Posted in Anna, writing on Aug 22nd, 2012 3 Comments »
Anna wrote the first chapter of a fabulous new book today. Here’s the very start of it…. Samantha looked over her shoulder at the lake. Fog hung over it like a velvet curtain. She knew it would lift soon and she would see her enemies running at her. She dashed through the trees. If it [...]
Posted in Anna on Aug 22nd, 2012 No Comments »
Anna felt like doing a report on the Olympics today. Here’s her final report after a few minor corrections. The Olympics A report by Anna Bayer Most athletes dream to go to the Olympics. To all athletes, from gymnasts to competitive swimmers, the Olympics are one of the most important events in the world. The [...]
Posted in Anna, Book Recommendations, Goals, Middle school, reading on Jul 30th, 2012 2 Comments »
I’ve just started on a suggested reading list for Anna’s 7th grade year. Here’s what we have on it so far. Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgenson Understood Betsy, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain Adam of the Road, By Elizabeth Janet Gray Across [...]
Posted in Anna, Book Recommendations, Middle school, reading, Teens and high school, Victoria on Aug 18th, 2011 6 Comments »
I’m not doing much homeschool planning right now because the baby will be coming in early October (October 10th is the official date!) and I’m not naive enough to think I’m going to stick to a rigorous homeschool schedule with an impending birth or new baby. That said, I’m doing up some general goals for [...]
Posted in Alex, Anna, cooking/home ec, Daily log, Frugal living, games, Jack, math, nature, nutrition, personal, pictures, Victoria on May 4th, 2011 2 Comments »
Oh what a busy week! Jack is now 8, Victoria is now 13, Alex is now 4 and I am now really tired! Here’s a few ways we’ve been learning and playing lately… 1. We had a joint birthday party for the boys in Mankato. The kids were in charge of most of the cake [...]
Posted in Alex, Anna, Daily log, freebies, Jack, personal, pictures, Preschool on Jan 31st, 2011 2 Comments »
What a couple of weeks it’s been! The water heater self destructed, then the dryer called it quits. Anna got sick, then the boys, and now Daryl and I are. I’ve lost most of my voice and my throat and ears are especially painful, and no home remedies are working so far (though one led [...]
Posted in Anna, crafts, Daily log, math, pictures, Preschool, Victoria on Jan 24th, 2011 9 Comments »
What a week we had! There were lots of minor emergencies but here’s some of the good stuff we’ve done lately… We read piles of library books. Some current favorites include We Are In a Book (Mo Willems), Too many toys (David Shannon), Shark and lobster’s amazing undersea adventure (Viviane Shwarz), Terry Pratchett young adult [...]
Posted in Anna, personal on Jan 20th, 2011 10 Comments »
The good… My beautiful Annalee is now an eleven year-old girl! (Pictures posted despite the terribly messy background, in the name of full disclosure!) The bad… Our water heater destroyed itself, did its best to flood our basement and has now been replaced by a new model. The price tag was a bit of an [...]
Posted in Anna, Daily log, Victoria on Oct 16th, 2010 1 Comment »
Victoria and Anna have a fun job today. They are helping at setting up the community center for a wedding reception! Alex’s Head Start teacher (and Jack’s before that) asked the girls if they could set up battery-operated candles and such for the reception. Jan showed them their jobs on Thursday and today at 4:30 [...]
Posted in Anna, writing on Apr 28th, 2010 4 Comments »
Anna has started writing a new book and she gave me permission to share the first paragraph here… Lightning Strikes the Innocent There I stood, only twelve, yet alone. The storms happened what seemed like every day but this one had been different. My family was having a family barbecue when the sky turned gray. [...]
