Cultural literacy-less and Happy April 1

We had two episodes recently that warmed my Classical Education Homeschool-ing -mom heart...(not)...

First, Amie (age 6) was at Costco with Dad and the whole crew (he takes them every few weeks to shop and then gets them pizza, they love it)- while at the table she suddenly points at a man and very loudly and excitedly begins shouting, "Look Dad, it's an Egyptian man!". Not content with this spectacle, she jumps up and runs over to the man, pointing and exclaiming over and over (as only Amie can when she thinks you haven't responded enthusiastically enough) "Look, it's an Egyptian man!!"

Side note, he was wearing a turban and Sky thought he was actually Indian...

We did study ancient Egypt pretty intensively at the beginning of the year...and I do have a few good Egyptian songs on my ipod...was it my fault??

I do know that I am glad I was not there.
And we had a talk with Amie about not pointing at people... And we talked with her about her assumption and about how if he was Egyptian, he already knew it...no need to shout...

Next Up, Meg (age 12)- We had the Bible school boys over for dinner one night, and we were lucky to have 3 from South Africa here at the same time. Sky and I were enjoying a discussion on economics in So. Africa...when Meg whispered to Sky, "Do they still live in grass huts there?"
Sky paused and then said to her,.."Well, sweetie, let me ask that question in a different way, o.k.?" He asked them what the average height of the buildings in the city they are from. We went on to talk of construction standards, and then one of the boys said.."You know it's funny how many people think we live in grass huts!" Everyone laughed and Meg tried really hard to not look self conscious of thinking just that.

I guess a trip to the library for books on houses around the world is in order. We've checked out a few in the past, but from my faint memory...I am wondering if we will we find photos of grass/mud huts for Africa?? I'll report back...

And last, April 1st links...the folks at google have a sense of humor, it seems...

Custom time stamp your email -here-,
no more being late with Birthday greetings or deadlines

and then this one here...which I'm not going to try to explain, just click over to see

Happy April's fool, everyone!

Rosetta stone contest- hurry!

Gotta jump quick on this one, Jen over at Jeneric Jeneralities is giving away a Rosetta Stone foreign language program..to enter, you have to post this:

Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!

This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.

This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.

To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff!

...the blue part, link back to the original post here, and leave a comment at Jen's original post.

The contest ends today, so hurry if you want to enter! (wishing wishing for this, I really, really want to re-learn French!)

it's like nobody is here...

Well, if I close my eyes- it's like the bloggy-world does not exist...

My- oh -my!, first I am without internet connection for almost 2 weeks (eeekk!!)
and then, I get sick.

I flinched when I opened my bloglines account today, most of the blogs had numbers like 22 or 30 new posts....I have a lot of catching up to do, and I am so busy! Things do get a little quiet around here when I have homeschool records due (which I have right now...)

Some days, I just don't feel like homeschooling- and after being sick, it is doubly so. I've had a real hard time getting back into the swing of things this week. Usually, when we are sick, you can still squeeze in a few subjects each day- but I was so sick, we took 2 days completely off.

On to a new topic; we were so happy to look out our big front window and see these:
a pair of Band-tailed pigeons. My bird guide says "The big wild pigeon of the west may be common all year on the Pacific seaboard, in oak woods, pines, foothills." Well, notice it didn't say large Southern Californian cities. We happen to be favored with these birds because of the mature oak trees in our neighborhood, they eat acorns. These are not your run of the mill pigeons...they are larger, more colorful and have yellow feet and bills...not red like most pigeons. We are visited by a more noble class of bird here friends. We were very excited to see this pair in our front yard, because they seemed to have disappeared after a large flock of common pigeons took of the neighborhood. They have the white band on the neck, and also one on the tail..though I didn't capture it in this photo.

So glad to be back, bloggy friends.

we're still here...no homeschool arrests yet to report...

Quick notes

Here is our official toilet- paper-cutting- ceremony for our remodeled bathroom.

Yeah!!


And here is a shot of late night fooz-ball happening after the meetings.

Caffeine...the gift that keeps on giving...it takes a while for everyone to wind down once we all get home for the night.

Late, late nights around here. And then it is up for breakfast and after breakfast it is study time, because they actually will quiz people before each session. I've never been quizzed yet, but the thought of standing up before almost 4,000 people live and having to answer deep theological questions kind of does something to me.

It's mortal fear, people.

Tonight is the last night of the training, then things will get back to normal. If that really ever happens...

Our last 2 guests arrived yesterday, and one of them is a baby- it's so neat to have a baby around to hold. The best part though is that I don't have to get up with him at night!!!

keeping it real, bloggy friends, just keeping it real...

so how was your week?

10 things that made me smile this week

Jen's top 10 list of things to smile about this week:

1. walking into the ICU room this morning expecting to see my stepfather in bed, with lots of tubes and possibly a breathing tube still in....I walked in to find him sitting up in a chair eating breakfast! (this after a triple heart bypass Wed. morning, Dec. 26th)

2. a houseful of young people playing a rousing game of fooz ball, late at night after the bible conference.

3. Demi-Sky's expectant question after being told I was back from the hospital after visiting Grandpa there..."oh good, does mom have our new baby brother?" !!!!!

4. The beautiful blue and pink sky today at sunset

5. My latest Jane Austin reading run....of course we all think Col. Brandon deserved to marry Marianne in the end, and of course "Persuasion" had to have a happy ending...and wasn't Mrs. Norris so very dreadful in "Mansfield Park" and of course J.K. Rowling named the cat after her...at least that is what I always thought.

6. Toasted Marshmellow mocha latte at Barne & Nobles

7. Calendars are 50 % off at Barnes & Nobles and I found a desk calendar of Eats, shoots and leaves!!

8. Bread sticks at Pat and Oscars and my grandmother's fudge (but not at the same time!)

9. Hanging with family this holiday season

10. Hosting friends for the winter training (Bible conference)

season's happenings

My oh my, it's a whirl-wind around these parts! Bloggy friends, I've got to tell you that the posts are going to be a little few and far between for the next week- and I am sooo behind on my blog reading...I promise to catch up on all of you soon!

This is the week for our annual winter Bible conference- known as the Winter training. This week we have 6 people staying with us, with two more arriving on Saturday. No foreign visitors this year, so we are not doing so much driving around- but...lots of fellowship, fun, food and Bible study going on around here!

I have to highly, 4 star recommend the peppermint Joe-Joe's brownie recipe that
OC Mom posted over at her blog, -brownie recipe *here***
This recipe showcases the ever popular and much in demand candy-cane Joe-Joe's of
Trader Jo's -fame. I am a boxed-brownie kind of girl, but my-oh-my...this recipe is totally worth the extra bit of effort! I have to tell you that I made these brownies to take to an Irish party and of OC Mom baked some too!

Finally, and very close to my heart- could you please lift up my mom and step-dad up in prayer this week? My step-dad underwent a triple heart bypass surgery today (Wednesday)- on very short notice. My step-dad's name is Mike.
There is just so much going on all in one week.

But hey, ...no asthma and no vomiting. As of yet.

And our bathroom remodel was finished just in time for guests!!

gotta look for the silver lining!

Our friends in Ghana

I wanted to share with you two charities worthy of consideration during this season of giving.
The first, Access Empowerment International is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and the communities they live in, through education. Their work is primarily concerned with Ghana- the home country of our dear friend Kern.
Access Empowerment International was started by friends very near and dear to our hearts. We first met our friend Kern when he attended University in this country with one of Sky's brothers. Kern lived with the family during school breaks and worked for the family business during the summers. He is very much part of the family, sang at our wedding and spoke at the memorial for Sky's dad. His wife Erika is lovely, smart and big-hearted- their kids are just the cutest!
Erika is also immensely brave- taking small children across the world on a plane!! They just started a blog to chronicle their adventures working in Ghana, you can visit it *here*.

Another charity that I think highly of is heifer international. This group reflects the thought,
"Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for life." Through this group you can purchase an animal for a family to help provide food and/or earnings for that family to improve their lives and to share with other families in their community. Animals are picked for each unique area and situation. You can support this group directly through the organization, by buying gifts through their gift catalog, or by purchasing gifts such as this shirt here.

Of course, I would want to tie this into homeschooling for my children, Heifer international has a storybook titled "Beatrice's goat" that explains what the charity strives to do. It's a great story, the kids will really be touched and interested.

So, did you get a goat for Christmas??