After we finished Pinocchio, we started on Heidi. Have I told you how much I love that book? I love that book! It is so sweet, she has such faith, and she blesses everyone she meets. Of course there is the not so subtle 'nature can heal anything' theme, but I go for that anyway. I was really struck this time with the simplicity of how they lived. I am going into minimalist mode anyway, so that is probably why I noticed it so much.
Then we started on the Little house books. I didn't know if the boys would like it especially after just reading a girl type book (Heidi), but they are liking it. We have read the Big Woods, Prairie and Plum Creek, now we are reading On the Shores of Silver Lake. When it snowed last week, they begged me to make the snow candy Laura described in Little house in the Big Woods. You cook the candy and then dribble it on snow in curlicues. Well ours looked more like spiders, but it was pretty good. Not the best molasses candy, but not bad. I would like to try it again with real maple syrup.
But I am inspired again how simple they have it. I walked around the house today tempted to chuck just about everything. It wouldn't take much to get me to do it: just a little encouragement.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
A song link
Ever sense I saw this one, I have become quite the Jon Schmidt fan. There is another link that would actually embed, but it doesn't show them playing it. I like this one better - you can just tell those guys are having SO MUCH FUN!! I had heard the Taylor Swift song before, but it never struck me till I heard this arrangement.
Trans-Siberian Christmas Canon
I love sweet, simple, powerful music. This is one that I just can't hear enough of.
Monday, November 22, 2010
September???
Student teaching can happen one of 2 times during the year, September of January.
Well, in my weekly talk with my WGU advisor last week, he decided to totally stress me out. Not intentionally, of course, but it doesn't take much anymore. He said that I am doing well enough, that he really thinks I could be ready for my student teaching NEXT SEPTEMBER, if I want to try for it. Well, I love the idea of being done that soon. But I am not as convinced as he is. Granted, he knows better than I do what is required, so maybe it is possible.
But now I have to figure out what I am going to do with my kids again. Sage was going to come last time, but now she has made other college plans and I don't know if they will be adaptable or not, or if she will still want to. Oh and there is the hours I will have to spend in the classroom before that to get my other observations and assignments in.
Oh, I do not do well under pressure. I cannot procrastinate or I just lose sleep worrying. We will likely have to move next spring, we wanted to take a trip to CA and AZ, and Jonny is already spending tons of time with scouting. I'm sure I could do it if I wasn't also homeschooling, but that is more important. Jonny calmed me down and assured me I didn't have to rush to meet any deadlines; it's not like I have to hurry and get a job that much sooner.
When I talked to adviser guy today, he said the same thing. There won't be any penalty for trying for September and not making it and then just going for January. Either outcome is way sooner than I had hoped. So even if I finish everything up at the end of September and have to wait until January, I have decided to be OK with that. Funny how I have to talk myself into that. I am just a Gotta-have-it-all-planned-out sort of person. It is hard to go with the flow on something like this. I wonder why. For a lot of things I am very laid back, but not when you give me a deadline, then I have to do it.
So I am not going to push for September. I am going to go at my regular pace and just see what happens. I know there is an answer about child care when the time comes. I have no idea what that answer is, but I know it will present itself. Now that right there is a huge growing up I have done. Last year at this time I was really worried about what I was going to do with them. I was losing sleep over it and everything. So I think I have gained a little bit of faith, wisdom, and patience in the last year.
Well, in my weekly talk with my WGU advisor last week, he decided to totally stress me out. Not intentionally, of course, but it doesn't take much anymore. He said that I am doing well enough, that he really thinks I could be ready for my student teaching NEXT SEPTEMBER, if I want to try for it. Well, I love the idea of being done that soon. But I am not as convinced as he is. Granted, he knows better than I do what is required, so maybe it is possible.
But now I have to figure out what I am going to do with my kids again. Sage was going to come last time, but now she has made other college plans and I don't know if they will be adaptable or not, or if she will still want to. Oh and there is the hours I will have to spend in the classroom before that to get my other observations and assignments in.
Oh, I do not do well under pressure. I cannot procrastinate or I just lose sleep worrying. We will likely have to move next spring, we wanted to take a trip to CA and AZ, and Jonny is already spending tons of time with scouting. I'm sure I could do it if I wasn't also homeschooling, but that is more important. Jonny calmed me down and assured me I didn't have to rush to meet any deadlines; it's not like I have to hurry and get a job that much sooner.
When I talked to adviser guy today, he said the same thing. There won't be any penalty for trying for September and not making it and then just going for January. Either outcome is way sooner than I had hoped. So even if I finish everything up at the end of September and have to wait until January, I have decided to be OK with that. Funny how I have to talk myself into that. I am just a Gotta-have-it-all-planned-out sort of person. It is hard to go with the flow on something like this. I wonder why. For a lot of things I am very laid back, but not when you give me a deadline, then I have to do it.
So I am not going to push for September. I am going to go at my regular pace and just see what happens. I know there is an answer about child care when the time comes. I have no idea what that answer is, but I know it will present itself. Now that right there is a huge growing up I have done. Last year at this time I was really worried about what I was going to do with them. I was losing sleep over it and everything. So I think I have gained a little bit of faith, wisdom, and patience in the last year.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Update
I know, I am way behind. Let's see if I can catch up. OK, Mom died on Oct 18. Of course we expected this and I was grateful that it finally came. But I still walked around kind of out of it for a few days. Then all the kids got colds and I was up all night for several days with a baby and at least one kid at a time that wasn't sleeping. Hence I was not sleeping. Come Saturday I was not a very pleasant person to be around. I needed to kick everyone out of the house anyway so that I could take a test, so Jonny left a few hours early and said, "call us when you want us back." He is so good to me. I took my test, and called them with an the all clear, and I took a nap. It still took several days for my sleep to catch up.
Steven wanted to be a Obi-Wan Kenobi for Halloween. He found some good pants and a karate uniform that looked great. But he also wanted the robe. I do not have a working sewing machine, but he didn't care, he sewed it by hand. I helped guide him and did some of it, but he did most of it while we listened to a librivox recording of Treasure Island. It turned out pretty good. I didn't get pictures, cuz well, it's me and I always think of it after. I will see if I can get them all to dress up again and do a picture. We went to the trunk or treat - carnival - chili cook-off. A trunk or treat is when we go to the church parking lot, people decorate their cars and hand out candy to the kids going from car to car. It is safer and quicker, but it ends up being a lot of candy for very little work.
Mom's funeral was the 5th. It was a long time to wait for closure, but we needed the time so that everyone could come from the 4 corners of the world to make it. I went down and help dress Mom for the burial. I actually was grateful for the opportunity. Not that I would like to do that all the time, but I was glad I could perform that service for her. The funeral was good even though I had to speak. The service was in the morning in Shoreline, and then we traveled to Bremerton for the burial. That was followed by a reception at the Bremerton church building. We were able to see all sorts of people we hadn't seen in years. Actually, quite enjoyable.
This last week I was finishing up an assignment for my literature class. That is all of my prerequisites. As soon as I pass this assignment I will have finished 21 credits so far this term and I am only a little more than half way through. YAY!!! Now I can get back to the education classes. My advisor said that most people go slower through the pre-reqs and then accelerate through the education classes. It is unusual for people to make the progress that I have. So I should probably feel pretty good about my progress.
Jonny is the new scout master. He figures that this will be his job for the next 18 years until Joshua get's he Eagle. The man who called him felt the need to assure me (multiple times) that even though it will be time away from my family, we will be blessed. I had thought about the Wednesday activity nights gone, but I hadn't thought about the monthly camping trips and other trainings it would be. So our Wednesday's are crazy right now. Steven has 11year old scouts from 4:30-6. Isaac has Cub Scouts from 6:00-7. and Jonny's is 7:00 to 8:00. AAHHH (blessings, blessings, blessings). Actually I am kind of happy about it. I do think that good things will come of this and I am excited to watch the results.
Well I am sure I forgot things and I didn't even add any pictures. But I am kind of tired of staring at a computer so I'll chat later.
Steven wanted to be a Obi-Wan Kenobi for Halloween. He found some good pants and a karate uniform that looked great. But he also wanted the robe. I do not have a working sewing machine, but he didn't care, he sewed it by hand. I helped guide him and did some of it, but he did most of it while we listened to a librivox recording of Treasure Island. It turned out pretty good. I didn't get pictures, cuz well, it's me and I always think of it after. I will see if I can get them all to dress up again and do a picture. We went to the trunk or treat - carnival - chili cook-off. A trunk or treat is when we go to the church parking lot, people decorate their cars and hand out candy to the kids going from car to car. It is safer and quicker, but it ends up being a lot of candy for very little work.
Mom's funeral was the 5th. It was a long time to wait for closure, but we needed the time so that everyone could come from the 4 corners of the world to make it. I went down and help dress Mom for the burial. I actually was grateful for the opportunity. Not that I would like to do that all the time, but I was glad I could perform that service for her. The funeral was good even though I had to speak. The service was in the morning in Shoreline, and then we traveled to Bremerton for the burial. That was followed by a reception at the Bremerton church building. We were able to see all sorts of people we hadn't seen in years. Actually, quite enjoyable.
This last week I was finishing up an assignment for my literature class. That is all of my prerequisites. As soon as I pass this assignment I will have finished 21 credits so far this term and I am only a little more than half way through. YAY!!! Now I can get back to the education classes. My advisor said that most people go slower through the pre-reqs and then accelerate through the education classes. It is unusual for people to make the progress that I have. So I should probably feel pretty good about my progress.
Jonny is the new scout master. He figures that this will be his job for the next 18 years until Joshua get's he Eagle. The man who called him felt the need to assure me (multiple times) that even though it will be time away from my family, we will be blessed. I had thought about the Wednesday activity nights gone, but I hadn't thought about the monthly camping trips and other trainings it would be. So our Wednesday's are crazy right now. Steven has 11year old scouts from 4:30-6. Isaac has Cub Scouts from 6:00-7. and Jonny's is 7:00 to 8:00. AAHHH (blessings, blessings, blessings). Actually I am kind of happy about it. I do think that good things will come of this and I am excited to watch the results.
Well I am sure I forgot things and I didn't even add any pictures. But I am kind of tired of staring at a computer so I'll chat later.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Gerald McBoing Boing
I know I need to update, and I will soon. But until I do...
As a boy my father had a school assignment to memorize a poem and recite it. He memorized Gerald McBoing Boing and recited it the next day. He has always remembered it and would recite, often at ward talent shows and if we begged a lot. Well I found the original recording today from which Dad memorized the story. Of course Dad did the sound effects himself.
As a boy my father had a school assignment to memorize a poem and recite it. He memorized Gerald McBoing Boing and recited it the next day. He has always remembered it and would recite, often at ward talent shows and if we begged a lot. Well I found the original recording today from which Dad memorized the story. Of course Dad did the sound effects himself.
| The Great Gildersleeve - Gerald McBoing Boing .mp3 | ||
 | ||
 | Found at bee mp3 search engine |  |
Enjoy
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