New Homeschool Blog

Next week is a big week around our house.  Arin will be turning five and we'll also begin our new homeschool year.  With the start of a new homeschooling year, I have decided to start a new blog, so that we can keep our learning activities separate from our family activities.  I will continue to post on this blog, but it'll be all family life stuff.  Our new blog to document our learning activities is called Sandbox Scholars.  By the way, it was REALLY hard to come up with a new name.  Everything I thought of was already taken (you can see how creative I am!).  This was the first name Andrew came up with.  It happened to be available, and I think it's a cute name, so that's what we're going with :)

When Lightning Strikes...

We've lived in our new home for three weeks now and it has rained just about every afternoon/evening since we got here.  One week after moving in, we had a big storm in the afternoon. It cleared up for a couple of hours and then the storm started again that night. 

I put the girls to bed late that night.  Ella asked me to lay down with her on this particular night.  We hadn't been in bed for more than three or four minutes when lightning struck.  It sounded like it struck right outside the girls' window.  Andy had been in a different room and thought it had hit a tower at a factory close by.

It wasn't until the next day when Andy and Arin were cleaning up the yard that we actually found out where it hit.  Andrew found a hole in the yard, about a foot and a half wide, which had a all its dirt displaced a couple of feet away.  We're assuming this hole is where the lightning actually struck.

Then, we assume it traveled the wires underground, coming out here.

And it traveled up the tree and out here.

Or perhaps it hit the tree first and came out the other spots???

We hadn't been in the house long enough to pay much attention to the tree, but the owners said they do not remember the bark looking like this (how it looks now).

We also found several chunks of bark all over the yard.  I laid the second from the front and the second from the back up on their sides to see how thick the pieces were.

And where is the tree in relation to our house?  The house to the left (only the corner is pictured, is our house) and you can see the bamboo shoots in front of the tree (that's where we think the lightning struck).  I have personally never been so close to a lightning strike!

We had a power surge, which fried a few things: Andy's ethernet card, the router, the dishwasher, a dimmer switch on a set of lights, and the cable was snowy for a few days, but we are thankful that we were safe and it wasn't worse!

Update

We're alive and well!  I have not fallen off the face of the earth, but I have been super busy and tired, and I have been lacking the motivation to blog, or to even take pictures for that matter.  I am sure that'll all change in a few weeks when life settles down and a routine is once again established.

So what have we been up to?

Arin will be five in July, which means that she will be officially starting kindergarten this year.  I have been going back and forth as far as the decision to homeschool vs. sending Arin to school.  Andrew stayed consistent and encouraging to continue homeschooling her.  After much discussion, I agreed that it would be the best for her/us at this time to continue going the homeschooling route.  We had taken a nice, long break off from regular, structured learning activities during my first trimester, while I was taking it easy (after my bleeding scare at 7 weeks), but we were all excited to get back into the "school" routine.  I ordered books (and after reading Michelle's post here, I think I will be adding a few more books to our schedule) and we decided to start school at the end of April.  This went well for all of two weeks or so.  Then, we got hit hard with sickness.  Every one of us ended up sick, though not all with the same thing.  Arin got hit the hardest and I had the easiest time.  After two weeks, we were all finally feeling better, though Andrew and I have continued to be more tired than usual.

Last week there was quite some excitement at Andrew's work.  An ex-employee, who had not worked for the company for two years, came to Andrew's work with a gun.  He started shooting as soon as he got out of his vehicle and continued once inside the building.  He also set fires inside some of the offices.  Apparently, he was on the search for his former boss, though the motive was not clear.  Andrew's brother's wife also works for the company, in a different area than Andy works in.  Andrew's brother sent me a text stating that there was a man at their work shooting people, but he had no other details.  It was only about 3 to 4 minutes before Andy called to tell me that he was fine, but it felt like forever.  All kinds of thoughts swirled around my head, not knowing what was happening, where Andy was in relation to the gunman, etc.  Life is precious and it can change in the blink of an eye.  As it turns out, Andrew had no idea what was happening.  He was out in the warehouse and didn't know to leave until the fire alarm went off, and everyone was told to leave.  It was only once he was outside in the parking lot that he found out what had happened.  His sister-in-law was much closer to the gunman, though she didn't realize that's who it was at the time.  Everyone was fine (some close to the situation were emotionally disturbed, of course).  Only one person was actually hit by a bullet.  He was an unintended target and the bullet only hit the top of his foot.  I am sure it was a painful injury, but not life-threatening.

We are currently in the process of moving again.  Andrew and I have been married a little over eight years and we this will be our eighth move!  I am so excited to be moving out of the apartment and into a house again.  However, this is the first time that I have moved pregnant and I have been wearing out quickly!  In general, I am at the point that I am ready to settle down.  We'll be renting this house, so I am not sure that this is the place that we'll be settling down long-term, but I am at the point in my life that even thinking about moving again does not thrill me!  But again, I am super excited about getting into this new house.  We'll be living two streets over from Andrew's family, we'll have an extra bedroom, more room (especially to add baby gear), lots of storage, a fenced in backyard and a screened in patio (both great places for the girls to place and enjoy the fresh air).  We'll have a bigger kitchen, so I will be able to cook/bake with my kids again, we'll have a full-sized washer and dryer again, so I will be able to conquer the laundry once again.  I am so looking forward to it.  Moving has been a lot of work and we only have about three more days to finish up before we make the big move. 

Yesterday, I hit the 20 week mark in my pregnancy!  The baby has been very active, especially at night when I am winding down.  Andy has been able to feel the baby kick a few times.  The girls are anxious to feel it too, but they are usually in bed during the baby's most active period of the day.  My ultrasound has been scheduled for Friday, June 10th.  We are looking forward to knowing our new baby's gender.

So those are the things that have been taking up the majority of our time over this past month.  I do plan to get back into more regular blogging, but not until we are settled in to our new home.

Big Birds

This was the scene in my parents' front yard this morning.  There were eight of these cranes all together.  Arin and Ella loved looking at these big birds.

It was quite a sight to see, but as quickly as they came, they also left.

Help! (camera question)

Notice how I have not been blogging much lately?  It's because I have been having camera woes.  I am not very camera savvy, so I am hoping that someone who reads my blog can point me in the right direction. Three and a half years ago, we purchased a new, not reburbished, Nikon D40x.  It has had its quirks along the way, but mostly it has worked well for what I use it for, which is basically point and shoot.  A week and a half ago, we were working on our Goodnight Gorilla project.  When I first started taking pictures, I noticed nothing unusual.  Then, I snapped a picture and it came out like this.

It surprised me to say the least.  I tried turning the camera off, taking out the battery and the memory card, putting them back in and turning it back on again.  I got a couple more white pictures.  Then, I started getting pictures like this, that were really dark.  Again, I thought that was odd, but figured the flash bulb must have burnt out.  Not so!  The flash still works.

So now, it is random.  I will get a picture like this.

The next may look like this.

The next may look normal, like this. 

But, right after that, I may get one that looks like this (the lighting looks different, though I haven't changed anything)

There really is no pattern to it.  I have changed lens and have had the same problem, so I am guessing it is a body issue.  The ISO is on Auto, but does this seem like a sensor needs to be cleaned?  Can I clean it myself?  Do I need to take the camera to a camera shop or is it an easy fix that I can do?  Is there still hope for my camera? Thanks!

Temporary Blog Break

We have been homeschooling six days a week for the past eight weeks and we are ready for a break!  We will be taking our first scheduled school break for the next two and a half weeks and I will be taking at least two weeks off from blogging. 

Arin has worked really hard with her school work and is coming a long ways.  When we first started schooling in July (on her 4th birthday), she did not want to do her work everyday, now she asks to do school as soon as she wakes up.  She has completed her math book (looking into our next options in this subject), she has completed her Lollipop Logic book as well.  She is now doing her Explode the Code with very little whining, which is a change as she was having a meltdown everytime I'd pull out the book.  Even with her being more cooperative with that workbook, I just don't think it's really the right fit for her.  She seems to be going through the motions more than actually grasping the concepts.  Anyone have any advice on a good math and phonics program for a kindergartener?  We also have Hooked on Phonics which we will be using more frequently after our break.  Arin has been reading and writing more on her own, not all the time or anything, but she is only four :)

I have seen Arin maturing in the past eight weeks.  She is remembering her manners with very little reminder.  She has also taken over "mommying" her sister.  She wants to put her bed at naptime, brush her teeth, change diapers, encourage her, read to her, etc.  They also spend many hours a day coloring together and playing babies, which are the  two favorites at the moment.  It's very sweet to see their relationship develop more and more each day. 

Ella has been growing up as well.  As of a month or so ago, she no longer takes a pacifier.  We had actually taken it away from her this spring, but after a few weeks, she found a hidden pacifier or two around the house and since I was weaning her from nursing at the time, I let her keep the pacifier for comfort.  Yeah, I realize that might have been a bit of laziness on my part (ahem).

Ella is also potty training now.  We bought her a floor potty last week and she is doing fantastic!  So far, she is about a million times easier to potty train than Arin was.  If we are home Ella wears panties most of the day (except naps, night, and when she decides to run around bottomless, which is pretty often).

We are looking forward to our break during which time we will be spending lots of time with our family and friends.  I will start posting highlights from our time off in a couple of weeks and then I will resume with school work posts the following week.

Fruits and Vegetables

Around our house, we love fresh produce!  We had hoped to start a garden this year, but with our recent move, we've had to put those plans on hold.  Last week, we were introduced to a bulk produce stand (with great prices) in the town next to our town.  I have not been to check the place out yet, but I am very anxious to go.  Last night, Andy and his brother surprised me by walking in the house with boxes of delicious produce!  I am so excited!  Due to more quantity than variety, it almost feels like I have a garden!

I Won!

On occassion I will enter a contest, but I never really think I will win, as the last time I actually remember winning something was when I was twelve and it was a costume contest at church.  However, every once in a while there is a contest that just seems too good to pass up the chance of winning.  A few weeks ago, I entered this contest at Keeper of the Home.  And then, I forgot that I had even entered the contest.  One day, I was checking my email and to my surprise, there was a "You Just Won the Contest" email waiting for me.  I won two cloth diapers, which is very exciting, as we cloth diaper Ella.  We've never used FuzziBunz diapers before.  The inside of these one-size diapers are so soft and they have adjustable elastic at the waistline and the legs.  The snaps were slightly confusing as they are different from the other snap closure diapers that we use, but we managed to figure them out and so far are happy with them.

This week at Keeper of the Home, Stephanie is hosting several giveaways in celebration of her 1000th post.  Check them out, you might win something awesome too!

Life's Bittersweet Moments

Have I ever mentioned just how much we love our homeschool group?  This group of families are so special to us.  We moved to this new, small town, in a different state than we had ever lived in previously last June.  We spent the first six months settling in to our new home and new routine, but we quickly became lonely.  I was introduced to our homeschool group in December of 2009 and was instantly impressed with this group.  They are so warm and welcoming.  Even though they didn't know us and even though our kids are not "official" school age, they never left us out from events.  In fact, they treated us as if we had always been part of their group.  We looked forward to our weekly park play dates and field trips.  In the short amount of time that we have known this group of families, we have made life-long friendships.  So, it was with a heavy heart on Friday that we announced we'd be moving.  On one hand, we will be so sad to leave our new friends, but on the other hand, we are so, so excited about the new adventures that lie ahead of us.  We are no strangers to moving.  Andy and I have been married seven years and with this next move, we will live in our seventh house.  Arin will be four this summer and this will be her fourth home and in Ella's short 19 months of life, she will be moving into her third home!  So, if anyone was wondering about my lack of blogging lately, it is because I've been busy packing, painting, and finding a new place to live!  We are so excited about this move because we will be living near much of Andy's family and within only two hours of the rest of the family (except one of his sisters that lives in a different state).  I am so excited that our girls will grow up near grandparents, cousins and aunt and uncles.  We are also quite excited that we will not have to travel as often to see family.  My blogging will continue to be sparse over the next few weeks, but will return after that!

Cloth Diaper Giveaway!

We started cloth diapering again a few months ago and love it!  I was on one of my favorite blogs tonight, Passionate Homemaking and I saw a post for a cloth diaper giveaway.  Head over to her site and check it out!

Juice Pops

When I was a kid, we always had juice in the house, but rarely, if ever, had store-bought popsicles.  My mom would take the fruit juice, pour it into a cup, put a spoon in it and pop it into the freezer.  I loved these popsicles.  We eventually got popsicle molds and those were fun too. 

A few days ago, I decided to make juice pops for my girls.  I like the idea of giving them 100% fruit juice vs. the sugar loaded popsicles they were used to.  I made the popsicles in small Solo plastic cups (maybe 2oz) with new popsicles sticks as the handles, and covered with aluminum foil (which helps to keep the stick more upright).  I like that once I have given the girls a popsicle, I can simply rinse the plastic cup, fill it with more juice, put a new popsicle stick in, cover it (I reuse the same piece of aluminum foil) and pop it in the freezer for the next treat.

This was the first time that I have introduced homemade juice pops to the girls.  Ella was brave and ready to try it immediately.  Arin, on the other hand, thought that I had lost it.  She was much more leary about trying this new treat.  She whined that she wanted a different kind of popsicle, but when she finally realized it would be this popsicles or none, she gave in and tried it.  She loved it!

I have a tray of these popsicles in our freezer.  Everytime I open the freezer, Ella tries to sneak a popsicle.  It is so disappointing to her that mommy doesn't allow these popsicles anytime she wants them!

Cloth Diapers

We have decided to put Ella back into cloth diapers.  She wore cloth diapers until she was six months old and then we got away from it.  Then we moved and all of her diapers got packed away.  I am still searching for my BumGenius diapers, which will fit her at this time.  I did find a couple of her small diapers, which she grew out of when she was little, but they seem to fit her again now that she is getting taller and slimmer.

And the Lucky Winner is....

Andy! He won the drawing, when we were at Symphony Under the Stars, for $100 worth of gift cards to Panera Bread. He just went to the radio station this afternoon to pick up his winnings!

Spring Reading Thing 2009

I followed a link in the comment section of another blog and it brought me to the blog called Callapidder Days. It was the first time that I had seen this blog, so I looked around it for a little bit and found a reading challenge that the blog owner is hosting. The challenge is running from March 23rd until June 23rd (Spring!). We are to write down a list of books that we want to read, finishing reading, etc. during that three month period. Then, write a post (as I am doing now) to name the books on my goal list and link it to her website on March 20th and then write another post on June 23rd and tell if I met the goal, etc.

So anyone that knows me personally knows that I do not read books for enjoyment. I know, sad, but true. I read a ton of books to Arin and Ella, but I just cannot get into it myself. On the other hand, I cannot get enough of reading blogs and surfing the internet and reading articles. A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law was here visiting for the week. She loves to read books. In the evenings and really throughout the day, she could be found in her chair reading through one of the books in a huge stack of novels that she brought with her for a five day stay (it was really amazing to me how much she read!), and I would be on the couch reading through one of my favorite blogs!

With that said, I am going a slightly different direction with my reading. I don't think "read 100 blog posts a week" would be acceptable on this challenge, although I could do that easily! So I have decided to take my love of reading to my girls and incorporate that into this challenge.

Last week, I decided to see how Arin (two and a half) would respond to me reading a chapter book to her. We check out a couple dozen children's books from the library at a time and she wants me to read those to her in one sitting, so that's why I decided to try the chapter books. I started with Little Town on the Prairie. I really wanted to start with Little House in the Big Woods, which is the first book in the Little House on the Prairie series, but I did not have that book. We read the book while Ella was napping (we read a lot of the children's books while Ella is awake to hear them too), so this was special one-on-one time for Arin and me. She sat still and quiet through three chapters, which was impressive to me. I don't have the book in front of me, but I know it was more than 20 pages of text with only the rare sketched drawing thrown in here and there.

Arin and I also have our own personal reading challenge that we have posted as a label on here "100 Books Before Kindergarten" and "100 Favorite Picture Books". I decided to keep on track with those challenges, we would incorporate them in with our Spring Reading Thing 2009 challenge.

So here is our list of books for the 3-month challenge:

chapter books for me to read to Arin (thanks to my mom for letting us borrow these books)

Little House in the Big Woods

Little House on the Prairie

Farmer Boy

Randomly Selected Books from 100 Books Before Kindergarten List

ABC, Like Me!

Amazing Grace

An Extraordinary Egg

Book! Book! Book!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?

Caps for Sale

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Come on, Rain!

Corduroy

Daisy 1, 2, 3

Fancy Nancy

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Goodnight Moon

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Jump Frog, Jump

Mouse Mess

Mouse Paint

Mr. Gumpy's Outing

The Hat

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Randomly Selected from 100 Favorite Picture Books list

Stop that Pickle!

Parts

Princess and the Pizza

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More!

The Magic Hat

Millions of Cats

Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie

Miss Spider's Tea Party

Froggy Gets Dressed

Blueberries for Sal

Tikki Tikki Tembo

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash

The Rainbow Fish

Chicken Sunday

Chicks and Salsa

The Dot

Bunny Cakes

Tops and Bottoms