Weekly Update 11/12/21-- GIS lesson

Look at this incredible sky!  I just had to take a picture of it.  I love Fall weather

This was take on my way to the gym 6:30 in the morning.  

A few weeks ago my husband taught a lesson for our Human geography class.  We were learning about maps.  Since my Husband works in this field he wanted to do a lesson on GIS mapping.  The boys had fun mapping out the neighborhood and also working on some mapping in Africa. 

Over all the lesson went well and now MarioFan says he wants to investigate GIS further in addition to cyber security as a possible career choice.  We plan on investigating options after his cyber security class which is is halfway done with.

Weekly Wrap Up 10/29/21-- Visiting my Mom and college Visit

 A week or two ago I went to visit my Mother as she has moved into her new place.  Since my Dad passed away two years ago she decide to downsize and sell her house.  She has a friend from Nursing school that she has know for 60 years and her husband died 4 or 5 years ago.  Mom's friend ask her to move in with her since they are both widows and kinda lonely.  The lady lives in a split level house and has redone the lower level so Mom basically has an apt.  They get together every morning for coffee and walk the dogs together.  During the day they do their own thing, Mom is volunteering and doing art classes, then in the evenings get together for dinner and another dog walk.  So far it is working out great and Mom seems happy.  I went to visit to try to help move her things into her new space.  

Mom and I visiting Solomons island for the day 

My cousin from Florida dropped by and we spent a lovely afternoon walking around a cute little town (forgot the name of it) 

of course the dogs came with us

My Mom and her friend

Mom and I taking another walk at Kings landing which is absolutely beautiful.  My Mom loves living by the water and there is lots of history in the area 

Lexi the husky--- both dogs and are still learning to get along with each other, it has only been a few weeks and they are only dogs syndrome (as in they don't share well)

Before heading home we visited family friends whom I haven't seen in years., but Mom still keeps in contact with.  The Man in the picture I grew up with and he is now the father of three children all over 18.

It was a lovely visit and as usual way too short.  However I will be heading back to pick my Mother up to bring her to our home for Thanksgiving.  

While away my husband and son went to visit  our college student who proudly showed off her college to her brother.  My husband was responsible for taking pictures of this but I have very few as excessive picture taking apparently is only something I do according to my kids and husband.  

He took 1 picture the whole weekend!  Firedrake loved showing her brother around the campus .  As all her roommates left that weekend he even got to see her dorm room!

MarioFan was able to drive a portion of the trip and hit the speed limit of 75, he was very happy to finally be able to drive on the highways.  

When I return home MarioFan was very excited to show me a house that went all out for halloween.

Nightmare before Christmas decorations -- pretty cool

I on the other hand haven't got any decorations up for halloween.  I am also not handing out candy this year, instead Mariofan wants to attend Frightfest at Six Flags on Halloween night.  It will be cold and very crowded but that is what he wants to do.  

Weekly Wrap Up 10/01/21--School and family update

 We are now at full load for MarioFan's Senior year.  All online classes have started and we are working out all the little kinks that come with a new school year:)!  All additional activities have started which means I am running around like crazy getting MarioFan to various activities.  we have late nights 3 nights a week and since everything is back open that means I am driving to places.  I actually missed MarioFan being able to do his extra activities online.  So much easier for me;) 

For Literature are reading:  Things Fall Apart

For his writing assignment he is looking at writing a research paper on the Igbo people.

Physics class started last week and seem to be going well.  First  lab was completed!

MarioFan participating in the online class!

The Spaghetti Lab -  looking at the weight spaghetti noodles can hold 

They did this using 3 strands up to 9 strands of spaghetti noodles.

then weighed the amount it took to break the spaghetti strands.  

Spanish tutoring class began last week as well 

it is a small online group that meets weekly and they are concentrating on speaking more Spanish 

We are meeting every Friday with a friend to do three classes together; Personal Finance, Human geography and Social Justice!  Afterwards the boys get to have some fun time together to socialize because we have all heard how homeschoolers don't get any of that, right;)

For Social Justice watching a Great Course video on anthropology and race.

which was a homework assignment 

We have been enjoying this program from Beyond Personal Finance.    If you are looking for something different than Dave Ramsey I would recommend this program.  The instructor in the video is very engaging and the weekly budgeting is eye opening for the kids.  

For Human Geography we have just wrapped up our unit on Maps and understanding the five themes of geography and absolute and relative location.  We have also identified many different types of maps and how each of them are distorted in some way.  We watch the very funny "West Wing" clip on the Mercator map:) 

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Firedrake is doing well at college feeling much more relax overall which is good.  She is required to work a 4 hour volunteer job weekly which is a condition of her scholarship which is throwing a slight hiccup into her schedule but she is figuring it all out.  I think I should have done a little more time management skills with her before sending her off as she is definitely not finding it easy to balance everything even though her parents think there is more than enough time to do what she needs to do and have down time to relax with friends.  Some things they just need to figure out on their own and learn from mistakes made (not that any mistakes have been made yet)

I have resumed going to the gym (I am up and out of the house by 6:30 am) and trying to talked my husband into joining as well so we can both get healthy.  He is off the supplemental O2 (from his covid nightmare) but still needing to build up his overall endurance.  

Weekly Wrap up 8/27/21-- Cleaning up the school room and college send off

 Last weekend we dropped off our oldest at college for her sophomore year!  She streamlined her packing list this year leaving many things behind that she just had to have last year,  lol!  We got her settled in and she is looking forward to another year in college.  I was hoping this college year would be a little be more normal but with the virus still around it looks like another year of split in person and online classes.  Such a shame as she can't enjoy the true college experience of clubs and activities of previous college students. 

This is a whole lot better than last year:)

She is all settled into the dorm room, met two new roommates and ready for her sophomore year

We have gradually begun 12th grade this week.  We usually start off slow and build up our schedule.  None of MarioFan's online classes have begun so we did just a few things, building up to a full schedule in the next two weeks!  

We still use our School Room as it works better for MarioFan's concentration to have a set place to go.  So over the last week or so I have been tidying up the room and sorting out curriculum and restocking our supplies.  Does anyone else have trouble throwing out old projects?  Even though I have documented everything through the blog I just can't seem to throw out the old projects so they are still cluttering the room, sigh.  

MarioFan's workspace for physics which is is taking through outschool.  I just receive the lab box and we haven't assembled anything yet.  I think we will wait still the class starts next month, just to make sure we don't lose or misplace anything.   He even has a few snacks on his desk for when he need a pick up lol

his computer for online classes which is next to his lab desk fo science

Below is MarioFans work space, I still have him do most of his school here as I find if he is in his room there are too many distractions and he day dreams.  At least here he seems to take things more seriously.  I will work with him on some subjects but he does most of it on his own.  If he doesn't need my help I work at the computer planning the next day assignments or other household mundane things. 

It is clean for now but it won't stay this way for very long!

This is the cleanest my desk has been in a year.  It won't stay this way I assure you.  Clutter seems to follow me wherever I go:)!

Overall it doesn't look too bad, I need to now sort through old curriculum and sell it or give it away and figure out what this room will be once the year is over!  First thing on the agenda is getting rid of old school projects (that will be hard for me)  and then a fresh coat of paint once the school year is over!  

Weekly Wrap up 6/18/21-- 11th grade completed and other news

 MarioFan completed 11th grade, actually he finished a few weeks ago but I just got around to writing about it.  MarioFan took 3 online classes and received an A in all his classes and I was very proud of him as I was really hands off, but available if he asked for help, but most of the time he did everything just fine.  He showed up on time and completed most of his work on or before the class deadline with minimal assistance from me. 

MarioFan completed his last 2 project for electronics which was to assemble the circuit and box for a useless machine and counter.  I must admit I wasn't around much for this build as I was pretty much checked out of schooling by this point.  Luckily he did it on his own.  If you are looking for electronic soldering builds I highly recommend Spikenzeilab. We have used several different companies for projects with varying success.  This is our favorite company as they had clear, concise and easy to understand instructions and videos.  

I did catch the testing phase and saw in in action 

Assembling the box to surround the electronics

Useless machine in action, when you turn the switch on a lever comes up 

and turns the switch off:). Pretty useless LOL

The plans for the summer for MarioFan will be to continue private tutor for piano and Spanish tutoring weekly and to attend 3 different summer camps, 2 are being done virtually and 1 is a sleep away camp.  He also wants to start studying for his driving permit in order to take the test by the end of the summer.  We  have plans to get together weekly with one of his friends so they can socialize since there hasn't been much of that this past year.  Everyone has been vaccinated so we are safe to get together!

I am planning to take a break from most school related activities and work on my stain glass hobby for a bit.  I have a rough outline of courses for next year classes and a very brief outline of lessons for some of the classes.  I will work on those a little later in the summer. 

Firedrake has been home for a month and did well with her first year at college, although she ran out of steam by the end of the second semester.  I think everyone was feeling this way, it has been a hard year for everyone!   She was a bit worn out by the end of the spring semester and was actually ready to come home.  She took about a week off to relax and get a few things done, like going to the dentist and cutting her hair!

I will admit I was not enthusiastic about her cutting her hair short as she has such gorgeous long red hair.  However once it was done it look good!!!

She was quite happy with the new do and it will be cooler for the summer months.

side view

Firedrake has also found a summer job! She is now working at Walgreens for the summer and they said she can transfer her job to her college town when she returns to school if she likes.  We think it may be a good idea to maybe have one or two shifts a week during the school year so she can transfer back to the Walgreens in town when out of school over the Christmas holidays or summer break and not have to keep looking for summer jobs.  However that is still up in the air as studying for college is her priority.

Kids have already gone to six flags three times this summer and have plans for many more trips since we live so close by.  It feels like things are slowly returning to normal and that is a huge relief for us all! 

Weekly Wrap UP 5/7/21-- Family news odds and ends

 It is official the entire family has had two doses of the Vaccine!!!  No one had any side effects from the vaccines. Two people had Pfizer and Three had Moderna (I am counting my Mother in here). We have all reached the necessary 2 weeks after the vaccine so we are over 90% protected.  I have to say it was such a relief to us to be protected and now that summer is just around the corner we hope to be able to get out of the house and possibly travel.

This past weekend we pick up Firedrake from college!  We are so happy to have her back home for a while.  My how she has grown up and become more independent than ever before. One thing remains the same however, her dorm room was a mess just like her bedroom at home, lol. 

Cleaning up her dorm before heading out

We had two cars so we easily fit in everything in the cars with room to spare.  There were a few things never even opened so we can pared down next year:)

Lots of parents were helping their kid move out and we even saw a moving truck in front of the dorm!  that did make us laugh but maybe the family had twins or picking up several students to take home.  We never saw the people using the van so we don't know the whole story:)

My mother has sold her home this week and is moving in with a friend who is also a widow.  They are looking forward to having some companionship.  Both ladies are very independent and enjoy similar hobbies so it should be a great match up.  Since I live so far away I will be happy to know she has someone near by who can assist her until I can reach her if it is ever needed.  I wasn't able to help her pack out of her house and say good bye to the house where my Mom and Dad spent their last 15-16 years and that was very sad for me.  I will be traveling up soon to help her move into her new place as soon as it is ready.  It has been too long since I last saw her.  We do talk nearly every day but it just isn't the same. 

We had a little bit of a scare with our old cat, Elvis.  He had been throwing up his food and dry heaving quite a bit.  We took him to the vet to have some blood work done and try to figure out what is going on.

We found out he has a mouth infection (he is allergic to his own salvia, which the vet said was not uncommon in older cats) and shows the beginning of kidney disease.  He is now on steroids and antibiotics.  The vet also recommends that Elvis gets fluids every other week, so I went in this week to learn how to do it at home as it is much cheaper to do it ourselves then pay the vet to do it every other week.  According to the vet he is not in any pain and once we get the infection under control should bounce back quickly.  Since Elvis is older we don't want to prolong his life if he is in distressed.  So we are going to be closely monitoring him with the vet.  

oh my that was a bigger needle than I thought it would be.  you can barely see in his shoulder  blades.

He needs 200ml every other week.  It has only been a couple days and we can already see a difference in his eating:)

Elvis was super calm at the vet, hope it is that way at home but I doubt it.

I made two Cthulhu sun catchers and just got them finished up this week.  One is patina black and the other one is silver which I think shows the wings off much better.  

Weekly Wrap up -- 2/19/21. College update and Stain Glass Drum lamps

 Firedrake is doing her second semester in college and seems to be happy.  She and her roommate are still doing well and enjoying each other's company.  Most of her classes are hybrid this semester except one. So half the class attends one day and the other half is on line and then the next class they reverse it.  

Recently they participated in a student union activity and did a painting class together just for fun!

Firedrake did drop her Math course as it was all on line and she just felt it would be too much self learning and since Math is her least favorite and hardest subject she decide (and we agreed) that it would be best just to drop it and hope that next year she can do an in person class!

Firedrake is really enjoying her film class and recently watched 12 angry men and LOVE it.  She also love the class discussion and analyzing of films.  This is her favorite class so far this semester.  

Firedrake calls every Sunday and we enjoy catching up with her and seeing how her week goes.  We also get several texts a week and she even occasionally answers a text back from us, lol  She will be home for spring break in just four short weeks.

Drum stain glass lamp projects

I recently manage to procure an old drum set and am working on turning them into lamps.  The only thing wrong with the drums were the skins which were cracked and worn out.  Since I didn't need that part of the drum I took them all home.  

There are four drum in total and I removed the drum skins from each drum
This also help me clean up the drums from all the dust and let me examine the entire piece to make sure they were sturdy and in good condition.  Luckily all four passed inspection!

 I started with the smallest drum and chose a simple pattern just to see how I could turn it into a lamp! luckily a few people in my glass groups have done this so they gave excellent advice. 

It was actually not hard, since I have already done two guitar as lamps, I more or less did it the same way.  With such a simple pattern it only took a weekend to complete.

I liked how it turned out and just trying to figure out how to hang it but I think it looks nice on the mantle:).

The second drum which was slightly larger I made a celtic trinity design.  It is just slightly off centered which is annoying but I can live with it.  For the next drums I will need to get some help during assembly to make sure things are centered as while soldering things slip around a bit.

For the largest Bass drum I plan on working on a Neil Pert design as that is my husband's favorite drummer.  I found someone who is helping me design a pattern!  I still have the snare drum to figure out a design for!

My husband was put all the 9 stain glass lamps on timers in the house so they all turn on and off at the same time.  The house is really looking pretty with all these fancy lights.  I have plans for two more drum lights and another Tiffany dogwood lamp:).