Thursday, April 30, 2009

Man and Animal (also known as Zoology I & II)

Hello folks,

Man and Animal is on the website now under 4th grade for those who have a username and password (which come with a paid subscription). I hope people find them helpful! The units are called Zoology I and Zoology II.

Nothing to Report

Nothing to report today... we stayed home because I was sick and N didn't feel well. Just a lazy day except for the big clean-up the girls had to do of the kitchen floor. We have a rule that painting has to happen on the kitchen floor because the clean up is easiest on tile. But it's white tile so it shows even the smallest spill. They had a wonderful time painting. And we did make a Cranberry Walnut Quick Bread at the end of the day, which we will have for dessert after the bedtime story. Tonight I need to finish (hopefully) the baby Moses doll which we are using as a prop for the play. My first Waldorf doll (not counting bunting dolls or needle felted puppets) and I am so proud! I'll take a photo if I can.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Custody

I can't believe the last time I posted was when Leah went to the hospital in February... it seems like forever ago. A lot of people have contacted me, concerned that they haven't heard from me. The situation is that I have been locked in a bitter custody battle, trying to maintain my position as full legal, full physical custodian of my three little girls. My ex has done everything possible, from declaring bankruptcy so that our van was towed away at 4:20 Monday morning and the house is in foreclosure, to deliberately losing his job, stopping payment of child support and leaving us with no health insurance (and not telling me)... not counting all the things he did when I first left him which I won't go into now. April 20 and 21 was our court date. I am happy to report that I WON full physical and full legal, the court preserving what the original judge had decided in the pendente lite custody hearing in December 2007, and then I went to bed for a full week in exhaustion. My legal fees for the domestic dispute and the bankruptcy dispute are over $40,000. But it was money well spent. The downside is that since he is now working 2 evenings a week as a waiter for $3.14 per hour (he used to make over a hundred thousand a year in the computer field), the court hasn't figured out how to give me a settlement for the property he deliberately threw away (like declaring bankruptcy just so we would be evicted from our home, calling in the debit card as stolen, taking thousands of dollars out of the joint account while I couldn't access it ) because he's making no money at all and living with his mother! So anyway...

that's why I've been gone.

I have three units ready to add to the website: Man and Animal (Zoology) parts I and II, and Rocks and Minerals. I will put them up as soon as I can. I know subscribers have been itchy at no new content lately. And I will try to blog my teaching ideas again. This Sunday is our class play in Sunday School for "The Child of the Nile." My students have had an awesome time making the tablets for the ten commandments, planning how to create the burning bush and throw stuffed frogs into the audience when we do the plagues, and one child is so excited to dress up as the Angel of Death and carry Pharaoh's young son away. We have really had a blast!

Thanks to everyone who has written in to make sure I'm okay. I'm surviving! :-)