Ming Dynasty Bowls

Ruth completed her project from our history lesson last week.  This is her Ming Dynasty bowl from ancient China.  Mary's should be done tomorrow, painting flora and fauna proved difficult for the girls and Ruth completed hers today.

Mary love

When we first got Spock I thought Ruth would be the one who loved him more than life itself.  Ruth now gets Piggy all to herself and Mary is in love with Spock more than words can say.

We went to Mexico

 Ruth's painting.

 Mary's caterpillar painting.

 Monarch butterfly top and gecko pins for the girls vests below.

Not really!  We learned about Mexico in school today and did a variety of fun crafts to go along with it.
We are following the program found here http://www.michaels.com/Passport/pti,default,pg.html if you would like to follow along with us.

Our Day

 We went to the outdoor mall this morning after we couldn't get into Six Flags (wicked long lines!)
Matt was exhausted (he's been working extra hours at work) when we got home so he and the dog took a nap before our late lunch.

Ruth made cookies all on her own and we played Jenga after dinner.  Ruth won the first game and lost the second.
We also found our new favorite book store http://www.booksamillion.com/

Pouting Dog

House cleaning this morning and Spock felt left out!  While the girls were cleaning out their rooms he moped around the kitchen pouting over being left out!

Mary and Ruth's Weekly Paragraph's

Farming in Ancient china.

chin was 7 and had to help his dad in the rise field they went and his dad told him to pole the weeds. He had to go in the vary cold  water. Chins feet ware numb and hands ware cold then his dad called him in for lunch and said you worked vary hard chin I am vary prowd of you. the end.

 The empress found she could make a spechel fabric  called  silk  from silk worms .from it she created a buityful   robe for the emperor .he said “this secret  should never leave the roly family” and that was how silk was made.      

Craft Fail

Ah, the life of the home school Mom.
We learned about Ancient China this week and are (trying to) making pottery bowls.

So far it is an epic fail.
The girls cannot get the clay to form on the bowl the way they want and we are all very frustrated.

Swim Day Yesterday

We tried a new pool yesterday and it was a winner.

Dandelion ring

Ruth made this ring last night from dandelions she picked in our back yard.
Hooray for grass!

Australia

 Ruth's vest and Australia pin.

 Ruth's stingrays.

 Ruth's bottles of fish.

 Mary's stingrays.

 Mary's vest.

Using this website http://www.michaels.com/Passport/pti,default,pg.html we made some Australia crafts today for school.  We also learned about Australia and completed some worksheets to help us remember what we learned.

Personal Library

Ruth alphabetized her books according to the authors last name, just like at the library.
She now calls her closet her "personal library" and since she has over 40 books I would agree with her.
The closet is now her "go to" reading place.

Hard Work

Every Friday the girls help mow the front and back yards.
Yesterday was Mary's turn to mow the back yard and she did an amazing job, better than I do in fact.

My First Poem

Written today by Ruth A Leinhos

The sky is blue, my roses are red, my violets are wilted, I have a new garden, with plants by plenty, and a personal library with books a many.  I love my dog and guinea more than my money.

Our Friday To Do list

If you come and visit us here in Texas you might not want to be here on a Friday.
Our schedule looks like this.

Morning:
Mow front and back lawn
Clean guinea pigs cage
Ruth and Mary clean their rooms (wash sheets, go through "stuff", vacuum floor etc)
I clean both bathrooms, kitchen, vacuum and mop floors

Lunch

Afternoon:
Errands

Today we are going to Michael's. Walmart, Home Depot, Barnes and Noble and the used book store.
We also need to drop off our donations at Goodwill.

The first cities in India

The Quails.

Their was a hunter who came every knit and cot a Quail.

One night the Quails stood  together so the hunter could not get them but then they started to fight  so the hunter got them all. (Mary)

The flock of quail  and the hunter

There was a flock of quail and a hunter and the hunter hid in the bushes and brought home a quail. One day the quail floo  together and the hunter returned home with no quail. But the quail argued and were all cot in the net of the hunter.   (Ruth)

Swimming

We are on a mission to find the best San Antonio public pools.
The one we tried today was okay, but we will not be going back.
After an hour this is how Ruth's eyes looked.

Our Weekly Summer Schedule

Summer Schedule:

Sunday: Church and lunch out

Monday: Art Around the World

Tuesday: Pool

Wednesday: Free Movie and Six Flags Water Park

Thursday: Leon Valley and Johnston Tween Library Event 2pm

Friday: Clean House and Errand Day
Family Meeting

Saturday: Grocery Shopping and Matt time with the girls
Amber Out (Nails, Massage etc)
Family Game Night




It took me longer than I anticipated but here it is.
Notice I scheduled some time for myself, not sure if I'll take it but there it is.

Our school table

Keeping it real.
This is how our table looks during the day.
I purchased some colored folders yesterday so the girls can keep their homework sheets organized.
Once they get everything in its home the teacher guides will come out and the table will be even more an overflowing mess.

Belated Father's Day gift

Not enough letters for Dad or cook so we landed on "Kiss Our Chef" for Matt's Father's Day apron.

God bless my husband

Dang the dog's haircut.  We cut off enough hair to make three dogs his size so his harness does not fit.
The girls went with Matt to take him on his evening walk and he got out of his harness and ran into a busy street.
Matt dropped everything when he heard the kids yelling (he was painting over graffiti painted on the entrance sign to our neighborhood) and ran into the street to stop traffic and grab the dog.
Our hero!
We really do love Spock, and he better not do anything like that again.

Home Dog grooming

I am so cheap.  As a family we groomed Spock for the summer (better late than never) and while he does not look perfect we saved $35 plus miles and gas and he is a dog so no one is going to care that much.  He was getting so hot, his new hair cut should make him feel like a new boy.  ( The decision for grooming him here at home was not only monetary, we all love him SO much and did not want him to be afraid going to a strangers house and having an electric razor buzzing around him.  We had decided to get him shaved next week and I could just not make myself call to get him an appointment.  He may not look like a million bucks but he was so good as we took care of him and he is as happy as can be now that we are done.)

From Ruth, regarding events of the day

no dog this time. hope to find one next time.thought the burned bread would work. guess not. lucky me i saw not one but two dogs in the field could not get them though because the didn't come to the bread. oh well.the second times the charm!lets see if they would like some thing else.  

My kind hearted kid, and Mary makes cookies

 Ruth re purposed a yogurt container for her new quest.  She has the goal of catching three neighborhood strays by winter.  Charlotte followed Ruth  home last weekend and spent the night in our back yard before going to be adopted with the city.  Ruth took some burned bread from dinner with her tonight, and though we saw some loose dogs she was unable to catch any.

While Ruth and I were out using Spock and burned bread as bait to catch strays, Mary stayed home with Matt to make cookies.  She made her favorite cookies on her own with just a little help from Dad (pouring the salt and vanilla).
So proud of both my girls.

You want one?

Ruth makes these amazing bookmarks.
She custom makes them with the animal of your choice and then draws them up so they are "reading" a book.

From left to right: Bear, flamingo, deer

If you would like one please email Ruth at my address with your animal of choice and she will make them and send them off to you.

Home Repairs

We moved away from San Antonio six years ago.
Our house was a rental the entire time.
Moving back I am remembering what I liked about our New Mexico house that I did not mention in my earlier list.
We had done (what was to me) a lot of repairs and upgrades to the house in Albuquerque so overall everything worked.
Now we are starting over here in Texas and there is always another surprise just around the corner.
We thankfully caught an a/c water leak in the house this evening.
I am even more thankful that Matt was able and did fix it on his own!
The kids helped, the dog helped, I helped and two hours later it was done.
Thank you Matt, I appreciate all your hard work.

Tailgating

No pictures, we left in a hurry and I forgot the camera.
New plan, take the camera with me in my purse.
The parents will love it, my back not so much.
We went to our first tailgate party tonight.
It was not a lot of fun.
Just a couple of kids, no one for the girls to play with.
The adults were smoking and/or on their way to becoming intoxicated.  (Free beer, they are a sponsor).
The game was good.
We only stayed the first quarter (it was late by then) but this will not be the last sporting event we take the girls to.
My new goal is to attend a game of every minor league ball sport (better ticket prices, parking prices and the crowds are smaller) and enjoy the game as a family.
 Lesson learned, no more tailgating for us.

A girl and her dog

Adopting Spock I assumed he would be Ruth's favorite.

He is however Mary's fur baby and Ruth gets to lavish the guinea pig with all the love and attention she wants.
One pet per child means no sharing required.

What we miss about Albuquerque

Amber:
 Being close to family.
My stove (not the oven, just the stove).
My dishwasher.

Ruth:
My friends.
Lizards, quails and mourning doves.
The dog park.

Mary:
Nothing at all.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu

Gilgamesh and encode

Gilgamesh was part god and part man. He however did not know what   it was like to be human .He had no friends. Gilgamesh’s people called to anu the sky god .He sent encode. He was part man and part animal

The story of Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh wonted to stay alive four ever so he met a man and the man

Sed stay awake four six days and seven nites and he fell a sleep.

He sed give me one more chans so he did.the end

Boss Lady

Before we moved Matt was teaching the girls about electricity and how it works.
They build circuits and other things and enjoyed learning and working with their Dad.

Now they are working on a program called Remote Control Machines.
Both girls have done so well that now one girl is in charge of Dad and her sister.

Today Mary was the boss lady, she was very happy to tell people what to do and do the majority of the building.

Summer

What an interesting summer this has been.
With the move we are feeling somewhat out of sorts.  Things are new and different, we have a dog and a trampoline.  We have a yard of grass to play in but no neighbor kids to hang out with or friends to play with.
Our schedule is off, we are getting school done most days but then what?
With the heat of summer here in TX and the business of the school year I would prefer to stay home, read and relax.
Ruth is with me on the reading and relaxing part, Mary not at all.
The girls fight, I get irritated and short tempered.
What to do?

Ruth's Running Record

I tested Ruth's reading level with a 1050 level book yesterday.
As expected she aced the test.
I am only able to test to a 1200 level, so I am waiting for one more book and will test her hopefully later this week for the last time.
Ruth has always been a super reader for which I am really glad.
She has an enormous love of books and reading, she loves to read more than anything else.
I am so glad to have another reader in the family and hope her love of literature continues.

Spockie no walkie

Mary informed me yesterday she loves having a dog because she can carry him around with her.

She carried around the guinea pig before the dog, but in her words "the dog is easier to hold".

Spock now sits and waits if called by the girls, he knows they will come to him and pick him up, taking him wherever they want him to go.

What a spoiled dog, he is so loved.

Prayer

This is Mary's dinner prayer.

"Thank you Lord for this food and for my Mommy who knows how to make it.  In Jesus's name.  Amen"

Thank you Mom for teaching me how to make dinner!

Ruth's Laws

We read about Hammurabi laws last week in history.
I had the girls make their own set of laws and here are the highlights from Ruth's Laws.
1. All must respect others
2. No bullies
3. If someone destroys a library book they will pay for it.
4. Must respect wild animals.
5. Respect everything you own.
6. Must celebrate your holiday's.
and the best one
7. Girls and Boys must have some free time.

A note from Mary

Friday is our family meeting.
We discuss the family budget, the kids budget, plan the menu etc.
As we were meeting this week I got a note passed to me from Mary on a napkin.
It said, "I love you a lot Mom".
From there the conversation was written as follows.
Me, "I love you a lot too Mary".
I love you more Mom.
I love you most Mary.
Priceless napkin!

Running Records Reading Test for Mary

Mary took a running records test to see what level she is in for reading.
For entering into 4th grade the goal is 445.
We tested from 340-590 and she scored a 97% at the highest level we tested.
So now she is looking for and reading books on the 500-600 range!
I had no idea she would do that well.
I tested with no expectations but the hope that she would get to at least the 400 level.
Way to go Mary, your Dad and I are so proud of you!!

Hamurabi

Short history chapter this week, here are the girls paragraphs.
Mary:

Hammurabi wanted to rule his own country.

He made his own laws for his country.

Some of his laws were fair.

Ruth:

Hammurabi made some fair rules. Some could lead to problems .Hammurabi  ruled Mesopotamia all most fair. His empire started  in Babylon .he started conquering small city states. In the end he ruled all Mesopotamia.

4th of July

We went to Fiesta Texas last night and grand total the girls rode five roller coasters!
High: Ruth went on the Poltergyst and said she would ride it again
Low: Waiting almost an hour to get out of the parking lot

The fireworks were good (Mary missed them, she was riding a roller coaster with her Dad), we went with friends so that is fun and we had family time together.

Hope everyone had a happy 4th of July.

Reading Assessment

Mary took this assessment yesterday so I could tell what level she was in for reading.

http://www.sonlight.com/quick-reading-assessment.html#

I had tested her Friday for spelling and she was a 2.9 which isn't great but we've got a great formal program that should help her.

The assessment is not the best, finding a test for your home school child is not easy and I did the best I could.

Anyway, great news, Mary placed in the fourth grade level for reading!!

So excited and proud of her.

So long "Squish", Bye Bye "Baby Mouse"

Mary finished this book in less than an hour this afternoon.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/super-amoeba-jennifer-l-holm/1100058585?ean=9780375843891
So I am using this opportunity to push her into harder books once and for all.
She is starting with this book.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nicki-ann-howard-creel/1008141685?ean=9781593692599
It is twelve chapters long, so in Mary's words "it will take two weeks and three days to finish it since I don't read on weekends".
One chapter a day is the standard, we'll head to the book store when she is done and get another American Girl chapter book.
Fourth grade here we come.