Coffee Break

 ~Erica

Ryan's cousin called to see if I wanted to run away to Canada; she had a passport she'd never used and I have a brand new enhanced ID so we both can cross the border. I told her it would take me several weeks to plan such a spontaneous trip so we decided to go after school started during a week Ryan was off so he could get everyone to sports and such.

 

 

 

First stop was Fiddler's Coffee in Centralia

 

 

2nd stop was at Krispy Kreme in Tacoma. At this point I decided that maybe I should put our destination into Gladys the GPS. Gladys is not familiar with Canada. She had no information onboard to route our trip. Emergency Plan B was a quick trip to AAA for maps. The lady in the office also printed us a TripTik to the hostel in Jericho Beach where we were staying that night- we went Old School! Problem is, I was driving and Shar can't read a map to navigate....

 

 

  I like to stop at places we don't have in our Tiny Town and the surrounding area, I knew there was a Five Guys in Marysville and I'd never eaten at one, so that was where I was headed for lunch. Shar was just along for the ride and didn't really care what we did as long as I drove. You have to love a place that has grilled onions and mushrooms as standard toppings!

 

At 2:00 we were passing through Ferndale, just in time for Sonic Happy Hour. Shar claims I gave her whiplash as I pulled off the freeway...

 

 

Waiting at the Peach Arch to cross the border into Canada.

 

 

Gladys is lost...

 

See that beach area between my fingers? That's the nudist beach, I didn't mean to end up there but they had a bathroom and we had drunk a lot of coffee and Shar can't read a map and it was pouring rain and I just had to stop. On the upside- we didn't see any nudists, everyone had raincoats on, and I was able to figure out where we were and where we were going. We're supposed to be up there in the green area in the top right corner, just under that blue frame, that's Jericho Beach.

 

Jericho Beach Hostel

 

It's an old army training camp and its right on the beach in a really neat old neighborhood. We didn't get to do much exploring since the weather was really bad (at home they were having thunderstorms and the power was out for hours) but in the evening it cleared up enough that we did get to walk a bit on the beach and hear the waves and it was enough for me to be refreshed. I stayed in a Hostelling International Hostel in Seattle last winter with my program from Evergreen and was impressed by their cleanliness, convenience, and especially their price, $30 Canadian.

 

I think there is a TV crime drama that is filmed in Jericho Beach and Vancouver but I didn't go look up the particulars since I remember it as rather dark and gritty and I didn't want to freak myself out if that was truly where it was supposed to take place.

 

Looking towards downtown Vancouver in the setting sun. I never really got my bearings on where I was looking, I think Stanley Park is off to the left of downtown in this picture and the beach we were walking on was really the Fraser River.

 

The next morning we hit a couple of Starbucks for breakfast and to look for a mug for Ryan that we never found (when I was cleaning up my car I realized that the sleeve advertised a specialty blend that is only available in Canada and that would have been a great souvenir to take home but we were across the border when I figured that out). Due to Gladys being on vacation and Shar's map skills and Canada's non-existent highway signs it took us longer to get to the border than I planned (and we saw a lot more of Vancouver's suburbs and I have no idea if we went through the areas that I promised my mom we would avoid...) We still made it to the border by 10 a.m. so we could have lunch at Pike Place Market and be out of Seattle by 2 or 3 in order to miss the Friday traffic.

 

September is looking a lot like January as we drove through Whatcom County- gray and foggy.

 

It was fun to introduce Shar to my favorite parts of Pike Place Market- we had Chinese BBQ pork skewers and French pastries for lunch. And I bought half a dozen macarons to treat myself later. We stuck our heads into the original Starbucks so she could say she's been there but the line was too long to wait to get any coffee. I still can't believe she's lived in Washington most of her life and never really explored that part of Seattle- when I was a kid we always took out of town guests to the Market and the Curiosity Shoppe and since the kids have been little almost all trips to Seattle include Westlake, the Market, or the Waterfront.

 

Our last coffee stop was Dutch Bros. Coffee in Lacey. Dutch Mafia coffee is my new obsession and I hear rumors that we may be getting one and while I'm excited to be able to get drinks I also am afraid the novelty would wear off if we had one readily available...

 

We had a lot of fun and did a lot of driving. I packed books and knitting and got to none of them. I didn't get to Murchie's Tea or a grocery store to buy digestive biscuits. But I got to walk on the beach and sometimes that's what I really need. Maybe we'll plan our next coffee break to Kona?

 

Just kidding.

 

Maybe...

Friday Phone Pictures

~erica

This has been a busy week- I started indoctrination orientation at Evergreen with 2 very long days and 2 half days. I was glad to get to Friday when I had nothing but family and fun stuff.

Sunday- Jonah's 13th birthday, he played Minecraft all day | Do you recognize any of these socks? Please claim them, they have spent the summer at my house after your boy left them... | "Please hang me on the wall instead of leaving me languishing behind the door in the office since Spring Break"

Tuesday- Convocation speaker, Carlotta Walls LaNier. She was one of the Little Rock Nine in 1957 who went to Central High. Her book is good and she was a good speaker (but the Drug & Alcohol speakers were better) | Wednesday- this girl has no fear, she jumps on the ball as its being dribbled down to the goal | Thursday- Jonah's football game. He's #8 on the sideline (last week he played a minute and was SOOOO excited). They lost by 3 pts. this week because they had a TD taken away for excessive excitement or something like that- BOO!

Friday- I got up and went running. The first time since July. I made it home and needed chocolate milk before I could get up the stairs | Mini Cheer Night at the football game. | Rush (in the gray hat) playing the bass drum at the football game- We won!

Ryan didn't work until late last night so he got to go to the game with us and he got to see Tovah cheer, he missed last year. He leaned over at one point, when she was down on the track doing jumping-jacks with the cheerleaders after a TD and said, "you know cheer costs more than any other sport." Um, yeah, but she'll be the only one at home by then and I should be done with my Masters...

First Football Game: The Beginning of a New Era

~erica

Friday night we went to our first football game as a family. It was the inaugural game in the new Pirate Stadium (I guess they are calling it The Brig, at least they did on the Seattle news I saw later that night). It supposedly has 4 times the seating of the old wooden stadium on the hill and every seat was taken Friday night. Lots of people didn't even try to get in the stands and just stood on the track. The bathrooms and concession stands aren't finished but the lights, stands, and field were ready for the game (thanks to the late nights all week they worked over there). It was pretty exciting to come home one afternoon and see that the lights were on.

Tovah had soccer practice so we missed all the pre-game activities. We arrived just as the game ball arrived by parachute. I don't have any pictures of the first quarter because by the time we found my folks and the kids and got the camera out I discovered my card was in the laptop and not in my camera. I have a second card now but it was in my camera bag in the car so I had to wait until the end of the first quarter to run back out to the van and get it.

Rush is in the pep band, his job seems to be to hold his cymbals so the drummer can use them as a high hat. He's the one with his back to me, talking to his friend Jesse. This is the best picture I could get from the nosebleed section. Next game I'll stay out of the stands so I can get some better pictures.

The Pirates got 3 touchdowns the first quarter.

The view of Mt. Rainier from the stands. The sky is pretty hazy from the heat and lack of rain. Some days the mountain is so clear you can almost see hikers on it.

Final score 39 to 14- it was a good game. The Wahkiakum Mules were a pretty good team. TransAlta matched a lot of the contributions for the stadium and made the project possible. They also paid for a fireworks show after the game. Our local State Legislator works for TransAlta and his wife teaches at Adna. They were sitting behind me at the game and his wife and I were giving him a hard time- the TransAlta part of the sign is lit and the Pirate Stadium isn't, something's just not right about that...

After the fireworks Tovah and I had to drive home in Adna traffic (only on game nights) while everyone else decided it would be quicker to just walk. We had a good time. The boys all have ASB cards and my folks got Senior Sports passes so we'll probably go to all the games. The next home game is against a big school from up north and is a non-league game on a Saturday night that Ryan is off so it will be a true family affair.

First Days of School

~erica

School started on Wednesday. We came home from the beach on Tuesday in time to unload, unpack, and get to the High School for Back to School Night. It's very efficient: schedules, lockers, ASB cards, pictures, buy logo wear, and even free dinner for the family all in a 2-hour window. The cheerleaders were having a Root Beer Float fundraiser and towards the end of the evening and our energy I gave each of the kids a dollar to get one, but they ran out of root beer when they got to the front of the line. Not a problem, we'll grab a 2 liter at the little store on our way home and still get home in time for baths and an early bedtime. NO root beer at the little store. No big deal, there's another store 3 miles from home, we'll run there. NO root beer. At this point Ryan just wants to run into Walmart to grab the root beer and get home. I make him stop at the 3rd store on the way to town because really, it'll make a better facebook status this way. The third story didn't have root beer so we ended up at Walmart.

Tovah was fretting about not having an alarm clock to wake her up and would I get her up in time.... I figured she'd be up at the crack of dawn. We prepped her lunch (we've been looking at bento sites all summer) and made sure their bags were packed before a 9 o'clock bedtime.

Ready to go to their first day of public school. We dropped Rush off first and didn't even make it out of the parking lot before he called to say he forgot his gym clothes.

Tovah's friends from fastpitch came and found her on the playground (and their mom's came and found me). She was off and already having a great time.

She's off to Mrs. Johnson's third grade class!

We went home a bit shell-shocked to think we'd actually done it and sent her to public school. When we got home we jumped into homeschooling mode and finally ordered Jonah's curriculum (I think of it as waiting for the summer rush to end). We met with Arin & Isaac's supervising teacher and finalized their subject choices. Then we went to the library and out to a Not-Back-To-School lunch at Burger King.

Waiting for the bus to bring them home at 3:10.

I'm still getting looks and one-syllable grunts from Rush when I ask about how its going, but Tovah's having a great time. Today she's trying out hot lunch for the first time and when I broached the subject of dropping her off at school in the mornings when my school starts, she wants to ride the bus.

The boys started in their books yesterday, we're still waiting for several subjects to arrive but this eases us into the schedule. We finally went through the Scout books and merit badge blue cards to see what they need to work on, this has been on my To Do list all summer (or at least since Isaac and Jonah came home from camp). This morning I thought it was going well and everyone was on task until I went in to take a picture of Arin studying in his room and found him in his pajamas, needing a shower, watching a movie on the personal DVD player so obviously we need some reminders of school day expectations.

We had to rearrange the school room for Isaac to have some work area. He and I can share the table now that its turned sideways. I thought I had a leaf for this table, but evidently, I don't. One big change for him, we decided he wouldn't take Biology (he's only in 8th grade so it wouldn't count as his lab science requirement) from Mrs. Witt so he'll be doing A Beka Science of the Physical Creation

Jonah got everything finished and is playing quietly on the DS. Note: all the books on the couch are either going into our yard sale or getting sold online- we're done with them and I needed wanted some more space on the bookshelves. I need to be outside sorting stuff for tomorrow but I'm waiting for Arin to finish.

Rush is playing percussion in the pep band, so tonight we'll all be going to the very first football game in the brand new Adna stadium. They've been working on it every night this week and it's still not finished, but they have to play in it- I'm thinking it'll be a Sani-can event.

2011-12 School Plan (Updated)

~ erica

Is it okay to plan/ start a new school year before you finish the paperwork for the year before? Maybe I'd better work on the kids' assessments today... I sat down last spring and wrote out a preliminary plan for curriculum this year. I still think its a sound plan but I think I need to add a few more things. This morning I started clearing books and homeschool stuff that we are never going to use off the shelves and found a couple of things that I think we should use such as Greenleaf's Old Testament History and the Learning Language Arts Through Literature Orange Book on doing research and a report (I've got the old set and can't find a link to it). Tovah found an Origami book and is busy using up the paper I've had on the shelf for 23 years, I guess its time to let it go!

Jonah: 6th Grade

Bible/ History: Greenleaf Old Testament History, Breakout: How to Share Christ

Reading: Pathways Readers & workbooks New Friends and More New Friends

Math: Math-U-See Delta

Language: Word Roots, LLATL Orange

History: WA State History

Science: Geology MB, Scout stuff

Building Thinking Skills

Health: Baseball, Swim lessons, Scout Stuff

Isaac: 8th Grade

Bible/ History: Greenleaf Old Testament History

Language: A Beka Language B, LLATL Orange/ Research project, Vocabulary

History: WA State History Our Northwest Heritage

Science: Geology A Beka Science of the Physical Creation

Math: Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra

Building Thinking Skills

Arin: 9th Grade

Bible/ History: Greenleaf Old Testament History

Language: IEW Structure and Style, LLATL Orange/ Research project, Vocabulary

History: WA State History Our Northwest Heritage

Science: Geology Apologia Biology
Math: Teaching Textbooks Math 7
Building Thinking Skills

I need to have them do some placement tests for Teaching Textbooks. Also I need to go through their Scout books and current Merit Badge Blue Cards to see what they need to finish up and start to stay on track (this has been on my To Do list since Spring Break). We haven't met with Isaac and Arin's supervising teacher yet and haven't ordered any curriculum but I think we'll get started after Labor Day with what we have on hand- finishing last year's Thinking Skills books, Merit Badge work, LLATL, and Greenleaf. I did a review for Timberdoodle on the Word Roots and Building Thinking Skills and liked them so much we plan to continue using them. I'll probably have Jonah do the literature sections of LLATL while the other 2 only do the research and report units. Wednesday nights start on the 14th and Jonah will get his Breakout book then. We plan on getting another gym membership so we'll swim once a week and they'll go to the gym at least once a week. Jonah is old enough now to go through the training and use the treadmills and exercise bikes. They like to climb the rock so we may try and add that a couple times of month. Of course, it all might change after our meeting with their teacher...



Trigger Finger Mittens

I wanted to make Nathan a pair of mittens with a trigger finger for Afghanistan. I thought I had found a pattern online but when I sat down to make them the pattern called for bulky yarn and I had worsted weight. I took bits and pieces from several different patterns and found a tutorial on making gloves. I will compile all the bits into a pattern once I try knitting another pair (that won't be until December because going to college full-time severely limits my knitting time).

These knit up very quickly. I'm thinking I'll make a pair for my mom for Christmas so I can work out sizes. Nathan's are a little big for Rush (he wouldn't come outside and model them for me). I used Cascade 220 Superwash and it took just under 1 skein for the pair.

I'm still alive, barely...

~Erica

School started a week ago and I feel like I've been buried alive- I have class 2-hours a day and then it's taking me about 5 hours a day to do my homework. I took Geometry and Trig my Jr. year, those formulas are buried deep and having a hard time coming to the surface. My Spanish seems to be bubbling up a lot easier but we haven't moved past Dora yet. My English class is a whole 'nother story- I feel like I'm reading in a foreign language and can't make sense of it at all. Being sick all last week didn't help. Tonight is the first night I've even felt like I can slow down and do something other than homework. I have tests in Spanish and Math on Wednesday so we'll see how it goes...

The kids have written some posts that I need to edit and match pictures to. I'll get it done and upload them as soon as I find the camera and get the pictures on my laptop.

Too funny: we took Jonah to Applebees last week for his birthday and one of the managers came over to talk to Ryan. She asked if that was his grand-daughter on the soccer team with her daughter? Because its usually grandparents who have such big cameras...

Countdown to School

~Erica

September 20 is our official first day of school. I'm trying not to go into panic mode because, after 16 or 22 years (depending on how you're counting) I'm going back to college full-time. It seemed like the right time for a lot of reasons but the closer that day comes the reasons why it's a really bad idea are becoming more apparent.

1) We can't go to Disneyland for 4 years or more as I will have a set schedule that can't be moved or ignored.

2) I'm already triple booked most days how am I going to fit in 2 hours of classes plus an online class and study time?

3) It's been 16 years since I've strained my brain and I'm not sure it's up to the challenge. Just reading the course descriptions makes me weary.

These really seem trivial once they are written down. This is a good time- the kids are capable of independent study, Ryan's home most of the week, my mom may pick up Tovah's enrichment activities (not that I would do any with her if I was home full time), in 2 years we may not be eligible for financial aid but I have time to qualify for scholarships if I start now, and if teaching 5 kids in 5 grades isn't challenging to the brain then I don't know what is!

So, in a little over a week I'm going to school to earn my degree in Sustainable Agriculture and if I never use it- that's okay, I'll know I have it.

For the kids- Monday we are going to start our school schedule and focus on Scouts until the rest of their curriculum arrives, Rush has 3 Eagle required Merit Badges started and really needs to finish them before he gets busy with life. Arin and Isaac have a couple to finish as well. Cub Scouts starts Monday night- Rush is Den Chief for Webelos 1, Arin is Den Chief for Webelos 2, and Jonah is in Webelos 2. Tovah has soccer games on Mondays and Wednesdays for the next 7 weeks, AllStars starts Wednesday at church, and Thursday is Jonah's birthday (as well as 4 kids are getting fillings, including the birthday boy).

This is them walking "naturally"

2010-2011 Curriculum plan

~Erica

I've been meaning to do this for my own planning and the Not Back to School blog hop at Heart of the Matter has just given me the added motivation to get it done.

One thing I’ve found in the past 13 years of homeschooling is that every year looks different and no matter how you plan things happen to change the plan so I need to be flexible and allow the change to happen. This year both Ryan and I will be going to school- his classes are distance learning however I’m taking 2-3 classes each quarter on campus. My plan is to take early classes and be home before the kids are even up and going or better yet, they get up and get their day started so they have most of their lists done before I get home, in my dreams…

Rush is a 10th grader this year, he will be working at home and online through the private school we use to carry his transcripts. Because he’s in high school he counts credits rather than doing the 11 required subjects (watch for a post about these soon). His core texts will be A Beka Language C, Number Power 3 & 4, A Beka Biology, and Spanish 1 (online). For Bible he will be continuing the youth group challenge to read the Bible through in a year and he will be participating in a small group Bible Study. He has a lot of Scouts to finish up in order to complete his Eagle this year (by Dec. 2010) he has several merit badges; Family Life, Camping, Personal Fitness, Personal Management, and an Eagle project to plan and carry out. He’ll play baseball in the spring for a PE credit.

Arin will be in 8th Grade, again. We are calling this 8 Part B. He’s not quite ready to jump into high school courses and I’m not sure I’m ready for him to be done in 4 years. He can start some of the 9th grade texts and take 2 years to complete them (several Rush had a hard time completing in a year). He will be doing A Beka Language B, Math-U-See Delta, Total Health, and WA State History, I'm not starting the actual text until next year but he can start working on his notebook. He will also be reading the Bible through this year. For Scouts he needs to focus on merit badges starting with Family Life and Personal Fitness. He’ll run Middle School Track in the spring.

Isaac is in 7th Grade. He will be focusing on math and Scouts. He needs to complete the work for his 2nd and 1st Class Scout badges and also work on Family Life and Personal Fitness merit badges. He will be doing the Pathways text and work book Seeking True Values, Number Power 2, reading through the Bible in the year, and WA State History, Isaac has 2 years to work on his notebook before doing the textbook in 9th grade. He participates in Chess Club and wants to compete in a couple of tournaments this winter.

Jonah is in 5th grade and Tovah is in 2nd grade. They do a lot of the same work, they will be doing Pathways readers, Math-U-See, and Breakout Bible Study which is our Wednesday night curriculum at church. Jonah will be doing Apples Daily Spelling Drills and Webelos. Tovah is reading the Bible like the big boys (and Grandma will buy her ticket to Wild Waves next summer). She and I will be reading the Little House books and doing some activities from Prairie Primer. We will get together with friends to do God's Design for Life: The World of Animals from Answers in Genesis.

I've used Math-U-See for many years and really like it but have found that it moves too slowly at the upper levels; a year on fractions and then a year on decimals puts the kids behind for starting high school level math. Arin will probably stay with MUS since he struggles with math and is a VERY visual learner. Rush moved to Number Power last year and liked the pace, however, we may move him to an online math course that is offered through the private school we use for his transcript.

The Washington homeschool law allows us to teach subjects without using a formal curriculum or book so we do lots of activities that count as PE, art & music appreciation, language, spelling, reading, and science. I keep copies of their weekly schedules, a book and video log, and our calendar and at the end of the year go through and categorize everything we've done. I'm always very surprised by how much we've done without really trying.

October Gave a Party

Aren't these beautiful? This is the view out my bedroom window looking into our front yard. The colors are absolutely gorgeous this year. A neighbor came over to take pictures and I grabbed my camera and took some as well, the gray day really set off the vibrant colors of the yard.

That's a viburnum in the foreground with an oak to the left and a vine maple peeking in from the right.

The red is barberry planted to keep the neighborhood dogs from trailing across our yard through the flower bed. It's got wicked spikes when you have to weed or mow around it but the autumn color almost makes up for that.

The yew hedge around the "orchard" and garden.

Another view of the vine maples and oaks, looking back towards the house.

We have a huge broad leaf maple in the backyard that quickly covers the lawn with leaves. At first it was fun to rake them up into big piles....

October gave a party;

The leaves by hundreds came -

The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,

And leaves of every name.

The Sunshine spread a carpet,

And everything was grand,

Miss Weather led the dancing,

Professor Wind the band.

~George Cooper, "October's Party"