First Day

Today is our first day of school for 2011-2012!  I've been working on getting everything set up for the year during the last few weeks.  Our "workbaskets" (my version of workboxes) are set up.  I hope to do a post on these in the future.  I actually did a video to explain what I'm doing, but it was too big for Blogger to accept :(

To start off this year, Lass will be finishing up My Father's World First Grade.  At the same time, we'll be easing into Ambleside Online.  I am already excited about AO!  Hopefully, Lass will like it too.  We kind of hit a rough patch this weekend when she informed me that she wasn't going to do school, but we have worked it out, I think.  Later on in the year, we will be starting a different math programme.  I'm looking at Singapore Math, Miquon Math, and Math-U-See.  There are so many great products out there for every subject that it is hard to make a decision!  We will also be starting French lessons.  This subject will be a little different as I will also be teaching my friend Laura's son.  Our first lesson will be "Bonjour!  Je m'appelle ..."  I am also going to attempt to teach Lassie to knit - could be interesting.

Laddie will be doing therapy based activities mostly - colouring/drawing, Playdough, scissoring activities, puzzles, etc.  I have a few things lined up, but I'm waiting to see how things go before I make any solid plans for him.

So, that's the very basic outline for our year.  Thanks for visiting!
 

The Last Hurrah!

Yesterday we went on a picnic/outing with our good friends for Labour Day.  We went to King's Castle Provincial Park, which is probably my kids' favourite place to go.  The woods and playground are filled with storybook characters.  There is also a beach!  And ice cream!  It was a gorgeous, warm day and breezy so the mosquitoes were hardly around.

The white boat is a fishing boat.  The grey boats are mussel skiffs.  You can see the buoys in the water marking the mussel socks.  Mussel socks are a way of of cultivating mussels off the bottom so they are cleaner and better tasting.  The "socks" are tubes of netting with the mussels growing inside.

Some cute little bare feet on the sand

There were lots of snails stuck to rocks on the beach as the tide had gone out not too long before.

There were lots of dead crabs.  I hate crabs.

This is Lass' beach project.  I must ask her what it was.

The pumpkin slide!

Papa Bear of The Three Bears

A giant rabbit

On the way home we stopped at Buffaloland Provincial Park.  We actually saw some buffalo (AKA American Bison, Latin name Bison Bison) this time.  They have been rather elusive this year.

Thanks for visiting today!

This Morning in Our Yard

There is not too much going on out in the garden.  I'm afraid my zucchini have succumbed to some sort of blight.  Here I thought we would be overrun with them and we've had ONE zucchini (it was tasty, though).

We have had a number of birds visiting our yard lately.  The photos aren't great, but these are cedar waxwings perching on the kids' picnic table and in the apple tree.

I have a number of gladiolus out - dark red, bright red and purple.  They took quite a beating during the wind storm that was our share of Hurricane Irene.

When I was looking out the kitchen window at the red and purple side by side, I was reminded of my piano teacher.  I know, I'm weird.  She used to wear a purple cardigan over a red dress a lot.

This one is really bent over from the wind.

We're getting ready for a family barbecue tonight.  My sister-in-law is home from Alberta and my brother-in-law is over for the weekend from New Brunswick where he is currently stationed at CFB Gagetown.  So, we're having a big family get-together.  We're having barbecued pork chops, hamburgers, and hotdogs as well as corn salad, broccoli salad, potato salad, and jellied salads.  I'm making a Greek pasta salad to take as well.  Should be delicious!

Thanks for visiting today!

Movie Review

Last night I watched a documentary called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.  Here is the description on the case:

"A Must See Movie!  Riveting, Eye Opening, And Even Astonishing!
Big science has expelled smart ideas from the classroom...  What they forgot is that every generation has its Rebel!  That rebel, Ben Stein, travels the world on his quest, and learns an awe-inspiring truth... that educators and scientists are being ridiculed, denied tenure, and even fired - for merely believing that there might be evidence of "design" in nature.  Perhaps life is not just the result of accidental, random chance.  In the film Ben says "Enough" - and NOBODY messes with Ben!"

This movie really explores the academic world of science and shows that science isn't really all about facts and truth - there is a lot of pressure to conform to the majority.  Scientists who have different ideas are almost shunned by the scientific community if they go public with their differing theories or findings.  "Intelligent Design" is a bad word to "real" scientists (Darwinians).

I have to admit, before I saw this video, I thought that Intelligent Design (ID) and creationism were the same thing.  However, they are not.  Creationism says that God created everything, while ID says that an intelligent being had some part in the design of the universe (not necessarily God - many who hold to ID are atheists or agnostics).

I found this documentary really well done.  It was fascinating, funny at times, and kept your attention right to the end.  It was also terribly sad at times.  That's really my only caution about this movie.  There is a section on eugenics, Hitler, and the Holocaust.  I almost turned it off at that point because I get so upset when I see and hear about that time in history.  It is heart wrenching to think how people suffered at the hands of other human beings.  The thing that made this section even more poignant is that Ben Stein... is Jewish.

The rating label is PG for "thematic material, some disturbing images and brief smoking".  There was also a "family approved" sticker.  I would say that this documentary would only be suitable for teens and up.  Parts of it would be too intense for younger children.

Thanks for visiting today!  As always, I value your comments if you care to leave them.

Waiting For Irene

Today was a gorgeous, hot (26 degrees Celsius), sunny summer day.  However, people here are gearing up for a possible hurricane/tropical storm that may decide to visit us sometime between Sunday and Monday morning.  We could get sustained winds of 100 km/h with higher gusts as well as heavy rain OR it could miss us completely.  One never knows and it is better to be prepared for the worst.

So we're going to be moving things out of the yard and into the shed so things won't be blowing around.  I have to stake up some of my plants so they aren't damaged in the (possibly) high winds.  I'm also going to try to do some baking so we can have easily prepared meals in the case of power outages.  We'll also be loading up the fridge and freezer with water and filling the bathtub with water.  We have plenty of candles, matches and batteries.  Also, we're far enough from the shore that we don't have to worry about storm surges.  Now we just have to ride out whatever weather we get!   Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Psalm 107.28&29

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Update Monday evening:  We got some rain and very brisk winds but were spared serious damage.  A few trees and electric poles came down in the wind and the western part of the Island was without power for a while.  The ferries were cancelled this morning and the bridge was closed to high-sided vehicles, motorcycles, and trailers.

What's Growing in My Garden Today

Not a very exciting post today.  My garden is at in-between stage - lots of things have finished blooming and some things are just getting ready to bloom.  A few photos for your browsing pleasure:

A couple of sad little pansies

Marjoram 

Our appleless apple tree

My Sub-Zero roses starting their 2nd bloom cycle

"Oscar" gladiolus

Behind our property today, there are potatoes being harvested.

There goes "another big loada potatoes".  If you don't know what I'm talking about (or even if you do!), take a listen to THIS.

Thanks for visiting today!

Children Grieving For a Pet

We are getting used to life without Bentley, but it has been difficult at times.  Lass and Laddie sometimes forget he's gone and ask for him and then we have a few tears.  Overall, this process hasn't been too bad.  I think it helped that we let them see the cat (he wasn't mangled at all - he just looked like he was asleep) and they helped bury him.  This is their first time of really having to deal with death.  I was unsure about letting the children see their dead pet (there would not have been any question if Bentley had been badly injured), but Robbie and I decided that it would be for the best if they did.  As we were carrying the cat to the back of the property to bury him, Laddie said, "Look, Mum, he's waking up!"  Poor little fellow - he just couldn't understand.

On a lighter note, Robbie asked me if we should play The Flowers of the Forest as we walked up the hill.  I just looked at him.

How do you help your children deal with loss?

This post is linked to the Hip Homeschool Hop today.  Thanks for visiting.