Catch me if you can

...list seven random factoids about myself...
I thought this sounded interesting when I read Makita's post and I am also looking forward to the responses of the ladies I am about to tag! I do appreciate how Makita left it to our choice if we wanted to participate or not, so I am following her by putting an open invitation!

1. I am completely addicted to running and the fact that I now have Tuesdays and Thursdays to myself has fed that addiction even more...
2. I have only been in Canada since 1990. Before that, I lived in the South of France, in a little country called Monaco. So yes, my first language is French, not English.
3. November is coming really fast, and I am getting a little nervous about the NaNoWriMo challenge I signed up for. Nervous, but very excited.
4. I have very little patience for people that complain, especially that complain about things that they can change.
5. I have always enjoyed reading vampire stories...even before the new Twilight series (I did love those books too).
6. I can't drink anything hot in the morning, just water for me and breakfast. Not a coffee drinker!
7. I didn't like Facebook at first...but now it has proven to be a great way to reconnect with lost childhood friends!

Here are the rules for this "meme" (what does meme mean anyway?):

1.Post the rules on your blog.
2.Write 7 random things about yourself.
3.Tag 7 people at the end of your post.
4.Pass on the tag

City of Ember ~ the movie

Yesterday, we all went to see the City of Ember movie. I had just finished reading the book aloud to the kids and we decided to go and enjoy a night out.

The movie was good. We all liked seeing the actual city, the old buildings, even the clothes people have worn through generations. As it usually is, the movie is never as good as the book, and we were prepared for that. What we didn't understand is why they had to bring a "monster-size" mole type creature into the movie version, when there wasn't any of that in the book. Same goes for the giant moth! They also changed some of the main parts of the story, such as how the two main characters find the way out, but we all agreed that it was a good alternative anyway.

I am trying not to give away too much of the story, in case you go and see the movie!

I have often thought in the past that maybe if we read the book, we shouldn't bother watching the movie version, but I have now decided that we should keep doing both. We like to read and we like to watch movies, and all the conversations that are started because of the differences and adaptations are a lot of fun!

While I was searching for some pictures to add to my post of the movie, I found this site called City of Ember Underground ...it isn't exactly from the movie, but has a lot of underground photos of many actual places that could remind you of the story. Especially this one from the Japanese storm water drain!

Math Curse ~ A fun picture book full of math problems!

I am not a huge fan of math...but this picture book "Math Curse" by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith was so much fun to read aloud. The kids and I tried to work out most problems as we were going through it.
A couple of quotes from the book that made us laugh:
"English is a word problem: .... #2 Does tunafish + tunafish = fournafish?" I know, I know...pretty cheesy but we loved it!
The other one was :
"Social Studies is a geography problem: The Mississippi River is about 4000 km long. An M&M is about 1 cm long. .... #2 Estimate how many M&Ms you would eat if you had to measure the Mississippi River with M&Ms."

Dragon and Fairy enjoyed this quick picture book. For another Math related book suggestion, that is a little bit longer, we liked reading "The Cat in Numberland" this past spring.

Second week report and a little bit about...me!

The children are all doing well at the public school. We are following the routine of school somewhat, with most mornings going smoothly. No buses have been missed yet!

Tests, field trip, oral presentations, even a little bit of a fight...that's been the last 2 weeks. Dragon was at the receiving end of another boy's fist. I never received a call from the school explaining what happened (Dragon told me that they don't call unless it's serious). I would normally be more upset, but last night Dragon lost his temper and hit someone in our neighborhood. We were not impressed. His issues with his temper are nothing new to us, but we have always been clear about not hitting anyone. Anyway, we're dealing with it and I am against complaining, so let's move on...

Princess enjoys going to school, and wishes she could go every day. At this point, she is not interested in doing much with me at home, besides baking and listening to me reading aloud to her. I think she just enjoys relaxing while she's home, since she's quite busy at school.

Fairy is also doing well at school. She had an oral presentation that went well, a math test which she received perfect score, and a field trip to a conservation area where they tried to catch butterflies and snails. Fairy joined the Girl Guides of Canada in September and was voted to be a Patrol Leader by her peers, after giving a small oral presentation to the group.

We have done some afterschooling, not regularly yet, but it's coming along. Math is being done about 3 out of 5 days a week at this point. A little bit of art too. I have been reading aloud many books on Halloween and Thanksgiving, either in the morning or at night. You can see them on the left side. I have also kept on reading aloud the City of Ember and The Maze of Bones (39 Clues). Tonight we will start The Joy of Spooking.

A few friends and family members have been asking how I am doing with this big change!

Well...It has been a huge change. To go from being with my children all day long to now not having them around for 7 hours every day is a big difference! The first few days were rough, I won't lie, but I slowly saw this as an opportunity to do a few things for myself. I am a runner, not a marathon one yet, but soon I hope...On the days that Princess is at school, or if my husband is at home, I have been running. I ran 10 km again this morning, while Princess had some time with her daddy, and that feels wonderful. I am also working on de-cluttering our home. We only moved this past spring, but with homeschooling, everything was just put out, organized quickly, and that was it. I now have a chance to go through everything, organize properly, and dispose of what is not needed. I also have a pile of unfinished projects (art, quilting, sewing, etc...) that will get tackled this winter. In the month of November, I am going to try a new challenge...*yikes*... writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. You can find all the information on the NaNoWriMo site, and there is a Young Writers version as well here. I have never written anything so this will be interesting! Wish me luck!

A walk in the woods