Homeschool Mothers Journal - Week 6

 

In my life this week....

Trying to keep up reading.  My goal is 10 books this summer, which is also the amount for the Library Reading Club.  Actually thinking about attempting to can some salsa this year.  I may even can tomatoes.  We eat a lot of tomatoes.  So I thought, why not get some from a local farmer and put them away for the winter.  Now canning is something that I have not ever attempted, so checked some books out and trying to figure this out. 

I have been making a conscious effort to exercise in some form everyday.  Our medical insurance offers a health maintenance online forum to track health progress and exercise.  And so I log some form of exercise, no matter how little I think it is daily.  They give me points for tracking and then I can earn prizes.  Great program and I really look at my activity on a daily basis because of it.  So far took 5 minutes off my 1.5 mile jogging time.

Quality family time has become something I really want to concentrate on.  Trying to play a game board and read a bible story each night with the kids after dinner.  Tonight we read a story and then watched some Veggie Tales.  It was a nice evening of questions from the kids.  Joey has even caught us off-guard with questions we did not even think he would ask.  We see each other all the time, but just because we are in the same house doesn't mean people are talking or not getting on each others nerves.  So by letting the kids pick a game or short Veggie Tale cartoon, it makes them feel great.  And the time usually goes very smoothly with just a bit of bickering.  Although I was checking out the updated list in Netflix, and WOW some great new family friendly educational videos have been added!!  May add some of those in the next couple weeks also.

Still stressing about Brayden and his unwillingness to leave our property.  He comes out for a brief 10 minutes on some days, and that is not every day.  Not sure what to do and how to approach this.  The anxiety meds are not working in this area, and we are limited in what he is able to take because of his age.

 

In our homeschool this week...

We did a unit on Blueberries and read Blueberries for Sal.  I found the Blueberries for Sal unit at Hands of a Child.  I pick and chose what activities we would do this week.  We mainly discussed the different ways that fruit grows and what we can use blueberries for.  Today we discussed hibernation and a little bit about bears and where they live.  We also practiced our Three Little Pigs play alot!  I finally decided to allow Brayden to use his script, he has not been able to memorize all his lines yet.  Joey is doing well with that and Lydia too.  We have dress rehearsals tomorrow again and then hopefully present our play to Grandpa and Grandma on Saturday.  We continue talking about Jesus life and learned more about leaning on God when we are scared and need help.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

We had friends over Tuesday afternoon.  First we went and picked blueberries and then came back to the house for lunch and swimming.  It was an exhausting afternoon.  We did make a sucessful batch of Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream.....it was YUMMY!!!  We also got our first CSA Garden share this week.  Lydia is not a fan of buttercrisp lettuce or raddichio, but at least she tried it.  Tomorrow going to make brocolli soup with our spring brocolli bunches.  We also got some kale, kolarobi, patty pan squash and magdalene zucchini. 

I'm reading....

Game of Thrones is a great book, but I need a mental break from it.  The Real-Life Homeschooling book has been a great mental break from it.

I'm cooking....

I made a honey mustard potato salad (without mayo).  It was pretty tasty, but I am a bit of a salt-aholc...and I didn't add any that day.  Seriously needed it!  But was still tasty, even without the cucumber that I forgot.  Also made a spicy shrimp concoction with shrimp, lime juice, diced tomatoes, a few dashes of green chile sauce, and cilantro which I served over buttercrisp lettuce and raddichio.  It was very tasty today.  Made some homemade spaghetti sauce yesterday morning which we ate leftovers today of, and it was still good!  Not sure yet what I am going to do with that patty pan squash tomorrow, but my mind is working on it.

Favorite quote....

Saw this in the Real-Life Homeschooling (Chap 8) and really loved it.....

"You have to find what works for your family, because you can't live off the strength of other people's convictions."

Picture of the week....

Our veggie trug wasn't running over, but we had a giant kolorabi that made a softball look like a speck of dust.  Some very pretty oregano that I now have frozen and ready to use.  A pretty patty pan squash, broccolli and kale....MMMMMMMmmmm!