My First Published Fanfiction Story

It took me a couple days to write this but it is my first attempt at writing Fanfiction. for those of you who don't know me, I always am reading the Percy Jackson books. I was inspired to write this story because of my stuffed monkey I brought with me. My uncle Steve gave it to me for my first birthday.
Please read this Val, Leah, Peter, Willa. and anyone else out there who loves me and Percy Jackson...

Monkey for Ransom

Baptism by Capsizing

One activity our kids love is sailing. Charlotte and Finn have been joining a group of students from the school for sailing lessons at a local yacht club once a week.  All the classes they've taken with North Coast Community Sailing has paid off. (Beth and Greg would be so proud!) It's been quite fun watching them interact with the high school students. Last week they put their knowledge to task and helped teach the older kids how to tie knots. It was pretty cool watching them teach the big kids.

This week the weather was just not cooperating. The wind was at 25-30 knots which is just too severe to be on the open water. Instead, they would have them sail in the protected bay in Optis which are very stable for beginners. 

They hooked the Optis up to the safety boat and towed them to the protected bay.

Despite the fact they were in the bay, this did not prevent Charlotte from capsizing. She loves speed and was going pretty fast. As she was jibing, her foot got stuck in the hiking strap and BAM. She flipped and was turtled.  BUT she knew exactly what to do. She swam around to the other side and stood on the dagger board and flipped it back up. Since Optis don't have a drain, her boat was swamped with water. Needless to say, she was towed in and brought back to the club house because it was a cold, wet and windy day. The perfect formula for Hypothermia.

We are crossing our fingers for better weather. While the kids were rigging their boats, Piper and I stayed inside to keep warm and dry. She wrote this in her notebook:

                               

My Brain

This is what I think about in percentages. 

I taught my mom how to make it 

on Google Docs.

Click here to see how my chart is interactive

The Brown Sugar Bananas

You will need:

1. Bananas
2. Brown Sugar
3. Butter
4. Pan
5. Knife
6. Cutting Board

Directions:

1. Cut the bananas with a knife on the cutting board.
2. Put the pan on the stove and put butter in the pan.
3. Put the heat on medium.
4. Put the bananas in the pan.
5. Add some brown sugar.
6. Fry them.
7. Put them on a plate and eat them.

Beatrix Potter Teaches Us About Old Words and Spelling

Sometimes an article posted by someone on Facebook pops up in front of me just when I need it the most.  I've been wondering lately how best to tackle the problem of spelling with my kids.  When I began our homeschooling journey with them years ago, we started out with invented spelling.  I encouraged them to write the sounds they heard and I was not so concerned about the proper spelling just yet.  When they entered school in Qatar the kids were in KG, Second and Fifth grades.  For the two years we were there, the kids got plenty of opportunities to write and spell on a daily basis.  But lets face it.  Some kids have a harder time with spelling than others.  I have two children that want me to just spell a word for them.  As they have told me, "I don't want to think about it. Just tell me the answer!" I have one that welcomes the opportunity to tackle how to spell a word. So just when I'm wondering how I'll approach this one, I came across an article a friend of mine posted: Why some kids can't spell and why spelling tests won't help    

Seriously.  If you have time to read this article, do it.  It was very enlightening.  I read this article and immediately started using the advice I found there.  We need to dig into the root of words and where words come from.  When we know the root of a word and it's meaning, we can build words easier Anyone can do it.  You don't have to be a bad speller, you just have to show an interest in words.  

So, Yesterday morning Piper and I were doing our morning cuddle in bed.  (One of the perks of homeschooling is that we can now sleep in.  When we lived in Doha, we woke up at 5:00am and were on the bus by 6:10am.  It was brutal to say the least.)  The house we are living in is well stocked with all sorts of books.  In my bedroom, we found three classic Beatrix Potter books on the shelf.  I took down all three and Piper chose "The Tale Of Mr. Jeremy Fisher." Soon,  Finn had joined in as well. 

As we began reading this story, we noticed there were some strange old words in this book.  As we came across words we didn't recognize, we would write them down.  We tried to guess their meaning and then we looked the words up when we were finished with the story. 

Here are the words we looked up:

macintosh

larder

goloshes

punted

rushes

stickleback

shoal 

The word "punt" here has nothing to do with football.

Even though these are unusual words that we don't hear used on a daily basis, it's a good exercise and worth doing.  Finn is taking Taekwon Do.  He was given a sheet that lists the Tenets of Taekwon Do.  These are some big words and I wanted him to understand them.  He looked up each word and wrote the definitions in his daily notebook.  I love them.  They fit very well with what we are trying to teach our children as we begin homeschooling again.

Courtesy

Integrity

Perseverance

Self-Control

Indomitable Spirit

The Spring Break Conflict

I am writing this reflection because we are trying to decide (as a family) :( where we want to go for spring break.

The reason I want to go to Qatar for spring break is really very simple; I don’t want my friends to forget me. I miss them so much and the fact that we could go for spring break even for one week would be the best break ever. I am sick of not seeing them despite the fact that we Skype and Instagram it is not the same. I know I should want to go to Wisconsin for spring break because I have a friend there and that is where I grew up. Honestly the snow would be melting, and the way the weather was last winter we would probably be snowed in 15 miles from town. I want to be with my friends in Qatar because I may never see them again after this.

That is why I want to go to Qatar for my Spring Break. :) 

Huffing and Puffing in Auckland

It's been a whirl-wind of a week getting settled here in Auckland.  We have been busy since the day we landed.  We moved into our very quaint and cozy little house in a suburb called Parnell.  I immediately thought of San Francisco's landscape.  You cannot avoid the hills here!  Since we won't have a car until the end of September, we are huffing and puffing all the way to the bus stops.  So far, we have discovered the local library, swim lessons at a place called The Olympic Pools and Fitness Center and Sailing Lessons for Finn and Charlotte at Royal Akarana Yatch Club.  All the little shops we need for our day to day groceries are right up the hill from us.  Just this morning Piper and I hiked up to get some eggs and milk for breakfast.  Everywhere we go, people are very friendly and helpful.  They are delighted that we are spending a good amount of time in Auckland and go out of their way to make us feel at home. We are getting along fine!

 

My New Camera - by Finn

My camera has lots of modes. If you hold the clicker half way it changes color (no, I wish) but it changes modes for the picture you want to take.

Close to the  top it has W and T.  The W stands for zoom out and the T stands for zoom in.

                      

On the top it has this symbol and a dot of red which stands for video taping. 

                       

It is also an underwater camera. It comes with a life jacket and a tripod.  The lifejacket is for underwater pictures so you don't lose your camera.

                      

My Friend Bree - by Piper

It  was  fun with Bree on the weekend.  

She played with me and taught me ballet.  

Bree helped me with a tree.  

We planted it.