Your Little Princess

One of the joys of parenting is watching your children grow up and accomplish things.  I am so glad that God called us to homeschooling because this has allowed me to view many little accomplishments, as well as the big ones, all along the way.

Ms 20 yo has been working with a friend of hers from another state to start up a business.  I knew about it but didn't have much knowledge of what they were "building" until this weekend when they unveiled their website.  

So with that being said, I'm proud to introduce all of you to their newest business "Your Little Princess Costume Design".  My daughter built the website and will run the business end of things while her friend, Elizabeth, is in charge of the creative end.  It was she who drew all of the sketches and she is the seamstress that will be creating these awesome designs.

 My favorite page to look at is the Design page where you can view all of your choices for costumes.  These are custom made costumes that are well made and very durable.

I love having the opportunity to promote, not only other small businesses, but businesses that are being run by young, Christian people.  Please take a look at their efforts and consider passing the information on to others.  It really is the small businesses that are the backbone of this country.  Let's celebrate that entrepreneurial spirit that makes this country so great!

7 Quick Takes June 29, 2012

--- 1 ---

God is good, isn't He?  In the midst of the disappointing, although not surprising, news from the Supreme Court, He puts in front of us an intercessor specifically from and for our own country, the now Venerable Fulton Sheen.  Wouldn't turning our country around through his intercession be a wonderful first miracle for his cause for beatification????  Venerable Fulton Sheen, pray for us.

--- 2 ---

July is the month which houses St. Ignatius' feast day and today I happened upon a website that is hosting "31 Days with St. Ignatius".  I love Ignatian spirituality and am really looking forward to following this throughout the month.

--- 3 ---

I was just complaining out loud that I had worked out 7 quick takes in my head and now that I'm typing I can't remember them, at which point my daughter laughed and reminded me that I say the exact same thing almost every week.  Oh well, why break a habit...

--- 4 ---

Have you seen "Brave"?  We've haven't had a chance to see anything but the preview in the theater and based on that my husband and I were joking that it looked a lot like The Little Mermaid (which I disliked for the following reason)...girl doesn't want to stay in her traditional role so she disobeys her parents and gets rewarded for it.  From reviews I've been reading this may not be the case, although there does seem to be mixed feelings about this movie.  Do we spend the money to see it or just pass it by?  The kids want to see it because they love the Scottish accents.

--- 5 ---

What wacky weather we are having around the country.  Another sign of the times?  We so desperately need rain around here and as I type this we are covered by dark clouds but so far a drop of rain has yet to fall.  We're hosting a big event at our house in a few weeks and are hoping we get the rain sometime before then so we can go ahead with our planned bonfire and relay races.

--- 6 ---

You might be wondering why I included relay races in the above quick take.  Well the part of the yard that we are planning to have them in is so dry that it hurts.  I can't imagine falling down during the three legged race, for example, and getting pierced by all that hard straw-like stuff that used to be grass.  I suppose it could add an additional challenge to the games to spice things up!

--- 7 ---

 For the first time in 13 weeks we have NOTHING to do this weekend.  We are so excited and can't wait to not go anywhere or have to eat all that extra good food and desserts.  Maybe it will be a weekend where we don't gain any extra weight???  While it is supposed to be very hot around here and we'll be tucked away in our A/C, it will be good just to relax. Have a great weekend.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Life of Fred - Elementary Series

This past school year my first and third graders and I worked our way through the first four books of the new elementary series from Life of Fred.  We would read through a chapter a day a couple days a week and were able to cover the four books in less than the school year.  Each book in the series has 19 chapters and there are currently 10 books available.

I can say that my kids loved the stories contained in each of the books.  Each book covers a day in the life of Fred, a five year old math genius who teaches math at KITTENS University in Kansas.  While a little off the wall at times, the stories are engaging and teach math by using every day circumstances.  

These books were the most recent ones written and, if I understand it correctly, will fill the gap from beginning math until the fractions book that begins sometime around fourth or fifth grade.

Like the older books in the series, Life of Fred not only covers math facts but many other interesting facts as well.  My children learned what a deciduous tree is, about the life cycle of a butterfly, which letters are vowels and which are consonants and why it isn't a good idea to give someone your PIN number.

Of course they learned math, too.  Things like addition facts, adding one and two digit numbers, subtraction facts and how to tell time.  As I mentioned before, there are six new books out that we haven't even gone through yet, which include more subtraction, multiplication, division and an introduction to fractions.

While I enjoyed working through the books with the kids, we did not use them as our primary math books because I just didn't know enough about them.  I need to see the big picture (as in the whole series) to see just how he manages to teach four years of math in so much less text.  Four books wasn't enough to give me a good feel for them yet, but if your kids enjoy math (or you want to start them off on the right foot) this might be a good series for you.  

I do appreciate the author's "unit study" approach to math that he takes in this series.  He always throws in a lot of interesting material and enough fun stuff to keep the kids coming back for more.  

Another great part about this series is that each book is durable, non-consumable and very affordable!  Each book in the elementary series is only $16. Click here to go to the information and ordering page of my website!

This is a great addition to an already great math series, so if you're looking for a fresh approach to start your kids off with, I would encourage you to give a book or two a try and see if it fits with your family's teaching/learning style.

Wordless Wednesday

A Prayer for Our Country

I was reading over the first reading for today and I couldn't help but notice the similarity between then and now.

 Reading 1 2 Kgs 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36  (from the USCCB site)

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent envoys to Hezekiah with this message: "Thus shall you say to Hezekiah, king of Judah: 'Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.  You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all other countries: they doomed them! Will you, then, be saved?'"

Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it;  then he went up to the temple of the LORD, and spreading it out before him, he prayed in the LORD's presence: "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned upon the cherubim! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth. Incline your ear, O LORD, and listen! Open your eyes, O LORD, and see! Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, and cast their gods into the fire; they destroyed them because they were not gods, but the work of human hands, wood and stone. Therefore, O LORD, our God, save us from the power of this man, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God."

Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent this message to Hezekiah: "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, in answer to your prayer for help against Sennacherib, king of Assyria: I have listened! This is the word the LORD has spoken concerning him: "'She despises you, laughs you to scorn, the virgin daughter Zion! Behind you she wags her head, daughter Jerusalem. "'For out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant, and from Mount Zion, survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.'
"Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: 'He shall not reach this city, nor shoot an arrow at it, nor come before it with a shield, nor cast up siege-works against it. He shall return by the same way he came, without entering the city, says the LORD. I will shield and save this city for my own sake,  and for the sake of my servant David.'"

That night the angel of the LORD went forth and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, broke camp, and went back home to Nineveh. (my emphasis added)

I thought that this might be a great reading to come back to now and then again and use it as a prayer for our country.  You can even substitute a few names and make it very specific if you would like.  I was especially struck by the "remnant" part.  As my hubby said, we'll hopefully either be part of the remnant that survives or we'll be on our way to the Lord!

Lord, have mercy on us and on our country.

 

Remember to Finish Math :)

This is how it starts...or should I say ends.  My resolve to do some schoolwork throughout the summer, that is.  Ms 9 yo really has to catch up on her math this summer so we've been plugging away at it for a few weeks now.  But then we have a week like we had last week where we worked like crazy to prepare for a party, then moved into the weekend when, while still preparing, had another event to go to on Saturday night and then our party on Sunday.

Today, as we all crawled out of bed, I could really care less about making her keep up with her math.  We're all tired and brain dead and I foresee a few days of trying to get back into our regular routine. 

My prayer is that by the time we get back to a routine I will still have that resolve for her to plow onward.  Usually by the time I get un-distracted, I've completely forgotten about the schoolwork and it might be weeks before I remember again.

I hope that by putting this all into a blog post, in a few days or a week I'll be paging through here and see this post and remember that we really do need to get caught up on that math :)  Thanks for bearing with me as I write this reminder!

7 Quick Takes June 22, 2012

--- 1 ---

Exciting news for the Catholic world.  I just read an email saying that the 
Pope is declaring St. John of Avila the 34th Doctor of the Church.  The email was advertising a new book about him and they did a good job because I want this book!  (this is not an affiliate link).  Just imagine living in a country that had both St. Teresa and St. John of Avila...alive...at the SAME time!  Those infidels didn't stand a chance.  We need some living saints like that in our country.  I'm sure they're out there somewhere....

--- 2 ---

While typing that last one I felt the Holy Spirit saying, "What's wrong with you?"  Ha...that is a tall order to fill.  As of right now I certainly do not fit the bill.  Anyone else???

--- 3 ---

As for ordering another book, I really should exhibit some self control because I already have two books that I would like to read this summer.  The first is "Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist" by Brant Pitre and the other is "Platform" by Michael Hyatt.  Hopefully I will get to both of them before long.  How about you?  What's on your summer reading list?
 

--- 4 ---

We are still plugging away at our exercise routine.  The problem is that we've had SO many parties to go to that I exercise during the week just to get rid of the weight I gained over the weekend.  By Friday I'm back down and then by Sunday night I'm back up and the whole darn thing starts all over again.  I know...if I just exercised some self control at all these parties, things wouldn't be so bad.  This is not likely to happen...see #2.
 

--- 5 ---

To help keep me motivated to exercise, I've been focusing my slalom water ski hanging out in the corner of the basement.  Oh how wonderful it would be to have a strong enough core to get back up on that thing.  My husband did it last year, however he has not carried 7 children in his abdominal area, so he has much more muscle to work with than I do.  I just envision myself trying to get up on that ski and pulling every muscle known to mankind.  But, with a little (or a lot) more work, maybe I can do it before I turn 50!
 

--- 6 ---

I'm going to be having a series of posts coming up where I give you a synopsis/review of each of the "Life of Fred" math books.  If you are contemplating which math series to use for your students, or if you are thinking about switching, you should seriously consider checking these books out.  I'll start next week talking about the newest books in the series for early elementary aged students. 
 

--- 7 ---

Finally, if you are taking a break for the summer and want to be much more organized for next school year, might I suggest reading "A Plan for Joy in the Home" now and being ready for the new year?  Kick back, enjoy the summer and get yourself ready to be on top of the game.  Have a great weekend!

 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!