Our Trip Home To Louisiana

This past week we made a trip home to Louisiana. My mother-in-law was getting remarried. It was nice to be able to go home without worrying about what she was missing in school. This was our first time to travel and do homeschooling at the same time. When Caitlyn packed her book sack she commented on how heavy it was. It had been months since she had to carry a book sack. One more reason to enjoy homeschooling.....No book sacks to carry!

It worked out well though. Caitlyn did her work speedily, finishing the day's assignments early enough to do the next day's assignments as well.

Since she finished Friday's work early she had more time to spend with family and friends. I gave her Monday off as well. Tuesday we traveled home and she studied for a test to be taken today (Wednesday).

The Wedding.

Kevin's mother got married to a sweet man this weekend. Joy lost her husband in 1998 and Mr. Leo lost his wife a few years ago. The two met at a Tea Dance through the AOA (Active Older Adults). They hit it off and were soon inseparable. Before you know it he proposed to her.

In this picture, her two sons prepare to walk her down the isle. My husband, Kevin, is standing on the left, and his brother, Wendell, on the right.

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Scallan....













May you have many happy years together!

We love you both.

Mastering the Arts

Continuing in Fine Arts ~

When we made the decision to homeschool Caitlyn, we didn't want her musical talent to stagnate. Caitlyn has been a flautist in the band in public school since 6th grade. She enjoyed marching with the high school band during football season for the past two years.



(8th Grade Concert Band)

I inherited my Grannie's Kawai piano in 2003 when Caitlyn was in 6th grade. After tinkering on it for about a year Caitlyn showed an interest in learning to play the piano. She has played for the past 4 years or so. Mrs. Linda in Georgia was Caitlyn's first piano teacher. (We love/miss you, Mrs. Linda!) Caitlyn has currently begun her fifth year of lessons. Mrs. Shelley, who has been Caitlyn's piano teacher for two years here in Texas, is currently working with her on certain improvisation techniques for hymns.

(Caitlyn desires to one day own a Steinway.)

When Caitlyn started 9th grade she joined the choir at school. She loved her teacher and her class. Over the past two years they have sung songs such as, "A La Na Nita", "A Joyful Gloria", "Personet Hodie", "Peaceful Gloria", and "Stille Nacht". Caitlyn started taking private voice lessons during 10th grade with Mr. Brooks. She competed twice in the UIL at school. The first time she sang, Beethoven's "I Love Thee" and she scored a "1", which is the highest score possible. The second time she sang, "Loveliest of Trees" and she scored a "2", which is still good considering the music was harder.

Today Caitlyn continues taking piano lessons and private voice lessons. She also plays the flute in our church orchestra and sings in the choir. Caitlyn plans to go to Crown College to train to be an elementary music teacher.

We thank the Lord God for bestowing these talents on her. Our prayer is that He use these talents for His Glory and Honour.

Waiting For Ike

It's Saturday morning and Hurricane Ike has made landfall. It hit land at 2:10 am at Galveston, TX with sustained winds of 110 mph. We weren't sure what to expect here in Dallas, but it looks like we will not get severe weather from Ike. The wind started blowing around 8:30 am, and the rain started soon afterwards. The weather report said we will have wind up to 35 mph along with rain. I'm so thankful that it will not be worse.

I heard that this storm is almost the size of the state of Texas. Ike stretches for over 500 miles. I read somewhere that the eye was 60 miles wide. Even though Ike is only Category 2 hurricane, because of it's massive size it has the potential to do as much or more damage than a Category 4 hurricane.

We are praying for the people that have been hit hard by this massive storm.

Physics

Well this week we started Physics. This is the only subject that we are using a teaching DVD with. I think it was a wise thing to do for this subject. The teacher makes it easy to understand and even fun to learn.

Wikipedia defines Physics as:

Physics, in everyday terms, is the science of matter [1] and its motion; the science that deals with concepts such as force, energy, mass, and charge for example. More accurately, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the world around us behaves.

Caitlyn and I went with our Homeschool Group to see Ringling Bros & Barnum Bailey's The Science of the Circus. They showed how physics is used in every performance. "Many of the laws and principles of physics, such as balance, gravity, momentum, and more, are brought to life by these talented performers. Science of the Circus helps kids get familiar with these science concepts first hand in a way that makes learning fun!" (Ringling Bros & Barnum Bailey Circus)

Here are a couple of pictures from that day:

Balancing

Gyroscopic Stability

Walking the Tight Rope

If you're looking for a fun website about Physics, try this one. http://phet.colorado.edu/index.php

We haven't had time to play with it much, but my friend that sent the link to me said it is very helpful and fun.

Have a great day!

Playing Catch Up

Hello. Today I'm playing catch up on a few things. I'm catching up on the laundry, cleaning the house, grading school work, and this blog! My, how fast the time goes by. I still feel like I'm on that fast spinning ferris wheel. Even so, it's not a bad ride, just fast!

The last time I wrote about homeschooling we had just finished week one. Now we're on week three. Everything is going well. Caitlyn is doing really well with the new curriculum, and I'm settling into my role also.

We love the flexibility of homeschooling. Soon we will travel to our home state for a family member's wedding. Before homeschooling she would have missed school, causing her to fall behind. With homeschooling she can bring her work with her. I know it "looks good on paper". With all of the distractions of seeing family she may get behind a little anyway. We will see how it goes.