It's not a purse...

it's a toolbox. Before my first PDA, my purse was a grown up pencil case with a wallet and pens. Recently my purse has been growing. First I added a nook which put almost every book I want to read at my constant beck and call. Then my husband gave me an iPad and all the rest of the world is at my feet. All those terrific apps have taken my compulsive planning to a new level by making it--easy.
The most important app is the most basic and it came with the machine, the Calendar Function. It isn't pretty, but it more than does the job. All my appointments and projects are there whenever I add something new. They come in a few different configurations and I've found them all useful. The information is presented as completely as possible without unnecessary bulk This app plays well with others most importantly with my lesson planning app.
Wikly--alas poor wikly I loved it well. It's color-coding feature is beautiful and practical, but it doesn't work well with other programs. I was hoping to work that one to my advantage by using it for a specific and limited purpose, but the way that Calendar shares some info clutters the screen with unintended items. It's plan to make planning beautiful has left it hampered with too narrow a display. If I could link this app exclusively to my lesson planning app I'd be so happy. It would declutter Calendar and make my school plans beautiful.
iPlan Lessons--if you homeschool, if you teach at all, this is a wonderful thing. All three years I taught professionally I wrote 3 weeks worth of lesson plans, . I always figured I knew what they needed to know. I knew what they didn't, and I knew what resources I had to close the gap. What more do you need? Not so with homeschooling where you are teaching multiple grades and resources can be swallowed up in the general school clutter. Not with iPlan, I've been planning for every day, some subjects a few weeks in advance. Suddenly writing out detailed lesson plans is just a few clicks, gathering information for an easy to execute plan that incorporates all the kids and all the resources, simply. You can organize lessons by date, resource and class. If you teach you will appreciate this and as it is still in development it's only going to get better.
Pepper Plate--this is a dedicated app that amazes me every time I pick it up. I felt the need to get our family menus more organized so I sketched out a crap weekly plan because every work of art needs a beginning. Pepper Plate put it on a calendar and I was thrilled. Then I had some time to enter the fancy Sunday dinner and the ingredient list was just a click away from a shopping list. Adding in other recipes--even "frozen pizza" and adding that recipe to the shopping list means I'm ready to shop whenever or wherever the opportunity presents itself. I can take items off the list by clicking, so a quick spin around the kitchen means I won't be buying a third jug of BBQ sauce. The library of recipes I'm amassing lets me see a day when meal planning for a week is 7 clicks away.
Chore Pad--I have mentioned this before, but it's changed our lives. The kid's responsibilities are all set up on lists and they are rewarded with stars. We assigned a monetary value to stars and a family economy has been born. Stars can be redeemed for rewards or lost for bad behavior. Inspection is simple and instant. We love this.

Happy 4/5 Birthday, Harriet!

Only 1/5 left to go.  Soon, I will proudly announce that harriet is a complete draft.  That may be the only adjective a kind person might use to describe her in her current state, but that's all the fun of revising.  I don't think it will take me long to write the last 1/5.  I know my characters now and I know what they can stand.  The last section is dark and weird.  Hopefully it will also be true.
What a great adventure this has been.

Moon Queen

too hot to play
too cold to stay
I wander around
possibilities
unsettled

Ollie Ollie Oxenfree

I don't know who taught me to yell that at the end of hide and seek, but I imagined some little man answering my call like Elijah at Passover. Each school year I feel like I'm calling out the scholarly side of my children and they keep hoping to stay out of sight. This year, like it or not, they are going to have a good time. Our two eldest are off to public school, which leaves me with two kids worth of extra energy for the remaining four.
Uniforms are getting old. We like to be more casual now. The only thing we really like about uniforms was the price, so I found a compromise, t-shirts. CheapesTees is having a 20% off sale, so I speced out a Monkey Summer solution. Everyone gets 5 teeshirts in their favorite color. Mom gets one of everyone else's color, except for Fridays, I got pink for Friday. Picking up the jeans is easy and cheap making this years uniforms likely to be the best clothes solution ever.
We're back around to Human Anatomy and Phys. I'm so excited. It is my favorite subject. As in year's previous, I'll be relying on Dr. Goodman's course from The Teaching Company for organization and basic facts and then adding in activities and games from books I've collected.
Mpving on to history, we're going medieval so that keeps me happy. I'm struggling with what books to ask our third to read. I want her to read some real medieval literature, but I don't want to overwhelm her. She didn't grow up on the KJV. I'll obviously have her read a Redwall and The Once and Future King, but I was always sad to realize the book I'd read wasn't really ancient. I wanted some authentic experience of the time. I wanted to connect with a medieval person. I don't know what my student will want. Susan Wise Bauer's new series, particularly The History of the Medieval World, will be her giude this year. I'm sure she will miss the coziness of the read aloud history I do with the young ones.
Math we are going Horizons all the way. It may not be the best program, but it's the one my kids like to do. I can live with that.
Writing, spelling, literature, I'm taking a homemade approach based on composition books. I feel most comfortable with this side of things. Horizons will keep my fledgling reader going, but everyone else will be winging it with me.
Phys Ed is new this year. Studying the human body lends itself to a study of health and fitness. We've made stabs at it in the past, but this year I've assigned a time and laid out activities including the pool at the Aquatic Center. I'm hoping we'll get it right for this year and years to come.

Crabbies at Bay

Keeping kids happy and busy is a fine art. Too much guidance and the activity becomes work. Too little and many activities become difficult to do. Sometimes you can turn necessities like eating into great opportunities for learning and bonding. It's all a matter of thinking ahead and keeping your eyes open for good possibilities. Here are some of this years favorites.

The Greatest Puzzles Ever Solved--I picked this up off the bargain table at Barnes and Noble as a homeschooler I find so many great things there and this was one of them. Enjoyed by just about everybody it was a great way to pass time between outings, and a lot of history and logic got sneaked in there.

One Stitch at a Time--This vacation wasn't just our little family, we were accompanied by my parents, my sister's family and my sister-in-law's family. That meant eleven cousins, including a cadre of older girls, needed to get better acquainted. This little kit was something I wasn't sure about. It would either be hit all week long or last for about five minutes. It was a hit they made three different stuffed animals for the youngest cousins. It says that it has everything you need on the box, but there is actually a long list of sewing staples in the book. I solved most of those issues with beginner's sewing kit and Kurt picked up enough felt to keep them busy for a couple months. :) It is a great activity for older kids.

Sticker Books--Terribly old-fashioned, but always a hit. I tried to find ones connected to the ocean, but Winnie the Pooh snuck in there somehow too.

Color Me a Song--My youngest was overlooked a bit last summer so this year I made an extra effort with this little machine that plays music according to the speed he colored. He liked it both in the van and at the house.

The Beach--All of us love the ocean. It's why we're there, but it doesn't get much press. We love the beach.

Barrier Island Eco Tours, Crabbing Expedition--I've been checking into this group for twelve years. Every year my dad and I were down we'd purpose to go crabbing for our supper and every year it wouldn't work out. This year I decided we were going, and it was going to be a success. Barrier Island Eco Tours were all they promised. We had such a good time learning about the native flora and fauna and catching 4 crabs by hand. The feast was wonderful, though I could have done with a little less grit. Blue crabs are so sweet and it's been so long since I'd had any it didn't slow me down. Next year I hope to take everyone.

All but HI, NV, and SD

Vacation time again. This year, like most years we played the license plate game, but unlike most years there was a twist--we had an ipad and there was an app for that. There were apps of all kinds and they kept the kids busy and happy wherever we went. Here's the run down on our favorites.

License Plate Game HD--It keeps track of both license plates you've seen and the states you've visited. Horizontally, the map with the located states is displayed. Vertically, information about each state is available. It's fun and informative, the best kind of game.

The Monster at the End of this Book--is an old favorite, but the new Ipad version adds a new dimension of funny. The knots untie. The bricks fall down. IN the end, Grover is so embarrassed. The kids pushed play, over and over and over again. Definitely the most used app.

Casey's Contraptions--Everyone got started with this game and enjoyed it, but with so many different experiences it didn't get the kind of play I think it will in the future. It was fun to solve simple engineering problems with Rube Goldberg devices, and my children get a lot of ingenuiity of that kind from their dad.

Star Walk--Is amazing. You point it at the sky and it tells you what constellations and such you are looking at, even if light pollution has wiped them out. Everyone spent some time playing with this one, but it was especially exciting to our fourth. She loves meteorology.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore--Do not miss this one!! It is now my children's favorite bed time story, with a wonderful story and excellent extra activities. What an amazing new dimension for books and children. It is good on every level, something children should exposed to. It's a bit like broccoli with cheese sauce, only better.

Garage Band--let everyone mess around with instruments and music. It was the kind of thing that one kid would be playing while another eagerly looked on and then it would be passed off to the next. Lots of fun that goes beyond a basic keyboard. It's kind of a Wurlitzer organ for your car.

Match Pair--is a classic Memory game, but it was terrific for the younger ones. Even my year old niece could play it, thanks to the fact that the cards could not be muddled by her initially sporadic actions. The longer she played the better she did. This next generation is going to be something else. The animal drawings are cute and the fact that the sounds are corrected was also interesting.

All in all, the iPad truly improved our trip experience. Stay tuned for a run down on the old fashioned apps we loved just as well.

Moving On Up

Nicole Hill always had that sparkle of a woman to watch, even back in the day when we met and she was preparing for marriage. Seven children later, she's managed to bring her family through the daunting task of getting her husband Matthew through college with style and obvious grace. She's sharing that knowledge on a great blog, particularly if you like make-a-head meals. Give it a look. The recipes and home-won wisdom will repay your glance.Climbing Hills