Off to Atlanta

We're heading for Atlanta tomorrow morning. The Region 8 speech & debate tournament begins tomorrow night, and lasts through the week. I'll check in if I get a chance, but if not I'll see you in a week or so! If you're looking for something good to read, try some of the blogs in my bloglist (left).

Wish My Boy luck!

New Neighbors

It's a beautiful springtime here by the lake, and that means new neighbors!

Here's our front door. Do you see the new folks?



What about now?



Look closer!



There they are!



A mamma house finch has boldly built a home less than 2 feet from our front door. Every time we go in or out, we are startled by the sound of wings flapping as she flies away. I worry about those those babies, because the Mamma is so disturbed by our comings and goings that I'm surprised she was on the eggs long enough to properly warm them. But at least one hatched. I'm not tall enough to see inside the nest, so I'm depending on my camera to show me what's happening.

Here's the inside of the nest about a week ago.



and here it is today:



It looks like only one baby, doesn't it? I guess a wreath by the door isn't a great place for a nest.

Our other set of neighbors moved in up near the road.

This a bluebird house that has at least 2 broods every year.



I tried to get a shot of the parents as they were going in and out, but just never timed it right.




Here are the babies about a week ago.





Here they are today.



Either mom or dad is keeping an eye on me from the tree across the street.



I hung my baskets of ferns and petunias last week, so I'm sure it's just a matter of time before more families settle in!

Easter Sunday

My Girl was confirmed at church on Easter Sunday.

She really loved her confirmation class. It met for 13 weeks, and was taught jointly by Pastor Billy and her dad. I think there were 13 confirmands, plus each confirmand had a mentor who stuck with them and attended all their classes with them too.



Miss Lynn is the best mentor ever. She is so thoughtful and sweet, and really loves My Girl. I'm happy My Girl has another grown-up in the church that she knows will always love her and care about her no matter what.

The night before Easter, there was a cookout at the church.








Then on Easter morning during the worship service, the kids were confirmed and welcomed into the church body as full members.




It was a special time for My Girl, and I know she'll always remember it fondly!

Unit 3 Celebration

We had our Tapestry of Grace co-op's Unit 3 Celebration a couple of weeks ago, and I only remembered to take a few pictures. I got this really neat camera, and I can never remember to use it!

We had a very nice turnout, and lots of good food. I will say, though, that I'll be glad to move on to a new year plan, where there will hopefully be more food selections ;-) We've spent just about the whole year in the ancient Mediterranean area. Let's see... olives, whole grain bread, grapes. We've about done all the combinations you can do! We did have some yummy baklava, a great Greek salad, some chicken kabobs, and some tasty yogurt/cucumber dip this last time. I should have taken pictures!

Some terrific projects were on display. One of the groups made amazing models of Phoenician boats using paper mache over a 2-liter soda bottle. They even made models of the cargo. Also on display were some Greek-style pots, made by taking a terra cotta pot, tracing an image on the sides, and painting around the images with black paint. (pictures would've been nice...)

One of the groups took a poem about some men from the ancient Greek period and divided it up into sections. One student took each section and recited it from memory for the parents.

The rhetoric group and their siblings performed the play about Job that is in Week 23 of the TOG year plan. It is the story from the Bible, but set in a Greek drama format. The kids wore Greek style costumes with masks, and the characters were Job, God, Satan, Job's Wife, and the Chorus. I did take pictures of that!

Here are Job (in blue), Satan (in black), and God (in white) fooling around in rehearsals.



Here's a picture of the Chorus and Chorus Leader (Job's Wife). (notice poor Job's Wife is on crutches)




Here one of the servants is reporting to Job that all of his children have been killed in a terrible accident.




Here are God and Satan discussing Job's fate. The student who played Satan came up with a really terrific voice for his character!



Here's the cast!





If you have a group of kids, I recommend doing this play. We had a lot of fun, and it didn't take a lot of work. We of course could've put more time into scenery, costumes, and memorizing lines, but even with the kids reading their lines from cards they had a great time and learned a lot. And that's what it's all about, right?

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY (April 13)...
Outside my window... The sun is rising -- I know it's out there somewhere because I can see across the lake. But it's grey with clouds and light rain. It's not raining very much right now, but I can tell it's rained overnight. More expected today, with cool temperatures.

I am thinking... how thankful I am that Capt. Richard Phillips was rescued from the Somali pirates. I don't know why, but that story really captured my attention.

I am thankful for... time spent with my family yesterday. I took my Mom to church yesterday for Easter and for My Girl's confirmation. Unbelievably, there were 3 different people there that she knew from years ago (this was not her home church, and in fact was not in the same town where she has lived the last 50 years0. First, a neighbor from when I was growing up -- she had a grandson being confirmed there too! Then a co-worker -- the assistant principal at the high school where Mom worked as bookkeeper for many years. And finally a former neighbor from up here at the lake. It really pleased Mom to see these folks. After church, we came home and my brother and his wife and daughter joined us for lunch. We had a fun time!

From the learning rooms... We're taking today and tomorrow off for spring break, but we've really got to get back into a groove. The time away for speech tournaments and testing has brought our schooling to a grinding halt.

From the kitchen... I smell coffee brewing.

I am wearing... my favorite pj's -- royal blue fleece, that my sister gave me for Christmas.

I am creating... nothing I can think of right now.

I am going... to host 2 Tapestry teas this week and next as interest in our TOG co-op for next year in growing.

I am reading... the high school forums at the Well Trained Mind. I always plug back into those boards this time of year, when I need to start making decisions on next year's curriculum. Those homeschool moms are a wealth of information.

I am hearing... some birds chirping outside, greeting the day.

Around the house... I'm finally seeing some green! Trees are leafing, plants are blooming. Now if only I could figure out some deer deterents -- they are a real problem this year. I've been on this same spot for over 30 years and we've never had a problem with them at all. Never even seen any around our yard. Now, we see them all the time. At first they were cute, now they're really wearing out their welcome.

One of my favorite things... is napping on the couch while the Master's Tournament is on tv. Honestly! and I got to do it yesterday afternoon. Bliss!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Tapestry Tea this afternoon (I need to clean up!), speech party at a park on Thursday, getting back into the school groove.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing... This is My Boy, My Girl, and me at the NC speech tournament last week. My Boy got second place in one of his speeches! He's reached the final 16 before, but he's never placed, so he was thrilled beyond words to get second. We're off to the Regional tournament in Atlanta in 2 weeks!






If you'd like to participate in the Simple Woman's Daybook, visit this link.

Happy Easter

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!

Charles Wesley

Catching Up

My goodness! Life really got in the way with us for the last couple of weeks.

Since I last posted, we've been to a speech tournament in Atlanta, taken our Iowa tests, been to another speech tournament near Raleigh, finished up TOG Unit 3 and had a Unit Celebration, started attending a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University course, and started planning for next year's curriculum. I've got a lot to tell you, but I can only think about 1 little bit at a time or I'll get overwhelmed and just skip it altogether!

We got in from the most recent tournament last night, and now I've got to plan for the upcoming weekend. I know my family would appreciate it if I found some time to go to the grocery store in the morning, since we're pretty much scraping crumbs from the bottom of the refrigerator for meals today ;-)

Tomorrow, in addition to the grocery store, I'll go shopping for Easter baskets and I want to find a gift for My Girl. She is being confirmed at church on Sunday morning, and she's decided to be baptized as well. We're United Methodist, and she was baptized as an infant. But often kids who grow up in our church opt to be baptized again so they can have a part of the decision and so they'll remember it.

When My Boy was confirmed 2 years ago, he wanted to be immersed. So My Man held a baptism in the lake and about 4 of the confirmands joined in. It was special (but chilly in the lake in early April). My Girl has decided to be poured (as opposed to being sprinkled).

My schedule for Sunday will be a little busy: sunrise service at 6:45, church breakfast at 7:30, pick up Mom at 9:30, church at 10:30. After church, we'll go home and eat barbecue sandwiches (not quite traditional, huh?). But since Easter's are so busy, I'll make the barbecue on Saturday and then just have to heat it up after church. It's supposed to be nice weather, so we can eat on the porch. Mom looks forward to coming up here when the weather is nice -- the porch swing is "her spot"!

We can all fall asleep watching the Master's after we eat!

I've got pics of the Unit Celebration and the speech tournaments, so I'll post about those in the next couple of days.

Hope your Easter is blessed! Christ is Risen!