A Child's History of the World

We recently started a new history program called A Child's History of the World that we got from Calvert.  Steve had purchased the book for our school a year or so ago and we had checked it out a few times, but we were using the Story of the World (SOTW)  and so I didn't give it too much attention.  Last year I found that SOTW wasn't keeping the boys attention.  So this year I started reading chapters of CHOTW to see what they thought.  They took to it right away.  The boys love history and they ask to do it all the time.  So far this program is a big hit.  It reminds me a lot of SOTW, but it seems more geared toward little boys.  They enjoy the way history is presented (like a story), and they love to interpret the lesson with an art activity afterward.  We liked it so much we ordered the workbook and lesson book- and the boys are still loving it.  Even though we had covered a lot of history last year, the boys voted to start at the beginning. It's nice to have them excited about history- I sure wasn't when I was a kid.  I look forward to seeing how the year progresses.

Will I or Won't I?

My boys are all signed up for swim team and basketball this winter. They will swim 2 days a week and have basketball practice 1 day a week. Today a friend of mine suggested I coach basketball. Her husband is actually the coach of the team that my youngest boys are on-but apparently the league needs more coaches and she thought of me.


I have coached a lot- and I do enjoy it, but I am concerned that my boys will give me a hard time. In the past when I have coached them I had one hanging on my leg while another whined about any/everything I asked him to do. It was painful! Granted they are a couple of years older now and they did a great job in football- so perhaps they have grown out of that stage. My other hesitation is that they were looking forward to seeing some of their old football teammates regularly again (and I would get to see my new football mom friends too). Tomorrow I will call the community education department and see if I can get some questions answered. Should be interesting...I am leaning toward yes:).

The Droid

I am fickle.  After less than 24 hours with my new phone, I am already a convert.  I had a little difficulty transferring my contacts into the Droid, but since I figured that out last night all is good.  I just spoke to my friend on speaker phone while I was getting ready for the day and I had a clear conversation- something I couldn't have done with the IPhone because the volume was too low.  The Droid is fast.  It has a voice activated search engine that really works.  I am sure there are many features that I am not aware of yet, but I do not miss my old friend the IPhone...and besides- I still have the IPhone...it is just an IPod now.  The best of both worlds I think!

TGIF

I really don't have much to say tonight- but since I signed up to blog for 30 days straight I am going to make an effort to get something on here.  It has been a long week and I am so glad that the weekend has arrived.  Tomorrow we will all take our time getting up and getting started.  The kids will fight over the remote control and what shows to watch while I try and get the cleaning finished around the house.  Laundry needs attention, and it's time to purge some things and put away summer clothes (yes I am late on this one).  We have birthday parties in the afternoon- 1 for the kids and the other for Steve and I (yeah!).  We will then have a nice peaceful Sunday- no plans as of yet.  Steve is still recovering from knee surgery, so it may be a family movie day.  Have a great evening!

So long IPhone my old friend...

Tonight is my last night with my IPhone.  My 2 year contract is up tomorrow, and I will be switching over to Verizon's new Droid.  I am not entirely doing this of my own free will- my husband is pretty much ripping my IPhone away from me- but he has legitimate issues with my phone.  AT &T does not have the best coverage and I can't count the number of times that I missed his calls or a call was dropped.  His frustration over not being able to reach me is understandable- I was frustrated too...but I LOVE my IPhone.  It is my portable computer, my music/video player, my note pad, my new favorite novel-it is so much more than a phone.  From all the reviews on the Droid it looks like it will be able to do everything my IPhone does, but I am a little nervous about the learning curve.  Rumor has it that Verizon will be getting the IPhone in 2010...who knows, it may be a case of "so long but not good-bye".  IPhone- you will be missed!

It has been almost 2 weeks since football ended.  I have enjoyed the freedom of an open schedule.  We spend longer hours in the classroom- working on assignments, reading books, playing on the computer, or drawing pictures to our hearts content.  With it getting dark by around 5:00 the evening seems very long with the kids.  Although they do get opportunities to run-around during the day they have far too much energy at night.  Bedtime has gone back to becoming a battle and I wake up to cranky boys.  I planned to wait a couple more weeks before starting swim team...but I think they need to get back into physical activity (especially one that sucks the energy out of them).  So back to the busy schedule- and hopefully boys who look forward to bedtime.