Day: December 4, 2008

Tomorrow is the day of the big cookie exchange! Yesterday night, mom and I made these maple-pecan cookies.  So far on our list of cookies we have coconut macaroons, date balls, butterscotch cookies and two different kinds of chocolate chip cookies.  Today we went to Target to get a bunch of cellophane treat bags and normal gift bags to package the cookies in. We also got sprinkles and pre-made, pre-cut sugar cookie dough for decorating cookies during the party.  Sadly, it did not really occur to me until now that pre-cut cookie dough would not be good for cutting again with Christmas-themed cookie cutters.  Fortunately we have a bag of sugar cookie flour in the back of the pantry somewhere, so I think I’ll just pull that out and make a batch.  For drinks we are having sparkling cider, coffee, and a unique kind of cranberry tea. When we lived in Oregon, there were always these two cute little craft shows in our area every year.  One was located at the local grange and they sold things like embroidered pillows, candles, art, homemade jam, cute things to put on your wall or on your desk. It was really cozy and old-fashioned.  The other one (The Vintage Roost) was in a small shack on someone’s property.  It was very pretty inside, and it was different than the first craft show.  They sold things that were more unique.  Anyway, the lady that owned the place had a big pot of homemade cranberry tea for all the customers.  It was SO good.  She gave mom the recipe, but we hadn’t tried it until now. 

OK, so I’m obviously looking forward to that.  In other news I passed my CLEP Spanish exam yesterday!!! Dad already has the details on that below, but it’s a big thing for me, so I don’t think it’ll hurt to mention it twice in one blog. 🙂  Now I’m studying my head off with the CLEP US History 2 book.  It has an obvious leaning towards one side, and that’s not really helping the going get any easier. And taking notes is not my forte anyway. But I’m almost done and soon there’ll be another few college credits to put in my pocket!!  So I’m happy!

Well I’d better go and draw another Betty Blonde. I’m behind schedule!!! :O

Adios!

The really big news from yesterday is that Kelly passed her Spanish CLEP test with flying colors.  I think Rosetta Stone Spanish and the CLEP study book we purchased were a good combination.  Lorena, Kelly, and Christian drove down to Johnston Community College in Smithfield, NC to take the test.  I talked to a lady named Ciara on the telephone to set up the test.  She is the test administrator.  Lorena talked to her in person for quite awhile while Kelly took the test.  It turns out she is just as nice in person as she is on the telephone.  We plan to take all our tests there from now on.  The next time they travel to Smithfield in early February, Kelly plans to take the History of the United States II:  1865 to the Present exam.  In the meantime, study books for the CLEP Biology, Psychology, and Sociology are on the way.  We will wait until toward the end of the year to start working on the biology because we want her to finish the excellent Exploring Creation with Biology by Jay Wile before she prepares for the CLEP test.  Hopefully they will get her in time for to start studying either Psychology or Sociology next week.

Christian is almost ready to take the Freshman College Composition CLEP test.  He could probably pass the test now, but we want him to be over prepared for the first one.  He plans to take the test at the same time Kelly takes U.S. History II in February.  Meanwhile he studies Western Civilization I:  Ancient Near East to 1648 along with the Freshman College Composition.  After those two, he will move on to Spanish and Western Civilization II:  1648 to Present if there is enough time with all the other studies.

Everything else is moving along fine.  As usual, we got hammered pretty hard with testing, Thanksgiving and the visit from Grandpa Milo and Grandma Sarah, but Christian should be completely caught up and on schedule with math and everything else by tomorrow.  Kelly has her first annual cookie exchange tomorrow night, so I expect her to be a little behind until Tuesday of next week.  Our next really big school event is the ACT test both Kelly and Christian will take on February 7–Christian as part of the Duke Talent Identification Program and both of the kids to be in compliance with North Carolina homeschool laws.