Finally, a day that went as planned

Well, it went as planned as far as "homeschooling" went. The kids didn't complain about doing their work. Wait. Troy did, but when I instituted a system of instant "sticker rewards" instead of the one sticker a day, he changed his tune right quick. He was more enthusiastic and engaged than he ever has been. Should have figured out the sticker thing before now, sure would have made things easier. (See, if he get's 100 stickers, he gets to go to Chuck E Cheese.) He can earn up to 4 stickers a day. Today he got three because he acted up when doing calender time. Silly kid.

Today was our first day of doing "Character Quality Language Arts". It is a learning curve for the big kids and for myself, but it went well. I think it is going to work for us better than I thought.

I am reading "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton to the big kids. Troy came in and sat for a while, but it just didn't keep his attention and he was gone again. I remember loving this book as a kid, and I am hoping mine love it too. It feels weird reading to the big kids, but they seem to be enjoying it. They begged me to read more, but my voice couldn't handle anymore after 40 pages or so. Maybe I'll read more this evening.

4H Bunny #2

Troy now his 4H bunny. He is a mini Rex, ad Troy has named him "P.D."...not to be confused with "Peti" (which is what we thought it was, but no...).

He is so tiny and cute.

Rough month, sheesh

Well, you can mark off our plans for apple picking and the corn maze tomorrow. Troy seems to be getting really sick, and quick. He was fine earlier, just whiney. Then, he was more whiney. I just thought him to be overly tired, we had a big day at the sand dunes today. He fell asleep in the recliner, and when I went to carry him in here, he felt hot but I wasn't too worried. Well, he woke up about an hour later crying with head pain. I got him some tylenol and Chris told me to take his temperature. Well, it is 101.9. So, yeah, he's sick. Bummer. Poor guy.

The picture is from the sand dunes today...enjoy

TWO field trips, two days...

We had planned to go to the corn maze in Lubbock on the 5th, but that fell through. So, I decided to plan it for another day. We also wanted to pick apples, so we needed to plan that too. I decided we'd go this Friday.

First, we'll go apple picking at Apple Country. Then we may find something to do like the science museum. AT 5, the corn maze opens and we'll go there and do the maze and pumpkin patch. Then we'll make the two hour drive home.

BUT, I said TWO field trips, right? Well, I guess this could be considered "two", but I am only counting it as one.

Tomorrow we are headed to Monahans State Park (The Sandhills). We will hang out for the day, play in the sand, have a picnic, etc. So exciting!!!

I always loved Mardel...but

I went to Mardel the other day to get my daughter a fiction novel that was appropriate. The things at Borders had me clawing my eyes out, so I figured Mardel was a logical alternative. It is a Christian store, right? Well, yes, it is. However, "Christian" being in a store label does not insure that the material will be appropriate for our beliefs.

Every book she pulled out of the teen fiction section was either about dating and angst with boys, or about something super-natural/science fiction. Really? How about a good book with good Christian characters that are not so worldly? If we wanted books about all that jazz, we could have gotten one at Borders or any other book store.

I tried to guide her to historical fiction, but apparently she judges books by their covers and none of those were as cool as the books with turquoise and hot pink covers.

I do want my kids to be able to read modern fiction, but I am disappointed at what we have found thus far. I am reverting back to classics for now.

I should have known better after I bought a book at Mardel for teens on the "other gender" (half was for girls, half for boys) that encouraged them to "date around" as teenagers so they really know what they like in a person. This goes directly against what we believe. We don't believe in serial dating, we believe in courting only to find a life mate, and only doing so when ready to take one.