Our Week --- Week 35

In my life this week....

It's been a weird week.  Lots of snow and lots of work.  We are super excited about launching our next set of classes on Homeschool with Minecraft.  It's been the project all week.  But this has put me way behind in other areas.  I am just feeling way...way behind.  I hope I get caught up soon.

Physically my fibro hasn't been nice to me.  I am struggling with brain fog and exhaustion.  I won't lie when I say being snowed in for like 3 days was wonderful.  I changed into clean pjs everyday and was very comfortable at least in my clothes :)

In our homeschool this week.....

They all managed to get their work done.  The only projects that were delayed were 4H projects.  He has plenty of time to work on them.  It was more of the family history one that was put off.  He did do part of his food one this week.  We made orange smoothies to go with learning about dairy.  

Caty was proud to be recognizing more of her sounds.  She is working her way through 100 Easy Lessons....I am not pushing it, just slowly working on it.  Her speech causes some issues with this, but I could see how proud she was when she realized she read the word 'am'....just a small word to make her so happy.

Joey worked really well this week.  He did a great job trying to remember all the rules for regrouping in subtraction.  He is finally up to doing this to the thousands!!!  Oh and without a calculator!!

Brayden on the other hand, only wanted to play video games.  Some days took threats of taking all privileges of electricity away.  Unfortunately we are definitely getting close to having a 2nd teenager.  I am not sure but he has been having more manicky behaviors the last few months.  They come and go out of the blue.  Brayden does not get physically active the way Joey does.  He sits and rocks a cat or just rocks on his couch, he repeats weird Spongebob says, or Laughs in funny ways.  He also snacks and snacks constantly.  We have to keep a close eye on his food.

Lydia and I started a unit study on the Titanic.  We are going to special exhibit in a couple weeks at a local museum.  We are both really excited.  

Projects I am working on....

Getting lessons uploaded for Homeschool with Minecraft.  I have a couple quilts I am way behind on also.  Very frustrating.  Also trying hard to keep the house picked up.  

To try something new, I am switching all the kids to All In One Homeschool for almost all their lessons.  I am not sure how Brayden will handle this change, but I am hoping for the best.

Places we are going and people we are seeing.....

Well Monday was too cold and snowy for art class, so it was cancelled.  So was cheerleading and our basketball scrimmage were cancelled also.  But -20F is a bit cold...lol.  Tuesday our LEGO class was cancelled, but we were still able to have our Homeschool with Minecraft classes....good thing for the internet.  

Wednesday after being at home for 4 days, the girls and I ventured to Napoleon for piano class.  It was nice.  But that also meant no excuse not to take the boys to the dentist for their cleanings.  But that went smoother than I could've asked for.  Both boys were great.  No cavities with only a recommendation for Invisalign for Joey instead of regular braces.  Just waiting to see...I didn't think he had gaps in his teeth.  

Lydia had a fun sleepover with a friend and the girls had mini-golf play time with their troop.  Friday brought a trip to Costco to stock back up and then Friday night brought an experience for us all.  Our Special Olympics cheerleaders were invited to cheer with a local high school's cheer squad at a JV and Varsity game.  That was definitely an experience.  I figured overload would happen, and of course it did.  Joe was upset because he heard some students making fun of our athletes.  It was sad.  But the kids did have fun.

Caty also started the Young People Program that our county's Special Olympics program began this week.  For the next 5 weeks she'll be learning how to play basketball and learning team work.  She LOVED this today.  It was great.  But we have a great coordinator...he is SUPER with the kids.

Things I am cooking.....

I made pumpkin brownies earlier in the week.  They were a hit.  I need to make more.  Joey didn't even realize what he was eating.  Lots and lots of smoothies this week.  

Lydia and I made a Greek dish that was like Mousakka, but instead of eggplant you layered it with sliced potatoes.  It was a huge hit.  Joey said it was like eating sloppy joes and potatoes...lol

Spaghetti, hamburgers, take out pizza and partially store bought (egg rolls & wontons) part hm chinese.  It wasn't a bad week.  

Things I am reading....

Nothing that doesn't have pictures...lol.  Magic Tree House books, lots of picture books with the girls.

Pictures from our week.....

 Doing math with LEGOs.  Working on subtracting with regrouping.

 Caty made Oobleck 

 Lydia and I started learning about the Titanic.  She and I are going to see an exhibit at a local museum in a couple weeks.  So we are doing some early research before we go.

 Experiment on buoyancy with balance.  She made an aluminum foil boat and used beans to shift/disburse weight.

 This floated...

Too much weight made it sink.

 Simple pleasures of catching snowflakes.

 Playing at the bounce play area.

 Glow-in-the-dark mini-golf.

 Piano lessons

 Our cheer squad (black and silver) with the Cheerleaders from Liberty Center.

Notice Joey and Lydia in the center.  He is guiding her onto the court with his arm around her.  Surprised she didn't hit him, she doesn't like that.  But I got it on camera!!

 Joey and Lydia cheering.

 Caty playing basketball at the Young People program.  She is loving this!

Linking up with other homeschool moms at So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler.

Homeschool Mothers Journal - Week 20

In my life this week.....

I have been slowly recovering from the funk that my fibro has been shadowing over me the last few weeks.  I don't know if it's the change of season or what....but holy cow this funk is driving me crazy.  My energy level is at 0 on most days.  I struggle to get exercising done, and I just can't seem to do what I could a few weeks ago.  I was able to get up at 5 am, get office work and bible study done.  Now I can barely roll out of bed at 6 am, and usually lay in bed longer if I can.  I don't remember having this issue last fall, but this year having issues with brain fog, confusion, etc.  Keeping an eye on my diet and just trying to do what I can.

In our homeschool this week......

We actually had a good week.  The kids finished all their work :)

Lydia seems to be making a HUGE improvement in her handwriting.  I am very happy with it.  She is becoming more confident in her writing.  She is constantly copying words that she sees.  She is trying so hard to learn cursive.

Joey and Brayden started their Ohio History study (or Joey restarted it).  They did great with the reading and we learned about the state symbols.

Caty worked on why our leaves change color.  She is trying Reading Egg and the Math Seeds program on a trial basis.  She is LOVING it!!!  Played on the Math Seeds game for 2 hours.  Begged on her day off to do schoolwork.  Guess we'll see how this goes.

Lydia and Caty had zoo class this week for the new school year.  They both had a lot of fun.

Lydia also participated in our Troop's Women's Living History event and Lydia made a presentation on Jane Goodall.

Caty and I read a culture story about South Korea.  She and I made a meal from South Korea then.  We made a Sweet and Sour Korean BBQ with cucumber salad (and cooked carrots for Brayden).  For dessert we made a New Years Rice Cake.  Our flax meal seed separated while it was baking and made a yummy crunchy top.  This was a real hit with Brayden.

Starting this upcoming week, we will be learning about Bolivia for World Travelers Club.  So Lydia and I got a head start on our culture meal.....Bolivian Silapancho.  It's basically homemade salsa (I taught her how to make peach salsa), served over a large helping of rice and fried, thin beef slices.  You are also supposed to add a fried egg between the meat and salsa, but since we are egg-free this was as close as we could get.  It was really tasty!!!

We also had another field trip to Fort Meigs to learn about life as a soldier at the Fort during the War of 1812.  It was very interesting to hear about the sieges, building plans, food, even how to do the laundry in those days.

Places we went and people we saw......

We went to Fort Meigs, The zoo, and the Womens Living History Event.  The girls had ballet class.  And Lydia & Caty had soccer.  The coach was super nice to let Caty practice with them since they are too small for a full team.  She thought that was awesome that he let her play with them!

What I am cooking......

Lots and lots!  We had two culture meals this week.  One from South Korea and the other from Bolivia.  I cooked a roast for several hours at a low temp to use it for "lunchmeat" all week.  Brayden thought it was great.  He took seconds!!!   He never does that!!!

We made our Global meals.  Tonight I made hm chicken wings and hm steak fries.  This was a huge hit with everyone.  So much so, that I was able to sneak one chicken wing while I was cooking them and a handle full of steak fries.  Brayden was loving this meal.  I leave so many "plain" for the kids and then make a buffalo sauce for Joe to dip his wings in.  Everyone gets what they want then.

What I am reading.....

Still nothing....I am starting a book though and doing a lot of online reading about quilting.

Projects I am working on.....

Well I need to start cleaning a section of our basement.  It's been getting seriously neglected.

I also am trying to learn how to quilt and sew doll clothes.  I think I may be trying to learn too much at the same time.  I need to schedule some activities better.

Also working on our newest school adventure :)

Something I am eyeing......

I am working on a plan for the spring to do some traveling around the State of Ohio to visit various historic sites.  I can't wait!!

Something new I learned......

The internet is a hole full of information.  I have a Huge problem with dry/cracked feet.  It's horrible.  I read that Fish Oil capsules will help with this.  But I cannot take them because most are gelatin and full of fillers.  So I read that I could just put the oil on.  Now I am experimenting to see if this helps.  I put the oil from the capsules on my feet.  One pill on each foot.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?  When they are cracked it is extremely painful to walk, let a long try and work out.  It's also embarrassing and I wear socks in yoga.  I know that my Thieves oil blend stains my feet, and I can get over that.  But the cracks are just too much.

Questions for all you smart mommas out there.....

Does anyone have any ideas for lowering cholesterol and triglycerides naturally?  My hubby has a horrible genetic influence in this area.  He hates taking his meds, but if he goes off...even with a healthy diet, his levels seem to go up.  We don't want them to go back out of control.  So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  I read about him taking fish oil capsules to help.  I will even do a mix of essential oils in capsules if I need too.

A couple more photos from our week....

 Lydia working on her handwriting.  We bought some pretty fall paper to write on the next couple weeks.

 After their first zoo class, hiding in the polar bear cave.

 Working on her Bird DIY Badge at the Zoo Aviary.  She was identifying the birds she liked.

 We had our first DIY Club.  The kids are in the bird blind hoping something landed :)

 Caty working on her fall tree project.

I still have Brayden working on the locations of our states....so he did this puzzle everyday last week.  I would ask him questions then after he put it together.

Lydia loves playing board games.  She begs and begs and would play for hours upon hours if she could.  I found her learning how to play chess from daddy.

Hope everyone has a great week!!!  Linking up with other homeschool moms at So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler.

Our Week in Review - Week 42

We fell behind one day this week, but really it's not a big deal.  Just one lesson in Math a piece, and Brayden has some history to catch up on.  But that isn't totally because of the extra day off I gave them this week, that is because he chose to not do his assigned work.

The girls and I went on a field trip to learn how they make maple syrup.  We followed the directions on how to make maple syrup candy, which Lydia and I LOVE!  And we failed miserably.  Going to try again soon.

I won this DVD last year and it's really cute for kids to learn about maple syrup, so we watched it again:

Lydia has been making huge strides in her reading, so I have started introducing her to easy readers more often...and not just the ones that come with her phonics programs.  She has read two actual library books this week with minimal help!!!  Go Lydia!!!

This week Lydia finished up her lapbook from Journey through Learning about our Planet.  She built a volcano from the plans at Enchanted Learning.

She watched a National Geographic Movie on Volcanoes on Netflix.  Also watched the Magic School Bus on Volcanoes, and the Brain Pop video on them also.

Even Caty got into this experiment!!

Joey and Brayden started learning about each planet in our solar system.  

Last weekend we put white carnations in food coloring.  Ok it was a whole packet of Koolaid in a small amount of water.  After 2 days this is the only coloring we had.  We really did not have huge success, but we did have a little since you can see the red coloring in the flower veins.

Lydia started learning about fact families.

She actually picked up this concept very quickly!

We went to a maple syrup set up to learn where we get maple syrup.  They had a set up for the kids to try drilling holes using what they would use to tap a tree.

By Wednesday night I was so tired, and we were getting ready for a weekend away with the grandparents that I gave the kids Thursday and Friday off.  I needed to pack and get things ready for the weekend.  I have decided to take a couple days off next week and do a few things also.  It's going to be another week of non-stop activity.  Go figure!!

Hope everyone has a great week!!

Our Week in Review - Week 41

We had quite a week.  I may have found a happy amount of work to accomplish each week.  I really like the limited amount of running this week!!  It was awesome!!!  Next week is going to be a challenge.  But we have two great field trips planned :)!!

Joey is working on a 4H project here.  He needed to make fruit kabobs.  Well of course he wouldn't eat them, but Lydia and I thought they were great!  Caty loved the watermelon, even though it wasn't as great as "in season".

Joey kept working on his Unit study about Knights and Castles from Journey though Learning.  These were some of the books he read this week.  And he caught me off guard...I again thought he was just skimming.  But he came out quoting some fact about knights, and I asked if it was in his lapbook?  He replies, Nope, it was in the Ms. Frizzle book.  Go figure, he was reading!!

Caty School is another post, but this week Caty and I read Moon Bear and we learned about the Moon Bears of Asia.  Here she is making her bear craft.  And yes, that is coffee grounds she is putting on her painted bear to give him texture.  She also learned some phases of the moon.

Oh my...this was a good salad.  Lydia and I were digging to find salad supplies (since I forgot to get "special" stuff).  We used a great organic leaf lettuce mix, with tomatoes, avocado, sliced grapes, diced chicken and lemon juice.  It was super yummy and so simple!!!

Lydia continued her study of the Earth, using the Earth Lapbook from Journey through Learning.  Here we watched the Brain Pop Jr. video on the Water cycle.  She also learned about Oceans this week.  Her geography terms this week included continental shelf, so everything sort of fell together.  It was nice.

In History, Lydia finished the first section of Ancient Egypt in Story of the World V.1.  She shocked me picking out this library book...on her own to read with me!!

I think she is enjoying her study of Ancient Egypt.  This week she made a sugar cube pyramid.

She used blue sprinkles for water...not sure why?!?

We also watched some videos on Ancient Egypt.  Someone put a lot of work into this blog and sharing all this info!!  I cannot thank them enough for all of it.  We are enjoying watching these clips.

I found these cute color by number books at the drug store  a couple weeks ago.  The girls and I sat and colored the other day just for fun.  I am working more with Caty on these skills.  I bought special triangle crayons because she is having such a hard time with her pencil/crayon grip.  She does at least 3 pages a week with me.

Hooked On Science.org issued a challenge to build with spaghetti and mini-marshmallows in honor of the new Veggie Tales movie.  So we accepted, and this is what happened.

We started out with it being rather large, but trying to brace the level with extra spaghetti.

 Yeah...it didn't go so well....

 Lydia really got into the marshmallows that I don't normally buy anymore.

We built on a smaller base, but still only got to 12 inches...Caty put the flag on just before I snapped the pics....and then it fell.

Right now Lydia is using Touch Point Math - Grade 2.  She finished her first module and almost done with her second.  (Watch for the upcoming review).  These flashcards are great because she is working on fact families.  The smile I got when the bulb went off, like I finally got it!  9 + 1 is 10 and 10 - 1 is 9...it was funny!

Joey is working on a drawing project from 4H.  Here he is learning to use a grid to do a drawing.

 The boys are almost finished with their Astronomy study from Journey through Learning.  This week they learned about Rockets and the Moon.  Here they are watching a Youtube video on the Phases of the Moon.  They were using white oil pastels to create their own Moon Phase chart.

Yet another 4H cooking project.  Joey is making granola bars.  I need to re-write all the recipes to make them allergen friendly.

 These did not stick together well for some reason...not sure, but they were super tasty!!!

Lydia made homemade model magic today.  It was fun and cheap.  Total cost for a HUGE batch was roughly $3.00.

This much would've probably cost us about $15.00 in the store to buy it.  She is using it for her Book Festival project.

Lydia got very creative with acrylics the other night and went crazy painting.  She used every brush and color I had.  She was using mat board for canvas....holy cow.  She painted and went through probably 12 mat boards.  She is copying this project from the Usborne project ideas book.

Joey's last 4H cooking project his week.  He made pizza pockets or calzones for lunch.  It was another re-written recipe.  We used Bob Red Mills Pizza crust mix.  Made homemade pizza sauce (since most jar sauces have soy in them), and DIYA vegan cheese.

 They were pretty good!!!

 To help with the boys final science lesson this week on Rockets, we made balloon rockets.  The girls had fun with this one too.

Lydia and I are trying Yoga together.  We found a YouTube video to get us started.  We are trying some videos from the library also to see what ones we like.  Then we'll buy some.  This has been fun.  Although, so far it hasn't helped my fibro any....but neither has this weather!

Brayden finished his History booklet this week, right now schedule.  He is still seeking bare minimum, so I am forcing in any learning I can.  Joey is also reading about Daniel Boone right now for Adventure club.  I have learned so much about Daniel Boone in the last few days.  I never...ever. knew this much in school.  Really frustrated about all the misinformation I was always told!  Today we watched a cartoon on Daniel Boone I got from Netflix...and surprisingly it was not full of lies.  Even Lydia came out in the living room and watched it too.

Lydia and Joey both had their first 4H meeting of the year this week.  Lydia loves Cloverbuds.  Joey was a bit bored that night because it was elections, and a lot of speeches to listen too.  But he made it through as I kept explaining him that these kids worked on those speeches and they want everyone to know what kind of job they will do.  

We had a roller coaster week like always, it's a good thing we all like to ride roller coasters.  Now it's on to our typical cleaning weekend, to make up for the lack of organization during the week.  

Everyone have a wonderful weekend...

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