Collage Friday - All About the Haircut
Friday, August 24, 2012 at 5:00AM 
Have you ever made a change that just pleased you for several days? Well, I changed my haircut on Monday and I'm so glad I did!
It's funny how something so little can make such a HUGE difference. I've had long, curly hair for the past three years and decided it was time for a change.
Monday several inches were taken off my hair ... I'm enjoying much less time being spent on my hair and just a bouncier feeling in general.
I bet you thought this post was going to have some great homeschooling moments in it, didn't you? Well, I'll get to those, I promise.
As you can see from the collage, we also have been doing other things - such as eating lunch one day at the Dwarf House, including our sweet little dog in math lessons, and going to the Braves game where Grant was given a Chipper Jones bobblehead by some friends of ours.
It was also the start of fall ball for Grant. This little boy LOVES baseball. My husband decided it was time to get him a little more serious instruction, so he is going to a baseball academy two evenings each week. He has enjoyed the focus and quality coaching. My husband texted me from the first practice and said how well it was going. I replied to him, "Wonderful. Grant needs this!" and he replied back: "And, he DESERVES it." Yes, he does. This is a talent we are nurturing and if he's willing to work hard we are willing to do what it takes for him to be successful.
Our current composer is George Gershwin. I'm working on a birthday lesson for him through the iHomeschool Network that you will be able to see on Sept. 1. {The last birthday lesson I did was for JK Rowling, and it was such fun!} We listened to Rhapsody in Blue and read a great book to go along with it. In listening to the music I asked the kids to draw a picture of what they heard -- Grant did this, but Anna decided to make a music map of the piece. I was impressed with her thought and creativity. I printed out composer Notebooking Pages and we spent quite a bit of time with this.
Anna has been in her Saxon 7/6 for three weeks now. I am IMPRESSED with the rigor of the lessons and how thorough and easy to understand they are. She is taking a math class, so I am just her guide - that's a nice feeling, actually. Grant also started Saxon 3 this week. He is enjoying the "meeting time" each morning, and is thriving on the patterns, keeping track of the temperature, and many other details. I'm SO GLAD we changed math programs. There's just nothing left to chance with Saxon.
We also started a great audio book - In The Heart of the Rockies - from Jim Hodges Audio Books. We will be traveling to Colorado and Wyoming in October, so this is preparing us for the adventure! The author of In The Heart of the Rockies, GA Henty, is new to me. We will definitely be reading more of his works I am sure! In fact, this was my Favorite Resource This Week!
Did I mention I like my haircut? Here it is on Wednesday -- straighted (as much as my hair will straighten) all by myself. I promise I won't mention it again!
In an ongoing effort to be honest about my personal struggles with back pain, I can report to you that it was a pretty good week. Thursday afternoon a dear friend texted me out of the blue saying she was praying for me and my pain. Miraculously I felt wonderful for the rest of the day. I firmly believe in the power of prayer! I am still in pain most times - I will be going next Tuesday to have a diagnostic procedure done on my lower spine. This will helpfully pinpoint where the problem really is. If you think about it, please pray for me - I covet prayers from everyone.
Other highlights from the week:
- I got creative with our student photos.
- There is a bundle of 53 eBooks being offered at a great price!
- My friend Jenn posted on the blog and is giving away a copy of the book she wrote.
- DO HARD THINGS is the motto of our homeschool this year. Do you have a motto? Are you making your kids do HARD things?
Other wonderful resources:
- Typing Web - both children are using this daily
- Spelling City - using this to supplement our Spelling Workout lessons
- Building Language by Michael Clay Thompson. This is a wonderful explanation of our language and relates it all back to ancient Rome. This was intended just for Grant, but Anna has sat with us while I'm reading it to him and she is learning, too.
- Writing With Ease - this week both children have had copywork, narration and dictation from different Beatrix Potter stories. I downloaded them to our Kindle (they were free!) and we all delight in reading these stories.
- The Story of the World - we finished our chapter about Henry VIII and Martin Luther and will pause here for some read alouds and more investigation. I've been adding to my SOTW pinboard - do you follow me on Pinterest?
Finally, I've had a goal of getting to 1,000 FB likes. I know numbers shouldn't matter, but it just makes me giddy to think that people read the blog and are there each day on the homeschool journey with me. Won't you help me get to 1,000 likes? There is a special "Just for Likers" download once you're there, too!
I am linking to something new this week, and I hope you can link, too. Since all of these photos were taken with my iPhone, it is fitting to be a part of the iPhone Photo Dump at Passport Academy
I hope you can join me for Collage Friday. Please grab a button or put a text link somewhere in your post, sign the linky, and then visit other bloggers on the list. Reading through the collage posts each weekend is one of my favorite things! Last week a record 31 bloggers linked their collage posts!
Reader Comments (17)
I am going to do my post but it won't link up until Sunday. My NYC series ends today......
Love the hair. I was just debating growing mine long (er). Now I think I will just make the call........
Your haircut looks awesome! I will definitely have you in my prayers and I pray you feel well physically.
Happy for you that your school year is going so well and congrats to your son in his efforts with ball!
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Love the hair! It looks so pretty :) I have been thinking a lot of cutting mine...it has gotten pretty long, which I like because I can easily clip it all up off my neck in the summer heat...but I really want a change!
So many fantastic resources in this post!! I have heard great things about G.A. Henty, and in fact, I bought (very inexpensively) a set of Kindle books by G.A. Henty, but we haven't read any yet.
I plan to link up, but the post probably won't be done until tomorrow.
Wonderful hair cut! I bet you feel lighter and cooler. I agree - I just don't have the time or the want to - to stand and primp in the mornings, being the practical gal that I am. Love your week! The Dwarf House - awesome. And the baseball. And Do Hard Things - yes! Just read that you have one under the weather. Here's to a restful Friday and into the weekend.
Oh, Mary, you. Ust read the Ralph Moody books with your kids in preparation for your trip to CO and WY! We've read Little Britches and have almost finished Man of the Family and love them!
I hope to be back with my collages by tomorrow.
I love your haircut! It looks great, and easy to do! The dog is adorable - our dogs often insert themselves in to the middle of whatever we are doing.
Have a great weekend, Mary!
I love your new haircut. You look beautiful. What a great week. You are so lucky to live near Atlanta. I would love to take Keilee to a Braves game! She knows zero about baseball though. :) So happy for Grant. I know he will love Fall Ball. We are loving Saxon too. Some days more than others. ;) I love reading your Friday posts Mary.
Nice hair cut! I have curly hair too - so I hear ya on the straightening - though yours lays nicely with that cut. I like the length and the overall look. The book on Gershwin - such a great resource! (I love how it comes with the CD) We'll be studying him later this year (Schubert is our current one), and I'm looking forward to checking out your lesson soon. What a neat opportunity for you son. I don't think we have a baseball academy around here - it sounds like a great chance to learn/play baseball.
Your haircut looks great. I am glad you are enjoying it so.
Blessings, Dawn
You look gorgeous!!! And yay about the back pain relief.
I LOVE your new hair style! It is wonderful the new attitude a great style can bring! I am so glad your son is enjoying Saxon and I love how Daddy responded to your text - He DESERVES it! Made me smile! Thankful you felt some relief from you back pain. Prayer is POWERFUL! Loved reading about you week =)
Love the new 'do!
It looks great on you:)
I'm glad that you've had some relief from back pain too.
LOVE that hair! WOW!!!
I am going to need to come back and reread this post and follow all the links! I did want to say that your hair looks fabulous!!
Love your motto - Do Hard Things. Have you read the book?? It's written by twin homeschool boys. I think they are the brothers to the Harris boy that wrote I Kissed Dating Goodbye. I have made all my kids listen to it (after me, of course) Love the collage idea. It would be easier for me to do it in Instagram since I tend to take more pics w/my phone than my camera and it takes forever to load to computer from my phone?? need to figure an easier way.
I taught Saxon in Jr High and for public school use I hated it. I was curious as to what math program you used before Saxon? I'm new at homeschooling and trying to pick out a good math program for my kids. As a math teacher I just didn't like the way Saxon only gave a bit of the subject to work on and didn't come back to it for a while. That aggrivated me because I was always trying to explain the Why's and How's of math to my students and one Saxon lesson didn't cover it, the next day was a different topic. But I'm glad you found a program that works for your kids. What other programs have you tried and why didn't you like them?
you are rockin the new do! love it! great week - thanks for sharin!