Well, yesterday, we finally finished all our planned school work for this semester. (WOOHOO) Even with our move and all the madness that goes along with moving we were still able to stay on track with most of our school subjects. Our main goals were to complete our entire math book and Bible study book before the end of the calendar year.
On Monday the boys took their Final Book Exam for Math and they both got 100% on them. I am so proud of them! They did a great job with the entire math book. The book we used was Math U See, Epsilon, which is a full course lesson on fractions. The next book that we will do (in the series) will be on decimals. I love the Math U See approach to teaching math skills. After a certain level and understanding the basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division rules the curriculum teaches on full "topics", such as the one we just completed, Fractions, and the next one we will be doing, which is Decimals. Also, at the end of each topical lesson they are learning a little bit of Geometry and Algebra as well. It was really cool to see them doing algebra and they didn't even realize it.
The other Lesson Book that we completed was our Bible Study book. We are using books that are an Inductive Bible Study series for kids. They are written by Kay Arthur and Janna Arndt. I love these books. The inductive part of it really teaches the kids to use their Bibles and look up a lot of scripture. They get to see how scripture supports scripture. The book that we just completed was "Abraham - God's Brave Explorer", from Genesis 11-25. The boys really enjoyed learning about Abraham and how he is an example to us, even today. The next book that we will work through is called "Extreme Adventures with God", learning about Isaac, Jacob and Esau. We are excited to see what God has to show us about these three men and what we can learn from them.
There was much more work that we completed through our first semester together. We are working through a US History and Science book that we hope to have completed by the end of the school year. We will be starting a new Writing curriculum in January and in the midst of it all we are ALWAYS reading!
I assume that today is also the day for most people to finally be all done for the year and you too can relax and enjoy your Christmas break.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
New Place for the Holidays
Let's see...since my last update on the house situation we were waiting on our close date (on the house we were selling) and actively looking for a new place to call "home". Our close date was December 1st and all went smoothly. After a lot drama we finally found a rent house and started the moving process right away. We only moved 1 mile from where we were so we thought that we could handle things all on our own and move ourselves. We did handle it all on our own but it was a lot of work and we were exhausted at the end of each day. It took us a total of 11 days to do it. All the days included packing and cleaning, too. We had cleaning at both houses. The rental we found was very dirty. It took me 3 whole days to clean it before we could begin moving anything in.
We are now, finally, all moved into our new, temporary home. It feels so good to have it all behind us. It all seems so weird though. I guess everything just happened so fast that we really didn't have time to process the fact that we would no longer be calling that house "home".
Where to go from here? Well, we are settling in to enjoy the Christmas holiday and relax a little. All the while, we are actively looking for our new place to call "home".
We are now, finally, all moved into our new, temporary home. It feels so good to have it all behind us. It all seems so weird though. I guess everything just happened so fast that we really didn't have time to process the fact that we would no longer be calling that house "home".
Where to go from here? Well, we are settling in to enjoy the Christmas holiday and relax a little. All the while, we are actively looking for our new place to call "home".
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Week 14...of Homeschooling
We are just completing our 14th week of homeschooling and I have to say we are still going strong and things are great!
It is amazing how much the boys are learning and how much information we have gone through and learned these past 14 weeks. At the beginning of it all (back in August) I set out a plan for most of our curriculum and where we would need to be by Christmas (end of the calendar year) in order to be on track to finish it all by May on 2010. I am happy to say that we are right on track. And actually, if we had not had a few interruptions with the sale of our house and all, we probably would be ahead. So, all in all we are doing very well.
The one thing that really blows me away is how fast we have gotten through our math book. I have both kids on the same level and with the way things are going right now they will most likely complete 2 years of math in only one year (school years). Just amazing. In fact, just today they were introduced to the beginnings of Algebra...already! ...and they "got" it! Amazing! Can you tell that I am blown away? They are just learning SO fast (much faster then they would be in a classroom setting having to go at a slower pace). Wow!
It is amazing how much the boys are learning and how much information we have gone through and learned these past 14 weeks. At the beginning of it all (back in August) I set out a plan for most of our curriculum and where we would need to be by Christmas (end of the calendar year) in order to be on track to finish it all by May on 2010. I am happy to say that we are right on track. And actually, if we had not had a few interruptions with the sale of our house and all, we probably would be ahead. So, all in all we are doing very well.
The one thing that really blows me away is how fast we have gotten through our math book. I have both kids on the same level and with the way things are going right now they will most likely complete 2 years of math in only one year (school years). Just amazing. In fact, just today they were introduced to the beginnings of Algebra...already! ...and they "got" it! Amazing! Can you tell that I am blown away? They are just learning SO fast (much faster then they would be in a classroom setting having to go at a slower pace). Wow!
Still "Moving" along just one day at a time...
It has been a while since my last post and informing you about the sale of our home and our upcoming move.
Since signing the contract back in October, we have gone through the inspection and appraisal period. I am so happy to say that we got a near perfect inspection and the appraisal came back at even more then the sale price (not by much though). We could not be happier about that. We do have to complete some work (minor repairs) to one of the A/C units, but honestly that is to be expected for a place like AZ where you live by your A/C and depend on it almost everyday. (Yes, we even had to run it a little yesterday in the middle of Nov.) The rest of the inspection came back "clean". That is, kind of, not surprising since we are very particular people about our home.
We also get the privilege of having an extra week in the house so we can enjoy one last Thanksgiving here. That was an added blessing. Our new closing date is Dec.1st. It looks like my traditional "after Thanksgiving shopping" weekend will be a weekend of moving instead this year.
Even though we know we will be moving and not shopping the weekend after Thanksgiving we still do not know where we will be moving to. We have looked and looked for a home to buy. After, finally, finding one we were informed that the house we wanted was a "flip" house and had to go through a "seasoning" time. So much for that. So this week we have had to change our direction and start the hunt for a rental. We hope to be able to sign a rental contract this weekend so we can have a slow move and not have to rush through it. AND...after a full day with our realtor yesterday I know that we will need at least a week to just clean before we can even think about moving in. Seriously! What do owners do with the so-called "cleaning fees" anyways. ALL the rentals (except one) we looked at were horribly filthy!! Such a disappointment!
Since signing the contract back in October, we have gone through the inspection and appraisal period. I am so happy to say that we got a near perfect inspection and the appraisal came back at even more then the sale price (not by much though). We could not be happier about that. We do have to complete some work (minor repairs) to one of the A/C units, but honestly that is to be expected for a place like AZ where you live by your A/C and depend on it almost everyday. (Yes, we even had to run it a little yesterday in the middle of Nov.) The rest of the inspection came back "clean". That is, kind of, not surprising since we are very particular people about our home.
We also get the privilege of having an extra week in the house so we can enjoy one last Thanksgiving here. That was an added blessing. Our new closing date is Dec.1st. It looks like my traditional "after Thanksgiving shopping" weekend will be a weekend of moving instead this year.
Even though we know we will be moving and not shopping the weekend after Thanksgiving we still do not know where we will be moving to. We have looked and looked for a home to buy. After, finally, finding one we were informed that the house we wanted was a "flip" house and had to go through a "seasoning" time. So much for that. So this week we have had to change our direction and start the hunt for a rental. We hope to be able to sign a rental contract this weekend so we can have a slow move and not have to rush through it. AND...after a full day with our realtor yesterday I know that we will need at least a week to just clean before we can even think about moving in. Seriously! What do owners do with the so-called "cleaning fees" anyways. ALL the rentals (except one) we looked at were horribly filthy!! Such a disappointment!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Looks like were moving!
After being in our house for almost 6 years it is time to move on. Over the past few years we have been kicking around the idea of adding on and expanding for some more square footage. So after we stopped kicking and getting more serious we looked into adding on and realized that in an effort to keep a little money in our pocket it would be more economical for us to just sell what we have and find something else that has a little more space.
We decided to hire a realtor and throw the house on the market to "see" what would happen. Upon talking with our realtor we were informed, with the current economy and housing market, that we would probably not be able to sell at the price we needed AND walk away with any cash for a down payment on something else. Well, God sure does have a way of communication and working when he sells your house after only being on the market for 4 weeks AND for the price that we were hoping to get. Can you say AMEN to that!
So, as things look now, we will be out of our home before Thanksgiving (yes, the buyers are kicking us out so they can get in for the holidays haha). Don't get me wrong, this is all a big blessing. There is still, however, emotions that I am overcome by just thinking that I will not be in my home for at least one more holiday season. So sad and exciting all at once. I think this all just happened so fast and very unexpectantly.
Where to go from here....we are not sure! Yep, at this very moment only the Lord knows. We "think" we are planning on staying close by but then we have also talked about seeing if this might be our time to get back to our home state of TX. Who knows. Moving out of state would definitely depend on the hubby's job. Right now we are just taking things one day at a time.
We decided to hire a realtor and throw the house on the market to "see" what would happen. Upon talking with our realtor we were informed, with the current economy and housing market, that we would probably not be able to sell at the price we needed AND walk away with any cash for a down payment on something else. Well, God sure does have a way of communication and working when he sells your house after only being on the market for 4 weeks AND for the price that we were hoping to get. Can you say AMEN to that!
So, as things look now, we will be out of our home before Thanksgiving (yes, the buyers are kicking us out so they can get in for the holidays haha). Don't get me wrong, this is all a big blessing. There is still, however, emotions that I am overcome by just thinking that I will not be in my home for at least one more holiday season. So sad and exciting all at once. I think this all just happened so fast and very unexpectantly.
Where to go from here....we are not sure! Yep, at this very moment only the Lord knows. We "think" we are planning on staying close by but then we have also talked about seeing if this might be our time to get back to our home state of TX. Who knows. Moving out of state would definitely depend on the hubby's job. Right now we are just taking things one day at a time.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Starting Adventures in Photography
Well, after many years of my hubby learning, studying and having fun with photography I have decided to start doing the same. I picked up one of his photography books this week and began reading. I quickly learned that I should have started with the "dummies" book. I found myself skipping over more than half of the information as I was reading because I had no idea what certain acronyms and terminology meant.
There is so much to learn and know to really create some good photographs. Someday, when I learn a little more and start shooting, I will share it here.
Oh yea, I got my hubby's hand-me-down camera as he just got himself a new one. We are Canon people so I will be starting and learning on the intro EOS Canon Camera (the Rebel XT...I think ?? ha).
There is so much to learn and know to really create some good photographs. Someday, when I learn a little more and start shooting, I will share it here.
Oh yea, I got my hubby's hand-me-down camera as he just got himself a new one. We are Canon people so I will be starting and learning on the intro EOS Canon Camera (the Rebel XT...I think ?? ha).
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Completed Week 10
Wow! I can not believe that we have already completed our 10th week of homeschooling...last week. We are having a such great time.
We have learned so much (yes, even me).
There are so many great things that we get to enjoy and benefit from because we homeschool. One of the best things is that we get to do Bible studies together. We would try to fit it in our days before, when the boys were attending public school, but there just never seemed to be enough time or I could not get them to focus and be interested. Now I plan it into our day as part of our schedule and lesson plans. It is great!
I have discovered that I can get the boys to do just about anything that I want them to do if I put it on their daily schedule. It is awesome. I can even put their chores on their schedule and they do it. How cool is that?
Our field trips are some of the best, too. Well, I have to say that we have not been on that many, however we have a couple planned that have not happened yet. We went to the American Heart Association's Halle Heart Center Museum and learned about the heart and being "Heart Healthy". It was neat and I learned so much too. In fact, it is the only American Heart Association museum in the US...and it is here. Pretty cool!
Two field trips that we have yet to take are to the Hoover Dam and in Feb '10 we will be attending the Rock and Gem show in Tucson. If I am not mistaken, I think that show in Tucson is the largest Rock show in the US. We have already completed our Hoover Dam studies and are currently studying about rocks, gems and minerals in preparation for the show in Feb.
Oh yea, and did I mention that I can't believe how much I am learning too. I am definitely finding out that you are never too old to learn new stuff.
We have learned so much (yes, even me).
There are so many great things that we get to enjoy and benefit from because we homeschool. One of the best things is that we get to do Bible studies together. We would try to fit it in our days before, when the boys were attending public school, but there just never seemed to be enough time or I could not get them to focus and be interested. Now I plan it into our day as part of our schedule and lesson plans. It is great!
I have discovered that I can get the boys to do just about anything that I want them to do if I put it on their daily schedule. It is awesome. I can even put their chores on their schedule and they do it. How cool is that?
Our field trips are some of the best, too. Well, I have to say that we have not been on that many, however we have a couple planned that have not happened yet. We went to the American Heart Association's Halle Heart Center Museum and learned about the heart and being "Heart Healthy". It was neat and I learned so much too. In fact, it is the only American Heart Association museum in the US...and it is here. Pretty cool!
Two field trips that we have yet to take are to the Hoover Dam and in Feb '10 we will be attending the Rock and Gem show in Tucson. If I am not mistaken, I think that show in Tucson is the largest Rock show in the US. We have already completed our Hoover Dam studies and are currently studying about rocks, gems and minerals in preparation for the show in Feb.
Oh yea, and did I mention that I can't believe how much I am learning too. I am definitely finding out that you are never too old to learn new stuff.
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