Homeschooler in Florida

Flu, Flu, Flu go away!!

2011-03-01T23:17:00.002-05:00

Dylan is feeling better today. Katrina came home not felling well at all. Dylan did a little bit of school, but not much. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Since everyone was ill, I decided to clean up my scrapbook room. I organized most of it. Time to get rid of some things and make room for the new.
Not much to blog about today.

Life in the Fast Lane

2011-02-28T22:30:00.002-05:00

I haven't blogged since October. Wow. So much time has flown by. Hard to believe that it is already (in 1 1.2 hours) March 2011.
Life in the Perry house has been hetic.
Dylan has had the flue the last couple of days, so not much school work is getting accomplished.
We did watch some shows I have taped on Science channel and History Channel. He is really into guns right now. He watches shows on them and can tell you many facts about them. It should make his history class more interesting, because we can research the wars and guns used.
One suggestion from his ADHD is not to make him do a full worksheet of Math problems. Quality over Quantity is their slogan. So I have tried this and it works awesome. I make him first tell me how to solve what we are working on. If he can tell me each step and does it correctly, I will have him do odd or even problems. I can't believe the difference it has made.
We have been able to skip 3 chapters in Math because he knows it!! yahooo!!!!
Writing is still a very big struggle. We are doing writing class with a group, but it is still very hard for him. I have to really help him with it all. I have even tried letting him write research papers on his favorite guns, but it is a struggle. I know that he will eventually get it. But man, some days its tough.
I have let him make a comic strip for history. He has to show one important event from the chapter. So far it is mostly pictures, but I am hoping he will add captions soon. He is very good at art, maybe a graphic novelist in the near future!!! He would make History interesting for the kids who hate it!!
Dylan is still doing Derby and raced this last weekend, he placed 5th in the morning race and 1st in the afternoon race!!
Katrina is applying for colleges and loves public school. She is always trying to talk her brother into going!! I love teaching him, so I hope he doesn't let her influence him!!
That's all for now, I need to spend a day catching up on everyone else!!!
Take care and God bless!!!!
Bunny

Wow I can't believe I haven't blogged

2010-10-02T18:23:00.002-04:00

Life sure does get busy.

Trina is now a senior and busy with school. She is still finishing up three courses on FLVS and it is a great big push to get her to stay on pace. She is so far behind, that she can't see the end of the tunnel at all.
She now has her license and a brand new car. Had I known that the insurance would be out of this world, I might have re thunk the new car, but it has some great features. Like On-Star for a year, all the air bags and not dealing with the previous owners troubles!! Who cares that we will never get out of debt.

Dylan is enjoying homeschooling. We are doing things differently and it seems to be working!! Spelling we are taking a different approach. We are learning it from ABEKA and it's from the roots, prefixes and suffixes. At the same time, I am using "English from the Roots Up". I pick the root woods that coincide with the spelling words and he does a couple worksheets with the English from the Roots up series. I am teaching spelling by syllables and not phonics.

I had Dylan tested and was very surprised to find he has a non-verbal learning disability and ADHD. They recommended more medicine and public school. I said no way.

I am trying different learning styles on things and it is working.

One thing is for math, he can use the calculator or his multiplication chart. He has excelled so far. I make sure that he understands exactly what we are trying to accomplish.

One of the suggestions from the testing was that he not write as much. SO I make up all the notes for him to study from. I do make him do his own science notes, but he does them on the computer. I have also let him use his notes for a test to show him how he sometimes missed key information.

enough for now, will try to post more regularly and post pictures of Trina with her new car.

Is it really June 16th???

2010-06-16T15:36:00.004-04:00

Well life sure does happen quickly!!

Katrina has enjoyed and hated her year in public high school. She did pass 11th grade and is a Senior. She is counting down the days until she can leave this house. It is so very sad that she hates it so much. I know it's part of the process of growing up, but hate that she hates us all.

She won the Local in Soapbox Derby and we will be going to the World championships in Arkron Ohio again. This is her last year for it, she has aged out, and I am excited for her. Dylan raced last year in Akron and placed 3rd in the World Rally Super Stock Division.

Dylan is doing fine, a bit behind in school but plugging along.

My dh has been very ill. He has an immune defieciency and has to give himself vivoglobin sub contanious injections every week. So far he doesn't feel alot better.

Will write more later, dd is outside in a lightening storm. stupid girl.

Alive

2010-03-05T08:15:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am alive, just no time to blog. My laptop had to be repaired and lost all saved information. Will need to get back on track.

Life comes up on you FAST!!!

2009-09-10T09:09:00.002-04:00

I haven't blogged since February and boy have we been busy.
Dylan broke his femur in half and had to have surgery. March 17th 2009. He had to stay off his leg for 8 weeks. When he finally was able to start slowly walking, he complained his ankle hurt. So we trudged back to the Doctors and sure enough he broke his ankle also!!! He is such a trooper and hasn't complained at all. We do have to have surgery to remove the rod, we will find out on Monday when that will be. He broke his femur on a playground toy called the saddle spinner. Please stay away from them!!!
We went to Dallas Texas for Katrina's Acting. She had alot of fun and meet many new friends. We are currently working on getting an agent. We have a talent scout working with us. It is very exciting.
In July, we traveled to Akron Ohio for the World Championship Race in Soapbox Derby. Dylan placed Third in the World in the Superstock Division. He received a $500 college Scholarship.
How exciting that was!!!
I promise when I have more time (in my dreams) that I will post some pictures.
Katrina has decided that homeschooling is not for her. She is too much a social butterfly and missed being with other people. So she is currently enrolled at a local public high school and is loving it!!!
Dylan is continueing to be homeschooled. It is pleasant without the bickering with Katrina.
We seem to get so much more done!!! Even housework runs more smoothly!!!
I will try to be better at blogging, while I haven't comment on the many blogs I follow, I am trying to at least catch up on everyone's lives!!
Have a great day!!!
Bunny

Yes, I am still here

2009-02-11T20:36:00.002-05:00

I am so sorry my blogging friends, but I had a horrible cold. It left me cranky, tired, whiny and tired. I barely made it through the school day, let alone cooking, blogging etc.
Florida was cold, now it's hot again.
School is still going on, with alot of crying, whining, screaming (by me of course) and just plain wanting to give up.
Trina has decided to go to public school in August. Now if I can just get her to finish up what she has started!!!!
Dylan is having a hard time with all the writing, spelling and math. I really am fed up with it all.
Other than that we are ok. Life is passing by quite quickly and I never find the time to do everything that needs to be done.
I haven't even had the energy to read my friends blogs. I will try to catch up with you all.
I hope everyone is staying warm and doing okay!!
Bunny

Derby day in Central Florida

2009-01-17T17:17:00.002-05:00

Well today was derby day and I just didn't feel like taking any pictures.....Bad mama.
I was just to tired!!!
Dylan didn't get any first places so it was a wasted day in my opinion!!! Trina helped her friend by knocking out the competition so Allison could get the 2 1st places she needs!! Way to go Katrina!!!!
School has been tough for all of us. It is so hard to get back into the swing of things after the holidays. It was tough for us....our first Christmas without my mom. But we are muddling our way through it. Trina will never be happy with what ever we do......it's just her personality.
Dylan will never like writing and spelling. I have tried so many fun ways. It's too bad we have to learn stuff we don't excel at or like.
We are alive, doing okay. I haven't even had a chance to check on all my friends blog. One of these nights, I will stay up late and try to do that.
I hope everyone is doing ok!!
Bunny

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T22:32:00.002-05:00

I am hoping everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! From the blog's I visit, it seems everyone did.
Poor FatcatPaulanna has had the flu at her home. http://homeschoolhome.blogspot.com/
I hope they recover quickly. I don't miss that at all. We have been lucky and since we quit private school have never had to deal with it.
This year was so tough on me losing my best friend, my mom. Christmas was tough. She alsways helped me wrap gifts and we would laugh and get excited. I know that it is my selfish part that is missing her and I need to let go and move on. It is so hard, I talked to her at least 3 times a day and she was my helper with keeping Trina on track. I know she is so happy in heaven and not in any pain, but (Me being selfish again) I MISS HER!!!!!
We spoiled the kdis too much this year. I say every year that i will not do this again. But every year I do. I will try and post pictures later.
The kids spent their own money and bought me "Jamie Oliver's Game for the DS". I am terrible at the game, but really am a great cook. He makes the most awesome risotto ever!!!
I gotta go, kids are yelling for me.
Happy new year.
Bunny

Wow I can't believe I haven't blogged and don't forget to look at the planets!!!

2008-12-02T23:02:00.003-05:00

Wait a minute, yes I can.
First, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did okay, it was really tough not having Mom there. I know Christmas will be hard also. I really should be rejoicing, because I know that she is in heaven with her family. But I am just a bit selfish and miss her alot.

The kids didn't do so well in the derby. I made Trina run light the am race and she placed 4th. Dylan placed 5th. In the pm race, Dylan ran light and got 4th (3rd place points) and Trina with full weight got 7th. Trina needs 1 more 1st place to be locked in and Dylan needs 2 more 1st to be locked in for the Nationals. We have a two day race coming up on Dec. 27 and 28th. Hopefully they both will get what they need.

School is going okay. Today I used the Math place blocks to teach Dylan multiplying with 3 digits. He loved it and really understood it. I need to do more hands on for him. Must admit, it's hard sometimes to keep up with two different grades and learning styles. In science he is learning about mammals. We went outside and measured the length of a blue whale which is 100 feet. After we measured, I stood at the beginning and he stood at the 100 foot mark, and his mouth dropped open. He couldn't believe how big the blue whale is. I took some pictures, but am too tired to load them tonight. I will try to do it tomorrow.

Tomorrow I go for the dreaded boob squishing. I am sure while I am gone not much will get done.

I know that there are two planets under the moon, but haven't even had time to blog which ones they are. DO you know????

It is finally getting cooler here and I am so happy.

Kiddos are calling, they should be asleep, it's 11:11. Oh well.

Miss you all and will try to catch up with you all!!
Love ya
Bunny

Derby Day

2008-11-22T09:35:00.001-05:00

My "FAVORITE" day. I am not going as early as everyone else. They leave the house at 6:30. I will leave the house around 10. My hubby is upset I don't go early, but I feel since Trina never gets out of bed for school until 10:30 or much later.....I will do the same.
Of course, she could care less if I go or not!!!! LOL!! I can't win.
Hope all is going well for everyone.
Weather is FINALLY cooler here!!
Trina and I with some friends went to the midnight showing of "Twilight" . It was a good movie. It can't compare to the book, but it was good.
Will write later.
Bunny

Busy, Busy, Busy

2008-11-16T02:00:00.003-05:00

Dave had a great visit with his family. I am so glad he went without us. One on one is such a great thing. Weather is finally getting cooler. School is okay, Dylan has his great days, Trina is my hard one.
I just wanted to drop a quick note, that we are okay, just really busy.

To busy with life to blog

2008-11-10T12:05:00.003-05:00

I am trying hard not to "plop" myself near the computer during the school day. So it really leaves me no time to blog.
I need to post a picture of me....I had my hair cut short and highlighted. I love it!!! I just need to find a product that works for the frizz's!!!!
Dave went to NY till Friday to see his dad (he is still very sick). We are planning to go see my Dad for a couple of days. We have so much planned this week it will be a short visit for us. We are planning to see Tennessee William's Glass Menergie at Shakespeare in the morning. Then head up to dad's for the rest of the day and spend the night. We need to be back Wednesday afternoon for Religious education and Boy Scouts. I am going to substitute for 1st grade religious education. I use to teach it, but with Mom's death, I needed a year off to regroup!!
I have been trying to be more positive with schooling, both my kids are so NEGATIVE. I am trying to plaster a smile on my face and just roll with it. I think working out is helping me achieve it. Thought not this am. We dropped dave off at the airport at 6:00am and we are not use to being up at 5 am!!! So when I asked Dylan to do his spelling and he started his complaining, I lost it. So I went and walked the dog!!!! He did it, but sloppily. I told him, if he ever did it that way again, I would make him redo it!!
Weather here is still warm.
Must go and see what subject they want to do after lunch!!
Have a blessedly happy day!!
Bunny

Did you do your Civil Right??

2008-11-04T20:53:00.007-05:00

Yes, I am talking about voting. I personally don't want to know who you voted for just that you got out there and voted.
We got up bright and early and were at our poll at 7:40. Remember that Dear Florida is not the "brightest" state when it comes to voting and neither is the polling sights.
We actually witnesses a verbal fight. Then because the lines weren't visible, waited in line 20 minutes longer than we really needed to!!!! I swear that if I am not homeschooling the next election, I am going to volunteer at the polling place and run it the correct way!!!
We were home by 8:15. Not to bad.

We bought some strawberry corn at our local Publix. Here is a picture

We put them inside a paper bag and microwaved them. I did two together and put it in for 3 minutes, but it was too long. The husk of one ear burnt, so the popcorn was a little burnt tasting. I did it with only one for 1 1/2 minutes and here is what we got.

It was very tasty. The kiddos want me to buy it again.

I am also trying to get both of them to be more positive to each other and about life.
I bought a tree kit from lakeshore learning supply. Then I cut out 120 leaves and everyday we all must write a leaf something we are thankful for.
Here is a picture of it.

Dylan needs to finish his grass piece. He lost a bit of interest in it....we rented Guitar Hero 4 for the wii and that's all he wants to do.

I wrote a leaf for each of the kids and mom and dad figuring that we are all thankful for each other. Dylan has been thankful for legos, his house, life and not being poor. Katrina has been thankful for derby, her talents that God gave her. I have put the health of my children, dylan's hugs, trina's smile.
It will be fun to see what they come up with. They like trying to see the new leaves.

Hope all is going well for everyone!!
Bunny

Time Flies

2008-10-31T00:43:00.006-04:00

I have been so darn busy, no time to blog. Dylan was sick with a nasty cold. Then Trina had it. I had a headache for 3 days straight, then am fighting a cold off and on for about 2 weeks.

Trying to get school done with all the sickness hasn't been easy.

Then we had two days of Derby rallying. Both kids have new divisions, so brand new cars. Trina is now in a Master's car. That is where they lay down and drive, they can see, though it is hard to believe it. Dylan is now in the Super Stock Division. Trina got 2 1st places and 1 2nd place. Dylan got a 1st and 4th and I can't remember the rest. They raced total of 4 rallies. But man, oh, man are their cars heavy. I wasn't feeling well and having to lift those heavy cars didn't help. Derby is such hard work for me. Kids love it, I hate it.

Here are some pics.

Trina is in the left lane, you can barely see the car in the right lane. She won this heat.

Here she is accepting her trophy.

Here she is accepting her 1st place trophy.

Here she is again with another 1st place trophy. Looks like we are making a trip to Akron, Ohio.

Oh joy oh joy. (I am being sarcastic)

Here is Dylan in his car.

You can't even see the other car. He won this heat!!

Here he is with his trophy.

My dh parked the trailer near an ant pile. Of course, we all received bites, even poor Patches. I can't get her to stop itching and can't really afford another vet visit. I am trying to give her more baths with the medicated shampoo they suggested last time. I hate that she has allergies. I wish I had researched more about dogs and their allergies!!!!

I don't know about you.....I will be so glad when this election is over. I am so tired of all the negative ads. I am not voting early. We have already had issues with some of the voting machines. My library has early voting and I can't get a parking spot to go and get the books I need!!! The parking lot is full, they are parking on the grass across the street and up and down the driveway in the library, making it hard to even get around!!!!

I will brave going on Nov. 4th, I have never had to wait more than 5 mins., but every one is telling me that this year it will be different. I don't see how, when it seems like everyone is voting early!!!

Florida is notorious for screwing up the voting process and I am upset about it, but not so upset that I want to do something about it. I haven't got the time!!!

Weather is FINALLY COOLER!!!!!! I am so excited!!!! I even wore a hat when I walked Patches yesterday!!!!

It is late, and I must get some sleep.

God bless you all,

bunny

Yahoo!! Trina will stay homeschooled until at least December

2008-10-04T21:41:00.002-04:00

Okay, the whole reason Trina wanted to go to public school was, of course, Dylan. He belittles her and is just a difficult boy. Which by the way, I am working on.
But to make a long, long, long, story short. When I called the public school to set up appointment to get her in, they told me no way. She needed to wait until after Christmas break. It would be way to hard for her to make up the 9 weeks she has missed and would be hard for her to "fit" in.
When I told her this, she cried. She so wanted to go. I told her that this was God's way of telling her she is better off at home. She hates on line courses, but we both know that she won't do the work out of a textbook!! So we shall see what happens between now and Christmas.
She has started guitar lessons and I told her I would look into French class and Creative Writing at our college for night courses.
She is just not motivated enough to do things on her own. I really don't want to mess up her chances at college. I really never had the chance and wish I had. Oh well, I am praying alot to our Savior and our Mother and hopefully they will help her see the way.
We went to the Shakespeare Theatre and saw "Kiss Me Kate". It was so wonderful. It was over Dylan's head, but he behaved wonderfully!! I so love the theatre!!! We are going to see Robin Hood on Friday.
Well that's all for now. I am so happy Trina is still going to be homeschooled for a while.
Bunny

No more homeschooling for Trina

2008-10-01T20:56:00.002-04:00

Trina has made the decision by default to not be homeschooled. It has broken my heart. But maybe this is God's way of telling me it is for the better. She is such a brillant child, and I haven't had the ability to process that potential. Not that public school by any means will, but she doesn't want to be at home. She is tired of Dylan and everything else.
I am tired, just wanted to let you all know I am alive.
Bunny

Depressed

2008-09-26T14:07:00.003-04:00

I must admit that I have been a bit depressed. It has really hit me that my Mom isn't here. It has only been six months, yet it feels like forever. I miss her so much, she was my best friend.

I called her to just vent and get things off my chest....even if I didn't take her advice, it helped me deal. I have tried walking and talking into my cell phone pretending she is listening, but it's not the same. I think it is hitting me because of school. She would always call me to see how the kiddo's were doing, and if they weren't doing their work, she would talk to them. She always called Dylan to tell him that she finally beat a level on Mario. (She had her own Game Boy Advance and loved to play!!) She was such an amazing woman. She could do anything!! I miss calling her and having her walk me through how to upholster my kids new stools, or how to apply the leather patch to my couch. I use to complain about my dh to her also. I love my dh, but sometimes I just need to vent about him. Now I have no-one. I can't complain to him about himself!!! I can't complain to his family about him!! I can't complain to my kids about their dear daddy!!

I know that death is part of life, and that she is in a much better place. Pain free and with all her family and friends whom have been waiting to see her, but it still is hard. I do have my Faith, but sometimes it just gets to you.

Another blogger friend Vaperessence ( I think that was her blog), lost her mom to cancer, but now her blog is gone. I hope she is doing okay.

Thanks for reading and please pray for me. I need it.

Enjoy each other and take alot of pictures and memories of your life.

Bunny

My family doesn't care...maybe you do!!

2008-09-09T21:22:00.001-04:00

If you look at the moon and notice the "bright" planet to (my right) it is the planet Jupiter.
My family could care less....but I thought someone out in blog land might want to take a look.
I noticed it last night and said to dh that I thought there was planet. I finally had a chance to
look it up and yes, oh yes, I was correct.
So enjoy the evening and bring your binoculars and take a gander at Jupiter.
I love nature and history!!!
Bunny

First day of School

2008-09-08T23:23:00.005-04:00

Our first day was August 26th, and I am just now posting pictures!!

I always take a picture of them in front of the tree in our front yard. It is so much fun to see how much they have grown each year.

Here is my darling son, Dylan.

Here is my darling daugher, Katrina.

A close up of them actually being nice together!!!

We have had a great start to school, some interruptions,: family from out of town, a bff of Trina dancing with the Russian Ballet in Romeo and Juliet which was awesome.

Each day gets a little bit better.

I will try to post more each day.

I hope everyone is doing well. I pray that none of the hurricanes/tropical storms are doing any damage to your homes.

Blog with you soon.

Bunny

Homeschool Swap

2008-09-08T23:15:00.003-04:00

I participate in a Swap from The Homeschool Blog Awards (http://homeschoolblogawards.com/ ). It was my first ever swap and it was so much fun. You filled out a questionnaire all about yourself, your likes, your decorating style, etc. I received my items weeks ago, but no time to post.

I had the fun of meeting Motserrat a.k.a. Cocoa over at http://chocolateonmycranium.blogspot.com/. What fun it was to meet her wonderful family!!

She sent me the greatest swap items.

She makes cards, bookplates, notecards and so much more!! You really should check out her Etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5371427

I love all the wonderful new scrap items she sent me.

I would definitely recommend this. It was so much fun!!!

Thanks Cocoa!!!!

I am in Heaven

2008-08-15T21:43:00.002-04:00

We checked in and went to the ocean...OHGoodness it is so beautifully breathtaking.....I really am in heaven. I know that from the news a hurricane is going to hit us on Tuesday and I am no way prepared for it. My house has no food in it, well a bit of frozen meat, but nothing to survive on like Charlie. But looking at the ocean today...doesn't seem even possible. The Lord will provide, and I refuse to worry. this is my heaven from the terrible year I had to deal with. MMMMMMM....doesn't seem to thankful does it???? Oh well, here are some photos.

Miss ya and hope you all are well

I'm so Excited and I just can't hide it!!!

2008-08-14T18:03:00.002-04:00

We are going to the beach for four glorious days (if the weather cooperates!!!)!!!!
I just *sniffle, sniffle, sniffle* dropped of Patches at the vets. I feel so guilty, but she wouldn't do well in the hotel. She would be barking at every little noise. I miss her already. She so loves the beach and water. I will have to plan a day trip just for her!!! Tee Hee!!
Kids of course are already fighting. I just bought the book, "Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends" by Sarah, Stephen and Grace Mally. I received it today, and it looks great. Lots of bible references and funny, funny cartoons. I can't wait to start reading it to them. I even bought the coloring books to go along with it. They are already complaining about the title and I am (trying) to smile!!
I think I packed too much to go for just 4 days. I packed snacks, fruits, veggies, lunch meat, bread, chips etc. I just hate to eat all three meals out. So we are going to do lunches everyday.
We are going to go to my Dad's tonight. He is very lonely without Mom, and I think it will be a good diversion for him, even if it's only a night and part of a day.
I am going to see if he wants to come down next week and see my COMPLETED FLOOR!!!
I will try to post some pictures soon. It looks so nice!!! I am still cleaning up the dust. I opened a drawer to get some knives and wanted to cry....all that dust!!!! Oh well...The Lord loves to keep me busy.
Must go and load up the truck!! I will post pictures!!
Love ya all
Bunny

Nasa celebrates 50 years

2008-08-11T17:37:00.001-04:00

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/50th/index.html

This is a great website. Please visit it to learn more or refresh
your memory!!!

Let me know what you think of it!!

Bunny

I finished Breaking Dawn

2008-08-10T10:56:00.001-04:00

Can u believe it? I finally finished it!!! Who wants to talk about it????

Click here to see a picture of it

2008-08-08T17:52:00.002-04:00

trying to get a picture of the book

Book America's Lost Dream

2008-08-08T17:48:00.001-04:00

http://www.americanvision.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1978

Click on the above link and get this book for $1.00.
It is the most beautiful book ever!!! I can't wait to teach with it!!!!!

Breaking Dawn Pictures

2008-08-06T13:38:00.002-04:00

Erin, Trina and Katie.
Katie dressed as a character. Can you guess who?

Yes, Bella at the baseball game in the forest!

The girl who made the Breaking Dawn Party and my crew.

Beautiful daughter an me.

Erin, Katie, Trina and me. I have "Jacob" attached
to my bracelet. Of course, the girls kept telling me
Jacob was not gray. I kept telling them, that I knew
but it was the closest thing to a wolf that I had!!!

I still haven't finished the book. I am now on Book
three. I just don't have time to read!!
Bunny

Breaking Dawn

2008-08-02T00:41:00.001-04:00

Trina has her 2 bff's over. We went to Prom and got our books. Everything is so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
I must go and start my copy of "Breaking Dawn" I will post pictures tomorrow!!!!!

Ever feel like God is talking to you??

2008-07-31T10:34:00.004-04:00

http://proverbs31devotions.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-thoughts-vs-gods-word.html

I have been struggling with the guilt of my mom's death. I know alot of it is emotional due to the hormones in my body. I also know that guilt is one of the grieving process's. But the guilt is still there. I have been reading the blog of Proverbs 31 daily devotions.

Today's theme was like God telling me I am okay. I did enough for my mom. She knows that I did and appreciated it.

But Satan likes to throw those thoughts in your head,"You left her when she cried and begged you to stay. She needed you and you abandoned her." Even though I will struggle with these thoughts, I now know that Jesus is here with me and I am worthy!! She is in heaven and happy!!

Bunny

I'm here

2008-07-27T16:25:00.002-04:00

AS soon as I can find the camera, I will post some pictures of what is finished.
The entryway has to wait for there were some problems. This is a job that just won't finish!!
I am trying hard to dust everything and get things put back in their places. Finally finished Dylan's bedroom, Katrina did most of her room, the guest bedroom. I can't believe how much dust this made!! I also did most of the laundry room, am so tired.
We have the family room almost together!! The computer is back in its home and up and running. Still need to do...livingroom, dining room, master bedroom and finish the laundry room. My many, many, many cookbooks and cooking binders are so dusty!!!! Oh well, it will keep me out of trouble.
Trina is doing awesome on Driver's Education. WE will finish Algebra soon. Dylan needs to practice writing and multiplication facts. I am hoping by the end of this week, things will be almost back to normal and I can find things!!!

Weather here is so hot and thunderstorms every afternoon. It really saps your energy!!
"Breaking Dawn" is released this Friday. Trina and two girlfriends are coming over for the day to prepare for the "Prom" for "Breaking Dawn". I even bought myself a dress to go with them. I actually read the series and am excited about the book also. I even bought myself a copy, so I don't have to fight with Trina to read it!!!! I will donate it to the library when I am finished with my copy.

I haven't started planning for school yet. We are going to the beach for a long weekend in August. I am going to wait till after that!!! We had a very tough year and need the break.

Not much else is new here. Oh yeah, I will be turning 44 tomorrow. Yipee!!! Man the years sure do creep up on ya!!!
Have a great week!!

Bunny

Why I haven't blogged

2008-07-18T17:44:00.003-04:00

The entry way

Here is all of the tile from our house.

We are in the process of tiling our home. We tore up the entrance way, family room, kitchen, computer area, and hallway. I have never seen so much dust in my life. I clean and the next day it is back again. I just quit. Since we couldn't lay tile over the weekend....we decided to paint. Every room in my house has furniture in it from the three rooms. Poor Dylan can't even get to his bed. Thank goodness I have a spare bedroom he can use!!!

Dylan was a huge help. He helped me paint every day. We even painted the kitchen with the sandstone paint. I love it. I will get pictures of the kitchen soon.
So needless to say, no summer school for last week and this week and probably next week!!! We will be spending the week cleaning up!! Every dish in my kitchen cupboards have dust on them. It is so bad!!!! I keep telling myself that when it is all done, I will be a happy camper!!!!
Hope you are enjoying your summer.
Bunny

Heart of the Matter Friday Meme

2008-07-13T20:00:00.002-04:00

This is a great Meme and I have had fun reading everyones blogs. I must admit with my mom's illness and death this last school year was anything but easy. We didn't work at school as much as we should of. Except for my high schooler, she kept up on at three core subjects and I am proud of her for that. This was my third year homeschooling my children.

What hasn't worked for us:

1. Homeschool groups....we have tried so many and just don't fit in with any of them. I really thought it was us, and it might be, but I am now not fretting about it.
2. Classes outside of the home...just ruins our whole day, while we do go to plays, art and science museums and even the zoo, I don't participate in the classes. When the kids did the classes they talked more about how the other kids acted and not what they were learning!!
3. Not planning a schedule...we tried to just wing it and it doesn't work for my children. They do need structure and a set schedule. Of course this year was totally different with dealing with mom.
4. Yelling and screaming when they really needed a hug!!
5. Threatening to send them to public school, when I really don't want to do it!!
6. Trying to plan too much in a day, week and even a month!! There is just so much fun things to do with every subject, we don't even get to finish the projects!!!
7. Not taking a day off when we really need it!!!
8. Not putting the Lord first.
9. Not giving each child individual time with me.

I know that this year will be different, not sure if it will be better, but we are still going to homeschool!!!

Did you have a great 4th of July??

2008-07-07T09:38:00.002-04:00

We did some fireworks in our street. Our neighborhood had fireworks from 2pm until midnight. It was quite noisy!!!
The kids had some friends over on Thursday the 3rd. They had fun swimming, playing outdoors, playing on the wii and hanging out. Then their Mom's boyfriend, who is a friend of ours, came and had some hamburgers and sausage with us. They went home about 11 pm and the kids were sad :(. I don't do many sleepovers and we had alot going on. They got over it quickly.
Dylan went and bought Guitar Hero Aerosmith for the Wii and has been having fun unlocking all the songs. They are so much better than me...I am still on easy, can't master the double notes or the blue notes!!! I keep trying when I can get them to let me play!!
Weather is very hot, glad we have a pool.
Trina starts her driver' s ed on line today and Algebra with Mom.
I am going to have Dylan do Math and writing daily. Of course the complaining has already
started and they haven't even done anything yet!!! Oh well...my kids are complainers and I am learning to just state what we are doing and dropping it!! Hard to do!!!
Well, enjoy your day today. Keep smiling and try to stay cool!!!
Love ya all
Bunny

Back home

2008-06-30T11:23:00.003-04:00

We are home and trying to get everything back in order. Patches did fine at the vet's for boarding. She sure was glad to see us all. Dave and Trina went and picked her up as a surprise for me. I was sleeping in and heard them come in.
Dylan has a terrible cold. I have one also, but his seems worse. He couldn't get to sleep last night until 4:00 am. He just couldn't breath. For some reason, when I take him to the doctors, they tell me not to use a decongestant and I can't remember why!! It is hard to know what to give them to give them relief!!
Trina is enjoying no school for awhile. She is going to start Driver's Education on FLVS next week. And we will be doing Algebra I.
Weather is very hot in Florida, and with colds we don't want to go in the pool. Maybe we'll just float around.
Been busy ordering books for 10th grade and 5th grade. I found lots at the curriculumn sale and even sold a few of my things!! Trina is going to do English II Honors, American Government Honors, Biology Honors on line. But I still purchase the books for her, sometimes she likes to use the books instead of websites. I also go to the library and get books on each subject. I hope this year will go a bit more smoothly then last year. It was so hard on the kids traveling and taking care of mom. But I am so glad we did it.
Must go and take care of kiddos,
Love you all and hope the summer is going well for you all
Bunny

In New York

2008-06-14T09:14:00.002-04:00

Dave's Dad was in the hospital, so we planned a week to come and visit and perk him up. We had a wonderful flight, and made it in last night.
Dad looks great. He got out of the hospital on Thursday. It is nice to be back in Massena, but I was hoping for a bit cooler weather. It's just like Florida except much much greener and a nice breeze. It's as humid as I remember. Kids are excited to be back "home". They can't wait to see their cousins and play!!!
Will keep all you posted!!
Enjoy each other!!!
bunny

Heart of the Matter Meme

2008-06-07T10:39:00.002-04:00

This week's question is about "How You Schedule." I have two children, dd 9th grade, and ds 4th grade.
My daughter does 3 of her courses online. So she has a set schedule with them.
This year I scheduled day to day. We do get up late, so we do one subject in the morning,
take a lunch and recess break and start in again.
My mom was sick and passed on this school year, so it was a bit different.
I tried to set up a schedule, but it just didn't work with all that was going on.
I do get teacher's planners for each child and fill in what we do each day.
I tried to fill it in for each semester, and when we would get off track, I would have
to white out every page. So now I look at what I would like to accomplish for the week.
I will write it down on a loose piece of paper. I look at all the many books, ideas, games, papers that I have saved and get everything together for that subject ex. commas, the earth, ancient china, etc. The I search the internet for fun ideas and games to go with it all.
As we do each activity, I write it in my planner. No more messy planners!!
Our test day is on Friday. We have a spelling and grammar test and we are done for the day. Sometimes a math test, but we don't plan too much.
I would love to be more structured and maybe this year I will!!
Read some more great ideas at :
http://heartofthematteronline.com/2008/06/heart-of-matter-meme.html
Bunny

Vote for Homeschooling

2008-06-04T19:56:00.002-04:00

http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2008/edition_06-01-2008/Intelligence_Report

Is Summer Here Yet??

2008-05-29T22:03:00.002-04:00

WE all want school to be done. Trina has alot to do to finish within the next 2 weeks. She doesn't want to do the work, yet wants to be done.......hmmmmm.

We will still have to do math all summer, but I plan to take at least 2 weeks off for my sanity.

My Aunt Bernice and Uncle Ken stayed with us for a day. They are from Utah and we haven't seen them in 13 years. It was fun. We took them out to eat alligator and to see our "Big Tree" in Sanford. I'll post pics tomorrow.

Not much else is new here in Florida.

Bunny

Calligraphy in China

2008-05-22T17:17:00.000-04:00

Dylan and I are studying Ancient China.
I am trying to use writing for his history.
He hates to make up a story. So I am
using notebooking and he seems to
enjoy it.
Here is his page on Calligraphy.
We even did some!! I had some
India Ink and SOTW showed
us some of the characters and
strokes.

Trina looked up her characters
on line. Not sure why this is in
blue and unlined, but whatever!!!

Proud Mom

2008-05-20T19:40:00.000-04:00

I am so proud of both my winners.
Dylan 2nd place in Stock Division
Katrina in 3rd place in Super Stock Division.

Maybe next year guys!!!
Love
Bunny

Dylan almost won it all

2008-05-20T18:31:00.002-04:00

Dylan's face says it all. Look at poor Andy.
Dylan hasn't been able to beat Andy all
season. The winner of this race would gofrom the
losers bracket on to race the for 1st place.

Even the other racers couldn't believe he won this
heat. That' s me waiting for Dylan to get
out so I can send him to the top of the hill to win.

We honestly thought he was going to win
it all. But he didn't. He did get 2nd place and
if the 1st place winner can't go for any reason
Dylan would go in his place.

Dylan at the All American Soap Box Derby

2008-05-20T18:28:00.000-04:00

Here Dylan is with his car.

Dylan is the car on the left hand side. He won that
heat.

Dylan is now on the right side and he won.
Not sure how, because he sat up before he
crossed the finish line.

Another picture of him winning a heat.

Katrina at the All American Soap Box Derby

2008-05-20T18:26:00.000-04:00

Here she is with her car.

She won this heat by so much, you can't see
the other car!!!

Here she is winning again!!

She took 3rd place in her division which
was Super Stock. Here she is receiving her
trophy from Sam.

We won't be going to the World Championship
in Akron Ohio. (Shhhhhh, but it didn't break
my heart. :) )

Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe

2008-05-20T17:44:00.002-04:00

Chapter 2
Let's Talk
1. Of the lies mentioned in this sections, which one(s) do you most identify with?
* Everyone's kids are better than yours
* Everyone's house is cleaner than yours
* Everyone fixes better meals than you
* Everyone is more disciplined than you and way more spiritual

I would say that I believed everyone's kids are better than mine and Everyone is more disciplined than me and way more spiritual.
I work very hard to help my children in their education, yet I still compare them to where they should be and why they aren't!!! I have such a hard time motivating and the complaining gets to me. So some days I am not disciplined and say "Fine, just leave me alone." The same for spiritual. I have great ideas and we start on them, but they just get pushed aside.
I shouldn't be so hard on myself or my kids, but I am. We went through a tough year, taking care of my mom and watching her die from lung cancer. It put us behind schedule, I shouldn't care, but I do.

2. Why do you think women in particular are so prone to comparing their kids, their homes, and their spirituality against each other?

Good question. I think we are more "emotional" and tend to compare to make sure we are doing an okay job. We worry that we are "falling" short of what is expected of us. At least I am!!
I always thought it was my job to make everyone happy!!

3. Do you usually feel encouraged or discouraged after reading a homeschool magazine or book?

With the exception of this book I am reading and Heart of the Matter, usually discouraged.
I never seem to have enough time to complete what I would like to, yet everyone else seems to be doing it wonderfully. (I think that's a Homeschool lie I believe. LOL!!)

4. Why do you think that homeschooling moms feel the need to "brag" about those things that they do well or enjoy?

Because homeschooling is not all well and there is not alot to enjoy most times. When something does go well or the kids really enjoy it, I want to share to encourage!!!!

5. Are you guilty of trying to portray that you have it all together?

PPPPLease. Never... I wouldn't know where to begin!!!

6. My prayer.

Please ,dear heavenly Father, let my own confusion not pass to my children. Let kind words pass from my heart to my mouth and help me to know that I am working for you. Help me to find the best way to care for my wonderful childrens education.

The other lies is that I do believe everyone else can do it all and loves to homeschool their children, I am falling apart and feels that way.

Isn't it terrible how we "short-change" ourselves. I have had a terrible year and really need to come to grips with it. I need to let go of those feelings. It is hard when both my kids fight from the time they get up to the time they go to bed. We can't even take the dog for a walk, without a fight between the two of them. When I am excited to learn with my daughter, who is in high school, she belittles me and it hurts.

I want to keep homeschooling, but somedays I wonder if it is worth it all. Then I hear the Lord telling me to hang in there, he wishes me to do it!!!

Wow.....didn't mean to be so long!!!

Bunny

Today is May 15, 2008

2008-05-15T20:24:00.002-04:00

I am not thoughfully creative and no title came to me.
Did some school and then had Derby cars inspected for
the big race.
Both cars received VIP status.
YAHOO!!!!
Then we went to Sam's and home to do chores.
A very dull day.

Love to you all
Bunny

Survived Mother's Day

2008-05-12T20:10:00.002-04:00

It was a sad day for me. My first Mother's Day without my mom. I had a headache all day and couldn't do what we planned to do. Which was go see "Ironman". Last time I had a headache and went to the movies, I was sick for a day!! So I rented "The Seeker" and "Becoming Jane", both great movies by the way.

School is going on. Trying hard to get Dylan into writing. He hates it so much!! Found a book at our library store "Write Away" so we began reading it today. Hmmmm...everything it suggests is what I AM DOING!! Oh well......I keep reading that it will come to him, I need to just RELAX!!

Weather is hot. Many fires going on in Florida.

Please pray for all those families and all the families in China.

Not much new is here. Kids' All American Derby is this Saturday. It is the Championship for Derby. The winners get to go to Akron Ohio.

Hope all is well with everyone.
Bunny

Thankful

2008-05-08T15:22:00.002-04:00

I recently read "the Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom while Katrina was studying the Holocaust. While the subject matter is very horrifying, the book is very uplifting. Corrie had
such a wonderful outlook and so trusted in the Lord. In one part of her book, she tells how when her sister and her where transferred to a new concentration camp, they had to thank the Lord. They thanked the Lord for many things, including the fleas. As I read this, I thought as Corrie did, why should they (we) thank the Lord for the fleas? Later on in the story, it tells you why. I don't want to tell you in case anyone has an interest in reading it....I highly recommend that you do. If you don't want to read it, email me and I will tell you.
The whole reason I am bringing this subject up is that today I was down in the dumps. My children whine and fight with each other, bother the dog, mope when asked to do over work, and bug each other.
I really need to thank the Lord for all those things. Like them whining, at least they can vent how they are feeling, with no worry of ridicule, bullying or abuse!! I am going to sit down and try to look at the positive sides of what I consider negative!!!

Have a great day.
bunny

Free Math Curriculum Trial for a Year

2008-05-07T11:48:00.002-04:00

I found this from one of the many newsletters I signed up for.
Let me tell you so far it is wonderful. Dylan is loving it!!! No more fighting on Math.

I am not sure if they have any more available spots, they were only taking 50 families. It is for grades 4-8.
What you need to do is email kim@ilearn.com and ask if she has any free spots available. Tell her what students and grades and how you are willing to fill out a survey each month. I also told her how honest I would be in the survey.

Dylan is loving it and I wanted to share with my blogging friends.
Bunny

I'm so tired and don't care

2008-04-16T20:33:00.002-04:00

I am so stressed and tired. I really need a vacation and it won't happen for at least two more months.
We have family going and family coming and school to get caught up with and finished.
I just want to go away and rest. Like that will ever ever happen!!! What is rest anyways??
Weather is cooler and I am enjoying it. we try to walk everyday. I even made a pot of chili.
It is so good. I love cold comfort food and don't have much of a chance to cook it.
Of course the chickadee's won't even try it. Oh well, I made them the way they are, so I can only blame myself.
Must go,
Love ya
Bunny

Trying hard to get back into the swing of things

2008-04-11T13:57:00.003-04:00

It has been hard for us all to get back into the swing of things. I must admit Dylan has done the most while Trina and I are trying.
We are using Dinah Zike's World of Space for our Planet study. We are on the moon right now.
He made a moon book and we look at the moon each night. I drew all the circles and he fills in the colors!! He is really loving it. Dinah showed a cool experiment on reflection for the moon. We took a hand mirror into a dark room. We shined the flashlight on the mirror. You see yourself clearly and the room is bright. Then you take hand cream and cover the mirror. Now you shine the flashlight on it and see no reflection, but the light bounces off the mirror and you see the room is lite up more. AT least that's what I got out of it. Dinah doesn't explain enough for this brain!!! I did not excell in math or science!!!
Dylan was having trouble with his memorization of multiplication facts. I put it on hold and tried again. HE GOT IT!!!! We do two worksheets a day of the same facts like 7. Then I lay out the 7 flashcards on he floor. I give him the product and he has to find the flashcard that matches it.
He loves doing it!! He asks me everyday if we can do it.
I am now a firm believer that if they aren't connecting, but it away for awhile. Come back to it later on.
For history Dylan was learning about Hannibal and Carthage. He had fun making Roman jewelery out of coins and the Hannibal elephant flip out from Story of the World. He enjoys it so much he tells me over and over "that it is not schoolwork, it's fun work." He sure does love his history.
Trina is learning about fossils in Florida. I wish I could incorporate a trip it for it, but we are soo busy there is no time!! She is studying WWII in history and hates it. English she is reading "Romeo and Juliet", we finally rented the ballet story of it.
She is preparing to make her Confirmation this Saturday. She is taking my Mom's name Anne for her Confirmation Name. We have been at church everynight this week. Monday she had an Atlar Server meeting, Tuesday was our last Confirmation class, Wednesday we teach First Grade Religion and she had her youth group. Thursday was Dylan's Religion Class. Tonight is rehearsal for Confirmation and tomorrow is Confirmation!!
She asked me to be her sponser, and today the two of us received the Sacrament of Reconcilation. I was very proud of her for doing it with me.
My Dad and sister are coming down tomorrow to stay with Dylan (they aren't "church" people) and I know the mass will be especially long for Dylan. We plan to go out for dinner. We don't have enough family to do a big party for her.
Next weekend we have derby both on Saturday and Sunday. Dylan is going to race Saturday and Trina on Sunday. It makes it easier on me. I am too out of shape to be handling both cars in one day. I still dislike derby, but do it for Dave and the kids.
Anyways,
I will try to start blogging again. I miss you all.
Love ya
Bunny

Anne M Becksted

2008-03-28T18:48:00.002-04:00

Her is a picture of my mom. She was only 63 when the good Lord needed to

bring her home to heaven.

She had a very rough year battling her lung cancer. The cancer spread to
her brain in October and she has fought a long battle.
She passed to heaven on March 25, 2008 at 4:50 p.m.
I know that she is no longer in pain and in a much, much, much
better place, but we will miss her greatly.
I will greatly miss our many phone calls during the day and when
I am walking Patches.
Katrina will miss calling her when I make her angry.
We will learn to deal without her, but we won't like it.

Please take the time to tell everyone you love them.

You might not get the chance to!!

God bless you all

Bunny

Election Time

2008-01-29T20:51:00.000-05:00

We are doing a study on Elections, since this is an election year.
I printed out two blank USA maps.
We titled one Democratic Primary and the other Republican Primary.
When a state holds a primary/caucus we write in the state who won.
It is teaching them to find the states, (Mom isn't very good at this and must cheat! :))
We got many books out at the library and are busy reading them.
I surprised my dh the other night, he stated that no-one has held office more than 2 times, I was so excited that I knew he was wrong. He is the one who is always correct!!
Do you know who it was???
Good for you if you did!! I didn't till I was reading with the kiddos.
It was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was elected president in 1932, 1936, 1940, and again in 1944.
That is why the amendment was added in 1951, a person can be elected to only two terms as president!!
Then my dh said he didn't know what the difference was between a primary and a caucus. So we learned about that!!
I love when we can connect everyday life to some lessons.

Dylan is also doing highlights "Which Way USA". He loves the puzzles. You are doing puzzles to decide who is going to be in the Which Way Hall of Fame, what object will be on display in the Which Way Museum, and where will the Which Way Supermax Movie be made?It has you do puzzles to eliminate 5 choices. It lists 6 people famous for that state. I have Dylan choose from those 6 people, 3 he would like to learn more about. I bought the states package at "homeschoolestore" and use the state sheets. I will try to upload some soon. It is just so much fun when things come together.

Today, I was feeling under the weather. We did a few subjects. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow and we can get back on schedule.

Love ya all
Bunny

Multiplication games

2008-01-28T16:57:00.001-05:00

http://www.multiplication.com/interactive_games.htm

This is totally awesome...I just had to share this minute!! Now I have to go so Dylan can play!!!

I am alive, not well, but alive

2008-01-22T10:20:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note that I am home. We are trying to get back to normal (is there such a thing??).
School was not going well up at Mom's, trying very hard to get caught up.

Mom isn't doing well, we have Hospice coming in to help manage the pain.
It is very heartbreaking for me to see my mom this way. This is the lady who would
get up at 3 am to snow blow the driveway so Dad could get the car in.

Must get the kiddos moving towards doing school!!

On a happier note, Dave's mom who is visiting her brother (who is not doing well) (that's not the happier note), is coming to stay with us for a few days!!
NO-ONE from Dave's family has come to visit us and we have been living here for 7 years!!!!

Will write later.
Miss you all and I am trying to get caught up on all your lives!!!

Bunny

Great Website

2008-01-10T14:08:00.000-05:00

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/skills_4th_original.htm

I am sure I have posted this before. But this is great!!
It covers all subjects from grades K - 8th grade.
Lots of game websites and testing etc.

I use it quite a bit!!

Will blog later.

Love ya
Bunny

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2008-01-03T20:42:00.000-05:00

I am wishing all my blogger friends a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year.

I haven't had the energy to blog. We had to rush up to my mom's the 15th of December because she wasn't doing well. We came home for a few days, packed up all the xmas presents and food and went back up to spend Christmas with them. We have been home for awhile, I was just to drained to blog.
She is doing ok, not great, but ok. We ended up getting her a walker. She just has no energy at all. I feel so bad for her, but must also take care of my kids.
We are going to start back to school on Monday. I wanted to get so organized over the break, but didn't get to it. Oh well......

I hope that everyone is staying warm. It is even cold here in Florida!! I can't believe how cold. I guess I forgot what cold was. I am enjoying wearing a coat, hat and gloves. I am even spending the day in my WINTER PJ's!!! We never get to do that!!! I will try to blog some pics later.

Kids had a great xmas with all the gifts they got. I will try to blog more on them later.

I hope everyone is doing fine. One of these days, I will read up on you all!!!

Love and kisses to you all
Bunny

Wow....another day gone by

2007-12-12T15:47:00.000-05:00

Here Katrina is making her Italian dish for History Class. She made Biscotti's.

Dylan's party was a huge success. Every one had fun golfing and feeding the alligators!! Baby gators of course!!

All of the boys invited to his party. Of course, Katrina is in the picture!!

The Practice green.

One of the holes!!

Feeding one of the gators.

The Ice Cream Cake.

Blowing out the candles.

Gift time!! He asked for gift cards. With his birthday so close to Christmas it is so much easier to have gift cards. He is so good about waiting till after Christmas for the great sales!!! He gets more for his buck!!

The gang.

Tomorrow is his actual birthday. He was born in the ice storm of Northern New York!! We were lucky we made it to the hospital!! Of course, once he was 3 weeks old we lost the power for a week and had to stay at the in-laws. It was tough with a new baby and not being at home, but it was so much better than a shelter!!! I can't believe my baby is going to be in the double digits!!!! Time sure does go by quickly!!

School is rufffffffffffff right now. Katrina and Dylan are on each others nerves. Mine are very frazzled. We are ALL READY FOR A BREAK!!! But we need to finish up are semester!!!

Here Dylan is measuring in inches the planets. I thought it was a cute thing to do.

We have another busy night planned. I have to help teach Religious Education, Dylan has scouts and is getting ready to receive his Parvuli Dei Religious Emblem. I believe the Parish Priest is coming to talk to them about it and he'll receive it at Mass next year.

Katrina is suppose to go to Youth group, but I am unsure if she will.....school work isn't completed.

Better go and get supper going.

Love ya all

Bunny

Responsiblity

2007-12-07T15:33:00.001-05:00

I found a website that I have been using for a couple of months.
www.charactercounts.org
It gives you a character trait to work on for the whole month. I choose which character trait I need to work on with both my kids!!
They have different traits like, responsibility, honesty, gratitude, generosity, courage, knowledge, caring, fairness, patriotism and respect.
These are things my children need to be working on. They have two different levels, elementary (which I use with Dylan) and High School (for Katrina).
They give you a list of books to read, quotes for each day. I will try to post them daily, but I am sure I will forget!!
Some of the quotes hit home!! I purchased to small dry erase boards at Lakeshore for each one of them.
http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/seo/ca%7CsearchResults~~p%7C2534374302060931~~.jsp
I then write a quote on the board, and we discuss it.
Katrina will read her quotes and come in to me and tell me "I hate you!" because they are describing her to a capital T!!
Like:
"The best prepartation for tomorrow's work is to do your work as well as you can today." Elbert Hubbard

"Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life." Unknown

For Dylan:
"Let deeds match words." Plato
"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." Benjamin Franklin

They have been fun, and I hope that they are learning from them!!

It is FINALLY getting a bit cooler here. I can actually wear jeans once in a while.

Mom has finished her radiation. She has a couple weeks off and will start chemo on Dec. 26th.
We are going to spend Christmas with them this year. Kids are kinda sad about not being at home, but understand why I want to go to their home.

We are celebrating Dylan's 10th birthday tomorrow (not true date) by having 6 friends come over, we will go play 18 holes of miniature golf, back for pizza, cake and presents.
I am leaving now to buy his cake, soda, chips etc!!
Have a wonderful day and weekend.
Bunny

Christmas Time

2007-12-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

Here the kids are putting their first ornament on the tree.
I don't have a picture of complete tree because I still have to
buy the tinsel!!!
I am trying very hard to make this holiday more about
our Lord, but the devil sure is making it hard.
I am trying to do our Advent Wreath and readings before
bedtime. (Last year morning didn't work)
Last night, they were horrible to each other and me while
trying to read!!!
They just CAN NOT GET ALONG!!!!
IT IS DRIVING ME NUTS!!!!
I know alot of it is my fault, I dreamed of a great time homeschooling, us
all getting along and doing fun things together. NOT!!
Oh well, I am sure I will get through this!!

We had fun at the park last week. Yesterday we went to the
Orlando Rep Theatre and saw "A Wonderful Life"
It was wonderful, though I think Dylan was a bit bored.

Today we are going bowling. So I must go get ready.

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season!!

Bunny

Check out what I have read

2007-11-30T11:17:00.000-05:00

I don't have to time to mess with blogging and learn how these AWESOME bloggers get pictures of their books and put them in the sidebar!!

I just finished Twilight and loved it!! I am so upset that I am 38th in line for the next book "the New Moon" I didn't want it to end!!!!! I may just have to cut the grocery list and go buy it myself!!

I added just a few of the books I have read recently to the side bar under favorite authors.
I love to read and never have enough time.

Trina and I are reading "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes. She is a very reluctant reader, so that is one reason I reread with her. To get her excited about it. Of course I love to read anyways and love the books I try to get her to read.

We are off to the park and am trying to beat the rain.
Till later,
Laugh, love and hug each other!!
Love ya
Bunny

No time

2007-11-29T16:34:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,
I just haven't found the time to blog. Not much happening to blog about anyways.
School is going okay, we have a good day, then a bad day, etc.
Today is a bad day. I overslept and have felt horrible all day. Just no energy, low grade headache that won't go away. Just plain yucky :(

So because of me....not much is getting done. We are trying, but with the fights and yelling I am ready to give up!!!

I hope your day is going better than mine!! :)

Hoping to have a better day tomorrow!!!
Till then,
Grumpy Bunny

Spelling Lists

2007-11-26T17:08:00.000-05:00

This is a great website for spelling lists. While I am not using it yet, I am going to as soon as I am done with the curriculum that I am using.

www.everydayspelling.com/spellinglist

It goes by grades and looks good.

Our spelling is improving so much!!!

Here is what we are doing:

Each day he has a worksheet that came with the curriculum. So he does one each day.

Day 1

I go over the spelling hints with him. Then give him a pretest.

Then he writes the words on his spelling paper. He decorates it with stickers and uses this list all week long.

I then make a fun sheet with the alphabet on it and he must put the words into ABC order.

Do worksheet.

Day 2

I pick 5 words and we concentrate on these. Dylan has trouble with the vowels and phonics of words. I give him the vowel tiles and then I hand him the consonants tiles and have him spell the word. We then split the word into syllables.

He also makes up a wordfind with his words. He also has to write the words again so I know what words to find!

I make him a word find and he finds the words.

Do worksheet.

Day 3

We study the next 5 words. We again do the tiles for the 5 new words, and the 5 words we practiced yesterday.

Do worksheet.

Day 4

We study the next 5 words. Today we go over all 15 words. We play a spelling game. He uses the dictionary for my spelling words. (He sometimes doesn't pronounce them correctly and I spell the "wrong" word.)

Do worksheet.

Day 5

Spelling test with a bonus word usually from History.

He has been getting 100's!!! It sure does work.

I am going to try to upload some photos.

If anyone wants a copy of this stuff, send me your email and I will email them to you.

Of course, I ask him the words everyday. While in public, at home, on our walk. He gets mad at me for asking in public, but tough luck!!!

I also have a binder that has 3 sections: Rules, Trouble Words, and All about Words.

I have him write the rules down ex: short o is spelled with o dog, log,

long 0 an be spelled

o oa ow

ago coat low

Under trouble words, we write the words that he misses on his final spelling tests.

We go over the words once a week. I try for daily, but it never happens.

Under all about words, he writes about the grammar part of a word......an adjective describes a noun.

Root words are.....etc.

I hope this can help someone else out.

New Look

2007-11-26T11:11:00.000-05:00

My daughter is the one who told me about this great new look.
Visit
www.whateverlife.com
go to my space layouts. Click on the one you want.
Make sure you add html to your template and you get a new look.
I just don't like that I can't enlarge the text font size. I hate small fonts. It's cause I'm so old!!!
Have a great day!!

Virtual School

2007-11-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

I have had many people ask me about the Virtual School my daughter does.
If you live in Florida, the one we use is free. I don't know what it costs for out of state, but here is the website
www.flvs.net

You might try to google your state and Virtual School.

My daughter is a struggle with school work. I like the courses, she doesn't like the work load. I know that it is much more simpler than public school. I like that you are in contact with the teacher, and they are VERY helpful. I like being able to check her work, and work with her.
She hated Algebra on line, it was very hard to type up the equations and we spent more time looking for the keys to use than it took to do the work.
You do follow a pace and must do so many assignments per week. It works for us, but not for some.
I hope this helps everyone out!!
Bunny

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T18:01:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are enjoying our time with Mom and Dad. Mom is doing well and is very upbeat. My aunt put on a wonderful dinner and we are all tired and full.
School has been doing okay. I had to push Katrina, but she is almost finished with her 1st semester in Earth Space Science online course. She has one more assignment and then she is going to take the month of December off. She will start it up again January 7th. Her teacher is thrilled with her work.
We took most of the week off, just did little odds and ends.
I think Dave and I are going to brave doing some shopping tomorrow without the children. I need to Christmas shop with out them around!!!
I hope the holidays are wonderful for you all.
Bunny

A Great Children's Online Dictionary

2007-11-13T21:09:00.000-05:00

http://www.wordcentral.com/home.html

Today's Word with Joel and Victoria Osteen

2007-11-13T20:33:00.000-05:00

http://www.lakewood.cc/site/PageServer?pagename=LCH_index

You can sign up and get messages directly to your email. I find them greatly uplifting!!

I see they are coming to Orlando.....I might have to have my son miss Religious Education and have the family go. It does kinda bug me that I have to pay for the kids!!! Oh well, when money is tight you tend to be "cheap"!!! LOL!!!!

Bunny

Fellow Bloggers

2007-11-13T10:40:00.000-05:00

I want to know when you find the time to blog. I must be horrible at managing my time...because I have no time to blog!! Oh no, wait a minute, what's that I hear????
Oh it's my kids fighting, calling me, bugging the dog, not doing their school work, the phone is ringing, the wash is done, the dishwasher must be loaded, bed sheets changed, I must look up the Milky Way, Dylan needs the computer to do his Math Blaster Mastering the Basics, must print out SOTW test, must see if the library has all the books for the next two lessons in SOTW, Trina get doing your school work, Patches need to go out and do her business, what now!!! It's lunch time!!!
I swear that my kids are way tooooooooo needy!!! They need me for everything and even though I am trying to get them to be more independent...IT"S NOT WORKING!!!!

I hope everyone is doing fine.
I will try to blog more later.
P.S. Sign up for Scholastics letters from History which are from the Mayflower and the Tribe. They are great and the website to visit is good also.
http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/

Enjoy your fall day....it's warm again in Florida. RATS!!!!
Bunny

Calling my fellow blogger "Daisy"

2007-11-09T09:01:00.001-05:00

Daisy, Daisy, Daisy,
I can't get to your blog!! It has this message:

Page Not FoundThe requested URL was not found on this server. Please visit the Blogger homepage or the Blogger Knowledge Base for further assistance.

How can I find you again????
Bunny

Discovery Landing

2007-11-08T11:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday when were eating lunch and we heard a huge "BOOM". I still jump everytime I hear it and think the worst. But yesterday, I knew it was the shuttle landing.

We have a friend who works at the NASA and he gets the most amazing photos.

Here are some awesome photos.

Where does time fly to?

2007-11-08T08:22:00.001-05:00

Here is a picture of the pumpkin Dylan and his Dad carved. I thought it came out great. The only problem with living in Florida, the very next day the pumpkin had a ton of mold in it. YUCK!!!!!

Here Dylan is learning about fractions. We took a bag of M & M's and a worksheet that showed him how to make a fraction. He, of course, had fun with this!!

Here is my sweet, sweet daughter doing her work on her computer. She still hates History, but is doing her time!

I have tried to start teaching about artist, composers, etc. While I am not very good at it yet, I found some books I had on Vincent Van Gogh. I had a worksheet that had the artist do a picture like Van Gogh. First, you color with bright colors on a heavy piece of white cardstock. Then you take India Ink and cover the whole picture. Finally you take a sharp object, (they suggested a penny..didn't work) and scrap out a picture. I think Dylan did a great job!! Then I found some great notebook pages to go with artist and A&E had a show on Van Gogh!! I love it when it all falls into place. So tomorrow we will watch the show and fill out the notebook pages!!

Fridays is our lazy school day. It's always test day, then fun things. Here is Florida Wednesday is a half day for most kids, but we prefer Friday to take it easy.

I am going to try to finish up our little mini unit on Florida. I was "planning" to do a state a week, but it never goes as planned!! I purchase from Highlights the "Which Way" books. Dylan loves puzzles and is enjoying it. I then bought the state notebook pages from "Homeschool EStore" and we are using some of the sheets. I also downloaded from the US Mint, the booklets on each state. He colors the state quarter, and we do the fun activities with the booklet. I try to give him coloring pages to do when I have to help Trina. This way it is all in a folder for him, and he can color what he wants and it's okay not to finish it!! It seems to be working. (Knock on wood.)

I am also doing a Character Counts with the kids. Here is the web address: http://www.charactercounts.org/howto/teaching-tools.htm

I downloaded the quotes and have dry erase boards for each of the kids. We have a theme for a month. I put up a new quote (almost) every day. It is so funny how the quotes fit my children perfectly!!! They have a quote for Elementary School and High School. You can download a list of books that go with each theme. We read the books and discuss how it goes with the theme. I love it and feel it helps them also!! This month we have chosen "Responsibility". Today's quote for Katrina is " Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life." Unknown Dylan's quote is "There's only one way you can fail and that's to quit." Brian Hayes Dave even comes home from work and reads them!! Katrina, of course, will always say that she hates me. That's because it is describing her!!!!

Weather is finally cooler. I even put on the heat. Only because Katrina wouldn't leave me alone about it being so "cold". Me....I would prefer to just put on a sweatshirt and not have the heat on. But my kids are wimpy, wimpy, wimpy!!!

Mom starts her whole head radiation today. She is hanging in there tough!! She has whole head radiation for 4 weeks 5 days a week. They did tell her she would lose her hair, but she hasn't lost any throught this whole thing, I don't think she will!!

I just finished reading:

I loved the book. I am now adding her to my favorite author list.

Well, I must go and get the kids up.

Have a wonderful day.

Love ya and God Bless,

Bunny

So much to say and so little time

2007-10-29T22:23:00.000-04:00

Thank you everyone for your wonderful prayers.

I am home for a while. Mom's procedure went okay. She has to start whole brain radiation as a precautionary measure. She will start around November 6th and have to go 5 days a week. While doing radiation, she can't have any chemotherapy. She has her pet scan tomorrow. This will tell if the cancer in her lung has grown and if it has gone anywhere else.

Her mouth is still drooping, drooling and talking weird. They told her it may never get better and it might go away completely. I know that it depresses her alot. I try to keep her upbeat. I will probably go up every other week to give Dad a break. But I will have to be home for Kat's acting classes on Friday!! Busy, busy, busy!!

I am going to attempt to add some photos in the order I want. HAHAHAHA. It never works that way for me!!

See....it won't even let me do it. I will try again tomorrow.

I never did get to post my reading list!! But I have been busy reading.

I finally finished "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Sure I can post pictures from the web, but not my own!!!

I also just finished "Courting Trouble" by Deeane Gist
Loved it!!!

I am now reading "The Marriage Game" by Fern Michaels

I love Fern Michael's books.

They are a great funny lighthearted romance books.

I love to read everything.

My most favourites authors are:
Stephen King
Dean Koontz
Jude Deveroux (she even answered my letter personally!!)
Diane Gabaldon

I have a few others that I read. But these are my top notch writers!!!

I must go and put my kiddos to bed and enjoy a nice cold leisure beer.

Love ya all and thanks for listening to me.
Bunny

I am still alive!!

2007-10-23T18:29:00.000-04:00

Life is so busy...I don't even have time to be on the computer. I try to read everyone's blogs, but no time lately.

Update on Mom, she is going to Jacksonville on Thursday to have the cyberknife procedure done on her lung cancer in the brain. I am going up tomorrow to be with them. Dave is able to take time off from work to be home with the kids and dog. (Another story for later.)

The procedure should take 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I am going to be there with Dad for support. And of course to help out after. She has been having a very tough time with it all lately. The poor girl calls me crying quite a bit. Glad for those free minutes!!! I am also glad that I am able to listen to her and try to cheer her up.

School has been tough. Trina always blames everyone but herself for her work not being complete. I was very "lenient" and let her go to Derby on Saturday. She wasn't suppose to go because her weeks work was not complete. She does her core subjects on line, so she must keep on pace!! (Which I love.) Monday she did nothing but complain, headache, tired etc. Hmm...wonder why I hate derby!!! I made her redo 2 assignments in History and had to listen to the complaining!!

On the other hand...

Dylan is doing awesome!!! I am so proud of us both....he use to get 40% on spelling tests and since I read Dr. Mel Levine's books...he gets 110% (we do bonus words)!!! Yahoo!!!! His tips really work!!!

Today for writing...he started a report on the Space Shuttle Discovery Launch. It fit perfectly into the writing topic!!!

I must go and eat. I will try to blog some more later.

Love ya all!!!!

Bunny

Daily Focus from Alpha Omega

2007-10-16T18:38:00.000-04:00

First I want to thank all 4 of my blogging friends for their support and hugs. It meant so much to me....(I even cried)... Thanks for listening to me, it helps sometimes just to write and then when I got the wonderful replies it made it better to deal with. I still can't talk on the phone without "losing" it!!
Anyways,

I get this newsletter from Alpha Omega, and some days it seems to fit me to the letter T.
Not only in my homeschooling life, but my everyday busy part of life. It really "perks" my feelings. Now if they would only do one so I wouldn't want to drink beer!!! (I know you don't "know" me, but I LOVE my beer. I am trying not to LOVE it so much. It is hard.

I will write more of what is going on soon. I am so tired, and trying to get back to schooling daily, and clean my house among other things!!!
I miss reading all my blogging friends and will try hard to catch up this week.

The Dark Side of HomeschoolingTuesday / October 16, 2007

"The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness." (Psalm 18:28b) Who do you trust with your secret homeschooling anxieties? With an antagonistic public already waiting to pounce on your educational or parental failures, many homeschooling parents are reluctant to talk about their frustrations. Even within the homeschooling community, homeschoolers struggle alone in silence as they listen to other parents expound on their wonderful homeschooling activities and successes. Although spouses, homeschooling coops, and Websites offer some helpful advice and encouragement, most homeschooling parents long to talk to a soul mate - someone who truly understands the dark, ugly emotions of resentment and selfishness that can surface when homeschooling.No one wants to be negative, but the pressures of everyday life can put out the Lord's light in any homeschooling parent. The Apostle Paul understood his capability for evil and sin when he cried out, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do" (Romans 7:18-19). Praise God, when Satan tempts us to be our worst, God is waiting to help us be our best. He gives us the power we need to say "No" to our selfish desires. He understands our homeschooling hurts and need for understanding (Hebrews 4:15). Most of all, in His warm embrace, we find the truest friend who is ready to listen and light our way through the dark times.If you sense the darkness growing inside your heart, don't sit in your silent pain any longer. Chase the shadows away and cry out to the One who cares about your every need. Let Him gently guide and lift you up with His forgiving love. "I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings." (Psalm 40:1-2)

Lord, I cry out to You today. I feel so bogged down in these emotions that are trying to lead me to despair. Help me find my way and remind me of the homeschooling blessings that You have given. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Hugs to you all
Bunny

Never a dull moment

2007-10-06T22:37:00.000-04:00

Life is so terribly busy. I have tried to sit down and write my book list, but life gets in the way.
I am up helping my mom out this week and life took a turn for the worse.
For those who are new to my blog, my mom has lung cancer. I visit her every couple of weeks to clean her house and take her to her chemo treatments.
While visiting this week, I noticed that she talked a bit funny. She thought I meant her voice. We asked the cancer doctor about it, and thought it was a sinus infection.
I kept on noticing her talking differently. My hubby came up and said that she was talking out of only one side of her mouth!!
She started having facial spasms. She had 8 just this morning, so we took her to the
emergency room. After a 4 hour wait, and many tests, we find out that she has a tumor on her brain.
Needless to say, I am staying longer to try and help her and my dad.
I will keep you all updated and Please keep her in your prayers.
Love one another, our time here on earth goes way to quickly.
Bunny

Fall into Reading 2007

2007-09-27T21:52:00.000-04:00

Let's all have some fun doing this!! I love reading everyone's reading list, it gives me
more ideas on what I can read.
I love to read, and will stay up all night reading!!

I am working on my list and will post it soon.

bunny

NO MORE CRUTCHES!!! FINALLY!!!!

2007-09-25T21:17:00.000-04:00

Doctor said that Katrina should stop using the crutches and only use the brace when in public and at bed!!!! I am so excited!!!!! She says that she has forgotten how to walk. The complaining hasn't gone away yet, but hopefully she will "remember" how to walk soon.

I am trying to get us up earlier and lessons done early, but it just never seems to happen. I am slow moving in the morning, which doesn't help.

Dylan learned about triangles today.

Here he is with his Equilateral, Isosceles, and Scalene triangles made with graph paper.

We read the book "The Greedy Triangle" by Marilyn Burns and this picture is where the Greedy Triangle liked it the best. Can you find him???

I really like how we can have fun learning like this, but sometimes it is hard. Especially when Katrina wants my attention also!!
So today I tried hard. Dylan is using Scott Foresman Reading grade 3, and his story to read this week was in the form of a play. I asked Trina to be the girl part. We had fun reading the play. We laughed alot because it was Dylan's first time reading a play and he would read the name of the character and all the directions with his lines. We had fun with it.

Then tonight we took Dylan's multiplication by 2's and did them over and over. I also had him spell his first 5 words from his spelling list over and over. I am going to try to do this all day and in the evening hours also. Some nights it won't work with Religious Education and Scouts, but I can try!!!

I still plan too much and never seem to get to it all. I have had a cool art lesson planned for about a month now, just no time to do it!!!

Oh well.....must go and get the kiddo's to bed.

Bunny

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS_2007

2007-09-24T18:23:00.000-04:00

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS_2007

Trina went and saw this play on Friday. I thought it would be way over Dylan's head, so we sat in the lobby. We were able to watch the play on a TV, and we laughed quite a bit. I am sad :(
that we didn't go.

Today, we didn't get much done. I was feeling a bit under the weather. Tomorrow is Doctors appt for Trina's leg.....please pray that she can walk on it without the crutches. I am sick of her using "broken leg" as an excuse for getting nothing done.

She starts her Life Management Course on line next month. The teacher told us she must
become CPR certified to take the class. So now I have to find somewhere close by, since I hate to drive to do this. I figure I might as well take the class also. It's been over 18 years since I took a course!!!

Gonna go clean up supper dishes and relax.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Luv ya,
Bunny

Quiz for People Who Know Everything

2007-09-18T21:30:00.000-04:00

These are not trick questions. They are straight questions with straight answers.

1. Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or

the leader until the contest ends.

2. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?

3. Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons.

All other vegetables must be replanted every year.

What are the only two perennial vegetables?

4. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?

5. In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear

is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way.

How did the pear get inside the bottle?

6. Only three words in standard English begin with the letters "dw" and they are all common

words. Name two of them.

7. There are 14 punctuation marks in English Grammar. Can you name at least half of them?

8. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in

any other form except fresh.

9. Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter "S."

Okay are you finished thinking????
I want to post a cute thinking picture, but can not get blogger to cooperate with where I want to put it!!
I am leaving spaces so don't cheat!!

Answers:
1. Boxing

2. Niagara Falls (The rim is worn down about two and a half feet each year because of the millions of gallons of water that rush over it every minute.)

3. Asparagus and Rhubarb

4. Strawberry

5. It grew inside the bottle. The bottles are placed over pear buds when they are small and are wired in place on the tree. The bottle is left in place for the entire gowing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.

6. Dwarf, dwell and dwindle.

7. Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation point, quotation makrs, brackets, parenthesis, braces and ellipses.

8. Lettuce

9. Shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, skates, snowshoes, stockings, stilts.

Hope you all enjoyed it!!

Bunny

A BOring School Day

2007-09-18T20:59:00.001-04:00

Well here it is Tuesday evening and we didn't do anything fun at school yet.
Dylan did have his first guitar lesson yesterday. He loves it and can't wait
to go again next week.
I am just plugging away at getting organized with our school stuff and trying
to get rid of what we don't need!! Just doesn't seem like enough time in the day
to get everything accomplished.
Weather was a little bit cooler today....can't wait to go out and not sweat!!!
NOt much else is new....sorry it's so boring here this week!!!
God Bless,
Bunny

Katrina's Science Experiment

2007-09-16T21:14:00.000-04:00

Here Katrina is measuring the water to put the hot can into.
She is learning about air pressure.

Here is the can with about a centimeter of water in it, being
heated on the stove burner. Once the steam came out in a steady stream,
she used tongs and inverted the can into the pan of water.
Then the can made a loud POP and was dented in!!
It was really fun to do. She said she didn't understand it, so we did the experiment that used a candle, jar, colored water. I forgot to take pictures of that one. For those who want to try it at home, you take a shallow dish and add about an inch of water, add a few drops of food coloring to it. Put a candle in the middle of the water and light it. Put a glass jar over the candle and watch it go out and the water goes up inside the jar.
Because of the air pressure being greater outside than inside, the water goes in the jar.

Finally a picture of her cast. We go back to the doctors on the 25th to see if she can start walking without the crutches. He said that it was healing very nicely.

We had a truly great week of homeschooling and hoping that it will continue.
Dylan starts his guitar lessons tomorrow and is very excieted about it.

I must go and read to them and hopefully get them asleep before 11!!!!
God Bless you all!!
Bunny

Math and Science Fun

2007-09-16T20:57:00.000-04:00

Here is Dylan learning how to divide. I had him make a snack mix.
I would put 56 goldfish in a bowl and tell him to divide it by 8 bowls. How many goldfish in each bowl? He did use his multiplication chart, but loved doing it!!! We used goldfish, cashews, M & M's, peanut M & M's, little marshmallows, Cheeze -its, Teddy Grahams, and sprinkled sunflower seeds on top.

Here Dylan is with our homemade Barometer.
Katrina is learning about air pressure and Dylan
wants to be included also!!

I am try to post more pictures, but haven't learned how to use blogger yet!!! LOL!!!!

Forever!!!

2007-09-12T21:54:00.000-04:00

Well, it's September 12th and I can't believe how I never have time to blog anymore.

Just a quick recap.....still homeschooling. Dylan is in 4th grade and Trina is in HIGH SCHOOL 9th grade.

Akron was horrible, Katrina was very ill on race day and she still managed to place 9th in the World Championships!!! Dave is having a hard time with it all, because she had the fastest times and the fastest lanes for the next 2 races and would of won it all. He is so heartbroken.

Katrina and Dylan bought skateboards. Katrina used it twice and on her 2nd try, she fell off and broke her leg. That took us two weeks to find out and how I dislike doctors and the way they do things here in Florida. And to boot, we just switched to this new doctor!!!! She has been in an air cast for 3 weeks with apply NO PRESSURE at all on it. (This has been driving me nuts!!!!) Orthopedic doctor told her on tuesday that she can start to put a "little" bit of pressure on it. NOt alot!! More next week and then we see him again on the 25th for more updates.

Mom's cancer is not spreading (Yahoo) and is she is doing okay. My aunt on my Dad's side has cancer also. She is not doing so well, lost her hair, is very sick from the chemo and is trying to keep her spirits up.

Me.....tired of life. But Jesus keeps giving me the strength to go on each day. The above picture is of me at Dave's Fantasy Football Picking Get together. Dave is not in the picture...he's the one taking it.

It's 10 and I must get my kids to bed.

Love to you all
Bunny

Free TV Giveaway

2007-08-04T23:05:00.000-04:00

Another blogger is giving away a 37 inch flat panel lcd hdtv tv.
Click on the link and leave a comment.
Here's hoping one of us will win!!

http://www.5minutesformom.com/2032/insignia-37inch-flat-panel-lcd-hdtv-contest/#comment-363837

Akron Ohio

2007-07-16T19:06:00.000-04:00

We are here in Akron Ohio!!! We are having fun getting ready for the World Championship!!!

Poor Dylan is sick with a cold. He and I stayed home tonight instead of going to the Areo's Baseball Game. We are ordering Room Service and trying to make him well!!

If you want to visit my photo album daily (I hope I can do it daily) here is the first link:

http://s186.photobucket.com/albums/x28/derbymomindenial/

I know you are not Derby people, but we had to drop Katrina's King pin....we now have to do this because of cheaters and it is kinda a big deal. Dave did it and we are a okay for now.

Both their cars past inspections and they even got a VIP Ribbons!!! We are so special because of it.

I would post more photos tonight, except Dave has the camera!!! Tomorrow is another day.

We are staying at the Quaker Square Hotel and it is soo cool. All the rooms are round and the murals in the lobby are awesome. I will post some pictures tomorrow, but you can visit their link at:
http//www.quakersquare.com
Tomorrow we leave the Quaker and go to the Fairfield hotel. We stayed downtown the first couple of days because all the festivities are downtown. Plus I hate to get up early!!

Food is here, so I will write later!!

Love ya all,
Bunny

World Championship

2007-07-09T14:54:00.000-04:00

Well, it's official. Katrina and Dylan both qualified for the World Championship in Arkron Ohio. We leave on Friday for the week long festivities.
They are both extremely excited and can't wait to leave. In fact, Katrina wants to pack her suitcase last week!!!
We are busy getting ready. We have made most of their buttons for trading, but I forgot to count when I ordered them and was short 50 backs!! Emailed the seller, will send them, but not in time. So I ordered more from another seller.
Will try to post a picture of them.
Weather here is extremely hot and we are enjoying the pool.
Not much school work getting done. I do think I will have them do some state worksheets on our trip to Ohio.
Sorry I haven't blogged much!!
Hugs and kisses,
Bunny

Time Flies

2007-06-22T11:13:00.000-04:00

I can't believe how fast time does really fly by.
We have been home for two weeks and have been so busy with catching up on housework, laundry, getting the kids evaluation....everyday life.
Mom is doing okay, she has finished her treatments and gets two weeks off. She will go see her doctors on July 5th. Both my Dad and her are happy to be done with this part of her treatment. It really was hard driving to town everyday, waiting for the treatments, doctors etc.. One of her doctors told her that the tumor has shrunk. I am trying to find out how much it shrunk, but haven't received an answer yet.
My cousin Amie and her family were in a horrible accident. Luckily they are finally all at home and recovering. The middle child was hurt the worst, but from her pictures and blog, they sure are bouncing back quite nicely. (It sure doesn't look it from the pictures!!) I don't know how she doesn't cry everytime she looks at Cameron!!! You are still in our prayers, Amie.
Both my children passed their school evaulation with flying colors. I still don't think I do enough, but was told by the principal who does it that I am doing wonderfully. Still hard to believe!! LOL!!!!
We won't know if Katrina will qualify for Akron, OH for Soapbox Derby until tomorrow.
She is quite upset about the whole thing and has been making our lives miserable because of it. MMMMmmmmmmmm....wonder why I HATE Derby????
I have lots of other things to blog about....but no time.

I do want to say if anyone is studying the Holocaust that Elie Wiesel's Book "Night" is wonderful. Katrina did not read it, but I did and cried. It is more for the high school students, but should NOT BE PASSED UP!! I know that the Diary of Anne Frank is a must have also. I also read the book "Surviving Hilter" by Andrea Warren. I honestly must say that I read alot of books on the subject. I remember how I cried when I first read Anne Frank. I wanted to read more, but at that time in school we barely touched the surface with this subject. Now I read in the newspapers how some people believe that this never happened!! I am so upset about that!! I will never let my children forget the horrors these poor people went through. In fact, I read in one book that the American People had a chance to help them and didn't!!! The "excuse" was that America was going through the Depression.
This was under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's time and here I thought he was a great president!!! I wish I had written down all the details, but I don't remember EVER learning about that in school!!!

To a bit of a lighter side, Dylan and I just finished reading "Runt" by Marion Dane Bauer. It is a novel about wolves. It was very sad and happy. I cried and laughed and cried some more!! Some were even happy tears!! It is about a wolf family and how they deal with their lives. It really does make you (well...at least me) think about us humans are making life difficult for all animals. With the constant construction and building going on. Which is another reason, why I personally won't kill the wildlife around my home. I know the snakes aren't venomous and I leave them be.

Okay, okay, okay enough for today. I will try to post some new pictures soon.

Give everyone a hug and make sure you tell them that you love them. Life is very short. Enjoy one another!!

Love,
Bunny

Hello I am back

2007-05-23T15:16:00.000-04:00

I can't believe how much time has passed! I have been so very busy. I spent a week with my Mom & Dad. I took her to all her treatment appointments, helped her around her house, tried to keep up with the kids schoolwork, and take care of the dog. Needless to say when I got home, I was exhausted. Both physically and emotionally!!
It was hard to see my Mom in so much pain! She is just now starting to feel all the side effects from the radiation and chemo. She hasn't lost her hair yet. She had some broncospams, and took some Ceftin and had an allergic reaction. Dad had to call 911 and get the ambulance to take her to the hospital. Never a dull moment!!

Then the kids had the Local Soapbox Derby race. Trina came in 5th and Dylan came in 8th. Since they didn't win 1st place, if they go to the World Championship's in Akron, Ohio it will be on their points. Dylan is definetely going in his division on points. We have to wait and see is Trina makes it. Right now she is in 10th place and we only send 8 cars. We are hoping that two people ahead of her win their local and move her up. Trina's car recieved a VIP and she received a $10 gift card to Walmart. We ended up giving Dylan $10 because it was Dave's fault his car didn't make it. It was a great race day. Tiring for me!! You can check out photos on Tampa Bay's website. It is called the 2007 Central Florida Local. http://www.tampabaysoapboxderby.com/section_410.cfmLocal.
I took over 500 photos and they were all blurry!! I was so upset.
Dave is going to get me a new camera for my birthday.

This link has the video that aired on Cartoon Network a couple of years ago. It is located in the second row, the one on the right. That is Katrina!!! http://www.tampabaysoapboxderby.com/section_420.cfm

Trina's 14th b-day is Friday. She is having a few friends over for a sleepover. We are going to the opening of "Pirates of the Carribbean" and a pirate themed party. We got some really cool pirate things for everyone. I will post pictures!! I can't believe that my baby is going to be 14!! It seems like I just had her!!

The fires in Georgia have sent the smoke to us. Somedays it is really bad!! We don't even go outside on those days. Hurricane season is just around the corner. I need to start preparing for it. Getting water and canned foods on hand. I need to get gas for the generator. I can't believe the prices of gas. It's $3.03 a gallon here in Central Florida.

Dave went to NY to spend some time with his parents and go on a fishing trip. He caught the biggest fish in the group. He had a wonderful time and I am glad he was able to go without us!!

I guess that's all for now.
I miss all of you and haven't even had time to visit your blogs. I hope to do this soon!!

Love to you all.
Bunny

Home Sweet Home

2007-04-16T13:21:00.000-04:00

We are finally at our own home. It sure does feel nice to get back home. Dave was a busy guy while we were gone. He took out the kids old bathtub, and put in the new one. He also put up the new tub walls. Installed the adjusting shower head rod.
I am off to buy the rounded shower curtain rod.
Needless to say we aren't doing much school work today. I HAVE to pay bills!! Finally got some food yesterday. We had nothing to eat!!!
Mom is going to meet with the radiologist today. I don't have any more information yet. We did meet with the surgeon on Friday (before I came home). I thought it was positive information. He said that if the tumor shrinks, he may be able to perform surgery. Just not at this time. Also her cancer is at Stage IIIa and is NOT the fast growing cells!!! I left feeling very positive and hopefully it rubbed off on Mom and Dad. Then when we got to their home......OUR HOLY DIRT FROM CHIMAYO CAME!!
I rubbed it all over her chest and back and hopefully that will help it disappear like I read about it!!! POSITIVE THINKING!!
Once I get unpacked and caught up on housework, school work etc..........I will post more.
Love one another each day....give positive thoughts, smiles and hugs to everyone!!
Life is way too short!!
Enjoy and encourage~~
Bunny

Hi...Sorry I haven't written

2007-04-11T20:49:00.000-04:00

I am still at my Mom and Dad's. What a busy week!! I am getting my farm roots again!! Been busy Pooper Scooping the horse poo!! Brings back many memories!!!
We are still doing school work. It's hard with not everything here....but we are comprising.
Weather is back to being hot.
my show criminal minds is on...I will write later.
Much Love
Bunny

Out of sorts

2007-04-04T21:34:00.000-04:00

Well....the reason I haven't been writing lately...is that we have received some bad news.
My Mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. We still are unsure of what stage it is at and what type of cancer cells they are. She goes in for a needle biopsy on Tuesday. I will now more then.
I, of course, immediately packed up and went to be with them. I finally went home on Saturday and today she called.
Dad had to go for emergency appendisits. He finally is out and is in a lot of pain, but we think he will be fine.
With all this happening, I forgot to get Trina evaulated for her homeschooling!!!
So now I need to call them and ask for an extension!!!
Never a dull moment.
Mom didn't have a computer with internet access. God truly watches out for me....a Derby fellow friend told Dave about an organization that gives away computers for education! We got a cute little laptop!! We went and got an internet card for access so that Katrina can keep up on her online classes.
I will write more when I find out more details.
Keep us in your prayers!
Bunny

Great website for phonics

2007-04-02T22:58:00.000-04:00

http://www.free-phonics-worksheets.com/html/phonics_lesson_extensions.html#v237

Here is a fun phonics site with worksheets.

I will write later.

Bunny

Making a rubber bone

2007-03-17T22:33:00.000-04:00

Dylan took a drumstick bone from our chicken supper. Mom washed it and then we put it in a jar of vinegar. We left it in the jar for 3 days.

What does it make??? A rubber bone!!!

We had fun doing this experiment. FYI, the vinegar acts as a mild acid, but is strong enough to dissolve away the calcium in the bone. Once the calcium is dissolved, there is nothing to keep the bone hard - all that is left is the soft bone tissue.

This is a great experiment to show our kids why they must drink milk!!
I broke my wrist twice when I was younger and they told me that my drinking so much milk was the best way for me to heal my bones!! I love a nice cold glass of milk with my supper!!

Bunny

Happy St. Patricks Day!!

2007-03-17T22:13:00.000-04:00

We have been so busy with Derby racing every weekend that I am soooooo tired!! Last weekend we went to Lakeland. Katrina is the only one who placed, she got a 3rd.

We took this weekend off, only because we are traveling all the way to North Carolina for a two day race next weekend!! We will be taking Friday off from homeschooling to travel there and Monday off to travel home!! My mom has agreed to
take Patches for the trip.
We had a great day today. We went and had "lunch" at Chilis. We ordered 4 appetizers and had fun talking and laughing as a family.

Then we made a stop at the mall. Dave got some jeans and I purchased some much needed bras. Mine were at least 3 years old!!! Isn't it terrible how women neglect themselves!!
Then we went to the $1 theatre and watched "Happy Feet"!! What a wonderful family movie!! I couldn't stop my feet from moving!!!! It makes you want to take tap lessons!!!

Derby Races

2007-03-07T09:52:00.000-05:00

Not sure why I can't see photo's as I am posting, but the first picture is a good Derby Mom friend with Dylan and Katrina.
The second one is Dylan getting his 1st place trophy.
The third photo is of Trina racing....her car is the pink and in the left hand lane.
The fourth photo is of Dylan racing....his car is blue and in the right hand lane.

It was the most miserable day of racing. It was in the city of Ocala, which is 2 hours away. I packed two changes of clothing for everyone, it wasn't enough. We were at the track at 7:30 and by 9:30 the kids clothes were soaked, by 10:00 we had no dry clothes. I was giving the kids my dry clothes for them to use. Even Patches was miserable. I wanted to leave after the morning race.....which didn't end till 4:30 p.m., but everyone in my family wanted to stay. Needless to say they are happy we did. In the afternoon race Dylan got a 2nd place and Katrina got a 3rd place.
This weekend we are off to Lakeland for another round of racing. I had paid for Zoo classes today, but Dylan doesn't feel good, and I need him well for racing.

School is going okay. Katrina is the one child I have to hound to do work. But as my therapist says....where she is in school or homeschooled she would fight me...might as well be at home!!! LOL!!!
Dylan has started a space unit with the unit study from Dinah Zike. It is a great unit and we are having fun with it. We are also still taking our time with SOTW and MOH. We are having way to much fun with Ancient Egypt. I found some great folder units at Lakeshore to use with it. He is doing well in reading and is greatly improving on spelling. We are learning multiplication and he has started cursive writing. No wonder I have no time to blog....we are tooooo busy learning.

Katrina is learning about the Great Depression and has fun dressing her American Doll to that time. Last week she learned about the 1920's and the flappers. She had a flapper dress for her doll and dressed her up in it. I will let her do anything to help her enjoy history. She soooooo hates it. I didn't enjoy it in school, but only because of my teachers!!! My Dad had arrested their sons, and they took it out on me!!!! Now I find history very interesting. She has started Math in Abeka and is happier with this than Saxon. I decided to do Science with her over the summer. It gets so hot in the afternoon, it will be nice to spend time indoors.

I guess that's all for now....I will try to find more time to blog daily.
I hope everyone is doing great, is healthy and remembers to LAUGH daily!!!
Love ya all
bunny

Adjectives

2007-02-14T15:06:00.000-05:00

Dylan is learning about adjectives.
An adjective describes a noun.
An adjective may tell how many, what size or what shape.

Here is his new rhyme:

One, two, buckle my nine, huge, square shoes.
Three, four, shut one, big, triangle door.
Five, six, pick up ten, little, circle sticks.
Seven, eight, lay eight, medium, octagon straight.
Nine, ten, twenty, gigantic, oval hens!!

He is having fun with this!!

Line Graph

2007-02-05T09:46:00.000-05:00

Here is Dylan learning about line graphing. We used a small bag of M & M's and he graphed the colors.
He had fun doing this! Learning can be fun!!!

Trina working

2007-02-05T09:42:00.000-05:00

Here is Katrina in her computer center. She learned about the Triangle Fire and here is her bumper sticker she made.

Bar Graph

2007-02-05T09:39:00.000-05:00

We did this Math lesson on Friday, Feb. 2nd. We bought a box of dots and he graphed it. Silly me forgot to take a picture of the graph!! I will have to do that!!!