Weekly Wrap up -- Week one

One afternoon the kids enjoyed making creations from our garden harvest.
This tomato basil bite was a big hit with my little tomato lovers!

Getting back into the school routine always brings some relief, and some grief.


We definitely enjoyed getting back into the swing of things, rediscovering our groove. Next week we will add back a couple more subjects that we skipped or stayed light on this week, and within a couple weeks we will have ballet and gym and swim back in the mix as well. And, before we know it we will be taking a break for Christmas!


Our first week of "real" school went well. This year I have combined the kids into two core classes for history and science. This is so much easier than trying to do the three or four that I attempted last year. We have more time to really dig into the topics and discuss the readings rather than just rushing on to the next thing.

We stayed home all week! I love that. We had a couple sweet guests one afternoon (my neighbor's children), and my girls LOVED having a baby to hold all afternoon, when he wasn't sleeping.


Our chicks should be hatching over the weekend or the early part of next week, so stay tuned for pictures of those. Today we spent the morning doing all the activities that I had intended to spread over the last three weeks, and somehow we didn't get a single one of them done until today. Good thing I planned open Fridays this year . . .


I went to find my camera to see what pictures I had to include this week, and found the memory card full. I deleted most of the extra 200 pictures, but wanted to share a couple of these "favorites" from my five year old photographer/camera thief:






Reading we are enjoying . . .

- Abraham Lincoln's World -- I really like these books. Last year we read George Washington's World, and this pretty much picks up where that left off. It is amazing to watch the progression of history and put it into the context of the life span of one major historical person.

- We enjoyed the summer reading program at the library so we have extended it to home. When my girls finish five reasonably sized books we will go out for sundaes. Well worth the expense. They are reading like they usually only do in June. :-) Reading on their own -- Little House in the Big Woods and A Cricket in Times' Square. Love it!


Projects that enhance our learning . . .


- We have started a lapbook which you will hear more about soon as well. From Journey through Learning. We are currently doing the Parables of the King and even my anti-lapbooking child is enjoying it.

- Chicks, chicks, and more chicks. We swung by our farmer friends house this afternoon after our school week ended. Enjoyed the new baby goats nibbling our fingers and said hello to all her beautiful chickens. Excited to have our own soon (at least temporarily)! We picked up some feed to get our little ones started, and talked eggs and chickens and all that fun stuff.


Challenges we wrestle with . . .

- Work to be done. My husband is excessively busy with work right now and somehow managing, but it is hard having such limited time together each day. That hour or so is precious, but not enough. Just a season, and the end is in sight. He is amazing the way he manages it all and stays so level headed!

- Motivation. Isn't that always the case? Sitting here on the computer is so easy. But, I really have much, much, much to get back to. So despite my minimal motivation, I better move on.

More weekly wrap ups.