The Shadow

The Shadow
by Ranguvar, formerly known as Padme


The sun is bright, the sky is light.
So why does it feel like night?
It is the middle of the day
So why does this spot look so gray?
Over there, everything is warm and jeweled;
Over here, everything is dark and cool.

I will never understand
How day and night work hand in hand.
And if, I think, I even tried
To know how they work side by side
My brain would burst!
It's so complex!
Oh, great, now I am quite perplexed!

These works that I can't figure out,
Why, they just make me want to shout!
I guess that I will end my rhyme
As the little child, confused with time.

By The Brook in the Meadow

By the brook in the meadow
There's a marble path

That leads to a gate

That never hath

Opened its bars

Of jewels and gems

To show the world

The special Cerlems.

The world of Cerlem

Is an interesting one

Where day's light is moon

And night brings the sun.

Where giants so small

Play with elves that are tall

And the roofs are the roots

And heads rest in boots.

There are clouds in the river

And grass in the sky.

The birds walk on land

And puppy dogs fly.

And if all of the tales

That I say are true,

Then the one of Cerlem

Must be, too.

~~a poem by Padme, hereafter referred to as Ranguvar

Pecos Bill

Pecos Bill

By Angel

March 2010

Bill was the youngest of twelve children. Every one of them wore a bright star on their right hand. Then Mom and Pop decided to move. On the way, Bill fell out of the wagon. By the time his family noticed he fell out, it was too dark to find him.

But a coyote found him. Her name was Grandy. She taught Bill how to howl at the moon. Soon Bill was as talented as the rest of the pack and he could talk to all animals.

One day, a cowboy came riding on his horse. The cowboy’s name was Chuck.

Chuck said, “Baby.”

Bill repeated, “Baby.”

Bill founded out Chuck was his brother. So, Bill went with him. Then he was a cowboy and his brother said, “You need a horse.” So Bill caught one, and he named it Lightning.

Then he saw a girl. He asked her to marry him. She agreed to marry him if she could ride Lightning. She did ride Lightning. She was bucked off Lightning’s back. Bill was sad. He taught the other cowboys his tricks. The End.

The Cat Book

Cats are amazing animals. Cats come in all sizes and colors, and spots and stripes. Cats are pets and cats can be wild, too. By wild, I mean leopards and cheetahs. And cats can be tame. Tame cats love to play. Some tame cats do not like to play. Some cats are lazy.
The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world. It is God who made the cheetah. And more are made every year. How many kinds of cats are there in the world? Not two in the world, there are about thirty-two kinds of cats that live in houses.
--by Wendy

Happy President's Day!

We will be reviewing the White House website about the Presidents and doing some of the President's Day activities here. And, of course, reviewing the order of the Presidents in the Animaniacs video:



Lyrics | Animaniacs - The Presidents lyrics

End of Semester for Co-op!

Co-op is over until September! Woo and Woo and Woo and Hooooo!!! We LOVE our co-op and have so many sweet friends there, but we will enjoy having our Fridays off for a few months! We will continue doing our Home-Schoolwork, but our co-op classes are finished until fall!!

Here are a few of the projects the girls made this semester:

From Mad About Mosaics:



From Early Explorers - Christopher Columbus painting and project:

Also from Early Explorers, Cibola - the Lost City of Gold:
From Modern Art Masterpieces:


From Adventures Down Under, echidnas, didgeridoo and boomerang
I will post separately some videos of the End of Semester Program.

What a great semester we had! We're glad for the break!

Co-op Starts Tomorrow!

We are so excited! I am teaching Adventures Down Under, a class about Australia, to 1st -3rd graders and then to 4th-6th graders. I am also helping with a gymnastics class and preschool. Here's a list of what the kids are taking:

Baloo:
Auto Maintenance, Flag Football, Dance (Prom Prep), Web Design, Literature: The Hobbit

Padme:
Dance, Mosaics, Mary Englebreit crafts, Performance Ensemble (choir), Volleyball
*Note: She was supposed to take a science - how did I miss that? I generally require the kids to take a P.E. and a science each semester. She is doing Creation Science at home, though, so I guess it's okay. Can you tell this is my artsy kid?

Wendy:
Mosaics, Early Explorers, Schoolyard Games, Lego Creations, Adventures Down Under
*Note: Adventures Down Under counts as a science in my book. I'm teaching it. We're doing lots of science-y stuff.

Lil Yoda:
Mosaics, Dance, Body & Bones, Circus Fitness, Nature Journaling

Angel:
Cartwheels & More, Dance, Modern Works of Art, Lego Creations, March into Spring

Dora:
Cartwheels & More, Dance, Schoolyard Games, Lego Creations, Adventures Down Under

It's going to be a great semester!

Christmas Break!!!

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Okay it's not really a secret, but here it is: we don't do "normal school" between Thanksgiving and New Year's. (gasp!)

Instead, we take a break from our regular schoolwork and focus on the birth of Christ for a few weeks. Here are some Christmas links I enjoy: a great Jesse Tree site, another Jesse Tree site with the ornaments, a Christmas unit study, a great Christmas resource list, and some readings for the Twelve Days of Christmas between Dec 24 and the Epiphany (arrival of the wise men).

For math, we will be working on our math facts. Our new girls really need to work on number concepts, and don't have any facts memorized. For the older girls, they are learning new concepts and can certainly brush up on their facts, as well! Baloo will finish up his math book and get ready to move to Alg. II in January.

We will take a break from science & history, but will replace them with more Bible time (which really is history), artists & composers, hymns and Christmas music. There will still be lots of learning taking place, but it will be focused, as much as possible, on the birth of Christ.

We will also be spending lots of time with friends & family, so please stop on by!

Three Sites I Enjoy

Two I just found today, through friends. The other I have been following for some time. I hope you enjoy them.

http://www.sizzlebop.com/index.htm

http://frugal-fabulous.blogspot.com/

http://www.celebratecalm.com/
Join his email list, it will change your life!

Updated Happenings

We had our first week of co-op on Friday! We all had a great time! The kids so enjoyed getting to see all of their friends again. Our newly adopted kiddos did very well, I was a little nervous about how they would respond to all of the classes, but they actually did great! Three of their five classes were taught by me or their grandma, so they felt pretty comfortable. Plus they see me after each class, and we all eat lunch together. We are very excited about this semester, and everyone loved their classes! Yay!

We also moved last week. We only moved 25 minutes away, but we are much closer to our regular activities. The kids are loving the new house, and one of our bedrooms is big enough for all 5 girls to bunk together! I am very excited about this, as I have always wanted a "girls' room" and a "boys' room." With five girls and only one boy, this was not possible in our old house. Already I have seen the girls grow closer, in just a week, by bunking together. Thank you, Lord, for answering even our small prayers. We now have a "playroom" which is nice because they don't have to have all of their toys put away perfectly, all the time. The house isn't "custom" like our old one, nowhere near as "nice," but it is perfect for our needs and we are all loving it. We only had 3 weeks to move, so we feel very blessed that the Lord brought us such a great house so quickly!

During this same time frame, we also attempted to breed our little chihuahua with a friend's dog - we'll know in a few weeks whether it worked.

We kicked our cat out when we moved, she did not take very well to being an outside cat. So, we got 2 kittens from a friend, to keep her company. I have warned the girls that they may not make it to adulthood, what with the coyotes & hawks out here in the country. So far, so good, though. I think all little kids need to take care of a baby animal, so we really got these for the benefit of the new girls, as all the other kids have been through this already. Outside cats are really very easy, and the girls have spent every possible moment outside playing with those kitties! Once I find my camera (haven't seen it since the move) I will post pictures of our new little sweeties.

As you can see, we have been very busy! I will try to update more frequently. We are getting into a routine with all of our activities, so hopefully I will be able to do so.

Fall Co-op Schedule

We registered for our fall co-op on Saturday! We were able to get many of the classes we wanted, and we are very excited to start next week! Below are the classes the kids have chosen:

Baloo: Physics, Liberty or Death, Chess, & Whose Line Is It Anyway
Because Physics is an extra-long class, he only gets 4 classes. He is taking Spanish I at another co-op, and all the rest of his credit classes will be taken at home.

Padme: Dance, Watercolor Painting, French & Italian Foods, Cheers & Cartwheels, Made by Hand (a crafts class that looks really great)

Lil Yoda: Adventures in Africa (Grandma Lori's class), Dance, Sewing, Cheers & Cartwheels, Body & Bones

Because this is Wendy, Angel & Dora's first semester at co-op and because they tend to be shy in new situations, I decided to put them in classes all together. Next semester I will probably give them a little more free rein in choosing their classes. They are taking:

Adventures in Africa (with Lil Yoda, taught by Grandma Lori), On the Ball (P.E.), Acting Out (taught by me), Math Games & Tricks (also taught by me) and Lego Creations.

This should be a fun semester at co-op! I am only teaching 2 classes, both 1st-3rd grade level. I normally like to teach high school, but wanted to back off some this semester so I can spend more time with my new family. The other 3 classes periods I will be assisting in preschool.

Term 1, Week 1 Review

WOO-HOO!!!!! We have completed our first week of the new school year! I am pleased to report that, by the grace of God and with His help, I can, in fact, homeschool six children! Yay!!! The children did very well, overall. For the most part, I think I selected the correct levels for the new children, which is a big relief. The children are all enjoying their schoolwork, and I think this will be a very successful year! We are certainly off to a great start.

I have added to the margin a list of the books that the kids are reading. We use the Ambleside Online curriculum. Baloo is beginning Year 11, Padme and Lil Yoda are beginning Year 4, and Wendy, Angel and Dora are beginning Year 1. These do not necessarily correlate to grade levels, but do correspond to reading ability. I use the online curriculum as a guideline, then make additions, substitutions and adjustments as needed, based on the children's abilities as well as book availability. Because we have an extensive library, I will sometimes substitute an equivalent book we already own, rather than purchasing the new book listed in the curriculum.

The books listed in the margin include history, science, literature, geography, good citizenship and church history. In addition to these, the children do work each week in the following books:

Baloo:

Easy Grammar Plus

Current Events

Famous Speeches

Famous Essays and Short Stories

Building Thinking Skills

Copywork

Padme:

The Language Mechanic (Grammar)

Copywork

Phonetics Zoo, Level B (Phonics & Spelling)

Building Thinking Skills Level 2

Math U See, Epsilon

Wendy:

Explode the Code Book 3 (Phonics & Spelling)

Jump-Start 2nd Grade Grammar

My D’Nealian Handwriting Word Book, Grades K-1
Building Thinking Skills, Primary (Grades K-1)

Math U See, Beta

Lil Yoda:

Daily Grams for 2nd & 3rd Grade (Grammar)

A Reason for Handwriting, Book D

Phonetics Zoo, Level A (Phonics & Spelling)

Logic Countdown

Math U See, Delta

Angel:

Explode the Code, Book 2 (Phonics & Spelling)

Learning Horizons 2nd Grade Language

Modern Manuscript Handwriting Practice, Grades 1-2
Hands-On Thinking Skills, Grades K-1

Math U See, Beta

Dora:

Explode the Code, Book 1 (Phonics & Spelling)

Instructional Fair Grammar, Grades 1-2

Capital & Lowercase Letters, PK-1
Hands-On Thinking Skills, Grades K-1

Math U See, Alpha

In addition, we do group studies together. This 12-week term we are studying:

Artist Sandro Botticelli

Composer Johann Sebastian Bach

Hymns: A Mighty Fortress is Our God
Now Thank We All Our God
The Lord’s My Shepherd

Folk Songs: Camptown Races

Bill Grogan's Goat

The Crawdad Song

English From the Roots Up (Greek & Latin roots)

Lyric Language Italian, Spanish & French

Baloo works part-time and is a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. The girls all participate in gymnastics classes each week. In addition, Lil Yoda will soon begin Tae Kwon Do lessons and the new girls will begin ballet & tap. Padme wants to begin competitive horseback riding, but we are still looking into that. I hope to get all the kids back into piano lessons very soon, and Baloo would like to take guitar lessons again, as well. All of these things cost money, so we are waiting on the Lord's provision for these "extras". Right now we are spending our time getting to know one another better!

We will begin our Friday co-op classes in a few weeks. Registration isn't for two more weeks, so we don't yet know which classes the kids will be able to get into. Baloo is pre-registered for Physics but that's all we know for certain, yet. He will also take Spanish classes from a Spanish tutor, beginning in September.

First Day of Co-op!

Yesterday was our first day back at co-op. Our co-op only meets once/week, and only runs 10 weeks in the spring, and 10 weeks in the fall, so we get very excited when it's time to start back up! I get to teach a Shakespeare class to 1st-3rd graders (very fun!) and high school Economics and Humanities, which I co-teach with 2 friends. I also help out in a Cake Decorating class. It is such a blast!

Baloo is taking the 2nd semester of Apologia Chemistry and the 2nd semester of my Humanities class, plus Billiards and Mythbusters.

Padme and Lil Yoda are both taking the second semesters of Extreme Weather and Traveling the American Road, both taught by Grandma Lori, and they are both taking Renaissance Relived, a history/crafts class. In addition, Padme is taking Real Science for Kids (Physics) and Thinking Things (Logic games). Lil Yoda is taking Bird's Eye View (World Geography) and Lego Creations.

They had a great day yesterday, but we were all worn out! We have to wake up extremely early to make it to Opening Assembly by 8:40!!! Thankfully I had dinner in the crockpot so the house smelled yummy when we walked in. The smell alone was soothing! Overall, a very wonderful day. We love our co-op!

Quote Party

Our Charlotte Mason book club hosted a party tonight, and we were each to bring a bookmark or ornament displaying a Charlotte Mason quote. This was a fun, new and inexpensive way to do a Christmas party, and we all enjoyed our monthly Starbucks and CM discussion.

I have included some of the quotes below. You'll notice the blatant disregard for proper bibliographical formatting, and complete lack of specific book & page number references. Tough. If you need the reference, Google it.

The quote I brought, on a little pink bookmark:
"All beautiful and noble possibilities are present in everyone."

The quote I received, inside a cookie-cutter Christmas ornament:
"Nourish a child daily with loving, right, and noble ideas...which may bear fruit in his life."

Several chose the "CM Motto":
"I am . . . a child of God, a gift to my parents and my country. I'm a person of great value because God made me.
I can . . . do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God has made me able to do everything required of me.
I ought . . . to do my duty to obey God, to submit to my parents and everyone in authority over me, to be of service to others, and to keep myself healthy with proper food and rest so my body is ready to serve.
I will . . . resolve to keep a watch over my thoughts and choose what's right even if it's not what I want."

A few of my favorite CM quotes, way too long for a bookmark:
"The idea that vivifies teaching. . . is that 'Education is a Science of Relations;' by which phrase we mean that children come into the world with a natural [appetite] for, and affinity with, all the material of knowledge; for interest in the heroic past and in the age of myths; for a desire to know about everything that moves and lives; about strange places and strange peoples; for a wish to handle material and to make; a desire to run and ride and row and do whatever the law of gravitation permits. Therefore. . . we endeavor that he shall have relations of pleasure and intimacy established with as many possible of the interests proper to him; not learning a slight or incomplete smattering about this or that subject, but plunging into vital knowledge, with a great field before him which in all his life he will not be able to explore. In this conception we get that 'touch of emotion' which vivifies knowledge, for it is probably that we feel only as we are brought into our proper vital relations."

"The child's mind is not a blank slate, or a bucket to be filled. It is a living thing and needs knowledge to grow. As the stomach was designed to digest food, the mind is designed to digest knowledge and needs no special training or exercises to make it ready to learn."

"'Thou hast set my feet in a large room' should be the glad cry of every intelligent soul. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking -- the strain would be too great -- but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest... The question is not, -- how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education -- but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?"

Update: I forgot my favorite one, but found it in Javamom's review of our evening:
"Mothers work wonders once they are convinced that wonders are demanded of them."

From Lil Yoda's Exam

Lil Yoda performed very well on her exams this term. Below is the poem by William Blake that she memorized.



The Little Lamb

Little lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life and bid thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead?
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, wooly bright.
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice.
Little lamb, who made thee?
Does thou know who made thee?

Little lamb, I’ll tell thee.
Little lamb, I’ll tell thee.
He is called by thy name
For he calls himself a lamb.
He is meek and he is mild
For he became a little child.
I a child and thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little lamb, God bless thee.Little lamb, God bless thee.



And her narration on William Shakespeare:

William Shakespeare wrote lots of plays. He lived at the time of Queen Elizabeth. The old plays were boring but these plays had more talent, like A Midsummer Night’s Dream or The Taming of the Shrew or Romeo and Juliet. Not all of those have happy endings.

Like in Romeo and Juliet. Romeo died because he thought that Juliet had died but it was just poison, and the poison that Juliet had dranken only lasted for a little while, so that the other person that she was supposed to marry would think she died and then she could marry Romeo. But Romeo thought she died and he actually died. So Juliet killed herself.

Shakespeare performed his plays at the Globe Theater. There was a secret trap door on the stage so that the people could appear from nowhere. And there was a secret trap door up on top so that the people could be flying.

Shakespeare was born in the 15s [1500s], somewhere. He lived in Europe.

The people that were performing onstage at the Globe Theater sometimes said, “Hello,” three times. But the people that weren’t onstage didn’t know why. They said, “Hello,” three times because there were three places there. The people with cushions had to pay three pennies, the people with no cushions had to pay two pennies, and the people with no seat had to pay one penny to get in. But it’s not like that nowadays. Nowadays we like to sit around and listen to the plays, and laugh at an inside theater. The Globe Theater had no top, so therefore it was an outside theater. So they couldn’t perform when it was rainy or when it was snowing or when there was a thunderstorm.

From Padme's Term Exams

We completed our Term Exams Thanksgiving week. I thought I'd post a couple of excerpts here. The exam is several pages long, and Padme did a fantastic job! I am always amazed at how much detail the kids are able to retain, based on Charlotte Mason's education methods. We use the http://www.amblesideonline.org/ curriculum.



The poem Padme memorized, by William Blake:



Piping down the valleys wild
Piping songs of pleasant glee
On a cloud I saw a child
And he, laughing, said to me,

“Pipe a song about a lamb.”
So I piped with merry cheer.
“Piper, pipe that song again!”
So I piped. He wept to hear.

“Piper, sit thee down and write
In a book, that all may read,”So he vanished from my sight,
And I plucked a hollow reed.

And I made a rural pen
And I stained the water clear
And I wrote my happy songs,
Every child may joy to hear.



And her narration on Christopher Columbus:

There was once upon a time a boy named Christopher Columbus. He believed the world was round and not flat. To prove that he was right, he decided to go west into the water, around the world, and come to the eastern land of India.

So he went to Portugal because he knew they were fond of finding new places, but the king would not listen to him. The king sent, secretly, his own party of ships to go and try this out.

So Christopher Columbus went to Spain, right next to Portugal. But they were in a war and could not listen to him right now. So he just waited. And then he decided to go back to Spain. Hearing that their war was over, he went back. This time the king and queen loved the idea, and gave him three small ships that were easy to find. But the crew? Not so easy! Nobody wanted to go out into the so-called deathly waters! So his crew ended up being criminals, murderers, people who have been in prison! Their choice was either to go sailing with Columbus or to go to prison. And they chose sailing.

But instead of finding India, he found Haiti, which is an island off the coast of America. He thought this was India, because the people didn’t look like Chinese people. They looked different, so he thought they were Indians.

Then he went back home and everybody started going there, and nobody thought he was important anymore. So Columbus held a meeting and he told the servant to bring them some eggs. When the eggs were brought, Columbus said, “All of you try to make this egg stand up.” Everyone tried, but none of them could.

Finally, it was Columbus’ turn. He quickly took the bottom of the egg and smashed it gently on the table so that the bottom was flat and it stood up perfectly. Everyone thought how easy that was, and that they could have done that. And Columbus said, “Of course, now that I have shown you!”

And then everybody hung their heads, because they knew what this was attached to.

Words of the Day

It seems I really do learn something new every day. Below are two words I learned today while listening to my children playing outside:

1) Acornia - n. An acorn anomaly in which two acorn tops are stuck together end to end. Commonly used as an instrument by Webkinz.

2) Yorkie Strider - n. A breed of horse known to be very fast. Breed standards include blondish-brown hair, brown eyes, a yellow torso and black rump that suspiciously resembles a Bumblebees soccer uniform.

This is what Charlotte Mason meant by masterly inactivity.

Personality Insights

We went to a wonderful seminar this weekend that explained the different personality types. We have done these assessments before, and I am always eager to reassess & see how I have (or haven't) grown.

Basically, all people are split into 4 basic personality types. Most people are a blend of several different types, and most people can change as their environment demands. That's okay - that's what Christ did!

The two questions to ask are :
1) Are you more outgoing or more reserved? (Dh likes better the question, Do you tell (outgoing) or do you ask (reserved)?)
2) Are you more task-oriented or more people oriented?

From these 2 questions, you have 4 different categories of personalities:

1) D- Outgoing & task oriented
2) I- Outgoing & people oriented
3) S-Reserved & people oriented
4) C-Reserved & task oriented

Thus, the DISC method.

Here's what we discovered:

King Louie is a D/IS personality. This means he is primarily a Driver, Doer, Dominant type. Secondly he is Inspiring and thirdly he is Supportive, Sensitive and Stable. Actually his I & S were almost equal. This is not particularly surprising.

Jubilee is an ID/S personality. My I (have fun, be the star) ranks just below my D (take control, conquer the world). I was excited that I showed some S (sensitive, care about people) this time. I had none last time I did this assessment, about 3 years ago, and have been praying I would have more mercy and be better able to show love to people.

Eragon tested as an S/IC personality. So mainly he is stable and easy to please. Secondly he is fun-loving and thirdly he likes order. I thought his secondary trait would be D, but I have been told that a frustrated S often appears as a D. S's like everyone to be happy, they like to maintain the peace & the status quo. When that doesn't happen, they sometimes get frustrated & D-ish symptoms come out (i.e. being bossy & yelling). Still, he is a teller, not an asker, so I don't know whether the assessment was entirely accurate here. I am betting his were all pretty close together - haven't seen his graph yet.

Padme tested as an S/IC as well. I think this is pretty accurate of her. She does like stability and tends to be sensitive (that's the S). She is a performer (that's the I) and also likes things in order (that's the C). The graph shows her S as "very high" and her I & C even with each other, and above average. What's interesting about this report is that it shows your basic tendencies (listed here) and how you adapt to your environment. According to this, Padme easily pulls up her D, and just as easily pulls down her I and C when needed. I think this is very true. She can be quite bossy when she thinks she's right, she is level headed and pulls out of fun if it's too risky, and she has probably learned to live with disorder because she lives in my house.

Lil Yoda tested an S/C. She actually tested a very high S, and her D, I and C were all almost even, and pretty average. She tends to push her I way up as needed in her environment, and pulls her D and C down. Her S always stays up. That's good, I think. That tells me she always cares about people, no matter the situation. I think this accurately describes Lil Yoda. She really does care about people, and is very resistant to change.

This has been an enlightening assessment, overall. I do think the younger 2 may still be a bit young to test accurately, but still the insight is helpful.

Besides helping you understand yourself, the kids' assessments also provided help for the parents and teachers. The teen assessment also included career recommendations. Very cool.

Tonight we go to bed understanding each other better. :) Very very cool.

Motivation

Our piano teacher (go Mr. Truk!) informed us today that the kids will have a recital in March.

On a $70-$90,000 (at least) Steinway piano.

{{What?!?!?!? Does he have any idea what my Bundles of Joy could do to a $90,000 piano? I learned long ago never to underestimate my children, especially that One. But I digress.......}}

As for the Littluns, they were semi-impressed with the recital idea (sort of a vague concept, you understand) but when he started talking money, they began to get excited! They are already planning what they want to play.

Now this is a good teacher. Motivation is often the key, isn't it?

Productivity

We had a very productive day. We finished our schoolwork. I did the laundry and cleaned up the house. (The kids used to do all of our laundry & housework, but I have discovered this year that I have more time than they, so I have taken over).

My favorite part was that we all spent about an hour playing with Lil Yoda's Disney karaoke machine. Well, it's not really a full-blown machine. It's actually a souped-up microphone that has all the karaoke stuff programmed into it. You can just plug it into your regular tv and go!

Daddy was home trying to work but came to join in the fun when he heard (and couldn't escape) our singing and laughter. We have a regular karaoke machine as well, but this Disney one allows you to change your voice. It does a deep & scratchy "dragon" voice that sounds like Ursula the Sea Witch, a deep horse voice that sounds like Barry White, a medium but-still-not-yours voice, and a tiny mouse voice. We had such a great time; I'm glad Lil Yoda dug this out of the garage.

Lil Yoda and I fixed a wonderful dinner together using one of the recipes she learned in her cooking class: Tex Mex Tarts. Padme saw us bustling about the kitchen and came to help out as well. We love to cook together! I have posted the recipe below.

After dinner we watched tv (this is an out of the ordinary Treat) and read The Last Battle, the final installment of the Narnia books. This was a very tense episode, when Tash comes to Narnia and Cair Paravel has been taken by the Carlormenes. I could have kept reading until I came to a more warm-and-fuzzy part of the story, but I know the doubt and tension of the delay will only add to their enjoyment when the story comes to its victorious conclusion!

I put the girls to bed and we sang and laughed and prayed. Their spirits lightened again by the power of the Almighty God, they sang themselves to sleep.

I didn't accomplish many of the things on my List today. I have much work to do still, and it is midnight already. I have papers to grade and lessons to prepare for co-op. I have research to do for the coming week. I'd like to take a bath.

But I had a very productive day.

I hope you all enjoyed an equally wonderful day. I love my job.

Here's the recipe:

TEX MEX TARTS

1 Roll of Fillo Bread (2 come in a pack but we only used one)
Taco Meat
Beans
Rice
Sour Cream
Shredded Cheese
Salsa
And Whatever Else You Want As Garnish!

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare taco meat and rice according to package directions. Warm beans over the stove.

Unroll the Fillo bread onto a cutting board. Carefully peel off 5 layers of Fillo & set the rest aside. Using a pizza cutter, cut the Fillo bread into 8 pieces (Lil Yoda says the are supposed to be Pop-Tart sized).

Get out a muffin tin. Each of the 8 sections of 5 Fillo bread pieces will be placed in a muffin tin to make a cup, but Lil Yoda says you can't just lay them in all together. You have to separate the pieces and lay each of the 5 pieces into the muffin tin individually, overlapping one another in sort of a star pattern, so that it will look prettier.

Once you have 8 cups of your muffin tin filled (with 5 pieces of Fillo each) you can peel off 5 more Fillo sheets and repeat the process. We filled 4 muffin tins with just that one roll of Fillo.

Sidenote: We don't have four muffin tins. However we have 2 muffin tins and 2 heart-shaped muffin tins so we used those. The heart shaped ones really ended up being too small but oh well...

Another Sidenote: At this point, Mom apparently did not look very busy, as the girls were doing the Fillo work. Lil Yoda therefore informed Mom that, "We are supposed to be cleaning the kitchen as we go, so you can go ahead and sweep the floor, wipe the counters and wash out the sink...stuff like that." Apparently this is what they do in her Cooking Class, so I dutifully begin to clean up.

Once you have all of your muffin tins filled, bake them at 350 for 5 minutes. When they are finished, take them out and display them on a pretty platter. Or, in our case, a cutesy beach platter because that's the one the girls picked.

Yell for everyone else to come eat dinner. After no response, yell again. If still no response, send the short people to get the others and tell them it is Dinner Time. As you wait for everyone else to come, let the Littluns put a pretty tablecloth on the table. And candles, if you have time.

When they arrive (at our house this is at least five minutes later and the food threatens to be too cold) let everyone fill their own Fillo cups with Taco meat, beans, cheese, sour cream, salsa and rice.

Enjoy!!!