Update on Unschooling Voices #8

*updated post on bottom* I’m going to have to hold off on putting it together this month (March edition: #8) due to some issues in our family that need my focus and time. My mom is in the hospital and things with Cimion are very stressful right now. Unschooling Voices is something I put a lot of pride into and I don’t want to just slap it together. Keep sending in your submissions and I’ll have #8 out on...

Town Hall Meeting

Shawna has been interested in colonial and early America for quite some time and that interest has taken her in many directions. She was especially interested in learning how the original govenment was set up and what the different branches are responsible for. When I heard there was going to be a town hall meeting in our neighborhood with Congressman Stearns, the girls wanted to go, so Billy took them. They both found it...

Jacqueline’s story in ‘ConnectionsR...

My daughter, Jacqueline had one of her stories published in the February issue of Connections, which is an ezine of unschooling and mindful parents. She’s very excited. It was her first story and it’s called Princess Barbie. Here’s the link to it posted on my blog. Check out the free issue of Connections when you have some time. Danielle does a great job and it’s only $10 for the...

Birds that share our yard (robin)

**update** Thanks to Susan and ‘Q’ for helping out with the name of this bird** I’m not that familiar (yet) with the names of the different types of birds that visit our yard but I love watching them from our windows. Anybody know what type of bird this is? Share ...

Interesting article on parents who adopt.

Study: Adoptive Parents Get High MarksBy DAVID CRARYAP National WriterFebruary 12, 2007 NEW YORK Adoptive parents invest more time and financial resources in their children than biological parents, according to a new national study challenging arguments that have been used to oppose same-sex marriage and gay adoption. The study, published in the new issue of the American Sociological Review, found that couples who adopt spend...

Day 175

We’ve had this Panterra Sandcat for about a year. Shawna LOVES riding it and she handles it well. Cimion is to long for it (his knees hit the handles), and Jacqueline is still to small for it so Shawna pretty much has it for herself right now. I don’t ride it but Billy gets on it sometimes (while dreaming of a Harley). Share ...

Dress up games

Jacqueline, playing on cartoon doll emporium, one of her favorite sites. They claim to be the “biggest dress up site on the web”. When you visit, Jacqueline recommends the music link (there are different types of music but she likes rock) and anime. Share ...

Gaming at Chuck’s

We went to Chuck E. Cheese’s after breakfast, earlier this week. My kids love going there and they have such cool games at the one near us. They seem to cater to older kids at this one, although that’s not the case with all of them . We already had tokens for games left from the last time and both girls have a refillable cup that they can bring in with each visit and get free drinks so we ended up not spending any...

Bag of Rocks

Cimion (our oldest son-14 years old) is struggling with a lot of emotional baggage. I don’t want to get into specific details here but his inability to control his anger is leading him down a path that the rest of us are unwilling to follow. When we adopted him three years ago, we knew he had issues to deal with and we have done more to help him than we even thought we had in us. Someone e-mailed this to me (thank you...

romaine lettuce

I finally got around to planting the romaine lettuce I bought last weekend. We have quite a few SWA (squirells with an attitude) around here, so Billy built a cage around the lettuce to keep them out. I’m not sure if it’s going to work though. When we removed their favorite watering hole by screening in our pool last summer, they got back at us by biting and scratching through the screen to get in and have a...