Music

One day I will get a link on here with all of us practicing our instruments.
Jacob is learning the guitar on his own.  Emily is playing the flute and trying out the viola even though she wants a violin I would like her to try the viola first.  Then Jesse and Elizabeth are playing the violin and I, the mama, am LOVING the cello!  Over the years I have played piano, violin and flute.  On to BIGGER and better things!
Music is very important to our family.  Not exactly sure how deep Judge feels about music other than he group up with an appreciation of all genres.  But for me, my grandmother was a piano teacher at a small school in Alabama.  Before I was kindergarten age I would carry my snoopy sleeping back to the small piano room and as student came in and out for their lesson I would take my naps, color, run errands and be a nuisance sometimes to the students. :)  But I did learn a lot.  I learned how to make lists, scheduling and hang up pictures too! (The recital pictures).  

It was a given, non-choice, that I would play piano.  I became very good and won a Junior Championship later on in high school for playing piano.  We have a full size keyboard here too but it seems that if I don't keep up with my skills I tend to plunk out the melody and have made myself feel that I am fine with it.  But I am not.  There just isn't the time of day for me to spend practicing....but I have tons of books! LOL  I could give lessons, but I just don't want to.  I played the violin in elementary school but had a hard time with the positioning of the instrument due to some dental/jaw issues I was having.  I played the flute in middle school but with all the moving around we did it was hard to fit in to class after class.

I spent 8 years in church choir but stayed in a safe spot in the midst of everyone else and just blended in.  I tried auditioning but my nerves were fried and couldn't even remember the words to Amazing Grace.  Oh well, I will go back to just blending in.  When I was in my late middle school years I heard an amazing singer at church!  She was the voice of an angel...I knew she was!  Come to find out she was also a Tennessee contestant for the Miss USA pageant.  Learned she was still taking college classes and DID offer voice instruction!  I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity right away.  I sang with the praise team at church every Sunday and usually left each Sunday with a colored dot on my chin from the microphone being so close to my mouth because I sang so softly.  Occasionally, I would sing the offeratory solo which usually was a song I had worked on from a soundtrack that I bought at a local Christian store.  Oh the good times!  At that time in my life I think it was more about being up in front and at the center of attention of everyone else.  I didn't really care if it sounded good or not but everyone else said I did.  And I was recorded and my mom has these recordings somewhere.  NO I don't want to hear them either!

My junior year the choir director in high school sent me to see a music professor at the local college.  I started taking lessons at that time and he wanted me to attend summer sessions at Oberlin College.  I knew I wanted to go but there was no way I or my family could afford to send me there.  I continued studying under his direction for 2 years.  I went away to college, joined the Navy, married and had children.  Re-enrolled back in to the local college and left him a voicemail that said "This is the voice from your past"...stumped him!  Did you know your voice deepens after having children.  Well it does.  I restarted lessons with him again for a couple more years and he wanted me to go to Austria to study voice.  Ummmmm....sorry I have 4 children here.  I just can't pick up and go to Austria for 2 months.  Great! There's a playground outside for them...but it wouldn't last long.  Sorry, couldn't make that a go.  

I still continue to sing and have struggled with finding my place in a new choir where I don't know many people.  Each week I say, "I am going to choir practice" but something keeps me back.  I LOVE to sing!  I really do.  I feel that my heart is in the right place now and know that I will be singing for HIM and not to whoever is in the audience.  I have three favorite songs I like to listen to over and over again.  My Redeemer   by Nicole Mullen, Total Praise by Avalon, Your Name by Phillips Craig and Dean!  All are strong songs with great melodies and range.  I hope to one day continue to sing for the Lord.  Oh and I am playing cello.  I love the cello...it has a deeper sound than I am used to and I often lose track of time when I am practicing.

Sorry this is so long but it is written in all honesty and felt that getting this out would help my motivation with music.  Music has been in my life and God has been my life.  This is the way it is and the only way to make everything work.

Romans 8:28

New International Version (NIV)

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose.

Some changes have happened.  And some have remained the same.  Our "Song Has Remained The Same"

"The Song Remains The Same"

I had a dream. Crazy dream.
Anything I wanted to know, any place I needed to go

Hear my song. People won't you listen now? Sing along.
You don't know what you're missing now.
Any little song that you know
Everything that's small has to grow.
And it has to grow!

Remember this song?  I am not too keen on this music but the lyrics are very ironic to me right now.  I do have a dream.  I have a dream and a prayer that my children grow up to be happy, healthy, smart and productive adults!  Learning everything they can and answering each of their questions!  Go far and see much!  

Not everyone follows along in our song, some follow to a different tune but to us we are right on key for our family.  

The past month our song has changed a little.  But to us it has stayed on the same track!  Judge was diagnosed with a skin cancer over a month ago and we have been to several doctors, specialists and surgeons.  Homeschooling has that advantage to take our work with us or catch up on a different day.  Jesse and Elizabeth have been schooling with the K-12 program as I thought that would help us with our transitions and make things a little easier.  As of this week I have withdrawn Jesse from the program and I have his new plans and path ready to begin.   Elizabeth's k-12 experience has been phenomenal!  Her teacher is very caring, understanding and patient.  She is not pushy and she is open to any suggestions we may have.  She stays in the background for the most part unless we need her.  I keep in close contact with her so she knows exactly what we are up to.  I am really sorry the k-12 program didn't work out for Jesse.  But we are back on track now!

Diabetes has caught us at a little crossroads but I think everyone agrees that they still push through and we do this as a family!  Its our lifestyle its not a heroic deed we do everyday.  We take things as they come.

our own -ism's

Genesis, Exoiticus, Deuteronemetry (Too much geometry on the brain?)...ok just stop right there.  I can't make this stuff up.  This coming from our 12 year old who we are teaching the books of the Bible to.

We were leaving the mall area Friday night after Jesse and Elizabeth saw Nemo together.  Jesse tells me, "In a few years I will be mowing lawns and taking Elizabeth to the movies".  Me, "on your lawnmower". Jesse quickly without thinking says, "yes"..."I mean NO!"  I wouldn't take her on a lawnmower...I need lots of Kubotas.  (Thanks to our Texas trip this is the latest and greatest thing to him)

While driving one day a few years ago Judge asks the kids what chemical change occurs in a toilet.  The kids all yell out answers.  Pee!   Poop!  Color! And Jesse yells, "FLAVOR"!!  

Its the littlest, tiniest things that matter

It is the smallest things in life that make a difference.  For me anything homeschool or diabetes related make my world spin a little smoother.  Having 4 happy, energetic and easily entertained kids help out tremendously too!
We now have a ginormous whiteboard in the study and it was fun putting Jesse and Elizabeth's spelling words on the board Friday.  So much fun I guess that Jacob and Emily felt a little left out and asked  for spelling words too! That's right...they asked for them!  Not sure if they will like the ones I came up with but maybe they will learn the age old "be careful what you wish for" saying.

We had a great weekend playing at the park, walking a ton, fishing, watching the kids goof off at the river, ice cream blizzards, falling asleep to the sounds of rain outside!  A fun filled couple of days that we hope to keep going this week and with a little math thrown in too!

Today is site change day for the kids and we will see how their numbers are doing and whether we can wait until this afternoon to do the changes.

Prayer Lists (yea or nay?)

When I was a kid I would make THE longest prayer list that I could make.  I did this not out of annoying the Sunday School teacher but only because I was fascinated to see if they would actually pray for these people. And they did!  What I didn't do was keep up with how many had answered prayers.

I would to make a private list and a public list.  Private only for my eyes only to prayer to God and a public list to share with my family and be able to show how God answers prayers.  Sometimes we don't get something put right in front of us to show our children how faith works...we just tell them if you believe then its true.  To kids this is a hard concept to understand and believe in something they cannot see.

This maybe a new venture for us but God is the one who woke me up at 12:30am for a reason....to blog this and to share with others!  I talked about Prayer in a previous post Here  We actually made those cute popsicle stick prayer pails.  They really ended up being a mess most of the time but it taught the kids about the first part of praying.  Taking time out of your schedule to give your heart of prayer to God.  Now I would like to teach them the power of praying and show them that God does answer prayers...in his own time of course.  But time is a very un-measured part of God.  Expect to be Blessed.
On this wonderful website she tells in detail how to make a prayer pail.

1. If you would like to share a prayer request with us that you don't mind sharing please do.
2. We promise to pray for you each day.
3 Please follow up with us if your prayer needs have changed as in worsened or changed as in a blessing/resolved.

Thank you!

Week of 9/10/12...fun with 4 learners!

Excuse my ramblings but I am going to place some plans here...best place for them!  Lots of links to share!
Will add to this page throughout the week for all the kids
5th Grade:
Story of the World vol. 1 (SOTW)
Lapbooks  http://runofthemillfamily.blogspot.com/2010/04/story-of-world-lapbook-for-volume-one.html

Netflix for this week:  Walking with Beasts

Spelling Words: 

Ancient
Nomad
+
Week 1

Monday - Writing words 3 times each
Tuesday - Writing words in alphabetical order
Wednesday - Paint your spelling words with water on front porch
Thursday - Write spelling words on 2 index cards and play memory game with the words.
Friday - Spelling Quiz


Math:

Review packet from Friday

5th grade math links

Large number addition & subtraction

Geography:

Mapping Mesopotamia pg 4 of SOTW 1 Activity Book
Coloring Sheet pg 5 of SOTW 1 Activity Book

Apologia Science: Exploring Creation with Anatomy and Physiology

Skeleton Dance Song
Muscles and Bones  Activity 3
Learning the bones of the arms

Humerus
Radius
Ulna
Carpals
Metacarpals
Phalanges (little dangly things)
Will also teach the scapula and clavicle since they are easily identifiable too.

Other ideas I found:
Homeschoolblogger

Is it Fall yet?

We have had a long end of summer.  I am ready for fall and all its colors, smells and cooler temperatures.  I am ready to wear my hoodies again, turn off the A/C in the house and van, see less bugs and take more bike rides.  Goodbye high humidity and scorching hot temperatures!  I have always said that I would rather be cold and add more layers than to be hot and not be able to take everything off!  

At the end of August we had to start testing Jacob's blood sugars for about 3 days to rule out the beginnings of diabetes.  His A1c was a little more elevated than our endocrinologist would like to see especially for our kids.  Jesse was diagnosed with a lower A1c than what Jacob's was in August.  But he is doing fine, blood sugars and fastings were great!!  

Judge had a biopsy on a bump he has below his eyelid and the pathology report came back that it was cancer.  After waiting for an appointment to see the plastic surgeon the day was finally here.  We discussed a plan of action and what the process would be like and he found another bump even closer to his eyelid.  Nice... Two days later the surgeon called us back and said that he wasn't comfortable doing his treatment and was referring him to an orbital surgeon in Nashville.  So tomorrow is the day for that appointment.

I have felt an urge and a need to get on more of a schedule this week.  I need to see something on paper and not have to rely on my brain to tell me what we are doing today.  Too many dr. appointments, music classes, music lessons and writing classes to keep up with our normal lessons, chores and LIFE!  We have to live, right?

This morning I took the time to download the SOS Spanish class for the older three.  While doing that I thought well, when are they going to do this??  I can't have them fighting over the computer and saying "Its my turn!".

I spent about an hour and developed an incremental time schedule with an appropriate subject to where I would be available to help if needed and staggered their computer time for Spanish, chores, lunch and all the other things that require my taxi service.  

While I am being a taxi service we also have to remember we need to EAT dinner!!  What better way to come home but to have dinner already made for you?  I found this website last night and have already combed through it and tweaked a couple to our liking.  Looking forward to getting the last couple of ingredients to make dinner for tonight! Crockin' Girls

Bible Curriculum

I am planning on ordering this Bible Curriculum for the kids this fall.  I really like the concept that it has of stick figures!  I can make stick figures!  My plan is while they are reading is I can make the art...oops I mean stick figures! LOL I think this would be a great visual!  Or maybe the older two can make the stick figures as they read :)  Those that teach retain 60% better!  So please visit Grapevine (button on the right) and see which level would fit your family dynamics!

Belize is our first country!

I am not a big fan of Wikipedia as the majority of the information is user placed.  Sometimes the information isn't double checked and I wouldn't want anyone to get wrong impressions.  In college, there was no way we would be allowed to reference or cite anything from wiki.
Today we are starting our country studies in coordination with our Olympics studies.  I found that it was the easiest for the younger to kids to use with their kindle fire.

Through the Homeshare website I used the petals form for the lapbooking of countries.

Today we worked on the country of Belize.  In each petal they wrote the following information:
1. Capital
2. Population
3. Religion
4. Military
5. Language spoken
6. Government


In the middle they wrote the name of the country then drew a picture of the country's flag.

2012 Summer Olympics...Homeschool style!

I have been looking for some ideas to implement the exciting Olympics into our curriculum!  HomeSchoolShare has made it possible for us to make lapbooks while we enjoy watching!  This will be for the younger two kids.  And a great way for others to start their school year if they are just getting started!
Here is the website's library list:

Eric Liddell: Something Greater than Gold – Janet Benge

Eric Liddell: Olympian and Missionary – Ellen W. Caughey

The Flying Scotsman – Sally Magnusson

Hour of the Olympics – Mary Pope Osbourne

Ancient Greece and the Olympics – Mary Pope Osbourne

Olympics – Chris Oxlade

Olympics! – B.G HennesseySwifter, Higher, Stronger: A Photographic History of the Summer Olympics by Sue Macy

Lesson Plans in the summer

I thought I would share what summer lesson plans look like for the older two kids 8th and 9th.  Jacob is finishing up 3 high school credits this summer (Algebra 1, American Literature and 9th grade English) and then we just introduced Biology.  Jacob chose to use Apologia Biology even though I chose A Beka but I thought if I gave him a choice he will show ownership in what he learns.  So yay me! I get to teach two different Biology curriculums!  ::insert rolling eyes here::  
Emily is working on Pre-Algebra and Biology (just started too).  I didn't stay as consistent as I thought I would this summer as I really enjoy watching the kids play outside, which makes the inside really quiet at times! LOL!  The younger two kids are doing things sporatically.  Daddy is home today so he had them painting downstairs.  That's art, right??
I scanned their laminated schedules.  Oh before I forget.  I found the template for their schedules on Donna Young's website.  This is the exact ones that I downloaded:  http://donnayoung.org/forms/planners/5col.htm  I used the 9 week one (5 days a week) and I used the 6 week planner too.  Excuse the extra privilege restrictions on Emily's sheet.

I know you want to know how it went...

I did a 95% gluten free meal for myself last night.  The only thing that wasn't GF was the sauce.  I need to find a good sauce for my rice noodles.  I am leaning towards going back to gluten free because it helped curb my sweet tooth and kept me from eating breads.  I don't like bread but once I have some...I really like it!  As far as going dairy free again...I really need to.  My body does not like dairy and dairy doesn't like me either.  Some instances it does alright but not most!  My hope is to be dairy free though by mid-July.  Gluten free will be gradual as I read and research more!  But enjoy a picture of my dinner from last night!  There is chicken, zucchini, red pepper, onion, avocado and rice noodles! Delish!  Kids had the same thing except with mini penne pasta. :)

What is your liquid gold?

I always thought of myself as being a rich person in the sense that I don't have a need that isn't met.  I have a handsome husband of almost 17 years.  Four awesome children.  The right and blessing to be able to homeschool our children how we see fit.  Foods that help me make up my mind on what we feel like eating for dinner and not have that choice made for us.  A roof over our heads, cool air in the summer, heat in the winter and running water.  I know that many others have these things too.  What you may not have to worry about is...
Insulin.  Over the weekend my wonderful, handy husband built shelves in our downstairs closet to hold more of our "stuff".  Most are filled with diabetic supplies and it makes it easier to take inventory on the items we are getting low on.  It didn't dawn on me until this morning how low we were on our insulin for the insulin pumps.
I quickly called the children one by one and asked them to check their pumps and see how many units they had left.  Jesse and Elizabeth have enough to last them awhile but Emily only had 1.5u left which would only last her about an hour.  And my pump, well...mine said No Delivery.  Which means the insulin was used already.  We found a little bit of "gold" which I estimated to be about 75u but when I refilled Emily's pump we only got about 20u out...must have been air (in a pen).  I went ahead and filled her pump up.  Made a few phone calls and a few words to friends about our "need".  I took my pump off in the meantime, I was upset and really didn't want anything to do with it anyhow. As long as the kids were taken care of that was all that mattered to me.
Later we were able to get some apidra and some friends are able to send more to help us out as we get through this slump.
Sometimes you really don't know what you have that can be counted as gold until it isn't there.  And today, it wasn't there.  So if your "gold" is your children, be thankful they are there each and every day.  A lot of people are considering gas in our vehicles as liquid gold as it has been so expensive!!  Our "gold" today was insulin.  Insulin keeps us alive each and every day, for that...I am blessed and grateful!

It's HOT out there!!

I was going to come on and complain about the heat but then I got to thinking.  I am sitting inside with central air, a glass of diet mtn. dew on the table next to me, an LMN movie on the tube, my cookie monster flannel jammie pants still on and I am surfing through blogs and "meeting" new people.  I am blessed...so this will not be a complaining post! :)

I found a community of bloggers...check out the shiny new button on the right for SITS.  Its shiny so try and rub it gently! Of course, I have to spend a considerable amount of time learning the ropes of this new website (new to me).


My first blog I visited was that of a fellow homeschooler!  She has some really cool ideas!!  Definitely going to be making solar cookies this week with the kids!  Might as well make a positive memory in this high heat week!  The materials needed seem minimal:

• cookie dough (the most important part!)
• a cardboard box with a lid (a shoebox, shipping box, etc.)
• aluminum foil
• plastic wrap
• strong tape (shipping tape, duct tape, etc.)
• scissors
• a separate piece of cardboard (such as the side to a cereal box)

Head over to No Doubt Learning and learn how to bake cookies in a shoebox this week!

Not my 101 but her 101...but my LADA

Diabetes 101  I don't agree with the notion that exercise is the ONLY option. Yes, I think there are definite benefits to your mental health and possibly with compliance.  But others for example have issues with their kidneys (no big surprise there when it comes to diabetes) and with exercise could come adrenaline spikes.  You can get these even if you just get excited or stressed out.  And the type of diabetes you are is very important too.  Since 3 of our kids have diabetes and myself I think that we all have our differences.  I consider myself to having Type 1.5 while Emily and Jesse have the Type 1.  Looking at the way Elizabeth responds to different insulin regimens I would almost bet that she is a Type 1.5 just like me.  But according to the chart on this other website it says the onset is as an adult.  I am not sure a lot of research has been targeted toward children with LADA.  I really liked the picture that was on this ADA website

.

I do agree with most of this article.  I think it was put together rather well.  I think that when Elizabeth is married and starts having children is when she will see the bigger difference with her blood sugars.  Thankfully, she is pumping and will have a head start to being able to take care of herself as an adult.