos do not do not it the experience justice.  They were “all in” using their entire bodies as tools, and sticking their heads in the tunnels and holes to reach further in.  They dug that mucky sand / water mix and loved it.  They were hard at work.  Before we left Little Brother told me he did not want to get sandy and Big Brother said he didn’t feel like digging or getting in the water.  All in all they spend about 2 hours totally entranced in the sand and their tunnels.

Actually the only time they got in the water today, i told them to rinse off before we headed home.  

 

school today

I have long held that one of the best things about home education is the fact I can tailor the work load to my child(ren) taking into account the rest of our lives, the rest of their life.

This has been an interesting year.  We started our school year at the first of August then in September we started packing up our entire house in Iowa with the end goal of moving to Missouri.  In between life in Iowa and life in Missouri we’ve been blessed with the opportunity to live in on the Atlantic coast for a few months.  Given the task of packing up our entire house, going to Springfield for a week, driving here to the coast and then moving from one temporary house to another within two week our family was in upheaval, joyous upheaval, but upheaval none-the-less.  I was able to pull back on school expectations (and time) and bare-bone our academic to math and phonics only during that time; even taking a couple of weeks off at different times.  Had the boys been in a traditional school setting, our family would not have been able to accept this opportunity and would have missed out on the many amazing adventures and memories we are experiencing practically daily.  Now that we are more settled in our temporary home we are stepping up or academics and our time commitment.

School today:

• Bible Reading:  we started the OT since we finished NT on Friday pages 1 to 12
• Math:  work book pages 64 to 68, money counting practice
• History: SOTW pages 124 to 136
• Phonics: work book pages 60 to 69

 

revisiting chocolate syrup

In April 2010 I first posted about making, from scratch, chocolate syrup.  Wow 2010, it is not 2013 and I have been making chocolate syrup about weekly, or more often, ever since.  It is the only chocolate syrup my boys will accept now.

I have tried several varieties (like https://scribinglife.wordpress.com/2010/09/28/a-different-approach-to-chocolate-syrup/) .  I need to try more; I’d to prefect the addition of protein power to the mix.

Today I wanted to post just things I have learned.

The basic recipe:

• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla

I generally make a double batch each time I make it.

Mix the cocoa powder and the water in a saucepan.  The cocoa power will not dissolve until the water warms up.   Next add the sugar, and stir to dissolve.

Boil for 3 minutes over medium heat. Be very careful.  After you remove from the heat, add vanilla.

The original recipe I used noted that in the refridator the syrup will last for a couple of months; but I sure would not know, as I said I make a batch at least once a week or more.

Things I Have Learned:

• Use a much bigger pot than you think; this stuff boils up a lot
• Do not let it boil over; if the syrup boils over on the stove while you are cooking it, you have a monumental mess, trust me
• Be careful, the “popping” bubble will burn you (trust me)

And

• You have to adjust boiling time based on weather and your location.  

The first batch I made here on the east coast; I boiled it 3 minutes like normal, poured it in our dispenser bottle, and it promptly turned to fudge.  So I learned that, while we are here on the cost, as opposed to living in Middle America, I need to boil the mix less.

 

Enjoy!

75 and sunny today

Today it was 75 and sunny here, and we loved it.  Time for a family trip to the beach, and momma slipped in a little school review too.

Today the tide was lower than any time we’ve been there.  We walked out on the the sand that is generally underwater, about 1/4 of a mile of it actually.  it was amazing, the sand is wavy.  We found tons of nice shells, some as big as Little Brother’s hand.  We walked and talked about sand bards and collected shells, and then Little Brother found the mud.  After that we went home for a tub.

The boys wore green today to show their support for a little friend who is very sick.

As we build our  “walled city” we reviewed the reasons for ancient cites to be walled, and the purpose of towers.   It reviewed nicely what we’ve been reading about in history about the original walled cities, and also went nicely with all the knight books Big Brother has been requesting.