Fair 2016

It's broken.

We met up with my brother's family to go on a ride together.  That was cool.  My sister-in-law looks like she's having fun!  ;)

In this one, you can see Kylen, my brother and me.

Our feet!

This happened.

Kylen was slightly tipping his plate of funnel cake, pouring chocolate down his front, and not realizing because it was dark.  Good thing we were on our way out!  He had to take off his shirt when we got to the car.  What a mess!

August 2016 Highlights

And just like that, summer turned into mid-November.  Why does life drastically increase speed when your kids hit upper high school?  Especially when it was already going fast?!

It was a good summer with lots of activities and plenty of rest.  I already posted about our first week of August in Hawaii.

I imagined going on regular mother-son outings now that Kylen had his license, but between his activities, family activities, and life, I found myself with only a few weeks of summer left and not a lot of those to show for it!  I made a start by scheduling a trip to the movies.

We thought I'd like it more, but he ended up liking it more than me!

Greg fixed a leak under the kitchen sink:

Kylen and I had another mother-son outing, lunch at a restaurant called The Cork House.  Some unusual flavors, but the food was good.  (I went back with Greg a few months later.)  The sweet potato fries were drizzled with maple syrup.  Yum!

A friend treated me to a belated birthday lunch!  I'd been wanting to try Fire Artisan Pizza.

Interesting decor!

Reviews said they could be slow, and they were!  We went at an off time, but each step of the meal was punctuated by long waits.  Great place if you plan to stay awhile!  The pizza was delicious, and one was enough to share.  (Note: I eventually made it back with Greg and Kylen for dinner, and the service was much better.  Maybe their off times aren't good times.)

This was Greg's arachnid adventure.  He saw a huge spider on the wall just outside my bedroom.  I was sleeping, and he didn't want to wake me with a thud.  So he got set up on the couch with his computer where he could keep an eye on said spider.  Soon, he noticed a second large spider on a different wall.  He now had to divide his attention between two scary spiders and his computer screen, because if one of those suckers moved, he was taking action!  Thankfully, they stayed put long enough for me to finish my beauty sleep.  In the meantime, he researched deadly spiders of the northwest and discovered they weren't the sinister hobo or brown recluse.  I took a picture of the one next to my room.  Eek!

We had our annual summer visit to Riverfront Park, precluded by a meal at Red Lobster.  Strawberry pina coladas all 'round!

An imax.

Did you know Riverfront Park is the place for free acorns?  They were dropping from the trees.  I pocketed several.

I don't know if we've ever visited late enough for the water to be this low and the algae this prominent.  It was pretty.

Another mother son outing for breakfast.  Greg decided to join us.  :)

Such cheery decor with the blues, oranges, yellows, and greens.

Kylen had friends over for a fun afternoon and evening of basketball, games, and video games.

And the month ended on a sweet little note: quality time with my adorable niece.

11th Grade Homeschool

It's that time again!  I can't believe our son is a junior.  Mind-boggling!  Here are his subjects this year and links to curricula.  (To see curricula from freshman and sophomore year, click here and here.)

As far as college: PSAT in October, ACT/SAT in the spring, and currently researching universities.  We plan to visit a college this month just to get our feet wet.  :)


Math ~ Precalculus ~ 1 credit
Teaching Textbooks worked fine, so we are keeping them.  This time, I purchased the complete set, including videos.  He worked independently last year, and I didn't keep up.  It will be nice having video solutions to all the problems instead of me needing to scramble to refresh my memory banks whenever he has a question.

Honors English III ~ 1 credit
Depending on how the year goes, there are several options I'm considering.  I know for sure he will go through another book in the Excellence in Literature series by Janice Campbell: British Literature.  Like last year, I won't require the writing assignments, but he will read introductions for each module.  He will be allowed to skip any books he doesn't enjoy, and if we run out of options, he will move on to World Literature.  I am planning American Literature his senior year with government.

He will continue to make progress on his first novel, which is now over 150 typed pages.

I'm considering having him watch videos on college writing, public speaking, and/or essay writing at this site.

Science ~ Chemistry ~ 1 credit
We will again do a lighter load for science.  His main textbook will be Life of Fred Chemistry.  I will supplement heavily as we did last year for biology.  He'll be watching Chemistry 101 videos.  There are several books I may have him read depending on time.  I'm considering Elements and Exploring the World of Chemistry.  We will look up labs online.

History/Social Studies ~ World Views ~ 1 credit
I purchased the full curriculum just before it became digital.  We'll be watching the videos together in the evenings, and Kylen will read the textbook.  In addition, he will be taking the class at co-op where he will experience group discussions with other teachers and students.  To make sure he doesn't miss anything important, we are also purchasing the digital version of the curriculum.

Foreign Language ~ French II ~ 1 credit
Kylen is halfway through the five levels of Rosetta Stone.  He will finish the other half this year.  I will supplement with Easy French Step-by-Step to reinforce writing and grammar.

Bible ~ 1 credit
This will include church, youth group, personal Bible reading time, and possibly a book about church history.

Health ~ 1/2 credit
He'll read Total Health: Choices for a Christian Lifestyle.  I plan to have him take a Red Cross class in First Aid.  If time, he'll read through Human Development or Psychology.

PE ~ 1/2 credit
Same as usual!  Mostly basketball at the KROC, co-op, and Tuesday evenings with Greg, my cousin, and a bunch of others.  Any kind of physical activity will be counted, from laser tag and swimming to 9-square and hiking.

Music???  Nope!  Drama! ~ 1/2 credit???
The subject missing from our usual lineup is music.  It seemed like a good year for Kylen to try something new.  He chose a drama class through CYT (Christian Youth Theater).  It's 10 weeks, two hours per week.  If he continues, he could potentially get in 60 hours with two more classes and have a half credit elective.  I don't know if this will become his thing, but I can tell you that two different people have asked me this summer if he's in acting.  He is very expressive in group settings.  We'll see!