How Did I Find Myself In Disneyland Anyways?

Since it’s kind of late (for me, anyways), this will be the first part of my Disneyland post. I’ll follow up tomorrow with my pictures and fun details!

To make a long story short, here it goes:

My husband has been looking for a vehicle, found one in San Bernardino through Craig’s List, made a mad drive down there Wednesday afternoon, then back to our friend’s house in Simi Valley, he drove the new car home after dinner, had to go to work the next day,since we were in the area he said I could stay the night and go to Disneyland the next day instead of driving back late at night, friends have friend who work for Disney, he agreed to take us into the park, could get three of us in for no charge,  free parking and one purchased ticket later the kids and I were in Disneyland! Stayed the day, drove back to friend’s house Thursday night, stayed the night and came home yesterday (Friday) afternoon. Whew!

That’s the summary of my crazy, mad dash down South. Just to give you an idea, Conman’s face kind of shows how it felt.  But it was sooooo worth it.

                                        

Till’ tomorrow~

Guess Where I’ve Been!

I’ve been MIA (again) for a couple of days now. But I have a very good reason.

I’ve been somewhere.

Somewhere really fun.

Somewhere I love to go.

Somewhere that starts with a D and ends with a D.

Somewhere that is known as “The Happiest Place on Earth.”

I sound a little bit like Conman now.

Can you guess????

I’ll post more in a day or two after I catch up on my rest!

(Just in case you haven’t figured it out yet, here’s another small hint.)

                     

I Like Naps....

I like naps. I confess. And I don't mean the 15-20 minute catnap type, either. I like the long, lazy, afternoon snoozes, the ones that could last for 2 hours if I want them to. The ones that I don't really want to wake up from, just yet. The ones that leave me feeling a little groggy, but completely refreshed when I finally come around. Yep, I like naps.

Unfortunately, my kids do not have the same affinity for them as I do. Conman has decided he likes to take one after swimming, because it makes him feel better. Yesterday I tried to coerce him into taking one before we went swimming, since we weren't going until late in the day, and we had already been to the park.

This is how it went:

I told him he could sleep in his underwear so he wouldn't get too hot. He thought that was a good idea. Then I told him I would lie down with him. Just my sneaky way of getting my nap in! He was okay with that until we actually got settled in. Then he remembered he hadn't swam yet. And he doesn't take naps until after swimming.

So I quietly laid there. He said he had too much energy and couldn't sleep.

I quietly laid there.

Then we heard Blakester and Lulu laughing in the other room.

I heard Conman say to himself, "Someone should stay up with them."

"Someone young."

"Someone brave."

"Someone curious."

"Someone in their underwear!"

In an effort to preserve my nap, I let him up.

Off to the Movies....

We do not go to the movies very often. Mainly because of the cost. The last time I took the kids, we saw Where the Wild Things Are and I wished I had saved my money!

Toy Story 3, however, is a different story. We had to go see this one, especially since I had some little ones who were enamored with Buzz and Woody in the house. Also, I'm a huge Disney fan, so I wasn't waiting until this one showed up on video.

I have to say, the $37.50 I paid for my family was well worth it! Not only did I receive 90 minutes of absolute silence (hee hee), but I also was able to enjoy the best Toy Story movie made.

If you haven't yet seen it, all I can say is, "Go, y'all. Go, now." And take lots of tissue. As we were exiting the movie, I was wondering if I should share the fact that I was close to tears at the end. I mean, how sappy is it that one cries over a cartoon, for goodness sakes! No need to worry, the other adults with me brought it up first, and it seems I was not the only one feeling a little emotional.

I'm not going to go into a review. I just wanted to share something else fun we've done so far this summer and encourage others to see this really heart-warming movie.

You've got a friend in me.....

A Day at the Park

Next on our summer adventure was a trip to the park.  This is not your normal public park, however. This park is a beautifully landscaped private residence that belongs to a wonderful gentleman that my husband does work for.

This individual has developed the back part of his property into an unbelievable orchard and vegetable garden, including a fountain, covered picnic area and playground. We were lucky enough to be invited to visit and play for an afternoon.

Here are the kiddos enjoying the playground.

                                      

                                      

My husband helped build this fountain.  The old tree stump in the front actually came from our backyard when we tore some things out! Clever recycling on his part. The next one is some of our group enjoying our lunch under the shady area. The guy with the funky beard next to me is my husband. Conman is beside him and my niece, Delaney, is next to Conman. In the front of the picture are the cousins from San Diego, Shannon with two of her sons, Ashton & Skyler.

The owner has a passion for bicycles and brought out a couple of bikes and scooters for the kids to try out.  Here is my niece, Brie and cousin, Skyler.

These large bikes (for display only) were custom built for his property.

The highlight of the day was the orchard. The kids loved being able to eat fruit right of the trees.  

                                           

                                            

This is a mulberry. I have to admit I’d never seen a mulberry before. We took some home and Grandma made a mulberry/blackberry cobbler. Yummy!

                                             

He also has beautiful flowers everywhere. I apologize for not having them labeled. I had every intention of looking them all up, but haven’t had the time. I do know the first one is a sunflower!

                                                      

                                                 

                                                 

I'll share another trip tomorrow~

Sacramento Railroad Museum Field Trip

I wanted to share with you some of the fun things we’ve been up to so far this summer.

First on the list is the  historical California State Railroad Museum located in Old Town Sacramento. The museum is about a two-hour drive from our house, so we loaded up all the little ones we had running around that week (10 in all) and headed out for our adventure.

Before heading into the museum we did a head count to make sure of our number and continued with head counts throughout the trip to make sure we didn’t lose anyone!

                                      

This is one of the neatest museums I’ve been to. Upon entering the main area of the museum, you see the very first steam engine train on display. And it is huge! One of the little ones (3 years old) started jumping up and down, exclaiming to his Grandma, “This is so cool, Grammie. This is so cool"!” What a delight!

                                      

Here are the boys in front of a replica of a railroad camp.

                                        

All along the way, there are signs and exhibits that document the building of the railroad and the changes throughout history.

                                             

                                          

                                              

There is a large display floor with twenty-one restored trains situated on it. Unfortunately the lighting was too dim for my particular camera, but if you visit their website you can get a pretty good idea of the enormity of the area.

One of the exhibits is about safety on the railroad. This old-time prosthetic hand was a favorite with the kids.

                                      

The kids were able to climb up into the cab of a train, view a private coach where President and Mrs. Reagan once dined while he was governor, walk through a sleeping car and a postal train  and view a dining car complete with china from the various rail lines.

                                              

                                    

There were displays of model trains, train toys, and train paraphernalia.

                                        

I thought this was pretty funny. Get it?

                                         

There was even a play section for the kids with Thomas the Train toys, of course.

                                         

Afterward, we had lunch at Fanny Ann’s Saloon. The kids thought it was funny that they got to eat lunch in a “bar.” The burgers and fries were yummy! We then spent some time wandering around Old Town Sacramento. It was a great way to spend the day.

I’ll leave you with this photo of my lovely niece showing off her blue teeth from her rock candy.

                                             

Till’ tomorrow (or the next day!)~

Simple Woman’s Daybook

FOR TODAY... June 29, 2010

Outside my window...night sky.

I am thinking...that ice cream is definitely not on my diet.

I am thankful....that we are so far out of that diaper, bottle, totally reliant, kid stage.                                                      

I am wearing...striped pj pants, t-shirt & no shoes!

I am remembering....how nice summers are.

I am going....to go see Eclipse next week with my husband!

Some plans for the rest of the week...Lulu has an orthodontist appointment tomorrow,  my van windshield gets repaired tomorrow, and some personal errands. A BBQ with friends on Saturday.

I am currently reading... Laying Down the Rails by Sonya Shafer, The Bible, The Original Homeschooling Series, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner.

I am hoping....to get remotivated to exercise.  This is a vicious circle I’m on.

On my mind...not much tonight.  I’m pretty relaxed!

From the learning room....not getting as much done as I’d hope for the summer. We’re still reading some  history. The kids are working on math, reading and handwriting as we have time.

Noticing that...I got a little sunburned today at the pool.

I am creating...a moving to-do-list and notebook.

I am hearing...Deadliest Catch on TV.

From the kitchen...we had crockpot swiss steak, green beans and mashed potatoes.

Around the house...boxes, boxes everywhere!

One of my favorite things...pedicures.

From my picture journal…..another one of my cat, Dallas. I know he looks like road kill, but he is only sleeping on the rocks.

Til tomorrow~

I’m Back….Kind of….

Well our company has been long gone, but I extended my staycation a little while longer.  We’ve been having some fun, field trips, swimming and doing some work, packing & cleaning.

I’ve also been without internet for a few days, and so I’m “borrowing” my mom’s to do some catch up.

So, I’ll be back to update as soon as things slow down a little around here!

On Stay-Cation

I've not posted in a couple of days, due to the fact that we have family visiting. So I thought I'd post an official, "I'm on Stay-Cation" message! I'll be back next weekend to update on the fun stuff we've been doing!

Weekly Wrap-Up #10

Monday and Tuesday of this last week were fairly uneventful. I can’t say the same for the rest of the week, however. 

I shuttled Lulu back and forth most of the week to our church’s middle school day camp. They took trips to a water park, Boomers, and Yosemite National Park, and on the last night had a sleepover at a local lake.

On Wednesday, we had family from San Diego arrive to visit for part of this week and they will return on Monday to spend all of next week with us.  I also was babysitting my niece on Wednesday and Thursday.  We counted a total of 9 kids here at one point on Thursday, and they were all having a ball!

On Friday, I loaded up my boxes of used curriculum I had cleaned out and headed to a homeschool curriculum sale that is held once a year, about 40 minutes from where I live.  Last year was the first year I attended to purchase items and this was the first year I set up a table to sell.  I managed to sell quite a few things and what I had left I donated at the end of the sale to the support group. So no more boxes of curriculum sitting around!  I was also very pleased with my finds for the day.

I picked up a complete set of Math-U-See Algebra I for Lulu. For free!!! The only hitch is that some of the student pages have been written on, but I figured I can work around that little issue.  Especially since it saved me from spending $85 on a new set!  I was also able to purchase a complete set of Math-U-See Stewardship from the same vendor for $5.  This set came with two student books, so I’ll have an extra for later.  I don’t plan on using this until Lulu is done with Algebra I, but for the price, I could handle purchasing it early. $80 saved.

I bought Tramp for the Lord by Corrie Ten Boom for myself. I had a copy but when I went to read it I discovered some pages had been chewed up. Something I didn’t notice when I had originally purchased it. 

The other items I found were:

Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt by Jean Fritz (.50 cents)

Desert Giant (.25 cents)

Sam Houston, the Tallest Texan (a Landmark book, $1.oo)

Addition and Subtraction facts sing-along cassette with activity book (for Conman, who needs to work on these. $1.00)

Some Body board game (I’ve been wanting this, but it was too expensive, around $23.00.  I bought a brand new one for $3.00)

The Fourth Anti-Coloring Book (.50 cents)

Ida Clips-a building set for the boys. ($1.00)

I think that was everything. I even managed to make a little money!

Hope your week was great. Check out what others have been up to at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers Weekly-Wrap Up.

How Exactly Do I Homeschool Their Hearts?

Hmmm….Interesting question.  Not one I’ve been asked by other people, but one I’ve been asking myself lately. 

In my Charlotte Mason planner, there is a section where parents rate which subjects are most important to them.  My husband and I rated these together and agreed immediately upon which were the most important.  The subjects were  not math or reading, both of which I feel are absolutely necessary. The top three were Bible, life skills and character.  This got me thinking….

If my kids can do algebraic equations, read at college level and recite every president in the exact order, what does that matter if their hearts are not right?  This is where homeschooling their hearts fits in.

I want my children to be able to take the head knowledge they acquire concerning the Bible or character traits and apply it as heart knowledge.  It’s not enough for them to be able to parrot back to me the facts I’m teaching them. I want them to take the Bible verses and lessons Jesus taught and actually live them.  I want them to stop and think “What would Jesus do?” before a word is spoken or an action taken.  I want them to understand what character traits are desirable to possess and use them to minister to others.  I want them to think of others before themselves.  This is homeschooling the heart.

If I see an incident that requires correction, I need to stop what’s going on in our other lessons and use that as a teachable character moment.  If I receive and inappropriate response from the kids, I need to stop what we were involved in and immediately remedy it.  There are times I wonder if I need to halt planned lessons altogether and focus strictly on ways of the will and character.  I know I need to teach to their hearts more than I do.

It’s not just about filling their heads with “stuff.”  It’s more about teaching them to learn on their own.  It’s teaching them how to open a book to find facts they are interested in. It’s about encouraging hobbies and learning how to search out information on a subject they are interested in. If they know how to learn, they will be fine in the future. It’s homeschooling their  hearts.

Life skills are taught as the opportunity arises.  My daughter takes it upon herself to try out a new recipe for breakfast one morning and decides to iron her own shorts.  Blakester helps his uncle stack firewood (for pay!).  Conman helps with Sunday house cleaning.  I’m constantly on the lookout for new skills to teach them.  It’s about preparing them for their future as responsible adults.  It’s homeschooling their hearts.

After thinking on this, I really feel I need to spend time this summer focusing more on their hearts.  Slowing down and taking the time to mold that character and teach them how to deal with their wills is definitely on the roster for this season.

Please feel free to leave a comment and share with me- How do you homeschool your children’s hearts?

Windows Live Writer

Jolanthe over at Homeschool Creations posted on how easy the Windows Live Writer was  for blogging, so I thought I’d try it.  You see, I noticed it on my tools drop down menu, but had no idea what it was!  So, this is just a test post. Just me playing around trying to figure this out.  I’ll let you know how it goes….

I’ve also reached my 100th (actually this will make my 102nd) post.  Who knew I would last this long?  Thanks so much to all of you that follow, subscribe to and read my blog!

Have a wonderful evening.

Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education Review

I've been using Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education , published by Simply Charlotte Mason, to plan our lessons for next year.

This set consists of a DVD with a companion notebook. You have a choice of either a printed, spiral-bound book or a downloadable e-book. I chose to download and print the e-book so I could make additions to my notebook if necessary. As a side note, if one purchases the spiral book,
Simply Charlotte Mason includes a pdf. file of the charts and forms that one can print off as needed.

The DVD is of a live seminar that Sonya Shafer taught on planning the Charlotte Mason way. She walks you through the 5 steps of planning:

1. Big Picture
2. Your Year
3. Your Term
4. Your Week
5. Your Day

At certain points, she has you pause the DVD to complete a step. It's as if Sonya is in your living room, helping you plan! I've discovered how beneficial it is to go through each step, rather than just leaping to the end result.

Bear in mind, this is not a lesson in exactly what to teach and when to teach it. It deals with taking what you want to teach and scheduling it in a way to fit your family. Sonya gives some excellent tips on scheduling, such as what subjects can be done together with all grade levels.

Various lists are included in the notebook to aid in the planning process: possible topics, artists, handicraft ideas, life skills, composers, Shakespeare plays and history rotations.

Sonya has you put your homeschooling goals on paper and rate which subjects are most important to you, for your homeschool. She includes a description of CM methods and a short how-to on implementing them.

A few pages of ideas of how to school with preschoolers in the mix is pretty handy for those with little ones.

The notebook is rounded out by tons of charts, worksheets, and examples, including schedules from Ms. Mason's schools.

I have been able to complete my plans for next year one step at a time, and am now prepared to input my daily schedule for each child into my computer, since they like to have the printed checklist to work off of.

I have tried other teacher planners, homeschool planners, forms, etc., and this is the most thorough planning guide I've come across. I will continue to use it through the remainder of my homeschooling years.