Geometry Marathon

T-Bob worked very diligently to get all his school work done before we left.   He had a lot crammed into a shorter period of time since he had gotten a later start.   He was successful in every subject, except geometry, which fell to the wayside.   We had no plans to bring it with us, until after packing everything we could think of, we still had room!  So the "strongly disliked" textbook came along.

After considering his options (tutors with time to assist him here vs. a very full schedule when we get home), he decided so set a high goal for himself,  to finish his geometry before leaving the Phillipines.   After counting his lessons he decided that if he did three lessons per school day he could finish.  So he began.

Kitty and I share the load of helping him understand new concepts and making sure he understands the logic of proofs, every geometry student's favorite.

Last week he successfully did 15 lessons! 

"This is the strategy for this proof..."

This week T-Bob is on course to finish as many or more lessons.

Nobody likes correcting problems you got wrong!

The finish line (for today) is in sight!

We had a slight interruption when this insect landed on the answer key.  I'm not sure what it was.  Underneath the almost sheer wings, the body looked like a cross between an inch worm and a slug.
Not nearly as exciting as the two inch flying cockroach that interrupted our dinner last night, but this very small insect did distract us for a few minutes.  Insects and other small creatures are part of living near the equator.

Correcting the last couple problems.

The marathon continues.  It hasn't been as difficult these past two weeks because school is still in session, but come the end of next week T-Bob will be the lone student.  Please pray for perseverance for him and patience for those tutoring!  And wisdom to know when enough is enough!  Thank you!

~JoAn

The Week in Review

I know this doesn't look like the old white farmhouse.  That's because it's not!  We (My DH and I) spent most of the last week in Arizona.

It was the same week we spent in AZ last year.  My DH once more celebrated his birthday there. This year my cousin and his wife came over to my Aunt and Uncle's house and we had a steak fry and a wonderful meal!

My DH looks about 10 years younger when he is rested.  My aunt and Uncle spoil us so wonderfully while we are there.  Breakfast was Steak and eggs with lots of fresh berries, fresh avocados and tomatoes and bagels with cream cheese, fresh from Chompie's Bakery that morning.  I don't know how you top that!!!

How can you help but get rested when this is where you hang out.  The pool was still a cool 70 degrees, but I was able to get in and exercise once I gradually got used to the cold water.

Here is my DH, Uncle Mose, (He asked for a cool blog name and this is what we decided on), and my Aunt!  Our trip out was eventful - We arrived a little after 2 AM AZ time instead of 8 PM.  Yawn.  United had plane issues and had to fly another one in from Tampa.  My patients kept in touch and called early and often. They called at 8 AM which was only 5 AM AZ time. It took me awhile to get caught up on my sleep.

We drove out to McNeal AZ for my DH's Dad's memorial service.  It was a special family time.  It was nice to have the service where he and Mom served and lived for most of the last 20 years, until health problems forced them to move in with family.  This is the view from mission looking towards the mountains.

Rona, Steve, and my DH

Friday evening we worked on organizing and planning the service.  There was about three times the material available than there was time for a reasonable length service.

There were three children and their spouses and one grandchild there from the family.  Nobody is local.  It was good to get together.

Saturday morning we had a graveside service. (See previous post.)

We all remembered Dad's diligence at sticking to a task as we surveyed the triple row of pines that lines the front of the mission.  It is over a half mile long.  Dad organized and did much of the planting of those trees many years ago.

The memorial service was in the afternoon.  Many people were there from the mission and community.  This is a very isolated location and the town is not really even a crossroads.  You don't want to buy land in McNeal as you will never be able to sell it. You are there for life.  It is near (20 miles) both the infamous Tombstone, AZ and the Mexican boarder.  There were about 60 people at the service.  It was videotaped, and will be available for viewing at a later date.

Uncle Mose giving his royal style wave.

We said good-bye to our Phoenix family and got on a plane for an uneventful flight home.

We arrived just in time to rush over to church for the AWANA closing program.  Paul gave a paint board gospel message to the families.  He did a lovely job.

Michelle can usually be found either with a baby in her arms or in the kitchen!  Here she is with Liam.

Tuesday morning very early (for me) T-Bob and Joan got on a plane to fly to the Philippines to visit my sister and her family who are missionaries there.   Here they are just before they left.  They were warned that the plane gets cold so they should dress warm.  T-Bob's visit was a surprise to the cousin's and it was complete and successful!!!

Here is a picture of the farm, just after they left.  The mist was rising from the trees and the sun was rising.  So pretty!

The (ALMOST) Last Basketball Post of the Season

CCS played WCA for the second time.  Alas, it was a hard fought game but the injuries stole the victory from the good guys (CCS).

Trevor was hurting so bad that he couldn't run and could barely shoot.  He had to give up playing half way through the  2nd quarter.  He needed to see his chiropractor.

T-Bob shooting a foul shot (#13 is Adin B.) He was the last starter to sit.

T-Bob played most of the game until both teams gave up making it competitive and they put the fifth graders in.   By the end of the game, the final player on our team scored.  SO everybody scored at least one basket this season.

The fifth graders were glad to get some playing time.

Here is the final score.

But wait this post isn't over.....  There was a Junior Varsity game that followed.  The JV team also was struggling with injuries, so they pulled up some of the Junior high players!

See, T-Bob got to play on the JV team.

He was under-sized, but he managed to hold his own.  He snagged some rebounds and even stole the ball a time or two.

The JV team didn't fare any better but T-Bob was glad to get the chance to play on the next level.  He sure was tired  by the end.  He played most of the Junior high game and then about half of the JV's game.  He sleeps well.  After a season of basketball he can now fit into Thomas's old suit for speech and debate.  All that running and playing was very slimming for him.

T-Bob and Thomas are looking forward to practicing basketball this summer and playing again next year.

Debate Tournament #1

Our family, has only recently started doing basketball as part of our 'lifestyle'.  Previous to this year, we have only really done Church, family and Speech and debate.  We have done Speech and Debate for the last four years through a Christian homeschool league. (CCO/CCA).  It has been so good for our family.  We love it because it is something that our whole family can be involved in.

T-Bob 

 I have found that as a home school mom, that the children make about two academic years of progress for every year that they do debate.  It really helps to fill a lot of the holes in their home school education.  It is a tremendously in depth course on government. (We do team policy debate), research, logic, and writing.  It is like writing an in depth research paper. The best part about it is that the kids love to do it because they enjoy the competition and want to do well. I could never assign them such a project without them being overwhelmed and upset at me.  However, in our family, they would be seriously disappointed if we told them that they couldn't participate in speech and debate.  The older children are able to continue their participation by judging the debate and speech events.

Susan Miller

 I love the people that work with speech and debate.  They are some of the most ethical and sweetest people you would ever want to meet.  Susan Miller is a queenly lady.  She is the tournament director of one of our home tournaments.  She gently guides and encourages all of us who are helping out.  She keeps things on track but you never see her lose her cool.  She keeps track of all the little details without hovering.  That is a gift!  Even when she has to correct you she does it in a kind and loving way without exhibiting any impatience.  THAT is a real gift!  Everybody who gets to know her and work with her feels blessed.  We are so fortunate to have a director like her.

Thomas won second place in Poetry Interpretation

 The speech side of the tournament involves three categories of events.  The first are the interpretive events.  They change from year to year.  This year they are poetry and dramatic duo.  The speaker chooses a poem to interpret or a dramatic piece to do with a partner.  Thomas is doing the 'Pied Piper' poem and T-Bob is doing 'Herve Riel'.  Elizabeth competes in the JV division and is doing the poem 'Curfew Must not Ring Tonight'. The pieces can be up to ten minutes long.

Thomas won first place in Impromptu Apologetics

The second set of events are the impromptu events.  There are three choices here.  There is 'Impromptu' where the speaker is given a quote and then has two minutes to give a five minute speech.  Another event is Impromptu Apologetics.  In this speech event, you are given an apologetics question (Ex. How can a good God allow suffering in the world?) and then you have three minutes to put together a seven minute response that must be presented conversationally to the judges.  The third event in this category is Extemporaneous Commentary.  This event involves being given a question re an international, national or economics issues and the speaker is given thirty minutes to research and gather evidence and then they have to present a seven minute 'newscast' style speech.  The third category is the Informative events.  The one event is informative, wherein the speaker gives a ten minute memorized  on any subject they wish.  T-Bob is doing his speech on basketball.  The other informative event is rhetorical criticism. This is also a ten minute memorized speech.  Thomas is competing in this  event.  He is evaluating whether Snowden is a hero.

Sweepstakes Competitors

Sweepstakes is when a young person presents a speech in each of the three categories.  T-bob and Thomas are both doing this. Each speech must be given three times over the course of a tournament.  It is a very challenging thing to do.

Thomas and his partner finished fourth in debate

In debate the resolution they are debating is "The US federal government should reform its counterterrorism policy(s) for the domestic surveillance of US citizens."  It is a super current topic and changes almost daily.  It keeps the kids on their toes and requires them to stay on top of the news. Thomas and his partner did well.  They made it to the semifinals where thy lost to the team that won the tournament.

Here is our club.  They are a fine group of young people.  I really enjoy my time with them. 

Go Theo!

CCS vs First Baptist - Take Two

We had a number of games cancelled because of cold weather and snow.  This one was rescheduled and finally took place last week.  Our team was really struggling as many of our best players were injured.  Even T-Bob was having problems with his ankle.  There was a lot of limping going on.  At the end of the first quarter we were down 8-4.

Our guys were determined to keep going despite the injuries.  They played hard.

At half time, we were only down by 2.  The other team only scored two points in the second quarter.

The second half was a different game.  Our team came out and started shooting well.  Chase even started shooting threes and made several.

Chase was so outmatched size wise.  This makes defense a challenge as well as driving with the ball.

The third quarter ended with us  having a ten point lead!  The guys were so excited!

They kept going and eventually pulled out to a 15 point lead.  There was about three minutes left at that point.  The coach pulled his starters and put in the 2nd string.  The other team put on a hard press and it wasn't long before they were making a rapid comeback!

 They were within four points by the time the coach got the starters back in.  T-Bob and the other starters got the job done.  They broke the press and made a few quick lay-ups.

The other team had to start fouling in order to try and catch up.  Trevor was the one they fouled and  he made them pay for it!  He drilled free throw after free throw.  

The team pulled back out to a big lead.  They ended up winning by 16 points!

CCS v. Open Door

This game started out so well.  The Warriors jumped out to a 8-1 lead.  This game was scheduled earlier but had been cancelled because of bad weather.   It was rescheduled on short notice for a saturday afternoon.  We were missing some of our players and others were unable to play because of injuries.  In other words,  the bench was VERY thin.

The other team was composed of mostly large 8th graders.  Our guys played very well, but they wore down as the game progressed.  

At the end of the first quarter we were still up by 3 points.

T-Bob didn't play in the first half.  We had a weird thing that went through our family.  We weren't nauseated or anything but we had bad stomach pain for a day or two.  T-Bob was in the midst of this ailment on saturday when this game was scheduled.  Our bench was so thin that the 5th graders even got to play some.

At half time, we were down by 2. 

This little guy thought he was going to play a game of basketball with the teams shirts and skins.  He was obviously on the skins team.  His sister put his shirt on him and he immediately ripped it off.  He was very determined!

His Mom came down and put his shirt on and insisted that he keep it on.  He was not a happy camper and put on a first class temper.  Mom won!  Good for her.

T-Bob decided that it wouldn't hurt any worse to play than to sit on the bench.  He got up and in the game.  He was moving a little slow, but he got going faster the longer he played.

At the start of the second half, we had four of our starters in the game.  They were worn down as they really missed having T-Bob in the first half.  They had to play harder to keep up.

By the end of the third quarter, the team was down by 7.  

The other team played rough.  The refs weren't calling many fouls.  The other team was always hanging on our guys, hitting, slapping and holding.  The guys were pretty frustrated.  They kept a good attitude and didn't retaliate.  Our league is not blessed by great refs.  If they were very good, they wouldn't be reffing junior high basketball.  :-)

This was the final score.  I think both teams were glad when this game was over.