Brain dump.

I feel like I've gone missing here a bit. It's nothing personal. Basically, there just hasn't been much worth reporting. ;) In case you're really curious, though, here's what's what:

- Asher and Micah are looking forward to their first karate tournament next weekend (it's an "introduction" to tournaments that their karate school is putting on to teach the kids about tournaments...each boy will just perform their form for judges). The boys are still raising money for St. Jude's in conjunction with the tournament. You can go here to donate. They'd really appreciate it. :)

- I've been taking (and enjoying) the first Visual Latin lessons. I like the structure of the "course," and the amount covered in each lesson is a very doable. By the time I finish these first ten lessons (which should be soon), I think I'll be more comfortable starting some Latin with the boys. Given their ages, though, I'm planning to start them with Song School Latin. I'm also thinking I'll work in the Visual Latin lessons (at a slower pace than I'm doing, myself) after we're underway.  

- Our microwave mysteriously decided to die last night. Lovely. I suppose I won't blame it...pretty sure it's original to the house, so is about 20 years old. Sigh. Guess we'll be shopping for microwaves soon. Grateful, though, that it didn't catch fire (which wasn't a certainty for a bit there).

- Aren't these cute? 

- I picked up a couple of piano books from this line recently. (They have favorites, pop, classic, Christmas, etc.) Back when Noah was taking piano lessons a few years ago, we found that these "favorites" books worked much better for him...he was considerably more motivated to practice when he knew the songs. We haven't taken lessons in a couple years now, but Noah still enjoys playing. I love that he's happy to pick up a new book and try some new songs. (It, obviously, doesn't hurt that the main theme from Star Wars is in this book, lol.)

- I've been adding some links to homeschool resources here under my Linkety Link Links up above. Will work on adding more. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

See? I told you it wasn't anything exciting. ;) But now you know.

(For the record, I'm not affiliated with any of the businesses listed here, just think they're cool.) ;)

Quote #7.

(I'll apologize to those who might expect a quote today related to Valentine's Day or love. I've had this one on my mind all week, so figured I should go with it. ;) Besides, we're not really big on Valentine's Day around here...a little too much pink and hearts for us, lol.)

Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant. –Epictetus

I love this one. It could be the motto for our homeschool. While, obviously, I’d be happy if my boys all grow up and are financially well off, I find it vastly more important that they grow up with an education that prepares them to live well in the world…to ask questions…to seek solutions…to be concerned about the world and the people around them...to contribute. A lesson well learned is worth a fortune.

Speaking of homeschool mottos, though...do any of you homeschoolers have a name for your school? I read this post not long ago and it has me thinking...

Things on Thursday.

Random things to be happy about...

1. Yay for me! I've actually been exercising according to my "habit plan"...twice this week so far!

2. Yay for Super Bowl food! (Yes, this is old news. Tough.) Okay, so I didn't really care about the outcome of this year's game. But. Nathan and I were pretty darn thrilled with our Super Bowl food. We decided to actually "do" something this year (haven't ever in years past but Noah was all over the idea of getting "special" foods on Super Bowl day...course, his idea of "special" meant chips and pop since we don't normally stock those in the house, lol). Anyhow, we made some delicious potato skins, homemade pico de gallo and homemade guacamole. YUM!

(Sorry, not the greatest photos...it was getting dark already and really it's amazing I have any pictures at all. I'd already eaten a couple potato skins stuffed with guacamole when Nathan reminded me that I'd wanted to document our accomplishment, lol.)

I think, btw, that this may have been the first time I've ever voluntarily purchased tomatoes, lol! (Yeah, I don't eat tomatoes for the most part. So there. I may rethink this after this pico, though.) 

3. Yay for my boys! Asher and Micah did some snow shoveling for me on Tuesday. They were stoked (because it's one of the few "chores" that they can earn money for). Here they are, so proud:

As you can see from the photo montage...they shoveled...they started trying to battle with the shovels (and were quickly stopped, lol)...after complaining about not being able to hit each other with shovels, they dropped to the ground to make snow angels...Micah randomly decided to drop and give me twenty (push-ups)...and then they threw some more snow. ;)

(Noah, in case you were wondering, opted to stay inside and not brave the -3 degree temperatures. Asher was just happy that he finally got the chance to do this, having been kept indoors for the duration of the cast whilst his brothers shoveled.)

4. Yay for being back to karate! Asher started back to karate this week. He was pretty apprehensive beforehand...worried about the fact that we'd decided he shouldn't do a few things (like the crab walk and push-ups during the warm-up portion of the class...since he's still having some wrist mobility issues and putting weight on his wrist hurts). He was nervous that people would wonder why he wasn't doing those and also self-conscious because of his belt/rank. (He's currently "lower" than Micah but had been set to test the day after he broke his arm...would have jumped to a yellow belt but will now have to wait till the end of the month, since they only test once a month.)

But. Once things got started, he forgot his nerves and just delighted in being active again. So happy. :) 

5. Yay for St. Jude! As part of the tournament that the boys' karate school is hosting at the end of the month, the boys are raising money for St. Jude. If you'd like to donate, please click here to go to their donation page. (And please feel free to pass the word to anyone else!) Thank you!

Quote #6.

Happy Monday to you! Here's my quote for this week:

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. –Jim Ryun

Like many people, I would really like to exercise more. Honest. (Okay, if I’m truly honest, I just want to be in better shape, not exercise more, lol. I want to be able to keep up with these boys in the coming years.) Like many people, I’ve gone in fits and spurts with this. Looking back, I can see that I tend to only exercise when I deliberately put it into my schedule and when I manage to repeat this often enough for it to become a habit. This quote, then, is really key for me. I need both the motivation to add it to my list in the first place and the repetition that comes from a habit.

To that end, I created this little tin for myself. I’m sharing it here to keep myself accountable. There are 50 little circles on the back. I get to fill one in each time I exercise. My goal is to exercise at least three times a week between now and my birthday…to make this a habit by then. (Yes, I know various sources say you need to do something like 21 times to make it a habit…I guess I’m just good at loopholes because I know 21 times isn’t enough for me when it comes to exercise. I’ve tried that, lol.) As a bonus, I’m going to “pay” myself every time I exercise…just whatever I can afford that week (we use a weekly cash budget for any spending beyond bills and staples so this is really just like delayed spending but it works for my psyche). I can’t touch the money, though, until I fill in all those circles. Motivation? You betchya! 

So. Every now and again, feel free to check up on me, okay? Thanks! ;)

Resources.

I love finding resources to use on our homeschooling journey. Love it. So. Today, because it's our "off" week from homeschooling and I find myself going through all sorts of things prepping for the rest of the month, lol, I thought I'd share a few...

1. 50 Things Every Young Gentleman Should Know. My pal Kelli posted on her blog about this book not long ago. She also has three boys she's homeschooling. I love that, and am looking forward to adding this book to our reading here. (I'm impatiently waiting for it to be delivered, lol.)

2. Wipe off maps. Remember when I was telling you how I was going to start using index cards in our geography studies? Well, we started that last week and it's been great. One thing that I tweaked from where I got the initial idea, though, is that rather than solely using a big wall map or the globe, I've been using these wipe off maps that I have. I give each boy a map and call out the places listed on the index cards. They label them on their own map. It's been going pretty well, and I'm excited about the potential. 

3. Free downloads. Awesome stuff going on over at Five J's. Check it out. Be sure to look at their Homeschool Resources tab, too! (Incidentally, this blog and some others I've been reading lately have me thinking I may reorganize my own blog here to include more links and information and such. Maybe soon, okay?)

4. Units of measurement. In lieu of finding resources, sometimes I discover that I need to make my own. Since I was having a hard time finding anything that worked for what I was looking for, I created these little half-sheet pages:

Basically, I just wanted a nice, straight-forward reference that not only converted measurements (and most that I could find for kids only did one or the other...for instance, only showed how many inches in a foot but not also how inches and centimeters compare) but visibly showed a comparison. I'm a very visual learner. It helps me. ;)

So. For each set of measurements, there are three pages...one with US measurements, one with metric measurements and one comparing US and metric. The bar dealios on the bottoms are all roughly to scale (unless the label is in parentheses, which happens just once because I couldn't adequately represent a 1/1000 of a liter). I'm thinking I'll go through and hand-draw some arrows on the labels on the bars, as I feel they're a little confusing unless explained.

Right now, I have sets for length, mass, volume & liquid volume. I printed mine all out on this tagboard paper (because I think it looks cool and "educational," lol) but haven't decided yet how I want to bind them...whether I want to just add a binder ring, keep them clipped so I can spread them out or something else. For the moment, then, they look like this:

Anyhow, if you'd like a copy, you can download it here. (Just print them on 8.5x11 paper and cut them in half.) If you do use them, would you mind letting me know what you think and if you find anything that could be improved/corrected? I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Okay, I guess that's it for now. If you know of other resources that you enjoy, PLEASE share. ;)