21 August 2017

Our Eclipse Day!

We're a bit north of downtown Kansas City, so we were in the path of the totality today.  Imagine the sunset happening in a circle around you... all those reds and oranges and such... but no sun on the horizon.  Eerie.  Crickets and cicadas going crazy and all still before the sky turned black.


The students at the local public schools just rolled with it today - there was no way anyone would get any good studying done so they might as well.  They were good enough to give all the children - including the high schoolers - the approved solar glasses and some time outdoors to view the eclipse this afternoon.

In our homeschool, we watched videos about the eclipse and watched it live in other locations.  We doodled the various sorts of eclipses and did a little writing, too.  It was a good day.

In between the "Is it almost time yet?" inquiries, we even got some mathematics finished.


19 August 2017

The Trees Are Down!


We used Walker Tree Service as they're the fellows you see about town on the power lines, licensed and insured etc etc. Which is a good thing as one of these huge branches fell sidewise and cracked my new siding.  It's ok - no one is hurt and I trust they'll fix it.

This should also give you an idea how thick and large the trees were - and hopefully, how many leaves we will NOT be raking and mowing this fall!

Now it feels sort of empty on that side yard.  We also removed a tree that was starting to block our view from the back windows.  Much more sun hits our lot now.

11 August 2017

Start With Amen

You always start any project at the beginning with the end in mind.  When we began homeschooling, we began with the idea that we wanted our children to graduate from high school and move on to college or otherwise be prepared to begin their adult lives.  So we did things a certain way in order to (hopefully) meet those goals.

In Start With Amen, Beth Guckenberger reminds us that the end is already a certainty.  You can rest in knowing that God already has the end planned out in accordance with His gracious character.

The book is an easy read but it often presents difficult situations that are still unresolved.  This is not a happy "throw a Bible verse out and say it will all be okie doke" sort of book.  In fact, Guckenberger's take on the "Amen" of God is not a specific answer to prayer or direction for a believer to follow: 

"He cares more about our relationship than my life plan.  He is working to root out that which is not sacred in me and create space for his deposit of good gifts.  He has the long play in mind - transformation of a life from carnal to supernatural - and I have the short plan pressing on my soul: 'What will this blood test reveal?'  The competing agendas crash together and leave me weary."

It's a casual read full of personal anecdotes I'd recommend to my Christian friends.  In fact, I have a friend in mind who needs to get this little book in the mail now that I'm done reading it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

10 August 2017

Roller Dancing!



Woodjie and Rose are working hard with a roller dance coach on their routine as there is an invitational competition in a few months. When they actually compete for real, they will have matching sparkly outfits just as you would expect with ice skaters.

06 August 2017

Dwarf Macintosh Apple Harvest!

Many of the apples made it through the Japanese beetle season relatively intact!  They don't all seem to ripen on the same day, so we wander out every now and then and browse the tree and pick a few here or there.  This tree is about nine years old and this is the first real harvest we've had from it.  Oddly, all the apples are on the north side of our tree.

Our apples seem to be more tart than the ones you'd buy in the store.  They're also smaller and more prone to bugs, although that last bit may be because we don't use pesticides and so on.  I used a bit of diatomaceous earth on the Japanese beetles this season and it worked like a charm.

I spent a little time looking through my old pictures dating back from our planting the tree and Emperor and Elf's adventure of picking the first apples.  Perhaps apple trees yield more as they grow older - here's hoping!  I am starting to doubt that this is a "dwarf" tree as we were told just based on the size of the thing and the fact that it took so long to get a good crop in.  Dwarf trees are supposed to yield a bit earlier.  Hmm.  Any gardeners out there have an opinion?  I popped a photo here so you can see how tall the tree is - the cars are parked on the north side of the tree.

01 August 2017

Woodjie Writes a Story

SO proud of Woodjie. He wanted to write a story about Julius Caesar and he has been working for hours on this. He even did a little fact-finding with me about the character before writing. All you autism friends especially know what a huge thing this is.  Can you tell he is writing in an old Christmas memories sort of journal?  It is one of those huge things with a hard cover and I think I got it at the thrift store for a quarter.  Fun place to doodle and pop thoughts down on paper.

Bringing Garbage Home

Some people up the street were throwing this table away. It was in pretty bad shape and one of the legs was off. I've glued the leg back...