Monday, March 30, 2009

What's New?

Not a lot, but I've been out of my mind busy. CRAZY busy. This past weekend I rested a bit though. Sorry to disappoint but I just had to!
We have a mega busy month coming up!
Monday- I'm testing 2 boys for their end of year review. That's like 3 hours. Blah.
Tuesday- The first Softball get together for the year. These are always fun.
Wednesday- My Dr's appt for my gallbladder. He's not going to be happy to know that I want to put it off until May.
Thursday- TESTING DAY! Yikes. Am I ready? No, prolly not. Are YOU ready? Yeah, you're ready! Thursday is also Mom's Night Out at Mellinis! I'm going to need it,, lemme tell ya!
Friday- The Brain Expo at Marshall U.
We also have to get some school in and then there's the 75gillion other things I have to accomplish this week.
It makes my head spin to think about it.. really. Next week is just as busy.

Here's the biggest and best news-
TAX DAY TEA PARTY!
April 15th, 12:00 noon
At the Capitol in Charleston
Feel free to contact me if you want any info at cnewmans at yahoo dot com

I'll be there. I hope you will too!

Too early to be thinking about Black Friday? NO WAY!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

The Second American Revolution

Anne Frank: A Theme Unit

It's been a while since I made a homeschool update.
The last few weeks have been iffy around here for school work. On the first of March, T2 came down with a stomach bug. It came on slowly and lingered long. By the 4th, T1 had it too. Not to be left out,,, The Husband came down with it on the 8th. See a pattern here? Every 4 Days. The entire time I was scurrying around cleaning this and that, making 7up runs and wiping subsequent puddles(sorry, tmi). I was feeling horrible too. At one point I hadn't eaten or drank anything more than a sip or two for a week. The rest of the family eventually mended but I continued to feel really poor. Another week went by and I was feeling worse and worse. By the 15th I felt HORRIBLE. I was in so much pain. I was having crushing chest pains, upper back pain, trouble breathing, dizziness, sweating, pain in the upper arm, neck and jaw. I finally exhausted all known home remedies to make it stop and decided that the ER was in order. It turns out I was having a mild cardiac event, a gall bladder attack and my blood sugar was out of control. My BP was 220/100 when they hooked me up to the machine and my Pulse Ox was like 82.
NICE.
So I got to spend a few days in the hospital. I have to have my GB taken out, a stint put in, and I'm apparently a diabetic.
This ticks me off beyond words. I mean, I'm a "big 'ol girl" but I'm not like "cut a whole in the side of the house" big. What the heck is happening to me?!??! I've actually even lost 30lbs in the last few months! (Yay me btw!)
So yeah,, school work has taken a back seat. No one has felt like it. Just another awesome bonus to homeschooling!
So the other day we got back on the ball. We have a lot of catching up to do. The Husband has been giving the kids lessons on WWII. I figure it's his specialty so why not let him do it! I'm taking care of the more mooshy side. I'm reading "Anne Frank: A Diary of a Young Girl" with the boys. They are surprisingly pretty into it! After that we may read "Number the Stars" . I'm going to an Usborne book party today and picking up a few books on the subject too.
Here are some online resources we're going to use.
WWII a Thematic Unit PDF

A Reading Group Guide

A Reference Guide (excellent)

A Teacher's Workbook (excellent)

VocabularyPDF

There more be more to come. Right now I have to get out of the house!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Good Food, Great Friends


I attended a Glenn Beck Watchparty last night!
I'm trying really hard not to be disappointed because the evening wasn't disappointing at all. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense but let me see if I can explain myself. This might be hard because I don't know if I can really put my finger on it. Perhaps I'll have some kind of catharsis here? ha ha.
We Americans are feeling frustrated. Not Democrats, Not Republicans, Americans. Everyone can see that the current economic plan is going to bankrupt us, the core values are being dismissed, and our liberties are being stolen from us one by one. There are people out there that are saying "oh, it'll never happen" or "that's awful, but I can't do anything about it" and I understand that. I do! I understand because we call our representatives and they ignore us. We call and we're talked down to like we're unintelligent. They tell us we're drones of Talk Radio.
Then there are the folks that dig in, hang on, and decide that we're not going to take it! This country is OURS. This country belongs to US. I don't mean the conservative "us", I mean everyone! I want people who don't believe like I do to have the same liberties without MY LIBERTY being quashed. I don't like the direction the country is taking because the Progressive definition of "Fairness" seems to be smell an awful lot like "revenge" or "retribution".
Tell the Truth. That's all.
When we found out that nationally known talk show host, Glenn Beck was going to rally us around and introduce a program for those who feel like they are alone in feeling this way, some friends and I were really excited! We immediately started planning a watchparty. Glenn told us to gather all our friends and family and get together and watch the show. There were thousands of watch parties all over the country large and small. We held a covered dish meet and greet and watched the show at 7pm. We all waited anxiously for not a plan really, but just some support in our endeavors to take our country back to the founding father's principles and values.
Well, the food was wonderful, and the friends, old and new, were fantastic. We had a great time talking and eating but the show,, while sweet, was a little disappointing.
Glenn blew snot bubbles. That's always fun. No, really, it's funny. He introduced a new website called The912project.com . Great site if you can get there. Apparently the biggest server privately available was purchased and the site keeps crashing due to the HUGE amounts of traffic that is coming in. Chuck Norris was on the program via satellite from his watchparty, that was interesting. But other than that? I feel kinda let down. It did accomplish the goal though and I don't regret it. It's always fun to get together with people of like minds.
So, yes, I'm a little disappointed but not completely. This was a catalyst to hopefully something huge! We're already planning on getting together and learning what we can to reaffirm our beliefs in what we know in our gut is right. To use these principles and values to solve our country's problems and do what we can to add to our own personal security.
I've also put a reading list up on the side of my blog. We had some good discussion about that last night.
My personal goal is to do something every single day, no matter how small or large, to add to my family's personal security.
What did YOU do today to add to your security?
Crystal
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Sunday, March 8, 2009

We're under attack.

We've had a horrible, viralant, nasty pestilence all week. It just WON'T GO AWAY. Just about the time I think we're on the mend... someone else gets it or gets it AGAIN!
I have wiped and bleached every surface in this house 10 times over. I've sprayed the couches with vinegar (it only smelled like a pickle for a minute) I've done every stitch of laundry 2 times. I just don't know how to get out from under it!
I'M TRAPPED HERE! Ugh,,, quarentine SUCKS!!!
Not that I haven't got out a few times but coming back to "sick house" has been the pits. It's been nice to have the doors open over the last few days. Hopefully that'll help air this hotbed of bacteria and germs OUTTA HERE!
Seriously people,, I'm about to loose it! We simply must get over this by Friday so we can attend the "We Surround Them" watch party!
Ok,, enough.
Can you all see my words? Jen mentioned that she can't see them. Jen? Are you getting a greenish background or a black one?
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We're going to need a new dehumidifier after this. I don't even want to know what kind of plauge is lurking in ours!

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Thursday, March 5, 2009

We Surround Them


Sometimes it's lonely fighting the good fight. Sometimes you feel like you're in the minority. In this current climate, it's easy to feel that way if you have solid conservative values.
You have to know that you're not alone! If you are concerned about the direction that our country is taking and the looming economic collapse is keeping you up at night, consider attending a watchparty!
A watchparty is a kind of support group of sorts. We will solidify our core beliefs and feel strength in numbers!
What are these core beliefs?

The Twelve Values

Honesty
Reverence
Hope
Thrift
Humility
Charity
Sincerity
Moderation
Hard Work
Courage
Personal Responsibility
Friendship

THE NINE PRINCIPLES

1. America is good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

Give me a call or shoot me an email if you're interested in attending! My email is cnewmans at yahoo dot com. It's on March 13th and it's covered dish! We will have lively discussion at watch the unveiling of Glenn Beck's We Surround Them project!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The "F" Word.


I don't generally watch much television. I make it a point to watch LOST on Wednesdays but until recently, that's about it. Thanks to a friend, I've become a huge fan of Gordon Ramsey. I LOVE IT!!! This man has no off switch on his mouth! He takes the "F" word to a whole new level.
This is kinda the opposite view from my review on that buy.com commercial but the difference is that I watch Gordon when the kids are asleep. It's definitely not a kids show.
There are 3 different shows:
1. Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares
2. The "F" Word.
3. Hell's Kitchen

The "F" Word is actually the better show. He talks more about the food on that one, it's less reality based and oddly enough? I think there's less use of the "f" word in it! ha ha.

Gordon is on Jay Leno tonight. He's making savory crepes.

Any Gordon fans out there?
My friend Judi started a facebook group called "What Would Gordon Do?" where we propose insane situations and discuss how Gordon would handle them. It's fun.. but beware... prolific use of the "F" word! LOL
Come on.. it's all in fun!
Speaking of Facebook. I may need professional help. It's quite addictive is it not?
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If I watch any more Gordon, I'm going to need home theater furniture!
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Not Dead Yet

But almost. Man!! have the kids been sick. This is the worst bug we've encountered in a long while. We've been mostly horizontal for 3 days.
It's a shame too because this was going to be a slow activity week for us and we were going to get all kinds of school work done.
Never fails does it?
We're going to skip all activities until we're sure we're not contagious. I don't want anyone to get this vile pestilence. Chris stayed home from work today too. This allowed me to get out and run a few errands.
I have yet to come down with it but I know it's only a matter of time. YAY! not. I'm so run down that I can't imagine how I wouldn't get it. My hands are so dry from washing that they're actually flaking and splitting. Pretty visual huh?
BUT...
On the upside..
It's MARCH!!!! WHOO HOO! Winter is almost officially over! It's over in my book though. I have daffodils coming up, pussy willows blooming and there are robins everywhere!
I love spring!
Speaking of spring, my youngest child will be 10 on Easter Sunday this year. Sigh.. it's all over. DOUBLE DIGITS! ugh.
That's all I have by way of updates!
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The kids can't wait for me to buy them new mattresses. How sad is that? They're getting mattresses from Sam's Club, nothing fancy like a sleep number bed.
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