starbucks | RED HERRING?

Just as soon as I think I have a plan, it seems like I read something new that completely changes my plan. In the last week, I have been reading about Charlotte Mason and while I am not ready to move away from classical education, there are a few aspects about Charlotte Mason that I am interested in incorporating into our curriculum, like scripture memorization, hymn study, personal development and habits, and nature study. So, while I finished up my tentative 12 year plan last week, this week I am already making changes to incorporate some CM ideas into it.

I would like to start including some nature study within our regular science (although let’s be honest, I’m not really doing any science right now…). I read about the Green Hour Challenges over at Harmony Art Mom’s blog, and I think it would be a fun thing to add to our curriculum, and might even keep me a little bit more accountable where science is concerned. And, as proof that this is meant to be, last night I was at Starbucks and found the cutest ever nature journal, which I promptly bought and brought home to inspire me to start on the Green Hour Challenge…

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And for only $12.95, it wasn’t a bad deal, especially considering the $10 gift card I had from Christmas – thanks Mom!

So now my next challenge is to figure out where to go for our first Green Hour Challenge. I am thinking about Red Rocks State Park, if I can convince my dear husband to take me in this chilly Oklahoma weather, or possibly at my grandparents pecan farm if we are able to drive out to New Mexico this weekend (which we were actually planning to do if Matt can get a few days off work).

5. I found out they have Starbucks in Japan!!

4. I made the tastiest chocolate cake ever, trans-fat free, thanks to the Pioneer Woma n.

3. My wonderful husband took me out to dinner last night at Texas Roadhouse, where we had great service and even greater steak (plus he took me to Starbucks after dinner 🙂 )

2. I discovered Headsprout – more about that later

And finally… the number 1 thing I am happy about this week…

1. We bought a new desk! Anticlimactic, I know, but we have very very little furniture in our temporary apartment right now and I have not had a place to set up the printer or to organize anything. So… last night, as I was on the verge of a mental breakdown from the messy pile of stuff in our living room, my dear husband took me to Wal-mart where we bought the cheapest, ugliest desk for $37. We brought it home and two of the pieces were broken, which I guess were not important because we put it together anyhow, and I spent the rest of the evening reorganizing my homeschool/office stuff, and stayed up till 3 am planning our next year of homeschool. Ironically, even with virtually no sleep, I feel better now than I have in days. It was like I was sinking into some kind of depression state and buying an ugly desk was all I needed to snap out of it 🙂

If I could, I would snap a picture of it real quick, but our camera randomly broke while we were at the hockey game, so you will just have to trust me on this one 🙂 Luckily, I will not be allowed to take the desk to Japan…