I've been meaning to ask this for a while.

When someone comments on your blog, do you respond in a comment on your own blog (so other readers can follow the conversation, as it were)?  Or do you visit the commenter's blog, and comment there, knowing that they'll surely see your response?

I've been commenting on the commenter's blog, but in reading other blogs, I'm thinking that I'm supposed to comment on my own blog entry, after their comment. 

Am I over-thinking this? LOL

Any help would be appreciated!

I'm pretty sure I know who I'm voting for in November, but since a close family member really, really likes the opposing side, I thought I'd do some research.  So today I checked out a couple of books on John McCain (I've already read "Faith of my Fathers"), and I'm waiting for a bunch of books on Barack Obama to come through the library loan system.

How much research are you doing?  Do you already know who you're voting for?  What issues are deal-breakers for you?

For memory work Ted is working on the Cub Scout Promise, the Law of the Pack, and the Pledge of Allegiance. He’s getting better at them! His first meeting isn’t for a bit yet, but we want to be prepared.

We took time off to go and vote!

And we tried a roasted potatoes recipe to go along with the story too… Ted loves potatoes in just about any form!

The first week of our Olympic unit, we read Albert the Running Bear and Albert the Running Bear’s Exercise Book. We enjoyed the story, and tried out most of the tests and exercises in the second book. We learned we need more exercise! J

We started our first week of Noeo Science, and Ted really enjoyed it. It’s very few pages of reading per day, and each day is summed up on a report sheet, which can include words, pictures, or both. Ted prefers drawing, and then dictating a few sentences. We pulled out our globe and a flashlight to demonstrate the seasons as depicted in the book… both children enjoyed playing with that activity.

Here and there through the week we watched clips of the athletes, always very exciting. We also tried out some activities on our Wii Fit, and watched a video from the library, Mickey’s “Seeing the World”. We printed the Olympic timeline strips suggested on the HomeschoolShare unit, and placed them on our timeline.

Lysle ended up working overtime, so the kids and I took a PJ Run a la Kendall to take him some dinner and get early goodnight hugs.

Saturday, Toys R Us was hosting an event to show off the new Magnext magnetic building kit. It was supposed to feature a building contest, and each kid got to keep a sample pack. Ted ended up being the only child who showed up to try that hour, so he won! He was so excited. They even went the whole nine yards and announced him over the loudspeaker … wish everyone could’ve seen his face!

Ooh, and we got the Mario & Sonic Olympics game for the Wii, courtesy of a whole lot of saved up bonus points in the Scholastic Club catalogs! The shipping was quick, too … I was afraid it wouldn’t come in time to be used during the Olympics. It’s pretty cool, though a bit hard for me and the kids, but the art is neat and centered in the actual Beijing stadiums and arenas.

Our second week we focused more on China, reading Round is a Mooncake (another HSS unit), Yum Yum Dim Sum, D is for Dragon Dance, Happy New Year by Demi, and Dim Sum for Everyone. We tried out abacuses and played a “Dragon Parade” phonics game by Brighter Vision, handed down from an older cousin. We continued in our workbooks and added to our little weather station.

Saturday was a Cub Scout swimming party, which Teddy went to with Lysle, to meet the pack and register for the upcoming year. Sunday was the Olympics Closing Ceremony, which we also stayed up to watch.

Here is our Won Ton recipe. It can be adapted to whatever you happen to prefer and have on hand, but this is the recipe as my mother gave it to me, and how I grew up eating it:

• 3/4 cup ground pork
• 6 large shrimp (cooked, chopped)
• 2 T green onions, chopped
• 2 T chopped parsley
• 1/2 t sugar
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 T cornstarch
• 1 T soy sauce
• 10 oz pack wonton wrappers

Combine all (except wrappers!) in skillet; fry till slightly cooked. Chill. Assemble: put a small spoonful into the center of each wrapper square, and fold closed, sealing with a bit of water (a finger dipped in water does it, and we argue over whether they should be triangles or rectangles when folded). Fry at 365 degrees till brown.

It should make about 4 dozen, but we start eating them when they get cool, while cooking the rest, so I've never actually counted. I expect it doesn't stretch that far, as we fill them pretty generously. Serve with more soy sauce for dipping. Yes, this is a time-consuming recipe (I prefer to prepare the filling the day before and chill overnight) but it is SO worthwhile! Mmmm! 

We started back to school on August 6^th, at about the same time most of our local school systems started back. I know it’s not essential to have the same calendar, but it does make planning easier, and allows us to take advantage of things during PS holidays as well as other times.

We started off with a light week. First is our favorite tradition, decorating the binders we’ll store all our work in. Ted had already selected a red binder (it is SO HARD to find red binders with front sleeves, but I did find one with at least a red spine) and Maddy a purple one. They each took a sheet of paper and a pile of stickers and had a blast decorating. Ted got the added fun of decorating his science binder cover too.

We started off our math and phonics workbooks, and worked on a few of the practice lessons in the handwriting book. Maddy is just zipping through the ETC primers and having a blast.  For math and other fun, we got a big set of preschool workbooks (I Can Cut, I Can Paste, I Can Color, etc) from Sam’s and I pulled out every page relevant to any possible activity we might do this year… they’ve all been sorted into my planner. She’s doing some of those each week, and doing the math ones as interested. She also likes the Three Bear Family counters, and I draw out playmates on cardstock for her to play with and do number puzzles on.

Friday was the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics, so we made a big day of it. I printed out a Summer Olympics coloring book (I forget where I found it online) and stapled it together. We also made a story disk, FIAR-style, and placed it on Beijing on our world map, and another one on Greece.

We made a ‘torch’ out of a paper towel tube, and construction paper and crepe paper for the flame. Before the ceremony came on TV, we stationed ourselves throughout the house … back bedroom all the way to family room … and staged our own torch relay … the kids loved it. Our ‘torch’ stayed right above the TV for the entire two and a half weeks. Then we pulled out the sofa bed and all got cozy for the evening. Lysle had picked up Chinese food for dinner, and Ted and I spent the afternoon making Won Ton, so we had a great dinner to enjoy with the show.

Ted was allowed to stay up for the entire show, and then sleep out on the sofa bed, a treat he dearly loves. Thank goodness for the pause button on our DV-R hard drive! How did we ever enjoy TV before that? LOL. The show was absolutely amazing! The kids got to color in their coloring books whenever the show failed to hold their attention, which wasn’t too often… mostly during the parade of athletes. Maddy went to bed not too much later than her regular time, and was a good sport about it.

Saturday was another Lowe’s workshop, featuring a cute little locker kit. Sunday we got to attend the church potluck and watch the youth praise band … they’re not too bad!

For Ted:

• Horizons Math, 2^nd grade
• Explode the Code 4 and then Beyond the Code 2
• A Reason for Handwriting A
• Noeo Science, Biology I 

For Maddy:

• Explode the Code A,B,C (the primers)
• Lots of cutting and pasting sheets

And for both, Five in a Row, with some Before Five in a Row and Homeschool Share units thrown in. (www.fiveinarow.com and www.homeschoolshare.com)

It’s more than we’ve done in one year before, but I think it will work. We already love FIAR and that’s not going anywhere. J The math is working well for Ted, and so is the phonics. The handwriting is new, because what we tried last year didn’t really work for us. I like it because it’s all centered around Bible verses so it counts towards our required Bible teaching too (our cover school requires Bible be taught). Noeo science is all based around real books (good ones!) and experiment kits to go alongside. I’m hoping it’s all reusable, though of course some experiment components will need to be replaced.

Each child is keeping a binder of worksheets and coloring pages and anything that can fit flat enough to work, and Ted is also keeping a science binder (Noeo has a lot of narration or writing, depending on what works best. He’s loving the picture drawing.)

Extracurricular: Ted is joining Cub Scouts and he is thinking about church children’s choir. Plus we are still attending storytime, with a new librarian this year (we will see how it goes). Once a week the kids get to play with a dear friend of mine while I get a bit of a break … sometimes they do park days and sometimes impromptu music lessons and sometimes something else altogether. Afterwards we eat lunch and visit. Very nice! Our cover school provides lots of field trip opportunities, and we’re part of a small co-op that has further activities.

We got to go to the Botanical Gardens to see the butterflies, and we tried our hand at container gardening this year. The potatoes were good, but most everything else died off. We’re trying another round of potatoes.

On June 28^th we participated in the Great American Backyard Campout (http://www.nwf.org/backyardcampout/index.cfm). We played lots of outside games and grilled out and roasted marshmallows and caught fireflies and all the other fun things that you do when you camp. We even used some Crayola chalk paint (and then, of course, it rained). I think we camped out in the family room that night on the sofa bed … at least there were fewer mosquitoes that way!

Ted saved up, by doing extra chores, and purchased the game Bejeweled 2 Deluxe after working his way through all the sample levels available at Pogo.com. He’s now about memorized all the answers.

On July 22^nd Ted lost his very first tooth! It had been loose for weeks. I had no idea teeth could hang on that long. He was pretty excited about it, and I was sad … he’s growing up so fast!

We also participated in some programs at our local history museums, and purchased a year’s membership for the family. The activities were fun, but not quite as good as advertised … though the museums more than make up for it in themselves. One day was supposed to feature farm animals … but, as they told us later, the sheep (goat? I forget) ran away and the people loaning the animals wouldn’t let them keep the rest. LOL. They did have some dogs, from a Pet Therapy group, and Ted got a nice lesson on dog safety, and how to meet strange dogs.

And now we’re on to first grade … where has the time gone?

Well, I did it again.  Went to the beach and didn't use enough sunscreen.  It was a gorgeous day--the kids had such a good time (and the salt water was great for Eli's poison ivy).

I had a great time, too, but now I am in pain.   My chest, arms and shoulders are red, red, red.  It was that kind of sunburn where when you're at the beach, you think, Hey, I didn't get too burned!  Then once you get home, you're like, Hmmm, I'm a little redder than I thought...  And then two hours later, your husband comes home and says, Holy cow, are you RED!!!!

And can I say, I always get a sunburn in September?  I swear the sun is hotter & brighter in this ninth month than in the height of summer.  A few years ago it was my feet that got it (I always remember sunscreen on my feet now).  Maybe next year I'll remember the rest of me!

Believe it or not...IT'S SEPTEMBER!!  Those cooler temps are on the way!  I LOVE fall...it's my FAVORITE time of year!!  Along with those falling temperatures that invite us to pull on our favorite sweaters, collect pumkins, go on hayrides and build bonfires comes my desire to make wonderful, hearty soups and stews!  One of our family's favorite cold weather soups is Taco Soup!!  Oh...it is yummy, stustaining, it's even attractive to look at in your bowl.    I hope you enjoy it!!

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><

TACO SOUP

1 lb. ground beef or chuck
1/2  med. onion - finely chopped
1 lg. bunch of fresh cilantro - finely chopped
4-6 jalapeno peppers (depending on your taste buds & stomach lining!) - finely chopped
2 15-16 oz. cans kidney beans (UNdrained)
2 14-15 oz. cans whole kernal corn (UNdrained)
1 15-16 oz. can black beans (optional)
2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 pkg (1-1/2 TB) taco seasoning
1 c. water

~ Brown beef, drain; add onion, peppers, 1/2 of the cilantro and cook until onions and peppers start to get tender.
~ Mix everything together in a dutch oven OR crockpot.
~ Heat through in dutch oven for 45 min. - 1 hour OR in crockpot for 2-3 hours on low.
~ Top with shredded cheddar or colby-jack cheese, sour cream and corn tortilla chips crumbled like crackers.