Quote #13.

Happy Monday to you! (And happy birthday to my baby brother!) Here we go:

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. –Aristotle

I found this quote in a book I’ve been reading. It’s perfect. I know that oftentimes the word “habit” evokes negative feelings…thoughts of “bad” habits that people want to break. Right now, though, for me, the word “habit” is definitely a positive. It's something that I want to establish as part of my life. Something that if I repeatedly do it, will become second nature. Something I’m working on and striving toward.

Remember that “habit” tin I started? Well, I’m happy to report that it’s going well. (In all honesty, it started out pretty slow but I’ve caught up, lol.) I’m right on track and have even taken the giant (for me) step of taking up running. See? Here are my new shoes:

Aren't they cute? ;)

Once upon a time (like way back in middle school), I ran. I did cross country and the distances in track. Not well. ;) I’ve not run since then, unless you count chasing boys. Deep breath. On Saturday, I took these new shoes out for the very first time. I didn’t die, so I suppose I’ll keep at it…slowly. I mention it all here for accountability purposes and to make it more "real." (And so that those of you who see me in person will understand if you see me limping around some days, LOL!) Wish me luck!

PS I’ve been awesomely inspired by this particular blog post and the links included. Enjoy! 

PPS In other news, we're on our "off" week of homeschooling here, so I've got plenty to say/share...just give me a day or two to get my ducks in a row... ;)

Gotta love the apps...

So, earlier today, Micah comes running into my room clutching Nathan's old iphone (which we let the boys use for the various apps). He informed me that he now wanted only to be called "Mike." 

I asked why. (He's gone through these phases before...insisting his name was "Gob Gob" or that we call him "Little Mike Brother" and such. I asked merely out of curiosity.)

Out pops the iphone. He showed me the screen and then laughed hysterically:

Yup. Little bugger was playing with an app called CheckWord that we've used from time to time while playing Scrabble. He was having a blast and delighted in showing me that "Mike is GOOD" and "Micah is BAD" according to the screen. He thought it funny that "Asher is BAD" but "Ash is GOOD" but felt jipped that "Noah is GOOD" right off the bat. 

Couldn't help but smile at that one. ;) So, I cuddled him (as he's the only one who still lets me) and we sat on the bed trying out all sorts of other words. He thought it was wonderful that "Bad is GOOD." I figure it's actually time well used since 1) the app is teaching him familiarity with a keyboard configuration as he hunted and pecked for those letters; 2) the app encouraged spelling practice; and, 3) the app provided a reminder on the difference between proper and common nouns (and then some explanation about Scrabble rules, lol). Happy sigh. Gotta love it. :) 

Quote #12.

Here's this week's:

By learning you will teach, by teaching you will learn. –Latin Proverb

This is so, spot-on, true. As a homeschool mom, I find this ALL the time. One of the best ways for me to teach my boys is by example. By watching me learn new things, they see the value of looking for answers…they accept that no one knows everything…and they discover the process of educating one’s self. And in almost every lesson I teach, I learn something new…even when it’s not anything to do with the subject at hand.

(Incidentally, for the many parents out there who would love to homeschool but think that they don’t know enough, I can tell you for darn sure that I don’t know enough. I'm constantly coming across stuff that I only vaguely remember or have no recollection of whatsoever. But. I can learn it alongside my boys. And that works just dandy.)

Ten on Tuesday.

1. A day late, but Happy Pi Day!! Yup, yesterday was 3.14, the approximate value for pi. Not only was I one of "those" people in school who actually thought pi was cool and tried to memorize it to like the 27th decimal place, but the day, itself, holds special significance for Nathan and me. You see, 19 years ago yesterday was the day we met. Yay us! To celebrate, Nathan took some time from work and we spent the first part of the day together...running errands and eating out and just enjoying time together (the boys, since it was Monday, were at Options). Not to repeat previous years' failures, we also set out to eat some pie. But. When it came down to it, we didn't find any pie that called our names more than these sweet little fruit tarts at Whole Foods. They're shaped like a pie, so that counts, right? ;)

(Here's an entry from a couple years ago. I promise I typed this entry before I went back to look at that one. It's just a very weird thing that I used such similar words, lol.)

2. Some of the errands that we ran yesterday were the "culmination" of what spring cleaning I've done this year. We dropped off a few boxes at Goodwill and some to local gently used places that buy stuff that was still in good condition. That was all. I went through the entire house and that's all I came up with. Call me weird, but I was strangely disappointed that I didn't have more spring cleaning to do. Apparently, I've done a good job over the past couple years of weeding stuff out and keeping the clutter down. Yay? 

(Okay, disclaimer, I do still have a few boxes and items in the basement that I mean to sell. But I have to take pictures and list them on ebay and Craigslist and stuff and just haven't gotten around to that yet. But. It's all in one spot and the descriptions have actually already mostly been written up.)

3. If you haven't started your own spring cleaning yet, this blog has a fun weekly challenge sort of thing going on right now. Good luck! (I've been watching it but had already done the two challenges they've listed.)

4. Gonna give this grammar game a try this afternoon. I'll let you know how it goes. Mine mostly have the parts of speech figured out, but quicker recognition of them wouldn't hurt. ;)

5. I bought/pre-ordered this book yesterday. Given our current enthusiasm about geography, I figure it'll be a nice addition to our collection and know the boys will enjoy the nice bite-sized chunks of information. I'm thinking that even just reading a page a day would be fun. 

6. Yesterday, for Asher's karate class, they had a special "board break" day that they only do once (??) a year. At the end of class, they worked on strength moves and then got to try them out on breaking these special boards (they're pre-broken but it still takes some momentum to break them apart each time). Asher didn't care for the kicking moves too much, but did enjoy the elbow break move. :)

7. I've added some more links up above under linkety link links in case you're interested. (Let me know if you have any others to recommend!)

8. Question. How do you show three homeschooled boys more clearly that they're in different "classes" when many of your lessons occur altogether? For time and efficiency reasons, I tend to do many subjects with all three boys together. I expect different levels of understanding and work from them, but they're still done at the same time. What I'm finding lately, though, is that they're comparing themselves to each other a bit too much. I'm working on finding ways to show Micah that he shouldn't be distraught if he can't do the same things as Noah...and on ways to motivate Noah to want to do more beyond what his brothers are doing (as he's presently quite content, feeling that he's at the "top of the class"). Any ideas?

9. Another question. Would love any ideas on how to review/reinforce spelling words *other* than written and/or verbal spelling "tests"...This has been our first real year of doing spelling and it's going well for the most part. I'd love to be able to go back and review more often without it feeling like a test, though. 

10. Yes, the boys have settled on names for their countries and plenty more. I'll save that for another post. :)

Hope your Tuesday is as beautiful as it is here!

Quote #11.

This week's quote...

To be a person is to have a story to tell. –Isak Dinesen

This one completely appeals to me. There are so many ways one can look at this…as a call to write your own story, to chart your own course…as motivation to document your life, to leave a chronicle for later generations…as an appeal to share your story with others, to make a difference. I strive to do all three. Through my life choices, I’m endeavoring to create the life I want for myself and my family. In this, I’m constantly recording that life…for my own memory and for others to look back on. (I think, by the way, that this is particularly worthwhile in two ways…it provides an account of what happened such that it could possibly be learned from (like history)…and it is evidence to my boys that their actions and lives have already been and continue to be momentous to me.) Finally, I work on sharing the lessons I’ve learned with others…through the Good Grief Blog I started, through being an active part of my homeschooling group, through homeschooling, itself, and through so much more. So. Yes, I have a story to tell.

Incidentally, I finally decided on a name for my country (remember that project the boys and I are working on?). My country will be The Supreme Queendom of Storia. “Queendom” because I think it only fair that it not be a “kingdom.” “Supreme” because, well, why not? And “Storia” because of this very quote and line of thought. Cool, eh? I’m stoked.