This picture is actually from Monday but he is the one I will be discussing at the moment. This face is precious to me...but...
...There are days like yesterday when I have to write my star pupil notes and stick them in his Algebra notebook. In case you can't see it,it says "If you don't: (1.) Leave space between your problems, (2.) Write 2m when it is 2 meters, (3.) Show your work and work down the paper, (4.) date it and tell me the lesson #, Then I will: (1.) Beat you up, and (2.) Mark it wrong (even it it is correct) (Seriously) :) Heart-Mommy
You may think this is harsh, but this is round 2 of sticky notes in the Algebra notebook with pretty much exactly the same
requests demands.
(This was really two lessons in one. How to get a good grade in math and a reminder about "If, Then" sentences...there are teachable moments everywhere!)
Look at this page for example. See how it goes 6, 7, 8....and let me squeeze 11 right under and beside the work of 7 so you have to wonder what the heck is going on here. And this is actually not that bad compared to some of his other pages!
Friends of ours issued a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) challenge due by Friday and we accepted. I understand that this is above and beyond the work I have already assigned Jake for the week...Jake of course believes this should take priority and went ahead and made planes for his marshmallow and toothpick bridge....I think he has 5 plans. None showing any marshmallows...
...Really he just doodled some plans for cool looking bridges. I know this because when I sat down with him and asked how exactly he would build (and he wants to build several) his arched bridge design (not pictured...I think that was design #4 or #5) with toothpicks and marshmallows, he said he hadn't thought of that yet. I love this kid! He gets excited with the idea in general before really making a plan.
I have no idea where he gets that. Okay. Fine. He gets it from me. The "leap before looking" mentality. We will have to work on that. The two sheets in the out of focus photo are a result of trying something new. We do this a lot to "perfect" our homeschooling experience. Jake wanted me to give him his assignments for the week and he would decide which assignments he was going to do when. With the understanding that you
have to do math everyday and you can't write a whole paper due on Friday...on Friday (or read a whole chapter of science, do the study guide, and take a test all on one day. Or practice spelling and take a test all day...you get it. Jake does too...in theory. We shall see..). And if you want to do one of the things that we do together, I have to agree it is a good time to do it. So far, so good. The weekly assignment sheet hangs on a clipboard by the door...since it has already been momentarily misplaced and I just gave it to him yesterday. The plan is to give it to him Sunday night-if not during the week prior. I couldn't print it until Tuesday morning and Jake is already complaining about missing a day he could have worked on it...even though we didn't get home on Monday from co-op and the library until 4:00 and I KNOW he would not have done any thing on Monday anyway.
On a completely unrelated topic, I found this cheap ($7.99 compared to Annie Sloan's $36) chalk paint I am going to try out. I need to get back to painting. I have several pieces that are just waiting to be painted and sold, but I haven't had much motivation lately. Plus I am afraid to go into the little
"studio" glorified crawl space (it is more than a crawl space but at the moment I harbor ill feelings toward it...when those fade I will come up with a new name...I still need to take pictures of it...Soon...Maybe.) under the house because when I was taking Mr. Rooter (we thought we had a plumbing problem but after being told it would be a $675, I fixed it with a huge bottle of Drain-O) in to look at a pipe and there on the light switch box, that I was about to turn on, sat a snake. I had to push Mr. Rooter out of the way because apparently frantically yelling "SNAKE!" and trying to run out didn't give him the clue to get out of my way. Any way. I won't be painting in there any time soon. But I will be painting soon!
Back to yesterday. Do you ever have those moments when you pass through a room and see a snap shot of your life at that exact moment? I do. All the time. And then I take a picture of it to remember. This is a photo of one of those moments. Jake's drawing paper that he had been designing his bridges in (that I really do love), Ender's Game that he is a couple pages from finishing (we started it last year together but I just couldn't get into it because it is a total "boy book" in my estimation..but he decided to restart it when he got it for free at the library, at a homeschooling event-which is good because he still wants to see the movie and in our house you have to read the book before you can see the movie...but I am not going to read it and I will watch the movie with him), my plants that I need to pot because they have taken root, on my table that I painted, with my chairs that I need to add another coat of spray paint to, our book cases filled with our beloved books, in our blue dining room, with Aaron's guitars (that he plays in the evening after dinner and is teaching Jake to play) leaning against the wall, right next to the simple white curtains that are my favorite, and Jake's Darth Vader cup that he has taken upon himself to hand wash so it will last longer, my wide mouth Mason Jar of water that I sip on every time I pass through the room and has been there a while because the ice is all melted, and of course the huge bowl of marshmallows (3 bags to be exact....I didn't know he was going to open all of them..that have since been transferred to a cook sheet) that we are hoping will get stale/hard and be better bridge building material....See what I mean? All this went through my head as I walked through the room. A snapshot that captures a moment of our lives...I love it. And yes that was most likely one of the longest run on sentences I have every typed...which is saying a lot because...well it's me and that is what I do!
I did a lot of laundry yesterday. It was a perfect laundry on the line kind of day. Let me tell you, I would pay millions (if I had it) if someone could bottle the smell of our favorite laundry detergent, our favorite fabric softener, and true Southern Autumn breeze...All the "clean linen" sprays/candles I have smelt, smell pretty good. But NOTHING can even compare to the sweet smell of our fresh, clean laundry when I take it off the line. I wish that scent could last! I hang the clothes up really quickly, hoping that the scent will attach itself to our other clothes. But it doesn't. They clothes still smell amazing, but nothing like that fresh of the line smell. I love it.
Sadie love the water hose. I was just trying to fill up her bowl but she just can't resist playing in it even for just a second. Pretty soon it will be too chilly to play in-even for a dog! Sadie is so shiny. I love this crazy dog.
And literally seconds later a leaf fell into her bowl and she did not want to disturb it so she drank from the side. I love Fall
I mean seriously...Can you ever really take enough pictures of laundry on the line? That is my favorite table clothe. I love it so much that I bought another one, from Walmart, before they don't have it any more.
I am pretty sure I am going to hang up pictures of our laundry, on our line, in our laundry room. That is a lot of ours.
Although we have a school room/office, school happens every where. Jake decided to read his science (while chewing on a straw I gave him- for that purpose after he had to throw away a pen he had chewed up) on the trampoline yesterday. He is out there right now doing his math. I love that we can do school on the trampoline. I love that we can go from me threatening to beat him up (which may or may not have been a joke...) if he doesn't leave space on his math sheet, to "ohhhhh. Look at my Jake doing school on the trampoline!" all in one day!
This is getting to be a familiar shot...I just really love this spot in my house. I do my make up a lot sitting in this chair. I don't know why I don't sit in my regular spot (across from this one, where my view is our lovely books on their shelves) to put on my make up...I just like to change up my views I guess. I am ready to decorate the buffet for Christmas already, thanks in part to a trip to Dollar Tree Yesterday. It is going to be so pretty and cheap!
Jake brought out his Millenniam (sp?) Falcon to show the missionaries at dinner yesterday. Elder Crossin (the guy giving the thumbs up) is being transferred to another area today and we were the lucky ones to share his last meal in Spartanburg with. He had a lot in common with Jake (books, both want to be engineers, Lego's, Star Wars) and is a great missionary.
Aaron has a busy week going on. He is trying to finish 4 houses and last night when he finally got home (to stay-he came home and had to turn right back around and head to a meeting a church) at 8ish, said it just might happen. Yesterday I washed one of his hats, that he hasn't worn in a while because it was pretty dirty and it came out looking like new. I sent him a text to show him how awesome it looked because that is how we roll around here.
Jake just finished his Algebra and no problems are crowding together which means I don't have to beat him up...today. :) I guess that means we did better than yesterday and that is all that really matters.
