Weekly Wrap-Up 04.25.14 Only 6 Weeks Left!

This post contains *affiliate links. See Disclosure/Policies.

Sunday- Easter Sunday. It's not about a bunny or chocolates or finding eggs. It's the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without the resurrection any hope that Christians think they have mean nothing. Our time at church centered around the resurrection.

I finally finished Amusing Ourselves to Death*, but still have one more post in the series to go. I started reading The Brimming Cup by Dorothy Canfield* but I'm not sure how far I can make myself read. It's... different. I can't say if that's a good or not so good thing. I'm not one to get overly worked up emotionally {not that I've never been known to at a few points in my life; but not recently} and this starts out with extreme emotion that fairly overrides sense. Tramples it in the dirt, really. Then it goes on with a busybody (?), the same the story started with who was so overcome by her emotions, who tells all about her neighbors to an older gentleman who will be living next door. It's just strange. We'll see how it goes. 

Monday- The kids started their day with a 'nice' exercise: bike riding. It was nice enough to do so. Then we had round table with Composer's Datebook, hymns, verses, foreign language box, The Attributes of God, prayer, chores, grocery shopping, and Pearls Homeschool Support Group. We got home a little before 4pm so that was the end of the school day. 

I got a book for review: One Realm Beyond by Donita Paul*. Haven't started it yet. 

Tuesday- Rain in the night and sprinkles in the morning. Kids woke up a little late {four minutes according to the clock in the kitchen..tsk, tsk} but I made them breakfast anyway. It's not supposed to be very warm today so I think it will be an inside kind of day. I do have a book to pick up from the library: 1984*. I figure since I've read Brave New World* I might as well see the other side. There is one other book that Postman suggests in Amusing Ourselves to Death that I've requested from the library but off the top of my head I cannot recall the title. Darkness at Noon? Perhaps... {edited later: it was indeed that title! my memory still works sometimes.}

Wednesday- Thursday ... ummm...

We'll just skip right onto Friday then. LEE GOT A JOB! No matter what else happened today that is what is in my head now. She starts on Monday. It was one that she'd seen the Help Wanted sign in passing a couple of times and then took the initiative to stop in on her own. She left her name and number but didn't hear anything before the Help Wanted message disappeared from the sign. She figured they'd gone with someone else. Well, this morning they called {we'd accidentally left the 'home' phone at home when we ran errands} and when she called back, they pretty much hired her over the phone. It is working in a garden center as a cashier. It should be fairly simple, maybe busy at times. I'm so excited for her.

And that's about been the week. It's felt scattered and not well put together. But everyone has survived and I don't think there is any lasting damage. 

Oh, yes, we got the WB put together, minus one page. Too much excitement today to be able to put in a recipe or fun activity apparently. You can find it on the WB page.

How was your week?

Politicians: Amusing Ourselves to Death, Chapter 9 {1 of 2}

Intro Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 3 Ch. 4 {pt 1} Ch. 4 {pt 2} Ch. 5 Ch. 6 Ch. 7 
Ch. 8 Ch. 9 {pt 1} Ch. 9 {pt 2} Ch. 10 Ch. 11

Politics. I've never really been much into politics. It would have been much more interesting and worthwhile back in the founders' days. My opinion of course, because they didn't smear each other as a means to get votes for themselves. They ran, or rather were nominated, based on their known character, which interestingly enough, was gathered from their written works. They didn't gallivant around the country schmoozing with the public. That came later. I believe they even often refrained from communicating with  very many people because it might sway their vote. 

Those are my pre-thoughts. 
This post contains affiliate links; I'll let you know. See Disclosure/Policies. 

Part II, Chapter 9, Reach Out and Elect Someone {1 of 2}

Politics is just like show business- Ronald Reagan, 1966

I'm probably as up on sports as I am on politics, and this chapter starts with sports. Politics is a spectator sport. Postman compares politicians to athletes. Athletes' reputation rise and fall based on how well they meet a set standard. He mentions David Garth (a sports journalist?) in regards improving the image of a baseball player with a .218 batting average. Not going to happen. And Martina Navratilova's performance for tennis. Performance is what it is; it can't appear to be more or less than it is. The answer to the question of who is best doesn't get answered by a poll, rather by performance. Those who watch generally know the rules and aren't fooled.

If politics is like show business, though the standard may be there, one doesn't actually need to meet it, just appear that they do. Here Postman references Joe McGinnis' book The Selling of the President {affiliate link}. If I didn't already have too many books in my to-be-read pile, I might add this one.

What makes you cast your ballot?

A Presidential candidate or a good campaign?

How he stands on the issues or how he stands up to the camera?

The Selling of the President is the enduring story of the 1968 campaign that wrote the script for modern Presidential politicking—and how that script came to be...In his introduction, Joe McGinniss discusses why—unfortunately—his classic book is as pertinent today to understanding our political culture as it was the year it was published. -from Amazon

And just how do politicians sell themselves? Through commercials of course! "In America, the fundamental metaphor for political discourse is the television commercial. (p. 126)" Postman says that by age 40 most Americans will have viewed over one million commercials. I'd venture to say that number is larger now than in Postman's day. According to A. C. Neilsen, the average child will see 20,000 commercials in a year. They also say that by age 65, 2 billion commercials will have been viewed. I don't know how old that information is, however.

Commercials influence- period. Postman's purpose in this section is to show how it has degraded {he says "devastated"} discourse. He starts with commercial's impact on commerce. Capitalism was an offshoot of Enlightenment, like science and liberal democracy, he says. "Both buyer and seller are sufficiently mature, well-informed and reasonable. (p. 127)" It's a give-take relationship; they rely on each other to make it work well.

Monopolies and cartels undermine capitalism, of course. Even worse, Postman says, is the commercial. "Any claim must take the form of a proposition, for that is the universe of discourse, from which words are "true" and "false" come. (p. 127)" Recall in chapter 4 about advertising that they began to include illustrations and photographs. By the 1950s "the television commercial made linguistic discourse obsolete as the basis for product decisions. (p. 127)" It encouraged emotions to make consumer decisions. No claims are really made in a commercial- other than what the viewer projects on the commercial themselves. Commercials are not really about the character of the product any longer; it's about the character of the consumer. The shift has been from making and marketing quality products to making the consumer feel valued. 

Postman moves back to politics and talks about George Orwell's understanding that politics, although corrupt, would remain a distinct mode of discourse. "He feared the politician as deceiver, not as entertainer. (p. 129)" And yet the tv commercial has been one of the chief means for presenting politics. We get a glimpse into the "backroom", so to speak, of two Senate candidates through Postman's eyes. One, Ramsey Clark, prepared well with documents that included facts and figures, "carefully articulated position papers...and an enlightened sociological perspective." The other, Jacob Javits, "built his campaign on a series of thirty-second television commercials...to project himself as a man of experience, virtue and piety. (p. 129)" Javits retained his Senate seat, showing that he understood that having pictures is more important to voters than having words in this century. 

By now Americans have accepted commercials to be a "normal and plausible form of discourse. (p. 130)" Commercials are instant therapy since they address the psychological needs of the viewer {remember again chapter 4}. Postman goes on to suggest that the commercial offers a theory that is rather preposterous: "all problems are solvable, that they are solvable fast, and that they are solvable through the interventions of technology, techniques and chemistry." To read or hear this, one would understand it is a preposterous theory, says Postman. But the commercial disdains exposition; anything that would enable the viewers to think about refuting the claim (remember, commercials make no real claims any longer). Instead commercials use pseudoparables such as Ring Around the Collar to appeal to emotions but "are unambiguously didactic. (p. 131)" {Side note: unambiguous means not open to more than one interpretation; didactic means intended to teach.}

"The television commercial is about products only in the sense that the story of Jonah is about the anatomy of whales, which is to say, it isn't. Which is to say further, it is about how one ought to live one's life. (p. 131)"

So this leads to commercials giving viewers the impression that political problems have fast solutions through simple measures. But the point I like the most is that commercials use individuals from a variety of arenas -athletes, musicians, scientists, etc.- to push a product that has nothing to do with any of those professions. This allows politicians to be free from the "limited field of their own expertise (p. 131)," and people don't catch on. 

When did politicians begin to have 'celebrity' status? Being famous isn't the same thing as being a celebrity, Postman says, and while I'd not really thought about it before, of course he is right. He goes through the years pointing out which politician showed up in which tv show; most of them I don't know- the politician or the show! Did you know that former President Ford was on "Dynasty?" Huh. Ralph Nader {ah, that name sounds familiar} hosted "Saturday Night Live;" if that's not entertainment, what is! 

And on that note, I will stop this part of chapter 9. Next time Postman continues on with how this 'celebrity' status changed the way of politics. 

Weekly Wrap-Up -03.07.14- Week Before Term 2 Exams

I attempted to start a weekly wrap-up last week but that didn't fly at all. The Weekly Barden didn't even get done! Not sure what was so different about last week but oh well; moving on. 

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links. See Disclosure/Policies.

Sunday I was sick. Stuffed head, achy in my bones, just not well. Stayed home all day and finished a paper for the last week of my classes. Should have put it off until Monday perhaps because I reread it {after I turned it in...yeah...} and it isn't very clear. But it's done.

I did get some more reading in of The Living Page*, Praying for Boys*, and a review book that is a verse by verse study on the book of Hebrews {I don't care for the book I'm reviewing, so it's difficult to make myself read it}. 
*affiliate links

Monday started well with Round Table and a chemistry experiment. We separated water. Fox had done it before at a homeschool co-op but Lee and I had not so that's what we did. Pretty neat! Fox suggested trying it with a car battery...I'm sure that would pretty awesome but it ain't happenin'.

It was fun to do this experiment. And super easy *wink*.

Oh, yes, and from reading in The Living Page, I was reminded that I've not put an entry in my Nature Journal in so long. This morning I could actually see some light in the window when I woke up so I decided to record that in the journal. I'd like to make it a habit {so many habits I'd like to make a habit *sigh*} each morning to record what I see and/or hear.

Tuesday has started... but I'm so very tired. I could not sleep last night, for whatever reason. I had heartburn which I've not had in a very long time, and a headache. I blame the Jelly Belly jelly beans I ate earlier in the day along with the peppermint patties around bed time... I do learn from my mistakes; I just don't always apply what I've learned.

I put an entry in the Nature Journal. I wanted to add a drawing but I'm just so tired, it wouldn't come out right to be sure. 

Today is Friday of sorts because tomorrow there is no school. Well, we are going on a field trip so there still is school but no book work. We are going to the Auto Show that runs March 1-9 this year. 

Wednesday we did what we planned. It was fun and exciting but I didn't find my car. LOL I'm on the lookout for my "next" car and was hoping for "the" car at the auto show. Last year we went and I really liked the Toyota Venza. This year, not so much. It's bigger and smaller at the same time, with much too much going on inside of it. Dh likes the Toyota Highlander which is way too big imho. 

I had a GoPro* for taking videos and photos. Perhaps dh will let me share the compilation video he makes of mine and his footage. He does great work with video stuffs. 
*affiliate link

I finished up the last bits for my two college classes. I am officially done for this term; just waiting for the grade the instructors will give. I already have registered for Summer term and ordered my books. It's funny; there are the same number of classes but more books for half the cost as last term. Eh well. The courses are titled Foundations of Exceptionality and Foundations of Education. I'm looking forward to them. I feel I've learned a lot in the two I just finished. Although what I learned was pretty much that Charlotte Mason hit the nail on the head way back before many. Also I learned that technology is crazy and being seen as the magic bullet for education. 

Thursday I woke up at 5:55 am but refused to get out of bed until 6:30 am. I think that I should actually get up every morning that I wake early; but I rarely do it. Even though I got up at the same time as most mornings, it felt like there was more accomplished. Coffee was made (I put Redmond clay and FCLO in my bulletproof coffee {coconut oil and butter} this morning for added nutritional value- wasn't too bad), discussion boards for classes checked, email checked, AO forum checked, and The Living Page read. It was a good morning. And I even got a shower in before the kids were up. That's an accomplishment! 

Reading Bestvater's book made me realize- again- that I need to supply my kiddos with the materials they need. Not cheap ones that I myself would not want. I've done this before, often, because I *know* that they will not take as good care as I would. Perhaps, though, they do not because I give the impression that that is what I expect to happen, rather than trusting them to care for the things as I would want them to. I bought a set of woodless colored pencils* for Fox today. A set all his own. He generally shares my Prismacolor* or Lee's set that she got for a birthday gift. And we are usually harping on him to be careful; don't drop them; don't sharpen them too roughly; etc. I don't know how good of quality the pencils I chose are but the description sounds nice and the reviews are favorable. I want him to have nice things that he will cherish and treasure. And use of course. 
*affiliate link

Tonight for dinner it's going to be a whole chicken cooked in the crockpot. I've never cooked one in the crockpot like this so I'm a little nervous. I started it at 10:00 am to be done by 6:00 pm. It was mostly thawed when I put it in the pot. I can smell it starting to cook now. Yum. If it doesn't get done by 6:00 pm that is fine; we usually eat dinner a little before 7:00 pm. 

{Edited: It's done by 5:00 pm! Now I have to figure what goes with it. Uh, I need to figure out what to do with it. I stripped the meat off and put all the 'sludge' and bones back in the crockpot with some more water and some apple cider vinegar to make chicken broth. When it's done, I'll strain all the bits out and mash them for the cat's food.} 

This morning after Round Table I all of a sudden decided next week will be Term 2 exam week. I don't recall us ever having a Term 2 exam. Lee asked if I had enough time to prepare and if the term was actually over yet. We've been a bit behind 'schedule' all year. I answered yes to both. 

I know what I will be doing when we are not doing school. {Edited: I'm going almost exclusively off of the AO exams for Y8 and Y10. How easy is that? *smile*}

I went grocery shopping by myself today. Normally the kids go with me and are a big help. They still had quite a bit of school to get done with so I opted for them to stay behind. The cost for the "week's" groceries was over $100. That's the highest it's been for quite awhile. I did get a double size of fish though, which will run into next week. And since I'm trying to get everyone on the THM plan, I had to buy more of what I'd consider "special" food {by that I mostly mean things like cottage cheese and greek yogurt}, and a lot more fresh veggies! That's something I've been trying to do for awhile. I actually purchased a bag of kale. At some point I am going to attempt to make kale chips. 

Later in the day, since it was so nice, being in the low 30s, I begged bribed convinced the kids to go out on a bike ride with me. It is much colder riding a bike but it was nice and fun. I want to take my camera out now and shoot some stills of nature. {Edited: I did take my camera out to the backyard. I posted my photos in this post.} 

Friday Yay! It's not like the week has been long though. We had two days on, one day off, and the last two days on. It's been a good week. And Friday has tea-time, pizza and a movie. It's a great way to end the week.

This morning the radio weather forecast says it will be 40s today. That means o.u.t.d.o.o.r. weather! We'll see how it goes. Also this morning for some strange reason, I remembered someone close mentioning that in the municipality that I live in we are allowed to have chickens. That makes me so very happy. I just need to convince hubby...well, just as soon as I figure out the rules. There really don't appear to be many. Keep them on your property, don't let them destroy others' property, keep them sanitary and keep the noxious odors down. Sound doable.

We had tea-time, and then Fox and I had a quick bike ride. For tea-time I made shortbread cookies. Normal recipe {uh, well, I used honey in place of sugar- not so normal?} and a gluten free recipe for me {yes, I shared}. We read from Eragon* again. 
*affiliate link

Gluten-free spiced shortbread {here's the original recipe}
1 1/2 TBS coconut flour*
1 1/2 TBS almond meal*
2 TBS butter
1/2 TBS honey & 1 stevia packet
cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, cloves {or 1/2 TBS cocoa powder for chocolate shortbread}
*affiliate link

Preheat oven to 365F. Mix all well and separate into 8 balls. Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper and space the 8 dough balls on the paper. Press them down into whatever shape you'd like. 

Cook for 9 minutes. Watch them 2 minutes til the end; they brown {burn} quickly. Remove from oven but let cool completely before removing from the cookie sheet. 

They were good. Next time I will either not use the stevia and even less of the honey or...well, I'm not sure. I like my shortbread to be butter more than sweet. 

Then we had to run an errand. Uh, the errand was to buy a new bookcase. I have books stacked too many places and books stacked on books on the existing bookshelves.

And now the day is just about done as it's almost 9:00 pm. Dh and I watched an episode of Ancient Aliens* {Amazon Instant Video link; affiliate}, while the kids watched some of Batman* {the old tv series; affiliate}. It was a night for laughter apparently *wink*. I have some reading I'd like to get done before heading to bed so off I go. Have a great weekend!

Weekly Wrap-Up 2.21.14

I'm starting this on Tuesday so that I don't have to spend so long on it on Friday or Saturday, whenever I post it. I have read many blog posts that are beautifully typed up and include many images, and just wonder how they could possibly get the post up while doing all the amazing things they write about. I can't do it; it's a one or the other kind of thing. Oh well- this is my life; that's their's. 

*This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure/Policies.

Sunday, I love Sunday. I say that honestly but I'll also admit that the winter schedule at church plays a part in that lately. We have Sunday school, main service, a luncheon, followed by an 'afternoon' service. We get home about 3:00 pm. It's an all day thing. I really like it. We only have one more week of the winter schedule though. It goes back to Sunday school and main service, over by 12:00 pm, and an evening service at 6:00 pm. 

Anyway, this Sunday Pastor talked more about what makes Baptists Baptist {the second part of the series is talked about in that linked post}. The main points:

• Saved church membership. verses: 2 Corinthians 6:14-15, Acts 2:41, Ephesians 4:1-3, Romans 16:17
• Only two offices- Pastor & Deacon. verses: Philippians 1:1, Acts 20:17-28, 1 Timothy 3:? (missed the exact reference)
• Separation- church & state, the world. verses: Matthew 22:21, Romans 13:1-7, Acts 5:29, Ephesians 5:11, 1 Corinthians 15:33

Continuing in the main service with the theme for the year, Taking the Word of Life to a Lifeless World, Pastor talked about "Excuses, excuses..."

Main points: Romans 2:1-3

• Man has no excuse. We are inexcusable; we are sinners. verses: Romans 2:1, John 8:7
• God judges according to truth. Not man's 'truth' but God's truth. verses: Romans 2:2, Acts 17:31
• God's judgment is unavoidable. We cannot hide. verses: Romans 2:3, Exodus 34:7

The afternoon covered 1 Timothy 4:1-4, dealing with the commandments of not eating certain foods, and how that goes along with diet fads of today. Basically, if it's 'commanded' in a religious/spiritual sense it is wrong, but the fads presented in general, outside of church settings, are just a distraction, really. Okay, perhaps he didn't quite say it that way but that's my take on it. 

Monday we went to Willoughby and hung out with the Jeanines :) I'm quite the reserved type but I do love the Jeanines. I just want to snatch them all up in a big bear hug. Anyway, the kids had ASL Club that Jeanine's oldest son so willingly puts together and instructs once a month. I got to hang out in the kitchen with Jeanine and Molly. Other than being so literally cold {heehee, Jeanine}, it's such a cozy place to be, with friends. 

Afterward, Lee drove us to the Mayfield branch library, the long way, since she still cannot drive on the freeway/highway {never can figure which is which}. She did get up to 45 mph though :) I was quite lenient with school today. They covered a few subjects, did chores and then had screen time. It was a nice day lol. 

I got another post in the Amusing Ourselves to Death* series of posts. It only took four months. Eh he he...
*affiliate link

Tuesday I was again a nice mommy lol. I got up early and slaved over the hot oven...making the kids some cinnamon brown sugar scones. Lol. Don't feel too sorry for me; I always get up early. My continued chant today: Must stay motivated and keep things going. If I let it slip, they are quick to encourage it. It's not that they really dislike school {well...} but they like to not have school much more than they like to have school, you know?

I am thinking that today we need to do evaluations of where we are and what's left for the year. Our school year this year ends on May 23rd or 30th, depending on how well we do. I also was thinking about Term 2 exams...it seems we get Term 1 or 3 exams in {sometimes get both lol} but I don't recall a Term 2 exam yet. Hmmmm, something to look into. 

Round Table. Check! {included: verses, foreign language (German salutation phrases right now), recitation (Gettysburg Address and Declaration of Independence), hymns ("Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing", "There is Power in the Blood", "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder"), chemistry (today's reading from Exploring the World of Chemistry* affiliate link), attempt at sign language (rather dismal try it was), Composer's Datebook, and prayer} And it was done before 10:30 am, I believe! Oh, and a resource that was give on the AO forum is MP3Monkey; ever hear of it? Find songs to download. Of course, I'll put the little disclaimer in here- if it's not public domain, don't chance downloading for fear of pirating music. You know... I haven't actually looked at the entire site but searched Mozart and found quite a bit. 

I have to do grocery shopping today. Not especially looking forward to that chore. Edited: I got it done and survived :)

Wednesday was so strangely warm. There is still a lot of snow piled up on the lawns but the roads are nice and clear. The kids rode their bikes for a good long time; even took off their jackets! 

School went well. Fox had Young Marines, and Lee and I made it to prayer meeting. Lee drove a lot yesterday. I get a little jealous when she drives so much {no joke- but it's funny isn't it?}. 

It is Thursday now as I update for Wednesday but I wanted to put this here:

"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Galatians 6:9-10 (KJV)

I had a few "moments" yesterday of growing weary and I've started my day today with the same thoughts. It's sad to me when I catch myself thinking, why doesn't someone see this or that that I've done. It's not so much I want recognition but imitation. And it's not that I want others, and by 'others' I mean specifically my children, to say "I'm doing this like mom does." No, I want them to see it and think that they should do things because I am doing what I should do; it is the example of obedience I want them to imitate. I was reading in one of my college textbooks, and talking with the kids,  about external rewards- candy or money or grades- and Fox chimed in that he thought it was fine to give rewards "sometimes". Hmmm. 

Perhaps I've messed up this part in the training of my children. Personally I think the only external reward we should ever look for is when the Lord will say "Well done, good and faithful servant." What more do we truly need? As Charlotte Mason says, we do what we do because it is right and it is our duty to do so. I'm not quoting that because I don't have it perfect, but it's a part of the CM motto, "I am, I can, I ought, I will." External rewards should not be the reason someone ever does anything. {Of course, I am not perfect in this, as can be read in my paragraph above.}

Today we've 'accomplished' Round Table, "PE", and a few other subjects {lol by "we" I mean "they"}. We have some things to go to today; errands to run. It will be a shorter school day. Edited: it was a short school day but it turned into a long day overall. Is it Friday yet?? But a good note: I got the books I ordered last week. I got a Biology coloring book* for Fox for school next year, and for me I got For the Children's Sake*, When Children Love to Learn*, and Charlotte Mason Study Guide*. I've read Macaulay's book and really enjoyed it. I checked out Cooper's book two weeks ago, and was spending some time skimming through it; it looked worth owning. Gardner's book I found used on Amazon at a good deal {and it is signed by Penny!} when I searched for the other books. I am done buying books for this month *wink*.
*affiliate links

I almost forgot to include the Schwebel's Bread Factory tour we took this afternoon. Silly me! It was pretty neat, albeit very much longer than I'd anticipated. They gave us each a loaf of bread. It's white bread, so it's a special treat for the kids lol. 

Friday -Finally! It's felt like Friday since Wednesday. This morning I get to visit with some friends; fellow THMers. No Round Table since I have to leave right when that would start. The kids will be on their own for a little while. Gosh, hope they can manage *wink*. 

For breakfast Lee made THM pancakes. I posted about this when I first made them and didn't really care for them. I was graciously given this tip: either put a bit of gluccomanan in it or let it set over night. 

Edited: Wow- so that was one busy day! From 6:30 am when I woke up until 10:00 pm when I went to bed, I was only home for not quite 7 hours! I'm a homebody and that was tough! And most of that time was driving. Did I say I was getting jealous of Lee's driving so much? I shall no longer complain. School was a mess; what little the kids got done, I can't even tell. It was all completely independent and I've not even looked it over. 

Our tea-time was not quite so ...nice. It wasn't bad but rushed and at least one of us, but honestly probably all of us, was definitely not feeling it. We finished chapter two in Eragon. And I was wrong about next week being smoother and less rushed because the kids still have one more Microsoft Movie Maker class. 

Good things: It was a very nice time with fellow THMers. Met a couple of newbies, and although I don't know even close to 'everything', it was nice to share some of my experiences with them. 

I got The Great Courses I ordered at huge savings. Understanding the Human Body: An Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology and The Art of Public Speaking. Seriously I got an unbelievably good deal on those. The sale is still going for the anatomy but still not as good as I got. I waited until the last possible moment trying to decide if I should get them. It was a deal to good to pass up. But if you miss it- they do have the up to 90% off sale at least once a year. And they gave me a messenger bag 'free'; I gave it to Fox. 

And I got my small little bottle of Green Pastures Fermented Cod Liver Oil, in Oslo Orange. That's one expensive little bottle! Eight ounces and it cost me $34 to buy, not to mention the 2+ hour drive to get it. But really, I'm not complaining too much. The benefits of the fclo should be worth it. And surprisingly, it tastes much better than I thought it would :) I had it in my bulletproof coffee this morning and it tasted like a orange creamsicle! I *really* wanted the chocolate butter/oil blend but have heard it does not taste so yummy. Don't want to give me any reason to dislike chocolate *wink*

And now, today is Saturday. Fox is still sleeping at 8:30 am and Lee is out with The Warden driving more. She has over 20 hours of driving. The plan for the day is me here at the computer, cranking out a 10-12 page literature review, creating a lesson plan of sorts for a virtual field trip. I just can't believe it's Saturday already! Time flies... For everyone else? I don't know. I'll be 'in the zone' and not available at all today. That's the plan. 

And on that note, I must get to my necessary tasks. Hope all have a wonderful weekend! 

Tea-Time & Weekly Wrap-Up 2.14.14

Today was rushed, or so it felt. Last week's Friday was mellow and easy-going. Although last week the kids did not have the Microsoft Movie Maker class, and this week they do. There is only one more week of the class, thankfully.

Lunch time...with robo kitty.

Tea-time...with a read aloud.

Fox made peanut butter cookies for our tea-time. I had peppermint tea, while Lee had orange blossom and Fox had Bavarian wild berry. No music; no art; but a read aloud: Eragon. We started reading it back in July 2013, I think, but had only got through the first chapter. We read part of chapter 2, but had to cut short out tea-time to go to the Microsoft Movie Maker class. Because of the 'rush' feel, next Friday, tea-time will be earlier. As it was, this morning I cut out ASL and recitation, and we only sang two hymns {we couldn't sing just one!}. 

I wasn't keen on the idea of the book choice for tea-time but actually, so far I like it. Time will tell how it fares in our tea-time routine, but for now I'll go along with it.

*This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure/Policies.*

Otherwise, in our week:

Sunday, consisted of church, food and relaxation at home. That's the usual routine -at least until the end of this month when the luncheons at church ends. You can read here about what was talked about in Sunday school. Oh, and other thoughts are in that post as well. For the main service, the main idea was what do we say when we witness. I *think* that the pastor had more in this than he was able to get out in the amount of time. Just a guess based on my notes. And since my notes are a jumbled mess, I'm not going to attempt to relay them here. I might confuse a lot of people. The luncheon was gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches -yum!

Monday was a little 'off' but not in a bad way. The Warden {also known as dh} took the day off of work and hung out with us some. Lee and he went driving. School-wise, it ran late, but it was all good I think. For some reason I didn't get around to making dinner so I splurged and spent $10 on two hot-n-ready Little Caesar's pizzas.

Tuesday went well...I think. I know that I went to Akron to hang out with some mom's at Starbucks. I bought myself a chamomile tea. Having never bought tea at Starbucks, I didn't know that the chamomile is indeed wee little flowers in the bag, steeped in hot water. But I needed something calming after driving 45 minutes in the freezing cold {literally- it was 8*F when I headed out and 3*F on my way home}, in the dark. I had a really good time at the Charlotte Mason book discussion. We went over Section II: Knowledge of Man, (e) Language and (f) Art. Next month we will go over Section III: Knowledge of the Universe, (a) Science and Geography. I better make sure I read up on it. *That* was the highlight of my day.

Wednesday all was well. Fox finally had Young Marines, but Lee and I skipped prayer meeting. I would say there was a profound reason we didn't go but really, I let time get away from me and we didn't make it.

Thursday was the Parents' Night Out at the church where the teens watch kids age 2-11 for a couple hours so parents can have a night, whether they go out or stay in; whatever they want. The theme this time was humility {I think}. It went well and my two always come away from it with a positive attitude. The Warden and I had fast food for dinner and watched Ancient Aliens...good times.

Friday which brings us to now. The end of the day on Friday. As mentioned, it felt rushed. Some things, school-wise, didn't get done. But it is okay. We had our tea-time, the kids went to their class, and we had our Round Table. I think that's all I expected from the day. And they got their homemade pizza out of it all :)

Oh! I did get a package from Amazon* with books for Lee's next school year. Anatomy and Physiology coloring books, government book, and a writing book. *affiliate links

What's in store for next week? Monday we will be out and about from early until afternoon. There is an ASL club meeting in the morning. In the afternoon there is a Pearls Home School Support Group meeting. Tuesday will be life as usual. Wednesday I register for summer classes for myself at Liberty University. We also, as usual, have prayer meeting, and Fox has Young Marines. At church there is going to be an art display of the homeschoolers artwork, with a theme of winter. I think Lee is going to include something. Thursday we have a field trip! We are going to the Schwebel Baking Company in Cuyahoga Falls. They are going to be closing the facility this year. It was set up by Kim's Ohio Homeschooling Events. This will be our first experience with this particular 'group'. I'm looking forward to it! Friday is Homebuilders at church which I have down that I'd like to go but we'll see how it goes. And it is the last Microsoft Movie Maker class. The weekend doesn't have anything marked but we usually don't do much on Saturday; Sunday is for church.

And now to get off of here and finish some other things.

Wrapping Up the Week & How School's Going 02/02-02/08/14

I wonder if I should start this with "I have so many other things that still need to be done!" But here it is, Saturday already and really, the week is getting wrapped up. Tomorrow is the start of next week. There's a few bits of what we did in our week on page 4 of The Weekly Barden but not much. {And that reminds me, I need to update the WB page here on the blog--done!}

*This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure/Policies.

Sunday, we had church and the luncheon that followed. We missed the Sunday school portion but at the moment I can't recall why. The lunch was soup and salad. The morning service was about the "Going" of the Gospel. There were four points: 1) Suffering of the Gospel, 2) Speaking of the Gospel, 3) Seriousness of the Gospel, 4) Service of the Gospel. Our pastor {and probably many other pastors as well} likes to use alliterations. It helps us remember the points, too. The afternoon question/answer was "When something goes wrong, how do we know when it is God testing, or opposition of the devil?" Simply stated, we don't know. But there were some points made that we need to think about while we are going through the difficult time- regardless of the direction the hardship has come from. Some points: God protects, while the devil seeks to destroy; God limits {He only gives us what He knows we can handle}, but the devil does not stop; the hardship is there to alert us; to direct us; to shape us; and to unite us. When all else fails, stick to what you know is 'true'- God is truth. Regardless of the direction it originates from, look to God to get you through it.

Monday I did a silly thing. I attempted to figure out taxes first thing. Well, Mondays are notorious for being bad anyway, so why not!? I finally got our federal e-filed but the state isn't ready {the state isn't ready; not that I'm not ready}. Also, we have RITA that have to be dealt with but I was so frazzled by the time I got the others 'done' that I set them aside until another time. I have to actually call someone to get help. So, with my mindset all out of whack, school for the kids was uh, not as structured. I *know* they did some school {keep tellin' myself that...} but I don't think we had Round table or prayers. I also had an assignment that I didn't get finished on Sunday that was to be turned in. Nothing like putting things off until the last minute, and then finding out you didn't quite do it right in the first place. Turned in the assignment late and with missing information. Earned me a "B". Hopefully lesson learned...

Tuesday, all day I thought about the Science Debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham. It was at 7pm EST. We got through just over 1/2 of it before calling it a night. I still haven't watched the rest of it. I wrote about it on page 1 of The WB. But before that, our day went quite well. We had Round table- which we seem to be getting the hang of it. We have it wrapping up about an hour after we start. We sang some good hymns this week, too! 

Wednesday we had quite a bit of snow. What's new? It is winter, after all. we shouldn't be surprised. Well, we aren't but are amazed at how many locals are. We didn't make it to prayer meeting or the kids to teen discipleship because the snow didn't get completely shoveled until quite late. My car doesn't play drive well in the snow. No worries that Fox may have missed Young Marines because they cancelled again, due to weather. We {dh and I} are wondering if it is worth continuing on with the program. It is a great program but I must be honest and say that the platoon is not ideal. I feel for those who volunteer with the bunch of kids in that platoon! And you know that bad associations, well, they corrupt. Fox doesn't need that. So we are praying and thinking about where to go from here. In terms of school- another good day, I think lol. 

Thursday- aha! I know what I forgot to include on The WB's weekly wrap-up: our eye appointment in the morning. We had a very short Round table because the appointment was at 11:00 am. All went well with the appointment, with only one of us 'needing' new lenses. Technically, both Lee and I could have gotten new frames and lenses but I didn't want to spend any money unnecessarily so only she got new lenses. After we had the appointment, we walked around the mall {the eye doctor is in the mall} and then went a recently opened candy store near our house. I bought a few bits of candy for the kids and I {and a bit to share with dh}. Lee asked if they were hiring but they are not yet. 

Friday we had tea-time. Well, let me back up some. The day started well with Round table and then lunch, since that's the routine. After lunch we would head to the mall {a different mall than where the eye doctor is lol} for the kids' Microsoft Movie Maker class but it was cancelled for this week. So, we got done with Round table and the kids played Wii Sports together. That's their 'PE' class a lot of the time, when they can't ride bikes. I decided that Friday would work best because that is the day the kids have the least intensive subjects on their schedule. They planned it that way. Guess they like to relax a little at the end of the week; what a concept *wink*. Over at the AO forum, there is a February Tea-Time 'challenge' that we are participating. It isn't a competition or anything and the only 'challenge' is to have tea-time once a week. Here is what I shared with the AO group about our tea-time: 

It was very nice. I wanted to make sure it was relaxed so I didn't 'require' anything much. We listened to a Vivaldi playlist on Youtube (per dd's request) as we talked about this term's art. We are finally finishing up Manet. We also dug out last term's art and talked about them. I made sweet biscuits- which is just regular biscuits that I normally make but *with* the sugar that the recipe calls for that I never add in, and cinnamon; I also used a smaller sized round to make them more like cookies lol- and we had 3 choices for tea. The kids had to have the set-up all just so. My ds asked to make the treat for next week's tea time.

Oh, and another thing: they reflected on how 'good' they have life. My dd must have really enjoyed it because she smiled a lot through the whole thing and kept bringing up good memories, that had nothing to do with tea lol. 

I'm going to share a link to my friend Silvia's post about her tea-time. We didn't take any pictures of ours and her's just looks so relaxing.
After tea-time it was just about time to get 'back to work' on school stuff, but it set a nice calm and pleasant atmosphere on the rest of the day.

Saturday started right- with coffee :) I made dh breakfast of two fried eggs, fresh coffee and not-from-concentrate orange juice {it has to be not-from-concentrate lol}. That the way we start our Saturdays. Lee got in some driving with dh, who is so very patient and good at teaching driving skills. Fox slept in, quite late. I don't wake him because it's the only day he is allowed to sleep in. Chores have been done by all who have chores {that does include myself} and now it is time to do what we want. Well, I have some studying to do for a quiz I must take by tomorrow. 

And now that I pretty much broke down our week for the post, I'll share some details of school-stuffs. I mentioned that we'd sung some good hymns this week and I just happened to remember to jot down their numbers from our hymnal. I don't usually remember. The title of the hymnal we are using is The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration*, published by Word Music (*affiliate link). Hymns #116 "Take the Name of Jesus with You", #470 "Footsteps of Jesus", #543 "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder", #512 "My Savior's Love", #514 "In My Heart There Rings a Melody", #515 "Since Jesus Came Into My Heart", #355 "Trusting Jesus", #495 "Heaven Came Down", #409 "I Know Whom I Have Believed".

We have taken out the presidents and states/capitols from Round table for now {have I mentioned this already?}. They are focusing more on their memorization/recitation of The Declaration of Independence and The Gettysburg Address. Memory verses are going well in the sense that they've memorized quite a few. We have been using the "100 verses in 2013" that we started in, well, 2013, and we're not even 1/2 way through them all. I'd rather they have the reason and meaning of the verse down than have all 100 or more memorized for simple recitation. 

Our ASL is slow going. We're using LifePrint {still} but because we aren't really that focused, we are only on lesson 5. Fortunately, the kids also have a once a month ASL club where they get some more practice. In other 'foreign language' areas we have our FL Memory Box- much like the Memory Verse Box system from SCM {I'm sure I've linked to it many times}, we have some foreign language phrases behind the tabs. Right now we just have a few from German but I have some Spanish waiting to be introduced. I wanted to put Russian in there also but eh, I don't know enough. Lee is doing really well in her Latin. Fox is not as enthusiastic about his *chosen* language of German. I would love to buy a program such as the Learnables for him for that but... would he put in more effort than he does now?

In other areas, we are working on writing. Narrations really. The requirement of 1/2 page has been in effect for at least this whole school year but I've noticed that ds especially thinks because his writing is so small that he is only required to do a 1/3 of a page. I had to change it to specific minimum number of lines. Dd on the other hand has wide ruled notebook paper that she uses for written narrations. And the notebook is 9.5" x6". She seems to think one page on that is sufficient. Perhaps I'll get really nit-picky and say how many words are required. I am not beyond going to that extreme if the need be. However, I do think they are getting the point that I find their narrations too short, in length and content.

Along with the area of writing is Ohio Study. Since it is required in our state, I've made it more of an independent project for the kids. They had to do this last year as well so they know what is expected. They will be required to submit a 'research' paper, a Power Point presentation and give a speech {that's just presenting all their findings} on their chosen topic. It keeps getting left off the schedule some how so it's not coming along very well. We're using Writers Inc* to work on this. (*affiliate link) Fox chose something along the lines of automobile crashes in Ohio (?) and Lee chose the Civil War in Ohio. Those aren't their exact words but me trying to recall from memory. Fox may have to change his; he cannot find enough information. 

We are far behind in our Chemistry, sadly. We have 3 books that I want to get through this year. We are almost 1/2 way through one, 1/3 another, and haven't even opened the last one. We also were to be using the Crash Course Chemistry videos {because I like the way they are put together, they are fun to watch and just to add to the whole subject} but we've made it through only 5 of the 40+. I'd much rather rely on the books and our labs. Speaking of labs. Let's see how many we've done this year: 5. 

Math is...math. It's going so-so with both. I think that Geometry is getting to Lee but Fox is starting to get his -nomials and factoring. 

The other areas are all going well. Well, perhaps our nature study, composer study and artist study aren't 'wonderful'. There's always room for improvement, but we do get them in each week. 

I'd love to share what I'm reading, or working on, or any of the 'usual' areas of a Weekly Wrap-up but I'm not really. I 'work' on being there for the kids during school hours, work on my own school when I am not on their school, do housework, occasionally check on the AO forum and Facebook {which I am avoiding since I saw two terrible news stories shared within a short time of each other that have traumatized me- seriously}. My reading pile is a constant and my work is always the same. 

Life is good where I am and I'm so glad this is the life I have. And with that, I'm done with this really long post!

Not Just Tacos Review & Free Ebook Link!!

The past two weeks I've been posting some delicious looking dishes from the book Not Just Tacos. 

I have quite a few cookbooks but none like this one! Seriously. 

I'm not a 'spicy' food lover and I honestly thought that Latin American dishes had to be spicy. Silly me! 

This book has drastically changed the way I look at preparing food. 

If you read the other posts about the dishes we've made, you'll know we've loved them all! Not one has been disappointing. As a matter of fact, we've been super shocked at how delicious they are! Cooking from scratch isn't new to me. Our family rarely eats boxed, processed foods any more. But one thing my cooking seems to lack is the flavor we've found in the recipes from this book.

Guess what- Shirley is offering this book for free as a download for 5 days only (September 16-20,203). Read through the rest of this post to find the link to get your free download. 

I received an autographed copy of this cookbook from Shirley Solis, the author.

This cookbook is sturdy, with thick pages, and beautiful photos. But it's more than just recipes for Latin American dishes. There are cultural facts for each country. Here's a list of the countries we 'visit' in this book:

*Mexico  *El Salvador  *Honduras  *Cuba  *Puerto Rico  

*Dominican Republic  *Haiti  *Guatemala  *Nicaragua  *Costa Rica  *Panama

*Venezuela   *French Guiana   *Brazil   *Colombia

*Ecuador   *Peru   *Bolivia   *Paraguay

*Chile   *Uruguay  *Argentina

Wow! 

All of the family went through this book, choosing recipes that looked and sounded like ones to try. I can't even tell you how many were bookmarked to start with! I had to shorten the list or we'd have been eating Latin American dishes every night. Hmmm, that may not have been a bad thing...

Here are some more yummy photos of dishes in this book-

I seriously love this book! I know you will like it, too. 

And now...here's the link to get your free download of this book for 5 days only! Feel free to share!! Click the image below.

This is such an awesome book that if you miss the free download, I highly recommend you make the purchase! You can order the hardcover book for $20.13 (retail $25.00), or the ebook for $9.99 (retail). 

If you'd like to see more about Not Just Tacos, visit the website, find them on Facebook, or on Twitter. 

*This post does include Amazon affiliate links. See Disclosure/Policies*