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A few of my readers can't see the whole "molt" thing. I thought I would post a few before and after photos of the girls... The above photo is of Annabelle in all her before- molt -glory. She is a very pretty hen, with shiny green highlights when the sun hits her just right. Kind of like one of those shiny green beetles. Her personality is for the bugs. she's the mean hen.
Here is Annabelle in all her molting glory. You just look at her and feel bad, KWIM? Sometimes we snicker...but mostly we feel bad, specially as the nights get colder.
Here is our Little Wing, who is a gentle soul. She's a lover, not a fighter- and she spends much of her time genuinely perplexed. If I throw a snack out for them, it takes her a minute to register that she might like to taste one..and by then the other hens have zoomed in and finished it off. She then walks around looking confused, complaining loudly about her lot.
Here is Little Wing in molt. She does have something to complain about, now.

"Girls, I feel a big draft, did I lose something?"

"Oh, it's my spots, I lost my spots..."

Labels: hens

The hens are going through a harsh molt right now. When I say harsh, I mean as in-... a girl just wants to hide for a few weeks. Annabelle, really- it's not that bad... o.k, I lied, it is bad....

Here's a close up, Annabelle seems to be suffering the most...at least she is the one we laugh at the most... The worst of it is actually over, I should have gotten my camera out a week ago. You can see the new feathers on her neck are almost out now...for a while she kind of looked like a bald vulture... You can see that her comb is kind of a pale red, it should be bright, she is experiencing a little iron deficiency due to the rigors of feather-making.

Anemia-brain, anyone?
I can relate. I feel a sort of sister-hood with my hen-friends. The way they wander around aimlessly for most of the day (it seems-they are actually doing important stuff), the way they work hard to produce something everyday, and then it disappears and they have to start all over again the next day (cleaning the house?! Making meals?-work with me, it's my analogy...)

My feelings of sister-hood are the strongest during molting season...

Sistahs, I can relate! Don't look at me... Don't-look-! Yes, I walk around the house like this sometimes...I am at a crossroads with my hair. I have very thick, kind of curly hair. Curly enough to look messy when I let it air-dry, yet it is so heavy that it will still be damp underneath at bed-time if I don't blow-dry it. Today I clipped the middle back portion up so it would dry underneath, thus my "feathers" sticking out around my head. It is so thick that it takes a lot of time to blow dry and straighten it. I had important stuff to do today, like..um, educating 5 kids, so I skipped the hair thing.

So, should I cut it shorter? I would like to, but I know that Sky likes it long...

Labels: Jen's world

Meg was working at the stables last week, doing a pretty routine chore; cleaning out the horses hooves with a pick. A routine job rendered a little tedious that day after doing it to several horses.Some of the horses had a little fun with Meg by pulling their feet out of her hands, shuffling their feet and just not cooperating real well.

The last horse of the day pulled the same stunt. It was the end of a hot, long day...and Meg was out of patience...so she held on to the foot, refused to let go...and even tugged a little back.

Next thing she knew, there was a cloud of dust and the horse was laying on the ground at her feet.

She was still holding his foot.

I guess you learn something new everyday...I did not know you could judo-throw a horse!



Last week we had a heat wave. Here's a factoid we learned: the pods of a wisteria vine will pop and explode in the heat.

It was interesting to listen to all the popping noises out in the backyard.










I just finished re-reading Jane Austen in Scarsdale, it is a modern re-telling of Persuasion ( which is one of my top 2 favorite Jane Austen books)- this story was a sweet read- I recommend it.

Josie just finished Brisingr, she said it was better than Eragon, which I found hard to believe, but now I am intrigued and I will have to read it now. I'll report back.

I promised the kids a trip to Disneyland a few weeks ago..and so the other day I cashed in my promise. It happened to be an unusually hot day.

We went to art lessons in the morning and then headed to the park.

I got a real kick out of the candy corn stalks...it's just too cute!






We spent the whole trip over at California adventure park, we headed right for the grizzly rapids ride..it was so hot, a little soak sounded like just the thing.

We happened to catch a parade, too.

Lots of fun!

Mom got a diet coke and a rice-krispy treat...she was good-to-go... (it's the little things in life...)

Labels: field-trips

Our days as a homeschool family are rarely 'typical'. Many days have a familiar pattern, but our days ebb and flow and change.

I thought I would give you a "snapshot" of what our day on Tuesday was like.

We begin our school-work at 9 each day- bright shiny faces at the table already dressed/brushed/washed and breakfasted. They also do some goofing-off while I am showering/dressing and breakfasting... (and shh..it's 10 on some really bad days). On a good day we start with "circle time" which is cozy on the coach and includes some, or all- of Bible reading, Character story, history vocab words and Latin/Greek root words..(never all listed here, but a few). On a not-so-good day, we skip circle time and start at the table.


This Tuesday we headed straight to the table, where we hunker down and do the meat and potatoes of our home-school day. We tackled Math for all 5 kids, cursive handwriting for the youngest 4, a numbers writing page for the youngest 3 and the older 2 girls did their Grammar and started the dreaded daily Math review page for the day. We then took a 15 minute snack/play break. The 3 littles headed out to the treehouse. The 2 older students kept working and I helped them with the Math.

I called the younger kids inside when break-time was over and we
worked on our Latin/Greek word for the week- reviewing it, the definition and derivatives and then I asked them about last week's word.
I had to stop here and make lunches and then leave to take Meg to violin lesson.

We came back and I grabbed Teddy and sent him to the computer for Phonics, letting the other 2 continue playing.


I directed Meg (13) and Josie (11) to the family room where I started the dvd for Latin for Children primer A- which we watched together.

After we were through viewing it, re-playing the chants several times, and discussing it...the girls went to the table and worked from the workbook for the first chapter. They were then free to do whatever they liked, which usually is free-reading-but they also have assignments for history reading they can work on.






The kids played, I switched Teddy at the computer for Amie and then Demi for Phonics. Then we jumped into the van and headed for the library. I played the lesson for Songschool Latin in the van, over and over. (It's very cute and very catchy)

*sidenote- what could be cuter than your 6 year old singing Latin with a lisp? Suddenly, there are "w's" everywhere...at least the sound of-even if the letter is nowhere to be found...



We came home, the 3 littles worked on the workbook page for Latin, and then they continued with their play. It's a continuing play that has overtaken my front living room for several weeks now...and consists of hundreds of playmobil pieces like this here...





Sky was now home, and he corralled the kids at the table for a science experiment. This was our second experiment from Noeo Science. The first experiment from last week did not work out very well. This week's did not work out either. Sky and the kids had fun, though.

The kids then went outside to play with neighbor kids, riding scooters and bikes.

So, that is a snapshot of a day in our homeschool.

Thanks for visiting.

Labels: homeschool, snapshot

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

I have nothing profound to say, so I thought I would just post a "what we are doing lately" sort of post.

Well, first I have to confess that after the flurry of activity I chronicled in our
Homeschool weekly report, I fell apart and we've had no history or science since, um...Wednesday?!
Don't freak, I'm not saying that no learning is going on, we still have our basics which consist of math, handwriting, number writing, phonics and grammar. ..

And Latin!! I am happy to report that after years of wishing to teach my kids Latin,
(after I finally got it ALL together and triumphed in a amazing homeschool/scheduled-precisely-planned- acedemic- homeschool year...then, I would allow myself to attempt to teach Latin!!!!!..and we all know that I wouldn't be Jen if I triumphed in such a way...) But, I digress... so, it never happened that way, but I felt that things were running along as smoothly as they ever will-

so Today I started Latin for Children with Meg and Josie. By started, I will confess that
I sat on the couch with them and slipped in the dvd. I love this era!!!
I really enjoyed it, I thought it was presented very well. When Sky came home and I crowed (er, excitedly shared with him) my accomplishment, Sky asked the girls which words they learned today and they looked at him blankly and said 'none'. [Insert screaming smiley face here....] On the other hand, I can report to you that MOM was able to list 4 of the 6 words right off. I'm off to make them some flashcards...

Here is a photo I snapped of one of the yellow- headed amazons that live wild in our neighborhood, there were a few in our neighbor's magnolia tree. They like to eat the little red seeds in the magnolia pods. I photographed this fella, and while I was trying to focus in on its mate, something scared them and 5 flew out of the tree...I only saw one and assumed the mate because I could hear more pods falling on the ground. They blend in really well with the leaves!
Can you see the red seed in his bill?

Meg had her first real day of work last week at the stables. I picked her up at the end of the day, got her home and realized she had a bad cold and a fever. I felt really bad. What a horrible first day of manual labor...it was hot outside, too.

Neighbors down the street had a fall potluck at their house. Our other neighbor, the gourmet French Chef attended and made a shrimp scampi. I do not know what it was called, he called it 'shrimp scampi' but is was not the butter-soaked scampi I am familiar with. This scampi was spicy, kind of a cajun thing- but it was sooo goood. I ate 3 giant shrimps (at least) with my fingers, burning my fingers and mouth..but I didn't care, because it was sooo goood. He also made a dish that had fresh mangos, onions, other vegetables I can't remember and ahi tuna. Turns out it was raw ahi tuna. Sky watched me scarf down several crackers-full before he told me. I didn't care and I ate more. Only our friend, the gourmet French chef and manager of a 5 star restaurant-- could ever present me with raw meat, and I would actually eat it.

It was really good. I'd eat it again, so there!

Other big news... I am officially sick of politics and I am counting the day till the election is over.

Oh, and I am slowly working my way through the mini-series Cranford, and loving it. I think I will just curl up with that and ignore the news for the next 2 weeks.

Sound like a plan?

If I could just get the french chef to send over some food while I sit, ignore world politics and enjoy my Cranford...it would be just perfect. Bliss, I tell you, sure bliss.

Labels: Jen's world

Well bloggy friends, I've survived the dreaded learning record preparation- and several nights of asthma treatments for Demi...I have to say, stick a fork in me, I'm done! My brain is now jello and I've pretty much shut down for a day or two.

On another note... We wrapped up our study on Ancient China by visiting the Warriors exhibit at the Bower's Museum. These are the life-size terra-cotta soldiers made to guard the first emperor of China's tomb. They were just incredible.

This photo is of a replica standing in the lobby...no photos allowed inside.



Sky conducted our first Science experiment for Noeo Science. It didn't work! Sky did take it apart and made part of it work, but it lost some of it's awe-factor. He's going to do the second experiment for the lesson on monday...I think this one will turn out better.

Meg became a working girl this week. She began working at the stables one day, every-other week in exchange for horse riding lessons. I dropped her off in the morning and picked her up in the late afternoon. I wouldn't have done it if there wasn't another homeschool girl working there already- made me feel a little more easy about it. I am an over-protective mother...I admit it, but that's my job!

That same day I also dropped Josie off for an hour tennis lesson at the park. Sky bartered electrical work with our piano teacher in exchange of having her pro-tennis- instructor- husband give Josie lessons. She loved it! (Jose has been a challenge finding things she enjoys).

I've marked a change in status....I'm beginning the era of "taxi-cab mom". I knew it was coming, but it is still really strange.

Well, at least Demi still needs me to sit by his bed at 4 a.m and hold his breathing mask for asthma treatments....ackkk!!! (I'm getting too old for no sleep, I am so glad the kids' asthma is getting better and fewer and farther in-between!)

How was your week?

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

There is a group of dedicated homeschool moms who participate in a
weekly Homeschool report on their blogs. (You can follow the link to Trivium Academy's blog and see a list there. I've always wanted to do it, but I am just not all that together- usually.

Here is my offering, a few days late- they seem to do theirs on Fridays. It has taken me a good chunk of time to do...so this might be the first of reports few and far between. I have found some good curricula finds, and some good homeschool hints while visiting these reports- it's really a worthwhile thing, if you can find the time!

(this is the first part of 2, the second half showing the work of the older students can be found *here*)

Labels: homeschool, show and tell

This is the second half of my week's report, for the week of Oct. 5-10th.
go *here to see the first part, which includes work all the children did together and the work of the youngest 3.


The older students (Josie-11 and Meg-13):

*Math-U-See: Josie finished up a 2 page unit test for lessons 1 thru 20. She then finished up lesson 21 by completing 2 review pages and then the test.
Meg finished up lesson 18 by completing the test. She then watched lesson 19 on DVD, and then completed 3 practice pages for that lesson. Both girls also work from Daily Math Practice workbooks, each day they are given 5 problems that review different types of math problems, these are helpful to use because the Math-U-See focus on one main theme each level, for instance Meg's level focuses on fractions. Josie also completes notebook pages each day covering 2 times tables written twice. (she has trouble sticking these facts in her mind, so this is the solution we came up with.)

*Growing with Grammar: Josie is working out of book 3 and covered lessons 2.19-2.22 plus the 4 page chapter 2 review. Meg is working out of book 5 and covered lessons 3.2 - 3.6. Some of the subjects covered included; direct objects, linking verbs, predicate nouns and included diagramming sentences.

*Handwriting- Josie completed several cursive pages from Abeka, Meg doesn't have any yet- I am looking at Spelling Wisdom dictation for her...we'll see.

*History

Beside the history we all did together from our TOG assignments, Josie was also assigned
Life in Ancient China. Meg was assigned The Ancient Chinese. Both Meg and Josie were assigned Why Snails have shells and had a literature worksheet for 2 of the stories from this book. Meg was also assigned the section on Chinese religions in The Usborne Encyclopedia of World Religions.

*Writing, for a combination writing/History assignment, Josie and Meg were assigned a short 1 page report on a Chinese invention of their choice. Meg chose paper, Josie chose gunpowder. Our subject had gone over into the next Monday and Tuesday- just lots to cover, so their report will not be due until Tuesday.

I think that covers it...I'm sure I forgot something! The kids also have outside activities and classes such as skateboarding, Irish dance, art, and music lessons. (I'm going to pass on covering all that here, my head is spinning!)

here is a slide show of some of their work samples, enjoy!

Labels: homeschool, show and tell

Here is how the window-seat area in the girl's room looks like right now.

Sky built-in bookcases on each side of the window seat area, and built the window-seat out, making it wider and more comfortable to sit on.

We need to find a cushion for the seat.

Oliver finds it plenty comfortable, it seems.









Here is the best "before" photo I could find.

This is the room before the great "sleeping-loft" project began...notice no bookshelves flanking the window, and the seat is not very deep.

Labels: home design, kid's loft

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books printed.

The Rules:

1) Look at the list and put one * by those you have read.
2) Put a % by those you intend to read.
3) Put two ** by the books you LOVE.
4) Put # by the books you HATE.
5) Post.

**1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (love,love,love it, read it often!)
**2 The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
**3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
**4 Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
%5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

**6 The Bible
*7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
#8 1984 - George Orwell (horrible, stinking ending, wanted to kick the book across the room, why couldn't he have left me with some kind of hope???)
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman (not very likely-saw the Golden Compass movie and was disturbed by it)
**10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
**11 Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (I've read several, but not all-I even had a huge "complete works of" book, including sonnets, but didn't read it all)
15 Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier (I liked the black and white movie..doesn't really count tho')
**16 The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
%20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
*22 The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (didn't really like, it upset me)
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (read parts of it and studied it in H.S. AP class, but that doesn't count as really reading it)
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams -
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh -
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (again studied it, but didn't read the whole thing)
#28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (depressing, I think it shouldn't be given to moody Jr. High students, why would you do that??)
*29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
%30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
*31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
**32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
**33 Chronicles of Narnia- C.S. Lewis
**34 Emma - Jane Austen
**35 Persuasion - Jane Austen (it's hard to pick a favorite of Jane Austen, but this is probably my favorite of 2)
**36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis -
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis de Bernières -
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
**40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
*41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins -
**46 Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery (love the whole series, I re-read them every year or so, usually in the fall- it's a fall thing...)
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
%49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
%51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
**52 Dune - Frank Herbert (I loved this book, captures the imagination-but the sequel was weird and I gave up on the series after that)
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
**54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
**57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (wonderful!!)
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
#61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (hated it...)
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
%65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
**68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding (a great read!! It is a re-telling of Pride & Prejudice, and hilarious!!)
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
*70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
*71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
**73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Émile Zola
%79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - A.S. Byatt
*81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
#83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker (a horrible, horrible, vile book. I was too young to realize I should just walk away from it. The book that convinced me to never read any of Oprah's book list ever again)
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
**85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
*87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
*89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle (the BBC series with Jeremy Brett is addicting)
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
*92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (read it in French!)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
**94 Watership Down - Richard Adams (Beautiful and intriguing, going to read it to my kids)
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
%97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
**98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (my favorite Shakespeare play)
*99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
%100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I came up with 39...

Not too shabby. How did you do?

hat tip to Angelina at Permanent Things.

Labels: book review

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Not a lot of blogging going on, mostly because I'm just too busy living it, I guess! I thought I would do a rambling, things-we-are-doing-right-now-post.
The other night we rented "Tron" from netflix and had a family movie night. You know, decades later, it's still a pretty good flick. Sometimes we rent something we remember enjoying when we were young..sometimes it works out, and sometimes it proves to be way too cheesy then we remembered. This one was a hit with everyone.



This week we are covering Ancient China in our history studies. I read The Great Wall of China to the kids, and then they colored a picture of the wall from the Story of the World Vol. 1 activity guide
(I just looove that book, it saves my hide when I am looking for something to cement our learning-or when I am looking for a map to color that is not too complicated...)

Anyways, here are the rug-rats working hard.



Great bed-head look on Demi, don't you think?



Here is Amie's color sheet.

I had to ban the kids from including any dead bodies in the wall...the two 8 year old boys in particular latched onto that little factoid with too much gusto. Boys....






I took Amie for a nature walk the other evening. I walk pretty regularly for exercise, and Amie asks to go. I usually have to tell her 'no', because the mile plus would be too much for her, as would my pace (especially if I um, actually, you know- 'ran', like I aim too..it could happen, guys!)

So, I took her out for a rambling kind of walk. We had a really good time.

I'm prejudiced, I know, but I think she is really cute!

Labels: family, homeschool

Flipping through my Tapestry of Grace curriculum guide, I noticed that we would be coming up on The Odyssey in a few weeks. I am very much looking forward to this, and I already had planned on checking the library for The Adventures of Odysseus by Barefoot Books- to read with my 3 youngest students. If they didn't have it, I was going to purchase it, because it just looks beautiful. This week at the library I stumbled upon it and checked it out, what serendipity!

Demi-Sky pounced on it, curling up with it the other day- and he asked me to read to him the page about the sirens, wondering what the bird-like creatures with women's heads were.

I have to tell you that this book is a simplified re-telling of The Odyssey for children. I studied The Odyssey in a High School AP class, years ago- but frankly, we rarely had time to actually read the works we studied- I was lucky if we read one of the stories (I can't remember), most likely we outlined it and discussed major themes and literature types and importance.

I sat down with Demi, Sky was in the room listening, and read this aloud;

...."The shimmering song began. I begged my crew to change their course. I threatened them and cursed them but they were deaf to my pleas....

....As for me, I could see nothing. I could only hear a song so searingly beautiful I nearly lost all reason.

In the song I heard so many sounds: the beating of a swan's wings, the hiss and drag of the sea on sand, the moan of the wind as it blows across the broad face of the world, the rythm of the passage of the seasons, my wife singing-and all the sounds I heard were in harmony. For those few moments I heard the Song of the Spheres. Ever since then, all music has been clatter to me; the sound of a shield as it falls on a cobblestone floor."

I began to choke up, and I looked at Sky and said, "dang, if this is a simplified paraphrase, I have to read the real thing now!" (-I know, I'm profound and poetic, aren't I? Just keeping it real, bloggy friends...)

just wow.
go get this book! You can buy it at the Chinaberry catalog here* or from any other bookseller.
The illustrations are beautiful.

Labels: book review, homeschool, show and tell

A spoon-full of pork made a bill that was doubtful -go down much smoother, it seems.

Call me old-fashioned, but inserting money for a congressman's district or pet project to persuade them to change their vote is a plain old bribe.

That's B-R-I-B-E.

I am so sick of congress. And I can't believe the President signed it.

Here's an article that lists some of the BRIBES added to the expensive buy-out,
A spoonful of Pork article**

I guess I'm dense or something, not seeing the connection between our current economic
emergency, er, problem...and the urgency of stuffing the bill with laws and giveaways on RUM,wooden arrows, bicycle reimbursement and WOOL.

I need some chocolate or something...