Thoughts, Adventures, & Daily Life of a Home-Schooled High-Schooler

    Ever since I started this blog (nearly a year ago) my Blog Link has been big-sis-2-seven.blogspot.com.     I had chosen that name because I thought it fit very appropriately. But now that Mr. Anthony has come along, that name is no longer exactly accurate. I thought about changing it to big-sis-2-eight or big-sis-2-seven+1, but I'm not sure if I really like either of them.    If you have any suggestions, comment below!

      Several weeks ago I ordered a better stethoscope than the one that HACC gave to each of the students. I decided that I wasn't going to use it until I passed my Mid-term test. Kinda use it as an incentive to study more. You can read my about my EMT study sessions here .       Last night, I received my test score(I passed!) and opened my stethoscope. If you look closely at the bell (the part you put on your patient), you can see where I got my name engraved.

      We'll just say shopping with your younger siblings can be interesting. Really interesting, especially when they are still learning the skill of pushing shopping carts and it seems that every other aisle you see somebody you know(or somebody that knows you!). The energetic shoppers.  I can only imagine they are thinking, "how fast do you think she will let us go down this aisle?"      I think the next time I take them shopping I will wear a pair of boots, or else some type of ankle protection!

         . . . I do much, much more studying than I ever remember doing during High-School. But why am I writing a post about studying for a test???           Because it makes another blog post😉, and I have my Mid-Term EMT test tonight. This photo is from another study time several weeks ago. It appears that I'm studying the brain? Maybe it was the stroke chapter. When I showed the photo to my aunt, she told me that she only likes the top 1/3 of the picture: the laptop and food. All for now! Back to the land of textbooks, big, hard-to-pronounce-words, and brain hemorrhages.* *Note:*      I'm not experiencing a brain hemorrhage, only studying how to provide care to a patient experiencing one!

We are excited to welcome Anthony Cordell to our family  He was born on Wednesday, November 20th at 2:09pm.  7lbs 13oz. 20" He's almost 3 weeks old now, and we love having a little baby around again.

Hello! I'm Dr. Weaver. Do you have any concerns that a hug can't fix? OK, now I'd like to listen to your heart. Gloves can go. They don't fit properly anyway and hinder my finger movement.  My patient is surprised to find out that my knowledge concerning the positioning of the heart is greater than his. (I, of course, don't care to enlighten him that I just learned how to properly auscultate a heart rhythm  this week. After all, I just graduated with my Toddler Doctorate degree!) Back in my office I find something more exciting: a pager! Maybe I don't want to be a doctor after all. Gloves on again. (Its more professional) Thanks for coming today! There is no fee because I obtained all of the medical instruments and training from a family member Note: Please don't ever take seriously the medical advice given by toddlers (or anyone else that doesn't really know what they are talking about!).

        This week the 1st and 2nd graders were learning about George Washington, and the curriculum suggested making tricorn hats as an additional activity. I dutifully complied, and now we have tricorn hats. It would appear as if wearing the hat for school makes you wiser. * *  * * * Last week, Martina took step-by-step photos of me making meatloaf. I was surprised to see this photo! The egg is in mid-air, between the shell and the bowl! . . .mixing everything together. . . . . .ready for the oven!

       I think a lot of folks can identify with having mice in outer-lying structures, such as our shed. I had been noticing when ever I went in and rocked the mower, or stepped on the scattered bale of hay that little, gray, 4-legged creatures would go scurrying off in the other direction.        We set a few traps, but to no avail. The mice continued to take up residence.        Things finally came to a head when [censored] caught a mouse and declared she was going to keep it for a pet. "How on earth did you manage to catch it," we asked. "Oh, I just got it from in the shed," she declared.        Well, that got mom moving. "If we have too many mice that you can just go and 'catch them', something needs to be done." The pet mouse, that is no longer living.        And so, they got to work cleaning out the shed. I was cleaning up some of our puppy supplies, and would periodically hear shrieks and feet stomping as the mice were flushed out

    This year I am teaching the younger children's history and science subjects. We have been learning about the Indians, and suggested making wigwams one day, and tepees the following.       I dutifully complied with the teachers manual and Tuesday morning found us making wigwams outside. (Mainly 'cuz I thought a flour-and-water paste would be easier to clean up on a driveway, than on a kitchen floor!)           Our neighbor's lab thinks life is too great to be taken in at a slow pace. When a toddler opened his porch door, he took advantage of the opportunity for adventure.         I didn't let him join our class, but rather took a brief "recess" and returned him to his owners.  Construction continues. . .   The wigwam village. . . . . .and the Indian tepees from the Plains.

Unidentified flying object ( UFO ) is the popular term for any aerial phenomenon that cannot immediately be identified. Most UFOs are identified on investigation as conventional objects or phenomena. The term is widely used for claimed observations of extraterrestrial spacecraft.   ~ Wikipedia             This afternoon, after an incident occurred in which an innocent bystander got caught in the crossfire when a "farmer" attempted to downsize his herd of cattle by using UFO's. A discussion quickly followed, in which it was unanimously decided to cease all UFO activities (especially in our living quarters). *Note, no livestock or humans were severely injured in the story surrounding this post!* 

Sorry for not posting this sooner! I've had it typed for several weeks and forgot to publish it. Enjoy! Passion Girls Camp was held the 3rd weekend in July. The trip down to Maryland went without anything super exciting happening (thankfully!), and we arrived around 4:15. After unloading our earthly belongings and parking our vehicles, we all checked in, turned over our keys and any time-telling devices, and stowed our luggage in the proper tents. Then it was time for supper, and our first session. There was 3 different speakers for the weekend.           As soon as the session was over, we headed out to start our first initiative. The initiative was called "the floor is lava". We had to get our entire group across a bunch of bandanas without anybody touching the ground, or else you had to start over. Once you stepped off a bandana, it couldn't be used again.         It took us until 4:00 in the morning to get this done. The picture makes it look as though i

      Sometimes it can be nearly dangerous to ask for suggestions or opinions. Take for instance: the cook needs suggestions on what to make for supper, she might get the response "Food!" or "something good". That is so very helpful. . . .          But now [drum roll please] I'm looking for suggestions. I need to write a 5 page (double spaced) research paper as part of my English requirement this year.       In previous years I have researched Pennsylvania History, Homelessness, and the Rohingya people from Myanmar. You can leave your suggestion(s) in a comment below, or email them to me.

         I like taking pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. I have a stash of SD cards ranging anywhere from 4 to 16 gigabytes. And they are all pretty full. I have this habit of not emptying my cards until the very unhandy message flashes across the screen on my camera "Insufficient space on card". Grrr, and it always happens at the most inconvenient times. Then I sit at the computer and slowly determine the fate of each picture. Trash, file, or to-be-determined. The easiest ones are the photos that document the random, and sometimes mundane family functions of everyday life. Those go in the folder "2019". Talk about a generic folder name! The pictures that are blurry disappear in a moment by a few strokes on the keyboard.  Beep, de-dong! The "file" (aka trashcan) just gained another inhabitant.          "Why do you have a picture of a half eaten cookie?" one of my younger siblings exclaims. That's weird."            Well thank y

         On Wednesday, we spent the afternoon on the Susquehanna River. For awhile, tubing and jumping off the rope swing where a big entertainment, but then the fishing started.          All together, we caught 13 catfish. Yes, we're pretty sure they were not the same ones. They were all measured, and several had distinct markings. "The net! The net! Now, quick!" "He's goin' under the boat!" "Keep the line away from the pontoon! If it touches, the line might snap!" And then again, "The net; hurry!" (Its not super easy to see, but 2 of the 3 rods have fish on in the picture) Happy with his catch! This was the first time I had ever caught a catfish. They are really fun to fight! How big is this one? Quote while fishing:          "Hey! I thought you didn't like fishing. There you sit on the boat with your line in the water instead of swimming!"          "I don't like fishi