Cool! Fun! and Free!

I was looking on the Hoagies web site today and found an online site I really like.  They have online lessons on a variety of subjects-- from the Periodic Table and Amusement Park Physics to the Renaissance and Cinema, all online, all interactive, and all free!  Each "class" has a few different lessons, with decent animations, and is followed by an online quiz.  Most of them are on a high school level, but there are a couple for younger grades.  

This reminds me of when I found EdVentures online several years ago.  At the time they were just getting their site together, adding more things, and I was amazed at all the classes online, for up to 10 kids in one family, for $60/year.  Now, I have to say, they have gone more toward the public school venue, and are not nearly as homeschool friendly.  Which is too bad.  They had some fun stuff.

Anyway, enjoy! 

A little Patch of Spring

The Time! The Time! Who's Got the TIme?

I'm getting so bad about writing on here regularly.  Sorry.  I run from one thing to the next, and fall into bed at night wondering why I did not get more done.  I keep thinking any day now things will slow down.  

After Utah I'll have time... After we get our passports submitted I'll have time... After I finish the backyard I'll have time... When the play starts I'll have time (yes, I should know better, but I do think this sometimes!).... When the kids get older I'll have time...

Anyway, you get the idea.  In reality, I probably won't have more time 'till I'm in my grave.  Nothing to do but lie about all day...  And night...  Forever... With the worms... Ugh.  Sorry. 

My friends Emma and Karen have invited me to go to Nepal with them next month to visit our friend Michelle.  But... you guessed it!  I don't have time!  In this case, however, it's ok.  They will be getting back two days before my family leaves for Panama.  If I went, I'd miss being here when my girls get back from school, celebrating Elizabeth's birthday, being here when my mom and sister arrive, and would just be back in time for our Easter celebration.  (Which is not going to be on Easter this year.)  I'd also miss auditions for the Odyssey with my kids.  And who would pack for Panama and prepare for Easter?  Umm... probably nobody.  Or I'd get to Panama and discover my kids had packed swimsuits, a Gameboy and Mad Libs, but nothing else.  That would be a real adventure!  I can just imagine.  

So, I am passing on Nepal.  And while part of me can't believe I'm saying that, it is true.  

And, just in case you wonder, Rachel seems to be recovering well from her surgery.  Our friends Dan and Kim have a new little boy!  (Congratulations!)  =)  Elizabeth is learning to SCUBA dive.  (See her blog for more info)  And while I was in Utah, Spring came to Virginia.    Life is good.  =)   

Rachel's Surgery

Just FYI-- Rachel had her gallbladder out on Friday and is doing well.  The surgery took about an hour, was done laproscopically (sp?), and although she is bruised and sore, she is doing well.  =)

I'm here in Utah helping her- driving her to classes, handing out Ibuprofen, and giving hugs.  Airplanes make so many things possible!

When I get a chance, I'll post some photos of the mountains (and a moose!) that Elizabeth and I took the day after surgery while Rachel was sleeping.

Love you all!  =)   

Winter Comes to Virginia! Better Late than Never!

This beautiful window is from the National Cathedral in DC.  I just love that place!  =)

We had a snow day yesterday.  A real one.  10 inches of snow, no school, and all.  This is the first time since I've been in Virginia that I've seen a real snowfall!  We have had dustings, and even an inch or-- maybe if you measure a place where it's drifted-- two inches.  So when the wether men were saying we'd get anywhere from 2 to 13 inches of snow overnight, I knew which it would be.  We'd get one and a half.

That night as I slept I dreamed, like Ezra Jack Keats' Peter in The Snowy Day, that all the snow had melted.  I dreamed of rivulets of water running down the street and little slush piles beside the sidewalk.  But when I woke and looked out the window I could almost see Keats' pink and blue snowflakes.   It had snowed!  For real!  And for just a moment I was back in Minnesota, land of 10,000 snow storms, land of my childhood.  

My kids, who did not grow up in Minnesota, were very impressed.  They kept pointing out to each other the snow on the grill, the way it clung to the bushes,  and how amazingly DEEP it was.  =)  

And I began to remember why, other than my husband's job, we do not live in Minnesota.  Coats, hats and gloves all over the floor.  Clumps of snow and puddles of snow-melt on the wood floors and carpet.  Boots to trip over in the entry way.  And sleds dropped in the front room, of all places.  

All of which begs the questions-- why do we own sleds, boots and gloves if this is the first time it has really snowed in 5 years?  To tell you the truth, I have no idea.  

Perhaps next time AmVets calls about donations I'll have lots of things to put out.  Then in another 5 years, when it snows again, we can all wonder what ever happened to that sled that used to be in the garage.  And by that time I will have completely forgotten about what I did, and I'll be able to honestly answer, "Hmm.... I have no idea!"

Happy snow days Virginia!  =)