A New Adventure

Time has come that we are embarking on another new adventure in our homeschool life. My daughter has started drivers ed. Yes, she is in a course with a driving school but we are also working on things at home. She is struggling with the permit test, so I am having her do a lot of practice tests today. I have thought that I might add to the course she is taking by making some of our vocab and spelling be words that she might need to know for the exam. She is working hard and she is trying her best to be able to pass the test. She still struggles a lot with reading and so I have made arrangements for the license branch to have the test read to her on Tuesday next week. I hope that helps.
 If I decide to do a unit study of the cousrse, I will certainly post ideas on here. I hope that everyone that has had a student struggle with this will leave some ideas here. She drives well around here on the farm, but she needs a lot of confidence on the test. Practice tests make perfect and I am hoping that she can pass before she has it read to her.

A Wonderful Break

Many of you in the Midwestern US have suffered through the drought and high temperatures that this summer has brought. Many crops have suffered and many farmers will struggle with their income being directly affected by this drought. Most of us will suffer as well with higher prices at the stores. I am thankful to say that we have gotten a nice break from the high heat and the drought conditions with storms last night that brought rain and much cooler temperatures.
 When I woke and went out earlier today, I discovered that it was in the low 60's outside and was so excited! It seems as though it has been ages since we had nice temperatures like this and the rain was such a blessing. Our garden is beyond help, but we sure needed the rain. I know many with wells that were really getting concerned with the water level and I am sure that the soaking rain was a blessing.
 I want to wish each of you a wonderful Friday and a blessed weekend from our house to yours.

Summer Thoughts

This summer has been hot and dry , but thankfully we did get a little rain last night. It seems that some storms went through last night and did allow us to receive a little bit of rain. However, it needs to rain several days in a row to eliminate the drought conditions that we have. I am sure that a half inch of rain really does nothing for the ground that has lacked rain most of the summer.
 The nice thing about summer for those of us who live in the country is that it allows us to see the work that others have put into their farms as we attend local county fairs. Last night was no different as we attended a very small local fair. Most of the animals and what few projects were exhibited were being taken home or were already gone, but what was there gave us a sense of how much work these kids had done. Also, it was a chance to see friends that we do not see on a normal basis. Also, we had a chance to take in some of the mud bogs (something that many people would not find as a source of entertainment, but country kids do!) and a chance to watch a band that includes several people we know including our neighbor and camp buddy. As I was sitting there, listening to the music and watching people, I was thinking just how simple things can make us happy if we just allow it. We are all so caught up in society and life that we usually forget the small things in life. Take time today to find one small thing that makes you happy!!