Deogratias

Happy Anniversary

to us!  18 years ago today, Lee and I took our vows in St. Mary's Catholic Church and embarked on our life together.

Both of us can say that we are truly happy together living the life we have always dreamed of. 

The two of us celebrated our anniversary Friday with dinner and a movie. 

Installations

Thus far we have installed two items on our new property. The first is this:

A great tire swing.  I had to look away at times because they were going so high!

The second was this:

A chain link fence installed by Lee and Jacob yesterday along our long 20 foot wide driveway.

Coming Soon:

Be on the lookout for a new photo album in the sidebar on this blog to include pictures of our progress.

An Afternoon at the Park

Yesterday we decided to play hooky and spend the afternoon at the park with our Catholic homeschooling group.  There was a wonderful turnout of families we haven't seen in a while and it is a super park for kids of all ages. To top it off, the weather was extraordinary!  Too bad I left my camera in the car, so I didn't capture any of the fun on film (I mean digital images).

A Museum of History

Last week we visited the Kennesaw Civl War Museum with one of our homeschooling groups, and we had a wonderful and very productive time.  When we arrived home, Lee asked the boys if he learned about the "Great Train Chase" and Nicholas said "No, it's called the Great Locomotive Chase!"

And yes, we learned all about it.  Of course we had already learned about this event last year when we took two field trips to local history museums where the information was presented., but this trip just solidified the knowledge into our brains.  We saw a movie about the event, which occurred April 12, 1962, and we saw the train named The General which was the stolen train which was being chased. 

We don't buy too many toys around here, but whenever we visit a museum, I try to pick something up which will encourage imaginative play.  Here are some examples.

The civil war army men especially came in handy when we went to Jacob's physical therapy appointment later that day.  The three younger boys entertained themselves for over an hour in the doctor's office by creating imaginitive Civil War battles. 

The above picture of the army men does not show the Union army which was facing these Confederates on Alex's mattress.  They were placed on a chess board next to a Lincoln Log cabin.

NEA's Position on Homeschooling

I ran across this fascinating post at McKillipKlan this evening regarding the National Education Association's resolutions for 2007/2008.  I couldn't make it through the document, (which is linked in the article) but I think this blogger picked up on some key points that reinforce my decision to homeschool. 

All I can say is Wow!  I mean who do these people in the NEA think they are?

The post made a great point at the end of her post regarding the portrayal or non-portrayal of Catholics in history books.  Hmm!

Things I've Been Doing

My posts have been more sporatic lately because every night I have haven't been able to put this book down.  It provides fascinating insight into the life and times of Vincent Van Gogh.

During the day between lessons, The Big Book of Books and Activities by Dinah Zike has been keeping me busy  Today we put together a couple of tab books about the seven capital sins, and I have some ideas for history and geography.  I have to be careful not to read this at night because it keeps me up all night, mind racing  The book is so full of gread ideas for homemade books that I can't stop thinking about them.

 

Looking toward Sunday

As the Autumnal Equinox approaches I am feeling anticipation for  the beginning of the new season as well regret for the end of the summer.  For one thing, my constant kitchen companions will soon be taking their long trip to South America Mexico and/or Central America. (Correction made after I read the Wikepedia article I linked below.)

Every time I'm in the kitchen, which is most of the day, these Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds entertain me.  Whether it is just flying up for a drink, or chasing and/or being chased off, it is always a show.  Sometimes we have had 4 or 5 fighting around the feeder at a time. 

Today, Jacob and I were standing on the porch near the feeder working on a photo project, when one brave female hummingbird came up and just stared at us.  She flew right up next to our faces and looked directly at us.  It wasn't until she went to get a drink that she was chased off by the male who was perched on a branch nearby.  When we didn't leave, the male flew toward us quicky in an attempt to get us to leave. 

It is always sad to me when they go, and we may not be living in the same house when they return in May.  I guess I'll have to fill up my other feeders so we'll have something to watch after they've gone.  Now that autumn migration is going on, there should be lots of interesting species pass through. 

Another season, another type of entertainment directly from God Himself!  So much more fun than TV.

Life Skills Day

Can having your carpets cleaned be an educational experience?  I think so.  It is a life skills topic.  It involves picking up to prepare for the carpet cleaner to arrive.  Next, you can following him around and ask  him lots of questions and tell him all about what you've been up to.. 

You watch the carpet cleaning in action, and learn that there are three steps.  1. vacuuming, 2 cleaning and 3. raking.  During this process you realize how important it is not to walk on the wet carpet, and if you absolutely must, you have to have clean bare feet. 

The final and most important lesson in my opinion is that you learn how happy it makes Mom to have a clean house.  It reminds me of the olden days when I used to be able to pay someone to clean my house every week. 

I also have to give a plug for Larry at Heaven's Best Carpet Cleaning.  He's a homeschooling dad himself, and he is great with the kids.  He talks with them and doesn't mind answering their questions, and he even gets them to help him out if he needs it.  And the carpet looks great - well, at least as good as can be expected in a house with four boys and a dog.

Knee Update

Jacob's smile was bigger than I've seen for a long time when the doctor told him that he wouldn't need surgery.  We were all happy about that.  All he has is a loose knee cap and all it requires is to build the musles on the inside of his knee.  That's what physical therapy will do.  He will learn the correct exercises and will probably need to do them for the rest of his life in order to protect his knee.  It would probably be a good idea for the whole family to learn about these exercises too, considering the problem is inherited.

I also did a "Can I ask you an unrelated question?" with the orthopedist.  I have very loud knees which crack and creek when I bend them.  I hardly notice them, but other people do.  He tells me that as long as it doesn't hurt, don't worry about it.

"What is the likely cause?" I ask. 

"Arthritis,"  he replies.  "You should have just stuck with the first answer."

All the more reason for me to continue my Jazzercise regimine of three classes per week.  Today's step class was number 74 for the year.  I could say "Yea!" but by this time last year I was already in the 100 club.  Hopefully I'll be there by the end of the year.

Houses and Windows and Knees, Oh My!

A big THANK YOU to God, to Mary Queen of Heaven,  and all of those who have been praying for our house to sell.  We closed on it today, coming away  with a check - not as much as we would have liked - but a check nonetheless.  I for one, am very relieved and excited about what the future holds.!

We have been in the rental real estate business, and have decided to sell our houses so that we can build on our newly purchased land.  The land was purchased and the first offer was made on the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, so we plan on dedicating our property to her.  I'm looking forward to making a beautiful little Mary Garden right out in front of our new house.

I'm also grateful that the toaster oven caught on fire this morning while Lee was making his toast, and after putting the fire out,  he opened a couple of windows.  Our house contains lots of windows, but they are all very difficult to open.  Thus they remain closed nearly all of the time.  Today it was so  nice to homeschool with a nice fall-like breeze blowing through.  With the sunshine and the soon to be departing hummingbirds outside the window, we had a wonderful morning.

Finally, I'm apprehensive about taking Jacob to the orthopedist tomorrow.  He injured his knee while we were working on this particular rental house in June, and he has had pain and swelling ever since.  I took him to the orthopedist about a month ago and he ordered an MRI which was done two weeks ago.  Tomorrow the doctor will get a chance to look at the images and determine the type of treatment.  It will either be physical therapy or surgery.  We're hoping it isn't surgery, but will be happy to do anything to help his knee get better.

I'm wanting to complain that he is too young for knee problems, but then I remember that I had my first knee surgery at 12 and another at 14.  Lee had difficulty with his knee and finally had surgery in 95 after a skiing accident.  As they say, he gets it honest!