A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

 Little Princess was accepted into two NCSA camps this sumer.   I do not know what NCSA stands for, but I do know that these are Civil Air Patrol camps for cadets to develop various skills/further studies in areas of particular interest.  Little Princess loves space, so she applied for this camp. She also applied for a leadership position at the camp and was selected as a flight commander. The best I can understand about this particular NCSA is that it was kind of a glorified career fair focused on space. The cadets spent a great deal of their time touring highly classified areas, so we have few pictures of the week.  At one location, the check-in process took several hours . . . and that was even with the cadets having submitted documentation in advance! They participated in lectures by various career leaders in the US Space Force, from companies that build space equipment, from various military bases, and at USAFA (again for Little Princess!). STEM class Space...

 We finished Human Anatomy and Physiology. We finished Ali and the Golden Eagle . We had the best discussions while reading this book!  The kids were so provoked by the bringing of modern technology to a previously undisturbed village still living as their ancestors had for probably 1,000 years that they had to talk it out.  I had the privilege of just listening as they discussed pros and cons to modern life vs ancient life. At one point I couldn't resist asking them if they wanted to move somewhere and try to live like long ago.  Most of them said, "No!"   Brother said, "People from long ago can live just fine because they don't know what they're missing.  People from now can't go back because they'll know!" Lola said, "Sure!  As long as we can take medicine with us!" It was really, really fun to listen to them voice their opinions and their reasons! We finished Seven Daughters and Seven Sons .  This book is definitely on our list of T...

This picture looks boring, but it documents my younger kids having a serious-and-thoughtful conversation about the Bible and current events.  Rose Red has the best ability to make people around her think and engage in conversation!    Thank you to those who posted words of sympathy and encouragement for me.  My heart goes out to you in your struggles as well.  We're all doing our best!   I'm seeking a new blogging routine because my Sundays are full with my church assignment in the leadership of the children's organization--we call it Primary.  That's why my blogging has been hit-or-miss for the past few months.  I used to write on Friday afternoons, but those aren't as free as they used to be either.  So I'm thinking. Today I'm somewhat handicapped as I type one-handed.   I had carpal tunnel surgery this week! Me--prepped and ready for surgery (Recovery is turning out to be harder than anticipated.) It is a profound relie...

Hurrah for 16! Hurrah for independence! Hurrah for Little Princess! She even took her driving test in the rain!   Even though Sir Walter Scott took her to take the test and then get her license, her absence dominated Tuesday.  We skipped literature and Eastern Hemisphere that day, but the rest of the kids and I had a whopper of a good school day, and then everyone had church activities that night that were somewhat educational in nature--crafts, cooking, sports, scripture trivia, and speech/debate were the variety that were offered. Also, on Tuesday, we got permission from the neurologist to take Ladybug off her anti-seizure med!   She was undergoing a complete personality change--a dangerous one. Her neurologist seems to be a good one.  As we talked over her situation, I feel that he listened and made thoughtful judgments.  The plan he presented makes sense to me and feels right.   She's on no meds at the moment.   And I am very gr...

 Really, it's my own fault that I'm drowning in dance costumes. But making them is so much more affordable than buying them, and we're doing a theme this year that we've never done before, so we need a lot of new stuff. I've completed 4 4T bandana skirts and 2 women's small peasant dresses--both to supplement our current costume stash. (I also made a pair of upcycled fuzzy pajama pants for Lola, but that has nothing to do with dance!) Nature Angel is responsible for a can-can number for the older girls.  Have you seen can-can costumes!?!?!?  They're fancy. We've let go of almost all of our wishes to settle on circle skirts with petticoats under them.   We already own a couple dozen petticoats. But we don't have enough matching circle skirts, nor do we have any tops to go with the skirts.   So . . . I volunteered to make 14 modified peasant dresses, but as tops, like this: (not my photo, but what the blouses will ultimately look like) It's a very ...

It wasn't the week I planned, but we're still going forward with school on Monday. Why? Because there isn't a better/easier/more calm time for school to start, so we might as well work our way into the routine. I trimmed 5 inches off Nature Angel's hair--this picture is before the trim. In the background, you can see the stack of homemade pretzels that Little Princess made for us all. I worked on choreography for American Rhythm for a lot of the day. This picture is one I took to show Baymax what I wanted the camera to look like when he filmed my feet so that I could see how the dance I was working on looked like. It was one of those weird cool days in August, and our kids spent the afternoon at the neighbors' house.  Gotta love Catholic and Mormon families hanging out together!   Apparently we had enough kids with just our two families for two actual teams for each of the various games they played. :) 3 hours of active play with friends made both mamas so happy! Th...