Beginning Reading Class
Loveland, OH

Cindy C. writes: We are looking for 2-4 children roughly 6-8 years of age for a beginning reading class. The class will take place on Thursday mornings either from 9:30 to 10:30 or 11 - 12. The cost will be between $5.80 and $8.75 per class depending on how many students are enrolled with a maximum of 6 in the class. We would like to start the class as soon as possible. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Cindy C.

Course description: Decoding and phonics skills for reading fun. We will demystify the reading process and learn the skills neeeded for reading adventures.

As soon as this was posted, I contacted Cindy to get more info. After hearing back from her, we decided that we would enroll both Grant and Jacob in these classes. I am curious to see how they go! It should be interesting!

Friday, January 28; Noon – 2pm
Bowling & Food!!
Cost: $6/unlimited bowling and shoes
AMC King Pin Lanes 7735 Beechmont Avenue/231-8010
ALL ages
Organizer: Cindy

Cindy writes: We hope you will join us for an afternoon of bowling, socializing, and food. In addition to bowling which is $6 person (which includes unlimited bowling plus shoes) we will also be able to order food from the snack booth. (Personally, I will bring my own drinks as I think they are too expensive here.) Normally we order pizza, but this sounded like it might be fun. Everyone can get what they want. It looks a bit pricey, but they do have a variety of items AND kids can order whenever they want (instead of waiting on the delivery man!) On Friday, we’ll vote on whether we like this or would rather have pizza for our February date.
PLEASE RSVP by Thursday evening, January 27, at 8pm. Tell me how many bowlers and their ages. I will group bowlers by age (approximately) There are bumpers on all lanes except the teen lanes (unless they request it). THAT DAY…it’s great if you can come a few minutes early and bring cash – small bills are greatly appreciated. Please no checks or credit cards.

As usual, the kids really enjoyed bowling. We stopped and picked up our free pizzas with their "book it" coupons on the way to the bowling alley to save us the money from buying food there since it is so expensive. Jacob bowled an AMAZING 133, rolling two strikes in a row on the final frame. He was so excited! Certainly beat Brett's whooping 21 from his first game! The kids bowled the entire 2 hours! Cade and Liam had a bit of an arguement, but nothing that didn't pass quickly!

Andrea, Carter's mom, was an absolute dear and brought a great book (a Cub Scout leader handbook) full of GREAT ideas for the field day we are planning for May. It is so wonderful when you get unexpected help, especially when it is freely given!

Altered Book Opportunity
Thursday Jan. 27 7PM
Ridiman Home, Newport KY
Submitted by Laura Riesenberg because the Ridiman computer is broken: Kas Ridiman has offered her home for anyone who would like to work on an altered book this Thursday (1-27) evening from 7 PM -9 PM (although people are welcome to hang out later). Please bring a snack to share, Kas will be providing beverages. Also, if you are so inclined, the hot tub is available for use, so bring a swimsuit and towel.

What to bring for working on your book: altered books (any hardback book you would like to alter), any stamps/stickers/craft items you would like to use or to share, adhesive, scissors. There will be plenty of paper, paint and misc supplies available to be shared!

Since Kas Ridiman's computer is down, please email any questions to Laura

OK, so I didn't get much done in my altered book, but I had a great time. It ended up just being Kas, Mandy, Mandy's boyfriend, Tabby, Shelby and my girl,Will and me, but it was so nice just to get to spend time with Kas! She did a couple of really nice pages in the horse altered book she is doing and the girls all did some very creative work (Mandy's boyfriend just kind of hung out!). We had some yummy snacks and Will entertained us all with his scooting and babbling!

I can't figure out what direction I want my book to take....I keep pasting pictures in, but it really isn't developing into anything! I did manage to make this really cool tag booklet thing, well I should say start it,I still need to embellish it, but I really like how it turned out.

We ended up staying until after 11 PM, the girls tried to talk us into letting them all spend the night with each other, but I was too tired to agree! Maybe in a few weeks!

Girl Scout Meeting
Tuesday, January 25 11 AM
Dairy Queen Milford

Our meeting on TUESDAY JAN 25th will be at 11 AM at the Dairy Queen in Milford. We will tour the facility and of course eat ICE CREAM! Please arrive promptly at 11 AM (this is when the store opens). I think the tour will last about an hour (I will check with the manager before we begin).

Directions to Dairy Queen: Take I-275 to the Rt. 28 exit (if approaching rt 28 from points east you will turn right onto 28, if approaching from the west turn left onto rt 28). Go straight through the light (you are now on the rt. 28 bypass). At the end of the bypass you will come to a light (Krogers will be on your right hand side and you will see Meijers to your left) , turn left. At the first light turn RIGHT onto Meijer Drive. You should see Dairy Queen on your left hand side! Questions call Hannah's cell phone at ********.

What great fun and FREE, can you believe it? We got there and were welcomed to decorated tables, treat bags and cups for soft drinks. The manager then let the girls decorate a cake with a girl scout on the front of it. It was quite interesting to see them take some creative license with the picture. They gave us the cake for us to use as a snack for the next meeting, perfect timing since our next meeting is a valentine's day celebration!

After we decorated the cake, each girl got to make her own cone or cup of icecream. The store was even great about taking pictures of each girl while she made her own cone.

Check out some photos of our tour! http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mrsmomof6/album?.dir=/203e

Quilting Club

Melodie posts: Upon request, I am putting together a quilting club for students (and interested parents) who want to learn the science and mathmatics of quilting. We will be making a sample quilt, where we will measure out, piece, and sew together a new block for our quilts each month. Anyone interested in joining the club please let me know so I can reserve you a space in my home. I have 2 (maybe 3 if I can get my other one fixed) sewing machines to share for anyone who does not have one to bring. If you want to join but one or more of the dates do not fit your schedule, we can schedule make-up dates so that you don't fall behind. Probably mature 8yrs and older. Parents use your discression as we will be using cutting blades and sharp needles. I was thinking about 1 - 1 1/2 hours is all it will take per get-together, depending on how many people show up. And I will provide a copied diagram of the pattern to take home for anyone who does not finish and needs to leave early. Then probably people will linger and hang out if they want to.

Dates:
Tuesday, Jan 25th 1:00pm - I will reserve this day for anyone who would like to come over and help pick out the design of blocks that we will use for the quilt. I have a book with over 5,000 different designs to choose from. We will keep it simple enough for beginners to keep up.
Tuesday, Feb 8th 1:00pm
Tuesday, Mar 8th 1:00pm
Tuesday, Apr 5th 1:00pm
Tuesday, May 3rd 1:00pm

Laura added: http://www.projectlinus.org/ Project Linus is an organization that you can donate quilts to for needy kids...it might be a nice "group" project with everyone making the squares...just a thought...there is a chapter here in Cincinnati...

Brett and highschool

Last night Brett and I were watching tv and they had a preview on for an upcoming tv new show (I believe it was Dateline).....the topic of the show will be "Teens and Sex" and they go into this blurb about parents not knowing what is going on with their teens and one girl comments "Yeah, at my school by the time I was in the 6th grade nobody was a virgin" and then they flash to another girl and she says "Kids have sex in my highschool all the time. All over the place"....the blurb continues but I don't hear the rest of it because my son says "Guess I should watch that to figure out what highschool to go to next year."......what a TURKEY!

Teens: Dinner and a Movie
Saturday, Jan. 22 6 PM

Cindy wrote: The teens ARE going to the movies tonight. Please meet at Gold Star Chili at 6pm. From there the teens will decide what movie to see. Then the teens will get a ride to the cinemas. So far, I have at least one chaperone - Tammy F. Laura has volunteered to drive the kids from Gold Star to the theater. If any other parents are staying, let me know. (Don't worry, teens....the parents will sit by themselves!). Thanks to Sarah L for organizing this!

Brett, Hannah and I and their friend Anthony (who bummed a ride with us) met up with eveyone at Gold Star at 6 PM. I was impressed with the turn out, 4 boys and 6 girls. The kids mulled through what movies to go and see and most of them agreed that "WHITE NOISE" would be their choice. Brett of course, the non conformist that he is, opted to go and see "COACH CARTER" by himself. We all ate dinner and then headed to the theater. Brett's movie started about 45 minutes before eveyone elses, so the rest of the kids purchased tickets and Tammy and I then took them to Target to kill some time.

Brett loved his movie, gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Said it had everything in it to make it a great movie! Hannah on the other hand, gave her movie only 1.5 stars. Said it was pretty stupid and very predictable. She said that the kids who had insisted that they HAD to see that movie were the ones hiding under their coats and screaming! I am sure those same kids probably had trouble sleeping that night!

Only bad thing about the evening was that the roads got rather slick due to them being wet and then us having wind gusts!

Tasty Toes!

William has a new favorite toy and the great thing is that he can't lose it!

Check out the pictures!

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mrsmomof6/album?.dir=/97eb&.src=ph

Wednesday, January 19, 2005, 7:00
Teen Panel: School or Homeschool?
St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, 8101 Beechmont Ave.

Submitted by Debbie W. This meeting is to help families with older kids make a decision about whether they continue homeschooling or choose school. I have 3 older kids who have already made the decision. My first son homeschooled all the way through high school. My second son choose high school and my oldest daughter is now a senior at Batavia. Both of these students homeschooled up until their 8th grade year. Now I have an 8th grader evaluating her options. I anticipate the evening will be helpful for her. Come hear directly from teens who have already made up their minds. There will be a mix of experiences. Any age is welcome to attend the meeting- the meeting is targeted for parents and older kids. Please bring individual questions you may have for the teen panel on 3X5 cards. Also- please bring a snack to share. I will provide beverages. If the weather looks challenging- be in touch with me by cell phone to know whether or not we need to reschedule. You are welcome to bring friends and if you know of families who are in the opposite camp; in school now and thinking of homeschooling in the high school years- do invite them to join. Directions: From the North or East- get off at Amelia exit off of 275 (the one past Eastgate Mall). Turn Right on Beechmont. Pass lights at: Mt. Carmel Tobasco Rd., Williams Rd, Independence and Fox Chase Apt, Hamblen, Cherry Grove Plaza, Nordyke and 8 mile- now look for a church on the left with a huge"A"frame. It's across from a Blockbuster. If you get to Nagel - you've gone too far. Coming from the south- you'd get off at 5 Mile exit and turn L, traveling all the way to Beechmont. Turn R on Beechmont. pass Forrest and Wolfangle and Nagel and see church on Right.

What an interesting evening. Jay, Brett, Grant and I went to the meeting in hopes of helping Brett with the big decision he is facing about attending highschool or continuing to homeschool. Brett, Grant and Jay had to leave about 20 minutes before it ended to get to basketball practice, but they gleened a lot of insight from what they heard. Ironically, Brett and I came away from the program with the same impressions! I told Hannah and Emily when I got home that to me it seemed that there were 2 reasons the kids that chose to attend highschool had made that choice. I acutally made the two of them try to guess the reasons and they guessed right! It was 1) was friends...either to make more friends or because their homeschooling friends were also going to school or 2) they wanted to play sports. Not one child on the panel said they chose school because they feared they couldn't learn what they needed to at home or that they felt their parents couldn't teach them. When Brett came home from practice he came into the family room and said almost the EXACT same thing to me and Hannah....Hannah busted out laughing and told him I had told her the same thing when I got home. Brett also added that he felt what Christopher (a homeschooler who decided against going to highschool) said was true and that he agreed with him. Hopefully that means Brett is leaning towards staying home! Either way, we will support his choice!

Wed, Jan 19th
Bass Pro Shop Forest Park
Cost: free

11:00 - Fish Identification class. Limit 20 kids.
Noon - fish feeding and demo in center court at big tank.
12:30 to 1:30 to eat lunch (pack our own, eat in their cafe, buy lunch in their cafe or in the mall food court)
1:30 - archery class - limit 15 kids.

Julieanne wrote: I told them to plan for a variety of ages, but as my son is 6 and daughter is 8, and will be doing the archery and fish ID, those are the ages they're accommodating.

What a BLAST. Because we had gone to the fish ID class last year with the girlscouts, we opted to arrive at noon for the fish feeding. There is a huge tank in the middle of the store. One of the employees came out and fed the fish goldfish and worms. The big bass in the tank was over 13 pounds, just a little smaller than William! At the end of the feeding, the employee offered the kids worms to hand feed the fish. Grant and Jacob LOVED it, Jacob's finger must of looked a bit too much like a worm and the fish bit it, but he just laughed it off.

After the fish feeding we went out to the food court for lunch. How I HATE paying $3 for a slice of pizza! Once the kids were fed, we headed back to Bass Pro for our archery class. Cade kept asking if he could shoot "bows"....I kept correcting him and telling him he was shooting arrows. Both Emily and Grant managed to hit the target and Jacob and Cade both hit the surrounding "hay". Jacob bugged me the whole way home about when he would get to go shoot again!

Will's 6 month check up (a few weeks LATE)!

For the record, baby Will now weighes 15 lb 8 oz and is 26 1/2 inches long! He is in the 25th percentile for both height and weight.

We had a wonderful visit with Dr. Linhardt today. She was thrilled with how Will looked and expressed little concern over his hearing and says that developmentally he is ahead of schedule. We spent a lot of the visit talking about things that were not "baby" related like broken furnaces, new roofs, cars and dinner out.

We go back on April 20th at 10 AM.....Will will be almost 10 months old...so hard to believe!

Storytime
Tuesday, Jan 18th
11 AM
Joseph Beth Booksellers, Rookwood

Julieanne wrote: We'll have story/craft time at Joseph Beth. I need RSVPs as soon as possible o they can plan the supplies for a craft. This is free.

What great fun we had at Joseph Beth. The woman from the bookstore was WONDERFUL and led the group by reading about 5 books and then the kids did a craft (a popsicle stick picture frame). Each of the kids picked a different book that they liked best. Cade's favorite was "My Sister Swallowed a Hare", Jacob liked "The real story of the 3 little pigs", and Grant liked "Blue Dog". Sophie liked everything. Hannah and Emily were good sports and helped the little ones with making their crafts. The staff said they would be willing to set up a program on a monthly basis, I hope that we get it set up because the kids had such a great time!

Once we finished with storytime we went and had lunch at Golden Corral. The kids were THRILLED to be treated to lunch out and I was thrilled to not have to come up with something to eat.

Quilt making

A homeschooling friend (Melodie) is quite the skilled quilter and so we decided to enlist her help in teaching us this age old craft. In typical "Laura" fashion, I invited myself and the girls over to her house on December 30th so that she could teach us the fine art of quilting! She was so wonderful, she cut all the squares for us before we got there and then was extremely patient and spent about 6 hours teaching us to piece and make our quilts.

Hannah was the only one who finished her quilt that day, we knew we had to have one completed so that we knew what we were doing once we were home and on our own. Emily finished hers the following day and I was the last to complete mine 2 days later. The girls were so excited that they actually pieced a quilt top for Sophie on New Year's Eve and finished it up on New Year's Day (we had to go out and buy material to back it with and batting).

We are so proud of our new skill. Some of us are more of the "perfectionist" than others, but it is a skill we will continue to build on with each new quilt.

Both Hannah and Emily have started new quilt tops. We were fortunate to have some scrap material from my grandmother and we were able to borrow a rotary cutter and cutting mat from my mother. Now our spare change is going to fabric purchases. We can't pass Walmart, Joann's or Hobby Lobby without checking out the clearance fabric.

Check out our yahoo album with pictures of our first projects and of sweet William hanging out on the quilt his momma made him! http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mrsmomof6/album?.dir=9693&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos