Saturday, November 1, 2008

The Yucks and Other Happenings

Well, it appears we are still dealing with the yucks around here. Craig came home from work yesterday feeling like he'd been run over by a herd of elephants, complete with fever and chills. Early this morning, Sarah announced she was not done being pukey and the realist in me is wondering who might be next! Sometimes Pollyanna takes a break, ya know?



Would you like to see what I gave Craig for his birthday? Ta-da!!!!!

Yes, being the loving wife that I am, I gave my husband approximately 2 hours of what he described as repetitive 'bee stings' resulting in something akin to a bad sunburn. However, he has this marvelous spark plug on in upper arm to show for it! Aren't I nice? Craig has himmed and hawed about a tattoo for years now. It was finally time to stop himmin' and hawin' and just do it. I might add that giving a tattoo as a birthday present was a little out of character for me! However, I really love this man and it was a delight to see his face when I announced his gift. It made that "I'm out of my comfort-zone" feeling worth it!

Just as a bit of a sidenote, might I say that I am smarter because I homeschool my children. Noah is doing Saxon Math 54 and I'll tell you, it is fine tuning my math skills like you wouldn't believe. I enjoyed math as a child but wound up with a lousy math teacher in the sixth grade and it all just went down hill from there. I was always able to pull off good grades in math, but it didn't come easily! I am finally grasping math concepts I'm not sure I've ever known before!!! A fringe benefit of homeschooling, I guess. We are also really enjoying our science this year. We are using one of the books from Jeannie Fulbright's Exploring Creation series. If you are homeschooling and not familiar with these books, can I add my recommendation? The series is based on the order of creation, however I allowed the boys to chose which one they were most interested in. They chose Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day and though we are not terribly deep into it yet, we have ALL learned things that have just amazed us. Things like the categorization of aquatic animals (do YOU know the difference between a benthic and a sessile animal? I didn't even know that 'benthic' was a word!!!!), what factors effect current, how tides operate, and the classifications of bodies of water. And I really appreciate the way she draws attention back to giving glory to our Creator for the things He has created and the way He designed them to all work together. I am very, very pleased with this curriculum so far.

In closing, here's a delightful little picture of Miss Hannah Joy. Such treasures these dear children are, each one of them! Blessings to you!

6 comments:

Michelle said...

That tatoo is a hoot! What a good wife you are.

Rebeca said...

Maybe YOu should get a matching tatoo for his birthday next year. Teeheee!
That science program looks great. Thanks for sharing.
Rebeca

lesliemorelie said...

I'm so proud of you! I wonder what the next one will be. I don't know too many people with only ONE tatoo.:o)

lesliemorelie said...

Oops, it's tattoo. Just had to correct myself...

Emily said...

Well, now you can join my exclusive club of giving a tattoo for a gift! I gave Phil a tattoo for his b-day about 5 years ago. It is a giant beetle on his calf. He has been wanting another....

Sarah Joy said...

How funny! The tattoo. Cute!
I have to second you recommendation on Science. We are doing the Flying Creature one right now. So crazy all we are learning about insects. It's kinda gross too! I can't wait until we are finished with it so we can start the Swimming Creature one. Perfect for us living in Florida! :) It is such a great program. Love how you can read it aloud to all ages and the notebooking excercises and having them draw cute pictures is quite fun. You know she has a yahoo group you can join? You can dowload notebook pages to go with the book. I have my son draw little pictures of each thing he is learning and write one or two sentences or definitions of each. then we put it in a small binder. It is so fun to flip through and look at all he has learned.