Wolf at 10 hours

Here is the wolf at 10 hours. It is coming right along. Although I had wanted to have a little more done on it by now, I think I will be able to meet my goal of having this finished by the end of January.

2007 Planned Projects List

Here is my list of planned projects for 2007. I am hoping to get them all complete by Dec 31, 2007. I will post updates on my progress as I go along.

1. Teresa Wentzler's "Above the Clouds"
2. Wolf for my son
3. "Rules for Life" kit for myself
4. Merlin kit
5. Bunny picture for my younger son
6. Full set of Christmyth ornaments from Dragon Dreams
7. Apple switchplate cover (kit)
8. 3 sets of napkins
9. 2006 L&L cherub
10. Wolf Scene for my son
11. Praying boy for my youngest son
12 . Birth Sampler - ds #2
13. Birth Sampler - ds #3
14. set of 4 ornaments for a gift
15. a few small ornament kits
16. July fishing boy for dh's b'day
17. "Dragon Love" freebie from Dragon Dreams
18. Footprints
19. L&L Firefly Fairies
20. "My Treasure" freebie from Dragon Dreams


Well, that is the start of it. I want to finish at least 25 projects this year. Some of these listed are actually older WIP, so really do need to get stitched. Poor things probably think they have been forgotten.

Wolf at 5 hours

Here is five hours worth of work (not including frogging-time.)

Wolf in Progress

The pattern for this project is a kit, as mentioned in my earlier post. Here is what the finished piece will look like. So far, I have worked on this for only about 5 hours. I was working on it late one night and ended up switching two colors. Needless to say, I had a bit of frogging to do..LOL The corrections made, the stitching is coming along. My son keeps track of my stitching, as he knows this is for him. He is actually the one who picked it out. I am not one for collecting wolves. I prefer bunnies and dragons. Once Peter saw this, he wanted it, and I bought it.

Cross Stitch Journal

I have started stitching again. Like an old friend, all my stash was there waiting for me, beckoning me to once again pick up my needle.

In December, I finished a few pieces, you can view them on my personal webpage, located at http://www.geocities.com/peterbenma/stitches.html

Right now I am working on a few pieces. I am hoping to finish a small piece for an exchange today. I am also working on a pattern designed by Teresa Wentzler, called "Above the Clouds."

I will post pictures of my WIP once I have a little more done.

Along with the TW design, I am working on a wolf for my son. This is a kit and is starting to take shape. I will be glad when it is finished so that I can move on to another unfinished project.

My stitching goal for 2007 is to finish as many older pieces that are already started as possible. I still plan to do some new pieces, but not until at least 5 of the older ones are finished.

A bit about me/us

I live in a rural area in Virginia with my husband and two sons. My sons are homeschooled. Although I do most of the teaching, my husband does pitch in here and there.
We are learning together more each day. Together, we not only learn about each other, but we also learn about our Faith together.
There are lots of shared hobbies among the members of our family. We read, craft, raise animals, and enjoy electronic entertainment together.
Family movie time is also a favorite on weekends.
I love my time crafting, usually working on a cross-stitch or something crocheted.

Our experience with the K12 Curriculum

This year, we have been able to use the K12 curriculum through our local school board.

I have found many positives with this curriculum, and also negatives.

The language arts is wonderful. There are a lot of lessons, but we have found that instead of doing three or four different things each day, we do our daily spelling and then concentrate on one other area in the language arts for the day. I have found that doing this helps us to accomplish a lot more than if we have three or four different things to do. Too much book-shuffling tends to be too distracting.

The mathematics is very nicely written and easy to follow. The workbook and textbook are both really nice. The two really complement each other in a way that makes the content easy to understand.

The history is very well written and has practical exercises that really allow the children to absorb the history as more than just a group of facts. Insight into how people lived in the era being studied is given in a way that children can understand.

I love the art course, as well. Using prints and books, as well as art exercises and projects, history and appreciation is taught. The books and prints are beautiful. My children have been learning so much. I have learned a lot about art appreciation and history this year, along with my children.

The science course is a bit of a disappointment. Each lesson requires an experiment which is time consuming, and at times, costly. I have found that many of these are a waste of time that could be spent learning other things.

The music is horrible. My children absolutely hate it. If they were in preschool, I might appreciate it, but I find that it is very lacking. It is definitely not what I expected at all.

Notice that there is no religion. This is not a religious curriculum. It is a very full curriculum which actually gets in the way of the religious education that my children need and deserve. Needless to say, after this year, we will not be using this curriculum again.

December 13, 2006

We are still plugging away with this curriculum. My boys are getting it done as quickly as they can, as they master the skills. So far, they have completed the vocabulary for the year and semester 1 spelling. Semester 1 Grammar is almost complete, as well. In math, they are both coming along, getting closer to finishing the semester 1 books.

We still have a ways to go to catch up in history and science, but I have faith that it will get to where it needs to be by the time the SoLs are taken in May of 2007.