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I am so sorry. It was brought to my attention by a viewer of my blog that I had my blog set so that only registered users could leave comments on the blog. Like I have said before I am at a loss about these things, but know now all is as it should be so comment away!

I've found Treasure!

Netflix to be precise! I have been looking at the local and not so local video stores through the summer to find appropriate videos to support my lesson plans for this year. Needless to say the local selection is very depressing when it comes to good documentaries and such from the History Channel, PBS and A&E. I had seen a few over the summer that I wanted to used during our Egypt unit and our Greek unit. However, until I found Netflix I thought I would have to buy them. I signed up and am awaiting my first video. So I guess I will see how it goes.

I use all sources to convey information to my children. We happen to be movie watchers. We love them. So I always try to find a movies or program to go along with our concept. My ds loves the History Channels so I am lucky on that account. Not many 1o year olds love to watch documentaries.

So I guess I will await the mail man to see how efficient this movie by mail turns out to be!

Update on my week!

I have been MIA for the last week or so. First I took a small two day trip with my sweetie. It was a short work trip for him and a relaxing one for me. I thought I needed a few days to decompress and relax before we start school in the next few weeks. We went to the town of Ottawa, IL. It was really nice. The only thing that wasn't so nice was that the air conditioner in our room didn't work! It has a huge jacuzzi and a king bed, just not so cool air. But we braved the harsh conditions and enjoyed ourselves any way.

The best part of the whole trip was going through St. Louis and Cahokia. I grew up there until my teen years. I saw my old Jr. High School and subdivision. I hadn't seen them in more than 10 years. Plus, I got to each my all time favorite Jack In the Box tacos twice. They are just one of those things that if you love them you will crave them forever. I have my whole family addicted.

Since my return on Sat. I have had my nose in my new Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book. I picked it up Sun morning and had read over 400 pages by bedtime. That's good for me due to the fact that I have to sneak in reading during the day. I finished it today during Poogie's nap time and I have to say it was well worth the wait. I love all the books but this by far has been one you could hardly put down. I feel sad too that this is the last of the books, I will miss Harry.

I guess now I will just have to find a new obsession! Eragon and Eldest are good but they can't quite compete with Harry.

Something to be proud of!

For the first 10 years of marriage we hadn't really had two nice vehicles. As you seen in one of my earlier posts I finally got the mini van I have always wanted with all the bells and whistles. I liked my Dodge but this one is awesome, to me anyway. The point is we have only had at the most one decent family vehicle and sometimes a running second vehicle. We never really had the money to have two nice vehicle in which all the family could and would want to ride together. My sweet husband always made sure that the better vehicle was mine to shuttle our little ones around in.



Well, finally my dear husband has a nice ride. He is so proud. In his down time he washes and polishes his beauty. This weekend he decided to take some photos of his favorite toys and I just wanted to share them with ya'll.

I'm as bad as the kids when it comes to..

the opening of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I had been counting down the days to the 11th just like a kid. I have to admit I love Harry. I started reading the books in college and have loved them ever since. I was prepared to be disappointed in the OOTP movie because the book was so full of important information and great scenes and so little of them ever make it into the movie. Man, was I wrong. The movie really did the book justice. The cast, especially Dan, have grown into really great actors.

Now, I can't wait until the final chapter of the story comes out in about 8 days. I have already purchased my copy of course. It is both exciting and sad. I can't wait to see how it ends but then in a way I don't want to know. Silly I guess.

I have to also mention that I am on the last chapter of Eragon and I have to say that I have really enjoyed it. I watched the movie with my kids before reading the book, and this is one time I was very disappointed in a movie. The book is so much better, as they usually are. Unlike the HP movies, the Eragon movie is so different from the book it is surprising.

Okay, my movie and book reviews are complete. Just had to share!

Decisions, Decisions....

Well, I have finally, yes finally made the decisions about curriculum for this year. I couldn't believe how hard it was. The main problem is that there are way to many choices. I have searched and researched everything out there. So here are my final choices:

For my son who I will call TT from now on:

Rod and Staff for Reading, Language Arts, Vocabulary, Math, and Art

Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry

Natural Speller for Spelling

Story of the World, KONOS and Unit Studies created by me for Social Studies ( including notebooking and lapbooks)

Sponge Bob Typing Software for Typing

In addition we will read several great books that go along with our unit studies.

For my daughter who I will call Poogie I have chosen:

Rod and Staff for Phonics, Bible, Art and Handwriting.

Pathway Readers and Bob Books for Reading along with numerous read alouds.

The Complete Book of Numbers for Math ( I will also use hands on activities and games)

Unit studies for Science and Social Studies. (I will adapt TT's unit studies and science lessons to fit her needs and learning level)

Whew! I feel better now that I have chosen and ordered everything. I am ready to get it all and start planning my year. I plan on publishing some of my unit studies on my blog. I hope to share some of my info with others. The information I have found on other blogs has been so helpful I hope I can do the same for others.

I'm Back!

Well actually we have been back since last Saturday, but we've been busy. The trip was great, but too short. It is so hard to catch up with everyone when you haven't seen each other in 5 years. I was so happy my two sisters and all my family finally got to see my daughter. None of them had ever seen her. I have pics from the trip but haven't gotten them loaded on my computer yet.

We had a rather quiet 4th, it was nice. Since then we have been working on redecorating my daughter's bedroom. Her toddler bed finally gave up the fight and died, so we purchased her a new twin mattress set. She was so excited. I am working on fitting her antique french headboard I refinished for her to the new bed. The old headboards are bigger than the new beds. Minor detail though. I hope to put some pics on the site when I complete our masterpiece.

I have also been ordering curriculum for next year. I have everything ordered except math and science for my son. He didn't want to do Math U See this year so we thought of doing Saxon since that was what he did in public school, but hated. When I researched and saw the Saxon I saw that for 54 they have to do more independent work and math is one area that my son doesn't like to be left to fend for himself. So we are still looking. I want to order Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry for him. I really like all that I have read about it and seen of the books. I guess I just hate to dish out so much money for it. Anywho, I will post some pics and more later.