Earth Day 2008

Just had to let you all know what me and tha kiddo did for Earth Day. I had printed her off a Earth Day Coloring & Activity Book from the web and the last page had labels (paper, glass, cans, and plastic) you could color and cut out to make recycling bins....so we did. We use 3 of the plastic stackable draws you can buy and put the labels on the front. Immediately after taking it out on to the porch M.J. wanted to go pick up trash so we picked a little up and the pic is of her first deposit. It was a fun time and the project is something that will be at our home for a long time to come which just reiterates our little saying of "Earth Day is Every Day".

The Official Homeschool & Weekend Update

How can I be expected to sit here all day after such a fun and beautiful weekend. its really a problem today....so im gonna fill you all in on some goodies and try to get outta hurr before to late. Im supposed to be motivated to go home and clean house, supposed to being the key word. really more motivated to play guitar, watch Intervention (wonderful show on A&E) and work on a project for MaryJane. Not sure which one will win out,...but I have a clue. hehe. honestly probably do a little of it all.

so lets start w/ my overdue homeschool reporting. I looked thru some of the books jess has already gotten. That gurl has been on the hunt for good books and good deals and what a job she's done. she's been to Missouri, a book sale at the Jones center, a book sale in Rogers, and has gotten some stuff on line. She's already gotten a good amount of readers. readers are the books that MaryJane reads. she got some science books and some language arts books too. there's got to be at least a dozen textbooks, workbooks, and teacher books all together. yeah buddy. they are all very good quality books (as in publishers and condition). We still have more discussion to do, more looking to do, and more decisions to make, but right now the primary basis for our grade curriculum is going to be BJU (Bob Jones University) Press. We don't feel that any curriculum is perfect so we want to supplement w/ other curriculums subject matter where we fell appropriate. for example....we have been using a publisher called Horizons for Math since kindergarten and have really seen great results from it, so we will probably stick w/ them for the 2nd grade. We have already considered and researched many other curriculums, such as LifePack, Liberty Press, A-Beka, and more and fell that BJU is the cream of the crop..... May I encourage you to check out the web site. the following link will take you to the 2nd grade overview page. you can go into different subjects, see what materials are included, and even view a good amount of samples. http://www.bjupress.com/category/Grade+2+Materials+for+Homeschool?path=1031 one of the best parts is the Bible piece. we both fell in love with the materials. you will love them too. every thing ive looked at is great. the teachers guides are easy to understand and follow, the workbooks and textbooks are colorful, well structured, and of course very educational. hehe. Jess, MaryJane and I are going down to Searcy to the Annual Homeschool Conference hosted by the Arkansas Education Alliance on Friday (16th) and Saturday (17th) of May. Again I have included a link to the website. click on "brochure" to get the scoop on the 2 day event. http://www.arkansashomeschool.org/convention.asp?ConventionID=22 we will attend educational and informative classes and get to check out all the vendors, including BJU. I really want to get my hands on there goods. its one thing to see it on line and another in person. MaryJane is going to get to spend a one of the days in a children's program where she will get to play w/ other homeschool children, do skits, songs games, crafts, and more. details on everything are in the brochure. check it out man! we went to this conference two years ago and were blown away at how wonderful it was. so stoked to get to go back. : ) that all for now in that department.

....as for the weekend. had a great time. duh. MaryJane just wanted to be outside and who could blame her. We got out Saturday morning after playing babysitters and went to the library. got some books and played on the play ground for a little while. Mother called and told us that there was a book swap going down at the mall. a thing where they have a big area set up in the middle of the mall; tables just full of books and if you take them books you don't want you can trade them in for other books. kinda like book recycling or sumdin. we gave them 17 books...and yes she got 17 books. im so glad Jess told us about that. she got so many good one and I know she made other kids are finding pleasure in the books she donated. what a great thing. we had lunch at the mall, made the quickest trip possible(which still wasn't very quick) to wal-mart and then got our booties home so we could play outside. and that what happened. I played out some and she played alot w/ her friends. she spent a good 4 hours out. Sunday we went to church and out to have lunch w/ grandma, grandpa, cody and robi. had tasty, tasty food, visited and..yup...played outside. surprise. haha. MaryJane and I, and MaryJane and grandma (see picture) had flower picking contests , MaryJane and I played orphans, and played a game w/ grandma and grandpa where it was boys vs.. girls grandma and grandpa took turns asking there partner questions. it was fun and funny and the winner was the boys....not...it was the girls of course...they had more flowers for the most questions right. hehe. we were getting ready to leave; MaryJane had already gone out the door; I was still saying goodbye, when I looked out and saw MaryJane with a butterfly one the flower she was holding. I couldn't believe it. (she had gotten some really nice purple flowers when her and grandma took a walk up to pet a few horses of Clifford's earlier) to dads after that. so I grabbed my camera as fast as I could but the butterfly had already gotten of her flower (see it in the picture tho?), but they were still playing together. the butterfly was flying around her and at one point landed by her and let M.J. touch it. she made a butterfly friend...how cute. when I went out M.J. said "it landed on my flowers two time and I got to touch it" she loved it as did i. went out to dads after that. had a great time there to. M.J. swung on the tire horse, chased big bubbles Nana blew for her, she even played school w/ me, dad, and nana. she was the teacher and taught us about rock, how cars drive and even flowers (which included a field trip). it was awesome. we were gonna go, but nana talked us into to staying for dinner. went kinda like this. were gonna go...stay and eat...ok. hahahaha. M.J. and her got there cute aprons on and made homemade pizza. both were super tasty and I wish I had a piece right now. ok...I must go before I starve.

Later.

Is It 4:30 Yet?

Its Friday....Its almost 4:30...and i cant wait to get outta here. Havent been real motivated today. Just felt like lounging and watching LOST all day, but didnt get too....also didnt get my homeschool info together for you guys today. Ill prep over the weekend and am going to get a hands on look at materials Jess has already gathered. Ill have the DL (down low) on what we have, what we are thinking of getting, information on "the" upcoming homeschool conference and as usual a weekend recap Monday. Have a Great Weekend. Later.

Back So Soon....Why Yes I Am.

Just wanted to let you all know MaryJane is feeling fine. Robi emailed late yesterday (Pediatric Dental Associates, a wonderful children's clinic where she works, is where we went Monday) and was asking how she was feeling, saying her crown could be sore for a week or so. MaryJane said it wasn't sore or bothering her and that she felt fine yesterday. : ) Very pleased. I don't think that to much sugar is the issue, but it is an issue of not brushing well enough and not flossing. Jess and I are still taking steps to reduce the amount of sugar she has and she is now brushing morning and night, got some "flossers" for her, and we are including children's mouth wash in her regiment as well. I have previously let her brush her own teeth sometimes and helped her sometimes too. right now im going back to helping her for a bit, but at the same time teaching her the proper way to do it and the proper amount of time to do it so that she will be able to get back to doing it on her own again. Ok....enough about this dental biznaz.

While im here I might as well go ahead and lay down tha details on yesterday. I really would like to make my Friday post Homeschool orientated. there is a lot to say so so look for a bunch of goods Friday. So about...Homeschool School (a.k.a. Treehouse)...M.J. had a super time there yesterday. I didn't get a lot of details tho. Her usual response to questions about her doings are "I cant tell you, I don't remember, or oh...a lot of things". She mentioned getting chocolate in science detectives (great), her friend Abby not being there playing Tag at recess, and that she didn't show Shayla her silver tooth because she was "crabby". hahaha. She made some veggie puppets at library class...a carrot and a broccoli. they turned out very cute and we played with them in the car on the way home and this morning before work. im sure thell be married before to long. hahaha. MaryJane played outside w/ Samantha for an hour before we left for Community Group. She cant wait to home and play her bunz off some more....and Momma says she played outside all day all ready. hehehe Community group rocked last night. M.J. played at the house across the street. she said they had fin playing under there trampoline. I recall thinking that was fun as a kid too. We had that guest speaker I mentioned yesterday. Just to make sure I get it straight...has not from Portland, but moving there to plant a church. He shared a lot of info about Portland, culture wise, spiritual wise and environment wise. Sounds like a cool place aside from lacking The Word, it raining all the time, and the cost of living. I could go on for a while about what he said and how wonderful the whole mission is, but you should just check it out for yourselves and Duke's Website www.lodgepole.com

Ok...so ill be back Friday w/ Homeschool tid bits galore.

Later.

Ramblin Man

Bout time a got a post up huh.....Monday & Friday is so my routine, but last Friday and Yesterday didnt happen. Not that i didnt want to i was away at lunch both days. Friday to an unexpected comoany luncheon and Monday to the dentist w/ MaryJane. Well get to these, but lets rewind to Tuesday of last week. *large breath in* (Ace Ventura Style) hehe. So M.J. had Treehouse after a week off. didnt get much details on what she did, but she certainly had a good time as always. She wore a cute brown dress that made her mother call her Nancy Drew. I went by to see her at lunch and she looked so cute. Shes off to Treehouse again todayand i talked to her on her ride there and she is ready. She said she is looking forward most to Science Detectives. She said she is taking a Maginifying Glass and somehting shes not sure what its called. She said shes not sure what there doing either so im not to sure whats going on....hehehe. Glad it will be nice out this time so they can get out at recess and run a muck. She had library class as usuall last tuesday too. She has blast there. Thank you Library. Cant wait to pick her up there today. We are going to Community group tonight and we are both excited. No lesson tonight. Some couple from Portland is going to talk to us. they are starting a church up there and have beeen trying to "recruit" people. Our group leader and his family heavily considered going out there, but i dont think they are going now. not real sure tho...guess i should ask. Hmm...ok so Thursday she played pictionary jr at mommys. i knew she would love and do good at that game. She said something about drawing a couple circles and jess guessing it was a pig and that waas right. how funny i thought. Friday she went to her GuaGuas up in St. Paul. Check out her doings w/ mother over at Jess's Blog. We hung out friday night and all weekend. Was to cold...and ecspecially to windy to be outside. we tried it for about 5 minutes and retreated back into the house. the wind blows.....hahaha. You put that kid and I in the house for the weekend and we get ourselves into a heap of krazy fun and games. It was alot of cranky baby games and school games, had a wedding b/w 2 bears, played library, and probably the funniest game of all was when she pretended to be a crab. hahaha. she hid under the table and i would walk past and she would chomp me. then it turned into this game where i put a stuffed animal on the ground and she came out the chomp it and take it into her cave and i had to try and catch her by making traps and stuff. Wtached Air Bud for the first time...the one where the dog plays basketball. goofiest thing ive ever seen, but entertaining none the less. We did mangage to get our chores done and she immediatly had to go to dollar tree to purchase a bear and and outfit and some accessories. kinda like a build a bear, but the cheap..i mean cheap version. she loves that thing tho. so yes her, princess bear, married, soccor ball bear over the weekend. We did go to church Sunday as well. Had a guest speaker that was interesting. he was there to do the sermon and to do a confrerence about Genisis. It was all about how to use the first 11 chapters to defend the truth of the bible in todays world. Very interesting. Would have liked to go to the conference to hear his whole speech. On to yesterday and the trip to the dentist. she cried a little bit sunday when i told her and a little before we left, but was her happy go lucky self all day sunday after i told her and gave me a sweet smile and cheered up before we left to go. We got there and she took off to scope out the ocean enviroment and the games. She enjoyed herself while i did the paper work and then we played a little before they called her back. They took a few x-rays of her little teeth and she did great. then she got to pick out a toothe brush, layed down to watch cars on the tv in the ceiling, and was assured she would get a toy afterwards. she had told me she didnt want then to use a spinning tooth brush, but when they did she was ok w/ it. the lady that cleaned her teeth was so good w her. when she was done mj whispered in my ear. "im gonna work at wal-mart and here.....cause i love it so much". this coming from a child that said she hoped the visit was 30 seconds. i was happy, she was happy,...then we found out she had some little cavities...on 6 of her teeth. : ( So she got a silver crown on one and a filling on antoher and we get to go back for 2 more trip to have 2 more done each time. : ( I have to say that she was such a good gurl the whole time...even when they did the work. she got 2 prizes, a handful of cool stickers, a spongebob tooth brush, tooth paste and floss. i dont think she wants to work there anymore tho...since she told me she never wants to go back. she does like her crown now. she thinks its "pretty" and she wants a "gold one" now. she wants me to go to the dentist to so i can get a silver crown too. oh baby, im sure that when i do go ill get plenty of silver teeth. : 0

Welcome Back Spring!

Where did the weekend go. Seems like i shouldnt be here...well, i certainly dont want to be here thats for sure. Had a wonderful time over the weekend. M.J. and I made a few trips out...1 Sunday to Church...luv it...and the other to visit Home Depot, the mall, and the library. On the first Saturday of the month Home Depot has a deal where kids get to build a craft. She has a little apron she wears and puts pens of achievement on. she really enjoys going. weve been 6 times i think and have built everything from a butterfly house, to a coat hanger, to a car, and Saturday it was a planting box. perfect i thought because we have been talking about getting some for the porch and growing flowers and veggies. MaryJane really wanted to plant veggies in her box, but as you can see it is to small for that. She picked out "sugar daddy" sugar snap peas at one point and said she wanted to get them because i was her sugar daddy. hehe. we ended up getting violas....princess mix....and yes i told her i wanted to get them because she was my princess. she later told me she was going to call me prince mix. hahaha! had a good time Sunday planting them. cant wait to see them grow. She got another new webkinz at the mall...w/ her money she earns from doin her chores. a white poodle this time named Sara. She wanted me to take a pic of her w/ it right after she got it, but no camera. later i tried, but no luck. instead i got to take a picture of her w/ her "i Love you' bear. still cute huh. hehe. got some books at the library called 'ill read to you, you read to me". so neat i think. one is fairy tales and one is nursery rhymes. you go back and forth reading parts of the story, separated and colored differently, and then at the end you read together. we read one all the way thru and started the second one. So other then these outings, eating, bathing, and sleeping... MaryJane pretty much played outside the whole weekend. I played w/ her the early part of each afternoon and sporadically thru the afternoons after her friends came out to play. She was in love w/ balloons this weekend. i had picked up a pack of 15 Thursday at the store thinking we would blow one up and play that game where you hit it back and forth and cant let it hit the ground....well we did that but before the end of the day Saturday she had blown up or given away them all. She was so excited because she figured out she could blow them up by herself as long as i blew it up once before to stretch it out a bit. I made a big deal about how she was such a big gurl because of this and the fact that she hammered every nail on her planter box by herself. We had to get another pack of balloons Sunday on the way home for Church and there about gone too. Her and her Friends made water balloons in too. Overall a fab weekend! Go Memphis! : )

...before i go...a few things to know

Hey...bout outta here for the week. Yeah! Not to much to say this week. Had community group Tuesday. I did our closing prayer. First time ive prayed i front of a group before. Felt good man. MaryJane and Mommy went to the new Chuck E. Cheese last night. Check it out over at her place. Some awsome pics. Cant wait to see hear and get the DL on the trip. Also think Jess and I have figured out which cirriculum we are going to use for 2nd grade. It is soooooo good. ill get a link and details up next week so you all can see it for yourself. Hmmmm...what else...oh, super pumped about the Final Four Tomorrow. I say N. Carolina and Memphis in the finals w/ Memphis winning. Really just looking forward to hangin w/ tha gurl and having a nice weekend. later.