Rain
Rain and more rain! We have had rain since Monday. In other words - today (Thursday) is our 4th day of rain. And it's supposed to rain tomorrow.
I love it!
We all went back to the springs on the 14th. My sister was down and we all got together and made a picnic of it. It was lots of fun! I don't have a clue why I didn't take my camera but I didn't. The boys swam until they were water logged. Kids just like to do that! LOL
Ok - I've talked about the rain. Now I need to talk about some thoughts.
I was thinking today about blogging. I used to love to work on this blog. I still want to sit and times and tinker around with it. But really, I don't want to be tied to the computer again. I'm gardening and reading and teaching and laughing and playing and praying and on and on....
Don't worry, I'll be here from time to time.
Showing posts with label springs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label springs. Show all posts
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
A Perfect Day
Today was just a perfect day. Warm Hot weather has struck us here in Florida. Oh, it's nothing like it's gonna get! Anyway...This is where we spent our day!
Blue Springs
Levy County
Levy County
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Thursday, September 27, 2007
Meetings and Fieldtrips
I am really loving going to out homeschool group meetings now. I don't know why but I am. Maybe it's the I don't have to if I don't want to thing. Today was a good day for all the boys, which makes it a good day for me.
There wasn't anything planned today for our weekly outing, we just played it by ear. And believe it or not, things worked out well by doing it that way.
There were several people at the springs that was fishing. One gentleman caught a very small bream and gave it to WW and everyone looked at the little bream and then WW was able to release the little guy. When you release a fish, you can't just throw him in the water and expect him to swim off. WW held him in his hand and supported him upright until the gills went to working and then the fins started working and then he slowly started to swim and then he swam off in a hurry. What a cool thing for kids to do.
One of the kids caught a very small Snapping Turtle. It wasn't much bigger than your thumbnail. I didn't know they were orange on their underside - but I know now. Snail eggs - not just any snail eggs, but Apple Snail eggs. The snail eggs had not been laid very long, they were still shinny and slimmy looking. Pretty darn neat if you ask me. Oh there were other little critters to explore and enjoy too. We look and we leave. Look at the critters, enjoy what you see and then leave them alone. The kids really like to pull the Water Lettuce out of the water. It is such an invasive plant that we try to pull some everytime we go. Another invasive plant is the Water Hyacinth. And yes we pull these too. They really do have some awesome flowers but they are killing our water resourses.
For some time now, I have been interested in learning Spanish and French. I just didn't have anyone else that was interested in learning it with me, so I just put it off. Ah Ha - the boys are interested in learning with me. Finally, someone that is interested. Tonight me and all 3 of the boys sat down and started on our Spanish. We started with Rosetta Stone. I don't know how we are going to do, but at least we are willing to try. WW seems the most interested in learning, well besides me. MJ sits with us and he tries so hard, I think that he may just get the hang of it. JD shows a little bit of interest, but who knows, maybe he'll come around. And maybe Spanish just isn't his thing. Maybe he will be more interested in French.
Tomorrow we are off on a field trip. Wow this has really been the week for trips, two days in a row. Actually, kinda neat. Our field trip tomorrow will find us at Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. My mom is going with us and we are all excited about getting out of the classroom again.
I know you all want pictures, but please bear with me on this. I really hate my digital camera because it is so picky and is very old. Hopefully within a couple of weeks I will be able to buy another one. We are looking at a Canon and a Sony. So be patient and bear with me please.
There wasn't anything planned today for our weekly outing, we just played it by ear. And believe it or not, things worked out well by doing it that way.
There were several people at the springs that was fishing. One gentleman caught a very small bream and gave it to WW and everyone looked at the little bream and then WW was able to release the little guy. When you release a fish, you can't just throw him in the water and expect him to swim off. WW held him in his hand and supported him upright until the gills went to working and then the fins started working and then he slowly started to swim and then he swam off in a hurry. What a cool thing for kids to do.
One of the kids caught a very small Snapping Turtle. It wasn't much bigger than your thumbnail. I didn't know they were orange on their underside - but I know now. Snail eggs - not just any snail eggs, but Apple Snail eggs. The snail eggs had not been laid very long, they were still shinny and slimmy looking. Pretty darn neat if you ask me. Oh there were other little critters to explore and enjoy too. We look and we leave. Look at the critters, enjoy what you see and then leave them alone. The kids really like to pull the Water Lettuce out of the water. It is such an invasive plant that we try to pull some everytime we go. Another invasive plant is the Water Hyacinth. And yes we pull these too. They really do have some awesome flowers but they are killing our water resourses.
For some time now, I have been interested in learning Spanish and French. I just didn't have anyone else that was interested in learning it with me, so I just put it off. Ah Ha - the boys are interested in learning with me. Finally, someone that is interested. Tonight me and all 3 of the boys sat down and started on our Spanish. We started with Rosetta Stone. I don't know how we are going to do, but at least we are willing to try. WW seems the most interested in learning, well besides me. MJ sits with us and he tries so hard, I think that he may just get the hang of it. JD shows a little bit of interest, but who knows, maybe he'll come around. And maybe Spanish just isn't his thing. Maybe he will be more interested in French.
Tomorrow we are off on a field trip. Wow this has really been the week for trips, two days in a row. Actually, kinda neat. Our field trip tomorrow will find us at Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. My mom is going with us and we are all excited about getting out of the classroom again.
I know you all want pictures, but please bear with me on this. I really hate my digital camera because it is so picky and is very old. Hopefully within a couple of weeks I will be able to buy another one. We are looking at a Canon and a Sony. So be patient and bear with me please.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Summersville Missouri
We all piled into the rental car. A really nice mid size SUV. The boys had plenty of room and there was lots of room for our luggage in the back.
It was about a 2 hour drive to Houston, Missouri. We went up hills and down hills. The boys had never seen foothills or mountains. We were in the Ozark Mountain Foothills. Beside the road there are cut outs in the mountains. Beautiful rock formations. Superman and I explained (as best we could) about how this was done. My dad used to work on roads and he had explained to me years ago. All of the boys ask question after question about the process and of course they wanted to know why. The "why" question comes up a lot. But that's ok with us.
Once we got in Houston, we had some paperwork to take care of with the property. We had told the boys that Friday would be for business and Saturday would be for fun. They were just fine with that. Not only were the boys fine with us taking care of business but their behaviour was excellent. I'll tell you all about a little issue with the closing of the property sale in a little bit.
After all the business with the property was taken care of we headed to see the property. OH MY! Beautiful! Superman had some concerns that I wouldn't like the property. I loved it! The boys loved it!
We took a little drive around the area of the property so that we could see the country side. Superman also took us to a State park that is a 15 minute drive from the property. 15 minutes and we can be swimming and playing. The park is Alley Springs. Around the springs there is a trail that you can walk on. On the side of the trail there are caves where the Osage Indians lived. What a History lesson for the boys! They were amazed that the Indians lived there at one time.
Easement issue with the property. Superman called about a week before we were to meet with the realtor, to double check on our appointment time and to ask about any easements on the property. The realtor told Superman that if he wanted to know about easements and such that he (Superman) would have to call the Court House. Now wait a minute here. Why can't the realtor call and make sure that things with the property are taken care of and that there are not any legal issues with the property. It really kinda ticked us off that the realtor wouldn't make the necessary calls or do the necessary research. Blah, blah, blah...
Woe and behold there's an easement issue. It has to do with a huge power line easement.
To make a long story short - the title company is working on clearing everything up. The money is in escrow waiting for any legal matters to be taken care of. All people involved in the property are content that everything will be taken care of. Our closing date has been moved up and we will be able to close via mail and email.
Summersville, Missouri is the closest town and it is a po dunk town. The population is less than 600. I like that. We will be close enough to Houston, that we will be able to do most of our shopping there. If we can't find it there, then there are lots of other towns within 50 miles that we will be able to shop at.
It was about a 2 hour drive to Houston, Missouri. We went up hills and down hills. The boys had never seen foothills or mountains. We were in the Ozark Mountain Foothills. Beside the road there are cut outs in the mountains. Beautiful rock formations. Superman and I explained (as best we could) about how this was done. My dad used to work on roads and he had explained to me years ago. All of the boys ask question after question about the process and of course they wanted to know why. The "why" question comes up a lot. But that's ok with us.
Once we got in Houston, we had some paperwork to take care of with the property. We had told the boys that Friday would be for business and Saturday would be for fun. They were just fine with that. Not only were the boys fine with us taking care of business but their behaviour was excellent. I'll tell you all about a little issue with the closing of the property sale in a little bit.
After all the business with the property was taken care of we headed to see the property. OH MY! Beautiful! Superman had some concerns that I wouldn't like the property. I loved it! The boys loved it!
We took a little drive around the area of the property so that we could see the country side. Superman also took us to a State park that is a 15 minute drive from the property. 15 minutes and we can be swimming and playing. The park is Alley Springs. Around the springs there is a trail that you can walk on. On the side of the trail there are caves where the Osage Indians lived. What a History lesson for the boys! They were amazed that the Indians lived there at one time.
Easement issue with the property. Superman called about a week before we were to meet with the realtor, to double check on our appointment time and to ask about any easements on the property. The realtor told Superman that if he wanted to know about easements and such that he (Superman) would have to call the Court House. Now wait a minute here. Why can't the realtor call and make sure that things with the property are taken care of and that there are not any legal issues with the property. It really kinda ticked us off that the realtor wouldn't make the necessary calls or do the necessary research. Blah, blah, blah...
Woe and behold there's an easement issue. It has to do with a huge power line easement.
To make a long story short - the title company is working on clearing everything up. The money is in escrow waiting for any legal matters to be taken care of. All people involved in the property are content that everything will be taken care of. Our closing date has been moved up and we will be able to close via mail and email.
Summersville, Missouri is the closest town and it is a po dunk town. The population is less than 600. I like that. We will be close enough to Houston, that we will be able to do most of our shopping there. If we can't find it there, then there are lots of other towns within 50 miles that we will be able to shop at.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Thursdays Fieldtrip
We met with our Home School group again. Yeppers - back at the springs. I don't remember if I told you the name of the springs or not but anyway, we meet at Rum Island Springs. The kids get to swim and interact with others of all ages, even adults. The park admission is free on Thursdays. We had a great time (as usual). Our coordinator couldn't stay because she had to take her oldest son to the doctor. An email from her today said that her son is fine and on antibiotics.
We had 2 new parents and 3 new children join our group in the last week. Great people! I think the group is really going to grow.
I will tell you all about JD a little later. Ok - I'll tell you now. He was not allowed to swim because of his behavior on Wednesday. He sat at our table and complained about his work. My gosh - he only had 7 questions to answer. It was open book and the answers were on 2 pages. Ok - enough of that for now.
When we left the springs and went into Gainesville because as usual, I try to save time and gas and get everything done while I am out and about. We stopped by The Learning Path and the boys loved the store. I thought it was ok - well better than ok but I think it is more focused on Public School than Home School. There really are some wonderful things for the classroom, if you are into that sorta stuff. Once we left there we drudged across town and into the University traffic. Yeah - what a blast that was. LOL Barnes and Noble bookstore. One of my very favorite stores. The boys had read some books during the summer and for every 8 books that they read, they could get a free book. WW and JD was able to get 2 free books and MJ was able to get 1 free book. Pretty darn neat idea! I had 2 gift cards, one from Mothers Day and one from my birthday that I wanted to use to get me a couple of new books. I walked around and around and I looked and looked - no books for me. I know - how can I not find a book for me in a darn book store? Because I shop the bargain books. I generally buy my favorite author's hardback books for less than $10. That way I can get more bang for my bucks. Or more books for my bucks! I love a bargain! I did manage to find 2 wonderful wall maps for our classroom - one is a World map and the other one is the United States. I managed to get them for $6 and that was with my 20% Teachers Discount (more about this in a minute). As I was walking around looking for my books, I found a table with some school info on it. There was an application for a 20% Teachers Discount - It includes Home School. I'm all signed up for my Teachers Discount! Yee Haw! You really need to check it out!
5 O'clock traffic! Oh no! And to top all the traffic off, WW started screaming like a little girl! And crawling across the back seat and coming out of the shoulder harness of his seat belt. A teeny, tiny spider was on his seat belt. Boy, oh boy - You would have sworn that a giant man eater had jumped in the car with us. I had to stop the car and have a talk to him about spiders and they are not man eaters. It certainly made an interesting topic at supper.
Ok - now will you please pass the Xanax!
ps - JD finally finished his school work and the munchkin made a 100!
We had 2 new parents and 3 new children join our group in the last week. Great people! I think the group is really going to grow.
I will tell you all about JD a little later. Ok - I'll tell you now. He was not allowed to swim because of his behavior on Wednesday. He sat at our table and complained about his work. My gosh - he only had 7 questions to answer. It was open book and the answers were on 2 pages. Ok - enough of that for now.
When we left the springs and went into Gainesville because as usual, I try to save time and gas and get everything done while I am out and about. We stopped by The Learning Path and the boys loved the store. I thought it was ok - well better than ok but I think it is more focused on Public School than Home School. There really are some wonderful things for the classroom, if you are into that sorta stuff. Once we left there we drudged across town and into the University traffic. Yeah - what a blast that was. LOL Barnes and Noble bookstore. One of my very favorite stores. The boys had read some books during the summer and for every 8 books that they read, they could get a free book. WW and JD was able to get 2 free books and MJ was able to get 1 free book. Pretty darn neat idea! I had 2 gift cards, one from Mothers Day and one from my birthday that I wanted to use to get me a couple of new books. I walked around and around and I looked and looked - no books for me. I know - how can I not find a book for me in a darn book store? Because I shop the bargain books. I generally buy my favorite author's hardback books for less than $10. That way I can get more bang for my bucks. Or more books for my bucks! I love a bargain! I did manage to find 2 wonderful wall maps for our classroom - one is a World map and the other one is the United States. I managed to get them for $6 and that was with my 20% Teachers Discount (more about this in a minute). As I was walking around looking for my books, I found a table with some school info on it. There was an application for a 20% Teachers Discount - It includes Home School. I'm all signed up for my Teachers Discount! Yee Haw! You really need to check it out!
5 O'clock traffic! Oh no! And to top all the traffic off, WW started screaming like a little girl! And crawling across the back seat and coming out of the shoulder harness of his seat belt. A teeny, tiny spider was on his seat belt. Boy, oh boy - You would have sworn that a giant man eater had jumped in the car with us. I had to stop the car and have a talk to him about spiders and they are not man eaters. It certainly made an interesting topic at supper.
Ok - now will you please pass the Xanax!
ps - JD finally finished his school work and the munchkin made a 100!
Monday, August 20, 2007
We Survived
We survived the first day of home school. Maybe I should say "I survived". Actually we all had a wonderful time. We talked and expressed ourselves, gave ideas and ask questions, we drew and we added, we talked about fractions, we talked about fish and water. We spent the first hour in class without any of us realizing that an hour had went by. For our first break we played Frisbee. I even showed the boys that their mom had a few moves when it came to Frisbee. I still got it! LOL
Once we returned to the classroom the next 2 hours went by extremely fast too. We went over our LifePac books and a few of our lessons. The last 30 minutes the boys reviewed their books quietly while I did a few things. They worked independently and quietly. Can you belief it?! Neither can I. LOL
I was certainly surprised that the boys did so well on their first day. Very little back talk - almost no back talk. A huge improvement from our (now) 12 year old (JD). He was very, very helpful in class. We completed class today at 12 noon and off ran the boys to play or to eat lunch. I ran to the bedroom for a little nap. I ask the boys to wake me up at 1:30 and we would head to the springs.
At the springs we worked on our diving, back flips, taking turns and snorkeling. I think we snorkeled more than anything else. We saw Gar Fish, Bream and Snapping Turtles. They all suggested that we learn more about the fish and the turtles. What a great idea!
When we finished swimming and headed home the boys were all talking about how cool home school is. They talked amongst themselves and I heard each one of them say that they never wanted to go back to public school. I hope they keep that attitude once we get involved in the books more. We won't go swimming every day that is for sure, but there is no reason that we can't end on a positive note. I kinda look at it compared to the time I was horse training and take a few training lessons. Always end on a positive note.
Once we returned to the classroom the next 2 hours went by extremely fast too. We went over our LifePac books and a few of our lessons. The last 30 minutes the boys reviewed their books quietly while I did a few things. They worked independently and quietly. Can you belief it?! Neither can I. LOL
I was certainly surprised that the boys did so well on their first day. Very little back talk - almost no back talk. A huge improvement from our (now) 12 year old (JD). He was very, very helpful in class. We completed class today at 12 noon and off ran the boys to play or to eat lunch. I ran to the bedroom for a little nap. I ask the boys to wake me up at 1:30 and we would head to the springs.
At the springs we worked on our diving, back flips, taking turns and snorkeling. I think we snorkeled more than anything else. We saw Gar Fish, Bream and Snapping Turtles. They all suggested that we learn more about the fish and the turtles. What a great idea!
When we finished swimming and headed home the boys were all talking about how cool home school is. They talked amongst themselves and I heard each one of them say that they never wanted to go back to public school. I hope they keep that attitude once we get involved in the books more. We won't go swimming every day that is for sure, but there is no reason that we can't end on a positive note. I kinda look at it compared to the time I was horse training and take a few training lessons. Always end on a positive note.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Swimming In The Heat
It's getting hot down here. I should have said HOT! The temperature at 11:30am today was 93 degrees. The heat index is in the triple digits. I mean around 105 degrees and above. It kinda seems like the first day of August arrived and so did the heat. What I want to know, is who left the oven on?!
We are fortunate enough to have a springs near by, actually within a 15 minute drive. And yes, we went swimming at the springs again today. I had one errand to do before we went, only to drive 22 miles and then get told that it had to be in Gainesville, which is another 25 miles in the opposite direction from my home. Ok that will just have to wait until another day. I'm not one to just run all over the place. I try to plan things and do everything while I am out and about and all in the same direction.
There wasn't many people at the springs today and that always makes it nice. There were 2 very nice kids (boys, whatever you wanna call em) maybe 15 or 16 years old, that helped my boys with their diving and back flips and front flips. WW said that he would never try a back flip again because he did a back flop - kinda like a belly flop but on his back. Now MJ on the other hand - well he was doing back flips and front flips until he looked like a pro. At first I had to sit on the dock and have him stand on my feet before he would try it. But once again, like jumping off the dock, he had to try it before he would jump off the dock. It really made great conversation at suppertime. I can't wait until Superman gets to see his flips and how his swimming has improved. JD is fine with jumping in feet first or doing his famous cannon ball. He isn't much for the diving and flipping stuff. But that's ok, when and if he does them, I will be fine with that. Here is a link so that you can look at some of the springs not far from us. The one we go to is Bronson Blue Springs.
There are lots of things that we want to do tomorrow - such as - mow my moms grass and set up for a yard sale. In order for us to mow her yard, we have to get a bunch of buckets off of the lawn trailer and put them away. Yeppers, they needed moving today and yesterday too. Nothing like planning ahead. LOL Then hook up the trailer, load the mower and so on and so on. I'm just not sure that I have the energy. I know I need to clean the windows on the outside of the house but darn it. They have been dirty for this long, what's another day or 2 gonna hurt. Oh just listen to me, I sound like I'm complaining. Blah, Blah, Blah!
Superman ask me to pick up a movie tonight and he requested Premonition with Sandra Bullock. I saw it while he was out of town and I recommended that he see it. I know I really enjoyed it when I watched it. So sat down tonight and I watched it again with him. I enjoyed it again and he enjoyed it also. We are just big Sandra Bullock fans.
Unless I can think of anything else to blah, blah, blah about tonight, I am off to go through my material tub again. I am ready to start cutting some material, just so I can sew it back together again.
We are fortunate enough to have a springs near by, actually within a 15 minute drive. And yes, we went swimming at the springs again today. I had one errand to do before we went, only to drive 22 miles and then get told that it had to be in Gainesville, which is another 25 miles in the opposite direction from my home. Ok that will just have to wait until another day. I'm not one to just run all over the place. I try to plan things and do everything while I am out and about and all in the same direction.
There wasn't many people at the springs today and that always makes it nice. There were 2 very nice kids (boys, whatever you wanna call em) maybe 15 or 16 years old, that helped my boys with their diving and back flips and front flips. WW said that he would never try a back flip again because he did a back flop - kinda like a belly flop but on his back. Now MJ on the other hand - well he was doing back flips and front flips until he looked like a pro. At first I had to sit on the dock and have him stand on my feet before he would try it. But once again, like jumping off the dock, he had to try it before he would jump off the dock. It really made great conversation at suppertime. I can't wait until Superman gets to see his flips and how his swimming has improved. JD is fine with jumping in feet first or doing his famous cannon ball. He isn't much for the diving and flipping stuff. But that's ok, when and if he does them, I will be fine with that. Here is a link so that you can look at some of the springs not far from us. The one we go to is Bronson Blue Springs.
There are lots of things that we want to do tomorrow - such as - mow my moms grass and set up for a yard sale. In order for us to mow her yard, we have to get a bunch of buckets off of the lawn trailer and put them away. Yeppers, they needed moving today and yesterday too. Nothing like planning ahead. LOL Then hook up the trailer, load the mower and so on and so on. I'm just not sure that I have the energy. I know I need to clean the windows on the outside of the house but darn it. They have been dirty for this long, what's another day or 2 gonna hurt. Oh just listen to me, I sound like I'm complaining. Blah, Blah, Blah!
Superman ask me to pick up a movie tonight and he requested Premonition with Sandra Bullock. I saw it while he was out of town and I recommended that he see it. I know I really enjoyed it when I watched it. So sat down tonight and I watched it again with him. I enjoyed it again and he enjoyed it also. We are just big Sandra Bullock fans.
Unless I can think of anything else to blah, blah, blah about tonight, I am off to go through my material tub again. I am ready to start cutting some material, just so I can sew it back together again.
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