this week's winning sentences

Our numbers have dwindled, as for the second week in a row we've just got Jean and Rich duking it out. We certainly do miss Raidergirl3 and Awesome and Carl and Medbie...you all write such fabulous sentences. Hope you'll think about coming back, at least from time to time.

But for now, I suppose we shouldn't keep Jean and Rich in suspense any longer. Let's see how they've added to their point totals:

Joe's excellence at MASONRY was more than offset by this tendency to GOLDBRICK. (Jean)

The demi-god's ICHOR turned VISCID and PUSTULANT just before it TRANSMUTED into gold. (Jean)

You really can mummify a Cornish game hen without its becoming PUTRESCENT if you just follow my directions. (Jean)

She yelled at me and ran to her room to cry when I told her that her new boyfriend appeared to be feral and jaundiced. (Rich)

The woman tried in vain to transmute her putrescent goldbrick of a husband into a man she could view with approbation, but eventually she gave up, moved out, got a dog, and lived happily ever after. (Rich)

This week's bonus word: feral (Rich)

Using that Vocabulary, Game 3, Round 5

I apologize for being late again once again. And because they are late, we'll extend the time to get your sentences in. The judging won't take place until Friday morning this week.

Well, we're half-way through Game 3. And I do believe that despite Jean's lead, anyone could still win. So PLEASE keep playing!

(Oh, and here are the updated rules, in case you haven't seen them.)

*cachet

*mellifluous

*jaundiced

*rancor

*dilatory

*paramour

*feral

*abrogate

*approbation

*culmination

*putrescent

*ichor

*transmute

*viscid

*pustulant

*conduit

*profane

*masonry

*goldbrick

*doleful

Good luck, everyone!

homeschool highlights

It's been a while since the last update. Mostly because we've had a lot of interruptions to the schedule. We've spread two weeks worth of work out over three weeks. Of course, one of the advantages of "officially" schooling year-round this time is that we've got the leeway to do that without having to make up a lot of work on weekends.

So what has Annie been up to since the last update?

*Her English class is still going well, and she's still enjoying it a great deal.

*She's learning a lot of great new vocabulary. We love our "klatches" and the vocabulary game. A huge thank you to everyone who plays! And she's donated several thousand grains of rice.

*We've read and discussed a plethora of dark and eerie stories, including among many others, "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs and "Jerusalem's Lot" by Stephen King.

*Real world math has had Annie working with living expenses and budgeting, and algebra has seen her working mostly with inequalities.

*We're still traveling through time in the history of western science, and have met people such as Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, William Gilbert, Galileo, Rene Descartes, Pierre Gassendi, Christiaan Huygens, Robert Boyle, Francis Bacon, Marcello Malpighi, Giovanni Borelli, and Edward Tyson.

*The Civil War is still our focus in U.S. History...Annie can't seem to get enough! Grant and Lee have finally met, battled intensely, and are now outside Petersburg. And we learned about battlefield medicine. Yikes.

*She's completed the first two packets for the quarter in DBQ, and written essays on political parties in the blossoming nation of the U.S. and on the differences between the North and South leading up to the Civil War.

*We're continuing to explore Africa, looking at the physical and human geography of the continent. We're about to start looking at some of the history and some of the current day issues. And by the way, thank you Jean, for sending us the e-mail about your dad's experiences. We actually haven't read it yet, but are looking forward to getting to it when we start exploring current day Africa.

*Still focusing on elections in U.S. Government. Along with learning about the candidates, their positions on the issues, and the elections process in general, Annie participated in a on-line mock election for school age kids.

*Music consists mostly of fluting. But Annie did also watch a video, Music and Culture, which featured the musical traditions of some Polynesian, African, and Native American cultures.


*She's still taking an art class on Thursday evenings. Since last post, she's completed a watercolor painting and a painting using acrylics. We're also looking briefly into the lives of selected artists, so far looking at Da Vinci and Michelangelo.



*We're still learning about HIV/AIDS in health education, doing some demonstrations of how most viruses are spread as compared to how HIV is spread, and learning about risky behaviors. We've also read and discussed articles on the importance of sleep, autism, and vandalism.

*At Camp Arrowhead, Annie took classes on fire-building, outdoor cooking, and outdoor survival skills.

*As far as phys ed goes, Annie is also still enjoying swimming lessons on Wednesday evenings. She also continues to jog with Rich on a semi-regular basis, and has been hiking twice. And of course, bike riding never gets old.

this week's winning sentences

Down to two players this week...I do hope that's simply because everyone has been busy and not because you're dropping out for good! Anyway, we missed you!

So, here are this week's chosen gems:

The plump FACTOTUM ABSCONDED as fast as his chubby legs would carry him, before his master's MERCENARIES realized his PERFIDY. (Jean)

Besides DESPOILING you toys or even DESECRATING your diary, little brothers can be quite PESTIFEROUS when they aren't being just BANAL. (Jean)

As the moon rose over the prairie, the warriors DISSIPATED to the CADENCE of the drums. (Jean)

As he walked toward the edifice at Hogwarts School, Harry was weary from being harried by the perfidy of Voldemort and the Deatheaters. (Rich)

Americans now demur the desecration and despoiling of our nation by the nefarious man known to the world by a single letter...W. (Rich)

And this week's bonus word: banal (Jean, Rich)

Congrats to both of you! And do come back everyone!

Using that Vocabulary, Game 3, Round 4

So, what did you all think of the new rules? Annie and I thought it worked out pretty well, so we're going to stick with them for now.

This week's words:

*banal

*mercenary

*abscond

*spurious

*cadence

*perfidy

*despoil

*harry

*edifice

*pestiferous

*vestibule

*desecrate

*redoubtable

*equanimity

*demur

*dissipate

*edema

*factotum

*interregnum

Good luck...and have fun!

this week's winning sentences

Not sure how you all felt, but we think the new rules worked out well. Think we'll stick with them for the time being and see how things go.

The winners:

The wolf cub studied his sire's visage, seeking a clue to his mood. (Jean)

Rich tried to establish close rapport with his students; unfortunately, his garish dress, peremptory manners, and cumbersome lectures repelled them. (Jean)

The disrepute that the dog felt after it was discovered that he could not chase cats or pee on fire hydrants was a personal travesty. (Rich)

I wrote my powerful new theory on why fish swim on the whiteboard only to have it effaced by a careless custodian while I was out having a celebratory aqueous martini. (Rich)

The dog's loud flatulent miasma caused the woman and her cats to flee the room in search of fresh air. (Rich)

This week's bonus word: scion. (Jean, Awesome, Rich)

Thanks everyone! As always, we really enjoyed your sentences, each and every one. Hope you'll all be back next week!

Using that Vocabulary, Game 3, Round 3

O.K., as I explained in the last post, we're in need of a change in rules here. You all are just too darn clever for your own good. ;) So let's try these out for a bit, and see how it goes...

1. You may use up to, but may not exceed, 10 vocabulary words.

2. No more than 4 vocabulary words may be used in any single sentence.

3. You may use less than 10 words. If you just want to write one sentence, using just one word, that's perfectly fine!

4. Annie will choose her five favorite sentences. Each vocabulary word in these sentences earns a point.

5. A "secret" bonus word will yield everyone would happens to use that word an extra point.

6. Sentences must be posted in the comments by late Thursday afternoon (EST), as judging will take place Thursday evening.

Words at your disposal for this week:

*disrepute

*travesty

*cumbersome

*efface

*rapport

*acclamation

*peremptory

*garish

*cerements

*adamantine

*interstice

*pabulum

*scion

*coeval

*importunate

*matelot

*pullulate

*miasma

*gamut

*denigrate

*visage

*pique

*rend

Good luck, everyone!