The American Government - Homework Assaignment

There are three branches of the US Government. You have the Executive Branch, Legislative Branch, and Judaical Branch. We have these three branches so that our government doesn't get too strong and powerful. The branches of the government use a check and balance system to make sure that each branch is doing everything right. Below I'm going to explain the different branches, who's in charge, and their power within the check and balance system.

The Executive Branch

The Executive Branch is the branch which holds the President, Vice President, and the President's Cabinate. The Executive Branch is in charge of enforcing the laws of America.

The president currently is Barak Obama, he was elected November 2008 and took office January 20th, 2009.

The Vice President is Joe Biden.

The cabinate of the President is the vice president and fifteen executive department heads.

These fifteen departments and heads are:

-Department of Defense, Secretary Robert M. Gates

-Department of Justice, Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr.

-Department of State, Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton

-Department of the Treasury, Secretary Timothy F. Geithner

-Department of the Interior, Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar

-Department of Agriculture, Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack

-Department of Commerce, Secretary Gary F. Locke

-Department of Labor, Secretary Hilda L. Solis

-Department of Health and Human Services, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

-Department of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary Shaun L.S. Donovan

-Department of Transportation, Secretary Ray LaHood

-Department of Energy, Secretary Steven Chu

-Department of Education, Secretary Arne Duncan

-Department of Veterans Affairs, Secretary Eric K. Shinseki

-Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Janet A. Napolitano

Checks and Balance of the Executive Branch

-Can veto laws

-Can call special sessions of Congress

-Can send messages to Congress

-Leader of his party

-Can nominate judges

-Can grant reprieves or pardons for Federal offenses

The Legislative Branch

The Legislative Branch is the branch that holds our House of Representatives and House of Senate. These two houses also make up Congress. The House of Representatives is controlled by the Speaker of the House, Majority Leader, and Minority Leader, while the Senate is controlled by the President of the Senate, Majority Leader, and Minority Leader.

The House of Representative

Speaker of the House is currently Nancy Pelosi, but since the House of Representatives is now controlled by the Republicans speculation thinks that John Boehner, currently the House Minority Leader, will become the Speaker of the House.

Majority Leader of the House is currently Steny Hoyer, but since the House is now controlled by the Republicans the new House Majority Leader is going to be Kirk Cox.

Minority Leader of the House is currently John Boehner, but the new House Minority Leader is speculated to be Nancy Pelosi.

The House of the Senate

President of the House is Vice President Joe Bieden

Majority Leader of the Senate was and will be Harry Reid.

Minority Leader of the House was and will be Mitch McConnell

Checks and Balance of the Legislative Branch

-Can override veto by two-thirds vote

-Can impeach officials

-Controls appropriations

-Can reorganize executive department

-Senate approves treaties

-Senate confirms appointments

-Can impeach judges

-Senate approves appointments

-Can increase or decrease number of judges

-Can regulate the jurisdiction of courts

The Judicial Branch

The Judical Branch is the branch that houses the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the highest court in America, it is run by one cheif justice and eight associate justices. Justices are appointed by the president of the United States of America and then are voted in by the Senate. Justice Elena Kagan is the 112th justice.

Checks and Balances of the Judicial Branch

-Can interpret laws

-Can interpret treaties

-Can decide on constitutionality of laws

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, 2005 - present, appointed by George W. Bush

Justice Antonin Scalia, 1968 - present, appointed by Ronald Regan

Justice Anthony Kennedy, 1988 - present, appointed by Ronald Regan

Justice Clarence Thompson, 1991 - present, appointed by George H. W. Bush

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 1993 - present, appointed by Bill Clinton

Justice Stephen Breyer, 1994 - present, appointed by Bill Clinton

Justice Samuel Alito, 2006 - present, appointed by George W. Bush

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, 2009 - present, appointed by Barack Obama

Justice Elena Kagan, 2010 - present, appointed by Barack Obama

Oh My Goodness! & What Latin Can Do To Your Day

Oh My Goodness!!

So I'm watching NCIS, from last week, and I knew that throughout this past season NCIS has been looking into Gibbs past, and this episode is the one that adds to it!! I'm not going to ruin it if you enjoy NCIS, but Oh My Goodness!!

What Latin Can Do To Your Day

So I kind of stopped Latin and since reading The Gospel According to Starbucks and attempting to take some PSAT tests, I have learned that Latin will help me tremendously to learn what the words mean in the English section, I might actually have a chance of passing the SATs & PSATs. BUT I did my Latin yesterday before work, and just about the whole day was off. Mom and I were snippy at each other, before work I spilled my coffee on my pants (only some of it-luckily), I then (let's hope my boss isn't reading) for got to change the open sign to open, luckily Father Dan came and he changed it for me. I then did drop multiple books and DVDs (only the cases of DVDs). Then when I had singing rehearsal I totally messed up, and couldn't hit any of the high notes. So Latin totally messed up my whole day yesterday, but yet I'm doing Latin today!

Lots of Love

Cae ♥

My Titanic Fetish

So I have this huge fetish of the Titanic, ever since I first heard about it, I loved it. So everything about the Titanic I want to check out, a DVD, the movie with Kate Winslet, a book, museum, speaker, etc. My library recently got a DVD called Titanic's Final Moments: Missing Pieces This DVD shows some amazing things, and they find some missing pieces (literally). If you enjoy the Titanic, or just want to learn a little more about the Titanic, this movie is a great way to start!

By C ♥
Check out the widget below for some more Titanic DVDs
P.S. Did you know that the Titanic has two sister ships? The Britanic and Olympic. There was one person, Violet Jessop who has survived all three sister ship sinkings. Check her book out Titanic Survivor.

Oh No CHEMISTRY!!!

So I did my story time the other day, and Mrs. Tower gave me some craft books to looked through, so I looked through the pile of 4 books, and the 2nd one in was chemistry, I looked at Mrs. Tower and simply asked. "Why are you giving me THIS?!" She started laughing. . ."Sorry, Cae that's for my science class at school.", I just looked at her while my mom and her are laughing hysterically. "Okay, good" I responded. The whole thought of having Mrs. Tower and my mom trying to get me to do chemistry, isn't a pretty thought. Mom thought it was very funny, me on the other side I didn't think it was funny, since I really don't like Science. . .Like with a passion!!!

Lot of Love
~Cae ♥

"My" Blank

Since I moved I’ve learned that I called everything in my old town, “my”, for example
My Library DPL
My Church UCD
My minister Elven
My Choir Director Jill
My Hometown
With moving, and being in limbo, I’ve been able to drop the My blank, I now say “My old minister Elven” etc, but I’ve only been able to replace one “my” in the new town, and that’s been the library, I now call WWPL “MY” Library. I was recently informed by the director of the library, that I talk less and less about DPL (my old library). In between my real life and the life I’ve been portraying in my story, I have written myself a four year contract as a volunteer to the library (even thou they don’t know it). Since I was entering H.S. I was debating if I should go back to school, and it ended up being between the Publc School, a Private school, and being homeschooled. One day in Kentucky on our way back home I called my mom, she said that she stopped at the library and talked to the director, and the director told my mom that she didn’t want to give me too much work, for fear that the library will lose me, and I would decided to go to school. Needless to say, that made my decision. I figured that if the library loves me that much, I don’t think that I could watch myself “give up” on my library. The moral of the story, for whoever is reading this is well, go to the library in your town, and make you “your” library, not the town’s library.
By: C

A Week In a Homeschooler's Life-Day Seven

Day Seven
6:15 Woke up, got ready for a run
7:00 Running
8:00 Making Coffee
9:00 Shower
10:00 Brushing my Hair
11:00 Making Lunch (Fried Rice)
12:00 Volunteering at the Library
1:00 Volunteering at the Library
2:00 Volunteering at the Library
3:00 Volunteering at the Library
4:00 Playing the Computer
5:00 Playing the Computer
6:00 Eating Dinner
7:00 Choir Rehearsal
8:00 Choir Rehearsal
9:00 Talking To Dad
9:10 Bed Time!!!

I hope that gives you a little inside on what a teenager's life as a homeschooler is :-p

A Week In a Homeschooler's Life-Day Six

Day Six
7:00 Wake up, got ready for a run, going for a run
8:00 Got back from a run & Showering
9:00 Writing a new Blog =]
10:00 Babysitting Chloe-Cooking Cookies
11:00 Babysitting Chloe- Playing Outside
12:00 Babysitting Chloe- Eating Lunch
1:00 Babysitting Chloe
2:00 Babysitting Chloe
3:00 Homework
4:00 Homework
5:00 Playing the Laptop & Eating Dinner
6:00 Cleaning the Table
7:00 Reading Pour Your Heart Into It
8:00 Watching Bones
9:00 Reading Beowulf
9:40 Bedtime!

A Week in a Homeschooler's Life-Day Five

Day Five
6:30 Wake up, get ready, start homework
7:00 Reading Pour Your Heart Into It
8:00 Homework-Drawing
9:00 Homework-History WWII
10:00 Homework-Math
11:00 Reading Pour Your Heart Into It
12:00 Playing with Bro-Legos!!
1:00 Playing with Bro-Legos!!
2:00 Eating Lunch
3:00 Writing my Story
4:00 Writing my story (I’m writing a Novel)
5:00 Working on my Girl Scout Gold Award
6:00 Watching a WWII Movie
7:00 Playing the Computer
8:00 Eating Dinner
8:40 Bed Time!

A Week in a Homeschooler's Life-Day Four

Day Four
6:30 Wake up, Get ready, Take shower (a nice hot one when it’s this early in the morning)
7:00 Waiting for the rest of the family to wake up/Watching T.V.
8:00 Watching T.V. Mom’s up
9:00 Mom doing my hair
10:00 Leaving for church
11:00 Church!
12:00 Coffee hour at Church
1:00 Went Over to Megan’s house :)
2:00 Megan’s House
3:00 Megan’s House
4:00 Megan’s House
5:00 Megan’s House
6:00 Dinner
7:00 On Laptop. . . . Edited the blog . . .Do you like it?
8:00 Watching T.V.
9:00 Reading/Going to bed


Sorry about to no pictures :( I'll promise tomorrow they'll be some for today :-p

A Week in a Homeschooler's Life-Day Three

Day Three
7:00 Wake up, get ready
8:00 Started Breakfast with dad
9:00 looking for a hike
10:00 Packing for the hike
11:00 Car Ride to the Hike
12:00 Hiking/Got back from the hike
1:00 In the car trying to find another state park/lunch
2:00 stopped at Brookfield Orchards
3:00 Got home
4:00 Watching a Movie OnDemand (InkHeart)
5:00 Playing on the laptop/posting a blog
6:00 making Hot Apple Cider
7:00 Washing Dishes
8:00 Playing the Computer
9:20 Bed Time!!

A Week In a Homeschooler's Life-Day Two

Day Two
7:00 Wake up! Get ready, eat breakfast
8:00 Homework aka Language Arts Self Test (we use Alpha Omega for our homeschooling curriculum)
9:00 History homework (WWII)
10:00 1.5 Mile Run with mom!!! We dropped 10 minutes!!!

me:

Bro:
11:00 Posting a Post on the Blog
12:00 Looking for a Claw foot for my Table
1:00 Help mom with Lunch
2:00 Reading!!
3:00 Sanded My Corner Table. . .Ughhhhh
4:00 Playing on the Computer :-p
5:00 Chilling Watching T.V.
6:00 Helping mom with dinner, which we had to postpone, because dad was running later
7:00 Setting the Table for dinner. . . Real exciting I know :-p
8:00 Chilling in my parent’s bed room watching some T.V.
9:40 Bed Time!!!!!!

Sorry today isn’t one of the more exciting days :-p

Please bare in mind that this is posted the day after it happens. . . :)

A Week In a Homeschooler's Life-Day One

Day One
7:30am Wake Up, Get ready, Shower, Breakfast


8:00 Discussing Supply &Demand-Economics
9:00 Science

me:

bro:
10:00 Hanging Clothes on the Clothes Line Downstairs (We don’t have a Dryer yet in the new house)
11:00 straightening my Room up for the Foster Care Meeting/Inspection
12:00pm Putting Lunch in the Oven
1:00 Posting & Updating the Blog :-p
2:00 Listening to Music & Reading Modern Bride
3:00 Foster Care Inspection starts
4:00 Packing the Truck Up
5:00 Making a Merit Badge Counselor List for Dad
6:00 Stop at Dunkin’ Donuts in Cromwell
7:00 Talking to Friends in Durham
8:00 Talking about my Girl Scout Gold Award
9:00 Dinner at McDonald’s
10:00 Sleeping in the Truck
10:40 Sleeping at Home!

I fixed it!

A Week in a Homeschooler's Life

I had an idea today! That I will photograph my weekly life, what I do as a homeschooler, I’ll take pictures throughout the next week starting tomorrow and ending on the September 17th. After each day I will write and post pictures of what happened throughout the day. I hope this explains what I do as a homeschooler. I hope you enjoy reading the blog, and what my life consists of :)

By: <3 c

To homeschool or Not to Homeschool

Friday. . . Tuesday . . . Two days, two different places, one question, only one answer. Well as most of you know I’m a teenager. I’m a homeschooler teenager; I’ve been homeschooler for the past six years. I’ve been wanting to go to school for high school for the longest time. We also recently moved to a new town, in a new state. Once we “settled” in, I decided to tour the public school, and a little catholic school down the street. Tuesday-Day One of School at St. TA, St. T.A. starts with a Latin Mass, which I don’t mind, but since I’m not catholic it was a little confusing, but once school started I loved it. The whole High School fits in one class and that’s nice. I sat through two classes, and once we left I knew that the Public School has a pretty high bar to raise. Thursday I went to the public high school, the day flew by, it didn’t feel like it was long enough to be a full school day, but then again I haven’t be school for the past six years, so maybe it was just the feeling of being back in the school, going down the halls. We finished off with Spanish; I knew that if I was going to go into High School, I would love the Spanish Two teacher. He was sooooo cool. He was like a mix of Mrs. T and E. Loud, but was like a walking encyclopedia. Well now it’s decision time. I’ll be making lists of pro and cons to see what I should do. Should I stay homeschooled? Go to St. T.A.? Or Should I go to the public school? Give me your pro’s and con’s , or your advice. It’s greatly appreciated =]
♥,
C

Word Puzzle Challenge - Help me with my homework

Ok, if DD and I have to be challenged so do you. She is working on her Language Arts homework . She has to create a puzzle where each word builds on the next. The letters have to stay in the same order, but you can one letter at a time anywhere in the word. You start with a two letter word and pyramid up to an eight letter word.

_ _
_ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

WARNING: This is much harder than it first appears.

Not Back to School Picnic without a Bathing Suit

Today, the kids and I spent the day at the beach with fellow homeschoolers. A Not Back To School Picnic, for those of you that don’t homeschool, is a celebration of our freedom to homeschool. We get together to enjoy the sunshine while other children are stuck inside stuffy schools (We always wonder what the other beach goers think when we are there).





Of Course, our house would not be the home with a teenager in it without a little bit strife on our way to the beach. Apparently, she never took her swimsuit out of her father’s truck when we went to Salisbury Beach – ONE WEEK AGO! Grrrrrr! Even in this she has to fight with me, “It’s Fine. I’m not going to swim anyway!” I was going to call the whole thing off, but relented and just had her bring an extra pair of clothes. Good thing too, because she spent most of the day is the water. Proof she is my dear daughter. If mermaids were real, we’d both be one.