New Adventure

Hi everyone!  Today I am a bit crazy...as you may or may not know, we were actually in Europe for a couple of weeks, couple that with a master bath remodel, and starting this years school....I guess you can understand why i am a bit late today.

Phil and I at Versailles.....Gorgeous.  Did a behind the scenes, a private rooms tour.  It was fabulous.  Very informative and gave us an opportunity to skip the lines and crowds.  love

Love touring up and down rivers, you know we love to cruise.  lol  This time on the river Siene.

Westminster Bridge looking back at Parliament.  Trying to be in more photos.  

La Tour Eiffel.

Hampton Court with my man.  Sorry that he is in the shadows.  sigh Turning the camera over to others means some funky composition and lighting.  

Hanging at the Tower of London with the BeefEaters.  Such a fun day and so educational...yes, we are counting our vacation as a field trip.  lol

 

Just a few photos from our adventures!  Needless to say, we had a great, one we won't soon forget.  And one I know you will see many more photos of as I begin to create scrapbooks.

In other news, I just made a Facebook Page...so, if you like you can follow me over there.  Thinking I need to work on building my business.  https://www.facebook.com/homesclscrapper

Hugs.

Nancy

A Monday Sketch

Hi everyone!  Yep, it is Monday...and after a too short, yet productive, weekend I am here to share a project I made for Heather using her latest sketch.

Such a great sketch this time and I had so much fun with it.

Brighton and Mackenzie doing their "studies" out on the table in the back yard.  It was such a beautiful morning to be spent cooped up in doors.  So they grabbed their laptops and headed for the patio.

Lots of My Mind Eye products here with a Thickers alpha thrown in.  And no...that is not Mackenzie's hair...that is a bear hat.  It even has little ears.

Well, lots to do today.  Thanks for dropping by.

Hugs.

Nancy

Homeschooling Review

Being that it is the end of the semester, and being that I haven't talked about what is going on in our school for a while, I thought I would catch you up on our homeschooling adventure.

This year as been going pretty smoothly for the girls.  Who would guess that after all these years I might have figured out what I am doing.  lol  Ainsley has adjusted to Saxon math quite well, and although she doesn't know her math facts (I keep trying and trying) she does really well with it even if it does take forever.  She is super smart and having a great time.  We went with a new Science curriculum this year as well.    We are using Joy Hakim's The Story of Science.

There is a series of additional student and teacher guides that help break down the book and offer additional learning opportunities.  We have been using the Newton at the Center series and have enjoyed it.  The only problem for us is that the Newton guides don't equate to quite a years worth of science for us, but the additional two guide sets would be too much.  So, I have been supplementing with Young Scientist Club experiments.  Fun!!!!

Brighton...well...his year has been a bit of a challenge.  Due to his desire to attend a 4 year school we have been trying to work the system to get him the approved courses he needs to apply.  It is really a long story how the whole thing in California works.  But the online school he attended last year was no longer approved for the first semester this year.  So we switched to one that was.  National University Virtual High School.  It was quite a challenge since this school was much more self directed, self paced and...well...self everything.  The communication from his "instructors" was somewhat minimal.  And while for some subjects that was ok, for others it was almost disastrous.   Calculus AP?  Well, the kid is a flippin math genius.  So, no problems there.  He read the book, did the exercises and happily got an A in the class.  Psychology?  Well, that started off being a big ole hot mess!  Neither Phil nor I could figure out what he was supposed to do or how to help him.  Then we found there was an optional text book to go with the class.  

Happy Hump Day

Where does the time go?  Seems like it has been a non-stop whirlwind of activity here lately.

Yesterday, Tuesday, Ainsley had her Junior Grange Activity Day.  I don't really know much about the Grange.  I know it is a rural service community that was formed to help farmers band together to lobby.  At least that is what I seem to remember reading.  What I also know, is that our local Grange has become quite the hot spot for homeschoolers.  Tuesday afternoons are fun activities for homeschooled kids.  A chance to get out and socialize.  Yesterday, it was my job to help the kids socialize by making name tags and playing a few games.  With my Cricut I made these...

I found the svg file at svgcuts.com and my Sure Cuts A Lot software.  We played a quick game where the children made the animal sounds to try and group themselves.  And I made these....

We taped them to the children's backs and had them play a game of guess who.  I cut these with a Disney Cricut cartridge.  Guess who didn't come home with very many die cuts.  hee hee...

With the Grange and swim practice and ballet in full swing, I haven't had much time for me and crafting (did I mention I made 5 of each of the above figures?)  But, I did sneak one layout in.  Easy because it was a lift of the talented Robbie from scrapbook.com.

You can see Robbie's gallery here.  Pretty Pink Paislee and lots of Prima.  Of course, I needed lots of Zip Dry to hold it all together.

Well, still more to do here.  Tomorrow is my oldest's birthday.  So hard to believe he is already 15!  Eeeek.

Hugs.

Nancy

Just a few more days...

...till we start back to school full time.  We have been busy trying to get our books and materials organized and our activities firmed up.  We have been hard at work getting Brighton enrolled at the local Junior College, his enrollment at a new online school, and his books and materials for his online classes,   I don't remember it being this hard when I was a kid.  But of course, I wasn't home schooled.   sigh  It is times like these that I think it would be so much easier to have the children in regular school.  But, here we are, about to begin year 9!  Wow!!!  I can't believe I have been homeschooling this long.

Brighton got his wisdom teeth out yesterday and hasn't really been feeling his best which brings out the total nurse in me.  Making mashed potatoes, going out for yogurt and ice cream and running up and down the stairs to make sure everything is ok.

So how have I been spending my leisure time? Scrapping!!!! You are probably asking...what leisure time? lol...Well, I am overwhelmed with it all and need a break occasionally....So, when I have a few minutes, I scrap!  That, and I took over 1500 photos while on vacation, some of which I just love and the mojo is running strong.

Here are two that I did earlier this week.

This one comes from the sketch and color palette this week at The Color Room.  I love a good sketch and I loved the photos.  The color palette was perfect so it came together really quickly.  A bit of Prima bling, lots of Prima flowers, and some Maya Mist.  What more can a girl want!  lol

This one of course has the photos of our house after it was tp-d.  Yep, gotta document the good and the bad, and I guess it is kinda funny...unless you are the one spending 3 hours cleaning it up.  Special shout out to my neighbors Richard and Aimee who came over to help get the last bits from high in the tree!  They were life savers with their extension pole.  This one is based on a PageMaps sketch.  I used a bit of seam binding to make the "toilet paper" and some beautiful Echo Park papers. 

Well, I think I hear responsibility calling.  So that's all for today.  I have another layout here on my table drying to share tomorrow, so I promise to be back then.

Hugs.

Nancy

One of those....

I would like to say it has been one of those days...but it really hasn't been a day, maybe more like a week, or a month!  lol  I soooo need a vacation.  But that is another story to itself.  hee hee

I have been really busy with swim team these last few weeks.  It is amazing how quickly the swim season starts and ends.  And how much must be done in such a short period of time.

But enough of that for today...you aren't here to read about the drama of it all.....You are probably here to see yummy scrapiness, or homeschooling so, without further ado.

Very quickly I will tell you about Math.  This year Ainsley did a number of different math programs.  You know we did a bunch of math drills with math-drills.com.  We also used Singapore Primary Math.  I have really enjoyed using this program.  Mackenzie used it up till this year.  But, alas, I just don't think that it is working with Ainsley.  So I have decided to move her to Saxon Math, which, is a totally different set of skills.  But with all the drill, it should hopefully help her build confidence.  Surprisingly tho, when I had her take the placement test....she tested at grade level.  I know, I know...grade level is where she should be.  But I was surprised because she is constantly fighting me over math.  sigh  We are still going to work on math drills over the summer.  I bought an app for the iPad/iPod to do just that.  It is called KidCalc and she really seems to enjoy it.

Ok, enough educational stuff.  It is summer!!!!

And here are a few goodies for you.  Yesterday I did a tutorial on turning chipboard into painted metal.  You can check it out at Ideas for Scrapbookers.

Thanks to Tracy at Stay True to God for the fabulous Dusty Attic chipboard.  Love it!!!!  The sketch and colors are from last weeks The Color Room.

I also have this layout that I did for the class over on Big Picture Scrapbooking with Nic Howard.

I don't just love it, but it is ok I guess.  That is me trying to lift...I guess that is what I get.  lol

Well, that does it for now.  Gotta go cook dinner and then head to the pool to help set up for tomorrows meet.

Hugs.

Nancy

Wrapping up - Brighton

Well, I have a few projects going, but nothing ready to share yet.  I have been having fun playing with my new UTEE pot.  The girls and I were dunking all kinds of flowers in.  Can't wait to make something with them now.

Until then... how about one I finished the other day for the challenge over at The Color Room.

And, a little about how the school year went.  Today we will start with Brighton.

Brighton - Loved all his Apex courses (Honors Freshman English, Honors World History, Spanish 1) once he got the teachers and their requirements down.  In the beginning it was a bit of a struggle especially since he hadn't been graded in the past, but he persevered and was able to pull the grades he needed.  We are sad that he won't be able to continue there next year as they were unable to get the classes Brighton needs approved as a-g by the state of California. Saxon Advanced Math was quite a bit of work.  He somehow managed to complete the entire 2 year curriculum in 1 year!  Yep, math kid...so not fair!  lol....and his tutor totally rocked.  Stephanie...if you are out there...big hug!  His computer classes were OK.  They would have been great but it is a battle when you are trying to get anything done outside of regular "school" hours.  And having his dad teach him, it has to be in the evenings.  He has written a few game programs now and has been enjoying it.  Blockout anyone? Hangman? lol  PE..well, he is still swimming USA Swim and has managed to get a few "A" times, needless to say we are thrilled!

Well, I should probably step away from my computer and try to get some more "work" done around here.


Hugs.

Nancy

Quick Update

We are trying to finish up our school day and I am making little slips of paper for Ainsley to choose from.


We will draw the winner after lunch.


But, for now...the polls are closed.  lol


Please feel free to follow me tho!  I have had so much fun with this, I think I might just have to do it again.


Hugs.

Nancy