Summer Project

I think my children are strange.  Maybe that is why I like them so much.

On our last official school day, my son brought me a spiral notebook that we had worked on maybe two years ago.  It was a writing project, just for funnsies.

The basic gist of the project is for us to switch off in writing a story together.  I started writing a story that I thought he would enjoy.  I write my portion setting up a scene change or a plot change.  (We often try to leave cliff hangers for one another.)  Then I leave the notebook out for him and he takes over for a bit.

Creator's Son's story notebook

He has to keep the same story line and work it from that point, guiding the plot in a direction that he more prefers.

Yes,  Firefly and I are doing one also.  For some reason, the son and daughter have EXTREMELY different types of stories going.  Ha!

 

Firefly's story notebook

As I said, we had started this idea a couple of years ago.  So when we picked it back up last month, we had to start whole new stories. 

They are challenging me even more than ever before.  They know so much more about their topics than I do.  I think they are having as much fun stumping Mom as they are doing the writing itself.

It is one of those small things that I can do to let them know that they are important to me and I am trying to keep up with them.

We are not doing any spelling or grammar corrections.  (I am making note of spelling words to put on the list when we get back in school.)  I am watching for those things.  (I do make those corrections and instructions before each they post each blog, however.)  We are keeping this light and fun.

Now I just have to make sure I keep up with it.

What We Are Learning This Week

1) I am learning that this is a really good excuse to sit down and actually update my blog.  It also provides a way for me to slip little tidbits in that I want to remember.  Kind of like a mini-journal.

2) Being privileged to hear a good story in person (like GFG's Crater and Crazy), makes it twice as much fun to read to the kiddos.  THEN, the kids can more easily spend the next two days being "Jill" to each other about some rather silly things.  Sweet, goofy, and very silly.

3) Factoring polynomials wasn't so bad after all!  Koine Greek is really very interesting and we are not dreading Year 2! 

4) 5 inches of rain in one week is such a giant blessing after last year's severe drought.  We still refuse to complain about the mud.

5) We counted and we only have 8 more school days before we can say we are done this year.  Woo hoo!  (I usually have it counted out and marked in red.  I have been too afraid to look this year, and we are still finishing well!)

6)Watching my two work together is still just as sweet as it was 8 years ago.  I am so blessed to get to school at home with them.

7) End of season is always so busy, but it can be so rewarding.  And just think of the two evenings a week I get to be home now!  This weekend marks the end of the last extra class.  We are sad to see it go, but looking forward to the break.

The Mysterious Gentleman - Mr. Mumph

Tap Dance

Violinist

What We Are Learning This Week

In our house, we are pressing "toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."  Truly!

Some days, especially in the springtime, it is all we can do to remember that we aren't just doing this to mark of the plan book.  We really have a purpose for learning all these things.  It is our calling for this time in our lives to prepare us for the next part of the calling.

Now we just have to remember that.

Other things we are learning are:
1. Seemingly horrible and potentially embarrassing disasters, like Firefly experienced on Tuesday night, can be real blessings in the long run.  First, our friends have a chance to stand beside us and lift us up instead of beat us down (Thank you, Lord, for the heart of home schoolers!!) Second, it gives us the opportunity to rise over the tribulation and be true victors. 

2. Creator's Son had the opportunity to share his story even more publicly than his blog.  Boy, what a rush to share things from your heart!

3. Adding and multiplying polynomials isn't as bad as we were afraid they would be. :-D

4. Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Mark Anthony, and Herod the Great had great big problems, but still did some interesting things.  God turned all things they did toward the glory of the manifestation of His son, Jesus.

5. "The Door Within" trilogy is almost as good as the "Wingfeather Saga".  Of course, Mom has only just gotten a good start on the first book and the other two might debate which is better.

6. The "Little House" series is still a great set of books to read aloud.  Even to 7th and 9th graders.  And even if Mom's copy is falling completely apart from age.

Next week marks the beginning of the end of numerous things (including having our Grateful friends nearby).  Should prove to be busy.  But at least we get to do it all together!!

What We Are Learning This Week? Really?

This has been one of THOSE weeks. And I am not even sure why.

We really didn't have a ton of things going on or lots of meetings (that is next week).

Everything just seemed to take longer. Everything! From our morning chores to getting ready for bed.

Who knows. Maybe it is springtime and that makes us want to do something different.

Of course, we are always learning something.

1. The Ancient Greeks, well the whole ancient world, seems to have been in quite an upheaval, but it did take 4000 years for most of it to happen. That is a long time after all.

2. Diligence really does pay off toward the end of Algebra I. It isn't quite as hard as when we started out. However, the further you get into Pre-Algebra, the more time it takes to get it done.

3. Even weeks with one of the greatest holidays in the weekend can be just another week on the list. Except when we stop and read through the stories every morning to keep it "new every morning".

4. Circle skirts are fun to wear and make, even the third or fourth time around.

5. A day spent with friends flies past way too quickly!

Things on the list can get checked off, but the most important things sometimes just go past and we don't always notice.

What We Are Learning This Week

Okay, so it is Thursday instead of Wednesday. I hope Grateful for Grace will forgive the one day delay.

We have been busy this week with all types of learning! What fun it is!

1. Wild horses really go up for auction and they are awesome to spend time watching. Even if we can't buy any.

2. Baby miniature horse are absolutely adorable!!! And twice as awesome when the momma actually lets you pet the baby.


3. Pericles, Frankenstein, geodes, how algebra is actually used to solve coin problems, the Greek word for soul and how to make it plural and possessive, centrifugal force is not a real force, and blogging is still fun and educational even after 5 months. Here are Creator's Son and A Kid's Life working on today's blogs.



4. Birthdays are fun, even if they belong to a good friend and not just in your house. A full day of birthday is fun to share! However, the next day it is sometimes hard to get back to the business of school.

5. Planting tomatoes from seeds is fun, but trying to "harden them off" so they can be planted outside is hard work. This picture makes them look a lot more healthy than I think they are. They are suppose to stand up tall instead of being brushy like this.


6. Blogspot has changed a lot of the way things are done from the time I set up my account to when the kids set up theirs. My girl couldn't help me with captions because mine doesn't do that, but she can't just move her pics around. Interesting.

7. Babysitting is interesting. Even if it is Nana's cat. Everyone's house is run SO differently. It is actually kinda cool to think about.

I wonder what fun things will we get to enjoy next week.

Where I Got My Name

I have been wanting to share with you about where I got the name "Rockcastle Blessings". Let's see how well I can explain.

As long as I have known my husband, he has always wanted to build a spectacular house, an unusual house. So, after we moved to the Hill Country, 13 years ago, he thought one of his building materials would be rock. Even though we haven't gotten that far, we continue to dream.

He came up with the name of Rockcastle, which I love, and we have used it for several things. Our homeschool is even called Rockcastle Academy.

The Blessings part started some years back. We heard a sermon in which the sentences, "Blessed people bless people. Cursed people curse people." Wow!

I have always wanted to be a person who blesses others, but first the Lord had to take me through years to teach me how blessed I am. It has been a wonderful journey. I don't even know what all the steps look like since some of them were so gradual.

Then six years ago we were introduced to Dave Ramsey. He changed our lives. We had just lived the American dream of stuff and debt. We took the Financial Peace University together and changed our dreams.

It took us five years to be completely debt free, but now we have been for 8 months. I look forward to the day I can say it had been 8 years and we are still debt free. :-D

Anyway, I love Dave's carefree, heart-felt way of telling people that he is doing "better than (he) deserves." I was at a stage where I was tired of people at church and other caring places just casually asking, "How have you been?" each week as they come in, but don't really want to hear it all. So I began looking for a phrase for me. I finally settled on answering, "I'm blessed!" (Cuz I couldn't steal Dave's.)

Now I have had to learn to say it with conviction. Sometimes I have to say it to remind myself.

I do still hesitate to always give that answer because I don't want it to sound so trite, and yet I LOVE the reminder of how blessed I am. It always, without fail, causes me to pause and remember how blessed I really am. I also love the pause it tends to give the asker. It is kind of fun!

On our recent 6 day vacation, we stopped in a Christian bookstore. I had so much fun pouring over all the homeschool curriculum and shopping for a t-shirt with my son. I had no intentions of purchasing anything. It is just fun to look. Suddenly, I found the one thing that made my heart swoon and brought a tear to my eye. Something put there just for me.

Now I have another gentle reminder that I truly am blessed.

My Father loves me!

What We Are Learning This Week

My friend, Grateful for Grace, challenged her readers to post about what they are learning each week on Wednesdays. Here is my observation.

• HOME schooling has seasons of being a misnomer. One must be home to HOME school. Some schooling travels well, but sometimes life is the school without books.
• Five and half inches of rain accompanied by hail, thunder, and lightning is incredible in many ways. Awe-inspiring during the storm, sleep-depriving (if it keeps up all night), and way cool when you get to visit the rivers and creeks then next day.
• When you have a span of time for no blogging, the ideas pile up and you have to choose just one.
• All those weird named books in the Old Testament were real people, written during a real time in history, and have real significance.
• Pluto helped open better categorization of our solar system. Planets and dwarf planets (like Pluto) now have a more clear definition.
• Beyblade tournaments are just as much fun as My Boy had hoped, and swollen creeks are even more fun than My Girl had hoped.
• Even after all these years of home schooling, we continue to get confirmation on how blessed we are to be allowed to spend these years together. Drawing close to one another and living as a example of chasing after the Father's heart.

Now I just need to make sure I learned how to link it to Grateful for Grace. :-D