Has it really been over 2 weeks?

And, I know that the answer is yes!
I have a lot of excuses, but most of them are lame!
We have been very busy...but that really isn't a very good excuse either.
So I will update you on the school front.
I had a friend pick up a Student kit for Olivia's math, as we were using a friend's from a couple of years ago, and that was working quite well, with just photocopying the pages her son hadn't completed. Well, we finally got to the point where he had done every page of every lesson, so I roughly calculated how long it would take me to make my own worksheets for the remaining 18 lessons, and decided it was much more economical to just go ahead and buy a whole student book for Olivia to work on of her own. So a friend picked it up for us at the homeschooler's convention in Saskatoon, and that saved me the $5 in shipping and the week's wait!
She began the tests yesterday - completing 6 of them. I marked them today and only found 2 wrong answers - both simple errors - not actually multiplication errors, but where one question was supposed to be 6x5 she wrote it as 6x4 and got the right answer of 24, but of course she had the question wrong....but anyway, 2 corrections out of all 6 tests is pretty darn good.
I never did get to marking her Language Arts today...but she always does well in LA, and still says it is her favorite subject, so I don't worry about it too much. She has been concentrating on trying to fill up a reading chart I have her about 10 days ago, so she only has 2 or 3 more spots to fill and then she will be done.
Grace has been working in some little workbooks that I bought her for last year, but we never actually got to. She is working in both the number one, and the beginning letter one. Which is good. I finally made the math poster I have needed to make for the past many weeks, so she can finally move on in her Math-u-See book next week too.
I have been feeling lately like I really would like the kids to do more history. And KONOS has a lot of history in the units, but I still am having a really tough time planning and executing a complete KONOS unit. I try, but I have a tendency to plan too much to finish, or like this present one, put off something I want to do to the point of not getting anything in the unit done.
So I have been once again picking the brains of friends, and am considering using a program for next year called Learning Adventure. It is a history based unit study program - geared for kids in grades 4-8, although Grace would listen to all the read alouds with us - so she would get the history, she just wouldn't do the language arts.
It covers Bible/Character Training, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies and Fine Arts.
A WORLD OF ADVENTURE (Book 1) - covers Ancient Egypt through the Age of Exploration (approx. 2300 B.C. to A.D. 1600).
It is a 180 day program (which is a typical school year). The only subject it doesn't cover is Math, so we would continue with the math program that we are using now.
So the reasons I like it is that it tells me EXACTLY what to do for the 180 days. I like that...no way I can plan too much, or not plan enough. It uses 'living books' which basically means novels, or biographies rather than a textbook format. I like that because I think it is easier to remember things if there is something personal you can attach to the event. For example, a textbook may sum up the Boston Tea Party in 4 sentences, but if you have read a novel about a person who was involved in the event, it would talk about what led up to it, and also what happened as a result of it. I think you would retain more about it by reading a STORY about it. It covers every subject, so I don't have to piece together 5 different books, and that is how I like things to work. Unit studies are easier for me that way.
What I don't like is that it is 180 days, and so we would have to be sure to be diligent otherwise we could easily fall behind. So anyway, I am telling you all of this so that you can pray for us. I have asked Greg what he thinks, and he agrees with my likes, and my dislikes of it so pray as we work at deciding.
Okay, I have to go to bed...you see what happens, I take so long to update you that I have too much to say when I finally post!
I will try and make it not 2 weeks from now that I post again!
C

Sooooooooo Coooooooooold!!!

I have been trying to convince my kids for the past two weeks that having 4 seasons is better than the typical 2-3 seasons we had in Calgary! I don't know if it is working...it needs to get a bit warmer so they can go skating, or sledding, or skiing - or do something wintery fun to remind themselves why they need it to be cold! Especially Olivia is used to having mostly temperate weather, with one month that is really hot, and one month that is really cold! Greg and I were watching the hockey game on Saturday...and it confirmed our fears - there is no snow in Calgary! Whereas here, Greg now refers to snow shovelling as his new hobby!
I personally am enjoying the actual winter weather. Yes, I am cold...inside the house as well as outside, but it sure is neat how much snow there is, and how nice it looks every couple of mornings as we get a new dusting overnight. (that being said, lets' remember that I don't do any of the shovelling, I park in the garage, and I haven't gotten stuck or stranded! - maybe I am just spoiled!)
Hopefully it will warm up a little within next week, so Olivia can go skiing at Mission Ridge with the homeschoolers on the 19th. That is all that is needed is some winter fun! I have been trying to remind Grace that last year she didn't get to learn how to skate because the rink across the street never did freeze very well!
Tomorrow I think we are having a snow day. The reality is when it is that cold lots of people don't go to bible study anyway, so they likely won't really need Olivia's help, and there is no point in going out in -30 weather if you don't have to!
Speaking of that, I don't know if everyone knows about Olivia's new 'job'. She has been a helper at Thursday morning moms' bible study, for the toddler nursery - and last week in the preschool room. She gets paid in jelly beans...which is fun for her and for her sisters! I appreciate the effort of letting her take it seriously. I realize they are probably fine without her help too, but I needed to go to bible study this year, and she is quite proud of her 'job'. I asked at the beginning that she be able to be a helper...I want her to be able to think of herself doing ministry as well. I guess we likely won't go next year, it will depend on the rest of our schedule. It is a total write-off day school-wise though. I originally planned to have afternoon school that day, but most of the time since we are already out we do other running around.
I think that is another good reason to stay home tomorrow. We can do our school work in the morning, and maybe watch a movie in the afternoon with some hot chocolate and popcorn - or even better for me - snuggled underneath the covers in my room! LOL!! I need a king size bed!
Anyway, I should go to bed now...stay warm!

It's like a new house!

Yes, we (by we...I mean Greg) have been busy painting! Yeah!


My living room/dining room and all the way down the hall looks great! New, current, fresh, all of those good adjectives!


Here are a couple of pictures....I just wish you could really understand the depth of pink that was here before! LOL!!!

It feels like a new place to live! Now I can't wait to have company! My kitchen is still pink, and so is the girls' bedroom, and ours, but we WILL get there!

See you soon!

C