Weekly Update--yeah, right...

I haven't done a true "weekly update" since last year, but thought I'd just go over what our week was like, for the heck of it.

At preschool, I am getting ready to do conferences with the parents. Because I have two classes and two co-teachers, I have to do half of each class' conferences. This means I have 13 children to evaluate. We are observation-based in our evals, which means we try to look very closely at what the children do naturally in the course of the preschool day, with very little "testing." We record what we see, and set up activities based on what we perceive the children's needs to be. Usually I can fill in a check list with just the copious observations I have taken during the year, but not this year. It makes me feel I have really fallen down on the job, having to call over kids to show me how they build block towers or take a sample produced on the spot of their writing or their drawing. Oh well, next year I will be doing something different, and I just have to chalk up this year's teaching experience as something I needed to do, did somewhat well, and grew from.

We had a very busy weekend--I went to a pretty good workshop that lasted allllll daaaayyyy....on Saturday, and then went to our church's chili cookoff--that was great fun. Sunday, we went to church, visited Sky, then dh and I went to Mt. Vernon for the Birthnight Ball. I wore a short, black dress, with a sheer black, soutache-covered shawl. The best part was sitting with our 83-yo df, who is such a wonderful, wonderful woman. She is everything I want to be.

This week I had to take a personal day, which gave me a little extra time to do laundry and such, and I spent the rest of the week preparing for said conferences. LOST was a highlight of the week--what does THAT tell you?

Everyone else is doing all right.

BACK AGAIN!

Oh dear, here I am, the World's Worst Blogger. One of them, anyway. I have been posting very frequently on the Well-Trained Mind message boards (as Chris in VA, fwiw), and have totally neglected this blog.

Part of the reason is because I originally started this blog to be a record of our lives as homeschoolers. This year, Nature Girl went to 3rd grade at our local brick and mortar, and Film Buff finished his high school years in December. I went back to work (reluctantly) as a preschool teacher, because our expenses were high, and I wanted to contribute some $ to Film Buff's college fund. So, the blog "weekly updates" on our homeschooling progress really were nonexistent, and it's hard for me to just plunge in with a topic if I don't have a framework like that (witness my post about Survivor, of all things! lol --btw, it's on again, and yes, I'm watching...).

So here's a little update, and then I guess I will try to find another framework to make this blog workable (and readable) again!

Sky has gone back to treatment, and is finally doing very well. We expect him to start home visits around the end of March or so, with the hope that he may be home in June. He got straight A's, has been working on deeper issues, and seems genuinely on the path to recovery. I've never seen him work so hard or do so well. It is a pleasure to see him every Sunday, and I think things will be ok. Hard to have total hope, of course--"fool me once..." and all, but I think he's in a good place.

Film Buff got his GED (YEA!!) because his college of choice wouldn't accept a homeschool diploma, so he is officially out of high school. He did very well in English and pretty well in the other areas--math continues to be his bane, but that's ok, as his proposed major doesn't require a heck of a lot of math. He sent off his app to the college and got back an invite for an interview, which he did in February--we'll hear in March if he made it in. We are all hopeful, but it's a tight race for one of 20 slots in the cinema program.

Besides the interview, something else wonderful happened to Film Buff--he got his first car! A dear friend at church sold him a 1993 Jeep for $1, and he got it yesterday--fun Valentine's for him! He has to learn to drive a stick, but he's watched some youtube video on that, lol, and has his dad to help him. They both spent about 2 hours outside tinkering yesterday--big boys, big toys. It really is neat, and we are all so happy for him and grateful to Mr. W.

Nature Girl got a nearly perfect report card from 3rd grade, with one G and all the rest O's. She is not covering a lot of new material in the core subjects, but the way things are asked and the assignments are different, so I'm ok with it. She doesn't particularly like school because of the waste of time she sees, the boys talking too much, and the projects (though she does well, but doesn't like the pressure), and also because she feels she misses things at home. Next year, we are considering homeschooling again. I have to work somehow, so I just don't know. I can't really see her going next year, but I have to figure out what to do. Other than school, she's happy and pretty healthy, enjoying outside as much as ever, and awaiting Spring like the rest of us.

My hard working preacher man is fine--really taking his health seriously, working out 3 times a week. He finally found a wonderful assistant at work, after a lengthy search. We have high hopes for our church.

I'm still on the fence as far as whether or not to remain Episcopalian. Enough said for now.

That's the update--pictures and more interesting stuff to follow.

Read-Aloud Thursdays

OK, we'll try this! Amy over at HopeistheWord is tracking her read alouds and asking bloggers to do so with her! So, every Thursday we'll try for an update on what we are reading. I was doing weekly updates on our homeschooling efforts, but that will have to wait, as we are...DONE! More on that, later.

So, for today, our RA--We are going thru English Fairy Tales and will start a couple of Scheheradzad tales (not sure if I spelled that right!). I have a whole list to work thru from the gals at Well-Trained Mind (SUCH an excellent site! lol), so I'm excited to see what I can find at the library from their suggestions.

Here's to reading!

Ok, So I Failed The Great Experiment!

Wellll...looks like posting everyday is just not in the cards. Here's a quickie update:

Sky is now in a rehab for a few months. We will be able to see him for several hours today--two gifts, no electronics, a big dinner, no church--your basic Rehab Christmas. Sad, but we make the best of it. Two in a row for us. Maybe next year.

Parents are here--had a good drive down. They will watch the kids and the dog (and our df's dog, too!) on Friday while Dh and I are away at the house.

Nature Girl missed the last day of school before vacation due to a cold, but it was one of those Useless Public School days--they showed a video.

Film Buff is eagerly awaiting Christmas Day so he can watch Batman again--yes, he's getting it for Christmas! He can't wait to see all the movies that will be out in the next week or so. We did find out that he has to take the GED--wish we had known earlier. Pray for him to be able to schedule it in time to get his application in.

Have a Merry Christmas! Gotta run to the Dollar Store so NG can buy Grampa a giftie--

Survivor Finale--What did it MEAN?

So we had quite the dilemma last night--to watch the Cowboys beat the Giants, or watch the finale of Survivor. (What does that say about us? lol)

I watched about half the Cowboys game, then went to bed, as I was falling asleep on the couch. I woke up this am to hear that my favorite Survivor, Sugar, did not win, and was the "victim" of some really horrible words said by Corinne, another Survivor contestant.

So I was thinking, what does it take to insult (really, really insult, to the point of cruelty) someone on national television? Corinne had a chance to be nice later, to be repentant, to say she was "caught up in the game," but she didn't. How sad is that?

And why do I care? Survivor has always been a guilty pleasure around here. We talk about how people can lie or act badly under pressure, or how the ends don't really justify the means, but the "World" acts like they do. Survivor has been part of our moral development training around here--not really effective, but sometimes negative examples are a good thing.

Anyway, I wish Sugar had won.

Our Day Today

(Yeah, I've pretty much given up on posting every day--but at least I'm posting more, and getting back into the habit.)

Today Nature Girl has practice for the Nativity Play at our church. She's a sheep, again. Sigh. She could've been a camel (haha "I coulda been a contenda! I coulda been a camel!" in my best Brando voice...), but the Friendly Beast parts are supposed to go to 4th grade and up, and I am a big believer in letting things for older kids be for older kids. No pierced ears yet, for example. Rites of passage are important. So, a sheep it is.

Film Buff is taking the ACT this morning. He was late registering, so he had to pay an extra $40, but I will reimburse him, because it was my idea for him to take the test. His SAT's came back, and he could use the extra score--plus, the ACT is descriptive, not prescriptive (tells what you know, not predicting what you may do in college, necessarily), so it's easier. It's not written by the morons at ETS, either, those cretins. (Letting my Princeton Review training out for a walk here...) I hope he does well, but he's not taking it seriously, he didn't eat before the test (Glucose! Glucose for the Brain, Son!!! You need Glucose! Didn't work.), and basically he doesn't give a crap. He's just waiting for his high school career to be over, and honestly, I can't blame him. Seniorities even hits homeschoolers. He's a good boy, tho, by and large. I think he'll do ok.

Sky is awaiting transfer to the rehab place up the street from us. His disfunction is pretty deep. I'm just waiting and hoping, but I'm not that emotional about it all yet. Christmas is kinda sucky this year. It's not much fun to have your family's rituals and important times destroyed, year after year, by one of your children. He was telling me about a kid in jail with him who has missed 2 Christmases in a row, and will miss this one, too. The kid just keeps messing up around the holidays. I do feel sad for the moms of kids like that. I have to say that Fairfax County Juvenile Detention is really, really good, and they do care about the kids. No one wants to be there, but it's definitely not the horrible place that Arkansas JDC is, that's for sure. Dh will see Sky tonight, I'll see him Sunday, and then his transfer will be good on Tuesday. Nature Girl can see him next Sunday and on Christmas, at the family visitation times. We are glad he's transferring before Christmas.

I've got to clean up today--not fun, but ok. Laundry and floor sweeping, bathrooms and clutter control claim me today.

Hope your day is terrific--Seek the good.

I Will Change Your Name

Oh. (Breathe) Oh.
I found it.
Finally, I found it.

While reading one of my very, very favorite blogs, Ann Voskamp's Holy Experience, I came across a song that is incredibly dear to me. It's a little song called I Will Change Your Name. Listen at youtube here, and know how precious you are to Jesus Christ. There is nothing he cannot fix, even in the depths of your heart.

Oh...
I'm so Glad he led me to discover this again.