Friday Miscellenea...

Food Thoughts...
I've been reading a fair amount lately regarding the Paleo, or Primal, diet. It's some pretty interesting stuff! So far I have read The Primal Blueprint and Eat Like a Dinosaur (lots of intriguing recipes!), plus plenty of articles on Mark's Daily Apple. I'm not sure yet if I buy everything they say, but I have noticed that I feel better when I eat lower-carb... my skin looks better, my hips don't ache at night, and I have more energy. I also spent some time recently on Paleo Parents (the authors of the Eat Like a Dinosaur book). Any thoughts on this way of life?

Housework Thoughts...

How do you keep your house clean and organized while homeschooling? Our house looks very, very lived in at the moment. I'm trying to come up with a realistic plan for taking care of the house, the homeschooling, etc., while working and getting my own education. The kids are doing slightly better with their chores lately, but still, I need a game plan!

Gardening Thoughts...

M and I went to the nursery yesterday, and picked up some lovely veggie starts! We got sugar snap peas, broccoli, artichokes, chard, brussels sprouts, and strawberries. We'll head back in a while, when the frost stops, for tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, bell peppers, etc. I've never grown broccoli, artichokes, or brussels sprouts, so that will be an interesting and fun experiment! We're doing container gardening this year, as our soil... well, it kind of sucks, and would be a lot of work to amend properly. Speaking of growing, and experiments, my kids and I have been following the progression of Jessica and Benjamin's bean sprouting experiments over at Only Small Things, and I think we're going to try it ourselves!

Homeschooling Thoughts...

Field trips are in the works! This weekend, we're off to see the symphony, and then as our studies through ancient history progress, I would like to go to the Rosicrucion Egyptian Museum and, when we study ancient China, I would love to see this exhibit! We're also going to see Wynton Marsalis next month!

We've been doing a fair amount of documentary watching lately. The Girl is [nearly] obsessed with Walking with Dinosaurs (which The Boy enjoys too), and she enjoyed Sacagawea: Heroine of the Lewis & Clark Adventure. The Boy has also been watching Prototype This.

I think The Girl's going to try the one week trial of Reading Horizons software next week. She doesn't tend to love computer based learning, but since it is free, we'll give it a go!

Other Thoughts...

Speaking of The Girl, she'll be ten in just over a week! We're going to take Alice-in-Wonderland themed cupcakes to our park day (they'll say "Eat Me" on top!), and she's been talking about a piñata. For her birthday, she wants roller skates (for derby), and her brother's special Sloppy Joes for dinner. We will be doing something fun, as a family, on her birthday too... either bowling, or mini golf, or ??? I can't believe my youngest is about to hit double digits!

Have a good weekend!