Wow. The weeks are flying by. Sorry I have not been around here much on a personal level. I feel like I’ve been throwing reviews at you left and right. I only have one more to go this crew year!

We’ve been waiting for the fall storms to hit. Foggy, misty, rainy – but not stormy. Each clear morning we get starts on the beach. Coffee and a blanket. I have a nice spot to watch with my zoom lens on a park bench. I chat with all of the drive by surfers and neighbors. I didn’t realize now many guys drive by wishing they were out there too. I smile, and feel thankful for my life of being with the boys. I say a prayer for the work days of these mentors and coaches and friends as they drive off, and remember hubby working at his job, that allows the boys and I to have this amazing life. Thankful.

Jon is getting his left down pretty well. Rights are easier for him. He’s been trying out different sticks this month, different sizes and shapes. He still adores his soft top best. For you land lubbers, our view doesn’t count, they count the photo above as a drop in to the left, since it is left to the surfer.He has to drop and turn that 9 foot foamie. No easy task. Then cut back and turn, and back and forth driving down the lane. Fun to watch. Jon is about at 5 foot tall now, so that is a pretty nice wave.

The algae in the lake has dropped so I am out stand up paddling (SUP) again. I had a hard time with my toes this month, frozen feet.  After a bit of research, I figured out that my booties are too large with my feet shrinking from no more swollen feet from being overweight. A friend and I have been going out at dusk and coming back in the dark. I started SUP’n before school again in the mornings. I’m back to the wetsuit now, wouldn’t want to fall in the cold water. On the trip above, I was worried all the way back that my fin would catch on a snag from a storm and I’d be in the water.  No more shorts and hoodie for me. Oh. And I got a pair of 7 mil Rip Curl dawn patrol booties from the Oregon Surf Shop. Warm Toasty Toes.

How did we hit November so quickly? The boys dressed up for their parties on the on the 31st. Jon was Jay Moriarity and Nate as a fisherman.

I snag photos here and there at the house. I’ve been trying not to have my camera in my pocket at all times, or around my neck. Just trying to squeeze out every moment with these boys. I have one by each door and I’ll run and grab it. Jon had a few friends over, winter or summer, they like the lake.

School? Are we doing school? Well yes. Yes, we are.

Nate went through the Geometry Math U See that arrived around October 20th. From his lessons with the online program, he had covered about 10 of the MUS lessons. So  – He spent a week watching all 10 videos, just to hear how Mr. Demme explained the problems. Nate said that he learned quite a bit, had a few ah-ha moments, from watching Mr. Demme. He’s on 11 or 12 now, so at this rate it might not take him all year to get through Geometry with only 30 lessons. Both boys took the tests this week in Math U See and they both got 2 wrong. They were questions that got skipped in a review portion, so easy to fix, easy to show and move on.  I was pretty happy!

Nate has finished his online Essay course.  In the end, we were pretty dissatisfied with the company, Bridgeway Academy.  We still have not had any homework graded since the first week. We closed out the last week with an offer to have a one on one class, the morning of the class. The teacher is on the East Coast, and we are on the West. So by the time we saw it, it was over. The interactions with the company, for this review, were very lacking. However, as I said in the review, Nate did do the work, and he has a much better idea of how to write out the thesis, then create the five paragraphs off of that. He has his beginning and ending paragraphs down pretty well, but needs a bit more work on the middle paragraphs proving his point. I think the problem, was that she picked topics that he really didn’t care about. The ending essay was supposed to be about family, how has your love of your family changed?  He says his hasn’t. He had to write a paragraph for the Surf Club this month to say how the Surf Club helped him to give to our sponsors. So I had him create a thesis for that, and write a 5 paragraph essay in less than 45 minutes to turn in.

We are still loving the Art and Music Appreciation from Harmony Fine Arts. Had a great class yesterday. The boys are so far apart now in learning styles that we are no longer doing the class together. Which makes me sad. Now that reviews are done for a while I’ll work harder at blending this class together.

As you could tell from yesterday’s post –we are in love with Apologia’s Chemistry and Physics.  Nate is charging through Chem 101 DVD. The Task Cards worked for Nate when he was younger, but they are too wide open for Jon. (a list of questions to be answered by pulling books off the resource shelf) We are working on Chemistry 2-3 times per week, the labs and conversations have been delightful.

On a personal note – if y’all are still reading this long – I’m still going strong on the Trim Healthy Mama book S & E Plan. I feel fantastic. I feel like the incredible shrinking woman. I really never imagined that my body could loose weight. Eat Less – Would make me balloon out. Eat Whole Foods – would make me groggy and tired. Don’t Eat Any Fat – and I go to bed hungry each night. Breaking the Sugar and White Flour Addiction was key for me. Still about a pound a week. Slow and steady.

Well, the wake up alarm clocks are going off around the house, so it is time for me to go play mommy and wifey. It is raining hard, I had to go clean the gutters at 7am as it sounded like we were living under a waterfall. The pine needles get cleaned from the trees and roof and block up the drains. The waves are supposed to be at 9-15 feet today. Might go see if the big wave surfers are trying to launch then head down to Depoe Bay to watch the spout spray high. If it is raining – then no photos for you. Sorry.

Nate is working as a lifeguard in town. I thought it would be a bad thing, working during the school week, but it has done the opposite. He is setting his alarm early enough to have his school done before work. Bonus.

Have a great day y’all!

Don’t forget to vote for the Homeschool Blog Awards. Take an afternoon to browse through the entrants, some really great resources there.

Petra School is nominated for Nature/Field Trip Blog – I’d love your votes!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!