Friday, October 28, 2011

Girls Rule! According to the Hidden Pillowcase

A conversation I had with Roo after my husband was changing the pillow cases on the futon upstairs and discovered graffiti;)

Me: Roo, why did you write Girls Rule! on our pillow case with decorative swirls all around it?
Roo: I felt like drawing.
Me: And you thought we would be okay with you colouring on the pillow case?
Roo: I didn't think you would get mad.
Me: Then why did you hide it?
Roo: So you wouldn't see it.
Me: So you obviously knew while you were doing it that you shouldn't be, right?
Roo: *shrugs*
Me: Okay let me rephrase. When you were colouring on the pillow, were you worried I would come upstairs and see you while you were doing it?
Roo: Did I at least spell Girls right? Did you notice I used an explanation point?
Me: Yes

Is it just me, or did she miss the point entirely?

This is what we completed for the past couple of weeks since I missed a few back there.

Memory Work -  I decided I would also incorporate our Latin chants and the Being Words - être for French.

Spelling (All About Spelling level 2) - She finished Level 2 lesson 10, 11 and 12 and we are really focusing on the silent e because she seems to always forget it when spelling. We may take next week to keep going over the silent e rules and words. 

First Language Lessons 2 - We worked on lesson 113-124 using commas, helping verbs, contractions and adjectives.

Writing with Ease 2 - Completed week 5-8 of writing, narrations, and dictation using excerpts from Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerie Henry, My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson, Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes, and The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Latin (Lively Latin) - We are progressing through it very slowly because I don't see any point in rushing this subject since full understanding is needed. We have just entered into what the first declension is.

French (Nallenart L'Art de Lire1) - We are working on knowing and memorizing the Being Words, être, je suis, tu es, il/elle est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils/elles sont. I remember spending a lot of time on these in school too.

Math ( Singapore 2A/2B) - We are almost done 1B and have been adding and subtracting numbers within 100. We have also completed several chapters in Life of Fred Elementary - Butterflies since we recently finished Apples.

History (Story of the World Middles Ages) - Chapter 5-8 A King named Skadagupta, Monks in Caves, Muhammad's Vision, Muhammad Flees to Medina, The Koran: Islam's Holy Book, Fight for Mecca, The City of Baghdad, Sinbad in the Valley of Snakes, Yang Chein Unites North and South, and The Tang Dynasty. For each of these there were accompanying colouring pages and map work. We also used the Usborne Encyclopedia of religions to read about Muslims.

Science (Elemental Science Earth and Astronomy) - We covered many subjects for the past few weeks such as Tornadoes, Hurricanes and Volcanoes, Mountains, Rivers and Rivers of Ice, The Seashore, Seas and Oceans and Under the Sea, and the biomes desert, plains, rainforest and Arctic. We also built a paper mache volcano and exploded it.





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Painting the finished product.






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Not quite as colourful as we wanted even though we added plenty of food colouring. I suspect she may have added water or something when I wasn't looking. I have no idea why she taped pieces of foliage around the base either.

Geography (Expedition Earth)-  We stamped our passports and went to India, Israel and Thailand to finish our Asia tour. This week we began Europe and started with Russia (even though it is on both Asia and Europe). We read the Children Just Like Me book to look how each child in these countries live. So far Russia has been her favourite because the little girl goes to dance school. Regular school in the morning and dance lessons every afternoon, who wouldn't want that? 

Art (Meet the Masters) - Roo started her weekly Art class. It is two hours of mixed media fun in which she looks forward to every week. 

What did Merle do? Merle can walk around her play pen no problem and will sometimes stand unassisted for a second or two before she falls or grabs onto something. She also thinks Yo Gabba Gabba is the best show ever and will literally bitch at you if you shut it off or the video runs out. She stands and laughs and dances the entire time it is on. When it stops she points and yells. We recently ordered the Yo Gabba Gabba Party in a Box DVD set because she only had one video she watched repeatedly. If I hear the "I love Bugs" song one more time.........

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Excitement is in the Air and I have Seen the Light

Hmmm, what to blog about since I have been missing in action for the last two weeks? Some exciting things have taken place, began taking or are about to take place. First off, Stella, who is a little girl in my online mom group for when I had Merle has had an improvement over a scary last week. Stella has Type 2 Gaucher Disease. It is a very rare form of the disease that affects the brain as well as the major organs and is characterized by severe neurological involvement in the first year of life. She is a very brave, strong little girl who needs your prayers. So if you have some extra prayers to give please send one Stellas' way. You can read about her and follow her story at CaringBridge where there is also a link for donations.

The next news is a close friend of mine had her first book published, it was released last week and it is awesome (I am about 1/2 way finished). It is called Down The Yellow Brick Road: Finding Home by D.X. Luc and it is currently available in Ebook format. This book is for mature audiences only, and you need to get it because you won't regret it. It will also make you unable to look at The Wizard of Oz the same way ever again;)

As we (my husband and I) slowly breathe in and breathe out to try to rid the anxiety, the next thing on the forefront is his band. Their first single should be hitting the airwaves soon so it is an exiting and scary time for us. The final touches of mixing and mastering are being done as I type this. So keep your ears open for BeforeTheCurtain because soon they may be played on a radio station near you:)

Lastly I had an epiphany. I always read about them, and never had one so when I did, I was all "what is this weird feeling of clarity and empowerment?". Believe it or not (and those that know me will not) it was about exercise. I am finally feeling like I am ready. I have been working out since July of this past summer and have noticed an overall change in my strength, endurance and slight changes in my body. I have put on a little weight recently but I am holding on to the hope that it is muscle gain. If it's not, then I'm pissed;) Anyway, I have always been the skinny fat girl. I know, Boo Hoo you wear a size 0-2 and you jiggle a bit. I'm not looking for sympathy, that's not the point of this. I get it, I am blessed in the fact that I never really have had to watch my weight my whole life. Even during pregnancy I topped out at 143lbs. But I have never, ever been fit. Seriously, changing the sheets on the bed makes me tired.....that may actually be because clean sheet day is the best day and I feel inclined to climb in and enjoy them. But you get the picture, climbing the stairs, folding laundry, typing on the computer, all theses tasks make me tired. I never have energy and feel like I am dragging my ass 24/7. I could probably sleep for a full day and still wake tired. I haven't had a descent night sleep since October 2004 and that combined with being out of shape makes me feel like I am only 1/16 of the person I can be. So this is where the epiphany comes in. It was in regards to not only wanting to get fit, but finally the motivation to do it. I have been doing Bodyrockers since I began my workouts in July. I love it. I hate it. I want to embrace it fully. I have never completely had my ass kicked that hard within the first 2 minutes of anything except maybe floor hockey, dodge ball, or Canada Fitness day in grade school. And those are some serious flashbacks to traumatic school experiences. I hated gym. That could be a whole blog post in it's own. Anyway, these workouts are called High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT and that they are. And an even more awesome part is that these workouts are designed to do from home in small spaces and by using your own body weight instead of a billion pieces of equipment. There has been some equipment that has been incorporated as Bodyrock.tv has evolved but they are not necessary. Even so, I hope to have it all at some point anyway:) especially the dip station. I really want a dip station. One thing that I do feel is needed though, is a interval timer. I bought the Gymboss one that was recommended, but there is also a free Gymboss app for your iphone/ipod as well. It is more of a pain in the ass to use but it does work and I used it for the first little while. I am the type of person who has no time to go to the gym, like zero. And even if I did, I probably would find an excuse to not go, especially by myself. So the idea of getting fit from home in a real small amount of time (most routines are only 12-15 minutes) is what I was looking for and never knew existed. I came across Bodyrock.tv on the web through the magic that is Google. After seeing the completely jaw dropping ripped body of Zuzana Light, looking through her website, and reading her very open interview, I find her completely charming and inspiring. She had me at "Hi Guys" :) I like the challenge, the change of daily routines, the Bodyrock community camaraderie and even the "oh my god, I think I'm going to puke" feeling after a really intense workout. At the start I could only do half (sometimes not even half) of the routine or reps than what was stated. I always did the push ups from my knees and two days ago I was able to do a series of regular push ups (not the whole time though) but that is an achievement for me. I am so happy I found this site and so happy that I now truly feel like I can do this, not just the motions of doing it. I want to become the best me there is and I think I am finally on the track to getting there.

P.S. Shelley, if you are reading this, you are my inspiration as well. Thank you.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Lions and Tigers and.......Inbred Cannibal Mountain Men

I'm not a big "let's be one with nature" person. I don't like camping, bugs or hot sunny days, so nature walks aren't really my forte either. But my husband and Roo wanted to go out for a family walk along the trails. I was supposed to compile a list of things so that the two of them could have a scavenger hunt while on our walk. It's a very common place for bike riders, dog walkers and families to go around the various trails. They are scenic and easy to walk along..........as long as you stick to the trails. I pushed the carriage with Merle while the two of them did their hunt. At the end of one trail was a park where the girls played for a bit and then we backtracked. Instead of going down the same way we came up, Tom decided that "it would be fun to go into the more wooded area because it went down by the water and we could cross a bridge and come around", his words not mine. He apparently used to bike these paths and was familiar with where they led or something like that. Always go with your gut. For one, the path wasn't paved. It was more of a human flattened out path, which was fine at first until it got more hilly, rocky and the woods got denser. Then as we walked further in you could no longer hear people talking and laughing. It got really quiet and I have seen too many horror films. Actually not seen, but been more in the room while Tom was watching them because they scare me so bad I can't sit and watch them. Because I am a firm believer that nothing good happens in the woods and I frequently say it, Tom said something along the lines of "your thinking of those inbred, cannibal, mountain men from that movie aren't you?" That would be the ones from the movie Wrong Turn, which is seared into my brain for life. I can't run fast to begin with and pushing a stroller in a heavy wooded area, there would be zero hope for me. I would be the first to go if that moment was a horror movie. So the path sucks, and is gradually getting suckier as we continue to forge through because "there is the water just up ahead and then we can cross the bridge to the other side. Nope. The dirt ground turned to mud and giant puddles, and the paths go smaller. Long story short, we had to turn around while I carried Merle all the way out and helped Roo through the mud, over puddles and up hills while Tom had to collapse and carry the big stroller because it was way easier than pushing it. And somewhere along the way I twisted my ankle and hurt my armpit. We got back to the car and then when to Dairy Queen. Mint, Oreo and Skor Bar is my new favourite Blizzard.


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During the park play.




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This is what we completed this week.

Memory Work -  We added the definition of earthquake to our box.

Spelling (All About Spelling level 2) - She finished Level 2 lesson 9 when to use c or k.

First Language Lessons 2 - We worked on lesson 110-112 linking verbs, seasons and we started a poem booklet.

Writing with Ease 2 - Completed week 4 of writing, narrations, and dictation using excerpts from Dr. Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

Latin (Lively Latin) - We spent the week learning/memorizing our vocabulary words and our chants did exercise 1.2 and read a history section.

French (Nallenart L'Art de Lire1) - 1 worksheet, and flashcard reviewing.

Math ( Singapore 2A/2B) - Still finishing 1B, we did time this week with a review chapter.

History (Story of the World Middles Ages) - Chapter four The Beauty of Constantinople, Justinian the Just Emperor, The Empress Theodorra and The Church in the East. We did the corresponding map work and advanced map work for this chapter.

Science (Elemental Science Earth and Astronomy) - Roo learned about Storms, flooding and earthquakes. We also watched some video clips on storms and tsunamis. 

Geography (Expedition Earth)-  We stamped our passports and went to Japan. We still use Sheppard Software daily to learn the European countries. She is also learning to map the world by heart via The Core method and started her continent blobs this week.  Continent blobs are rough circles/ovals drawn in the area on the map that corresponds with each continent. It's done after the five great circles are drawn in order to be able to visually space where the continents are located. I didn't post a picture last week, so this is an example of how to map the continent blobs and 5 great circles.


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Art (Meet the Masters) - We continued our study on Vincent Van Gogh. Her art class starts next week which is going to be fun for her as well. 

What did Merle do? She can make it around her play pen by holding the side and can now easily get from her belly to her butt. She also fell asleep in the most awkward position ever.


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