School work is all planned... The books are all order... School work starts in 5 weeks

Yeah I know, just 5 weeks. I'm wondering where the summer went, which is really saying something since our summer started in May. Oh and we do start our school work in August in case anyone is wondering.

I am doing things a bit different this year. I have written up the week to week plans a bit different. If you have been following this blog for a while, you may remember this...

And there was nothing wrong with this plan, but I just wanted to go more in depth, and also make time for homework (yes I know, it's all homework, because it's all from home), and study time. So now it's this...

with this schedule...

You may have noticed that every ones week plan is tailored to what they are able to complete, and that each subject (math, history, ....) is done on certain days of the week. We do it like that because it flows better that way (for us it does). My kids do a lot better when we start the week off with the subjects that we are going to need to study the most in, and take the most notes in. 

You may have also noticed that on the schedule I have over time work and a Saturday penalty. That's because there are two boys who live in this house that sometimes have a hard time keeping their mind on their work. I also have a boy who always gets done early no matter how much work I throw at him.

For anyone who is curious we do 36 weeks of school (if I tell myself 36 weeks, then it makes it really easy to schedule breaks for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter), We usually start the 3rd week in August and finish the 3rd week in May (or that's the plan, it's not unusual for us to finish earlier).

I'm happy to announce that all of the homeschool books for this year are either here already or on their way, and should be arriving tomorrow.

The school books can get a little expensive, but I'm so happy that my 3 big money savers exist and really came through for me this year, Ebay, Amazon, and the legendary Curriculum Sale (where local HS moms sell the books they don't need anymore). 

After making up the list of books we needed this year (not counting the ones we already owned) it was going to be about $500 brand new from ABEKA (which is our choice curriculum). Well we only ended up spending half of that, when it was all said and done. :) This is something I really look forward to every year, the making of the list, hunting for the books at discount, and having them arrive. I'm not sure if other HS moms feel that way as well, but if I were to guess I would say that yeah they do.

Oh and I also have the reading / book report list for anyone who wanted to see...

Reading List 2015-2016 Homeschool Year

Darien

Walt Disney - Saving America’s Lost Generation

Animal Farm

The Princess Bride

The Time Machine

Bloody Jack

Earthrise: My Adventures as an Apollo 14 Astronaut

The Paper Magician

The Glass Magician

Zachary

Lily Renee, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer

Leonardo da Vinci: The Amazing Genius Inventor and Artist

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Six Napoleons

Abraham Lincoln For Kids

The Jungle Book

Mary Poppins

Half Magic

The 13th Warning

Nathaniel

Star Wars The Clone Wars: Operation Huttlet

A True Book: Volcanoes

Detective Dinosaur

Grasshopper on the Road

Star Wars The Clone Wars: Yoda in Action

Penguins

Scooby-Doo: The Haunted Hallowen Party

Super Twins Meet the Bad Dogs From Space

Darien is going to be an 8th grader this year, Zach is 6th, and Nathaniel is 3rd.

Olivia is going to be in Kindergarten, so yeah no reading / book report list for her, even though I'm sure we will be doing a lot of reading.

With my list I tried to do (well with the older two anyways) some non-fictions, and some classics. I also included things that I knew they would enjoy, and my husband helped with the list.

The book reports are just a part of all of the writing they are going to be doing this year. They will have one writing assignment every week, and it will either be a game review, where they pick a board game or video game and write a review on it (I will be posting all reviews on this new blog I made for them), an Essay like a personal narrative, fan fiction, or research report, and of course the books reports are thrown in there on certain weeks. This is my attempt to improve their handwriting, spelling and grammar. 

Lets hope it works :)

Oh and filing my Intent To Homeschool here in Utah was super easy. I had already found the paper work I needed to fill out for filing online (it was one page), and I got the address for the school district building. Before I left I pulled a folder with the kids' birth certificates, shot records, and prof of homeschooling for the previous years, and I didn't need to bring any of it. The school district building was the nicest one I have ever seen. Most of the time, they are in an old school building that are pasted their expiration date, and they smell funny. No not this one. It looked like an historic town building from the outside, and a fancy office building from the inside. Yeah WOW! Maybe the Mormon church is funding the school district or something. :)

So yes 5 weeks... Well here's to trying to enjoy the rest of the summer. Thanks for reading everyone.

Christmas 2011 / what's new

Hey everyone! Is it crazy that it's 2012 already? I think it is... Where has the time gone? How was everyones Christmas? Mine was great (thanks for asking).

On Christmas eve we went to my Parents' house for a pizza party (yum). With the date of our move getting closer and closer, family time is important. It's nice, my kids get to play with their cousins, and I get visit with my Mom, Dad, Sisters, Brother, Grandmother, exc... (yeah you get it). So after a wonderful time at my parents' we went home, and I put the ham and turkey in the oven (for the next day... I like to cook them over night), and the kids sat down to watch the Lord Of The Rings. They have been watching it in pieces (this is their first time seeing it). We have the extended versions (4 hours each movie), so siting down and watching them all back to back is just unrealistic, in fact just watching one of them in just one setting is unrealistic, so they have been watch them half at a time (if that makes any sense). We let the kids stay up until 10pm, and we went to bed soon after them. I felt like a kid myself, because I had trouble sleeping, I was so excited. I had been waiting for months, it's the best day of the year. I am one of those people who loves to give as much as getting. My kids are so awesome, and I love to give them things :). Christmas is also a day of relaxing and enjoyment, and who doesn't love that. We have a rule, a family rule, where on Christmas day we don't go anywhere. We stay at home, spend time with each other, eat some great food, and do the things we love (at home). See best day of the year. I could list what we got the kids this year, but I think that would just be crazy, and I'm not sure many of you care that much (it's okay). I will tell you that our big item (for the boys), was a pair of Roller Skates for each of them (super awesome). They found mine in the garage a few months back, and fell in-love (the way boys do), and just had to have a pair. Surprisingly enough they didn't ask for a pair for Christmas, instead they ask how much a pair would cost, and they were all thinking of saving up for them (wow).


So... What's new you ask? Well let me see... I do have some Book reviews (yay)!

So the first is Runaway, which was recommended by my second cousin Bonnie (who is more like my aunt).

Great book, I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars. It's about a 12 year old girl who is in the foster system, and has had some bad foster parents. She is really fed up, and decides to runaway. The book is written as if it is the girl's journal. This book really makes you feel lucky to have the things you do have. This little girl is very smart, and sweet, and yet she was no place to go.

I really liked the journal style writing, and I was very interested from the start, and was finished the book in 2 days (wow). Right now amazon is selling the Hardcover for $6.38, which is cheaper than the kindle price at $6.99. Both great prices though!


Okay so next review is the Hunger Games Trilogy... The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. All three of these books I would give a 5 out of 5 stars. Jeremy and I read these together (yes meaning he read them to me). The story takes place in a post apocalyptic nation that has a very controlling government and where a lot of people don't have enough to eat. In this nation (Panem) there are 12 districts (apart from the capital), every year they pick 2 children from each district (one male and one female), from the ages of 12 - 18, to compete in the hunger games, where it's a fight to the death, last one standing wins kind of thing (so horrible). I'm not going to telling anything more, because I feel that with this book series the less you know going into it, the better it is. This book has cliffhangers at the end of every chapter, and you won't want to put it down, so when reading this give yourself plenty of time to read it (reading for only one hour each setting is unrealistic) (time will get away from you fast when reading these books).

I really like these books, and I pushed Jeremy to read chapter after chapter (poor Jeremy). I'm kind of sad that they are over :(, and I really can't wait for the movie :)

Okay so good bye and thanks for reading.

In-home Library!

I wanted a new book self that was specifically for home school books, and this got me looking online at the prices. Boy are things expensive now! Some places wanted close to 100 dollars for just a small book self, and I wanted a big one. So I did the smart thing, and when to Goodwill. That's right I shop there, and there is nothing wrong with that! So anyways Goodwill didn't have any big ones, but it did have two small white ones (as seen in the picture), and I really liked them. I wanted to put them in the dining area off of the kitchen because I plan on teaching in there. This gave me and Jeremy the idea to just move all of the books there. Yup in-home library. I really like it that way, I like having all of the books in one spot, and we also ordered a reading chair to put by the fireplace. Yup soon to be my new favorite room I'm sure. We've also hung up the white board in there, to aid in teaching. Yes very exciting! Okay I know I sound way to excited, and most likely you really don't care that much, but I like telling you anyways, so just deal with it.

I now have a good amount of home school books. My mom saved some of our old school books, and I have gotten some great deals on ebay, but I still have more to buy. I'm still on the waiting list for that one home school umbrella, so I still need prayer on that. I know this is what God wants us to do, so I know he will provide a way for us to do it, and help us along the way, so I'm not to worried. Thank you for reading.

Reading The Hobbit

A few weeks ago, I told Jeremy I wanted to start reading The Hobbit. I wanted to read more about Bilbo, since I felt like me and him had a lot in common. Jeremy asked if we could read it together, because it had been so long since he had read it as well. I have mentioned in another blog entry, that Jeremy and I have read a lot of things together in the past, and when I say together, it's actually him doing all of the reading, but both him and me like it that way. I love listening to him read, he does all of the voices, and we really enjoy it. If we are not careful we lose track of time. We have only been reading it for a week, but I already love it, and I am finding more in common with Bilbo. Both of us grew up in a small place and never thought we would leave, we never planned on it, it just sort of happened. The small town I grew up in had a population of 1632 (in the year of 2000, according to wikipedia), and I really did think that most towns were that way, and I didn't mind the idea of living there all of my life. Bilbo was that same way, he had no desire to leave, and Gandalf kinda tricked him into it. Of course for me it was a bit different. A few months after I married that man of my dreams, he decided to join the Navy, and of course I wanted to go where ever he went. So far in the Hobbit we have gotten past the trolls, and we are now leaving Rivendell. Good story so far, and it's funny at times. Also given the choice of middle earth beings, I like hobbits best. They are short, and they live in cute hobbit holes, they love gardening, and they eat all of the time. I would make a great hobbit! Like Bilbo my adventure was unexpected, but great and I would do it all over again, but even though there is a part of me who misses that adventure, there is also a part of me, that is happy to be near my family. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea, because it is nice being back again. The good news is through all of the good and bad, and the mistakes, I would never change anything about my life.

the going ons!

Hey everyone, just wanted to keep you guys updated on everything. Jeremy is home for those of you who are a little behind. He got home on the 16th of April. I love having him home. We have both been very busy getting things ready for the move, but we have also been enjoying each other. Okay so, we (Jeremy and I), are both reading New Moon, okay now I know what you are thinking. Really?? See when Jeremy was gone he read all of the Twilight books, one of his ship mates got him started on it. I myself didn't really want to read them, because I didn't hear the best things about them. Jeremy loved them, and he kept saying "When I get home, I'm going to read them to you." We have read a lot of books together like the Sword of Truth, Wheel of time, Harry Potter (just to name a few), I love it when he reads to me, he does all of the voices, and we do it for hours and its great. Okay so for the big surprise! I really did like Twilight. And after the book we watched the movie, and I think they did a wonderful job on that too. Most book to movie, movies end up awful, or just to different. So I have to say that out of all of the book to movie, movies Twilight is the best, it is a lot like the book. New Moon is a bit surprising, and the beginning is pretty sad, and some-what depressing, but it gets better, and we are almost done that one too.

Okay now for the move, and everything that goes with it... I have put in out month notice on our house, and we have gotten a call from Fort Meade saying that they have a house for us. Very exciting! Last week is when I put in the month notice for our house, and that's when reality really hit me. I can't believe I'm leaving. Yes I knew it was going to happen, but it just didn't feel real. It feels real now. So I'm kind of sad, and feeling conflict inside myself. On one hand I can't wait for this all to be over with, moving is some-what stressful for me, and we have so much to do. On the other hand though, I really want to make these last few weeks in San Diego last. I'm going to miss this place, and the people in it. One of these days I'll stop writing about how much I'm going to miss this place, because yeah I know, I say it all of the time. Yes and everyone knows it by now. It makes me happy though, that I got a chance to live here. It's a wonderful place, and I know why God put us here when he did. He knew what he is doing, and I won't forget the things I have learned here, or the people I have met.