Book Talk Linky {The Wind in the Willows}

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My eyeballs are not cooperating, but I’m going to attempt to keep them open to finish up this post! The littles and I finished reading about Louis and his lovely life in The Trumpet of the Swan, so it was time to choose a new read-aloud. I decided to try reading one we attempted before. They are older now and they also saw the play for this at a specialty Children’s Theater. We’ve read just two chapters, but they ask us to keep reading when it is time to stop, which is always a positive sign!

I really like this little version we found at the nearby Dollar store. It has wonderful black-and-white illustrations and the type is larger for little eyes to focus!

I think we’ll finish this in about 2 weeks, but as always I will read as time allows. I do highly recommend a live play of this book if you ever have opportunity. I’m linking up with Mrs. Jump’s Class this week.

Monday Made It {July 14}

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Spending a few days in VEGAS with the Prez and more than 800 teachers at the TpT conference left my garden in desperate need of attention … but that didn’t stop me from making some FRESH SALSA on Monday afternoon with produce plucked right out of the garden.

What do you think? My version has the same ingredients as this yummy version we pay dearly for at Sammy’s Club. After blanching the tomatoes, chopping them along with jalapeño peppers, onions, and cilantro, I understand the cost! We will make more as we have tomatoes and cilantro. YUM-MY! Can you tell which one is mine???

Speaking of tomatoes, my next Made It involves more fresh food goodness!

Nothing really to show here except I am picking several cherry tomatoes a day now. I pick them and Li’l Bit eats them. 😀 She LOVES fresh tomatoes as much as her Momma! End of story.

And yesterday, the kids and I headed out to pick more blackberries for jam. Sadly, we didn’t find enough for a batch. Not to worry, we had them for dinner with a yummy topping full of cake mix and butter. 😀 While we were out hunting for blackberries, we harvested a 5-gallon bucket of corn! And promptly ate several ears of it for dinner. Yes, I made it in the microwave folks. Just keeping it real.

Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I actually kept our microwave in the GARAGE for 10 years and rarely used it. Ahem. Then we moved and it moved back into the kitchen. And it is so tempting, setting there mocking me, as if to say, Use me. Use me. I am so fast. And I radiate your food. You know you like it! Alas, we ate it and we are all still here. But it wasn’t as good as it would have been if I had cooked it in a rolling boil over time. Next time, I will!

And finally, I got out of the kitchen and made something for our library. Actually, I ordered some things from Tar-get ON SALE last week, printed some things and put it all together! I knew that I had to make some changes to our lovely table I made from cubeicals and a repurposed tabletop. It is a wonderful space, but it just wasn’t working as I envisioned.

I think I have it figured out now. Instead of each of my 3rd grade students having one side, I now have it divided with math bins in one side and ELA bins in the other. Each of my 3rd grade students has 4 bins and we’ll use those along with the rotation ribbons I made a few months ago from {here} and {here}. I printed them out 3 to a page to get the size I wanted, and they are still very readable and work perfectly with my 2 clips for 2 students! The middle cube in green is for ME to use for things I will put in their bins throughout the week and/or upcoming weeks or just for a lesson that day. I think I like it!

I am most excited about the Interactive Word Wall I made using Letter circles I purchased {here} and that blank space above will be housing {this} which I still need to finish printing. I CANNOT WAIT. Then, you may see the vertical magnetic space is next to our math bins and now houses our Calendar a bit lower for my PreKer to help with and I plan to keep the items on here above the calendar rotating weekly. Again, I think I like it!

Here is a close-up of that Interactive Word Wall. I hope it will help us in our quest for spelling words correctly. They can take these off the wall and to the table or desk across the room. They can add to it and once a circle is full of correctly spelled words, I will laminate it for durability.

I’m linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It!

What Happens in Vegas Doesn’t Stay in Vegas

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I am in Vegas with the Prez. Why did we come?

On my way in this AM!

I signed up a few months ago for the Teachers Pay Teachers first annual sellers’ conference! Today hasn’t disappointed!

I met THE #DeannaJump

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Current Reads {Book Talk Linky}

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Starting to public school for our middle schoolers has led to required summer reading, which we have always done and they don’t mind, but of course I wanted them reading the specific books assigned by the school. I can’t remember the last time I read a book in one day. Possibly a decade or more ago?

One of my 10 Things to Do This Summer includes reading more books. While I’m still working on Uncovering the Logic of English (it isn’t a book you can read in a day and survive doing it), I have finished another book: The Outsiders. And yes, I read it in one day. Or rather I read 170 pages of the 180 pages in our used copy in one day.

Raise your hand if you read this as a middle school student yourself. I’m guessing a vast majority of my readers just raised your hand. OK, seriously, you probably didn’t, but I’m sure a lot of you have read it back in the day.

I admit to thinking, This book is going to be a yawn. Boy was I ever wrong! I couldn’t put the book down. By the way, S.E. Hinton is not a man like I thought. Maybe you did too. She was a tomboy growing up by her own admission and had many male friends growing up, but truly, she is a gifted storyteller. Just. Wow.

Larry and I have had quite a few discussions about the book. A warning for other adoptive families: the main character in the novel and his two older brothers are orphans. Their parents died in a car wreck, which is quickly told in first person by the main character. I wondered how Larry processed this, but that part … he isn’t willing to discuss. That is OK. I always throw it out there. He knows the Prez and I are willing to listen anytime regarding his own abandonment and losses. He talks about it when he wants.

But back to the book, I highly recommend it. Read it with your teen. Discuss. Engage. It is that good. Seriously. Read it. In a day. Or longer if you can actually put it down. I found it nearly impossible to put down.

I want to interject a tip to my readers who love to save money at this point in my post. If you don’t mind used copies of books, I **HIGHLY** recommend Abe Books. I use them ALL.THE.TIME and have ALWAYS been highly satisfied with the customer service and the high-quality books we receive. They have paperback and hardback copies, many of which are former library books complete with library binding. I rarely pay more than $7 for a HB and never more than $4 for a paper copy of “very good” rating, which usually means slightly used or like new. This isn’t an affiliate link; I just love books and love this source for very affordable books and wanted to share!

* * *

This post has a bonus. Did I mention that previously? I don’t think so, but yeah, in trying to read more books and honestly connect with the aforementioned middle schoolers, who will be going into 8th grade and 6th grade, I am also reading … gulp … The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Oh. my. goodness. This one is WAY OVER my head. It has maps, pages and pages of maps. That I don’t understand. Yet.

But I am reading on and enjoying the wide smile evident on my almost 12-year-old’s face when he asks, Did you read another page or two?

And he isn’t exaggerating. Because, folks, I can sometimes read only a page or two. If you don’t understand hobbits, you’re in good company. At present, after finishing the first chapter of Book 1 of the first book (yes the book has two books within it; don’t ask me), I know that Frodo and Bilbo are related and Bilbo has disappeared. Oh and that Gandalf the Wizard ~~cannot be trusted~~ is actually a good guy. I DO get that much. I am currently in chapter 4 of the first book within the first book of the trilogy or epic as Mo puts it.

Since initially drafting this post, I read more today. I actually am liking it more and more. I am on page 80 of 458 pages currently. I think I can definitely finish this one. As for reading two more in the ~~series~~ epic, I’m not sure my mind can encompass that! If it brings a smile to Mo’s face though … I think I can, I think I can (as she bows to all middle school teachers out there who actually work with kids everyday who love this stuff and love that so many teachers bring classics such as these to the classroom!).

One final note: no doubt about it that S.E. Hinton is a master at crafting with words and J. R. R. Tolkien was a master storyteller of epic proportions.

Linking up with Mrs. Jump. Please do share there or here. What are you reading currently? And why?

Monday Made It: July 6th

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I have been busy with canning, kids, cooking, classroom organizing, and planning, planning, planning.

I thought I’d share a few pics of things I’ve been making in the last week!

My first Made It are my Number Posters. I created these lovelies to hang up in our classroom. They are available two versions: color (see previous link) and black-and-white.

Since I took these pictures a few days ago, I have decided I am going to move them. I just taped these up to see how I liked the location. I have *finally* decided how I want to organize the 3rd grade peeps desk/shelves this year … SO the Number Posters are going to move slightly.

While they will move, I have no doubt they will be equally loved! They are definitely not needed per se, but I do have one student who still asks how to spell certain numbers and Li’l Bit loves to look upon them too.

My next Made It project is one that I work on every day whether in the garden or in the kitchen. I shared more about the blackberry jam I’ve been making, but for this Monday Made It I will recap a few photos of the yummy blackberry jam!

I will snap a picture this morning of it spread on my toast! It is so yummy!

Lastly, I made something this weekend along with the help of our littles. I don’t know if it will work out like I’m thinking, but if their excitement is any indication I’m on the right track! These are basically math manipulative boxes. I feel like we aren’t accessing tools we have on hand enough, so I took out manipulative we already have and made boxes from $3 plastic storage I found in the sewing aisle of a local big box chain.

I put one together for 4-year-old Li’l Bit too. Some of her items are different. For our 3rd graders, I included a complete fraction bar set that goes up to 10ths. It was given to me by a retiring teacher. I also included 100 counters, wikki stix, magnetic numbers and operation symbols, pattern blocks, number die, unifix cubes, a hundred chart we already had taped inside the lid, and a blank spot for hopefully something else I have in mind!

On the back, I put a half-page of write-erase paper that is self-sticking. I had it in a pile of stuff that quite frankly I need to go through and either put up or give away. Love it when I find a gem in a pile of junk! I just need some more since Li’l Bit wants some of her own! I had just one sheet left in my pile of {mostly} junk. 🙂

I’m linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for her Monday Made It Linky. What have you been making this summer?

Five for Friday {Tastes of Summer!}

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I’m linking up again with DoodleBug Teaching for her Five for Friday Linky Party. Lately I seem to be late. I’m posting this on the 4th though as I started it that night!

This past week has been full of berry picking, canning blackberry jam and taking pics of my four from China on the Fourth while our other two (and the Prez) were at their last day of Scout Camp.

1. Blackberry Picking on the HOTTEST day of the summer.

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July Fourth

The Trumpet of the Swan: Book Talk Linky

Rest In Peace Snowflake

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Some parenting stuff is just plain hard. I found myself asking God last night, Why did it have to be THIS one?

I know, she was just a chicken, a beautiful feather-legged lady, but still just a backyard bird. But to our sweet Li’l Miss, she was so much more. She loved that girl so much!

She was a great hen, mothering four little chicks the Prez brought home one Saturday when she was still just a chick herself. She followed them everywhere. Right into the edge of the woods late yesterday afternoon.

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Homeschooling High School {10th Grade 2014-2015}

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Our oldest, AKA Curly on the blog, will be in 10th grade this year. Where has the time gone?

Time marches on as they say, and he will be in his second year of high school this year. He will continue his education at home. This post is not about why, but he manages his time wisely, studies hard, is respectful of me as his teacher, and puts forth 100% effort in his school work 95% of the time.

This next year is going to be very challenging without a doubt as far as pure academics. He is going to have a heavier load than last year, and he will be working on his Eagle Project before the school year is over.

Below is a list of his classes:

Advanced Chemistry in Creation* (aka Chemistry 2)
~~Prentice Hall Algebra~~ **Per Jonah’s request, we switched to Geometry instead. More about that below.
Logic and Debate: Art of the Argument (1 semester)*
Music, Movies and Mozart (1 semester)*
American Lit and Advanced Communications*
~~Mandarin Chinese~~ ***I loathe Rosetta Stone now, but I’ve invested so much. Trying again this year as Jonah will have a lighter load and we will try it with a newer computer.
AP US History
Physical Fitness: Flyfishing, Pursuing Eagle Scout*Taken at our local Tutorial with a teacher and other students

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