How do we get this far, this fast? [The Lost Blog Entry]

As I was working on my blog this week, I realized that one of the reasons I'm so far behind is that my last entry was never published! Ooops!   Here's what I should have posted last year!
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Once again the end of the year is upon us and looking back on my blog I realize more and more weeks pass in between entries. Are we doing less? Not a chance.  I have more material than ever... just less time to write about it.  Here's a quick update:

Birthday:  Yes I turned 45.  Yikes!  It was actually a very nice day. The kids made me breakfast in bed and later that afternoon my husband took me to Melting Pot for afternoon happy hour with cheese fondue. 

Vacation: Denny and I went to Nashville.  We spent the first day and evening with his sister and family and then drove east to Rock Island for little hiking. It was a short three day visit, but a much needed break from the kids and the regular day to day stuff.

Thanksgiving:  The whole family flew back up to Nashville to celebrate with the LeRoy side of the family.  It was great to see the cousins all together and we had ample time to catch up with everyone. In addition, Becky and Mark invited several members of their small group at church so we had really festive and lively bunch. 

One of the highlights of our time was a family outing to the Parthenon in Nashville. This is really cool replica of the original surrounds by a beautiful park.  We took lots of pictures.

Before our time was over we made sure to get a professional cousins picture. I think it turned out really well and it was certainly a lot easier than it had been when they were younger.

Field Trips:  We took plenty of field trips over past few weeks. Some of them include: An AM radio station, a college TV station, and the Planetarium.  All of them were interesting and as usual, I think I learned as much as the kids did. 


Theater:  Kat made her acting début in a winter showcase performance inspired by The Polar Express.  Her part was small, but she hit every line and got quite a few laughs.  We couldn't be more proud of her and can see a real talent blooming.  Most importantly, she really enjoyed it and wants to do more. 

Continuing On and Starting Fresh

Every time I check my blog page I think, Yup...it's still true that I haven't written since Halloween.  My next thought is:  Gee, I really should do something about that.  And then my next:  There's so much to write about...maybe tomorrow I'll tackle it.  And that's how one ends up being three months behind. Uggh!

Obviously I'm not going to reflect on the end of the year with any degree of detail and substance other than to say, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Nashville, TN and a fabulous Christmas and New Year's here at home.

I felt like we stopped our homeschooling for the year at a reasonable place. I can't say we finished everything, but I did not feel panic when we closed the book; however, I did feel some stress at the beginning of 2014 not knowing exactly how the second semester would look. After much research (crammed into two or three days) I made the final selections.

For my 9th grader:

Continuing on:  Math-U-See Algebra I, Notgrass World History, Biology 101, Analytical Grammar (finishing soon), 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, and ice skating lessons

Starting Fresh:  Excellence in Literature, The Power in Your Hands: Writing Non-fiction in High School, Art of Argument, and Biology Lab (co-op class)

For my 8th grader:

Continuing on:  Math-U-See Algebra I, Notgrass World History, Biology 101, AG (finishing soon), 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, and tennis lessons

Starting Fresh:  8th Grade Literature (making it up as I go), The Power in Your Hands: Writing Non-fiction in High School, Art of Argument, and Biology Lab (co-op class)

For my 5th grader: 

Continuing on:  Math-U-See Epsilon (and sometimes Life of Fred, Liver), Apologia Swimming Creatures, Spelling Power, Proverbs (Notgrass drawing/devotion), flute lessons, and Acting III

Starting Fresh:  Composition for the Reluctant and Eager Writer, Reading/Literature (making it up as I go), German lessons (given by friend), voice lessons, and musical theater

So, if you have any questions about these curriculums, I'd be happy to give you my two cents worth. We're about three weeks into it and so far so good.

We still have several field trips planned, a winter formal dance next month, and we will continue to do monthly archery lessons and weekly park day with other homeschoolers.  I think the only thing I'd like to see more of is physical fitness.  Aside from the odd lesson here and there, it's really hard to find the time and the desire to have a regular physical fitness type of event.  I think maybe I need to add one more thing to the schedule... a morning running class.  I think I'll have them start that tomorrow.  :)