The Book That Kept Me Up All Night

Do you ever have a book that you suddenly decide is more important than sleep? It's been a long time for me. As a teenager, I would do this all the time. Now, sleep is my favorite activity, so choosing a book over it just doesn't happen much any more. Actually, I can't remember the last time it did. Until last night. What book kept me up until 4:15 am, you ask?

"Ummm, aren't you a little late to the "Hunger Games" game?" I can hear you asking.

Ummm, yeeesssss!

Why? Well, to begin with, I haven't been reading much in the last few years. It's sad really because I used to read books like they were life-sustaining water. Then kids happened. And more kids happened, until all I was reading was picture books & parenting how-tos. There was an occasional adult fiction book thrown in here and there. I read every Harry Potter book several times. But there has been a definite drought.

At the beginning of the summer I participated in making a "Summer Bucket List" with my fellow Tone It Up members. On it, I listed reading 3 books (one for each month) as one of my goals. I am happy to say that not only have I met that goal, but I have exceeded it! :)

I started with where I had left off in Sue Grafton's Alphabet Mysteries, reading N is for Noose, O is for Outlaw, and P is for Peril. Then I read the Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy. Yes, yes I did. No, I will not be reviewing those! LOL At some point in there, I decided I needed to read The Hunger Games. Not sure why exactly, but probably because it's so popular.

*SPOILER ALERT*

(Just a small one)

(For those of you who have also managed to not read this book yet!)

I've been waiting for it to appear back on my library shelves. Last Wednesday I finally got to check it out. Last night (Tuesday...6 days later), I decide to pick it up & start reading while playing my favorite on-line game (Chefville, in case you want to join me!!) during the slow loading times that my computer puts me through. It needs a thorough cleaning, but I digress.

This was approximately 6:30 at night. I know better. Although I figured that I would only stay up an hour or two later than usual, I could not bring myself to put the book down! I seriously NEEDED to know what would happen. There was just so many intriguing aspects to this book that I could not sleep without knowing how it ended. I honestly didn't know if Katniss would survive. Yes, I know it is part of a trilogy, but that does not guarantee the main character's survival.

My husband was seriously dismayed to find me still wide awake and reading when his alarm went off at 230 am. He reset it to the correct wake-up time of 330am (like THAT'S any better!), and goes back to sleep only to find me still cranking away an hour later.

At 415 I finally finished. When I finally fell asleep, I dreamed about it for the approximate four hours of sleep I managed to achieve. Now I NEED to read the next two books. They are currently unavailable at my library. Grrr. I've put them on hold, but....

In conclusion I would HIGHLY recommend this book! Just not to the middle-school-aged children whose section this book is found in. I'm just not sure that my 13yo can handle the fact that children are thrown together in a battle to the death for the enjoyment of others. I'm not sure he should have to. It's like The Truman Show (stupid movie, imo) meets the Roman Colosseum. With a little Mad Max thrown in for good measure. When he's ready, I'll let him read it. It's very thought-provoking.

I'm really looking forward to how this story ends. I sincerely hope the next books give more background and/or peripheral information to how and why this society came to be. I have so many questions. So by all means, please read this book for your enjoyment & use discernment when handing it to your kid.

...and may the odds be ever in your favor!

"Prepared", As Defined By My 5 Year Old

Normally, each day I write out my kids individual assignments for school on some cute but cheap little blue note paper & distribute them. I'm sure there are plenty of other good ways to do this, but it's workin' for us right now. At any rate, I still haven't planned out E's preschool. So I was feeling quite a bit of mom guilt once again as this conversation ensued:

E: Mama, do you have my school work prepared?

Me: Prepared? (tee hee)

E: Yeah, prepared.

Me: No, baby I don’t, but I love that you used such a big boy word like “prepared”.

E: (tapping my arm) No, no, no, mom. It means did you get ready for me!

Me: Yes, I know what it means. No, I do not have it prepared for you. (Grabbing him in a bear hug, kissing his cheek, and still giggling) You are just too cute!


Despite the mom guilt, there was a certain sense of pride that my baby knew what prepared meant & could use it correctly in a sentence! LOL

Candy Crush Heartbreak

If you play the evil game that is Candy Crush, you will understand my pain. If not, you could always read any of these posts on other things My Cute Kids do.

I have been stuck on level 147 for what feels like forever. Literally, it's been weeks.

(See the lovely set up here >>>>>>>>>>)
Each of those chocolate covered jellies takes like 4 or 5 times to clear them. Those corners are just plain evil.

Yesterday morning I played my five allotted lives & started using my amassed extra moves. I decided that I needed to start using them or I may never get through this stupid level.

When I left the game, I had 70+ extra lives and moves saved up.

When I went back to play it last night I had 5. Yes, just the five. My heart may have skipped a beat or two.

Luckily, all children were in bed & asleep and therefore escaped certain wrath. I'm still not sure who the culprit was.

All of the extra lives are gone, but there is a small upside to this, though. (Whew!) All of the extra moves are saved onto level 147 for me, so I do get to use those every time until they run out.

Does anyone else get this worked up over that stupid game???

"Continue Kissing"

Tonight the hubs and I were in the kitchen making dinner, and J was helping out (instead of his chores...). For whatever reason, Kingbeaz came over to give me a kiss. Awwww. The microwaved dinged & J yells, "I'll get it so you two can continue kissing!" Tee hee hee! Love that boy!

Busy Beaz Academy 2013-2014 Homeschool Curriculum

 

So I'm a little late to the game, but I'm joining the Not Back to School Blog Hop over at iHomeschoolNetwork. 

*Note: Some of the book levels may look a bit off for the age of my children. Mostly, this is due to assessing where they were in each subject after coming out of public school & finding the corresponding level. They are behind in some subjects & we are working to get caught up. Math-U-See teaches concepts at different times than public school does, so we needed to make sure we covered all topics. Some of the books were chosen because that's what was available at the book store & was close to their level.


J - 13 years old
Math-U-See Delta
Daily Word Problems Grade 4 (yeah, this is too easy for him, but it is helping him to focus a bit better as he has a tendency to make mistakes simply by not paying attention!)
Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times with corresponding readings from Egermeier's Bible Story Book (We also have the SOTW Activity & Test Books)
Drawn Into The Heart of Reading using the Level 6-7-8 workbook
Apologia Zoology 1 (He is also following along with K's Apologia Astronomy readings because these aren't really grade specific) & Notebook
Reading for the Gifted Student Grade 6
Writing Skills Grade 5 (sharing with G because I couldn't find one at his level, but it works well)
Spelling City, as well as other spelling activities (feel free to use our lists, it's free!)
Journaling
Language Arts Grade 8
Building Thinking Skills Book 1
Bible, Character Building, & Health are going to be taken from a myriad of books still stacked on my desk & printer. Mostly devotionals and For Instructions in Righteousness. J will also be reading Boyhood and Beyond.
Read-Alouds will be from Five in a Row (which ever one my library has) and Picture Book Activities (Yes, I realize he is a bit old for this, but he loves it.) I always get books from the library that correspond with our history and science books, which I may read aloud.


G-11 years old
*G has some medical issues that make some aspects of school extremely difficult for her. As such, she has fallen behind in virtually every subject, every year. This is an on-going struggle for everyone.

Math-U-See Gamma
Daily Word Problems Grade 2
Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times with corresponding readings from Egermeier's Bible Story Book (We also have the SOTW Activity & Test Books)
Drawn Into The Heart of Reading using the Level 2-3 workbook
Apologia Zoology 1 (She is also following along with K's Apologia Astronomy readings because these aren't really grade specific) & Notebook
Spectrum Reading Grade 5
Writing Skills Grade 5 (sharing with G because I couldn't find one at his level, but it works well)
Spelling City, as well as other spelling activities (feel free to use our lists, it's free!)
Journaling
Language Arts Grade 5
Building Thinking Skills Book 1
Bible, Character Building, & Health are going to be taken from a myriad of books still stacked on my desk & printer. Mostly devotionals and For Instructions in Righteousness.
Read-Alouds will be from Five in a Row (which ever one my library has) and Picture Book Activities (Yes, I realize she is a bit old for this, but she loves it also.) I always get books from the library that correspond with our history and science books, which I may read aloud.

K- 7 years old
Math-U-See Alpha
Math Mastermind Grade 1
Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times with corresponding readings from Egermeier's Bible Story Book (We also have the SOTW Activity & Test Books)
Apologia Astronomy
Scholastic Success with 1st Grade - we are using everything but the handwriting
Everything for Early Learning Grade 1 - There were a few leftover language arts & math pages that we will be using.
A Reason for Handwriting A
Spelling City, as well as other spelling activities (feel free to use our lists, it's free!)
Journaling

Bible, Character Building, & Health are going to be taken from a myriad of books still stacked on my desk & printer. Mostly devotionals and For Instructions in Righteousness.
Read-Alouds will be from Five in a Row (which ever one my library has) and Picture Book Activities  I always get books from the library that correspond with our history and science books, which I may read aloud.

E- 5 years old
Learning at Home Preschool & Kindergarten (We are obviously doing the preschool. Love this book! I bought it when J was 2! Highly recommended!)
Math Mastermind Grade K (activity book only)
Journaling
Bible, Character Building, & Health are going to be taken from a myriad of books still stacked on my desk & printer. Mostly devotionals and For Instructions in Righteousness.
Read-Alouds will be from Five in a Row (which ever one my library has) and Picture Book Activities  I always get books from the library that correspond with our history and science books, which I may read aloud.
He also listens to the readings from  Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times , Egermeier's Bible Story Book, Apologia Zoology 1, and Apologia Astronomy


I feel like I'm forgetting something. Hmmm.

Anyway, this is E's first year of formal teaching. I learned my lesson with J & now just let my kids play and have fun until they show me they are reading for formal learning. It works better. :)

We have already started on math and language arts. J may have already filled up a page in his "Books Read" list. He takes after his book lovin' mama. God bless him! We should be starting the Story of the World (history) & Drawn Into the Heart of Reading (DITHOR) next week. SOTW is planned through about chapter 22 & DITHOR is very much "open & go". I just need to pick a genre and a book for each kiddo.

I feel really bad because I haven't planned ANY of E's preschool. Bad mommy. I know. I'm getting around to it, I promise. Along with all the other curriculum I need to plan still. Oh, yes! I forgot about foreign language! Our local library system offers FREE courses in several languages on-line. The kids will be taking Spanish, although I have no idea when we'll start that.

So there is the run-down of our 2013-2014 Busy Beaz Academy homeschool curriculum. Hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into our very eclectic style of homeschooling!

Prescribing Fruits & Veggies: Good or Bad?

 

NYC Doctors Are Now Prescribing Fruits And Veggies

Maybe I'm wrong here so let me know what you think.

On this surface, this sounds great. But when you think about it for a minute, you realize it's just another handout from the government. Hear me out...

I think the idea of prescribing fruits & veggies as an alternative to medications to treat obesity is a great idea.
Obviously, diet and exercise should be the very first thing doctors prescribe. Medication should be a last alternative & really only if there is a medical need. I think everyone should fill their diet with as many fruits and vegetables as they can!

I am also quite aware of how much fruit and vegetables can cost. This is always a bummer to me. Our entire family loves them. Yes, even the kids! Tonight at dinner K is busy eating her chicken casserole when she spots a hidden broccoli floret & yells "Yay! Broccoli!" This makes me smile. This is also the same child who was at the grocery store with me and threw a small temper tantrum in the produce section because I couldn't afford to by a $6 bag of apples. This makes me sad. And slightly embarrassed. People looked at me like a mean mommy who wouldn't by her kid a bag of apples.

My problem with this program is that it targets low-income families. Why? Are the middle and upper income families immune to obesity? Obviously not. I'm an overweight middle-class mom with 4 healthy (& not overweight) children, married to an overweight man. Despite our "disease" we would not qualify for this "prescription" because we make to much money. Not enough money to buy a $6 bag of apples, but too much money to be given $6 a day (see article) to buy said bag of apples.

On the post there was quite a discussion in the comments section, and few things stood out to me:

"It's not fair to the sick who are thin."  I agree! Just because you are thin does not mean you are healthy. What about anyone who is malnourished?

 "...where is the sense of responsibility? Being obese is now considered a disease and are being prescribed sh** they should have been eating in the first place?" Okay, to be totally honest, I could go either way with this one. Not everyone who is obese got that way from stuffing their face with Oreos. Some of us have medical issues that add excess weight or make it hard to lose any. However, we should ALL be responsible enough to eat a carrot stick every once in a while.

"There are many urban cities that do not have ready access to fruits and vegetables. They do not have large grocery chains in their area and when they can get it, produce is expensive. If your trying to fill bellies, unfortunately processed food is often more filling. Please understand their lives before you pass judgement." This one just totally irks me. Perhaps they missed the part in the article that mentions the Health Bucks are accepted at 140 farmer's markets. 140! In one city! That would signal access to fruits and vegetables. And I'm pretty darn sure that NYC has a few grocery stores. Maybe not next door to your house, but probably within walking distance. Yes, processed food is filling. However, that sounds like a good educational program is needed, not another handout.

"Can I get health bucks to help us stay healthy? So those who are not smart get an incentive to get them to eat healthy but those who know better get nothing?" No, apparently not. Yes, apparently so. SMH

My last point is this: This program appears to only be available to low-income families, which means they are all probably recipients of food stamps. (I have no problems with food stamps for people who need them.) I read somewhere not too long ago that my family of six COULD qualify for up to $900 a month in food stamps. If we didn't make the bazillions of dollars that we do. (Can you feel the sarcasm in that one? Ok, good.) $900 a month for groceries would have me catapulting over the house! With this "prescription", we would get another $180 a month to spend at the farmer's market. I'm salivating at the thought! Can you add? That's over $1,000 every stinkin' month to feed my family. Organic & grass-fed all the way, baby!

But, we're not low-income. We're middle-income, which means we have a much smaller budget for groceries because nobody gives it to us. We still manage to eat relatively healthy. We do not get to buy as many fruits and vegetables as we want because they ARE expensive. We do not fill up on convenience foods just because they are cheap.

And apparently it's okay for us to be fat.

My Favorite Trip to the Bathroom Today...So Far

I shut the door & immediately had to change the toilet paper roll, because apparently I am the only person capable of doing so.

G: It's lunch time! It's lunch time! We need to eat lunch now!

Me: *silence* (Hoping she would just go away.)

J: Mom? What's a Renaissance man?

Me: What?

J: What's a Renaissance man?

Me: Seriously? I'm trying to use the restroom!

J: Okay.

G: It's lunch time! Can you make lunch now? I'm hungry! It's lunch time! (She has obviously not left)

E: Mommy, can you fix Optimus?

Me: Using the bathroom here! You're going to have to wait.

G: I'm hungry. Are you going to make lunch yet? It's lunch time! It's lunch time!

It was a power packed two-minute break. I'm pretty sure they don't do this to dad.