Friday, February 29, 2008

Friday Field Trip.... The Aquarium

In Honor of Leap Day..... we had a fun Friday Field Trip to The Aquarium.
My 3 kids + 2 friends. A RockFish. My flash washed him out but you can see his eyes and his mouth - with lots of tiny dots around it.

A Jellyfish
Derek with a giant lobster and 3 eels
2 different types of Shark egg cases
with 2 shark pups in the tank too (but you can onlysee their spotted tails)

Here is a site with more information about Shark reproduction. Some sharks are oviparous ("egg birth"). Like the egg cases above, the shark lays the eggs and the case is soft. It hardens in a few hours.

Some sharks are ovoviviparous ("egg live birth"), the shell is often just a thin membrane. The egg stays in the utuerus.

Some sharks are viviparous ("live birth"), the yolk stalk that connects the embryo to the yolk grows long in the uterus.


a seahorse.

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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Sled Dogs Lapbook pictures

Here are pictures from James' Lapbook on Sled Dogs.

COVER

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Monday, February 18, 2008

Unschooling Catholics Postcard Exchange

Derek is showing off the 21 postcards we received from around the world in our exchange with other Catholic homeschoolers/unschoolers.
2 are from Australia and 1 is from New Zealand. Others are from: Texas, Florida, California, Colorado, Ohio & Illinois.
Which reminds me to show the picture of us at the post office when we mailed our 27 post cards out to the world. We had to buy airmail postage for the 3 out of the country. Derek wanted to do the special stamps. After we did those three I moved on to the others. I said that we mailed the cards by dropping them in the slot.
Derek, had no idea we were standing at a counter and he dropped the cards in...... the Trash!
We had to go back to the busy counter, get the clerks attention and have her send someone with the trash door key to dig through the trash... how could they have been buried in 20 seconds?



Now we are in front of the mailboxes where we mailed our cards from the San Diego Mission.
It was The First Mission established in California by Fr. Serra. There are 23 Missions in total in California.

Derek was still a little flustered so he didn't want to show his face when I took pictures.

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Sunday, February 17, 2008

Recover deleted Digital photos... on HP camera

Imagine you leave for Disneyland on Wed afternoon, visit the park that night and stay until Friday night taking TONS of pictures.

You arrive home exhausted Friday night after driving 2 hours and sit down to view pictures.

You place SD card in the reader of my laptop ..... and 14 pictures come onto your screen. 14? 14!?

Your heart drops, your stomach aches.
Check the camera... it has some internal storage.... maybe the card didn't catch them but the camera did..... "0" pictures in memory. Try the memory card in the camera again.... Nope.

I'm tired, I can't think. I have to go to bed. Lying there wondering what could possibly happen to the hundreds of pictures I took. The breakfast, the characters, the fun, the rides..... gone?

Use google to find software for recovering memory card data.
Don't they always say that computer data is never really gone? It's on the disk and you just have to know how to get it?

I found a message board where a mom had a similar problem and the moderator suggested some online software. I load the software. It says that it will look and see if there is data to recover before you have to pay for the software.
The software cannot find my memory card or my camera (now attached to the laptop with the cord that took me about 3 hours to find.)
I'm devastated. I check the software description and it says it can find all memory cards but then lists some camera brands, and HP is not in the list.
Well it is an HP camera, it is HP's fault.
I go to HP's website and click on "Chat with Customer Service"

She says hello, how can I help.....
PLEASE help me recover 3 days of Disneyland Pictures!!!!!
She walks me thru downloading a FREE Software program

http://www.download.com/Art-Plus-Digital-Photo-Recovery/3000-12511_4-10513647.html?part=dl-ArtPlusDi&subj=dl&tag=button

and VOILA!!! My pictures are RECOVERED. All but 3, but from 140 pictures, I'm not complaining!! It took about an Hour to look and recover the pictures from the memory card.

If the above link doesn't work here are 2 other ways to get there!
www.artplus.hr/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/artplus/dl.cgi?dl=DPR
or
http://www.artplus.hr/adapps/eng/dpr.htm

Stay tuned................. my pictures are soon to be posted on the blog!!!

And all about our days @ Disneyland. Also some new things to do and new tricks I learned about Disneyland.


Friday, February 15, 2008

a Book Meme......... I'm tagged

My new blog pal, Rachel @ "Unscripted", tagged me.
Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

The Sonoma Diet
p. 123
Do your kids a favor and downplay those foods, reserving them for special treats. As a parent, your job is to buy healthy food and have it available for them. The children's job is to choose from what is offered. (4th line) If what is offered is all healthy, the kids have to choose from only healthy food.

Am I supposed to comment? This is about NOT having snack foods, processed foods, etc. in the house.
MY comment??? Hardy, Har, Har. Good luck. Actually I'm working on it.
I don't buy chips, except tortilla chips. I haven't been buying soda, ice cream, fruit snacks, candy or cookies (well I did get some cookie dough, but it is gone as of about an hour ago, James made cookies for dessert later). I haven't been buying this stuff for a long time. DH isn't "with the plan" so it still appears in the house. And more excuses .... the holidays, birthdays, parties, Oh my!

I tag whomever has never done this .............. or if you did it a long time ago.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

St. Valentine's Day Party

Our homeschool moms put together an awesome Saint Valentine's Day party, in spite of the the rain! Everyone brought yummy food, delicious desserts and we had very fun games.
The kids decorated enormous heart shaped sugar cookies with frosting & sprinkles.
A bag was decorated by each family and filled to the brim with cute and holy Valentines.

It's been 82 degrees here for a week and wouldn't you know it .... we woke up to rain and it poured all day. Now it rains here in San Diego very seldom. And when it rains it is usually for a little bit of the day and that's it. Not today. It poured buckets all day and was 45 degrees!

We moved our Park Day party to a hall of the Catholic Church.... thanks be to God!
And had a wonderful party. Thanks Carla!

Valentine's Day activity sheets FREE downloads

Happy Valentine's Day!
Here are a few fun, schooly activity sheets to do today! Math, graphing, word search.....

http://www.teachercreated.com/free/activities.php

Go down to the middle of the page and they are "Winter Activity" and "Holiday Brain Teasers" books but both are only pages for Valentine's Day.


From the SchoolExpress Newsletter.
Two Free Thematic Units and Two Free Activity Fun eWorkbooks Every Month.
This week we have a Valentine's Day Activity eWorkbook and Thematic Unit.

Click here to download the FREE Valentine's Day Activity eWorkbook.

Click here to download the FREE Valentine's Day Thematic Unit.

Enjoy the week. :-)Staff at SchoolExpress.com
Your may forward this newsletter to anyone you think might want to access these free items.

In case you were looking for a Geography program: "GlobalMania" From KnowledgeQuest
Learn Geography in 7 months by studying one Continent a month.
http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/globalmania.htm

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Saint Homobonus - my patron saint for 2008

This is Marianne's third year in assisting people pair up with their patron saints. This year she has a blog "The Patron Saint of the Year" I read about it on Esther's blog.
Email Marianne and she will let you know which Saint "Chooses YOU" for the year.

12/15/07 The saint that chose you is St. Homobonus!

Don't forget to take time to "google" your saint so you can get to know them and will be better to see all the intercessions that will be comingyour way! The more you know about your saint will also enable you to understand why they "chose" you and what both of you will be able to accomplish in 2008!

Stay in touch and let me know how things go between you! Enjoy your heavenly walk! God bless! Marianne


Saint Homobonus (d. November 13, 1197) was a merchant from Cremona, northern Italy. Born Omobono Tucenghi, he was a married layman who believed that God had allowed him to work in order that he would be able to support people that were living in a state of poverty. His name is derived from the Latin homo bonus ("good man").
Homobonus was able to pursue this calling in life easily as a result of the inheritance he received from his father, a prosperous
tailor and merchant. He practiced his business at Cremona with scrupulous honesty. He also donated a large proportion of his profits to the relief of the poor.
Homobonus was a frequent church attendee that would partake in the
Eucharist everyday. While attending mass, prostrated in the form of a cross, on November 13, 1197, Homobonus died. Two years later Homobonus was canonized by Pope Innocent III. During Homobonus's canonization Pope Innocent III said that Homobonus was a "father of the poor", "consoler of the afflicted", "assiduous in constant prayer", "man of peace and peacemaker", "a man good in name and deed", "this saint, is still like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in our time."
He is the
patron saint of business people, tailors, shoemakers, and clothworkers, as well as of Cremona itself. He was canonized in 1199 at the urgent request of the citizens of Cremona. His feast day is celebrated on November 13. (Italian: Sant'Omobono, German: Sankt Gutman)
The church of
Sant'Omobono in Rome is dedicated to him.

Here is what I have been sharing with St. Homobonus
1. I pray that my employment (wife, mother, homeschooler) was given to me by God which he believed was the reason he inherited his father's business.
2. I want to attend daily Mass more often. So far it's on Tuesdays.
3. I would like to re-learn sewing and teach sewing to Katie. We bought material for skirts & pajamas.
4. I want to be better at Charity. I am terrible at giving away money to charity.
5. (the big one) I REALLY hope to travel to Italy .... very soon! Yohooo, St. Homobonus, can you work on this one for me?
6. homo=man bonus=good. I truly hope I am a Good Woman. ?? FeminaBonus

Free Mary Cassatt Lapbook from Homeschool eStore

Check out Homeschool eStore.com's Free this week:
Mary Cassatt Lapbook

Mary Cassatt was an American painter during the late 1800’s. Your student can complete a lapbook on one of the first impressionists in history with the Project Pack from In the Hands of a Child. This 56-page unit includes a 9-page Research Guide with information about Mary’s childhood, family, and her experiences as an artist as well as examples of her work. In addition, you will find 17 hands-on activities to help your student learn about this famous woman!

Free Geography games

The kids were given the "Purpose Games" websites for studying Countries of South America & Asia for their Art/History class.

Easier Version K-3
ASIA> http://www.purposegames.com/game/1729
SOUTH AMERICA> http://www.purposegames.com/game/7e5021a7

Regular versions 4th+
http://www.purposegames.com/game/countries-of-south-america-quiz

http://www.purposegames.com/game/countries-of-asia-quiz

A while ago we were using Seterra's gamea. Check them both out. They are both Free and FUN! (a little addicting.. in a good, competative way!)
You do have to download their software, but it is free.
Learn Geography of the world.
http://www.wartoft.nu/software/seterra/

Seterra is a challenging geography program with 70 different exercises. Learn about countries, capitals, flags and cities in Africa, Europe, South America, North America, Asia and Australia, using outline map exercises!

reconsider going to see the exhibit

On the Catholic Parenting w/ Love yahoo group I responded to a post asking about the b o d i e s exhibit that is going around the country.

Re: Our B o d i e s Exhibit, thinking about it?

A group of us were going to see the exhibit until I found this article:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07175/796418-109.stm

The article shows there is no evidence that the humans dontated themselves by choice to science. They may have been people who were murdered or executed, and most likely, they were prisoners that died by one of those reasons.

I decided that I did not feel the dignity of the humans was upheld and will not give my money to support this exhibit.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Our Lady of Lourdes


Our Lady of Lourdes

Monday Meme... 2 memes about my name

This one is from: Wendy's blog "Well Mannered Frivolity"

The game is called scattergories. Use the first letter of your name and find words with that letter. The number of letters in your name determines how many people you can tag.


What is your name? Laurie

4 letter word: Love

Vehicle: Lorry (it’s what they call a truck in Britain)

City: La Mesa

Boys name: Luke

Girls name: Linda

Movie: Last Holiday

Occupation: Lawyer

Something you wear: lacy undergarments

Celebrity: Lindsay Lohan

Food: Something found in a kitchen: linguini

Something found in a bathroom: lotion

Reason for being late: Long time in bathroom

Cartoon character: Lucy from Peanuts

Something you shout: Leave that alone!

Animal: Lion

Body part: legs

Word to describe you: Lovely



This one is from Esther's Blog "A Catholic Mom in Hawaii"

Here are the rules:

1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.

2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name).

3. After you are tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and your answers.

4. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details.)

  • C: Christ Centered
  • A: Artistic
  • T: TV lover
  • H: Homeschool Mom
  • E: Emotional
  • R: Roman Catholic
  • I: Internet addicted
  • N: Novel reader
  • E: Eats a lot of chocolate

I tag you!

Friday, February 08, 2008

Slacker moms reveal yourselves!

I love the post @ Well Mannered Frivolity: Keepin' it real, bro. I cracked up at the Tom & Jerry classical music reference! Growing up I remember hearing most classical music from Bugs Bunny cartoons! Remember the Elmer Fudd one with the musice from Barber of Seville? (you can google it if you don't remember)

Well if her post is a "slacker mom" checklist, we are doing the same at my house, and I'm a slacker too!

I have to add that we all go to bed when we want to. Some members of the family falling asleep in front of the tv. And we all get up when we want to. Well not the hubby, he does need to arrive at the office at a reasonable hour. As for me.... please do not call my house before 9:30 a.m.!! unless you want D to answer the phone. He is the earlybird around here usually up by 8 a.m. Luckily he knows how to work all the electronic babysitting devices.... tv, dvd, video games and Webkinz. Just this morning he said he couldn't find a "friend" to play a game with. I rolled over and said "That's because it is 8 a.m. and kids are either at school or still sleeping."
How about everyone being in their pajamas all day? I try to get dressed by 11 a.m.

Tons of TV around here. We've been much better about keeping it off during the daytime. But it is usually on during wake up, drag yourself out of bed time & breakfast time. And in the evening there are 2 tvs going as well as the DVR taping something. There are so many shows on my DVR it is almost always over 85% full. Then I just copy them onto a dvd disk to watch later.

Did I mention the Webkiz, all day, everyday? For Video games we have gamecube, 2 DS, 1 gameboy and a Leapster.
Our Field trip last week lasted for 3 days at Disneyland! Hey we took a Youth Education class called Disney's Animation Magic.

We eat fast food almost every day, lunch or dinner. What slacker mom wants to cook? and all those dishes, gag... We have already decided on Pizza for dinner... cheese for Friday.
Hubby invited us downtown to his office building deli for lunch, but it is Friday and we dont' eat meat and the kids only each chicken nuggets. So we took a pass. Besides we are still in our pajamas and today is Park Day with a huge group of Catholic homeschool familes. Our Valentine's party next week has 25 families and 92 kids. (See we do leave the house) And we have a trampoline and just put in the pool for exercise. Oh and I just got a treadmill for my birthday :)

I love reading blogs and fun stuff on the internet! Did I mention I play the kids' webkinz too.. I answer the quiz questions to earn them Kinzcash "money"!

I hope all the closet Slacker Moms Have an AWESOME day! Leave a comment and reveal yourself!!

I want to live like everyday is Saturday!!


Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Divine Mercy #296

St. Faustina Kowalska's Diary - Revelations of Divine Mercy #296

+O Supreme Good, I want to love You as no one on earth has ever loved You before!
I want to adore You with every moment of my life and unite my will closely to Your holy will.
My life is not drab or monotonous, but it is varied like a garden of fragrant flowers, so that I don't know which flower to pick first, the lily of suffering or the rose of love of neighbor or the violet of humility. I will not enumerate these treasures in which my every day abounds. It is a great thing to know how to make use of the present moment.

Mardi Gras = Candy Tuesday!

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!

D says..'"Fat Tuesday!"... we should call it "Candy Tuesday" because we can't have candy tomorrow!

Monday, February 04, 2008

art for today... Linnea in Monet's Garden

Today's art lesson and story: Linnea in Monet's Garden.
We borrowed the DVD from blockbuster and we own the book.
The dvd had an interactive quiz which was fun.
It was an animated movie of Linnea and Mr. Bloom travelling to Paris, museums of Paris, Monet's home and the Gardens of Giverny.
Mixed in with the animation are true photographs & video of Monet's artwork, photos of him and his family, the garden, flower close-ups and video of Monet's dining room.

40 ways to get more out of Lent

another great article: 40 Ways to Get the Most Out of Lent!
By: Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio, Catholic theologian and speaker

This, of course, is not an exhaustive list of Lenten ideas, activities and devotions. But it’s a start! Many of the Lenten resources mention here are available on our website at www.dritaly.com or can be found by visiting our links page.

Doctors of the Church

In preparation for Lent we started reading from our Loyola Treasury of Saints by David Self.

K chose to read about St. Catherine of Siena. She is a Doctor of the Church. I explained that there are only a couple (i was thinking 5) .... to then google to find out who the others were and find that there are 33.
I found this concise article by Marcellino D’Ambrosio, Ph.D., Catholic Theologian and Speaker. (He is also one of my professors from U of Dallas when I got my M.A.)

DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH Definition and List (click to read article)
He lists the 3 requirements and then breaks the Doctors up by time line periods.

Here are the books we used to read about St. Catherine of Siena. Each has a page or two biography.

All you can eat pancakes @ IHOP

Tuesday, Feb 5th, Mardi Gras, is All you can eat pancakes @ IHOP.