Blue's Clues Advanced

T13 and I were watching his Algebra video to prep for the next lesson. We were doing equivalent expressions. 2(x+1) =(1+x)2=2x+2 is not equal to 2x+1.

Then there was 5x-x is the same as xxxxx-x=4x.   T11 walked by when the screen switched to five apples - 1 apple = 4 apples.  An easy example to make the material sink in.

"That looks like Blue's Clue Advanced."

*****

We took Penny to a friend's house yesterday. The two dogs really play together well. They really don't have a fence, but we thought she would stay with their dog and not run through the north side brush or the south creek, or the barbed wire fence at the far end. WRONG. The barbed wire fence at the far end of the yard didn't stop her. Under she went to investigate the horses. Wearing large muck boots, I ran after her with the leash once she disappeared past the yard.  Iexpected her to get herself kicked in the head. A fat Shetland ponie was very interesting to her.  She followed the horses along the creek (Thank God for the deep creek) then she scared up a gray Crane or Heron. Can you say Birddog? I thought we were doomed to chase her all day. She loved the run, the kids all chasing her, me growling at her. The creek and a second fence finally turned her around. Our friend had returned with large doggie treats. Once Penny ran circles around everyone she got a whiff of the treat. Penny finally was caught  - freedom for a treat. T13 and I came huffing from the far end of the field to get the leash on her. What a day. We are now the owners of a Sportdog 400S shock collar.

Homeschool Legal Defense Association - don't homeschool without it

I wouldn't. HSLDA has a lot to offer to the homeschooling family. I can't possibly describe all the links for information, guidance, tips, curriculum market, and options they have for the new or experienced homeschooler. They are also offering three months free so you can check them out before joining.
We have been members since we started in 2003. Having a membership is like having insurance - it gives you peace at mind. 
The membership is worth having, a resource that is reliable and there for you at all times. They also send out a magazine that lets you see what cases they are working on. You can check out your states information and be aware of any changes your state might be making to homeschooling regulations.
Underlying all this - I'm hoping five of you will join them over at the right of my blog so I can get our next year membership free.

the height issue

T13 - Hawk - from now on - he names everything new HAWK ..... anyway, he told Commander yesterday," you're only taller than Mom when you wear combat boots and Mom is barefoot .... standing in a ditch."  

How well do you think that went over? Hawk had to run for his life, Commander was after his ribs for that one.

Then comes today. T11 and his buddy Cam are having a sleepover/sleepin all morning, in the game room. The room has no windows so it is dark in there. Commander steps into the room to go to the pantry and flips on the lights. He put away some groceries then stepped back out, stepped back in, flipped the light on again to see if either of the boys would wake. They didn't.

At noon when they were having breakfast, Cam asked, "who came into the room at 7:00 and turned the light on?" Commander laughed and let him know that it was 9:00 when he came into the room.
 "So who came in at 7:00 and went into your pantry?"
"That was me at 9:00."
"That was you? You really look a lot taller when I'm sleeping on the floor. I thought it was Mrs. Jane."

How well do you think that went over?
Commander told the three boys at the table that they would all marry women taller than them. I'm not sure if it was meant as a curse, or a blessing. I'll take it to mean a blessing. He has me, doesn't he?
This afternoon I was leaving to pick up Herogian at the Dog Hunting Trials on post (in the blowing snow) when I asked Commander to give me a kiss goodbye. He came to the door, stepped up onto the entry step and told me to stand in the ditch.

and the animals came .... 5 by 4

We had an explosion of animals at our house. THey started showing up at 4:15am.  Herogian stumble into the bedroom to tell me that a chick had hatched in the incubator in his room. "The chick is letting the whole world know she is here, Mom. She's loud."
I let him move to the couch for the rest of the night.
 The chick is now named Vanilla for the color of her feathers. She is a mix between a Golden Comet and (we think) an Americana Banty. She/ he will have feathers on her lower legs.
Throughout the day the other eggs started hatching. The first two to follow Vanilla were in their shells, and five minutes later they were out. Welcome Cocoa and Fritz. Then DeeDee and Terry (named for the neighbors that gave us the eggs) slowly came out of their shells. The last hasn't been named yet. It might be Tiny Might if the little one makes it through the night. The rest of the eggs aren't expected to produce. I must say 'Thank You Lord'.

The chickens weren't the only thing to multiply. You know how hard a time I have with saying 'no', especially when an animal is involved. We now have four Pekin ducks in the shed with the rest of the flock. I'm just going to say their owner was in a pickle and needed a home for them. Welcome to Patch, Chickapin, hedgewig, Pigsomething or another, I can't remember. They will be called, Patch, Chick, Hedge and Pig.
If you remember, there are still nine chicks, 3 weeks old in the trough, under a heat lamp, in the garage, that the boys picked out from T.S.C. Hawk, Nacho, Tortilla, Ruby, Cream, Soda, Root and Beer, and Red.

So we added 5 chicks and 4 ducks to the count.
 Arby and Julie, I see you both shaking your heads and laughing, You too, OKGRANNY. Enjoy your weekend. We are expecting snow tomorrow.

Safety alert dog

Two post before this one tells you about T11 getting busted for playing his IPOD way past bedtime. You might want to read the story real quick just to know the background.

Today, we ended up on the internet looking at pictures of puppies - miniature schnauzer puppies to be exact. T11 really wants to have another one in the house. He wants it to be his. Don't blame him, I'd like to have one too, but this will be his lesson to learn in life.
Commander told him to make a Pro and Con list of having a dog. I tried to help him be realistic. Cute and snuggly really don't strengthen the PRO list. T11 was trying to get across that barking would be a good thing. I agreed that it would be good to have a dog downstairs with him, since he is the only one that sleeps in the lower room. I said we could put it down as a safety alert to warn him of danger.
T11 agreed - "Yeah, that would work, the dog could say,' Mom's hiding in the closet, turn off your IPOD'." He and I started laughing. Brothers were looking at us like we are nuts, so we had to explain the story to them. Then we were all rolling, and had to call Commander to get him in on the joke.

We wouldn't  have so much fun together in the middle of the day if they weren't homeschooled. Laughter is good medicine for schoolwork.
If you have any odds and end jobs T11 can do to make a little money, he'd like to do it. He pointed out that it would take him over 70 weeks to save enough money from his job chart. I didn't want to burst his bubble and remind him that there are only 52 weeks in a year.  I was pleased that he figured up how many weeks it would take him to save. At first he had Herogian and T13 offering to split the cost. I think he is on his own now.

Sometimes you have to have your chain yanked

Penny learned all about getting her chain yanked yesterday. We took Herogian and Penny to post to meet with the person in charge of the Dog Hunting Trials. He agreed to put Herogian and Penny through their basic steps of training to see how much they were accomplishing. All the different sounds, the traffic nearby, the leaves blowing in the wind, were distractions for Penny. She really had to focus on what Herogian told her to do - and when she didn't, the trainer yanked her chain and made her hop to. It was a good lesson. Herogain saw where his passive attitude toward detail can have an effect on Penny. It wasn't acceptable that she sat down when told, she had to sit beside Herogian's left side. It wasn't acceptable to look at Herogian and then decide whether or not she wanted to 'Come' when told to. She got yanked half the distance of the rope, and tugged in if needed. Then she received all kinds of love and a treat. By the end of the thirty minute session she was heeling beside him, sitting when told and coming. She even showed signs of learning the back and forth sweep they use when searching a field. But there was one piece of paper that kept blowing around the area, boy did it ever cause her fits. It finally flew right across her path and she pounced. Dead paper. A boy and his dog....

You're busted, again!

 I enjoy having a voice that can drop pretty low considering I'm a girl. From the dark recessess of the laundry room, peering through the french door shutters, a low voice does the trick when at 11:15 pm I find T11 playing games on his Ipod. "Take that upstairs to your father, right now!"  The glowing light fades, then blinks off, the boy sits in his bed with eyes unaccustomed to the dark. I slip out of the laundry room (his fan drowns out my movement) and step to the back door to let the dog in. He steps out of the room, hunched over, Quasimoto style (sp?) and slinks upstairs to the dark bedroom where Commander waits. The boy had been sent to bed over an hour before I arrived home from work.  I will find out in the morning what consequences will be initiated for this disobedience. It's nice having the Commander home to help set the boundaries.


Once again the boys and Commander are asking to move. THe neighbor boy "brat"clawed T11 today across the back of his hand -breaking the skin and causing it to bleed a little. THey were playing touch football and two people tagged him "brat" out - his older brother and T13. T11 stepped in when the child "brat"started swinging fist at T13. THey were trying to calm him"brat" down so they could keep playing. When his older brother went to tell his mom, she said it was late enough in the afternoon, they needed to come in for dinner. No discipline, no sorry.Brat controls the mommy.
 I'm praying about whether or not I should uninvite them to the homeschool P.E. group. THey say they are coming tomorrow. I don't want to turn this child "Brat" loose on unexpecting innocent children. There is no telling how he "brat"will lash out if he doesn't get his way. I need to do this gently in God's way, and not in my own bull in the china closet style.  So anyone have 40 acres of prime hunting ground with a house on it for sale, with a stocked pond? ( What else does Herogian want? Ummm.... turkeys, and deer.