4 Day Weekend

Doc was here. Is there a button for that? I feel a little special. Really, can I get a button? A small blinky...anything?

Brian has 4 days off. We're all ready for Easter. Today and Friday I'm going to do my best to get some schoolwork done with the kids. We're in a groove and I don't want to lose it.

So, a couple of school days, trying to get something done with the 32 year old around to distract me. I'm always torn. I love his distractions. But I want to try to stick to a bit of the schedule. I'll figure it out, I'm sure. And then a couple of family days. Big Easter dinner at my parent's on Saturday. I don't suppose I'll be able to convince anyone to go to church with me, so I'll probably skip that too. The Story of Easter is on the schedule. Just thought you should know...in case you thought I was raising heathen brats.

I'm shooting for heathen brats who know their bible stories.

Now, where's my button?

Intro to Poetry 101

I used to be quite the English student. I liked to read the intellectual pursuits. I searched out the difficult bits. No Coles Notes for this girl. At least, not until I had read a selection and had convinced myself I had picked out all the juicy, tricky, hidden bits and pieces. I used to wow my teachers with talented bits of creative writing. And then I'm not so sure what happened. Well, I suppose high school Enriched English happened. That was a misnomer. It was more like Double The Workload English. So I suppose the downward spiral started there. The creative writing petered out. The literary selections at my bedside turned into college texts and handwritten workout schedules. Then when I entered the real world, my reading material consisted of Policy and Procedures manuals, a rotating stack of teenagers' resumes to review and pool schedules on Excel spreadsheets. In years since then, occasionally the odd intellectual pursuit falls into my lap. I enjoyed The Life of Pi and the delicious way it tumbled around in my head for a long time afterwards. I am enjoying that my kids ask for stories by authors the like of Pierre Burton and C.S. Lewis. It's nice to see depth again.

I like to see the book selections for the Ontario Library Association's Silver Birch Awards. The kids have been involved with this program for a few years now. It's a perfect opportunity to see some new materials - some that we would not have been drawn to on our own - that are usually well written, stimulating and enjoyable.

For a number of months, I have flirted with the idea of poetry. Mainly due to the beautiful bits and pieces I see Karen taunt me with. And, as usual, I need God to throw a train wreck in my path before I sit up and notice a good idea. This time, the train wreck was in the form of Raiden, bringing home this book:

There's some really great poetry in there! The kids just ate it up. They each picked a favorite selection. They are practicing reading it. Outloud. They asked me to read from it. After they had already sat through me reading the whole thing to them. We had to look up a picture of the author. We had to listen to a podcast of her talking about the writing of the book. Because we had to hear what her voice sounded like.

And then this happened:

That is Kori reading to Raiden from Science Verse a witty and intriguing collection of poetry (and for you lovers of great and correct poetry, please remember that it's meant to be funny) about everything science. It just sort of jumped off the shelf at me while I was looking for something 'literary' in the 811.6s See what I mean? My path is strewn with train wrecks that the more alert, observant person would probably contrive to create on their own with less hassle and amazement...again, things I am known for. O, if you do happen to get your hands on Science Verse, make sure it's got the CD that goes with it. There's a little pocket inside the back cover. Jon and Lane, the authors, do a bang-up job of presenting the poems...and a few extra hilarious bits.

So, with very little trouble, I'd like to announce our official introduction to poetry. The kids are engaged. I'm motivated. Noone is complaining. And the kids are reading. Sometimes outloud. Who knew?

Well, This Is Interesting....

I was enjoying my daily read over at Doc's and she drew my attention over to The Homeschool Blog Awards.

There is an extensive list of blogs being nominated for the various awards. And due to Doc's candid overview, I now know what I'm doing for the Easter weekend.

My first inclination is to stand by on the sidelines and observe the entire process. Then, if I am suitably impressed, I may choose to participate next year. Or not. I'm famous for my good intentions.

Anyway, if you happen to form your own enlightening impression of this little slice of the Blogging World, make sure you pop back over here and let me know your thoughts.

The Creation and the Carnage

A Bit About My Weekend.

It is so nice to see the weather taking a turn toward Spring.

My Provider-Problem-Solver-Rescuer-From-Bugs-and-Noises-Who-Doesn't-Back-Down-In-The-Face-Of-Constant-Female-Persuasion was a Man With A Mission this weekend. The front and back yards are tidied and ready for the nice weather. The BBQ is still away as I had seen mention of a brief lapse-to-snow in the weather later this week while reading the Weather Network. Our taxes are done and filed. I am feeling happy and loved. We capped off the weekend by sitting through a long, convoluted chick-flick that ended weakly. The kind of movie that you say, "oh, this should pick up soon...any minute now...surely just after this part we'll see some action...". Surprisingly, it never did and even more surprisingly, Brian did not complain or fall asleep. Now, if that's not a genuine reflection of his love, I don't know what is.

Friday evening we took the kids to see the Science Fair projects at the Mall. We took some pics so we can talk about them later. We've been talking about the Scientific Method and they were pretty impressed to be able to pick out the various steps we'd been discussing in most of the projects displayed. They were also pleased to see the models and experiments. I was surprised to see the kind of things they were each drawn to. It was fun to watch them.

The kids had their library program on Saturday. Brian and I had the hour to ourselves. That's still a novelty for me. We spent the remainder of the day at home working away at various things. I made cupcakes for my sister's birthday breakfast on Sunday. The kids lay around, played hockey in the house, read, drew, watched too much TV. Rai fell asleep watching the hockey game.

Sunday morning we took the cupcakes out to the farm and we ate breakfast in mom's semi-finished kitchen. Most of the cabinetry is in. There is still much discussion to be had before the counter top is ordered. It seems my parents have given up on those tiny squares of counter top samples and have moved on to Korean Saki stoneware jars. There is a Saki jar in a red tone that matches the wood ceiling and floor. There is another in a cream tone that matches the finish on the cabinets. I am staying out of any further discussion.

I'm getting excited about the Conference coming up. For the first time in my homeschooling conference career, I'll be attending with some people I know. Registration is mailed out today and I can spend the next couple of weeks filling up my car with other excited ladies. We're all really looking forward to the vendor fair.

On tap for this week: Schoolwork, schoolwork, schoolwork. We have lots of reading to do. We are going to keep on our enjoyable math schedule (4 days a week and we squeak in 4 - 6 lessons in that time). I'm going to try for a daily read in our Story Of The World. We've been hanging on to this Volume One for far too long. Kori's April project is to have her book ready for binding. I'm sure that will be a blog in itself by the time it's finished. I need to find Raiden a project because his current pursuit of Mini-Sticks-In-The-Kitchen is getting really, really, really old.