Happy birthday to my Shadow!!!

Hawk, hawk, baby!

This amazingly stunning Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) landed on our deck.  He was screeching his head off for at least 15 minutes while sitting on the deck rail.  Even though this is a juvenile Red-tailed, it was huge!  The difference between adult and juvenile are the markings.  A juvenile Red-tailed hawk has a dull brown tail with mottled white shoulders and a shorter tail. This hawk stopped by looking to make a snack out of the birds at our bird feeder but he was unsuccessful.  We were just watching him through the window trying to be quite.  I took all of these pics through a window screen so the pics do not do him justice.  The coloration on this bird is magnificent!

This is his just-landed pic.

In the next two pics, you will notice his mouth is open.  That is because he was screeching like crazy.  I have no idea how he thought he was going to get a bird snack making all that noise.

He caught us watching through the window and is staring intensely our way.

He is still looking our way or maybe he is just posing.

Looking down below to see if lunch is there.

Still looking for food.

Pre-takeoff pose.

The few pics that follow this one are just for fun.  When I knew he was about to fly away, I took a tumble trying to catch him in flight.  The results, not so good!

In flight!

There he goes!

Back up to the tree he hangs out in.

This was just so darn exciting!  I guess you have to be a bird-lover to appreciate this.

August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009

Mystery of History Volume 4, lesson 2.

The 13 colonies.

Love, love, love the Mystery of History!

First off, a colony is a piece of land under political control of another country.  The controlling country is usually very far away as is the case with England and the American colonies.

A colony is formed when people from another country come in and settle the land, for example, people from all over Europe came to America to settle the land back in the day.  These people were called settlers.  These Europeans settled a total of 13 colonies between 1607 and 1732.

Here is a list of the colonies in order: Virginia 1607, Massachusetts 1620, New Hampshire 1623, Maryland 1632-1634, Connecticut 1636, Rhode Island 1636, Delaware 1638, North Carolina 1663, South Carolina 1663, New York 1664, New Jersey 1665, Pennsylvania 1681, and Georgia 1732.

These settlers did not have an easy go of it.  In fact, more than half of the settlers did not make it past the first winter in Virginia (Jamestown) or the Plymouth Colony.

Most of the colonies were named after the rulers in England at that time.  For example, Virginia gets its name from the Virgin Queen Elizabeth and Georgia is named after George II.  Massachusetts was named after a Native American Indian tribe (Massachusett).

Virginia (Jamestown)-The first English colony in the New World was founded by Captain John Smith on May 14, 1607.  A total of 104 people lived there at the time many of these people were farmers and blacksmiths.  Jamestown was known to have the best tobacco crops.  A group of African slaves were sent to Jamestown and arrived in 1619.

Massachusetts-Founded in 1620 when a group of pilgrims on the Mayflower arrived from England and created the Plymouth Colony.  Only half of the pilgrims on the journey survived.  The Mayflower Compact (a decree for a local government/rules) was conceived by the pilgrims the same year.  Chief Massasoit and his tribe of Wamapanoag Indians assisted the pilgrims in planting crops.  This was also the first Thanksgiving which was shared by the pilgrims and the Wamapanoag Indians.

New Hampshire-Founded in 1622 by Captain John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges.  The name comes from Hampshire County in England  The colony of New Hampshire was part of Massachesetts, a royal charter in 1679.  The Pennacook and Abenaki Indians were already living in New Hampshire before the Europeans arrived.  A really important fact to know about New Hampshire is that New Hampshire was the first to claim independence from England, a full six month before the Declaration of Independence was signed.  Another interesting fact is that the first potato ever grown in the US was planted in Londonderry Common Field (NH) in 1719.

Maryland- Where tobacco was used the same as money and kids could drink beer!  Founded between 1632 and 1634 by Lord Baltimore and named for the wife of King Charles I, Henriette Maria.  Native Indians already living in Maryland at the time included the Yaocomaco, Susquehannock, Shawnee, Piscatawy, Nanticoke, Accohannock, and the Algonquin tribes.

Connecticut- Founded in 1636 by Thomas Hooker and other from the Massachusetts colony looking for more religious freedom.  Between 1636 and 1637, a war broke out between the settlers and the Pequot Indians, the Pequot War.  The Pequot Indians were pretty much wiped out.  Connecticut comes from the Mohegan Indian word Quinnehtukqut which means long river place.

Rhode Island- Roger Williams founded Rhode Island in 1636.  Williams started a rebellion against the Puritans.  Williams believed that the Indians should be paid for the land so he bought it from them.  The first slaves arrived in RI in 1774, and in 1776, Rhode Island was the first colony to renounce allegiance to Great Britain and declare its independence.

Delaware- Delaware was established in 1638 by Peter Minuit and the New Sweden Company.  Delaware is named from Lord de la Warr (Sir Thomas West) who was the first governor of the Virginia Company.  Interesting note, Dutch explorer Henry Husdon was the first to explore this area in 1609.
North Carolina- North Carolina was founded in 1653 by the Virginia colonists.  The name comes from the Latin name Carolus for Charles IX of France, King Charles I and King Charles II of England.

South Carolina- Founded in 1633 by eight English nobles with a Royal Charter from King Charles II. North Carolina and South Carolina were one colony until around 1729.

New York- It was Peter Minuit who founded New Amsterdam (New York) in 1626, and the Dutch occupied New York until 1674 when the English decided to take it from the Dutch.  They wanted the land because it was ideal for farming.  The name was changed to New York later in honor of James the Duke of York.

New Jersey- The Dutch and Swedish settled in New York and New Jersey around 1626 and called the land New Netherlands.  Around 1664, King Charles II took the New Netherlands by force and gave it to his brother, James, The Duke of York.  The Duke of York quickly discovered that the land was too big and gave part of the land away to his good friends Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret in 1664.  King Charles named his piece of land New York and New Jersey became the name of the other piece of land.  Side note, Princeton University was founded in NJ in 1746.

Pennsylvania-William Penn founded Pennsylvania in 1681 but the Swedes were actually the first to find Pennsylvania under the guidance of Peter Minuit in 1638.  Penn was looking for a place to have religious freedom for the Quakers.  There were around 638 people living in Pennsylvania at that time. The name Pennsylvania comes from the Latin word Sylvania which means forests or woodlands and Penn from William Penn's name, i.e. Penn's Forest. Ben Franklin was also in Pennsylvania.

Georgia- Three hundred and forty-five English folks led by James Oglethorpe set up shop in the Georgia Colony in 1732.  This was the last of the English Colonies to be established.  Georgia's name comes from King George II.  Georgia, the last colony founded, was founded 75 years after the first colony, Virginia, was founded.  Georgia was the only colony that forbade slavery.

Learn more:

Land of the brave info.
You can find a great chart here.
Another great site here.
Unit study, free, here.
PDF printables, amazing, here.

Fear the Walking Dead. Who is watching tonight at 9????

Operation blue jay rescue

About three hours ago, I was on my way out the back door to put a few treats out for the birds when I discovered this poor little blue jay laying on the deck on his back.  He must have hit the window on the back door and knocked himself silly.  Within a second of a loud "Oh, NO!" from me, both girls were on the scene.  They are actually still out there now, and it is after 9 p.m.  The blue jay was not bleeding anywhere, he can move his neck, and he is starting to regain his balance so hopefully, he will be on his way soon.

He seems so calm for a wild bird.

Belly shot.

At this point, he was trying to move a little more.

Perching on A14's gloved hand.

Almost ready to fly.  It was pitch black dark outside for this shot.  He looks so cute!  We named him Jai.

Have an auditory learner? Listen up!

Check out this new audio book for junior high and high school students.  Click here to listen to a sample and learn more about this great product and to purchase, click here to head to the Bright Ideas Press website.

Happy homeschooling............

Watch 5SOS perform live at the Teen Choice Awards tonight from 8-11.....

Click here for more details.

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Happy left-handers day!!!

Fun trivia and facts on being a leftie!

~Left-handers day was created on August 13, 1976.

~Did you know only about 10% of the entire population is left-handed?

~It is believed that everyone is born right-handed and only the greatest people defy that, hence the reason only 10% of the population are lefties.

~Another term used to describe a leftie is Southpaw.  Southpaw is actually a left-handed pitcher in baseball.  A baseball field is arranged in the shape of a diamond this way the batter is facing the east.  This helps keep the afternoon sun out of their eyes while they are batting.

~The world is geared towards right-handed people, for example, the computer mouse, school desks, and scissors.

~Left-handed folks use the right side of their brains.

~Left-handers generally have higher IQs.

~Ever hear of Left Hand, West Virginia?  It is a real place!

~The word sinistrophobia is the fear of anything to do with the left side which includes being left-handed.

~In the 1600s, the majority of people believed that left-handed people were actually warlocks and witches.

~Lefties also are more on the ambidextorous side than righties.  Like a leftie might golf or play tennis as would a right-handed person.

On the list of awesome/famous lefties are my very own C16!  She is in very good company.  Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Benjamin Franklin, De Niro, Barack, Prince William, Lady Gaga, Tom Cruise, Justin Bieber, One Direction's very own Niall Horan, Bill Gates, Jennifer Lawrence, and Oprah.  That is impressive!

Happy Left-Handers Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My post from last year.

If you can Handel it!

George Frideric Handel Lesson 1 Mystery of History Volume 4.

Another famous Baroque-style composer to come out of the 17th century along side of Bach was George Frideric Handel.  He was born one month before Bach in 1685 in Halle, Germany.  An interesting bit of info is that Bach and Handel never met even though they were both musicians and from the same country.

~Handel was interested in music but his father wanted him to be a lawyer.  
~Handel played instruments quietly at night in secret.

~Handel was a rich and generous man.

~Handel never married.  It is rumored that he was engaged a few times though.

~He loved the opera so he went to Italy and stayed four years to learn opera and later went to England where they loved opera.  He was so popular that Queen Anne gave him a yearly income.

~Handel is probably most famous for writing Water Music for the royal boat procession on the Thames river.  This was a concert performed by 50 musicians on large boat. King George II loved to listen to Handel.

~He is probably most famous for his work called the Messiah.  Apparently when King George II heard the Hallelujah chorus he rose to his feet and cheered.  You can check that out here on Youtube.  Some other of his most popular pieces of music are Largo, Music for the Royal Fireworks (this is a piece that was set to fireworks-check out a version of that here on Youtube), Xerxes, and Zadok the Priest.

~Towards the end of his life, he became blind.  He was said to have had cataract removal surgery that failed leaving him blind.

~Handel died in 1759 and is laid to rest in the Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey in London, England.  There were over 3,000 people at his funeral.

~Another interesting note is that Beethoven was a huge fan of Handel.  He actually said "He is the greatest composer that ever lived.  I would uncover my head and keel before his tomb."  That is some pretty high praise considering Beethoven was a musical genius too.

To learn more:
My blog post on Bach
You can find a free pdf book on Handel here at tlsbooks
Rutgers Library pdf
Bio.com 
Trivia
The Famous People
San Francisco Classical Voice

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

This is a great article on enabling adult children.

Click here for the article.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Back to school with Bach.

First up in lesson one of Mystery of History volume 4 is Bach.

Most people have heard this name a time or two probably because he is said to be the most famous composer that ever lived!  So lets discover a little more about the world's most famous composer from the past.

~Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Saxe-Eisenach, Germany on March 31, 1685.

~When Johann was only ten years old his parents died within months of each other.  He went to live with his older brother, Johann Christoph.

Map from Wiki

~Bach was famous for his Baroque-style of music.  Baroque is a term use to characterize extensive use of ornamentation and bass.  This type of composition flourished in Europe in the 17th century.

~Bach was a master organist and violinist.

~A lesser known fact about Bach is that he was also said to be a good singer.

~He worked as as a Kapellmeister (music maker) at St. Thomas Church (Thomaskirche) in Leipzig, Germany.

~Much of the music Bach composed for church services were performed during that church service and then thrown out.  What a waste!  It is said that he composed over 1,000 pieces of music in his lifetime.

~Bach also had at least 20 children by two wives.

~Several of his children followed his path and became amazing musicians as well.  The children learned to play the violin, the organ, piano, and the flute.

~Bach named five of his sons after himself, Johann.  He had two daughters named Johanna.

~Famous works by Bach include Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Well-Tempered Clavier, St. Matthew Passion, B Minor Mass, St. John Passion, and Brandenburg Concertos.  One of my favorites is Cello Suite No. 1 i-Prelude.  Listen to this masterpiece here on Youtube.

~Bach died on July 28, 1750 in Leipzig, Germany.  He is buried at St. Thomas' Church.

~At one point in his life, Bach was hired as a composer by Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar and when he tried to quit the position, the Grand Duke was so enraged, he sent Bach to jail for over one month.  This could be considered a good thing since Bach wrote 46 pieces of music during his time in jail.  These songs are still performed today.

~Did you know that Bach went into space in 1977 with the Voyager spacecraft?  Yep, when the Voyager was launched, three pieces of Bach's work went with it.

~Sadly, his real musical genius was recognized about a hundred years after his death.

Learn more:
Bach trivia.
Enchanted Learning.
Biography from Study.com.
Bach on Pinterest.

Teen Wolf "Ouroboros" Tonight at 10......

~

Cinderella, Cinderella, CinderELLA!!!

My life is so busy!!  Back to school = back to busy.  

My August to do list is huge!!!!

For example, tomorrow is our first official day of the new homeschooling year.  We have to be at co-op early in the morning.  I need to work at my home job before that and get everyone out the door so we are on time.  Monday's are usually the busiest day for us.  After co-op, I have to work at my home job again, as well as dinner, laundry, dishes, and etc..............Never ending list.

Big things to do in August.
~Call the IRS (GAG).  I need to locate my half of the joint tax refund that I was supposed to get in 2012.  I need this money for our move.  I think I will do this Tuesday between working and teaching.  I anticipate it will take a while.
~Prepare for court.  Lots to accomplish on this court date.
~Pack, pack, and pack.  We are going to need to move in a few months.  Foreclosure.  That is what happens when you put too much trust in someone who does not deserve it.  We will make it though, I would never let my kids down!
~Start hauling stuff out of the house.
~Renew driver's license.
~Doctors appointments.
~Dentist appointments.

Those are the biggies.  I also get to homeschool, work full-time, be a single parent, cook, clean, do the pet care, and all the running around.  I am a very busy person, I am doing this on my own.  If I drop one ball, they all fall down.  I cannot let that happen.

A few tips:
~Keep your priorities straight.
~Say NO!
~Take a break.
~Slow down.
~Drink lots of water.
~Focus on the end results.
~Eyes on the prize, Violet.

Happy living..............

Organize your homeschool over the weekend.

Try to avoid burnout before you get started.  Here are a lot of great tips to implement this weekend so when Monday morning comes around, you will be ready.  Monday we will be hitting the ground running.  Both my kids will be officially helping out at Co-op bright and early Monday morning.  They have been assigned various tasks and will be getting paid.  So exciting!!!!  This is great for the life skills category.

Sit back with a glass of sweet tea and check out my Homeschooling board on Pinterest here, Great Ideas board here, Let's get organized my group board with CurrClick here, The Homeschool Life group board with CurrClick here, Back to School board with CurrClick here,  and my Organize meh board here.

Happy homeschooling.................and may the odds ever be in your favor!

5SOS in the ATL...........

5SOS is a band that turns out songs that speak to everyone.  Their mission is to bring guitar music back to the radio.  They are off to a great start.

This was our second time to see 5SOS.  We first saw them opening up for 1D at the Georgia Dome back in October 2014.  Honestly, they were way too good of a band to open up for anyone!  We are going to see them again in September so you see, we LOVE them a lot!  They never get old, and they do not have one bad song.  We saw them at Aaron's Amphitheater on August 5th.  They killed it!  This amphitheater has 19,000 capacity and as you can see from the pics below, the amphitheater seemed to be overflowing that capacity.  They had a sold out show.

Here is the play list courtesy of 5SOS Daily

1. End Up Here
2. Out Of My Limit
3. Voodoo Doll
4. Permanent Vacation
5. Don’t Stop
6. Disconnected
7. Long Way Home
8. Rejects
9. Heartache On The Big Screen
10. Wrapped Around Your Finger
11. Amnesia
12. Beside You
13. Everything I Didn’t Say
14. American Idiot
15. Kiss Me Kiss Me
16. She’s Kinda Hot
17. She Looks So Perfect
18. Good Girls
19. What I Like About You
20. + Pizza

Hey Violet opened up for 5SOS, and they were fantastic!!  They sang a Taylor Swift song (I am not a fan of her at all) and nailed it!  They changed it around, and it honestly sounded better than the original.  I think they are going to do very well.

So here is a pic of the amphitheater below.  Talk about sardines in a can.  There was no room to walk on the lawn.

Another shot closer to the stage.

And the concert begins.  I heard at least 19,001 teenage girls hearts stop including my own when they came out.

Luke, that is all that needs to be said.

He is such a doll!

Luke

Michael and Luke tearin' it up!  They place each other's guitars.

Calum!  Cute, cute, cute!

Michael, sweaty Calum, and Luke.

The most awesome Michael Clifford on earth!  He looks squishy to me.  I want to just squeeze him.

Ahhhhh, the danger zone.  Sexy Ashton.  Keep in mind he is 21 years old.

He went from being a boy to being a man in 90 seconds flat!  

I loooooooooooove him!

He is my favorite!!!!

                                       
 Ashton's drums are amazing but not as amazing as he is.

We always have such a good time when we go to concerts.  I love spending time with my girls.  They are growing up so fast.  It is important to me to have a great relationship with them.  At the end of the day, family is what matters the most.

Check out 5SOS Daily for more info and great pics.