The other day I saw high recommendations for a math program called Teaching Textbooks. I went on the website to check it out and it did look fun. I showed it to J and she sat for a long time with the samples and demos. She REALLY loved it and asked me to buy it for her. She took some of the placement tests and she's ready for the PreAlgebra set, but she asked to start with the one before it instead. She said she wants to be really comfortable with the basics of math before delving into the higher stuff again. I though that was a great decision. Sooo, I'll be purchasing Math 7 this week. Her plan is to knock it all out by June and start PreAlgebra in September. She likes math. What can I say.

Today is CCD, basketball, and dance. B is taking the kids to get a couple of goldfish and a waterfrog. J's been asking about them for over a week. She and W are using their own money - just for fish and food - we already have a tank, gravel, and filter in the basement. B set it up for them yesterday. Speaking of pets, I think it's time for another really cute hamster picture. The mama hamster is still W's baby and is doing great. She's finally stopped trying to find an escape route out of her tank, lol. The babies are now a year old and ours (Waffles) is still as cuddly and cute as ever. Here he is 2 days ago with a baby carrot:



WAFFLES ONE YEAR AGO


All of us around here have been in dance costume mode all week. J has 8 costumes this year and 6 are being stoned. K and J both did several pieces, I did her tap skirt, and B did some of her new solo costume. I've always done all the stoning myself over the years (I'm very Type A) but this year I've learned to relax a bit and share the work. I'm still double-checking everything behind their backs though. We are just about finished with all of them. We have 12 days until competition weekend. J's team will be dancing crazy hours til then and the big dress rehearsal is next Sunday.

There was a dance fundraiser last night at one of the local bars. It's called "LCR Night". There are lots of tables set up and we play LCR which is a game using 3 special dice and money (play money - you cant use real money in a public bar). I won 2 pots (we cash in the play money for 1/2 what we paid for it) and a raffle basket. All the fundraiser money goes to the dance company kids to help pay for their entry fees. K and W cannot wait to get to the first comp. It's taking place in the hotel where we all are staying, so that means a lot less stress and a lot more fun.