My Blog...on Technorati?

I did a search for LDS homeschoolers in Flagstaff and found My Blog on Technorati. How random is that?

Here's the link. Apparently it is a Blog ranking system. Is your blog on there? A little scary huh?

I don't like that other sites are posting MY BLOG. It keeps people from coming to my blog to read it. I have designed a couple of blogs for people for business and it would detract from their ability to earn a living. Frustrating and weird.

What do you think? Is your blog posting on someone else's website as if it is theirs?

Moving North - Well, Further North Than Here

Our trip to Flagstaff was successful in several ways. Not only did we get to see Sunset Crater Volcano and Walnut Canyon, but we found a home to rent. Mike started his new job and even though the hours are kind of long, he is happy with the opportunity. Being out of work for awhile had given us a new perspective.

The home we are moving to is close to 2200 sq. ft. (I think it is more like 2000 sq. ft., but this is what they list it as) and on 1.5 acres of land. There are trees around the house, but the back acre is un-treed making it great for animals. I'll post pics after we move in. Of course, it will be prettier in a couple months when it is greener.

The owners are very happy to allow us to have chickens and goats - they even suggested horses but that is out of our price range right now. There are breath-taking views of the peaks that made me catch my breath and think, "Wow! The Savior made such a beautiful world!"

We are so excited! The kids are already making plans of what they can do with that much space. Marly is planning a garden, Chris is planning a bike trail with jumps and some kind of pit that I'm not sure what he has in mind for it, and I am happy to have them run around outside as much as they want until it gets too cold. This is an answer to my prayers as far as homeschooling goes. I have wanted them to have four seasons and room to do as many hands-on projects as our budget will allow. They will have to work more to keep up the animals and property, which is another aspect I think will be good for all of us - less time to think about TV and video games.

Spring Break

We are having a truly awesome Spring Break! I wish I could post pictures, but Sam took the camera with her to her dad's before I could download the pics. Oops! The only huge bummer about this trip was that Mike was working the whole time and could not go with us.

We took off to cooler country...but not that much cooler! It was 70 degrees in Flagstaff while we were there. Oh well, at least it does not get over 100 there. We spent time exploring the countryside and visited the Sunset Crater Volcano and Walnut Canyon in Northern Arizona.

Sunset Crater Volcano - This was really neat, especially since we just read the book and saw the movie for Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne. Of course, the movie is NOTHING like the book. In the book, they describe the lava fields and entering the dormant volcano. We could totally picture what it was like since we could see it in real life. Very cool! If you ever get a chance, don't forget to take an hour out of your way to see it! We did not hike too much, but there is a 1/2 mile hike further up to see more. Oh, and they don't allow dogs on the hiking trails! :-( It was sad to lock Maggie up in the car.

Walnut Canyon - We have seen the turn-off for Walnut Canyon several times and never taken the time to go. It is right off I-40 and closer than I thought. Marly was not up to taking the 240 stairs down to see the actual cliff dwellings, but we'll attempt it another time when she is feeling better. There is a short Rim Trail that allows you to see the caves from the opposite rim. I wish I had known more about this because we would have brought binoculars. We'll remember to bring them next time! Again, a very cool place to stop and see. Dogs are not allowed there either.

We are so lucky that Marly has a Golden Access Pass that was given to her when we went to the Grand Canyon a few years ago. She was restricted to a walker at the time and we inquired about handicap services. The next thing we know, they are handing us this free life-time pass for her to get into ANY National Park for free. It is for her and up to 4 people. So, needless to say, we take advantage of owning this pass.

Mom has ALL the answers....

• Where are my shoes?
• Why doesn't the sound work on the laptop?
• Where is the pepper?
• Can I use the computer?
• When does "Lost" post online?
• Why can't I go___________?
• What happened to the remote?
• Can I have cookies?
• Who took my Nintendo DS?
• What's for dinner?
• When are we going to eat?
• Does my hair look OK?
  

Does anybody else feel like nobody says anything to them in sentence form? I could go on and on about the questions I answer ALL DAY LONG.

My "Weekend" Off

I have had the last couple of days off from work....yippee! I really needed the rest and relaxation of not going to work. My family allowed me to sleep in - ear plugs really help with that - and they did a large part of the housework for me. I'm back to work today while the family goes to a family party without me. :-(

We hardly had anything on the calendar the last couple days and that added greatly to my happiness! No running around for appointments. The kids did not have ANY events to attend (when does that ever happen?). I was able to stay in my PJ's for a long time on Thursday and Friday, which is always a winner to me.

We are waiting to hear back on a job for Mike. We are very hopeful it will come through. It is not the perfect job, but we need something. After two months, we need Mike to have something soon! My job has told me I can transfer to the store in Flagstaff if we get the job there. I've been busy looking into renting a house in Flagstaff and renting our home here. IF he gets the job, I have a lot of work to do to get everything settled. Mike keeps telling me not to worry about anything until it happens - that is not easy to do! I am planner, and I need to plan for all possibilities even if they don't happen. It is part of my nature!

I do not have a school post this week - even though we did get a lot done - I'm just taking a break from so much online stuff right now.

Science, Slime, and the Human Body - 2009 - Week 8

I don't think reading a basic run down of every chapter we did in math and worksheets we used is fun to read....so we are going to focus on more what our real day looks like.

Science Fun
Human Body - Skin, Hair, and Nails Unit
On Thursday we started this very interesting- and a little gross - unit! In true Leadership Ed. (TJED) fashion I allowed the kids to take this lab to where their interests led them and then we looked up more with our books and the Internet. We have an awesome microscope that we bought at Amazon.com and slides (Kit A and Kit B) from the 4-Year Plan. Plus we made our own slides.

Here are the things we looked at:

• Dead skin from our own hands/arms.
• Hair from each of us and the dog.
• A dog eye booger. (eeewwww! not my idea)
• Saliva - Chris' to be exact.
  
• Prepared slide - Human Skin Cross-section - this shows the hair and how it grows out of the skin. We could also see the sweat pores.
• Prepared slide - Mouth Swab - the inside of our cheek skin.
• Prepared slide - Human Blood.

Book Resources:

• Usborne Science Encyclopedia - pgs.368-369
• How the Body Works - pgs. 31-41

Slime Lab
On Thursday thru Friday my kids wanted another lab day and so we went on a quest to find the BEST slime recipe. We tried several recipes and decided the best is to combine a Silly Putty and Slime recipe to get a nice, bouncy slime. The kids also discovered that if you put the concoction in the refrigerator over night it makes a better bouncy slime.

Read Together - We finished Little House in the Big Woods and started Farmer Boy.

Socialization Activities - Principles of Leadership Class

Marly - Projects - Loom Knitting & sewing balls for the Humanitarian Center. Reading - Diary of a Whimpy Kid: The Last Straw, Dairy of a Whimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Guy Time, Regular Guy, The Diamond of Darkhold.

Chris - Projects - Leatherworking. Reading - Redwall series, Diary of a Whimpy Kid: The Last Straw, Dairy of a Whimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.

Mom - Many of my projects are on hold. My work has graciously given me more hours, to which I am grateful. However, I'm very exhausted! Reading - The Love Dare and Leven Thumps and the Gateway of Foo.

Road Trip! - 2009 - Week 7

We are currently in Flagstaff for Mike to interview with a couple of companies. We made the decision to start looking in other places and he came up with interviews right away. Back home he only had 2 interviews in 4 weeks, one of those jobs was only part-time!

There is a bit of snow around - old snow that just hasn't finished melting. It is warm during the day right now (55 was the high) so this snow will not last long without another storm to come in and add to it. It was so fun to walk/drive around and see the beautiful snow and trees. We saw different types of animal tracks. I just love the smell of ponderosa pines!

We decided to go with Mike and take school on the road. I packed up all the books and we decided to take this opportunity to have a nice, long fieldtrip. We were able to accomplish quite a bit even with the disruption in routine.

Kid's School:

• Devotionals - Gospel Principles lesson 14 - Audio CD "Rough Start, Great Finish" by John Bytheway
  
• Classes/Clubs Attended - Principles of Leadership
  
• Read Aloud Book - Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder - Activities we did along with this book: hand sewing, different straight stitches, darning.
  
• Educational Games - Risk, Wii Music
  
• Fieldtrip to the Mountains
  
• P.E. - Dog walking, kick ball, roller blading, snow ball fight and snow hike.
• Projects - Humanitarian - We are sewing several types of balls for the LDS Humanitarian center.
  
• Math
• Marly: Math-U-See - Epsilon - Unit 1 test, Lessons 9-12
  
• Chris: Math-U-See - Delta - online drills
  
• Individual Reading
• Marly: The Story of the World: Vol.2 2-20 thru 2-23, Outcast series, The Truth About Sparrows
  
• Chris: The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Vol. 1 1-40, Redwall book 1, How to Be Totally Miserable by John Bytheway
  

Mom's School:

• Reading list - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (finally finished this one), The Love Dare (a 40 day challenge so I'll be reading this one every day for awhile - see this movie "Fireproof"), Leven Thumps and the Gateway of Foo
  
• Projects - Humanitarian project with the kids.