Random Christmas photos

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

A sample of the snow we received on the 11th. The shock has worn off so now I'm able to post a picture of it.
Here's our tree. Psst, it's fake. We opted to buy a skinny faux tree this year. I love that it takes up less floor space, it's perfect and it doesn't shed. We even bought a box of all of the same color ornaments. I like the unified look.

Our school is officially on vacation until after the new year. Like others we may try to sneak a few lessons in here and there.

Memory Work Companion Now Available

I am pleased to announce that Drew's new memory work book is now available. He is the author of The Latin-Centered Curriculum, the book that has truly revolutionized our homeschool. I plan to place my order this week. Here is some information regarding the content of the book from Drew himself.

My Memory Work book, Living Memory, is now available! This is the book mentioned in LCC2.

Here's the description:

Tantum scimus quantum memoria retinemus: We only know as much as we
retain by memory. While progressive reformers denigrate "rote
memorization," classical educators from Quintilian to St. Thomas
Aquinas have always known that memory work is an essential part of a
complete education.

Now you can give your students the benefits of classical memory
training with Living Memory. This comprehensive K-12 resource for
memorization, copywork, and dictation can be used with any classical
curriculum or as a handy reference for home or school. With this
pick-up-and-teach book your students can master:

* proverbs, maxims, and famous sayings in English, Latin, and Greek
* dozens of beloved English poems, from Mother Goose to Shakespeare
* stirring historical speeches from Cicero to Churchill
* more than 60 English hymns and carols plus traditional hymns in
Latin and Greek
* prayers, psalms, and Bible memory verses in English, Latin, and Greek
* important geography and history facts
* favorite American folk songs
* essential arithmetic facts and mathematical formulas
* key science facts
* a succinct English grammar "catechism" for students of Latin
* fundamental Latin and Greek grammar forms

Dr. Andrew Campbell's introduction draws on both ancient memory
techniques and modern research to explain the importance of memory in
education. He explains how to integrate memory work into your existing
curriculum and how to use four key skills to assure success in memory
training.

http://www.lulu.com/content/5348956

Please free free to spread the word so we can support Drew in his latest endeavor.

I've been tagged

Jenny at The Ridge School has gifted me with a butterfly award. I love her blog as she is creative, inspiring, and educating her two daughters. I also like that she shares her wisdom as she is further along in the educational journey. I have learned many things from her.

Wordless Wednesday: A Few of my Favorite Things

Color Theory, Economics, and Hand/Eye Coordination

Yes, this is the latest addition to our arsenal. A paint ball gun package. Z budgeted his own money to buy the entire set-up. He did get a little monetary help from dad to ensure he had the proper safety equipment. The day after Thanksgiving we had a long family chat sitting in the car in the middle of the Wal-mart parking lot. We talked about the investment, upkeep, and responsibility of owning a paint ball gun. Then we went back to the sporting good store that had the best deal.

So now he is set and there are two wooden boxes outside my garage that are splattered with pink paint. He is going to write a short report on gun safety for school. Now I just need one and we could have a great P.E. class. Good thing we have a big yard. Let the games begin.

Wordless Wednesday

Chocolate ice cream loves me!

I pulled a new carton of ice cream out of the frig yesterday. I opened the lid and what did I see looking back at me. A smiley face. I had to pry the lid off as the ice cream was stuck to the lid, but I swear I did not stick my fingers directly into the ice cream to create this. I knew I loved ice cream, but I never knew it loved me back. It was yummy, btw.


Of course, Z had to get into the act.

Happy Thanksgiving

This is an old blog entry from our experience with Thanksgiving two years ago. I am reprinting it here for your viewing enjoyment. ..

November 2006

I was debating about what to call this. Thanksgiving – southern style? While I may be residing in the south I certainly don’t proclaim to be southern. Thanksgiving – our family style? Not sure about that one either. Family style has been very different up to this year. This year, however, will go down as memorable.

We didn’t know exactly what to do this year. We finally decided we would go see a movie and go to dinner. We chose to go to the movie early afternoon and then go eat. We went to see “Santa Clause 3”. We go to the movies about every six months so we tend to forget how much concessions actually cost. We sometimes will share a soda to save money. I know some of you are cringing right now, but hey, what are families for? This time we were all getting over colds. We were at various stages of recovery and no one wanted to share. Our theater has made it easy; they will make every member of your family happy, if only you hand over your wallet. It’s called a combo, more than McDonalds combo, but hey don’t you need a giant soda and giant popcorn. So after Tigger emptied his wallet, we finally sat down for the show.

I loved the movie. If you enjoyed the first two, you will enjoy this one just as much. It was hilarious. I think Tigger and I actually enjoyed it more than Z did. I also gleaned some spiritual wisdom from that, but that is for later.

After we gorged ourselves on the popcorn, no one was hungry. We decided to go home and wait for the bloat to settle. On the way, Tigger said he really wanted to enjoy an at home meal. Wal-Mart’s are open down here on Thanksgiving so I made a list, not checking it twice and headed out to Wal-Mart, on Thanksgiving. Yeah! I had reminded Tigger that turkeys come frozen. That didn’t negate his desire to have turkey from our kitchen.

I returned home and prayed for a solution to quickly thaw a turkey. Turning to my handy dandy Betty Crocker cookbook I discovered you could defrost a frozen turkey in the microwave. The defrosting process was interesting and through some careful evaluation and standing over a dead bird saying, “Do you think this is working?” we concluded it was. The clock was moving toward dinnertime and the bird wasn’t even in the oven.

Z’s tummy was upset from too much popcorn. We just put the turkey in the oven and realized that it would be way late before any dinner was on the table. Remembering the line “Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape” We opted to look at other options. Ramen noodles on Thanksgiving just didn’t seem right. We called and Cracker Barrel was still serving. We hoped in the car and headed out. Meanwhile the turkey was still roasting in the oven. We currently have a gas oven and I have never left while an appliance was on. I said a quick prayer and God reminded me that they hot water tank is gas and it runs fine while you’re gone. I was still nervous about it, but hungry.

Cracker Barrel’s meal was okay but not homemade. We headed home. I was checking for black smoke on the horizon and was pleased to find everything in order when we got back. The boys fell asleep in the living room and I continued to baby-sit the turkey. It finally got done about the time I wanted to fall asleep. I wrapped up the warm bird, let it cool long enough and placed it in the refrigerator. I said another prayer to make sure it would taste good after all of the stuff it had been through.

The next night we served it up right. The whole bird, the works. So our Thanksgiving meal was a day late. So what. Aren’t you supposed to give thanks everyday anyway?

Wordless Wednesday with a few words

Not my photo, but I love the expression on the mother's face.

Wakefield Walks: Nature Literally at the door

These cute little lizards were sunning themselves on the front of the house. This was had a unique pattern compared to ones we normally see around here. I love the green around his eyes.

This one was quite large compared to the others we see. His tail was also completely intact which means he never ventured out or he was the toughest lizard in the neighborhood and no one wanted to mess with him.


Later that night Tigger discovered this nasty creature hanging out on top of our garage door. This is the south and we leave our garage door open a lot. The door is an ancient one piece steel door. I've always disliked the door, however with the discovery of "jungle snake" hanging I dislike it even more. See his eye shining in this photo?
Tigger finally knocked him down with a broom and he slithered out in the yard. He almost dropped on Tigger's head in the process. I almost screamed, but was not quite as creeped out as I thought I would be. It was raining outside and the snake was mad, he thought he had found a great place to hide. NOT!

Needless to say since the incident I have not walked under the garage door without looking up.

Wordless Wednesday

Z's Review: Black Ships Before Troy

We finished this book this morning. I could tell during our reading that Z didn't quite know what to think of it. As we were finishing Z said That was the most violent book we've ever read, even more violent than the Terminator movies. There you go, literary comparison, Homer trumps Cameron.

He was excited to hear that there was a sequel.

Wordless Wednesday with a few words

God bless America!

The Red, The White,
and The Blue.

The Question of the Day

Did YOU Vote?

How Does One get a Complete Week Done?

It kind of rhymes, it's kind of frustrating. We had made an agreement with Z when we started homeschooling. We would take off the days the public school was out so that he could play with his friends. As an only child we believe it is important he have some freedom to be with his friends when they are able to play.

So this year that agreement is going to be rethought. After the hurricanes (yes that's plural) set up back eleven days I already felt behind. It's not a huge deal, we are not really behind, it just messed with the plan I had created. That seems to happen many times in life when I create a plan. GRRR.

Anyway we had an in-service day last Monday to coincide with the public school in-service day. It was very productive on my part. This week the schools are closed on Tuesday because of the election. I suppose that is due to the polling places being at the schools. Next week they are closed for Veteran's Day and then they have an entire week listed off at Thanksgiving. That will be less than three full weeks of school this month. I won't even get into the December schedule.

Fortunately many of our subjects are done one day a week or only four days a week. We will get them all done, there may simply be a little less breaking into song time. That bites, because I really love the spontaneous musicals that Z and I do.

Wakefield Walks: A quick glance

Moments ago we discovered more wildlife from the safety of our home. Z came clamoring out of his bedroom, I assumed there was so misguided insect lost in his room.

He cries out, "Mom, Mom, I just saw a fox run past by bedroom window."

Sure enough we look outside and we got a quick glimpse of a red fox running back into the woods across the street. He was gorgeous and I wish he had slowed down so I could get a photo. He was hasty however.

I wonder if that is what Tigger heard the other night, sure beats an alligator. The woods across the street are hunting grounds, but the woods beside our house are not, so perhaps he was seeking safety on our property.

That has been the coolest thing to happen all day.

Wakefield Walks: Wear Your Shoes for This One

Our yard is a never ending adventure of nature. Last week Tigger swore he heard something tromping through the woods. No man can get into the thicket of our side yard so he created a hypothesis that perhaps an alligator was wandering around in there. YIKES!

There was been two alligator sightings in our neighborhood that I know about. One was at the way other end of the circle, near the river, and said alligator was simply sitting on the side of the road. This is the reason I don't walk before the sun has risen. The other incident happened just prior to us moving here. Our next door neighbor woke up to a five foot alligator in their driveway. DOUBLE YIKES!

So we know they are around here and honestly I don't worry too much. So Z and I decided to go out and scope the yard to see if we could see any evidence of the beast. It was daylight and since it was still eighty degrees we slipped on our flip flops. I do not recommend flip flops in the woods generally. I told Z if we spotted anything kick off the flip flops and run. Sage advice from the woman trying to keep her flip flops from sliding off my feet.

We didn't find an alligator but we did find this....



a snake skin. It had been there for a few days at least since pine needles had dropped on top of it. Like a good nature study mommy I picked it up and we brought it inside. Z was a little hesitant to touch it, I thought it was cool.


It was three feet long, which means the snake is now bigger than three feet. Maybe we should switch to closed toe shoes for wandering outside. I also decided we should keep the snake skin, so it is now enclosed in a nice container.

We have not identified the snake, but it is possible it was a rattlesnake. Let's hope he stays in the thickest part of the woods.

Wow, an Award! I am blushing.

My good blogging buddy,Mom #1, thought I deserved this fabulous award. She is the best encourager and leaves wonderful little notes sprinkled throughout my blog. I love getting awards, because you know gifts is my love language.


“This blog invests and believes, in ‘proximity’ [meaning, that blogging makes us 'close' - being close through proxy] "They are all charming blogs, and the majority of them aim to show the marvels of friendship; there are persons who are not interested when we give them a prize, and then they help to cut these bows; do we want that they are cut, or that they propagate?" Then let’s try to give more attention to them!

So with this prize we must deliver it to eight bloggers that in turn must make the same thing and put this text.”

I hereby nominate my blogging buddies: The Ridge School, CuppaDangie, The Other White House, Gardenschooler, H.S. Burrow, Rockermom, Parabola, and Genie. These ladies have seen me on my good days and my bad days and they will still chat with me. :)

The Best of Times

Today was one of those days in school. No, not one of those bad ones, the good ones. The ones you relish and relive.

Z got up late this morning because he stayed up late watching a movie with his dad. I let him sleep. We started school an hour later and took a long lunch hour too. We also finished about an hour later than normal. Quite by surprise I got a hug at the end of the day. I said, "You're a really good student." (which is the truth). He replied, "You're the best teacher." Makes a mother want to cry.

Then instead of plopping down in front of the TV he went outside by himself to play basketball.

I have always made a conscious decision to appreciate each stage of Z's growth. Today I'm really liking eleven.

Happy Anniversary, Baby!

My life sixteen years ago on this date. It was all about the fuchsia and black.


My life a few months ago and today. Has it been sixteen years already? Remember those vows most people say at their wedding? The ones about sickness, health, richer, and poorer? We've been through it all.

Here's a beautiful song that describes marriage just as it is to me. Happy Anniversary, Tigger. I love you.

Warren Barfield's "Love is not a fight" Click for the video.

Wordless Wednesday: Texture

Wakefield Walks: Bringing the outdoors inside

Here is the Professor sampling water from an Elephants Ear plant. It was amazing to see the crystal clear water in the leaf.

We opted to bring some of our nature inside. We were inspired by our friends at Cuppa Dangie. Ours is not quite as decorative and we decided to forgo the table and use the hall bathroom counter. As you can see the natural elements really set off the vintage harvest gold countertop. Besides, a table Z would walk by and never look at. At least in the bathroom it will be seen on a daily basis. We added a pine scented candle, some more rustic candlesticks and made a fall theme for this season.
These pods came off of Magnolia trees, you can see one still has the red seed in place.

Tigger does most of the yardwork. We picked up branches for at least a week after hurricane Ike so we are truly a little sick and tired of pine tree debris at this point. I was not surprised when he saw our display and asked, "Why are there pine cones and dead pine needles in my bathroom?"

"It's for school, sweetie."

"Oh, okay." then I got the look.