So, today I had the boys take a day off from the three R's and concentrate on building their gothic cathedral. It is all cut out and in the final construction phases on the floor of the school room as we speak. We took some time off of that project to go to the fish store today since Zorro's (hereafter known as Daniel...) pet fish died a couple months ago and he has been after me to replace it for him ever since.

Daniel had a male betta fish (a siamese fighting fish) that was lovely in our school aquarium, but when we left for Texas to visit our family in Hewitt, the fish didn't like that Daddy turned down the heater to 50 degrees and he went belly up. That was devastating to my little 3 year old, so I did clean out the tank and we ceremoniously disposed of the fish but the tank has sat empty for the last couple months. So, we went and he picked out an oranda goldfish and he has named the fish "Spike".  Spike has a new tank mate, a pleco that my 9 year old calls "Fluffy". When things like this happen, I remind myself that, "Ours is not to question , Why?" when it comes to children naming pets. Their sense of humor is wonderful.

So, all in all, a very productive and informative day. A typical day in the McFarland household.

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I need to take some newer pics, this is from the spring of 2005 and Zorro has gotten a year older, as have his two oldest brothers, pictured here doing schoolwork. Ray is on the left, Taylor is on the right. Zorro (aka Daniel) is "doing school" with Taylor. My other son, Joseph, I will post a pic of soon, a more updated one than this one.  Here they all are last year when we were covering the Israelites wandering in the wilderness They are the week six pictures of the patriarchs: http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/Year%201/Y1_gallery.htm#Week%205:

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Yes, Ducket...seems that that was the currency that Michelangelo would have been paid in back when he was splatting paint and wet plaster on the ceiling of a certain holy chapel in Roma, Italia. Duckets are rather scarce around here these days, but we have plenty to be thankful for, none the less! (BTW, not sure if I am spelling Duckets correctly or not, couldn't find the spelling when I googled it, but Charlton Heston was rather insistant in The Agony and The Ecstacy that he get paid in Duckets for his efforts. Rex Harrison didn't like his price and the movie insinuated that he never really got paid for his trouble.)

My husband's interview went very well the other day and if a position opens up for teaching this fall, the man interviewing him said that Bobby would be the first person he calls! Yeah! Praise the Lord!  So, now we wait to see what positions will open up in the fall at the college.

A few of you have asked me why we took a break...well, we had some home remodeling that needed to be done. Namely, a new floor to be put into our kitchen, eating area, and hallway. This meant that all the furniture and related items where pulled out of these area and stored in my schoolroom, making schooling virtually impossible. Not that we didn't have some days where we did school related things, but I did fall behind in my teachings. I should be long done with the Renaissance by now and wrapping up Mr. Shakespeare at this time. However, a month and a half off means a new tiled floor, goodbye old vinyl floor with no finish, chunks missing, and painted monuments of old homeschooling projects permanently etched into the vinyl. So, I am thankful for that. My industrious husband did a wonderful job and my dad was most helpful on the days he was able to come down and help out.

The other question I got was about the lapbooks we are making...well, they are still in progress, as we find more pictures and learn more about the Renaissance. I'm trying to find some pop up features for them to add for further dimension, but we'll see what happens. I promise, when we are done, I will take pics and post them for all to see. The boys will also be working on a paper model of a Gothic cathedral from usborne books so hopefully that will be done tomorrow. If you ever study the Renaissance, my boys have liked this site: http://www.sanford-artedventures.com/play/leonardo/leo_d.html It is a scavenger hunt type of site and they learn about the renaissance at the same time. I love it when my boys are learning and don't even realize it!!!

Now, off to discover what is in my pantry that will magically appear and make itself for dinner!

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We started back into school the day before yesterday and I am sooo glad to be back into my routine. I think the boys are liking it too, because I have not had any grumblings from them and they are getting their work done in record time. Homeschooling year 'round definitely has its advantages. When you take a break, your children come back into school with a new zeal. I find myself also being a better teacher, teaching with zest and finding the subject matter interesting and not a chore. 

Tomorrow is a big day for Daddy. He has an interview with the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia at 10:30 AM for a possible teaching position. He taught at Temple University when we were first married, but quit after Temple cut back his students and only wanted to pay him $300.00 a month for his teaching efforts! With our large family that would not even pay our grocery bill! He needs prayer because the arts scene in Philly is not very nice to Christians. It is blatantly biased against hiring Christians and quite frankly we could reallllly use the steady income from Bobby having a teaching position again. My husband is not hopeful about getting the job, and is dreading going to the interview, but I am hopeful and am glad that he is trying anyhow.

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Ah, so today I am getting together materials for making our renaissance lapbooks. I've printed out pages of pictures that I got off of the internet with Miss Mona (that's Mona Lisa to the rest of us...), David, Renaissance clothing styles, musical instruments, etc. The boys will cut out the pics and put them in their folders as we go over these exciting times in History. I can't wait to see the creative touches that they will add to their books. Ah, I love, love, love history. Are we sure that we have to teach Math also? I could cover so much more history and science if we could just cut out that subject...No? Oh, ok, so we have to teach math too.

I also got our file folders out and folded them and added an extra flap in the back for extras. We haven't done lapbooks in a while so I thought it'd be a nice change for the boys. If you haven't done lapbooks, I highly suggest them, or history notebooks, although we haven't done the latter yet, but it is on my list of things to do when we hit our founding fathers in the 1700's. (We'll see if that actually happens, lol!) My boys are very hands on types, so lapbooks appeal to their tactile learning sides. Ahhhhhh, teaching boys, so much fun!

On another note...I got sent a wonderful quote in an e-mail today:

by Margie Garrison

I am not responsible for what others say or do.
I am only responsible for how I respond to what others do or say.

Tis true, Tis true...this is very Christ-like...He was not responsible for  the awful things that the pharisees and saducees did or said to Him, but He was responsible for how he reacted to their attacks. I  have to watch my own reactions to others, this is an area to grow on! Pray for me!

Well, back to the jungle...a three year old Evie Kanevil (sp?) is riding his motorized motorcycle around my house right now with swords and pistols in his pockets and I must make sure he doesn't knock over anything valuable. (Evel is the one who was Zorro yesterday, his true identity has yet to be revealed, even to me.)

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