Taco Week

This week is going to be Taco Week. Chicken tacos, Steak tacos, vegetarian tacos, pork tacos, bean tacos, and so on. Stay tuned, I'll even try (try - sigh) to post a picture and recipe or two.

Taco Week - Day One - Taco Crescent Casserole
Taco Week - Day Two - Tomato, Avocado and Black Bean Tacos
Taco Week - Day Three - Steak Tacos
Taco Week - Day Four - Tasty Turkey Tacos
Taco Week - Day Five - Must Have Mushroom & Cheese Tacos

So Long Friend...

I've been dreading writing this post - Our newest Heart - Astro - Passed away from suspected heat stroke a couple of weeks ago. Ace and Deuce were in New York visiting relatives when it happened. Not the best telephone call I've ever made.

I still feel guilty about it, he was struck down while I was taking him for a walk. I miss him too. The King of Hearts and I have been discussing a new dog, but I think it will have to wait for a while. The summer is getting too busy for me to try to get a new dog assimilated to our routines. So for now, we are enjoying Carmen. It is hard to tell if she misses Astro or not. She is clingier, and more affectionate for sure, but that could also be because Ace, Deuce, and Three are off at camp right now. The house is very empty with them gone.

So the summer ticks by.

The Great Ugly Knit Upcycle

Lil Blue Boo and Dharma Trading Co., are having an upcycle challenge to see how people can transform their UGLY knits into something lovely. My problem: I have two seriously ugly knits, and I just can't decide which one is the ugliest. This is where I'm counting on both of you to help me out. Here are the contenders:

Ugly knit #1 is an odd stamped looking pattern of - cuneiform? maybe? It's a little hard to tell. The colors are dark blue, navy blue, off white and white. It is really ghastly. The pros: There's a lot of this fabric, so I can make a dress in a larger size. Maybe. But maybe a little will go a long way.

Ugly knit fabric is an odd composition of brown fall... flowers. Yeah, because when I think of flowers, naturally the color BROWN comes to mind. Even I'm a better gardener that this! I'd like to know what the designer was thinking when they came up with this pattern. Seriously, brown flowers? The colors here are brown, dark brown, light brown, tan and white.

So folks these are the competing knits. Which one do you think takes the (boobie) prize as the ugliest? You can vote in the poll.

Getting my act together.

I spent the day sorting, filing, pitching and winnowing the books that fill my basement homeschool library. Partially because I CANT STAND the mess anymore, and also, to start pulling resources for our upcoming units. Mary Potter Kenyon states that "A personal home library is as important as access to a public library," and I totally agree. I love, love, love the fact that for (pretty much) any topic that strikes my kids' fancy (or mine, let's be honest here), I can jog down to the basement and pull at least one book that has something to do with the subject.

So while I'm on the subject of getting stuff ready, I'm also organizing my computer stuff as well. Our upcoming history unit is pre-history. Since most homeschool books on it are pretty sketchy on the subject, here is my growing website list. I'm making this list, in part, so that I can find these again as well.

1. Nova Evolution - Actually this might be all I need. There's loads here! There's an Evolution video series too. "Becoming Human" which our library has - score!

2. Becoming Human - This one is by the Institute of Human Origins (who knew there was such a thing??) It has lots of interactive things, plus lesson plans.

3. Human Origins - A really neat looking site by the Smithsonian Institute of Natural History. Pretty cool.

We'll also be doing a literature study of Boy of the Painted Cave. We've read this book before, and it is really a great read aloud. It gives lots of information of what life during that time before written history was like.

Playing Cowboy

Jack O'Heart's latest passion is for cowboys. I love that we can do these "boys" units together, and he really likes to learn. For the cowboys unit, I've been reading aloud Ralph Moody's book, The Home Ranch. Although the boy drifts in and out of listening, while coloring pictures from the Dover "History of the Cowboy" coloring book, I think he's been mostly getting it.

Along with the book and coloring pages, we've been doing some activities out of Kicking Up Some Cowboy Fun! book. Mostly I like the book. It is full of interesting tidbits of information, and lots and lots of different things to do, from crafts to activities, to just thinking about things.The main drawback? It is completely disorganized, and there is no index. Argh! How frustrating to find just what you're looking for!

Today's activities were learning about the chuck wagon. Here is our chuck wagon. As you can see, Jack O'Hearts is our cookie!
The box at the back holds the food and cooking supplies. In the front is the bedroll, first aid, and clothing for the other cowboys (cowgirls.)
Three and four are enjoying their nice light, plastic meal of plastic play food. Yum-o!
Unrolling the bedroll - actually a blanket that I've had since I was a very little girl. It's a little threadbare, and stitched in a few places, but I don't feel bad playing with it out in the lawn!

Sewing Stuff

I've been sewing some stuff for my littlest daughter, fondly known as "the fourth daughter." These dresses are made using a pattern I purchased from Lil Blue Boo - The Sienna Dress.


The best part about the pattern is that the dresses are made from old t-shirts! What a way to recycle.



The Popeye one is pretty cute! Although she doesn't know who Popeye is, and keeps asking "Who's this guy?" Three tells her that his name is Adidas. Hmmmm.......


This last one is totally random, but I like the way it ended up. My next experiment is tie-dying some to see how that looks.

Darth Vader Leadership Tip #2

Darth Vader Leadership Tip #2

Hire not just for the job at hand. Try to determine the candidate’s potential career track and how he will develop.

-
Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny.
D. Vader

ht. Nolo Promiterre

"So what do you want to be when you grow up?" has got to be a kids' worst question. Right up there with "What are you doing to the dog with that Sharpie?"

The problem with what do you want to do when you grow up is that kids don't have a clue what they want to be when they grow up. They look at the future, and the figure they could really be the next president, Pulitzer prize winner, astronaut, or in my case, ballerina. Its just not a fair question.

On the other hand, looking at your kids strengths can help them choose a more likely end result (or for that matter, intermediate result, we all have the same end result.) then it becomes a little easier to plot a path to get there. How will your child develop? Is college in the future? Then it might be a good idea to see whether you child can begin accumulating credits through CLEP course tests, AP tests, and Dual credit enrollment with a local community college. Maybe a class or two here and there, but it will pay off in time and money on the other side.

On the other hand, maybe you child has a passion for music, art, or drama. That might be in the future, as it sure looks for a few of my kiddos. How can I help them to achieve the goals of music school? Obviously by taking the kid to lessons and encouraging (meaningful) practice.

Looking ahead doesn't mean fitting your kid into a mold they cannot break out of, just - looking ahead - and trying to see the steps to take before the kid actually takes them.