Green Gourd Creations: Getting the Ball Rolling

Woo Hoo!

It feels good to get back in the game.

Like I said in the prior post,

it feels as if I have had a million obstacles keeping me from my blog.

I won't bore anyone with all the details however,

my own lack of motivation was one of them.

I did have some small obstacles like...

no internet,

no phone,

no photo sharing via a working camera or phone

then there were just a few family emergencies.

But thanks to an awesome ex-Navy Seal technician, my husband and the grace of God I am working toward a semblance of normalcy.

And I can not forget to mention a little help from a book I love...

The Artist's Way

This book was given to me by a friend from High School several years ago.

Thank you sista Ashley!

I am feeling those creative juices flowing already.
The "journaling" is key!

After being out of the routine of things it has been very difficult to work myself back into my blog and scheduling time for any "Green Gourd" work.

But I think that I am getting closer.

I am feeling much more confident in our Homeschooling schedule now.
And Mary has fallen into a groove...
FINALLY!
This year is by far smoother than last year,
however we still occasionally hit a few bumps in the road.

A for those times, I have found a

New Currency

The new form of motivational currency for school work and discipline.
Luckily for me...
Simply having an account was exciting enough for her.
There are STRICT RULES in order for her to keep and maintain a facebook page.
First and foremost...
I have FULL dominion over her account and can monitor it freely.

And she is absolutely fine with that ...
at least for now.

New Language Arts Books

We have started working with some new Language Arts curriculum.
Because Mary needs some very specific help in this area I have decided to
use Spectrum Workbooks along with focusing on the READING of classic & contemporary novels.
When we were preparing for her yearly standardized test I came across the Spectrum Workbooks through Seton.

They focus on aligning to both state and national standards.
At first I felt a bit uncomfortable with this idea
thinking...
Ok, I am no better than the Public School System if I am teaching to the "TEST".

However, I had to ask myself...
If we must take a "Standardized Test"
do I want her to fail?

Well of course not!
So, I might as well give her the information that she will be tested on.
Along with the information that will help her become a well rounded thinker and seeker of knowledge.

We are also working on Cursive Handwriting Skills for lefties, creative writing, some vocabulary and grammar building skills.

She most recently read both
Walter Farley's

She love, love, loved this one & couldn't put it down!
We had to IMMEDIATELY go to the library and check out...

She liked the Black Stallion Returns but not as much as the original Black Stallion.

After reading the Walter Farley books she jumped into reading her next book,
and is 2 chapters from finishing ...

Esperanza Rising

by Pam Munoz Ryan

This is a fantastic book.

I wasn't sure if she would enjoy this one since it WASN'T about a horse.

But "WOW"... she loves this book!

The next book will be

The Giver

by Lois Lowry

Another great book.
I hope she will like this as much as I did. I think she will.

And then...
if I am not getting to far ahead of myself...
she will read

Scat

by Carl Hiaasen

after she is finished with

The Giver.

She started reading Scat right after she finished reading Flush, last year, but wasn't able to get into it.

She wants to try it again.

I can not begin to put into words how happy I am that she has finally decided that reading is something other than torture.

We have adjusted and fine tuned her school schedule this year and it has had some very positive effects.

Setting specific times for each subject has really helped with keeping her focused.
If she doesn't complete the work she must either finish the work later in the evening...
like "homework" or on Friday during a specific time for incomplete work. Then ultimately if is still not finished no "Skate Nite" or "Sleep-overs".
Then there is the holy grail...
Facebook.

Aaaaah... progress at last.

It takes a lot of time and effort to make this life choice to homeschool and I have come to the decision that I need to be kinder to myself.
I have been beating myself up because I have not been able to finish more "Creations" for my etsy shop.
It was easy to beat myself up. Second guessing myself, shoulding on myself and all the other wonderfully negative things we do to ourselves when we are in a place of fear.

I choose not to ponder these notions of not ...
being ENOUGH
doing ENOUGH
contributing ENOUGH

I am ENOUGH!
I am EXACTLY where I need to be
and
when I am not,
I won't be!

Woo Hoo all around....

I just fixed one of my cameras literally a few seconds ago and took that picture of Mary's books!

Wow!

It is my Olympus... my original digital camera.
I have had 2 other digital cameras since the Olympus. A Nikon COOLPIX that within a month, it too stopped working with a lense error.
Because it was a refurbished camera I bought off of ebay there was NO WARRANTY.
Then I bought a Kodak easy share...
which I promptly lost at the All-Stars Softball Tournament.

Hmmm...
I watched one more YOUTUBE video and was inspired to push the envelope with my "fixing" the camera.

she ignored the "popping" noises.
I however had a slightly different situation. My camera lens would extend but then retract. So I...

grabbed the lens while it was extending not allowing it to retract.

then I started pushing the lens back in...
ignoring the ...
"crunching" noises

then tried turning the camera back on.

I figured what did I have to loose the camera was already
"BROKEN"

Anyway...
I did this several times when
WALA...
my camera was working again.

All I can do is laugh and scratch my head in wonder...

I have NO EXCUSE now to get my doll hats and scarfs on Etsy this week.
And show you the hats that I made fer the hubby

Welding Caps