A Rodent's Tale, part two.

Ivory and Ebony
lived together in perfect harmony -
till one day Miss Rose
was naughty and chose
to play show and tell with a friend.

Ivory took rides in their dresses;
she ran and made messes
on the floor,
but what's more
that was not the end.

No, Miss Rose had a plan.
She picked Ivory up by the hand
and placed her in her sleeve
and by golly, by jeeves,
she did not know what this would rend.

With a scream I was called,
for Ivory had crawled
up the sleeve, up the arm
and Miss Rose, fearing harm,
pulled the tail, and it came off the end.

So that's the sad tale
of Ivory's tail.
It's now rather stubby,
or maybe just nubby.
A reminder that Miss Rose sinned.

A Rodent's Tale

It's been just over a week since our poor gerbil, Ivory (roommate of Ebony), lost half of her tail courtesy of Miss Rose. She doesn't really seem to miss it, but I realized that she'd never had a rodent poem dedicated to her, so if any of you wax poetic, please share.

For those of you just tuning in to this sad little tale, suffice it to say that when a 4yo puts a gerbil in her dress sleeve (after having been played with on the floor and put in dress pockets and who knows what else), said gerbil WILL crawl up the sleeve of said 4yo causing tremendous chaos to break forth and echo throughout the house. In an effort to get the gerbil back out, a 4yo will grab the tail, and in self-defense, the tail will be come off. It's rather gross to look at, too. A handy houseguest can perform rodent surgery, truncating the bony remains (which would have supposedly dried up and fallen off in a few days), and cauterizing to reduce risk of infection. It's all quite emotional, even for M.E., but the next day you will find yourself laughing realizing that it would be dangerous to have a wire spoked wheel in a gerbil cage, because their tails can get caught in them and get ripped off, and we wouldn't want that to happen. hahahaha

So my advice...never leave a 4yo to entertain her 5yo friend, because no matter how good they've been before, eventually "show and tail" will happen.

Miss Daisy's List

I suppose I must give Miss Daisy equal opportunity here, although her schedule for next fall doesn't look near as bad. :-)

6th grade
English: Wordly Wise 7, Jump In, Easy Grammar Plus, Natural Speller, Diagramming

History: Mystery of History Vol. 1, Supplemental reading from Winter Promise, etc.

Math: Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra

Reading: Progeny Press guides, free reading

Science: Real Science 4 Kids, Physics and Chemistry; TOPS experiments; living books (maybe Intermediate Science Through Literature)

Non-Core:
Ballet, Modern, Violin, Spanish, Handmaidens, Character Building for Families Vol. 2

Her non-core requires quite a bit of time, so this is pretty full load, especially considering she is my crafty girl. She sews, knits, crochets, embroiders, quills, scrapbooks, and more. :-)

Tune in next fall to see if these schedules bring whines and groans or blissful studies.

Mr. Al's 8th grade

Who would have thought that we'd be embarking on our 9th year of homeschooling come Fall 2009? That's not counting preschool. Surely the Lord has sustained me on this journey I'd never planned to take. I remember the first year of school with Mr. Al. We would usually have 4 bad days and 1 OK day (have I ever mentioned that he was a strongwilled little bugger?). I must have beat my head against the wall daily back then (maybe that's why I'm a bit absentminded now?).

So here we are. It's amazing what we've accomplished when I really look at it. I tend to kick myself for the things we didn't do rather than focus on what we DID do. It's really better to do the latter. What will fall bring for Mr. Al? Here is the tentative line-up:

CORE
English: Elements of Style; Style, Lessons in Clarity and Grace; Wordly Wise 9
History: Omnibus I from Veritas (and many accompanying books) - Ancient History
Mathematics: Teaching Textbooks Algebra II
Reading: Smarr's Introduction to Literature
Science: Hakim's Story of Science Vol. 1-3; TOPS science lab books; supplementary reading

NON-CORE
Art: Annotated Mona Lisa
Greek: Elementary Greek Year 2 by Gatchell; Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar; Graded Reader of Biblical Greek
Latin: Latina Christiana 2; Ludere Latin 2
Logic: Intermediate Logic (Canon Press); Art of Argument; Thinking Toolbox; Challenging Logic Puzzles
Music: ??? Maybe something else from The Great Courses
PE: Variety of exercises
Religion: Character Building for Families Vol. 2; individual study

I'm very excited for him to get to work on all of this next year. We usually tweak as we go until we get in a groove (and many things being only once a week), but he's a very good student and LOVES Greek.

So there you have it...from Kindergarten to this...Thank you, Lord for blessing our journey!

A Chocolate Day

I confess that today was a chocolate day. By 10am this morning, I needed chocolate...and a room all to myself where I could pretend I wasn't mom for a few minutes. It's amazing what a few minutes of refocusing can do to change my perspective. I knew that God saw where I was, and that He didn't want me to hide out all day, and He reminded me to focus on what was TRUE and REAL (thank you Elizabeth George for imprinting that phrase on my mind). It was true that my house was a real mess, that my kids needed me (and not grumpy mom!), and that I had cello students coming in less than 4 hours. I emerged from my momentary asylum with a changed attitude knowing the Lord was with me and that He cared for me!

"I will lift up mine eyes to the hills...my help cometh from the Lord" Ps. 121

Shuffle shuffle

We've been busy moving things around in the house trying to accomplish a more ordered look (don't stop by right now). Some days I think the best solution would be to list half our stuff on freecycle. :-)

And in case you're wondering, Jimmie is 8 days old and is doing great!

Praise You in This Storm

My heart is heavy today with so many friends in need. I'm especially praying for little Jimmie today. He was born last night and is a mere 1 1/2 pounds and is the son of Miss Daisy's ballet teacher, Rachael.

I know we can't begin to understand everything that happens, nor do we need to, and that's OK! God knows. We just have to remember to praise Him in the good times as well as in the storms. He uses those storms to draw us closer to Him, and is there really a better place to be than safe in the arms of His love?

I leave you with this Casting Crowns song:

Praise you in this storm!