My "First" 5K!!!

Earlier this summer I blogged about Spark People (or SP). Spark People is an incredible, free, online group that helps people lose weight and live a healthier life. You learn to set goals and achieve them! In fact, I have been working towards weight loss, and have lost 13 pounds since starting on June 1st! 

 

Another goal was to learn to run AND to be able to run an entire 5K... 3.1 miles. I started a program (through SP) called Couch to 5K (or C25K). With the program, you run 3 times per week. At first you are running 1 minute at a time and you work up to 30 minutes. Well, I could BARELY run for 1 minute at a time back in June, and now I run about 50 minutes, or a little over 3 miles, every weekend!!! And, I entered a 5K last Saturday.

 

I actually participated in 2 other 5Ks about 7 years ago, but I wasn't a 'runner' then. I would run as long as I could (a couple of minutes) then walk until I could run again. This time, I was hoping to run the whole 3.1 miles. But, the heat and the speed (I was going faster than usual!), got to me and I walked a lot of the last mile. Anyway, here is my timing chip on my shoe... I had to find a kind runner to help me figure out how to put it on. I later returned the favor and helped someone else!

 

This run was at a high school and it was neat having the band playing, the cheerleaders cheering, and the track team running! The cheerleaders helped us line up by holding signs for various paces. I lined up with the 10+ minute runners. The group behind me was the walkers. My pace is usual a 15 minute 30 second mile, so I knew I was slow. As a matter of fact, I ran with the walkers... a lot of them could keep up with me! But, I will get faster!

Alex took this photo of me when I got home. There were a lot of snacks on tables after the race, and I helped myself to fruit, a protein drink, and half a muffin. I always feel like eating healthy after I run!

So, I have another 5K coming up in 2 more weeks. My time on this race was (a slow) 46 minutes 30 seconds, but I did it! My pace was slightly under 15 minutes per mile. I'm hoping to do a little better next time... maybe under 45 minutes? It's a Komen Race for the Cure so it'll be HUGE! Actually, even this local race had almost 1,000 runners!!!

How Much Change Will I Get?

Today we did some math using Family Math. The chapter we worked on was called "How Much Change Will I Get?" I had an inspiration to use the white board and make sales tags and draw the money. As we went along, Alex started adding pictures to go with these word problems.

Here's a Level 2 problem. (There are 5 levels.) In this problem, an item costs $7.12. You have a $10 bill and a pocket full of change. What coins would you give the clerk?

Alex loved drawing the items. I know this activity kept her interest a lot longer than it normally would have because she was enjoying the pictures. This is a drawing of a pencil and eraser.

Here's another problem which I think is a Level 1. An item costs $13.40 and you give the clerk a $20 bill. How much change will you receive?

And another problem - a Level 3, I think. An item costs $8.47 and you give the clerk a $10 bill and 2 pennies. How much change will you get?

And, another of Alex's drawings. I hope to add more drawing and story problems to our math as this seemed to be a hit in our house today!

Discoveries in Genesis 5

For Bible we are using The Greenleaf Guide to Old Testament History. We are really learning a lot by using this book and our Bibles.

Last week, we were slowly read through Genesis 5 while keeping a record of Adam's descendants. (Alex and I both made our own charts.) Adam lived 930 years and we were supposed to see if he was still alive when each of the listed descendants was born.

I was amazed to learn that Adam was still alive when Noah's father was born! So, Adam could have told all of these people about the garden, about God walking with him through the garden, about the fall, and about God making him clothing and kicking him out of the garden. Wow! I never realized that.

Another very interesting 'discovery' was that each of these men died before the flood. In fact, Methusaleh died the same year as the flood. This is important because, of course, all of those who were still alive were NOT following God and perished in the flood.

Anyway, I'm amazed at how much we learned by doing this one 'exercise.' And, Alex had a wonderful time doing this study, too.

Next Trip...DC (Wanna Come?)

I have official signed up for our next trip. A trip to DC in late October! We are traveling with a homeschool group called Carolina Homeschooler. The trip is reasonable priced - we paid $800 for the 2 of us. A family of 4 costs about $1,000 plus airfare. Most of your expenses are included. From the site: The cost of the trip includes your registration fee; hotel for four nights; a buffet breakfast on Friday through Monday; lunch on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; and all site admissions. It also includes Metro transportation while we're there. All other meals, a $12 per night hotel parking fee if you drive to DC, and anything you do on your own will be extra. Our flights will only be $208 each! So, this is a really reasonable trip! (Oh, and if you are a small family like Alex & I, you can share a room and save even more.)

photo from wikipedia

So, the trip is from October 21st-25th... and there are still places available! I hesitated 'advertising' this as I haven't been on a trip with this group, but I've emailed several moms who have and it sounds like a great way to travel. So, if you are interested, hop over to the site and check it out. There are 16 seats left and the deadline to register is September 4th. If you do sign up, please let me know!!!

Bubble-ology

This year I am teaching 4 classes at our local co-op. Yes, four! Well, two of them are the same class - it was just too big so we had to open a second session. I'll be telling you more about my classes, but for now I wanted to introduce you to my GEMS class.

GEMS stands for Great Explorations in Math and Science. In this class, we will be doing various units created by GEMS. Our first unit is Bubble-ology.

My class is for 5th-7th graders. We have a limit of 8 students per class and this one currently has 7 students. Bubble-ology is a great study about... bubbles! For the first class, we were trying to make bubbles out of various items that you can find around the house. I was amazed that one girl made bubbles out of paper towels! She just rolled it into a tube and was able to blow bubbles! Creative!

Our co-op is at a house in the country. We have 7 rooms (I think) and this is my room. Since I only teach 2 hours on Tuesday and 2 on Thursday, I share it with a few other teachers. I think this was the dining area - it is right behind the kitchen. It has a tile floor and a sink since I teach messy classes.

Our favorite new bubble-maker is a fly swatter! Alex & I played with the bubbles at home and here she is demonstrating the fly swatter bubbler. (It was brand new.) I'm excited about this class and the kids had a great first day!

1st Day of School Photos

On Monday, we started our sixth year of homeschooling. It is hard to believe, but Alex is now in 5th grade!

This photo was taken on Monday at our annual back-to-school donut breakfast outing.

And, this photo was taken on Tuesday at her first day of co-op.

CNN Student News Online

Last spring we started watching CNN Student News every morning to keep up with current events. We are excited that they are back after summer vacation! They started their new season on Monday. The videos are only 10 minutes long and the site also includes polls, maps, discussion questions, and more!

Perseid Meteor Shower

Alex and I went to our new lake house on Thursday so we could see the 3 planets which would be near the moon and watch the Perseid Meteor Shower. Well, it was cloudy all day and we were worried we wouldn't see anything. I did catch the sunset from the deck on the roof of our boathouse. But, the clouds persisted and we never saw the moon, the planets, or the meteor shower.

The next night, however, was clear! And we saw a beautiful moon set across the lake. I can't believe I didn't get my camera! And, as we watched, we saw 4 'shooting stars' over a period of about an hour. Alex was thrilled. So was I! And, we weren't even seeing these in the correct location for the Perseid shower.

We also read a book about meteors which taught the difference between meteors, meteorites, and meteoroids. (Do you know the difference?) Unfortunately, it did continually mention "millions of years ago" so I wish I would have grabbed our "Exploring Creation with Astronomy" book instead!

P.S. We had our 'back to school' swimming pool party for our homeschool co-op and two moms mentioned that they check my blog all the time. Thank you for that! And for inspiring me to get back to it. I know I haven't been around much this summer!

Only He (God) Completely Understands... (portion of an old letter)

I find it easy to get on the computer every day. I usually find it easy to do my workouts. But, I find it hard to spend time with God every morning.

This morning, I was having a Quiet Time. I started by reading a chapter in a book by Anne Ortlund, "The Gentle Ways of the Beautiful Woman." The chapter was discussing how our "invisible life" is the basis of our life. In other words, the time we spend alone with God determines who we are - how we react to life's challenges, how we talk, how we spend the rest of our time, etc.

So, I've determined to get back into my Bible... daily. I am starting by reading a chapter of Proverbs every day for the next month. (I learned this from SparkPeople and my new diet/lifestyle and exercise habits - start small and it'lll become a habit much more easily!) I'll be reading the chapter that corresponds to the date. But, oops! I thought today was the 8th, so I read chapter 8. Or, maybe God lead me there...

It was talking about seeking wisdom - it is "more precious than rubies." And to "choose my instruction instead of silver." Well, this got me thinking and praying about Alex's school schedule for this year. I am really struggling with what outside classes to put her in (both at our co-op and online). As I finished praying, God lead me to the zippered part of my Bible where I've kept a piece of paper since March 3rd, 2005. It is something I wrote the year before I started homeschooling Alex, and it was an incredible reminder of how I need to schedule our year. Here's a portion of that letter

God made Alex. Only He completely understands what she is capable of, what she needs, the things that will heppen to her (and us) in her life, what she will become, etc. Only God knows what she needs to learn and when. I need to go to Him, the Author of Alex, to learn how to instruct her.

I hope you can insert your own child(ren)'s name in that short piece and see how we need to seek God as we plan on how (and what!) we will teach our children. God will show us the path He wants us to follow, but we must seek Him first!

Getting Ready for 5th Grade!

I know I've been neglecting my blog. But, I'm getting ready for school now. I cleaned off my shelves today. I meant to do this at the beginning of summer, but I didn't.

                                    

So, now they are pretty much cleaned off! I'm finalizing plans for school and trying to get ready. We start on the 23rd, so about 2 1/2 weeks of summer left! Hop everyone is enjoying their break - if you break for the summer.