tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61819956130128454252024-02-18T23:06:02.755-06:00Blue House AcademyKelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.comBlogger366125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-43533673287794502672017-09-12T16:36:00.000-05:002017-09-13T17:23:23.193-05:00Homeschool Home Base<div style="text-align: center;">
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I love homeschooling and I enjoy decorating my home, so it's natural that I've always loved seeing pictures of other people's homeschool rooms. I had always meant to share pictures of my own school room once it changed rooms in our house, but never got it done. But now that we're starting our final year of homeschooling, I figured it was now or never, haha! Yet, the timing does seem a little harsh. I grew up on the Texas Gulf Coast and I have family and friends who live in the Naples/Ft. Myers area of Florida. With so many people dealing with damaged or destroyed homes or worse suffering, it does seem a little worldly to be sharing pictures of a school room. I'm grateful for God's blessing of a home, but I hurt for those who have lost so much.<br />
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With one off at college and two teenagers at home, we really don't even need a homeschool room anymore. Yet, I still love having a homeschool room, mostly just because I love this room. More than any other room in our house, this room tells our story: it holds the books we love, things we've created, mementos we've collected on special trips, gifts from friends and family, precious items inherited from loved ones who are no longer with us, not to mention all the documents and less pretty items that prove our existence in the world.<br />
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It's purpose has evolved and it's more of a home base. It's where you'll usually find me on my "throne" with two dogs at my feet. It's where we work through math problems together or just chat about life. It's my spot for Bible reading, praying, menu planning, bill paying, and (a few times a year) Netflix binging.<br />
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The magnetic white board that was used for so many years for All About Spelling, diagramming sentences, and working logic puzzles is now mostly used for announcements and reminders. This room started out with a student-sized desk for Grace and then was replaced with a regular adult-sized desk, but last week she moved all her stuff out to work at a desk in her room. Ryne also works at a desk in his own room, which is separated from the school room by a bathroom. The laundry room is conveniently located on the other side of the school room so I have no excuse to get behind on laundry. The hallway that connects all these rooms is lined with six of <a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30263844/">these Ikea bookcases</a> for our family library, but most of the homeschool books are kept in the school room.<br />
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The school room itself is a mishmash of my parents' belongings and Ikea. The focal point of the room is <i>The Beast</i>, my mom's dining room hutch. It weighs about a million pounds; Marc and Ryne and I almost died getting it up the stairs several years ago. But somehow (with lots of tears and screaming on my part) we finally got it up and now this room will forevermore be a homeschool room because <i>The Beast</i> is never leaving. I swapped out the glass shelves and 70's gold hardware and now I can't imagine not having <i>The Beast</i> in this room. The sofa also came from my parents' house. I was hesitant at first because I thought it was the most uncomfortable sofa ever, but that was because it was in one of those front-of-the house living rooms that never got used. Once the sofa hosted a few hundred read-aloud sessions it acquired a more relaxed look. And now that the dogs have adopted it as their daytime habitat it has a <i>very</i> relaxed look!<br />
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There's a bit of an outdoor theme going on, inspired by some nature prints that belonged to my mom. We've had this color of sage green walls in every house we've lived in since 1995. I took a picture from a Martha Stewart magazine (before she was a household name) to the Sherwin Williams store and said make me something that looks like that, and I've just used the same color code three more time since then. No matter what the light, it always makes for a calming room. Calming + Homeschooling? Now, that's a Good Thing.<br />
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When we first started homeschooling, our school room was in a room above our garage that had served as an office for the previous owner's construction business, so even though we used the room as homeschool room/home office/guest room, we always called it <i>The Office</i>. We laughed about how other kids went to school but ours went to the office. And now that our current room is slowly becoming less of a homeschool room and more of an office, we're pretty stuck on calling it <i>The School Room,</i> of course. And like I said earlier, <i>The Beast</i> is not moving until professionals move us out of this house someday, so the school room is staying as it is. My official homeschool journey is ending soon, but there's still a lot of work to be done in launching these kids on the paths God is laying out before them. And I'm guessing a lot of that work will still be done from this room that I love so much.<br />
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I hope you enjoy the tour.<br />
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This is Camelot. Anna got him for Ryne when she left for college, but he follows me everywhere. There was no way I was going to get pictures of this room without him in it, but he cracked me up because as I moved around the room taking pictures, he moved around the room too so that he would always end up in a photo. Camelot, you're in my spot!<br />
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This is my throne. I spend way too much time here. Marc installed the handy Ikea shelf behind the end of the sofa and it's the perfect place for all the books I need quick access to. I never have to leave or get up for a thing!<br />
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Yes, we still have the last Little House book nearby, with one chapter left to be read. Grace and I can't bring ourselves to read it, because then it will truly be the end of an era. My little girls will have grown up.<br />
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The maps are one of my favorite things in the room. I used spray adhesive to paste them directly to the wall and then I also used the adhesive to glue some trim Marc cut to go around the maps. One piece eventually did fall, so we put a couple nails in. The maps are definitely pretty enough to be artwork.<br />
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You do know these photos are staged, right? Because I guarantee this table is usually piled with stuff, my to-do list is a couple pages long, and the inbox holds papers I keep "forgetting" to grade. The coffee is very real, however, and very necessary. The laptop is soon to become Ryne's because I found it hard to edit photos on the small screen and because it's way too easy to sit on my throne all day with my eyes glued to a screen.<br />
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This was Grace's desk. Last week she moved her stuff to Anna's old desk in her room, which is why it's empty. This will now be my workspace. I'm trying to get used to using a desktop again. Grace painted the picture of the Russian nesting dolls (which are actually across the room in the book case).<br />
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Marc framed and installed the magnetic white board for me, which is screwed directly into the wall. Actually, twice he had to install it, since we moved our school room. He was thrilled about that, haha! #sorryhoney<br />
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I love <i>The Beast.</i> And I think she's much happier being stuffed with books than a bunch of dainty china.<br />
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The canvas bins have been holding many of the high school books, sorted by grade level as Anna finished with them. Even though the girls go/went to a private school, Ryne uses many of the same books in Classical Conversations, so this was a good way to keep everything organized. Now that Grace is in 9th grade, I'm not sure what we'll do with the bins as I start to sell the stuff we don't need anymore.<br />
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My dad's slide rule and math tables from when he was in college. So thankful for calculators!<br />
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A vintage puzzle we found in my grandmother's stuff. Marc's set of LOTR books from his growing up years.<br />
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My mom's ruler from her years as an art teacher.<br />
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<i>The Beast</i> holds a ton of stuff!<br />
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This is Izzy, my dad's dog, who came to live with us just before he died. She only hangs around with me if Anna or Marc aren't around, so she showed up at the end of my photoshoot. She's a little scruffy and needs to visit the groomer. And, yes, she has some pink hair on top (that's actually faded quite a bit). You can ask the girls how that happened.<br />
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I may not be Izzy's favorite, but this one... he's all mine. He's not the best homeschool student, but he does a great job of keeping my feet warm.<br />
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Other Blue House Academy homeschool room posts (a fun trip down memory lane):<br />
<a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2009/08/our-school-room-again.html">Our First Homeschool Room</a><br />
<a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2009/06/history-time-line.html">History Timeline</a><br />
<a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2012/08/school-room-switch-roo.html">School Room Switch-a-Roo</a><br />
<a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2013/08/our-school-room-closet.html">Homeschool Room Closet</a><br />
(<i>the closet has evolved too -- we outgrew the need for workboxes and this summer I cleaned everything out and got rid of almost half the contents of the closet!)</i><br />
<a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2013/12/school-room-sneak-peak-christmas-style.html">Christmas Homeschool Room</a><br />
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Linking up with the <a href="https://ihomeschoolnetwork.com/school-room-week-2017/">9th Annual Back to Homeschool Blog Hop</a></div>
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<img src="https://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-33351810387795984562017-09-09T23:00:00.000-05:002017-09-10T02:13:30.698-05:002017 - 2018 Curricular Plans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBPaVJ8SGExfaD7d-5hyphenhyphenuJqnoYJUhDJ-G6WR6TlaD1lQ3pH1-X26bv80W5mHv19lqLUBsRNCo1sHOx-K2kH3DdnJFL2egPjm3ydE3f1Lk6nyOrIhmQTb353jC9MItC9DlF_ncdo29305o/s1600/2Edited+2017-2018+Curricular+Plans_1_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBPaVJ8SGExfaD7d-5hyphenhyphenuJqnoYJUhDJ-G6WR6TlaD1lQ3pH1-X26bv80W5mHv19lqLUBsRNCo1sHOx-K2kH3DdnJFL2egPjm3ydE3f1Lk6nyOrIhmQTb353jC9MItC9DlF_ncdo29305o/s640/2Edited+2017-2018+Curricular+Plans_1_edited-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Drumroll... <br />
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This is it.<br />
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My last curricular planning post.<br />
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The 2017-2018 school year will be my last year as an official homeschool mom.<br />
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In reality, my retirement will probably be gradual, but this will be the last year that I get to pick the books, and isn't that really why any of us become homeschool moms anyway? #kidding #maybe<br />
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The annual curriculum post has always been a favorite tradition of mine; in fact, it was the ONLY post on this blog for the 2016-2017 school year. I finally accepted the fact that I just don't have time for blogging, but I can't pass up the opportunity to participate in the <a href="https://ihomeschoolnetwork.com/curriculum-week-2017/">Back to Homeschool Blog Hop</a> one more time. This is the 9th year of the blog hop and I've participated almost all of those years -- take a look <a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2009/08/our-school-plans-for-2009-2010.html">HERE</a> for a trip down memory lane! Time flies, mommas.<br />
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So, let's get down to business. I have one official homeschooler this year: Ryne, my 18-year-old son who was diagnosed with autism when he was two. He is in his senior year and is enrolled in the <a href="https://www.classicalconversations.com/classical/programs/challenge/challenge-iii">Classical Conversations Challenge III program</a>. He is only doing a half day at CC, taking the rest of his classes at home. My youngest, Grace, 14, is returning to the 3-day-a-week classical Christian school she attended 5th-7th grades, although she will outsource her foreign language requirement, taking French II at <a href="http://www.at-tps.org/">The Potter's School</a>. Anna, 19, is starting her second year of architecture school.<br />
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In Challenge III and IV, students can pick which courses they want to participate in, so our group is not even offering math or Latin because everyone was using their own math program and most did not want to continue studying Latin. We also chose not to participate in the Rhetoric/Logic portions because we had other things we wanted to accomplish in our last year of homeschooling.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">THE PLAN</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Chemistry </span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(through Classical Conversations)</span><br />
<i><a href="https://www.christianbook.com/exploring-creation-with-chemistry-advantage/pd/224780?event=ESRCG">Apologia's Exploring Creation Through Chemistry, 3rd Edition</a></i><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Shakespeare and Poetry </span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(through Classical Conversations)</span><br />
<i>Much Ado About Nothing</i><br />
<i>Julius Caesar</i><br />
<i>Macbeth</i><br />
<i>Henry V</i> (long-time readers know <a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2013/03/my-favorite-sotw-chapter.html">what we'll be doing after reading this</a>!)<br />
<i>Hamlet</i><br />
<i><a href="https://www.christianbook.com/brightest-heaven-invention-christian-shakespeare-plays/peter-leithart/9781885767233/pd/67234?product_redirect=1&Ntt=67234&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP">Brightest Heaven of Invention</a></i><br />
<i><a href="https://www.christianbook.com/roar-other-side-guide-student-poets/suzanne-clark/9781885767660/pd/67668?product_redirect=1&Ntt=67668&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP">The Roar on the Other Side</a></i><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">American History </span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(through Classical Conversations)</span><br />
<i><a href="https://www.christianbook.com/patriots-history-states-columbuss-discovery-terror/larry-schweikart/9781595231154/pd/231150?product_redirect=1&Ntt=231150&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP">A Patriot's History of the United States</a></i><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Latin</span><br />
<i><a href="https://www.christianbook.com/latin-alive-book-two-bundle/pd/773548?event=ESRCG">Latin Alive 2</a></i>, Classical Academic Press (he still has a few chapters left from the last school year)<br />
<i><a href="https://www.christianbook.com/latin-alive-book-3-bundle/karen-moore/9781600512346/pd/512346?event=ESRCG">Latin Alive 3</a></i><br />
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I'm both shocked and proud that Ryne chose to continue with Latin this year. It's not the easiest subject, but he does enjoy it. Last year we tried (again) to love the Latin curriculum Classical Conversations uses (<i>Henle</i>), but we only made it a few weeks before I ditched <i>Henle</i> for good (to the cheers of Ryne and Grace). We switched to <i>Latin Alive 2</i> and once we got into a routine it was clear we made the right choice. The kids all grew up on the elementary level programs from Classical Academic Press (<i>Song School Latin</i> and <i>Latin for Children</i>) and loved them, so <i>Latin Alive</i> was a natural fit.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pre-Calculus</span><br />
<i><a href="http://store.mathusee.com/catalog/math-u-see/secondary-math/precalculus">Math U See PreCalculus with Trigonometry</a></i><br />
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We learned the hard way with Latin that if something's not broken, don't fix it. Thankfully, we did not make that mistake with math. It took almost all of our first year of homeschooling to find a math curriculum that clicked with Ryne, but once I found Math U See and started Ryne at the <i>Alpha</i> level, it's been pretty smooth sailing. We'll miss Mr. Demme after this year! And, yes, I'll be taking Pre-Calculus too -- I bought my own student books for Geometry and Algebra II and did all the lessons and tests. If sticking with MUS was the best math decision I've ever made, this was a close second. And guess what? I like math a LOT more than I did when I was in high school, and I understand it so much better. I feel like a rock star when my kids come to me for help and I can actually solve the problem, haha!<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Research & Writing</span><br />
(or at least I think that's what I'm titling the class on his transcript!)<br />
A series of online writing courses through <i><a href="https://www.bravewriter.com/">BraveWriter</a></i><br />
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Ryne has made a ton of progress in his writing skills through Classical Conversations, but it's still a struggle. He actually spends the majority of his free time writing science fiction or fantasy stories, so it's not that he doesn't like to write. Unfortunately, writing research papers and literary analysis don't come quite as easy. I kept hearing such wonderful things about the BraveWriter online courses for both struggling writers and gifted writers, so I decided that we'd give it a try. I'll try to update as the year goes on and share how it goes.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Information Technology</span><br />
<i><a href="http://www.compuscholar.com/schools/courses/computer-skills/">Digital Savvy</a></i>, CompuScholar<br />
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With the heavy workload in the Challenge program, Ryne's had few opportunities in high school to just take an elective of his choice. So, he's skipping rhetoric/logic and taking a self-paced online computer course instead. Anna took a similar course at the community college and found it very helpful.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Health</span><br />
<i><a href="https://www.christianbook.com/total-health-high-student-softcover/susan-boe/9781583312261/pd/312269?event=ESRCQ">Total Health</a></i>, Susan Boe<br />
<i><a href="http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/055693">Starlite Press Health</a></i><br />
<i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Spark-Revolutionary-Science-Exercise-Brain/dp/0316113514/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505019473&sr=8-1&keywords=spark+book">Spark</a></i>, John Ratey<br />
First Aid/CPR course<br />
A variety of autism books<br />
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For a course that is traditionally one of those get-er-done type classes, my list of sources we'll be using is probably overkill. Yet, health issues seem to be some of the biggest struggles we face in adulthood, whether it's our own health or that of a loved one. So I decided to take health education seriously in our homeschool. But I wasn't in love with any of the health books I looked at, so I kind of pieced together our own health course that will meet our needs and interests better.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Physical Education</span><br />
Cross Country & Track Teams<br />
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Ryne is part of two great Christian school teams that welcome homeschoolers. It has been a huge part of his high school experience and extends far beyond just physical fitness.<br />
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In case you haven't noticed, Ryne has eight courses on his schedule this year, yikes! Somehow I missed that fact in all my summer planning. Thankfully, we started some of the health stuff last spring, and I had told his Classical Conversations tutor months ago that we'd be cutting out some of the presentations and writing assignments since he was taking an extra writing course. We're still fine-tuning that now that I'm able to better gauge what each subject involves.<br />
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It's an exciting but bittersweet time at Blue House Academy. I'm so humbled and grateful for the Lord's guidance and provision over the past ten-and-a-half years, and I'm eager to see what new paths He has in store for us. Until then, we're going to focus on having an amazing senior year.<br />
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Happy Homeschooling!<br />
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-42631444890871124442016-09-06T23:13:00.000-05:002016-10-17T12:36:20.838-05:002016 - 2017 Curricular Plans<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt=" photo 2016 BHA_edited-1_1.jpg" border="0" src="https://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/2016%20BHA_edited-1_1.jpg" /></div>
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Welcome to any new visitors! I'm not a very good blogger, but for some reason the fall curriculum posts always bring me out of my hibernation. I guess I'm just a sucker for new books and school supplies! And if you are one of the faithful friends who've put up with my on-and-off-again updates, I apologize -- especially if some of today's news takes you by surprise. <br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERVIEW</span><br />
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This year I'll be homeschooling my 17 year-old son who was diagnosed with autism at age 2. He has been homeschooled since the middle of 1st grade. Although he's starting 11th grade this year, his skills vary. He's made great strides the last few years in the Classical Conversations program, and this year he is in Challenge II. For the last three years he's been my only homeschool student.<br />
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His two sisters (18-years and 13-years) have attended a classical Christian school three days a week, although they were both previously homeschooled. The oldest has now graduated and is off at college studying architecture. I'm not sure how that's possible since it was just a few years ago we used her handprint on the mug in the above picture. I digress....<br />
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The 2015-2016 school year was very stressful as we dealt with the death of my father, health issues for my oldest daughter, and the whole college search process. I was pulled in way too many directions and decided that this year I needed to simplify and narrow my focus, so we have decided to keep our youngest at home this year. The tentative plan is for her to return to the classical school in a year or so. For now, however, we're enjoying having her home full time again. She is in 8th grade. She is not part of Classical Conversations.<br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE PLAN: RYNE (11th Grade, Classical Conversations Challenge II)</span><br />
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* Indicates particular to Blue House Academy, not the Challenge II curriculum<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bible*</span><br />
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Ryne and Grace finished their four years of catechism training at our church and are now confirmed members of the church. I've always counted catechism class as part of our homeschool studies in addition to doing Bible study at home. This year I'm switching things up. My oldest had four years of world view classes in high school (1st year -- Intro to World View, 2nd year -- Homiletics, 3rd year -- Doctrine, 4th year -- Apologetics). I'm pulling from those courses and some other sources to put together a two-year world view course. I'm still figuring out the details, but here is the reading list so far.<br />
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<i>The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i>, Stevenson (goes with the next book)<br />
<i>The Deadliest Monster</i>, Baldwin<br />
<i>Universe Next Door</i>, Sire<br />
<i>Answers for Difficult Days</i>, Quine<br />
<i>Mere Christianity</i>, Lewis<br />
<i>Biblical Worldview</i>, Bob Jones Press<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">British Literature and Composition</span><br />
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The Challenge II reading list is exciting and, um, challenging!<br />
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<i>Beowulf</i><br />
<i>Selected Canterbury Tales</i>, Chaucer<br />
<i>Sir Gawain and the Green Knight</i>, Weston<br />
<i>Paradise Lost</i>, Milton<br />
<i>The Pilgrim's Progress</i>, Bunyan<br />
<i>A Modest Proposal</i>, Swift<br />
<i>Pride and Prejudice</i>, Austen<br />
<i>A Tale of Two Cities</i>, Dickens<br />
<i>Jane Eyre</i>, Bronte<br />
<i>Animal Farm</i>, Orwell<br />
<i>A Passage to India</i>, Forster<br />
<i>Something Beautiful for God</i>, Muggeridge<br />
<i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</i>, Carroll<br />
<i>Robinson Crusoe</i>, DeFoe<br />
<i>Favorite Father Brown Stories</i>, Chesterton<br />
<i>A Morbid Taste for Bones</i>, Peters<br />
<i>Out of the Silent Planet</i>, Lewis<br />
<i>The Hobbit</i>, Tolkien<br />
<i>The Screwtape Letters</i>, Lewis<br />
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We are also reviewing some grammar using <i>Rod and Staff's English 8</i> textbook (not part of the Challenge II curriculum, just something the three of us do together for about 10 minutes a day).<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Math</span><br />
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We've been using <i>Math U See</i> for 9 years now, so it's no surprise we're sticking with it to the end! We are trying something new this year -- time will tell if we're being brave or foolish. We're tackling both <i>Geometry</i> and <i>Algebra II</i>. We're only a few weeks in, but so far we're managing. (Note: CC recommends <i>Saxon Algebra 2</i> for Challenge II, which includes some geometry.)<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Science</span><br />
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Apologia's <i>Exploring Creation with Biology</i><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Western Cultural History</span><br />
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<i>The Annotated Mona Lisa</i><br />
<i>State of the Arts</i><br />
<i>The Gift of Music</i><br />
<i>Classical Music for Dummies</i><br />
<i>How Then Shall We Live?</i><br />
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* At least two musical events, such as the symphony or a musical -- a BHA tradition! Last year he attended a full-screening of "Star Trek (2009)" with the score performed by our local symphony, a Piano Guys concert, and the symphony's season finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony ("Ode to Joy"). It was one of our best cultural years yet!<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Logic</span><br />
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<i>Traditional Logic I</i><br />
<i>The Elements of Style</i><br />
<i>Gorgias</i><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Latin</span><br />
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<strike>Henle <i>Second Year Latin</i></strike><br />
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<strike>I'm not a big fan of Henle Latin. Last year we tried to switch to <i>Latin Alive 2</i>, but fell behind on it because of all that was going on in our lives. I ended up not giving Ryne any high school credit for Latin last year, so this year we're just going to stick with what they're doing in Challenge II. A big motivation for me to join CC was the accountability, so last year's Latin fail was confirmation I really do need it.</strike><br />
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[Updated: October 2016] <i>Latin Alive 2</i><br />
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Yep, I lasted less than a month with Henle. It's overly tedious, the answer key stinks (I even bought a different answer key this year because it was supposed to be better than the original but I still hated it), and the subject material gets old (Gauls vs. Romans, Romans vs. Gauls, and some religious themes we're not comfortable with). Therefore, we're headed back to <i>Latin Alive</i>, from the same publisher as our elementary Latin curriculum (<i>Latin for Children</i>). Wish we could have just stuck with that all the way through!<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Other</span><br />
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CNN Student News -- 10 minutes of daily current events (Ryne's favorite part of the day!)<br />
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Typing<br />
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Cross Country/Track<br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE PLAN: GRACE (8th Grade)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bible</span><br />
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For Grace, I thought a natural progression after catechism/confirmation would be to focus on spiritual discipline and growth.<br />
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<i>A Believer's Guide to Spiritual Fitness</i>, Ruvolo<br />
<i>The Practice of Godliness</i>, Bridges<br />
<i>Greater Than Gold</i>, Boudia<br />
<i>Prayers of the Bible</i>, Hunt<br />
<i>Desiring God</i>, Piper<br />
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Grace's classmates from school will be spending the year studying church history, but she's had plenty of church history in our previous homeschooling and her catechism class, so we will just do some review in the spring using <i>The Church in History</i> (Kuiper).<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">English</span><br />
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Since the plan is to return to her school, we chose literature selections they will be using, plus a few I added on my own. The school uses <i>Lost Tools of Writing</i>, just like Ryne did in his earlier years of Challenge, so I'm adapting the Challenge writing schedule to fit the books we chose for Grace. One of my biggest failures in mothering is that I never finished <i>The Little House on the Prairie</i> books to her, so those are also added in (yes, I will read those to her, but the others she will read on her own). In the second semester, we will switch to short stories and poetry.<br />
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<i>Lost Tools of Writing</i><br />
<i>Rod & Staff English 8</i> (together)<br />
<i>Vocabulary From the English Roots Up, Level B</i><br />
<i>Poetry for Beginners</i><br />
<i>Words Aptly Spoken: Short Stories</i><br />
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<i>The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i>, Stevenson<br />
<i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i>, Lee<br />
<i>The Pearl</i>, Steinbeck<br />
<i>Out of the Silent Planet</i>, Lewis<br />
<i>Mortal Engines</i>, Reeve<br />
<i>The Giver</i>, Lowry<br />
<i>The Count of Monte Cristo</i>, Dumas<br />
<i>The Hiding Place</i>, ten Boom<br />
<i>Little Town on the Prairie</i>, Wilder<br />
<i>These Happy Golden Years</i>, Wilder<br />
<i>The First Four Years</i>, Wilder<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Math</span><br />
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Like I said earlier, we're either brave or crazy, but Grace is doubling up on math too. At least with geometry they are able to watch the videos together and we grade papers together. Doubling up was her request and we have no obligation to finish geometry if the workload gets too heavy.<br />
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<i>Math U See Algebra I</i><br />
<i>Math U See Geometry </i><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Science</span><br />
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Apologia's <i>Physical Science</i><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Logic</span><br />
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<i>Introductory Logic</i><br />
<i>Intermediate Logic</i><br />
<i>Fallacy Detective</i><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Geography</span><br />
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Grace took geography at school last year, but she really wished she could learn to map the world like the Challenge A students in CC do, so instead of a history course she will be mapping the world this year.<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Foreign Language</span><br />
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Henle <i>Second Year Latin</i><br />
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She would have been in her last year of Latin at her school, so I'm having her do Latin with Ryne. Having it all the same will hopefully make it easier to manage.<br />
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Bob Jones <i>French I</i><br />
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This was her main motivation for homeschooling this year -- being able to take French. She will be starting an online class next week.<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Other</span><br />
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CNN Student News<br />
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Typing<br />
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Ballet<br />
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Sorry, nothing is linked in my post. If you have any questions about books or materials or anything else, just let me know.<br />
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Happy Homeschooling!!!<br />
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Linking up with the <a href="http://ihomeschoolnetwork.com/curriculum-week-2016/">8th Annual Back to Homeschool Blog Hop</a></div>
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<img src="https://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-42496387704723447942016-03-06T22:47:00.000-06:002016-03-06T22:47:42.930-06:00Weekly Wrap-Up {Decisions and Celebrations}<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt=" photo 2016 FCA Protocol - 1.jpg" border="0" src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/2016%20FCA%20Protocol%20-%201.jpg" /></div>
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<i>Daddy's little girl</i></div>
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It's been a full weekend, so I'll try to keep this update short and sweet!<br />
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Let's start with last Sunday... I volunteer in our church nursery during the Sunday school hour. It's a small church, so I usually only have 2-3 toddlers to watch, but this time a grandma brought her 4-week-old grandson to the nursery and asked if I could watch him for Sunday school. Are you kidding me?! The last time I got to hold a newborn that long was probably when Grace was born. I'm convinced if everyone started out their week holding a sleeping, cooing 4-week-old baby, the world would be a much happier place. : )<br />
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Monday and Tuesday were pretty routine -- school and activities. Algebra went much better this week. ; )<br />
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Wednesday got a little crazy because we added a new furball to our family. I'll formally introduce him in a day or two. He's currently curled up with his head on my feet as I type.<br />
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Thursday morning Marc, Anna, and I sat down at the kitchen table for two hours, trying to help her decide where she wants to go to college. She needs to accept or decline a scholarship to one of her top choices this coming Wednesday, so the time has come to decide if that's where she wants to go. Unfortunately, the deliberations did not bring a decision. She is blessed to have some wonderful options, so it just might come down to a coin flip on Wednesday.<br />
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Saturday was Anna's last Protocol with her Christian, classical school. It is always a highlight of the school year, and this year was extra special since she is a senior. The event always starts with a parent reception at the elementary campus. The dads escort their daughters to the front entrance of the school where they are greeted by one of the male students who then escorts the girls into the reception. We take pictures, nibble on appetizers, listen to a presentation about etiquette in the real world (Marc was the speaker two years ago), and then we take more pictures as they are whisked away in a limo. Then the kids attend a multi-course dinner and some sort of entertainment. Parents can attend the whole evening, but this was the first year Marc and I attended the dinner/entertainment portion and we had a wonderful time. The venue was a lovely historic hotel and the entertainment was a magician/illusionist with a Christian message. It was a wonderful evening!<br />
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After Protocol, the seniors hung out at one of their classmate's house for a few hours, so Anna didn't get home until 2 a.m. Nevertheless, she and I got up early to drive two hours to visit a church near the college she trying to decide on, hoping that might help make the decision easier. I always love visiting other churches because it's such a great reminder of our unity in Christ, but this was a particularly wonderful church to visit. She said she could definitely picture herself there, but she still just can't decide if that's the school for her.<br />
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I think the next few days might be interesting! Please pray. : )<br />
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Have a wonderful week!<br />
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-3085238752461566682016-02-26T15:15:00.001-06:002016-02-26T22:48:35.149-06:00Weekly Wrap-Up {Catching Up}<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt=" photo First Macro Shots 2.jpg" border="0" src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/First%20Macro%20Shots%202.jpg" /></div>
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Eek! I got a little behind on my weekly wrap-ups after our Disney trip in January. It just seemed like for several weeks in a row I was moving from one urgent matter to the next, and as soon as I knocked one off the list a new one was added. I'm not going to go through all of them, but here are a few of the things that have kept me busy:<br />
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Transferring the thousands of pictures I took on our trip caused my computer to have a mental breakdown, resulting in an emotional breakdown on my part. After three trips to the Apple store, we narrowed the problem down to a glitch in my Lightroom software or my lack of computer organizational skills or a combination of the two. ; )<br />
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College financial aid forms are torture. For those of you who've been through this, you know what I mean. For the others, college is highly overrated; just move on to Plan B. ; ) Seriously, I've learned some BIG lessons the hard way. Check the individual school's FAFSA deadline -- not all of them are March 1, like I was led to believe. Some are February 1, and trust me, January 30th is not the best day to learn this bit of info! I did get it done by February 1 and breathed a deep sigh of relief. But the relief was short-lived because then I learned on February 2 that there is another financial aid form called the CSS Profile, and it was also due February 1. And CSS is even worse than FAFSA. I was pretty sure they were going to ask the color of my underwear at some point.<br />
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One of my least favorite things to do in life is go shopping. Yet, it seemed like every weekend there was some new outfit to be bought -- a dress for Anna's Protocol, a business casual outfit for the scholarship luncheon (ended up that half the kids wore jeans, but at least Anna looked nice), and a suit for Ryne's Protocol (thankfully, Marc took over the responsibility for that one) One thing I didn't have to do much shopping for was for a car (SUPER thankful that Marc likes to do that!), but I did end up driving to Oklahoma to pick one up!<br />
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I'm no longer a minivan mom! It was a little bittersweet to say goodbye to our faithful Toyota Sienna (shown below on one of her last major road trips, camping in northern Michigan), but she was up to 265,000 miles and it was time for her to get some rest. She was truly one of the best cars we've ever had and I'm pretty sure she could drive herself to Denver with all the trips back and forth she made. Lots of great memories were made in that car!<br />
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<img alt=" photo Minivan.jpg" border="0" src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Minivan.jpg" /></div>
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We replaced her with a used Hyundai Santa Fe, and of course, we found out a few days after bringing it home that the AC wasn't working. Yes, I'm thrilled to add one more urgent thing to the list.<br />
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Anna finished the last of her college applications on February 15th, so now we just wait. Except that some schools don't care about other school's deadlines, so things might get a little complicated in March. She was awarded a nice scholarship at a school she really likes, but she has to let them know if she'll accept it before she finds out if she's accepted to another school high on her list. You know, if I didn't personally know moms who've survived this whole college process, I'd never believe it's possible.<br />
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Homeschooling is going fairly well. Ryne continues to work hard; I continue to lag behind. We did manage to squeeze in a field trip to the Federal Reserve Bank a few weeks ago, which was very timely since he's studying economics this semester. We've both been doing very well with algebra the last several weeks (I've mentioned before that I take the tests for each chapter to make sure I understand everything he's working on), but today was a disaster. We both got stuck on a review problem and I was convinced the answer key must be wrong, even though it was not listed in the corrections. So I texted Anna a picture of the solution and asked her if it was correct, which she affirmed. I'm pretty sure they're both wrong. Let's see . . . Mom who didn't do so great at algebra way back in 1985 vs. Steve Demme of Math U See. Or me vs. my daughter whose favorite subject this year is calculus. You'd bet on my odds, right? ; )<br />
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One little bit of fun news is that I got a new lens for my camera so I can take macro photos. It just arrived yesterday, so I've only tried a few photos, including the top picture of the dreaded algebra problem. I'm learning you need a very steady hand for macro photography (which I don't have) or you need to get out the tripod (which I always find cumbersome). Nevertheless, I'm determined to get some good practice in because spring is coming and I want to get some great up-close nature shots.<br />
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Hope your January and February were great! I'll try to get back on track with regular updates. : )<br />
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Happy Homeschooling!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Linking up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-engagement-anniversary/">Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers</a></i></div>
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-53550125413842962882016-01-17T23:32:00.000-06:002016-01-17T23:32:23.381-06:00Weekly Wrap-Up {Disney!}<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt=" photo BHA Disney 1.jpg" border="0" src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/BHA%20Disney%201.jpg" /></div>
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This will be a very short Weekly Wrap-Up because we are currently on our way back from an eight day trip to Florida!!!<br />
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The trip, which has been in the works for more than a year, was a gift from my dad to our family and my sister. Growing up, my sister and I were blessed with many wonderful family vacations. My parents weren’t big spenders, but travel was always a priority. We mostly visited National Parks and any place with a mountain, but we also made a visit to Disney World way back when Epcot was being built. Fast forward a generation, my kids love every single Disney movie and have always wanted to go to Disney World. My dad wanted to give the kids that opportunity, even though he wouldn’t be able to travel with us. Of course, we had hoped we’d be able to show him pictures and tell him of our adventures, but when he passed away last August we knew that the trip would instead be in celebration of his life. <br />
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And what a celebration we’ve had this past week! We were at Disney for 5 days and Universal for 3 days (just 2 at the park, 1 at the hotel pool). One of my biggest hesitations about the trip was that I knew I didn’t have the time to plan such an adventure, but my sister — a certified project manager — said she would plan the entire trip. She mapped out every detail on a spreadsheet and we didn’t miss a thing we wanted to see at either location. We met princesses and characters (yes, even teenagers like that sort of thing!), rode thrilling rides, and ate EVERYTHING! My sister and I relived childhood memories like flying through Space Mountain and spinning in teacups. The kids made lots of new memories. Anna even spent an evening auditioning to be a Disney princess and almost made it through to the final cut (more on that later)! The weather did prove to be a challenge at times (cold and sometimes wet), but overall it was an amazing trip. We are so thankful! Thankful for my dad’s love for travel and adventure that he passed down. Thankful for the many hours of planning my sister invested. Thankful for the many ways God blessed us on this trip.<br />
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<img alt=" photo BHA Disney 2.jpg" border="0" src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/BHA%20Disney%202.jpg" /></div>
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Of course, I took a million photos, so hopefully I will find time to share some of those later this week. : )<br />
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It will be hard leaving the magical life behind, but hopefully the happy memories will keep us smiling as we rest our sore feet and settle back into reality (and the low single digit temperatures waiting for us back home!).<br />
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Have a wonderful week and happy homeschooling!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Linking up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-in-which-i-learned-to-appreciate-everyday-conveniences/">Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers</a>.</i></div>
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-86764598726073561002016-01-08T09:55:00.001-06:002016-01-08T10:05:20.709-06:00Weekly Wrap-Up {9 Years!}<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt=" photo 2015 Christmas bokeh 2.jpg" border="0" src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/2015%20Christmas%20bokeh%202.jpg" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">1/4/16 - Playing around with my camera, trying to get some Christmas bokeh. Yes, my tree is still up. <i>Sigh.</i></span></div>
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At Blue House Academy, January doesn't just mean a new year or a new semester; it marks the anniversary of starting our homeschool adventure, and this is our 9th anniversary! To God be the glory -- left to my own strength and abilities, we would have never made it past that first January. Oh, how many wonderful memories are wrapped up in those 9 years!<br />
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We had a peaceful Christmas at home this year. My mother-in-law and Marc's oldest sister came to visit for a couple of days before Christmas, so that made up for our not traveling out to Denver this year. It was the first Christmas in years we stayed home and we really, really, really needed that down time -- especially Marc, since he got very, very, very sick over the Christmas break. I had just a touch of it, but mostly kept from getting the full-blown virus by overdosing on olive leaf extract and vitamin C.<br />
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By the end of the break, I could tell we were ready for routine again -- Ryne had watched just about every DVD series we own (all of Star Wars, twice, all of Harry Potter, all of The Lord of the Rings), Grace had to be surgically removed from the iPad on which she spent hours chatting with her friends, and Anna slept for two straight weeks. So, in case I ever give the impression that we are perfect and spend all our free time reading, playing board games, and doing other lovely, worthwhile things . . . Ha! No, we were less than inspiring. ; )<br />
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Monday was back to school. It's funny, with the girls' school there is such a distinction between first and second semester, but for Ryne's homeschooling the lines seem a little blurry. Organization-wise I've been thinking of his schooling more in terms of transcript credits. Some classes he's finished with the first semester content and others he's not, if that makes any sense. For example, second semester he switches from American Government to Economics, but because I added in some more material for government, he's still finishing that up. It doesn't really affect the feel of our days -- we just study what we study -- but it does make me appreciate more the flexibility of homeschooling.<br />
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Tuesday was Anna's 18th birthday!!! It's hard to believe she's now an adult. For 2016, I'm adding the book <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Songs-Jesus-Devotions-Psalms/dp/0525955143">The Songs of Jesus</a></i> by Timothy Keller into my devotional mix, and Psalm 4 was the reading for Tuesday, which includes the verse that used to hang above Anna's crib, "<i>I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety</i> (verse 8)." Reading that felt like a hug from God. She's not my little baby anymore, but the Lord still watches over her.<br />
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Anna requested a pistachio cheesecake for her birthday, so after taking Ryne to the orthodontist that morning I quickly made the cake that I forgot should have been in the refrigerator all night. It still turned out wonderful and we had a nice family celebration that evening.<br />
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One of her gifts was a <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/finn/29114099">life-sized cut-out of Finn</a> from the new Star Wars movie. There's a picture on someone's phone, but apparently not mine (I'll see if I can add it later). Finn stayed in the kitchen overnight and when I came downstairs to fetch my coffee Wednesday morning, I almost had a heart attack because I had forgotten about him and just saw some large person with a weapon, lurking in the darkness. He's now found a home in the senior lounge at school and is planning on attending college with Anna next year. : )<br />
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The rest of the week was more settling back into the routine of school, ballet, catechism class, dentist appointments, laundry, etc. I made a trip to the community college to pick up Anna's textbook for the statistics class she's going to take this semester. Turns out it's an ebook, so it seemed crazy spending $140 for a piece of paper with a code on it. I keep reading tips about how to save money on college textbooks, but so far with the two classes she's taken, there have been no options except to buy the material as offered in the school bookstore. I certainly hope next year when she's a real college student we'll have more options.<br />
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Since I missed the last weekly wrap-up before the Christmas break and then we had two weeks off, I'm sure I've left out so much, but these were at least a few of the highlights.<br />
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Hope you had a wonderful Christmas break! Happy homeschooling!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Linking up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-first-one-of-2016/">Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers</a>.</i></div>
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-73879610456087118522015-12-12T18:49:00.000-06:002015-12-13T07:49:55.450-06:00Weekly Wrap-Up {The Final Stretch}<div style="text-align: center;">
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The final week of <a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2015/12/weekly-wrap-up-nutcracker.html">Nutcracker Tour</a>! Grace is, of course, very sad to be done with the tour, since it's one of her favorite times of the year. But the end of Nutcracker does mean that it's almost time for Christmas break, so she'll adjust just fine. : )<br />
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On the homeschool front, there is not too much to report. Ryne is enjoying the relaxed pace and is knocking out his hefty reading list to complete before school resumes in January. I'm, as usual, quite behind in my reading.<br />
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Anna had a pretty big week. She had a very helpful doctor visit on Monday -- we're hopeful she might start getting relief from symptoms we always attributed to her low iron levels, but could be something else entirely. She spent most of the week finishing up a computer class she's been taking at the community college. Due to her health issues and some software issues, she got behind in the class (although it sounds like everyone else was behind too) and had to work almost nonstop for several days to get it all done before the final on Thursday. She did get it done and aced the class, but she was very glad to cross that off the to-do list! She received a much-needed boost on Wednesday evening when she checked her email and found out she was accepted to one of her most competitive college choices!<br />
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On Thursday, I baked a turkey for the school potluck lunch being held Friday. It's only been the last few years that I've started hosting Thanksgiving, so my turkey baking experience is limited and I usually overcook it. Naturally, the turkey I baked for the potluck was my best ever -- completely moist and tender. <i>Grrr. </i>Not that I don't want a yummy turkey for the school, but it would be nice to have those results for my family. I think my success was due to not having a million other things to be doing at the same time -- putting ten million side dishes in the two ovens at different temperatures and different times, getting the table set, making sure the kitchen doesn't look like a war zone, and taking a shower are all distractions to successful turkey baking. ; )<br />
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Thursday night I dropped Grace off at ballet, rushed home to check on the turkey, made a 45-minute appearance at Marc's office Christmas party (which was, thankfully, on our side of town), and then picked Grace up from ballet. When I got home, I carved the turkey (something I usually leave for Marc, but he was still at the party, so I received instruction via youtube!). By then, I was exhausted, but we still had a batch of sugar cookies to make for the potluck. Anna was awesome and mixed the dough, and I decided to just cut and bake them in the morning.<br />
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Friday's schedule was a work of art: The morning half of the Nutcracker tour was cancelled, so Anna and Grace left for school at 7:30. Grace was going to attend her first class, and then she needed to leave for Nutcracker warm-ups. I finished the cookies around 8:15, quick showered, and then headed to school with all the food. Marc came with me, because at the party the previous night he lost his keys, so he was going to borrow Anna's car while she was at school. On the way to school, he got a call from a woman he works with -- his keys had somehow fallen into her purse! We dropped off the food, grabbed Grace, borrowed Anna's car, and headed our separate directions.<br />
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Grace and I enjoyed another wonderful day of Nutcracker Tour and I got all teary-eyed for the mom of the one ballerina who is graduating this spring. I may be taking my role as a mom to a senior a little too far. How I'm ever going to survive this year, I have no idea!<br />
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We finished with Nutcracker around 4:00, Marc picked Anna up from school, they went to pick his car up from the house where the office party had been, but that was actually just a rental he's had for a month since getting in a wreck, but the dealer called to say the repairs were done and he could pick up his car that afternoon, so that's just what he did after Anna dropped him off (catch all of that?). He picked up frozen pizzas on the way home, and we all just collapsed. It was one of those blessed nights with nothing on the schedule, so we just relaxed. It was wonderful!!!<br />
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Saturday was pretty low key too. Grace is probably waltzing this very moment, as I type -- her last Nutcracker performance of the year, at a local police academy. This is Marc's first time to see her dance in Nutcracker, so I'm excited that he gets to not only see her dance but how neat it is to take Nutcracker on the road.<br />
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I know I'm not alone in this crazy schedule stuff. It really is amazing how much we can squeeze in a day or week, right? It can be overwhelming at times, but we really do treasure so many of these memories. Nevertheless, I'm ready for some more lazy nights like last night! We have one more week of school -- finals week for Anna. The final stretch!<br />
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Enjoy your weekend and happy homeschooling!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Linking up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-one-feel-even-older/">Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers</a>.</i></div>
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-32851317471080528182015-12-06T21:46:00.000-06:002015-12-06T21:46:20.886-06:00Weekly Wrap-Up {Nutcracker}<div style="text-align: center;">
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It's December! How did that happen?!<br />
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It's also Nutcracker season, so we've been very busy with rehearsals and performances. Grace's ballet studio does a Nutcracker school tour, in which they pack up the set, costumes, lights, and everything else needed for a ballet performance and perform selections from Act Two for various schools. It is such a neat experience -- with the bonus of getting to miss school three Fridays in a row. ; ) They also have two Saturdays with performances. This year, Grace is in the <i>Waltz of the Flowers</i>.<br />
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Since my last weekly wrap-up (I missed a couple of weeks), Ryne had his Classical Conversation finals, we hosted Thanksgiving for part of my husband's family, Anna and I attended a career night for one of her top college choices, and I tried (but didn't do a good job) to help her stay calm as she finished up an application to another top choice. We've decided The Common Application is just plain evil. It loves to eat essays and mess with formatting until you give up all patience and just hit submit. I think everyone at the Blue House will be happier when the whole college application process is done!<br />
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Although CC is done for the semester, Ryne will continue school for a couple more weeks. The break is when we try to make some progress on his non-CC subjects and when I supplement the CC material.<br />
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This semester, I was a little disappointed in his government studies. It was really more of a short survey of American history, although they did spend a fair amount of time learning about the Constitution. I love that they used original documents as their reading, but I felt there were a lot of critical gaps compared to a typical American government class. Plus, Ryne already earned his American history credit last year, so I really needed this course to be different. I had already planned to supplement a little over the break by reading <a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2015/07/2015-2016-curricular-plans.html">Showdown at Gucci Gulch</a> as a legislative case study, but now I've also added in a traditional high school government textbook that I bought used on Amazon for him to read over the break. I might have to have Anna read it at some point too, because I'm noticing some of the same gaps in her education. She has an amazing background in political theory, but doesn't know some of the basics of how our government works. Thankfully, Ryne doesn't seem to mind the heavy reading load; in fact, he seems to be taking after his mom in that he loves anything to do with history and political science.<br />
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Slowly, slowly I continue to plug away at getting caught up after a hectic first semester. I've never been so ready for a Christmas break! My reading list for the break is about a mile long, but I've hardly started. I also haven't started my Christmas shopping and I've barely started decorating. I still have pumpkins and mums on my front porch! Granted, the weather has felt more like pumpkins and mums than Christmas trees and snowflakes, but hopefully we can at least get the lights on the tree tomorrow.<br />
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Have a wonderful week! Happy homeschooling!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Linking up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-first-week-of-christmas-break/">Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers</a>.</i></div>
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-18796570485875638902015-11-15T20:30:00.000-06:002015-11-15T20:34:46.618-06:00Weekly Wrap-Up {How Good it is to Thank the Lord}<div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>A photo I didn't have a chance to share a few weeks ago -- how did these kids get so grown up?!</i></div>
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My timing has been off this week -- on Tuesday I was convinced it was the end of the week and I needed to start writing my weekly wrap-up, but then I couldn't remember what had happened during the week. By the time Friday did roll around, I got my post mostly written and then forgot about it until Sunday afternoon. Oh, well. : )<br />
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I have a newish routine for my Mondays. Ryne's Classical Conversations class is 30 minutes away from our house, so in the past I've either stuck around at CC -- sometimes attending Ryne's classes, sometimes running errands, and sometimes just hanging out in the car reading or even taking a nap! The one thing that didn't make sense was wasting all that time and gas money to drive back home.<br />
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<a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2015/11/weekly-wrap-up-celebration.html">Last week</a>, I joked about how my kids were excited to get to ride the yellow school bus, and I must admit I've had my share of yellow school bus fantasies. How wonderful it would be to have the house to myself. Peace and quiet, productivity, a chance to do the things I can never get done when everyone else is home. Writing it out sounds so selfish and trivial, but I know I can't be the only one who feels this way from time to time. Okay, daily. ; )<br />
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Last month, I dropped Ryne off at CC and then headed home because I desperately needed to get something done at home. I don't even remember what the emergency was, but I remember having my yellow school bus moment and thinking, <i>this is the life</i>! Now, don't get me wrong. This past summer God gave me the confirmation and conviction that homeschooling Ryne through high school is what I'm called to do and I'm honored to be able to do it. But that one Monday at home convinced me that it is worth the cost of time and money to have 4-5 hours at home alone. I get a LOT done and it starts out my week on a relaxing tone. Now that I've decided that this is generally what my Monday routine is going to be, I'm starting to tweak how I want to structure the day.<br />
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This past Monday was spent mostly in the kitchen, making food for that night's cross country team awards banquet. As I made a quadruple batch of bacon breadsticks and baked a pumpkin dump cake, I watched <i>The Lost Tools of Writing</i> DVDs that I've been meaning to get to for the past year and half. See why I'm liking this new routine? : )<br />
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If an emotional breakdown was prevented during Anna's last cross country meet, there was no getting off the hook at the banquet that night. The banquet lasts almost 4 hours, but that's because our amazing coach talks about each athlete and how they contributed to the team -- not just athletically, but through their spiritual character traits. I was so blessed by the things said about both our kids. It was a special night!<br />
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Tuesday and Wednesday were just normal routine days, and I just want to say I LOVE normal routine days! It's been such a whirlwind this fall, that we really take notice when we have the opportunity to just buckle down and get things done. Ryne only has a couple weeks left in the CC semester, so the easier schedule is timely.<br />
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One thing I'm so glad I decided to do this year is take algebra along with Ryne. Until this week, that just meant watching the <i>Math U See</i> lesson with him and then I'd take the test myself to make sure I was following the material. If I made any mistakes, I reviewed the lesson and usually figured it out pretty quickly. This week's lesson was about graphing inequalities, and I finally decided I was going to have to do some of the daily assignment work before doing the test. I worked through several problems, then took the test on Wednesday and scored 100%. Woo hoo! How funny for me to be that excited about doing well on a math test. Going through the course with Ryne is actually quite helpful -- not because of the ego boost -- but because I am able to help him so much better when he gets stuck on something. A few weeks ago, I got a week behind and when he needed help, I made things much worse before I took the time to go through the lesson myself. I'm so glad I listened to this advice from homeschool veterans -- take math with your child (ideally, you'd even work ahead of their pace).<br />
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Thursday was a fun day. I got to keep a secret from Ryne all day, and it drove him crazy. : ) I count that as a blessing too, because many kids on the autism spectrum would not be able to handle such uncertainty. While it was annoying to him, he was able to deal with the teasing. So, what was the surprise? Tickets to a Star Trek symphony performance -- they played one of the movies on a giant screen while the symphony accompanied. Ryne loves both Star Wars and Star Trek, and he's obsessed with the soundtracks to both series. He got a couple different soundtracks for his birthday in August and has listened to them nonstop, so he was in his element at this event.<br />
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While Marc and Ryne were at the symphony, I got to go out to a restaurant with some ladies from our church, which was also a lot of fun. Grace was at ballet class and Anna was preparing for a big debate for her rhetoric class.<br />
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Friday afternoon, Anna's senior class conducted their debate in front of the entire the secondary school body and I was able to go watch. This wasn't one of those emotional senior year "last" moments, but it was still a pretty significant event -- for her because it was a big project her team had worked hard on, for me because it was an opportunity to see her classical education come full circle. Nine years ago I casually browsed the library shelves for anything on homeschooling and brought home <i>The Well-Trained Mind</i>. The book sold me on the idea of homeschooling, but the classical method intimidated me. Yet, by the grace of God, we survived and I can see how it really does equip the student in so many ways. I'll have to expand on that in a future post, maybe next semester as we get closer to graduation.<br />
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As soon as the debate ended, I started getting notifications on my phone about the tragedy in Paris. And then 30 minutes later, Marc called to say he had been in an accident on the interstate. There were no serious injuries -- he's sore, but thankful his car held up well to the impact. It needs significant repairs, yet it could have been much worse. We're praising God for His protection.<br />
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And we are praying for the people in Paris. This morning a verse of a hymn we sang in church served as a beautiful reminder that God is in control and offers a glorious future, free from sin and evil.<br />
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<i>When as the grass the wicked grow,</i><br />
<i>When sinners flourish here below,</i><br />
<i>Then is there endless ruin nigh,</i><br />
<i>But You, O Lord, are throned on high:</i><br />
<i>Your foes shall fall before your might,</i><br />
<i>The wicked shall be put to flight.</i><br />
<a href="http://www.opc.org/hymn.html?hymn_id=290">How Good it is to Thank the Lord</a>, (Verse 3)<br />
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Finally, since I'm still finishing this post up Sunday night, my heart is also heavy about news I just received that a dear friend is having to say good-bye to her father, just like I did a few months ago. I'm praying God will fill her with the same peace and comfort He did for me.<br />
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I'll probably have the above hymn in my head all week, which is a good thing. It <i>is</i> good to thank the Lord, not just for happy moments of which we had many at the Blue House this week, but also for the hard moments because they teach us to cling to God.<br />
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<i>How good it is to thank the Lord,</i><br />
<i>And praise to You, Most High, accord.</i><br />
<i>To show Your love with morning light,</i><br />
<i>And tell your faithfulness each night:</i><br />
<i>Yea, good it is your praise to sing,</i><br />
<i>And all our sweetest music bring.</i><br />
(Verse 1)<br />
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May you have a blessed week! Happy homeschooling!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Linking up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-with-all-the-appointments/">Kris of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers</a>.</i></div>
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-43888646691825479382015-11-06T23:37:00.000-06:002015-11-07T09:39:52.137-06:00Weekly Wrap-Up {Celebration!}<div style="text-align: center;">
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Whew! What a couple of weeks it's been -- the Royals won the World Series!!! More on that in a bit.<br />
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Sorry, I missed last week's wrap-up. I was out of town for the kids' last cross country meet of the season and just couldn't find the time or energy for blogging, so I'll try to recap two weeks at once.<br />
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Classical Conversations: Two weeks ago, Ryne had his first debate. They had been studying the debate process all semester, but this was their first actual debate with teams and everything. I'll admit, it was pretty awful, but I'm so proud of him.<br />
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First of all, the kids picked their own topic and didn't realize when they chose it how impossible this particular topic would be to research and argue, for either side of the resolution. That made preparation a giant headache for everyone, but it was a good lesson to learn and a mistake they won't repeat if they get to choose their topic again. : )<br />
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Second, my son is just amazing. Debate is hard in general, but a thousand times harder for a kid with autism who has trouble verbally expressing himself. Several of his statements were hard to understand and his points didn't flow well. Yet, he did it, and I think he even enjoyed it. He has no fear of speaking in front of people (which can also be a problem sometimes!), because he doesn't get all caught up in what other people think about him. He does, however, thrive on the interaction with people. When he was growing up, I would never have thought he'd be an extrovert, but I think he is! That leaves me as the only true introvert in our family, and we wonder why I'm always so stressed out. {Kidding, dear family!}<br />
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Moving on. Two Thursdays ago, Grace had her choreography night at ballet, a tradition the middle grade ballet students do each year around Halloween. Instead of just dressing in costumes, like the youngest kids, they get to choreograph their own dance to perform in front of the class. Grace stayed up late Wednesday night trying to get all her homework done and then spent most of Thursday working on her dance, which was a cute (poking-fun-of) day in the life of a One Direction fan, using music from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VqTwnAuHws">The Piano Guys</a>. I had my phone all ready to record her performance at class that night, so, of course, I totally forgot to record it and I'm going to hate myself forever.<br />
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Soon, you will notice a recurring theme.<br />
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Friday, we left for the out of town cross country meet. That evening the team had a meeting and the seniors each got to share a few words about their cross country experience. I sat hidden in a corner so no one would be able to see my tears flow when it was Anna's turn to talk. I was doing pretty well holding myself together until the very end when she got teary, but then as she started to get emotional Ryne walked right up to the front of the room and wrapped his arms around her. Waterworks, ya'll. That was too much for this momma to handle.<br />
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After that, I figured Saturday I'd be an emotional mess since it was Anna's last cross country meet <i>ever</i>. Instead of puddles of tears, however, we had rain puddles. It rained and rained and rained all morning. There was no thunder or lightning, so the races went on as planned. But it was my daughter's last race and I was not going to let the rain prevent me from getting the perfect photo of it. I take thousands of pictures each cross country season, of every kid on the team. If I do say so myself, sometimes I get pretty amazing pictures -- of other people's kids. My own kids' photos usually turn out so-so. I think it's because I have a harder time focusing on taking the photo since I also want to cheer them on. Yet, this was my last chance for Anna, so I just wrapped a plastic bag around my camera and kept snapping away.<br />
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She had a pretty good race with a strong finish. I stood near the finish line taking continuous photos as she approached, but it was exciting because she hadn't had that kind of kick at the end of her race for more than a year. And then as soon as she passed me, I burst into tears. That was it, <i>her last race</i>.<br />
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The rain continued through the award ceremony and the team prayer afterwards. Everyone was soaked to the bone, so it was a little hard to be emotional when you just wanted to find dry clothes and food. Momma meltdown prevented, but it was also a bit of a letdown.<br />
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At least I'd have great pictures of her last race. How could I not when I took hundreds just of her?<br />
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Nope. The best ones were so-so, and I'm going to hate myself forever.<br />
<br />
Sunday was Grace's 13th birthday!!! And guess what her big present was? The Royals winning the World Series!!! Yes, we had previously arranged it with the team, so while the rest of the city was sweating it out when the game extended into 12 innings we were as calm as could be. ; )<br />
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Tuesday was the big celebration for the champions. Parade at noon and rally at 2:00. City officials were planning for 200,000 people to crowd downtown Kansas City. Area schools cancelled classes. To accommodate the crowds, buses would be available at various locations around the metro area to shuttle people in. In my great wisdom, I decided taking the shuttle would be much easier than trying to find parking downtown.<br />
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Well, I wasn't the only one who had that bright idea.<br />
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This was taken when we first got in line -- these are the people who showed up in the 15 minutes after us.<br />
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And this is about two hours later. That's the line of people still in front of us.<br />
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<img alt=" photo Royals celebration 3.jpg" border="0" src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Royals%20celebration%203.jpg" /></div>
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The crazy thing is that NO ONE complained. When city officials traveled down the line to tell us we probably wouldn't get there in time for the parade, no one left. We just kept steadily moving up the mile-long line, cheering and waving each time another busload of people pulled out of the lot. Thankfully, we brought sandwiches with us, so we just stuck it out for three hours. You can tell we're homeschoolers in that my kids were excited that the bus we got to ride on was a yellow school bus -- ha! Or at least they <i>were</i> excited until we got on the bus and it was 100 degrees and our bus driver got lost. Still, no one got mad -- everyone just kind of laughed it off and helped the bus driver find her way back to the highway. I was beginning to wonder what planet I woke up on that morning!<br />
<br />
A few more than 200,000 people showed up for the Royals celebration. The mayor's office said that it may have been 800,000, and I don't doubt it a bit. For a metro area with a population around 2 million, that's a pretty big crowd!<br />
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Our view was a bit more limited.<br />
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It was almost impossible to be in a bad mood that day, but yes, I'll hate myself forever that we didn't get to see the parade. Everyone I know that drove in themselves somehow found a parking spot and got amazing pictures of the parade. The rally, which is what is shown above, was cool in that we got to be part of it, but the parade would have been much better.<br />
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Photos of the daytime fireworks will have to substitute for photos of players and the trophy (or even a decent photo of my kids, because even those didn't turn out well).<br />
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<img alt=" photo Royals celebration 11.jpg" border="0" src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Royals%20celebration%2011.jpg" /></div>
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My favorite photo of the day was actually from the car on the way home (we had Marc pick us up rather than wait three more hours for a shuttle; even with Marc getting us it took awhile to get out of downtown).<br />
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My parade shot. Ha!<br />
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The rest of the week was a little anticlimactic. : )<br />
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You know me, I'm a visual person. It kills me when I'm not able to capture the moment with my camera and I beat myself up for not doing a better job. It's in those times I'm reminded that words can also preserve those memories. So, I apologize for the length of this post, but these were all memories I wanted to hold onto a little longer. There was a lot of celebrating happening the last couple of weeks: a son who didn't back down from a hard task, a daughter who finished strong, another daughter just starting out her teenage years, and a team that made a whole city proud.<br />
<br />
Have a great weekend, and happy homeschooling!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Linking up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-in-which-im-being-spoiled/">Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers</a>.</i></div>
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<br />
Okay, just one more thing... in case you're wondering what the big deal is about the Royals, here's a link to my favorite article of the week. It's a good read even if you don't know a thing about baseball and couldn't point Kansas City out on a map (most people I meet have no idea what state the city is in). : )<br />
<br />
<a href="http://espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2015/story/_/page/playoffs15_StarkGame5/kansas-city-royals-crowned-kings-improbability-mlb">Royals Crowned Kings of Improbability and MLB</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.6px;"><i><span style="color: #76a5af;">If there ever was a team that could find itself two runs down to the Dark Knight in the ninth inning of a World Series game and think, "Cool, we've got these guys right where we want them," this was that team -- the kings of improbability. They'd spent an entire postseason acting as if down were up. So why stop now?</span></i></span></blockquote>
Bye, for real this time!<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-12808904860453586882015-10-23T17:43:00.001-05:002015-10-24T07:55:46.405-05:00Weekly Wrap-Up {From the Front Porch}<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt=" photo fall porch 2.jpg" border="0" src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/fall%20porch%202.jpg" /></div>
<br />
Ah, the difference a week can make.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2015/10/weekly-wrap-up-baseball-potatoes.html">Last week</a>, we were worrying about how my husband would survive if the Cubs ended up meeting the Royals in the World Series. I did mention the discussion was premature because there was still a lot of baseball to play. Premature, indeed. It just took four games and the Cubs were done for the season (<i>ouch!</i>). Oh, well. Cub fans agree: there's always next year. : )<br />
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{<a href="http://imgur.com/mjXrYQ3">via</a>}</div>
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Meanwhile, we continue to cheer on the Royals!<br />
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Other than baseball, this week has been mostly about me getting caught up on everything. I've hardly made a dent, but it does feel good to be making progress.<br />
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I'm looking forward to a Monday morning when I'm not feeling completely guilty about Ryne not having done something for Classical Conversations. Last year, his community day was on Tuesday, giving us Monday to put the finishing touches on everything and get ready for class day. I didn't like having CC on Tuesdays because it's one of the days the girls are home from their 3-day-a-week school, but I didn't get to spend much time with them. So when our CC community switched to Mondays this year, I thought I would love it. Instead, I just never feel prepared and our weeks start out stressful. Part of it has been life circumstances, and part has been the increase in difficulty and workload. Apparently, you can't please me either way, so we'll just have to make the best of it. ; )<br />
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Monday afternoon, I met with Ryne's tutor for a sort of parent-tutor conference, and he had some very encouraging things to say about Ryne. He also confirmed some of our struggles, but overall I did feel better about things. The most important thing is Ryne really likes CC, and that makes it worth it. We will hit our groove for the year -- it's just taking a little longer than last year.<br />
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Monday night I fell asleep as the Royals were losing. The score was high on both sides, and when my alarm went off in the morning, I was sure the game was still being played and the score was more like a basketball score than a baseball score. Thankfully, I always set the coffee maker to start 15 minutes before my alarm, so pretty soon all was well with my brain. The Royals' loss was confirmed, but the score was 8-11, not 88-111.<br />
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Wednesday afternoon, Anna and Ryne had a cross country meet. It was Anna's second-to-last cross country meet. I'm so not ready for all the <i>last</i> things we'll encounter this year.<br />
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Thursday was the day Anna completed two more college applications. Unlike the <i>last</i> things I was referring to in the previous paragraph, I think we'll all be very glad when she clicks 'submit' for the last application. We just want to move ahead to the part where they all accept her with tons of scholarship money and she gets to decide where she wants to go for the next phase of her life. Or at least that's how it <i>should</i> work. ; )<br />
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Friday morning brought a light rain. I think one of my favorite moments of the whole week was sitting on the front porch, drinking a hot cup of tea and listening to the rain and watching the deer eat grass across the street. I was only out there about 10 minutes, but it was heavenly. The afternoon was spent helping Ryne prepare for his debate on Monday, and trying to get caught up on all my school reading. We're reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Through-Gates-Splendor-Elisabeth-Elliot/dp/0842371516">Through the Gates of Splendor</a> this week, which is one of my favorite books of all time.<br />
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While working on this weekly wrap-up, it suddenly occurred to me that it would be delightful to return to the front porch with my afternoon coffee and my favorite book, so that's where you'll find me for the next hour or so.<br />
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I also have a couple thousand cross country photos to sort through this weekend -- that should definitely help me cope with all those senior mom emotions. : (<br />
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Have a blessed weekend, and happy homeschooling!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Linking up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-in-which-i-was-sick/">Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers</a>.</div>
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-65613762898464963622015-10-20T11:22:00.000-05:002015-10-20T11:31:23.660-05:00Cross Country Team Lunch: Baked Potato Bar<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt=" photo potato bar editied 2.jpg" border="0" src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/potato%20bar%20editied%202.jpg" /></div>
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When I offered to host our kids' cross team for an after-meet lunch last year, I debated between a taco bar and a potato bar, knowing that it would be easy to have people help out by contributing ingredients. I can't remember exactly why I ended up choosing potatoes over tacos, but it was a real winner and we decided to do it again this year. It great for those athletes who just burned off their spaghetti dinners from the night before and works well for a large group of people. The potatoes are filling, so guests aren't having to repeatedly go back through the line for seconds (or thirds and fourths, if we're talking about my son). : )<br />
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A couple of weeks ago, I found my shopping list from last year, making the planning even easier. I thought it would be even more helpful to just record my lists and tips on the blog to make it even easier when I host again next year. I've already had several people ask me about ingredients and planning, so this might be the first "helpful" post I've had on this blog in a long, long time! ; ) I apologize in advance for how long it is -- I could <i>never</i> be a food blogger!<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: large;">POTATOES</span></b><br />
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I do most of my shopping for the potato bar at Costco, just because we're a Costco family. There might be better deals at Sam's or elsewhere, so shop wherever you like the best. The 20-pound sacks of potatoes at Costco are particularly good because they are large potatoes -- about a pound apiece. This year I bought 3 sacks ($8.99 each) and ended up with 56 potatoes. You might think that people won't want to eat that much potato, but the kids really love it, and both years I've only seen a few people split a potato, and there's been very little food going in the trash.<br />
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Preparing the potatoes works best as a two-person job. Marc washed and I patted them dry, pricked them a few times with a knife, brushed on some butter, and wrapped them in foil. We used olive oil for a handful of the potatoes for our dairy-free guests. I found pre-cut foil sheets at the dollar store last year, and it really is a nice time saver. Not necessary, but helpful for a big project like this.<br />
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I have a double oven and was able to fit all the potatoes into the two ovens. Last year I bought 4 sacks of potatoes (way too many!) and used a roaster in addition to the ovens. I haven't got the cooking time down to an exact science yet -- this year I started cooking the potatoes about 5 hours before we ate, starting at 325, upping it to 350, and then decreasing the temperature to warm. The smaller, upper oven cooked the potatoes faster than the bottom. When wrapped in foil and stacked together, these large potatoes stay warm for hours -- seriously, we set the leftover potatoes on the counter to cool and they were still slightly warm by the evening! I've read that people cook them in batches and keep them in a large cooler to keep warm until serving time, which would help if you don't have a double oven or roaster.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: large;">TOPPINGS</span></b><br />
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That covers the potato cooking, so let's move on to the best part -- the toppings!<br />
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Here's the list of toppings I used to serve 50-60 people:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b>Chili</b><br />
<i>Large crockpot in photo; recipe below.</i><br />
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<b>Queso </b><br />
<i>Small crockpot -- 1 block of Velveeta and a small jar of salsa.</i><br />
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<b>Salsa</b><br />
<i>Both years I've bought too much, so a small or medium sized jar is probably plenty.</i><br />
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<b>Crumbled Bacon</b><br />
<i>I bought the 4-pound pack at Costco ($14.99) this year and we probably could have used two 4-packs; the bacon is very popular.</i><br />
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<b>Sharp Shredded Cheddar Cheese</b><br />
<i>I bought the big 2-pound block from Costco ($4.79) and shredded myself.</i><br />
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<b>Chopped Green Onion</b><br />
<i>2-3 bunches are plenty.</i><br />
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<b>Sliced Black Olives</b><br />
<i>I used one small can I already had in my pantry but probably should have used two.</i><br />
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<b>Sour Cream</b><br />
<i>Large 3-pound tub from Costco ($4.39), used almost all of it.</i><br />
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<b>Grilled chicken, diced</b><br />
<i>I think we used about 2-3 pounds of chicken. I bought the multi-pack of chicken breasts at Costco ($19.52, but prices vary) -- can't remember how many pounds, but it was probably 4-5 and we knew we'd be able to use it for other stuff. </i><br />
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<b>Sauteed tricolor peppers, onions, and mushrooms</b><br />
<i>I bought these at my regular grocery store -- one small container of pre-chopped peppers (it was cheaper than buying the peppers whole), one large sweet onion, and a container of sliced mushrooms. I added some salt and pepper and sauteed in olive oil so our dairy-free guests could partake.</i><br />
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<b>Steamed Broccoli</b><br />
<i>Barely steam the broccoli and it will stay nice and firm (I probably overcooked ours just a bit this time). It won't stay warm, but it won't be soggy, and the potato and other toppings will make it seem warmer than it is. : ) I bought the large bag of precut broccoli at Costco ($4.79) and used more than half of it -- the rest will go in a chicken casserole tonight. ; )</i><br />
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<b>Butter</b><br />
<i>We used almost all of the 3 sticks I put out. I used another stick when preparing the potatoes.</i><br />
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<b>Salt and Pepper</b><br />
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The first year we did this I had other families contribute toppings and desserts, but we ended up being short on desserts and it was a little difficult to coordinate who was bringing what toppings (an online sign-up would be the best way to handle that, but for various reasons we couldn't do that last year). This year I decided to just do the toppings myself and have others bring the desserts. This team and its coaches are very dear to us, so I really view this as my gift to the team. Nevertheless, if you want to divide up all the parts of the meal, it should be very easy if you just list out everything you need on a google doc or some other online form and have people plug their name in.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: large;">CHILI RECIPE</span></b><br />
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I'm not really a big chili fan, but it is one of the most popular toppings at the potato bar -- probably a toss-up between that and the bacon. First, a funny story: When I was in junior high and had to take a Texas history class, one of our assignments was to bring our favorite chili recipe and the best recipes would be chosen for a cook-off. Being a Michigan transplant, my mom didn't have a Texas style chili recipe for me to borrow. I copied down her one chili recipe and took it to school. My science teacher found it and promptly made fun of me for bring a recipe that had kidney beans in it -- <i>"Kidney beans?! Texans don't put beans in their chili, just meat and heat!"</i> I was so embarrassed.<br />
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Fast forward to adulthood, my husband loves to make hot, meaty, and beanless chili, but it requires half a day to make and several scoops of sour cream added for the more sensitive mouths to enjoy. When I need a quick and easy chili recipe, I turn to my trusty Southern Living cookbook. And guess what? Their Easy Texas Chili recipe has beans in it! Man, I wish I could show it to that mean science teacher. ; )<br />
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Yet, beans on potatoes always sounded like carb overkill to me, so I searched all over Pinterest for what kind of chili people use on potatoes. Every example I found used a bean chili; even Wendy's uses a bean chili on their potatoes, so I finally decided I was overthinking this and just made the Easy Texas Chili. The only problem is that when made in the crockpot, it turns out way too watery. So this year, I adapted the recipe and it turned out perfect. We only had about a cup left over out of a triple batch.<br />
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<b><i>Easy Texas Crockpot Chili </i></b><br />
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(fills a large crockpot)<br />
<br />
4 pounds ground beef<br />
1 large onion (or equivalent of 3 small onions)<br />
1 tablespoon minced garlic<br />
2 (16-ounce) cans chili hot beans, undrained<br />
1 (16-ounce) can mild chili beans, undrained<br />
2 (12-ounce) cans tomato paste<br />
3 cups of water<br />
3 tablespoons chili powder<br />
2-3 teaspoons salt to taste<br />
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Ingredient note: I use the two different kinds of beans because I like the variety. I use <i>Bush's Best Chili Beans, Red Beans, Hot Chili Sauce</i> and <i>Bush's Best Chili Beans, Kidney Beans, Mild Chili Sauce </i>(in honor of my science teacher). They are both gluten free. Or I really like the <i>Westbrae Organic Chili Beans</i>, which also has the different types of beans in one can, but it is not labeled gluten free.<br />
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<i>Cook ground beef, onion, and garlic ahead of time in a Dutch oven; brown beef until it crumbles. Drain and store until day of the party. About four hours before the party, combine the ground beef mixture and all other ingredients in the crockpot and cook on high until bubbly. If it looks too thick you can add a little more water.</i><br />
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I feel like now I should, in the spirit of Pioneer Woman, say, <i>"Here's the handy dandy printable,"</i> but I don't know how to make a printable version (another reason I could never be a food blogger). I guess you'll just have to cut and paste. : )<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: large;">OTHER</span></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I bought cups, plates (buy sturdy ones!), and utensils at Costco last year and saved all the leftovers to use this year. I bought fall colored napkins at the dollar store last year and still had plenty for this year.<br />
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Keep your food stations spread apart if you have a big group of people. I had the line for the potato bar start in our living room and made sure nothing was in the way of the line. Drinks were served at the little kitchen desk. Desserts were on the kitchen counter. Trash was on the opposite end of the kitchen.<br />
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The drinks we serve are simple: chocolate milk (cross country team favorite), apple cider, and a beverage dispenser with water. We went though about 3 gallons of the chocolate milk and 2 gallons of the apple cider (Costco, $4.39).<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: large;">EATING TIPS</span></b><br />
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Ha! Who knew that you needed a strategy to eat at a potato bar? Well, my darling husband wishes he had done things differently this year and had a helpful tip: Instead of just smothering your potato with your favorite topping, such as chili and cheese, top half your potato with your tried and true favorite and then use the other half to try something new. Thankfully, he got a second chance with leftovers. We both discovered this year that the grilled chicken with queso and sauteed veggies was our favorite! Just a little wisdom from the pros. ; )<br />
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I think that covers everything, but feel free to ask any questions or share your own favorite tips!<br />
<br />
Oh, forgive me, but I have to share one more cute story. When I went to the regular grocery store to get the last of my supplies, a darling old man pushed his cart up to me in the produce section and asked, more as a statement than a question, <i>"Have you seen the potatoes?!" </i>Well, I certainly had potatoes on my mind, but since I bought those at Costco I couldn't imagine how he'd know about that. He then pointed at the potato section and showed me that the 10-pound bags of potatoes were on sale for a dollar! He was so excited about that amazing deal that he just had to show me. It was so cute! I felt so bad, but no matter how good a deal that was, I just couldn't make myself put another giant bag of potatoes in my cart. I'm sure I'll regret that in a week. : )<br />
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Happy potato eating!<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-72571955327582006002015-10-17T23:21:00.000-05:002015-10-18T20:46:18.683-05:00Weekly Wrap-Up {Baseball & Potatoes}<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt=" photo potato bar editied 2.jpg" border="0" src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/potato%20bar%20editied%202.jpg" /></div>
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This was a good week. Insanely busy, but good. And, Lord willing, I think it was the last of the insanely busy weeks for awhile -- now it's just back to normal busy, which sounds so good right now. I feel like I've been in a never-ending sprint since the middle of June.<br />
<br />
Monday was Classical Conversations day and I was 85% sure we should just quit for the semester since we continue to fall behind, but our tutor reassured me that it was all going to work out. We only have about a month left in the CC semester, so we do need to work hard this week, but I'm feeling a little better about it all. Except debate -- neither of us are liking that subject and it's the hardest to keep up with. I'll try to write more on our CC experience next week.<br />
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Tuesday was the day our beloved Chicago Cubs won the National League Division Series.<br />
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Wednesday was the day our local, and also much-loved Kansas City Royals won the American League Division Series.<br />
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Thursday was the day everyone asked what my poor husband will do if they meet each other in the World Series. He's a third-generation Cubs fan and is about as devoted as you can get. Come on, we have a son named after the Hall of Fame Cubs second baseman, Ryne Sandberg.<br />
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<i>Side Note: People generally assume it was Marc's idea to name our son Ryne, but it was actually my idea. Marc's initial suggestion for a boy's name was Addison Clark, for the cross streets of Wrigley Field. Thankfully for our then-future-son, Marc was quite pleased when I mentioned I really liked the name Ryne. ;</i> )<br />
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Back to baseball. Although the Cubbies are our first love, it's really hard not to love the Royals too. And this town is so much fun to live in when they do well. So, of course, we want them to win! Unless . . .<br />
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Well, there's still a lot of baseball to play before we get to that point, so we'll just cross that bridge when we get there.<br />
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Thursday was also the day we finally got lab results back from Anna's tests to try to find a cause for her low iron levels. Negative. This puts us at a crossroads for deciding what's next, but no matter what we do, it looks like Anna will be regularly receiving IV iron infusions. While we would love for her to just be able to take iron pills and be okay, it is finally nice to know the long-term treatment plan and be able to plan accordingly.<br />
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Friday was the day Anna submitted her first college application. She should have had this one in weeks ago, but life has been stressful for her this fall, so it is what it is. Meanwhile, I'm trying to cope with the thought that she won't be around a year from now. Again, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Sometimes denial is good. : )<br />
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In the midst of all of this excitement, I was busy preparing to host a baked potato bar party on Saturday for Anna and Ryne's cross country team. Every year, the team attends a meet that is not far from our house, so last year I decided it was a great opportunity to do something fun for the team. We had a great time and decided to do it again this year. Having done it before made planning and preparation so much easier, but it was still a big undertaking. It doesn't look like it in the above picture, but I made 56 potatoes and all the toppings! And I cleaned my house, which hasn't happened for ages! I'm going to try to do a post next week about the specifics, but I'll just finish by saying it was a wonderful day. Exhausting, but wonderful. I'm so glad Marc took this photo on his phone, or I'd have no proof we actually pulled it off again because I was too busy to get out my camera.<br />
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Oh, and our Baylor Bears also won today and are currently ranked #2 in the country! What kind of crazy sports world are Marc and I living in?!<br />
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<i>Updated to add: Cubs lost their first game of the National League Championship series, so it's not a totally perfect sports world anymore. But, like I said earlier, still a lot of baseball left to play -- go Cubbies!</i><br />
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Enjoy the rest of your weekend!<br />
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Happy homeschooling!<br />
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<i>Linking up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-with-the-book-choices/">Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers</a>.</i></div>
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-43341714978530834122015-10-10T15:15:00.000-05:002015-10-11T21:17:48.077-05:00Weekly Wrap-Up {From Rocky Mountain High to Ewww, Gross!}<div style="text-align: center;">
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With a blog named Blue House Academy, you'd think these weekly wrap-ups would have a bit more school related updates than I've had lately. Sometimes life just takes over and homeschooling gets neglected, but hopefully this was our last week of major distractions and events. Ryne has, in fact, been working very hard every day and I have a stack of papers to look through. I'm glad one of us is doing our job! Unfortunately, there are many areas where he has needed my help and I have not been available, so we have much to catch up on.<br />
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What has kept me so busy and distracted?<br />
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After finishing last week's wrap-up, I hopped on a plane for a quick visit with my sister in Denver. We spent 12 glorious hours in the mountains on Saturday and then I caught a 6:00 a.m. flight back home Sunday morning. I didn't want to haul my camera bag, so I just have iPhone pics, but they are still lovely. I was about a week too late to see the really pretty fall colors, but the gorgeous weather couldn't be beat. Part of me felt guilty for leaving during such a busy time, but I had planned it back in August after my dad's funeral, before I knew September and October would be even more jam-packed that usual. But the other part of me was so grateful for a nice little break from the chaos.<br />
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Sunday, Anna and I drove to the St. Louis area and checked into a hotel so we could get up bright and early Monday morning for testing to try and determine the cause of her low iron levels. We were there all day, with a long break between appointments, and didn't get home until almost 10:00 Monday night. We were a bit exhausted! We're still waiting on some of those test results, so no answers yet.<br />
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Tuesday morning I attended parent-teacher conferences at the girls' school. Marc was getting ready to leave for the airport to go on a short business trip when he discovered <i>evidence</i> we had mice in the kitchen. <i>Lovely!</i><br />
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He was able to set a couple of traps before he left and I started pulling everything out of the cabinets. In all our years in this house, we've only had a few mice, but they never got all in the cabinets like this mouse did. <i>Yuck!</i><br />
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Normally I just clean with vinegar or baking soda, but I wanted something stronger for this mess, so I went to Target for cleaning supplies and a frozen lasagna (tearing apart my kitchen did give me a good excuse to not cook this week!). By evening, I was exhausted and went to bed without getting the kitchen clean.<br />
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Early Wednesday morning, I reminded myself I needed to pray about the mouse situation. Less than a minute later I heard a loud <i>snap!</i> come from downstairs. My stomach turned as I pleaded with God that I meant for the mouse problem to get fixed <i>after</i> Marc got back in the evening. I'm a big wimp about these things, so I just swept the mouse and trap into a cardboard box and put it out on the deck.<br />
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After Wednesday morning Bible study, I had lunch with a dear friend whom I hadn't seen much of for several months. That afternoon I alternated working on math with Ryne and cleaning the kitchen. I put Izzy (my dad's dog, who is now living with us) on her chain in the front yard. Sometimes she likes to stay out there and watch the world go by. While she was out there, I passed by the front door and noticed she was chewing on something. At first I thought it was a stick, but then I wasn't sure, so I went outside. She had crawled under the front porch and found a skeleton of some small creature!<br />
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Seeing that was about 10 million, trillion, gazillion times worse than sweeping up a dead mouse.<br />
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I finally finished cleaning the kitchen Friday night. I had to clean everything in all our bottom cabinets and drawers. I sealed gaps in the cabinets with steel wool and put peppermint oil soaked cotton balls in all the cabinets and drawers. Meanwhile, Marc has been pondering what to do to keep the dog from exploring underneath the front porch.<br />
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This is one of the grossest weeks I've ever experienced in the Blue House, so basically I'm just ready to move.<br />
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Or at least go back to Colorado for another mountain retreat.<br />
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Hope you're enjoying your weekend!<br />
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Happy homeschooling!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Linking up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-with-the-tires-the-leak-and-the-drastic-new-do/">Kris at Weird Unscocialized Homeschoolers</a>.</i></div>
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-25295788548218819262015-10-02T10:53:00.000-05:002015-10-02T10:53:09.479-05:00Weekly Wrap-Up {Run With Endurance}<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Hanging out at the team tent during last Saturday's XC meet.</i></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before H</i><i>im endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ~ Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV</i></blockquote>
It's one of those weeks where I just want to quit. Quit Classical Conversations because we're behind in everything. Quit trying to find answers to my daughter's low iron levels because we've been trying for almost three years and it's just too hard to keep getting our hopes up. Quit making dinners because I don't have the energy (I already quit cleaning the house months ago, so no worries there!). Quit the college application process because she's still trying to figure out what she wants to do. Quit every activity because it's just too much.<br />
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Yet, this week has been <i>amazing</i> in that God keeps interrupting my pity party with grace. Each day has had one of those powerful <i>only-God-could-do-that</i> moments to point me to His goodness, mercy, and sovereignty. I got a glimpse of just how hard God is working in other people's lives when He appears to be silent. I was reminded He's working just as hard in all my problems, but I was also given some much needed perspective and humility. I don't need to quit everything, but I do need to lay aside some of my attitudes.<br />
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So, I'm keeping this week's wrap-up super simple: just a reminder to myself, and maybe you too, that the call is to just keep running, with our eyes fixed on Jesus.<br />
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Happy homeschooling and have a blessed weekend!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Linking up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-with-the-egg-sac/">Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers</a>.</i></div>
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-12669077192226893842015-09-25T12:54:00.000-05:002015-09-26T06:49:44.107-05:00Weekly Wrap-Up {Grace for the Crazy Days}<div style="text-align: center;">
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Oh, Fall, how I love thee.</div>
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Golden flowers everywhere.</div>
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Pumpkin spice lattes.</div>
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Crisp mornings.</div>
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An established rhythm to our days.</div>
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Ha! When will I learn? Every time I say life is starting to settle down, the craziness kicks up a notch or two. Or three. : )</div>
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Monday morning started out with me fighting off a mini panic attack. Mondays are our Classical Conversations day and there were a couple of things Ryne didn't complete. Thankfully, I fought off the guilt by repeating one word throughout the morning: <i>grace</i>. I knew that our CC tutor would give us grace, but <i>sometimes I need to give myself grace</i>.</div>
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The assignments that didn't get done are from his debate strand, a subject completely new to Ryne (and me), and he needed some coaching. Yet, in order to coach him, I needed to understand it better and I just never found that time to get caught up on it. So I sat in on that session of his CC day and got it figured out.</div>
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Now I just need to find time to go over it more with him. I don't know if this is an autism thing or just his learning style, or both, but Ryne can study pretty independently when he has a routine in place and at least some basic understanding of the material, knowledge he can build upon. However, if it's something new like this, he struggles at just digging in and figuring it out on his own or even getting started. Funny, writing out my thoughts on the matter reveals to me how I can be praying for his homeschooling.</div>
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Tuesday was a much-needed workday at home. I did, however, get some sad news about a dear friend's father, so my heart was heavy.</div>
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Wednesday morning was full of baby bliss -- I was a helper in one of the baby rooms for Bible Study Fellowship. Two hours in a room full of 4-9 month old cutie pies! I'm fully loving my stage as a mom to teenagers, but a morning with snuggly babies was a wonderful change of pace. BSF often uses long-time class members to volunteer in the children's program for the first two weeks of class as newcomers get used to the schedule and program, so next week I will finally get to meet my new small group for the year.</div>
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Thursday. I cannot begin to describe how crazy-full this day was. It involved four hours of driving across the state to the St. Louis area for a medical appointment for Anna. Marc was already there for business, so I got to see him for about 5 minutes before I drove another four hours back home to take Grace to ballet class. By the time we returned from ballet, Marc was home too and we talked for about 5 minutes before I collapsed into bed. So I spent 10 minutes total talking with my husband, half on one side of the state, and half on the other side of the state!</div>
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Today is the fall carnival/fundraiser for the girls' school and then tomorrow is our biggest cross country meet of the season. Being done with the carnival will help ease our busy schedule a bit, but we have another trip to St. Louis scheduled for next week and another the week after that, so crazy will still stick around a little longer. Thankfully, God's grace is more powerful than the crazy.</div>
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If I ever find some free time to sit down and putter, I will be editing a batch of photos from a little photoshoot I did a couple weeks ago with Anna in a field of sunflowers. I still want to have professional senior photos taken, but this was a fun prelude. The hat was an accessory we used for just a few photos, so we set it aside for a moment, and then forgot all about it! An hour later we suddenly remembered the hat and had to retrace our footsteps through thousands of sunflowers. Thankfully, we had left it in a place a little easier to find than on the ground, so we were reunited with the hat. : )</div>
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Happy homeschooling, and have a blessed weekend!</div>
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<i>Linking up with Kris at <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-with-a-bunch-of-random-stuff/">Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers</a>.</i></div>
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Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-9676172392615992572015-09-18T15:30:00.002-05:002015-09-25T10:34:49.559-05:00Weekly Wrap-Up<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Shakespeare in the Shade: Ryne and his Challenge I classmates and tutor, reading aloud <i>The Taming of the Shrew</i></span></div>
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Last week Grace read my blog.<br />
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As in the WHOLE thing.<br />
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From June 11, 2008 to July 23, 2015!<br />
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Granted, I've never been the most prolific blogger, so it really didn't take her that long to read through every post, but I was surprised at how much she enjoyed reading it. It got me thinking that it really is a shame I've stopped chronicling our adventures, so for her sake, I'm going to make a better effort.<br />
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With that, I'm bringing back weekly reviews, except that I'm going to try to keep it really simple. A picture and a few highlights are my goal (I've even cheated by using a picture from last week!). To keep myself accountable, however, I will be linking up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-with-the-birthday-2/">Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers</a>.<br />
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This marked Week 5 of our homeschool year! Our school year got off to a very rocky start due to <a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2015/09/my-dad.html">sad circumstances</a>, but we're finally starting to hit our groove. Ryne is in <a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2015/07/2015-2016-curricular-plans.html">Classical Conversations' Challenge 1</a> program, and we're really behind in a couple of subjects, but I'm trying not to stress too much about it. Overall, CC is going very well for him this year. It's just him and three girls in the class, but he has a male tutor to make up for being the only guy in the class. It seems like a pretty neat mix of kids.<br />
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Tuesday was my entry into my mid-40's (44, to be exact. How can that be?!). The first excitement of the day was getting a call from Anna to say she drove her car into a ditch just outside our neighborhood. She was fine and the car was fine -- she just caught a tire on the edge of the road as she was turning and couldn't recover quickly enough. We live in a semi-rural area, so the roads aren't the greatest and I've even caught a tire there myself before. In God's Providence, Marc was still at home and was sitting right next to me when I got the call, so he took her to her community college class and then waited for the tow truck (it's a pretty deep ditch). Everything turned out fine, amazingly, I stayed calm the entire time. That might be a first!<br />
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In the afternoon Marc and I had a meeting across town to attend and afterwards we went out to dinner. It wasn't a planned date, but turned out to be a fun little birthday celebration. Tomorrow night will be our annual family tradition of celebrating my birthday by watching <i>The Sound of Music</i>. I think we started doing it before Grace was even born, so I'm pretty sure between the five of us we could quote the entire movie.<br />
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Wednesday was the first week of <a href="https://www.bsfinternational.org/">Bible Study Fellowship</a>! BSF is probably the only thing that can keep me sane enough to be able to homeschool through high school, so I'm very happy to start up the new year. : ) I volunteered in the children's program and had the most perfectly behaved group of 3 and 4 year-olds I've ever seen. They were a bunch of cuties, but it was almost eerie how good they were!<br />
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Thursday afternoon was spent at Anna and Ryne's cross country meet. Anna has been having health issues and wasn't supposed to run, but she decided to try anyway and ended up taking 7th place. Her varsity girls team won the meet for the 8th year in a row. Ryne was the 5th runner in on his JV team, which also won the meet. And I had a sweet reunion with a friend I knew years ago from BSF. All in all, a great afternoon!<br />
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The strangest thing to happen all week? My cell phone has become a magnet for receiving wrong number calls this week. So far, I've received 5 different calls not really meant for me, but the best was Sunday night. I answered my phone, even though I didn't recognize the number, and it was an automatic message, saying I was receiving a non-collect call from a correctional facility and then it gave the first name of the person calling me, which happened to be the first name of my sister! I figured the only thing that would result in my smart, law-abiding sister calling me from jail was going to be quite the story, but alas the poor woman had called the wrong number so I have no tales to tell. I do hope that it's not really like it is in the movies and that the woman used up her only phone call on me!<br />
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That wraps up our week! Happy homeschooling and enjoy the weekend!<br />
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-72853007502595883462015-09-14T21:00:00.000-05:002015-09-16T07:01:59.462-05:00My Dad<div style="text-align: center;">
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Dad passed away a month ago, August 14th. It was expected, yet unexpected. He had gradually declined from Alzheimer's for several years, but he also had months where he had more significant decline and then he would plateau for awhile.<br />
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For Father's Day, my sister had taken him out to a Cirque du Soleil performance and they had a wonderful time. It was not easy because his mobility wasn't what it used to be, but they were able make it up and down stairs and he enjoyed the performance. Less than two weeks later, we were getting calls while we were on vacation in Michigan that he was experiencing a lot of confusion and having balance problems.<br />
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By the time I went out to see him a week later he was unable to walk, wasn't able to feed himself, and pretty much didn't recognize me. He started receiving hospice care. We were told that he may have had a silent stroke. But as the week went on, he slowly started getting better. By the end of the week, he was still in a wheel chair but in pretty good spirits. He knew who I was and we had delightful conversations. Of course, I was thankful for the improvement, but the emotional strain of the week on my sister and me was intense -- such ups and downs.<br />
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I traveled back home, and then a week and a half later our whole family returned to Denver for my niece's wedding. Dad was doing much better, and Marc and the kids had a wonderful, but short, visit with him. He was still in a wheelchair, but he recognized our whole family and was delighted to see everyone. After the wedding we went back home and started getting ready for the new school year.<br />
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At church that next Sunday, I told people I thought my dad was experiencing another plateau and I didn't think anything was imminent. I thought it might be several months. Two days later I received a call that it was time to come back to Denver. Dad's body was just shutting down. My sister and I spent the next few days at his side. He was not responsive, but we spent the time sorting through pictures and retelling and remembering all the stories of our growing up years.<br />
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As a follower of this blog, you must know by now that I'm a visual person and that photos are important to me, but I don't think even I realized just how important they would be this past month. With Alzheimer's you start saying your good-byes long before your loved one is actually gone. Every time I left Denver I wondered if it was the last time I'd see my dad, even if he was doing well. Because he had a more aggressive form of Alzheimer's, we knew things could go downhill pretty quickly. So it wasn't the good-bye that was so hard. God gave me so much peace through it all (and I do mean it came <i>completely from God</i>, because my natural tendency in any stressful situation is panic, pity, and worry). This time I had no doubt God was in control every moment. But the hurt was still hard. Because my mom passed away ten years ago, this was the end of an era. The day before my dad passed away would have been their 49th wedding anniversary. Going through the photos reminded me of how blessed our family was, and my heart started to heal. My parents didn't get to live deep into their retirement years, but they lived their adventure from day one. My sister and I had an amazing childhood. So many good memories.<br />
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The week following Dad's death, I worked on a photo slideshow for the service that was a tribute mostly to Dad's life, but also Mom's. I'm not posting the slideshow on the blog because it's long and we didn't want it on youtube, but the above are just some of the pictures I used (some of the above weren't included in the slideshow, but I thought my kids might like to see a few more of their grandpa and mom together). Everything about Dad's service felt so perfect and brought such peaceful closure. For ten years I struggled with my memories of Mom being clouded by the awfulness of brain cancer, and I feared that my memories of Dad would likewise always be framed by Alzheimer's. But after spending hours and hours putting together the slideshow and then watching it at least 20 times since then (and counting, because I still watch it almost daily), my mind is now filled with images of happy times and wonderful memories of them both. We weren't perfect, and there were still hard times, but it all comes together to form the story of our family -- a story I will always treasure.<br />
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I could write so much more, but just know that God was good to my dad, and God used my dad to bring a lot of people joy.<br />
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God is good.<br />
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-14733841767508985852015-07-23T16:22:00.000-05:002015-07-23T16:22:16.846-05:002015 - 2016 Curricular Plans<div style="text-align: center;">
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Welcome to any new visitors! I can't believe it's that time of year again, but I'm slowly starting to look forward to our new school year. New books and supplies always help. ; ) </div>
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This year I'll be homeschooling my almost 16 year-old son who was diagnosed with autism at age 2. He has been homeschooled since the middle of 1st grade. Although he's starting 10th grade this year, his skills vary. Last year Ryne enjoyed his first year of <a href="https://www.classicalconversations.com/">Classical Conversations</a>. He was in Challenge A last year, but will be skipping ahead to <a href="https://www.classicalconversations.com/classical/programs/challenge/challenge-i">Challenge I</a> this year (many factors led to that decision -- too long to go into now).</div>
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I also have two daughters (12th and 7th grades) who attend a classical Christian school three days a week. All three kids now work pretty much independently, but my homeschool days still feel very full with grading, record keeping, planning, proofreading papers, reading the books my son reads, proctoring tests, and a lot college planning with my oldest. It's a very different life than when the kids were young. For those of you looking forward to getting a break when the kids are older . . . sorry, it ain't happening! ; )</div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">THE PLAN</span></div>
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Memory work from the Heidelberg Catechism and weekly catechism classes at church</div>
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<i>Grace and Ryne are entering their fourth and final year of catechism training. They have worked hard and are seeing the fruit of their labor in other areas of life. Such a blessing!</i></blockquote>
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<a href="http://explorerbiblestudy.org/products/qotg">Explorer's Bible Study (Quest Series) - The Only True God</a></div>
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<i>This will be our third year using this series. It gives him structure to his Bible study time, but doesn't get overwhelming, given he also spends daily time memorizing his catechism assignment. </i></blockquote>
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<a href="https://www.classicalconversations.com/classical/programs/challenge/challenge-i">Challenge I materials:</a> Words Aptly Spoken: American Documents, Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?, The Money Mystery, A Bluestocking Guide to Economics, An Introduction to Policy Debate<br />
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<i>Anyone who has followed our homeschool journey knows how much I have loved our history studies, so you can imagine how sad I am to not have formal history plans this year. God must have known I'd need something good to fill that void, so it's providential and appropriate that this former political science major would get to study government and economics with her son this year! Woo-hoo!!!! : )</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://smile.amazon.com/Showdown-Gucci-Gulch-Alan-Murray/dp/0394758110/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437678129&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=showdown+in+gucci+gulf">Showdown at Gucci Gulch</a><br />
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<i>I'm going to try not to add too much extra reading until I get a feel for how heavy Ryne's workload is this year, but this book is a must-read. Long before I knew the value of living books, I first read Showdown in my legislative process class in college and couldn't believe how exciting tax reform could be. No, really, I'm not kidding. : ) I figured there would be something more current that today's professors prefer, but apparently not; it's now a classic and I'm looking forward to reading it again. </i></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.cnn.com/studentnews">CNN Student News</a></div>
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<i>Last fall I learned about this resource from another blogger and it quickly became Ryne's favorite part of the day (I enjoyed it too and Grace loves to watch on the days she's home). In just 10 minutes a day, we can follow all the latest world events, often with interesting background information. No, it's not from a Christian perspective, but I actually find the coverage about as ideologically balanced as you can find these days.</i></blockquote>
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<a href="https://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?id=PSCSET&subject=Science/11&category=Exploring+Creation+with+Physical+Science/2704">Apologia's Exploring Creation with Physical Science</a></div>
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<i>One of the positives of skipping Challenge B is that Ryne can start on the traditional high school science progression, and I will have the accountability I need to keep us doing science (my least favorite subject, but a favorite of all my kids)!</i></blockquote>
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<a href="https://store.mathusee.com/catalog/math-u-see/secondary-math/algebra-1">Math U See - Algebra I</a></div>
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<i>I'm a loyal fan of MUS. It works well for us, so I plan to stick with it for the long haul. Classical Conversations encourages parents to take math along with their oldest homeschooled child and I think this is the year that I just might have to start doing some practice problems on my own. It all looks familiar, but I'm a little rusty. ; )</i></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/022086">InstaGraphs</a></div>
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<i>Just thought I'd throw in this link. Do you ever remember having to start over with your algebra homework just because you messed up a graph? These little post-it style graph paper pads take care of that! Anna has used them all through high school, so I stock up when I place my annual Rainbow Resource order.</i></blockquote>
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<a href="https://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?id=IMLRPK&subject=Logic/12&category=Intermediate+Logic+-+Mastering+Propositional+Arguments/3439">Intermediate Logic</a></div>
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<i>The main downside to skipping Challenge B is that we'll be skipping the year they study logic. Having a high school senior who is classically educated, I know just how crucial the study of logic is and that it should not be skipped. I had hoped to start on it this summer, but that has not happened. So we will start lightly and hit it hard on the winter break and when CC ends in mid-April.</i></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.classicalconversationsbooks.com/lotoofwr.html">Lost Tools of Writing</a> and the <a href="http://www.classicalconversationsbooks.com/chili.html">Challenge I literature selections</a></div>
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<i>Challenge I and II are the heaviest reading years of the Challenge program, but I've always had Ryne do a lot of reading for history, so overall he will actually be reading less than in previous years. This will allow us to focus more on further improving his writing and reading discussion skills.</i></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.christianbook.com/analytical-grammar-r-finley/pd/262101?item_code=WW&netp_id=1004181&event=ESRCQ&view=details" target="_blank">Analytical Grammar</a>, Season 3</div>
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<i>We didn't get this done last year, so I need to be more organized with our planning so it actually gets done.</i> </blockquote>
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<a href="http://classicalacademicpress.com/latin-alive-book-2-program/#.VbFSUsZVhBc">Latin Alive, Book 2</a></div>
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<i>When it's not broken, don't fix it, right? Ryne did very well with the Latin for Children series (he started with Song School Latin and completed LFC A & B). We would have continued with Level C had he not started Classical Conversations. He did great with the Henle latin they use, because he already knew most of what was introduced in Challenge A. But I noticed that the few things he had to learn new, he didn't learn as well as he had with LFC. Plus, we both found the assignments tedious (especially to grade -- I can't stand the Henle answer key). Many CC families do their own thing for certain subjects (especially math, but other subjects too), so we're going to mostly part ways with Henle. I'll still have Ryne look over the weekly vocabulary and grammar rules the Challenge I guide assigns so he can participate in class, but we're going to use the Latin Alive series (the continuation of LFC) as our main program. I think he'll start in Book 2, but I need to compare scope and sequences a little more.</i></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.homeschoolprogramming.com/kidcoder/kidcoder_vb_series.php" target="_blank">Kid Coder series</a></div>
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<i>Ryne loved the first two books of this series he did a couple of years ago. I don't think we'll have time this year to work on the other set we purchased since we need to squeeze in logic, but you never know. : )</i></blockquote>
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Drama/Music Theory (part of Challenge I studies)</div>
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At least two musical events, such as the symphony or a musical -- a BHA tradition!</div>
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<i>A tradition we didn't keep last year, but I'm already looking at symphony dates for this year.</i></blockquote>
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Cross Country and Track</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Ultimate-Guide-Homeschooling-Teens/dp/1932012990">The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling Teens</a></div>
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<i style="text-align: center;">This book is so helpful!!! Not just for planning Ryne's schooling, but for Anna's college search as well.</i></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.scholaric.com/">Scholaric online homeschool planner</a></div>
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<i>It's been two years since I switched from paper to an online planner. I had tried once before with some software, but found it cumbersome and went back to paper. In preparation for high school, however, I felt I needed something that would calculate grades and hours and all that better than what I could do on my own. I have been very happy with Scholaric. It does everything I need it to do without being overwhelming.</i></blockquote>
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There you have it, our plan for the new school year! We officially start school August 17th, but will ease our way into things the week before. Feel free to ask me any questions or let me know your experience with anything we're using this year.</div>
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Happy Homeschooling!!!</div>
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<i>Linking up with the <a href="http://www.ihomeschoolnetwork.com/project/curriculum-week-2015/">7th Annual Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop</a></i></div>
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-18163884173161794452015-07-22T22:07:00.002-05:002015-07-22T22:10:16.215-05:002014 - 2015 Curricular Plans<div style="text-align: center;">
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In case you didn't read the title carefully, these are my homeschool plans for the school year we <b>just completed</b>! You see, I never quite got around to posting our plans last year, but it turns out I reference this annual post quite a bit throughout the year, and I really missed not having an online record of our plans. So I'm backtracking a bit and in the process giving a little recap of our last school year.</div>
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Since I'm doing this in hindsight, I could be sneaky and not list the things we intended to do yet didn't get around to actually doing, making the 2014 - 2015 school the first time we've ever completed everything on our list. ; ) But I figure there's no hiding the fact that I'm always overly ambitious when planning our school year. </div>
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This past school year I homeschooled Ryne (9th grade), while Anna and Grace attended their 3-day a week classical school. The biggest change to our homeschool was that Ryne started attending Classical Conversations as a Challenge A student. We did supplement the Challenge A curriculum to make it more appropriate for high school level work and to finish up our history cycle. I mentioned before on this blog that I wished that instead of starting high school, Ryne could have an 8th Grade Part II, and it did kind of have that feel. Nevertheless, Ryne certainly put in the hours of a true high school student, and I know that several of his classes were far more challenging than I had in high school. I'm so proud of what he accomplished this year!</div>
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Sorry, no links are included because I'm, well, lazy. : )</div>
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Memory work from the Heidelberg Catechism and weekly catechism classes at church</div>
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Explorer's Bible Study: (Quest Series) Promises Fulfilled -- Luke & Acts</div>
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<i>This was our second year using this series. The format works well for him and gives him structure for daily Bible study.</i></blockquote>
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The Story of the World: Volume 4, The Modern Age</div>
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Veritas Press history cards</div>
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Kingfisher History Encyclopedia</div>
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Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of additional reading : )</div>
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Challenge A geography</div>
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<i>Technically, we're still finishing up the history part. We quickly learned last fall that it was too difficult to keep up with our normal history content while also keeping up with Challenge A material. So we scaled back on history and then hit it super hard on the winter break and when CC finished up in mid-April. It turned out to be a blessing, because Grace was able to join us when she finished school in May and we've really enjoyed studying World War II together this summer. We should finish up modern history before the new school year starts.</i></blockquote>
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<i>Additionally, Ryne spent many hours each week working on his Challenge A geography assignments and he did great. By the end of the year he was able to draw and label the entire world from memory, and he learned 150 geographical terms. This has always been my biggest pull to Classical Conversations, and it was so worth it.</i></blockquote>
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<i>I've debated on how to list this on a transcript, but I'm leaning towards Modern History and Geography. Thoughts? : ) </i></blockquote>
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Apologia General Science </div>
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Challenge A assignments (1st semester -- weekly science presentations, 2nd semester -- drawing, labeling, and memorizing nine body systems)</div>
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<i>This is the main area that I think really needs to be supplemented if giving high school credit for Challenge A. Like the history, Ryne worked on the Apologia book lightly during the CC weeks but hit it hard during the winter break and when CC was done for the year. For public school students in our state, high school credit is generally not given for general science, so I'm planning on Ryne completing at least 3 more science credits, even though he did a tremendous amount of work this year.</i></blockquote>
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<i>These pictures are actually from spring of 2014, but I never shared them! Ryne came with me to the local homeschool convention to meet the man who has taught him math since 1st grade. Mr. Demme is a big guy (who happens to wear crazy socks) and was impressed that Ryne was catching up to him in shoe size. : ) By the way, Ryne is now officially six feet tall!</i><br />
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Math U See Pre-Algebra</div>
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<i>We continue to be big fans of this program and plan to stay with it throughout high school. Like general science, my understanding is that high school credit is not generally awarded for pre-algebra. I, however, am thrilled at Ryne's progress. I have no idea what public schools do for other kids with autism when awarding credit, but even if we just get through Algebra II, he will have 3 solid math credits. </i></blockquote>
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Challenge A weekly rhetoric assignments (<i>Fallacy Detective</i> and <i>It Couldn't Just Happen</i>)</div>
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<i>I flip-flopped on what subject to include these assignments in, but finally settled on math. The assignments are kind of an introduction to logic, which is taught in Challenge B, and logic is closely related to math, so that's where they ended up. : ) </i></blockquote>
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Lost Tools of Writing and Challenge A literature selections</div>
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<i>In Challenge A, the students read a new book every three weeks and write a persuasive essay for each three week period. This was probably our second biggest success of the year -- I finally had the accountability and structure I needed to teach writing and Ryne really took to the format and made great progress in his writing.</i></blockquote>
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Analytical Grammar, Season 3</div>
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<i>This was our big fail for the year; not because of the materials, but because of us. We had a little disconnect in the first few lessons and we just got so behind that we ended up ignoring it all year. Since Season 3 covers punctuation, we really need to complete it, so I guess we'll try again next year. </i></blockquote>
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Henle Latin</div>
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<i>I hated to give up our beloved Latin for Children since we still had Level C to do (and I already had the materials). The first few weeks of Challenge A latin were so easy for Ryne that I decided try LFC, Level C at the same time so he would still be learning something. That lasted about a month, then things really picked up with his Challenge A assignments and we couldn't keep up with both programs. The Henle assignments were long -- Ryne probably spent the most time on this subject, yet probably learned the least since LFC had already taught him so much. No doubt, the amount of work done in this class is sufficient for high school credit. </i><i>If a student comes in not knowing any Latin, they will learn a tremendous amount of material. </i></blockquote>
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Kid Coder Series</div>
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<i>Ryne LOVED the previous year where he completed two books of the Kid Coder series, so we really wanted to continue with it. Unfortunately, due to an already heavy workload, all 3 of our computers having issues, and bunch of just-plain-life, we were not able to add this in. </i></blockquote>
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At least two musical events, such as the symphony or a musical -- a BHA tradition!</div>
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<i>That's what I say every year in my curriculum post, but this was the first year that we didn't do anything, unless you count attending Grace's ballet performance, Anna's school play, or just listening to classical music in the car (Ryne still loves his Beethoven's 9th). So sad about this, but it makes me especially glad I prioritized it in our earlier years of homeschooling.</i></blockquote>
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Cross Country and Track</div>
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<i>Not only does Ryne run a lot, but he is privileged to be part of two extraordinary teams. Being surrounded by Christ-following coaches, parents, and athletes is such a blessing!</i></blockquote>
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There you have it, our "plan" for the previous school year -- <i>ha!</i> Up next: "for-real" plans for 2015 - 2016!</div>
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Happy Homeschooling!!!</div>
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-45215640437217192132015-04-17T11:01:00.002-05:002015-04-17T11:01:49.784-05:00Graceful Spring<div style="text-align: center;">
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Did you read <a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2015/04/seasonal-blogger.html">Wednesday's post</a>? Five years ago, I was giddy about two tulips, and now look at them!<br />
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Now, I don't know if it's because we're fresh off Easter or because it's the end of another school year and I've been reflecting on the lessons I've learned, but these tulips struck me as a wonderful reminder of God's grace.<br />
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These tulips deserved to be dead. I left them in the refrigerator vegetable bin for two years and then hastily threw them in the ground without any soil preparation. It took 10 years before the first tulip bloomed.<br />
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Sometimes I am so discouraged by my spiritual growth. Sometimes I'm frustrated with God for the circumstances in my life. I often act like I deserved to be blessed and complain when things don't go my way. I want God to work on my timeline and bless me the way I want to be blessed.<br />
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The Bible, however, explains that I deserve no blessing at all. I deserve death. But in His grace, He gave me faith to believe in His Son and to have life. Because of His grace I have hope. And because of His grace, the gifts of the Spirit are growing in me, until one day when I am with Him in heaven I will be fully in bloom. I will be a full field of tulips.<br />
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The progress seems slow, or even nonexistent, when you're in the thick of things. Yet, when I look back over the years I do see growth. Sometimes God totally throws me for a loop -- blessings I could have never expected. See those two pink tulips? What's that about? Unexpected, but a blessing nonetheless.<br />
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These tulips could describe our homeschool journey too. So often I wonder if it's worth it, if it's making a difference, but then I look back and see how far we've come. Ryne wrote a research paper this week. It wasn't the best, but it wasn't bad either, and I have to remember that 13 years ago we weren't sure he was ever going to be able to talk. It's slow, steady progress, but he is blooming.<br />
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Oh, I could go on and on, but I'll just close with a few more signs of spring at the Blue House. I missed pictures of the peach, cherry, and pear trees in bloom. The lilacs are almost fully bloomed, so hopefully I'll remember to keep checking each day. The magnolia tree was a Mother's Day gift to me one of the first years we lived here. It's grown so much too.<br />
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Hope you're having a wonderful spring!<br />
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<i>Fair are the meadows, fair are the woodlands,</i><br />
<i>Robed in the blooming garb of spring:</i><br />
<i>Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,</i><br />
<i>Who makes the woeful heart to sing.</i><br />
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</i> <i>~ </i>from one of my <a href="http://bluehouseacademy.blogspot.com/2013/10/day-12-fairest-lord-jesus.html">favorite hymns<i>, Fairest Lord Jesus</i></a><br />
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-53044498233635399402015-04-15T19:35:00.001-05:002015-04-16T00:47:20.642-05:00Seasonal blogger<div style="text-align: center;">
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I seem to have become a seasonal blogger, as in I update this blog about once a season. In my last post I shared snowy scenery and the post before that summer flowers (we won't talk about fall right now; I barely survived that season!). So it is only appropriate that today I'm recycling an old post about spring tulips. I wrote this in 2010! It seems hard to believe this blog has been around that long (and longer). You'll have to come back tomorrow to find out why I'm recycling old material. And then we'll see if I can break that seasonal pattern. Happy spring!</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">With Dutch blood flowing through my veins, you'd think I'd have a garden full of tulips. Only in my dreams, sadly. But these two beauties? They have determination. I bought these bulbs over 10 years ago. The yard around my 1920 Dutch Colonial was going to have sweeps of spring color through it.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But I was so busy raising babies and and tip-toeing around a kitchen that was missing a floor (seriously! you could just look right down to the basement), that the bulbs never got planted. I read that they would keep in the refrigerator, so they found a home in the vegetable bin, next to the carrots and celery. <b>For </b><b>two years</b>.<b> </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Then we moved to the Blue House. I almost tossed the tulip bulbs as I cleaned out the refrigerator, but I thought, </span></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Oh, why not? You never know...</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Even though I did nothing other than bury them in the dense clay that is supposed to pass for a yard, the next spring we did see green leaves. But no flowers. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Fast forward about six or seven years. One fine spring day, the babies who are no longer babies, come running in, saying,</span></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Momma! Come see the tulip!</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">What tulip?</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In the backyard!</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">You must be kidding.</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But they weren't kidding. And this year we even have two tulips.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Amazing.</span><br />
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Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-34242146664336401032014-12-20T08:18:00.000-06:002014-12-20T14:59:43.784-06:00Good Tidings<div style="text-align: center;">
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We have our very own Charlie Brown Christmas tree that sprouted up near our brush pile some time ago. Perhaps he is the offspring of one of our discarded Christmas trees of years past. We don't have many evergreens on our property, so I'm pretty fond of this little tree, especially when covered with the season's first snow.<br />
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This school semester has been the hardest since we started homeschooling almost eight (!!!) years ago. I am worn out. My family is worn out. But when we woke up Thursday morning to a winter wonderland, our spirits brightened. Most of the area schools were cancelled, but the girls' school just delayed an hour because it was the middle of finals week. Ryne and I shoveled snow in the dark (Marc was out of town), but once the sun came up I had time for a little stroll in the woods. I soaked in the quiet beauty and then drove Anna to school (Grace, who doesn't have finals, was finished on Monday). We both just ooo-ed and ahh-ed the entire drive, except for the brief moment when my car skidded on an overpass and we thought we were going to go flying off a hill and crash land in a shopping center parking lot. It was a much welcome distraction from the day's physics and classical literature finals -- the snow, that is, not the near-death experience!<br />
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I've missed blogging and have written many posts in my head the last several months. I've also missed taking pictures. The other day I looked through my pictures for 2014, and discovered that if it didn't involve cross country/track, ballet, or a vacation, I took very few pictures this year. How sad! I clearly need more moments like this walk in the snow! If the pictures look funny, I apologize. My computer monitor has been sick all fall and I can't really see what my pictures look like. Right now they are all blue, so I hope that's not the case for you! I'm hoping a new laptop might be in my future, but that whole naughty or nice thing might be my downfall. : )<br />
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I may be physically and mentally worn out, but my spiritual Hope has not worn out. It's been an amazing year of learning God's truths, especially through my weekly Bible Study Fellowship lessons. I wish I could go into more detail about those lessons right now, but I promised myself this would be a short post. I am, however, going to share one little nugget I came across a couple months ago in my personal reading. I starred it and made a note to post this on the blog at Christmas time, because it is so perfect for refocusing our weary minds on Who really matters this season.<br />
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<i>The Gift of Gifts</i><br />
<i><br />
</i> <i>O Source of all Good,</i><br />
<i><br />
</i> <i>What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts,</i><br />
<i>thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,</i><br />
<i>my Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,</i><br />
<i>his self-emptying incomprehensible,</i><br />
<i>his infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i> <i>Herein is wonder of wonders:</i><br />
<i>he came below to raise me above,</i><br />
<i>was born like me that I might become like him.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i> <i>Herein is love;</i><br />
<i>when I cannot rise to him he draws near </i><br />
<i>on wings of grace,</i><br />
<i>to raise me to himself.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i> <i>Herein is power;</i><br />
<i>when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart</i><br />
<i>he united them in indissoluble unity,</i><br />
<i>the uncreated and the created.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i> <i>Herein is wisdom;</i><br />
<i>when I was undone, with no will to return to him,</i><br />
<i>and no intellect to devise recovery;</i><br />
<i>he came, God-incarnate, to save me</i><br />
<i>to the uttermost,</i><br />
<i>as man to die my death,</i><br />
<i>to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,</i><br />
<i>to work out a perfect righteousness for me.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i> <i>O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds,</i><br />
<i>and enlarge my mind;</i><br />
<i>let me hear good tidings of joy,</i><br />
<i>and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,</i><br />
<i>my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,</i><br />
<i>my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;</i><br />
<i>place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,</i><br />
<i>to look with them upon my Redeemer's face,</i><br />
<i>and in him account myself delivered from sin;</i><br />
<i>let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child</i><br />
<i>to my heart,</i><br />
<i>embrace him with undying faith,</i><br />
<i>exulting that he is mine and I am his.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i> <i>In him thou hast given me so much </i><br />
<i>that heaven can give no more.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions</span><br />
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Have a blessed Christmas, resting in His peace!<br />
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6181995613012845425.post-39723831559643089452014-07-22T00:00:00.000-05:002014-07-22T07:38:53.507-05:00Up, Down, and All Around<div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>the extent of my summer gardening</i></div>
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What a whirlwind of a summer!<br />
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June actually started out fairly relaxed. I should have blogged then, but I was enjoying having little on the agenda. We even got math done, folks!!! I always have great ambitions of us doing regular math lessons over the summer, but it never happens. Well, this summer we actually made it about six weeks before dropping math like a hot potato.<br />
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In mid-June things started picking up when we hit ballet performance week, which was full of rehearsals, visiting with family, and two nights of performances. Busy, but, oh, so fun! Pictures are coming -- I know the aunties must be disappointed I haven't posted anything yet!<br />
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The day after the last performance, I left for Denver, by myself. My sister was traveling for work, and someone needed to be in town to be with my dad, who was having health struggles. I left the kids and dog with Marc so they could spend a couple more days with my mother-in-law, who came to town for the ballet. Jasper, our big black lab, also had some health struggles that week, and I was pretty sure I was saying goodbye to my big (old) puppy for the last time. I think I cried at least 3 hours of the 9 hour drive. (Thankfully, Jasper made quite the recovery and is back to his stinky self!)<br />
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My dad's house is half a block away from my sister's house, so each time I make one of these trips to Denver I stay at her house and take care of her two dogs. Summer in Colorado is amazing! Every morning I would sit on her back porch, enjoying the silence, mountain air, two dogs at my feet, a hot cup of coffee in my hand, and my Bible in front of me. And each morning I'd decide that we have to move to Denver. Now, take that with a grain of salt. We've made this decision before -- even started looking for houses and Marc interviewed for some jobs -- but God made it perfectly clear 15 years ago that door was closed. And I can't imagine a move anytime in the near future -- we're too tied in with job, school, church, activities, etc. But when I'm sipping coffee, gazing at those foothills, I get that itch.<br />
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Dad was having a tough time that week. His caregiver was amazing (she's such an answer to prayer), but it was clear he wasn't going to be able to stay in the house much longer. My sister and I had been discussing this all month, but we knew it would be a hard transition. It would be so much easier if he recognized that it was time to move. And then he did. He came to me twice that week and said it was time. Again, this was a HUGE answer to specific prayer, but it was heartbreaking nonetheless. I ended up staying an extra week and we moved him out of his house to a memory care facility. He had a fall the day before the move, so he and I spent a few hours in the emergency room. That may have been the easiest part of the week. Sadly, I will have memories of that week that will rival my last visit with my mom before she died of brain cancer. It is so hard watching your parents suffer. And, yet, I feel silly and selfish even talking about how hard this was for me. Dad has been fully aware of his declining health, and I can't even imagine how hard this is for him. Or for my sister, who has had to do so much to keep him in his home as long as possible.<br />
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The good news is that Dad is in a great facility -- it was so much better than any other place we (as in mostly my sister) had looked at. The even better news is that he gets to keep his little Wheaten Terrier, Izzy, with him! Dad was so much more accepting of this transition knowing he could have his best pal with him. While the facility allows pets, Dad is the only resident who currently keeps a pet there, so Izzy has rock star status among the residents and staff.<br />
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A couple of days after he moved in, Dad was rediagnosed from Alzheimer's to <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/frontotemporal-dementia/basics/definition/con-20023876">frontotemporal dementia</a>. This answered a lot of our confusion we've had the last few years, since in many ways Dad didn't really seem like he had Alzheimers and he's on the young side for Alzheimer's.<br />
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Marc was awesome during this time! He had to unexpectedly do the single dad thing for an extra week. Anna cooked several times the first week, but they had to do a lot of scrounging the second week. Between him and the kids back home and me in Denver, we obliterated our eating-out budget for the month! Anna went away to engineering camp during that second week, so Marc had to make sure she was prepared and then drive her three hours to get there and three hours back. My brother-in-law was also awesome in that he took a day off work to go pick Anna up from camp because Marc was giving a presentation that day. And would you believe that Ryne and Grace did their math while I was gone?! What a blessing to know all was well back home!<br />
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I spent Fourth of July week catching up on everything and reconnecting with my crew. Of course, once the homeschool mom was finally back home, that's when we ditched the math lessons. Oh, well.<br />
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Then they all left me for four days -- Marc drove them to church camp in Wisconsin. We had planned months ago that Marc would take them, but I felt pretty guilty after all I had already put him through. He deserves a medal. Thankfully, they all had a wonderful time at camp.<br />
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Forty-eight hours later, Grace was off to her best friend's church camp! She came home very sleepy, but had a marvelous time.<br />
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And that brings us to this week. We have one week of normal and then things get crazy again, and then school starts! Don't even get me started on school -- I'm hoping if I just ignore school, summer will just last forever, even though I'm really more of a fall person. Can we just have fall with no school?<br />
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It's been a summer of ups and downs and a lot of driving all around, but God's hand has been so evident through it all. I hesitated sharing so much, but I feel I've honored my dad in what I've shared. He is so brave for facing what he does each day. And if I didn't share, God wouldn't get the glory He deserves. I will say it again, God has been amazing through my dad's illness. At times I have felt like Peter walking on water in the way I've had to trust in God's protection and provision, but He has gone above and beyond what I could have ever expected. I wish I could tell so much more.<br />
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Hugs to all my faithful readers!!! I've missed you as always when I'm absent from this place.<br />
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I hope your summer has been full of blessings as well!<br />
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<img src="http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/argsmommy/Ksigcopy.png" />Kelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16095729633573268457noreply@blogger.com3