I don't often order books, but I needed a few for the boys new History Odyssey as we have moved on to the Medieval times, so I decided to test out Bookdepository .   I usually go with amazon, but these guys do FREE worldwide shipping so I figured I'd save a fortune.  I ordered on the 8th.. and all but one of my books arrived today!  And I ordered in the evening on the 8th even.  So exactly one week to my door, not bad from the UK really.

Frodo has already had a good browse through a couple of the books and is chomping at the bit to get into This one, which is a King Arthur story just for kids about his age.  I'm hoping he'll be able to manage it independently, as it looks like an easy read and it isn't too long. 

The activity guide, with all the neato crafty stuff, for this level of History Odyssey is Days of Knights and Damsels.    It looks VERY cool, if possible even better than Ancient Egyptians and their Neighbors! ( last levels' book)   There are instructions for creating your own middle age costumes and many other things.  Seriously, middle age shoes made out of felt or scraps of heavy fabric with laces... we're talking very awesome stuff!   We are going to have a LOT of fun with this.

The other book I was really itching to get is an Usborne book (I'm a huge Usborne fan) called 'See Inside Castles'.  It's a FLAP book, and if it is anywhere near as good as the 'See Inside Space' book in the same series  the boys will just drool over it constantly :)  (I actually checked that one out.. and renewed it.  The sadly had to return it, but the next time I was in the library.. a whole week later, it was there .. so I snagged it again LOL)   The Castle book was sadly NOT in the mail today...I'm hoping it will arrive tomorrow, or that there's a slip in the mailbox because it was too big for the postie on his little bike to carry around.  

Our Medieval history study just got a whole lot more fun!

Thankfully.  After 10days off, the boys get a BIT stir crazy and want to do dumb things like as me to play the Wii at 6frickin15 am  *insert scowl*  and then repeatedly ask me all.day.LONG!  

So today we got back in the saddle and EVERYONE is much happier for it.    I'm working on a routine where I watch Frodo's MUS lesson dvd with him, then set Sam up to do his Reading Eggs (independently!) while I 'supervise' Frodo in case he needs help.  Then Frodo works independently on one of his language arts workbooks (today was Grammar Once a Week, which he loves oddly enough lol) while I do the MUS dvd & lesson with Sam.  Seemed to work out pretty well  and got Both of their math & language out of the way for the day in under an hour :D   

After that we had a snack and then we all read the intro to Medieval times in the UILE, and Frodo defined Latin.  We're still waiting on some of the books needed to get really going on this, but we have a fair few library books that will keep us entertained until then :)  

Frodo also spied a printout on my desk of an "Idioms" game.  The idea is to read the sentence and decide what it really means when someone says 'it's raining cats & dogs' .. among others.  He had QUITE a chuckle at those.  It was actually intended for another time, but hey, he was interested then so get it while it's hot ;)

This post would be much longer, but yours truly has not learned that Blogger cannot be trusted and that all posts really MUST be written in word and then C&P'd into the post form... so blogger had a tasty snack of half of my post.   If it weren't late, and I weren't tired, I might try to rewrite it.  Not, I think, today though! :P

Is what I have been for the last week or so, sorry about that!   We had a houseguest for about 5 days, and while it's nice to have company... it's also nice when they go home and you get your house back.  lol    We didn't really 'do' anything for Easter...our rabbits & bunnies holiday occurrs in the Spring, so this Autumn thing just doesn't work for me! (not that it FEELS much like Autumn.. still 29C here!)  We did, however, buy a few cadbury's creme eggs.. and a chocolate buzz lightyear for each of the boys ;)   Who can turn down a good excuse to have chocolate?  My DH swears that *easter* chocolate tastes different to 'regular' chocolate,  so it had to be done.. just in case he is right!

I've also spent a bit of time doing some school paperwork.  I am changing how we are registered soon, so I'm re-writing our program and such.  If you remember the massive amount of paperwork that I posted I had to do on the 'Regulations for HS in your state' blog hop, you'll be pleased to know I won't have to do that anymore lol.   It came down to drama, and a 'higher up' in the organization I was with having a bit of a God complex.. or power tripping.. or something.   So, I'll be registered with the state shortly and have to do significantly less reporting and have nobody in my business most of the time.

I ALSO have been on a decluttering kick the last couple of days.  My closet is clean, I'm donating toys & clothes (from all of us) to charity, we're taking the old dining set & sofa that are in the garage to Lifeline tomorrow. 

Coming up next week, is Treasure Map time again...( a brief summary of Treasure Mapping is you make a collage or other visual representation, of the things you want to manifest into your life in the coming year.)  TM's are done in the Aries new moon, as it's the time for beginnings/planting seeds.  In the time before the new moon, the idea is to clear the clutter!  If you want to bring new things/experiences etc into your life.. there has to be ROOM for them!   It might sound a bit hokey to some.. but I've had a TM hanging over my dresser for the last 3 years (new ones each year) and I've manifested some interesting things during that time.  And 'things' is a broad term... new friendships, relationship changes, new hobbies, experiences etc all qualify for a spot on the Treasure map.   I look at my map daily when I get up and focus on it, only briefly, to remind myself & the universe what is on the way to my life.  I think it also helps a lot to keep my goals firmly planted in my own mind :)  I can't work toward something that I can't identify & visualize!

I think the night before TM 2010 starts, I will sit down with my map for the past year and list off all the things I have brought to be in the last year... it'll be quite a list!  

The boys are on 'holidays' at the moment, so we're not technically doing any schoolwork... although this morning Frodo came in and ASKED to do Math U See! LOL  So back to work Monday I believe.. he's getting bored.  I ordered our new History Odyssey books, and got a slew of great ones from the library as well.. so we're fully stocked on awesome reading material!