Tennis Anyone

Word Count Wednesday: 100 Words or Les

I love Tennis. It is a sport that Amy and I hope to play into our old age. The problem is that eons (okay years) sometimes pass between our court dates.

On Sunday we played for the first time in 2 or 3 years.. We played with some doggy chew toys that were shaped like tennis balls. We played 5 games Sunday and went back yesterday and played 8 more.


Charlie wants to learn. Hopefully we’ll play lots this summer. We might get actual tennis balls soon.

Next Time: Down to the Wire

Skills Round Up

Six weeks left until school starts!

Howdy Homeschool Pardners! How are your doggies getting along now that summer's breaking at your home school on the range?

Well lissen up cowpokes. I want to tell ya something we use during the summer to make sure we don't have any strays when we start driving facts and figures in the fall.

It's called Skills Round Up and it works for us. But lissen up City Slickers, how ya say it. It is not pronounced skills round-up. It's skeeeeeeeeeels round up. Plus when ya say it, you have to motion with your hands like your throwin' a lasso. That is, if you don't have your own lasso to throw.

Okay, Buckaroos here's whatcha do! Perty much once a week during the summer, gather up at the table and review some of the stuff you've learned in the past. Amy likes to put 'em through their paces in state capitols, continents and Bible verses. You can do it with just 'bout anything from historic dates to the periodic table. I think they call it the periodic table cause you have to review it periodically.

The nice thing about skills round up is you can do it any time, anywhere. In the back 40, in the van, in the store, anywhere! All the prep work is on the parents end (Amy can never remember that French fella that's the capitol of South Dakota.)

So, the next time things are slowing down on the home school ranch, mosey up to your tool kit and pull out your lasso and skeeeeeeeeels round up!

Howdy WFMW folks. Skeels rounds up works for me. It can work for you whether you home school or not. To find out what else is working. head over to We Are That Family.

If you are stopping by from the Carnival of Homeschooling click here to mosey back.

Next Time: Tennis Anyone?

White Sox in first place at all star break

What a difference a month and 3 days make. On June 8th, the White Sox had lost 6 0f their last 10, were 5 games under .500 at home 4 games under on the road and 9 1/2 games behind the division leading Minnesota Twins. Pundits were calling for the dismantling of the team, and advocating trading Mark Buehrle, AJ Pierzynski, and Paul Konerko for whatever you could get for them. Since then, The Sox have won 25 of their last 30 games. 14-1 at home and 11-4 on the road. Sure, 13 of those wins came during interleague play which is where hurting A.L. teams can traditionally feast on their senior circuit counterparts. But during the same run the Sox have been 6-2 against the AL central where they had been struggling all year and went 6-1 against the Angels and Rangers the big guns of the A.L. West.

Baseball is a game of runs. It took the Sox 57 games to win 24. They've won 25 more in 27 fewer games. The Sox now find themselves 1/2 game in first place for the first time since opening day. Can it last? Who knows. But hopefully this will be the run that leads the White Sox to the World Series title I predicted at the beginning of the season. A prediction that looked none too promising a month ago.

Catching Up

Things Fortnightly time once again.

This week's theme is catching up.

Thing 1. Dropping in.

Sometimes we catch up with people when they drop in for a visit.

These paratroopers were a highlight of a wonderful visit to Cantigni park in Wheaton for Scout-A-Rama. Been meaning to post these pictures for a while and am just catching up to it now.



Thing 2. Has it really been that long?



I recently had the opportunity to catch up with several friends that I knew in my high school days. We got together last weekend, sang some of the old songs and had a great time visiting with each other. What's really odd with seeing people that you've known for pushing 30 years is that some of the things that you remember the person for, they have forgotten and vice versa.



Thing 3: Catching up on Labels



A few months ago when this blog celebrated 300 posts. I decided to write 25 tribute posts to my 25 most used labels up to that time. This has proved to be a little more difficult than I first anticipated. I've decided to give it another go.



Here is today's installment



#20 (7 way tie) Russia



From 1992 to 1994 I served as a missionary to Russia for the Southern Baptist Convention. In many ways it was the best time of my life. At least it was the best time of my life up to that point. From time to time it comes up in the blog.



Someday I'd like to take my whole family back to Russia. One of the books I am reading about now, is a memoir about a woman from Russia. It reminds me of the time that I spent there.



Thing 4: Speaking of Catching up.



On the June 4th installment of Things Fortnightly I mentioned the White Sox and my passion for them. I mentioned how they had lost the game the night before that I took my son to and how I was taking my youngest daughter to the game that day. The Sox had a record of 22-30 at the time. They were 8 games below .500 and 8.5 games behind the division leading Minnesota Twins. They were 5 games behind the Second Place Detroit Tigers.



Since then The Sox have turned their season around. They beat the Rangers when Lucy and I saw them which was the beginning of a 23-8 run they are currently on. They have gone from 8 games below the .500 mark to seven games above and with tonight's victory over the Angels they are in second place in their division only 1 game behinf the Tigers and have just pulled a half game ahead of the Twins.



Thing 5: Vote Pauly, Vote Often.



A big reason the Sox are doing so well is the monster season Paul Konerko has been having for them. He is one of 5 AL players who can be voted to next week's all star game. In tonight's victory he doubled twice. Click here to vote for him. He is currently in third and needs to catch up (you knew I'd have it somewhere) to make it to the game.

Six Word Book Review

I am trying to write book reviews about all the books I read this summer. Book reviews take time and that's not always a commodity I spend well so I decided to try a six word review.

The book:

The Review: Riordan's Myth book does not miss!

A few extra words: The first paragraph and the chapter titles (Chapter 1: I accidentally vaporize my pre-algebra teacher + Chapter 10:I ruin a perfectly good bus are some of my favorites) alone make the book worth the time it took me to read.

I originally read it to discover if it was appropriate for my 8 year old son. My verdict is this: I don't think He is ready for it yet. Perhaps when He is 10. That isn't to say it isn't for any 8 year olds. I just thought that there were certain aspects of the book that I don't think He is ready for. I think any adults who are wondering what this series (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) is all about should read the book themselves. I think you will enjoy it and be able to make a good determination as to whether your own child would like it.

To review more Six Word Saturday head over to Showmyfacedotcom.

Next Time: Catching Up.