Friday, July 31, 2009

Science conundrum for homeschoolers

I'd say that the one kind of curriculum we homeschoolers constantly change is probably math. We are always trying to find the "best" thing that will "work" for the most kids. And it's really hard. But I think I have that covered this year.

What I am having trouble with is science.

I usually use Mother of Divine Grace School's recommendations. There is a curriculum called Concepts and Challenges and it is listed under Emmanuel Books. I looked at it, but I wasn't that excited about it. I was able to actually page through at a friend's house, so that I didn't buy something sight unseen and spend a lot of money on it. It looked slightly more interesting than the stuff I read in school as a kid. Not awful, just not exciting.

At least not as exciting as this, from Apologia Press.

and this , which is their "notebooking" book to go with their Botany book.

The same company does "Exploring Creation with Biology" and others by Dr. Jay Wile. They are very, very scientifically sound, they simply add one thing: God. They give God credit as creator of a beautiful world and all that nature has in store for us. I happen to like that feature. I have also graded MODG work in the biology course, and thought, gee, this looks like a real biology course. And then I asked my husband, whose degree, it happens, is in biology, and he said the same thing. So it wasn't my fevered homeschooler imagination. Ha!

Another friend and I were thinking we'd do science together this year, mostly to keep each other honest (and to make me do science experiments which somehow always get put off forever). If we both choose the same one, then ta da! problem solved. I just want to be sure that this will work out long term. I think so. Also, if we pick astronomy, we have friend's grandpa who'd be all over the telescope at 2 am thing.

Thoughts anyone?

Shouldn't have looked

Another project that would really help out the end of my kitchen that faces the dining area. Much easier than the real thing, yet still daunting. I love the idea!!

House update

Ok, so we're definitely making progress.

We, with the help of very good friends, finished painting the walls today. They are perfect. I'm very,very happy with them. It is exhausting work!

Tonight, if the children are behaving... we are going to have a friend come and (over)analyze our laminate flooring plans. That way, if we forgot something, we won't go partway and go, oops, forgot that. We hope. I bought the vapor barrier/underlayment, even though it came with some, just to be sure. We have an assortment of friends with skil saws to help cut it to fit, also. I just want to see how the stuff snaps together. After that, crown and base moulding, and a little more touching up. Then a big break before I even think about attacking the kitchen floor's linoleum. Attacking that requires some very large objects to move, including the fridge, water heater, washer and dryer. I could move the stove and dishwasher, too, if I'm CRAZY.

I'm just glad the paint is done!!

Monday, July 27, 2009

It's way too hot.

Seriously. I can't stand to read the forecast. If you aren't familiar with the coastal regions of WA and OR, we don't do air conditioning in many homes. Why? Because we only need it one week a year, maybe. Today, all the fans and ac units were sold out at Lowes.

Why was I at Lowes?
To get pricing on a kitchen counter and sink. It was way way too much. Sigh. Back to square one, good thing I'm in no hurry.

Our ceiling looks loverly. Really nice. Now we need to paint the walls. I was waiting for everything to get good and dry.

And it's too hot to do ANYTHING after 10am. Blah. Til like next Sunday if we are lucky. Time to spend lots of time in the water. Yup. It's 10pm, my hair is wet, and I'm still way too hot.

There appears to be a raised part of our subfloor, and I wonder if it is water damage. Because if it is, I have to replace it. NOOOOO!!! But better than laying down flooring and then ripping it all back up. So we shall wait, and then we shall perhaps call in our friends who are experts in this sort of thing. Yay! I have such great friends.

Going to bed now, just thought I'd say hi.

Pray for rain.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Home Demolition Derby

We are insane.

My husband says I am nesting. I don't know WHAT he's talking about. Do you? :)

I can't move into a new house unless we fix this one. I know it will take about a year of work to even show our 967 sq ft. townhome. By the time I want to sell it, seven people will live here! So I'm going to do a real good job on the first impression thing, where they walk in the door. The bedrooms may never be viewable.

That being said, this started with us wanting to remove all carpet downstairs. So I bought that awesome laminate at Costco for just over a dollar a square foot on sale. YES! So glad I did.

But then we looked up and said, "I hate popcorn ceilings." We figured if we were going to empty the room anyway, let's do that. So this weekend, our construction guy neighbor and his buddy are going to come remove them, only downstairs. And haul all the garbage away, too. I really don't mind paying them for that at all. Especially since it might be 90 degrees this weekend.

Then we decided to think about paint. In all 10 years of marriage, we have never painted. Never lived anywhere long enough! So here we go... can't wait to show you pics!

And the kitchen counter. We need to rewire and put in a new sink and counter. Exciting!! The best part is, we don't appear to be fighting much over choices. Thank goodness. I hear some people get really stuck on this stuff, but we're not! So far so good! I guess we're both so happy that we even are talking about this stuff and have some extra money to pay for it with (not for long), we just keep going til we agree.

Like baby names.... sigh.

So the order of things is as follows:
Popcorn ceilings: this weekend, maybe next weekend, too.
After they are done, wall painting, only downtairs.
When the walls are done: install laminate
Clean and repaint grout in tile in doorway. Can replace next year.
Have Lowe's come in and do counter and sink. I need my kitchen, can't spend a couple days on it. Well, I could, but I REALLY don't want to, and I don't want to mess it up.
Put in new linoleum in kitchen/laundry room.

This all costs about $700 except the kitchen counter sink part. That's the part that might easily double the bill. But it's not your 20K makeover, that's for darn sure! :)

Before and after pics to follow. We hope to have this all done by August 15th. Thank goodness this is the last week of night shift, and then we can actually work on this together after work!! Yay!

Conscience Clause

Very important.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=16636

We're about to see whether Obama really does lie or not, because he said he supported conscience clauses. Nurses are often treated rotten by doctors, but this really beats all. How do I know this? My mom and my MIL are/were both RN's. My mom had me in a hospital about 90 mins or more away from the one she worked in because the one she worked in started doing abortions almost as soon as Roe vs. Wade was decided. She did not want those doctors touching me.

This kind of thing is like if you were a prison guard, doing your normal job, and then they said, "Hey, firing squad execution at high noon, or we'll find someone else to take your job!" It's insane, because other nurses would have done that job. What were they trying to prove? I'm so glad she's suing them, but if the new health plan Obama is pushing includes abortion for all and no conscience clause, many doctors and nurses will be trying to get different careers. After all that school (and debt), hard work and expertise, they will not do abortions, and if that means not being a medical professional, then that is that. Horrible. Entire hospitals may close. But no one has seen the fine print yet, and Mr. Obama did address it, so it is in the media where you can see what he said. We can reform our health system without fully funding abortion, one would think.

http://www.lifenews.com/nat5189.html

Thursday, July 16, 2009

A new financial "crisis"

I've seen more and more news finally in this direction, and I find it fascinating. Here is a video a friend shared with me, and I think it's worth watching. I didn't realize how it all ties in, and how many people are getting uncomfortable with the way all the money and people are tied together. This is not something that can be blamed on one political party or another, it's been going on since the Federal Reserve was created. But now, we can find out. Modern technology is indeed a double-edged sword.

This reminds me of how FDR was able to use a wheelchair most of the time because of polio, and almost no one in the country knew it, unless they worked at the White House itself. No kidding. But because tv was brand new, he could hide it rather well. Obviously a lot of people were not quite the gossip-mongers we have now, also. It's kind of fun to think how magically, he didn't look like he had any physical problems.

But it's also a kind of black magic, what the Fed appears to be doing. Oh dear. Hand caught in cookie jar, anyone?

Thanks for the video, Casey.

A girl!

Sorry, yes, we are having a girl! Yay girls! Grace probably won't let me hold her. I have no idea what we will name her. I guess it's very odd for me to imagine having another girl five years after the first one. I'm very happy about it, though. It's very, very neat. I love girl clothes and the kids are very excited about another baby. This baby will be 9.5 years younger than the oldest child. Wow. Just like my husband and his brother, and nearly as much as myself and my youngest sister.

I think we just hit "large family" status. Big time.
They all still fit in the Sienna, man. Just sayin'.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Here we are again

We came back from a glorious time on Whidbey Island at a wonderful B and B, and enjoyed the town very much. We drove a lot, and we also ended the weekend with a trip to Lowe's to decide on paint samples. Yay us!

I will download pics, really. I know I always say that. I'll do it fairly soon. This week is kinda busy, but believe it or not, we pulled this all off from this weekend! We even introduced our child-swapping friends to the idea of doing this every six months, and they were more than a little excited at the prospect. Overnights twice a year?? Wow. We have ARRIVED!

Let's see... Oh, we did have the ultrasound. Currently I am waiting for more guesses on Facebook before I tell everyone. Then I will tell you all, too. It's very exciting!

:)

Saturday, July 11, 2009

My Domestic Church

is never organized.

Like you didn't know that.

Anyway, this article gives me some more direction. I'd like to find it, and I think I'm getting there, slowly. Too much social time til Wednesday, but then I can get back to work. I do know what I'm going to do next, at least: paint. And I can hardly wait!

I hope you enjoy this article. I absolutely love this magazine, and I highly, highly recommend it for every Catholic family, or anyone else raising a family who doesn't mind reading an unabashadly Catholic family magazine.

Enjoy!

http://www.faithandfamilylive.com/features/simplify_your_domestic_church

Friday, July 10, 2009

Phew.

Ok, I think next week will work.

And on Tuesday, we should know if it is a boy or a girl. But...

we may or may not tell you.

Bwah ha ha ha!

Ok, on with the to-do list.

July:

Finish up camps, establish chores/money system for kids, check in with M. to see which fifth grade books I lent her/she lent me/no one remembers but they are available for homeschooling next year. Then order what I don't have from Emmanuel Books.

Step on husband til he cries "uncle" and makes an appt. with an immigration lawyer, now that we have the money for that and would like to try that ciitzenship thing out. For those who don't know, the husband person is not American. He's Canadian. His green card is good til 2014, but do you see any plans that have us moving to Canada? I don't. And he hasn't lived there since his freshman year of college. Time to live where one pays taxes and join one's family.

Choose paint colors. We have laminate flooring from Costco, but like most projects, this one is being put off til we do "something else", and for me, that's painting the walls. We had great friends over the other day who brought six library books with them to look at what we liked and didn't like. We got to a picture that reminded me of the Olive Garden, and we both liked it. Tuscan colors! Not exactly a theme, but a direction. At last, we have agreement. Now to follow through. The main color will probably be a pale yellow, the laundry/bathroom blue, and one red wall in the living room. Dark red, no pink!

Continue long process of throwing stuff out we don't need and reorganizing.

August:

Plan to visit parents some weekend, probably the first one.
Watch kids overnight for their parents' anniversary.
Go overnight camping to what we call a "Redneck Party". It is really fun in someone's very large back yard. Watch out mosquitos, here we come!

Plan school year a little better. Plan whole family life around new shift starting at end of July. Re-work budget if necessary.

Exercise more now that dh has stopped night shift in favor of much more normal "first shift" hours and days of the week. This will last til October. The good news is, whatever shift he gets after that will have a whole month taken out of it for vacation when the baby comes. Ha ha! He will get out of a probably not great shift just by having a baby! Yay! His work gives him a paid month off. This is very worth celebrating.

August should include applying for citizenship, painting if we haven't finished yet, installing the floors, replacing the kitchen counter and sink, and touching up the downstairs with moulding. Then I will call this a successful home improvement summer.

Oh, and I should start contacting students from Mother of Divine Grace School starting at the end of August. My year off is almost over... better get my brain back in gear!

What a good year this is. Hooray!

Here I am

I know it's been a while again. I had lots of things to write about and post. LOTS. I mean, the news is so very interesting all the time! But I'd be here all day, and well, summer is a good time to Get. Stuff. Done. And I'm attempting to do that.

First of all: HAPPY 10TH ANNIVERSARY TO US!

That said, today my husband is sleeping, because he works nights. He will sleep tomorrow also, and part of the next day. I've decided one of the best presents he can get is to stay asleep as much as possible before we go anywhere fun, so we will have. fun. Not fight or something stupid. So I haven't seen him today. I will see him for about two hours before he goes to work tonight.
I'm very glad we are still happily married. Score for us!

Wanna see our schedule til Wednesday? Wanna? You know you do.

Today, Friday, July 10th: The Pope and Obama met, and I'm glad to hear it went pretty darned well. I also read that the Pope "fired" the guys who screwed things up royally as he was trying welcome some traditionalists back into the Catholic Church, and it turned into a horrible fiasco, and everyone blamed the Pope. I certainly hope they found the right culprits. I think this was a good thing?

In our own lives, I got all the stuff Rikki and I have been collecting for two months and piling in her garage, and drove it to another home, which will be part of a neighborhood yard sale this weekend. We are very, very glad to purge our homes, especially in the case of Rikki, who has a little too much Mary Kay in her closet for her own good. Now she has a closet back, and some people can pick up some very good gifts for people at low prices tomorrow. I managed to get all that stuff out, with only one stuffed animal making it back in the car. Not bad.

Now they are sleeping, and I am putting off doing anything useful. That's what blogging is for. A to do list is good, so I will do that at the end here.
This evening we might go to the splash park since it's hot, and we ran out of time today before nap.

Tomorrow: Bring treats to yard sale by 9am, maybe help set up unless other people already did. Leave with my kids to go get the oldest, one hour away, at scout camp. He should be dog tired. Hopefully not too cranky after three nights away.
Then come back and help at yard sale til it's over. Help kids sell lemonade and other treats. Go home, collapse. Be glad the word "anniversary" resulted in not having in laws over yet again this weekend. I'm sure some day they will actually see us, but this wasn't necessarily the right weekend.

Sunday: Church. Pack like mad for kids to spend night at friends so we can go on anniversary overnight, which is a surprise for my husband. He knows the when, but not the where. Leave them at said house by 4pm or so. Go enjoy selves and complete sentences.

Monday: Enjoy selves. Hope things go well. You see, I just found out today that soccer camp is THIS day, not next week. But I just signed them up for Vacation Bible School At. The. Same. Time. Dude, not fair. I had this planned at least a month ago. AAGH! I think it will work, and I'm glad our friends love us, because it may or may not take a few people to pull this off. I can't immediately get ahold of the people watching our kids, because they are out of town. I did call and email, so hopefully that will help. Honestly, this is such a huge screw up, but I dare not put off this overnight, or it will never happen. Besides, the family in question will get me back in August. Go right ahead, guys!
That night, we should come home in one piece, and again, collapse.

Tuesday: Soccer camp, not VBS. Oh crap. I have an ultrasound at 9:30. I just realized this. I think I can get someone to help me with this too, it's just a teensy bit more complicated than I anticipated, and I already moved the ultrasound. This is getting downright comical.
Then I will pay back said savior by watching her kids while they have a very important appt. having to do with fostering small beings. So she will get me back, too.

See? What comes around always goes around, doesn't it?
WHAT have I DONE?

Ok, new post for the to do list. Must call savior on Tuesday and chat now.
Have a super weekend everybody!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Two more links from that last conversation

Here is one link, which supposedly debunks Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.

http://www.expelledexposed.com/

When I read parts of it, I did agree that maybe the interviewing was misleading. But it led me to two more questions.
1. If Ben Stein had been up front about what he was interviewing these folks about, would they have allowed the interview?
2. Even if he wasn't a good interviewer, they still said the things they said. Do they believe them or not? And if they do, why are they mad they got caught?

The second link is a video about how the "science" of climate change was co-opted by politics. If government funds climatology only if there is a problem, then sometimes, people will invent a problem so they can keep their job, right? This film is AMAZING. Please watch it. It is an hour, but it raises questions. My liberal friends tell me it's been debunked. I think it's been disagreed with. "Debunked" is a very trendy word these days.

And they tell me science politics both need to be separated from religion. How about politics and science??

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=288952680655100870

See? This is why I have these conversations!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Cap and Trade news

I haven't posted in a while, since we were camping. I will wait for Rikki to send me pics before I post them. She took them all. See, she brought a husband. It kind of helps with the hands not full thing. And I was just to blasted tired to care. But the kids had a great time. The husband was sad not to see more pics. That's ok, Rikki made up for it, and unlike me, she actually downloads her pics.

I posted something or other on the Cap and Trade bill on my facebook, and it resulted in a lively discussion and a few interesting links. Honestly, I don't know what to think ultimately. I'm very leery of government control, and wonder if this kind of environmentalism has resulted in a convenient government ploy for several governments, not just ours. Since when has science, true, lasting science, been based on consensus? And political approval? And tenure and funding? If you have no idea what I mean, please watch the movie Expelled with Ben Stein, for an introduction. It poses some really good questions.

Honestly, the world is probably going to stay about the way it is no matter what we do, and we should stop littering, duh. But why are we punishing countries who actually try to be more environmentally sound and give a mostly free pass to "developing" nations? Someone want to send me a link on that?

This all said, we did buy a Prius. Ha ha ha!


Here are the links:

From my die hard liberal friend Scott:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emissions_trading

http://www.sightline.org/research/energy/res_pubs/cap-and-trade-101

From my nearby and conservative Ron Paul friend Casey:

http://www.petitionproject.org/gw_article/Review_Article_HTML.php