Weekly Wrap up -- February 12

It always amazes me how much life we manage to fit in around homeschooling, and vice-versa.


This week between my husband and myself we spent over 8 hours in outpatient waiting rooms. I got a lot of reading done, and when I needed to be gone I was able to assign enough work to keep my kids on track as well.


The good news is all that waiting also brought lots of good news. First, I spent a few hours Wednesday morning getting the three hour glucose test to see if I had gestational diabetes. The great news -- all my numbers came back normal. Praise God! Second, my husband managed to get in for surgery at the last minute on Friday. He has had a ganglion cyst and was finally able to get it removed very successfully and is recovering well even in the first 24 hours post-op. Lots of therapy ahead, but still good news that the surgeon was happy with the results, and now we just have some recovery time ahead of us.


Fortunately, I had written up a number of posts last weekend otherwise my blog would have probably been empty all week this week. Although we did also fit in a game of cards that I had to share about.


But, we still did get all our school done, including more phonics fun, and even squeezed in an hour of ice skating before the season ends next week.


Read alouds . . .

• We started listening to Cheaper by the Dozen (closely based on a true story) during our car rides this week and have really enjoyed it. Quite an entertaining book, although I was surprised at the profanity in at least one section. It was viewed as wrong by the author, but was still in the text none the less. We enjoy the father's sense of humor and the many humorous adventures and misadventures in this family of 14.
• Continuing in To the Edge of the World we have made it to the Philippines, and know Magellan's death must be just around the corner as we see tribal warfare heating up and we already know that is how he lost his life. Overall we have enjoyed the deeper look into Magellan's journey. If you do decide to read this book, I would warn you that the main character has a relationship with a mostly naked female native in South America. I edited out all references to that as I read. They aren't explicit, but I felt they were unnecessary and skipped over them.
• Pilgrim's Progress continues to lead our Bible time. It brings many conversations about the Christian life and taking Biblical living into every day reality.

Wanted to share some posts and sites I have enjoyed recently . . .

• I like the idea for using triangles to make your own flashcards, and another mom with "house-trained" kids shares how to make these into heart shaped cards perfect for Valentine's Day!
• The Christian Arsenal has numerous articles to help in defending and strengthening your faith. My pastor recommended this a while back and I have found the information interesting and helpful.
• This summer I plan to use the core knowledge books, and possibly some of the information off their website, Core Knowledge, to make sure we aren't "missing" anything, and to brush up on possible weak areas. It is nice to have a standard to measure up to that is not produced by the local public school.
• And, the book that I spent much time reading this week - The Educated Child by William Bennett. Not written to homeschoolers, but containing a lot of helpful information anyway, this book kept my mind busy in the waiting room this week. I don't agree with everything he has to say, but he makes a lot of good points and helped re-inspire me to educate my children to the best of their ability. Just the pick me up I needed mid-year. Not light reading (and over 600 pages long), but definitely information packed.

So, how was your week? Balancing life and school is always interesting, and often life in itself is a lesson, and often the most important one.


Check out other Weekly Wrap Ups.