The Homeschool Mother's Journal/Weekly Wrap-Up

In my life this week.....busy, busy and busy. The past two weeks have been crazy. I did get to enjoy a Mom's Night Out with a few moms from our co-op. I have been elected to be a member of the curriculum committee for our co-op next year. My official title is Acting Director. Please say a prayer that I do as well as a job the last director did. I have been busy planning our last field trip for this year, our end of the year picnic, and trying to find a place to hold next year's classes. I am hoping our parish allows us to use the newly built hall. If you could say a prayer for us that would be wonderful! We have been having beautiful weather here and I have been able to hang the clothes out on the line. I love the smell of clothes fresh from the line. It reminds me of sunshine! Princess P turns eight this week, so I have been busy planning fun things for her day. I am making her cake, once she decides on the theme.
Her two birthday requests...a new bike and Saige.

Her grandpa took her bike shopping and she picked out a pink and blue bike. She is thrilled!

In our homeschool this week....We had a fun day at co-op on Monday. After classes, the kids headed outside to play while a few moms cleaned the building. The kids are enjoying the spring weather finally! We are studying Ancient Rome. I have a lot of fun ideas to go along with our lessons. My goal is to actually share them on the blog for others to enjoy. Hopefully things will slow done a bit. I highly doubt it since soccer has started. In science, we are learning about food chains, food webs, and animal habitats.

Something New and Exciting....Princess p had her eyes checked again and she now needs glasses. She is a little excited about it but it not happy about having to wear them all the time. I'm glad we finally figured out what was wrong with her eyes. Now I can understand why she had such a difficult time with reading. She picked purple frames!

What I am reading.....Nothing! I have been too busy.

What the kids are reading.....Princess P is reading the American Girl Molly series 

and Lego Man is reading Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

What I am working on.....Princess P's First Holy Communion Dress. We finally got the fabric this week, so I will be sewing that for the next few weeks. She picked out some beautiful lace! The ladies at the store want to see a picture of it when it's done. She is getting so excited about her special day. My only pet peeve...why do all little girls shoes have to have a heel! She's 8 not 18!!

What we are eating....We have been eating whole foods. Fresh fruit, fresh veggies, etc. Nothing  processed. We have found few recipes that are good but some of them have been YUCKY as the kids would say. This has helped my diet. Since December, I have lost 12 pounds. I would love to lose 15-20 more pounds.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal/Weekly Wrap-up

In my life this week....sickness! Lego Man passed his germs to me. Last week, he had pink eye. We treated him and thought we were in the clear. Wrong....I woke up Easter Sunday with pink eye. Our plans changed rather quickly. No Easter morning Mass. No Easter dinner with family. We ended up staying home and spending a quiet day with each other. By Tuesday, my pink eye was almost gone thanks to meds but then I started to get a sore throat and a sinus infection. I love spring but I dislike what it does to me and my allergies. Thankfully Princess P didn't catch a thing.

In our homeschool this week... We were supposed to be on spring break but with Lego Man sick last week, we made up for missed lessons this week. We finished up our Ancient Greece Lessons and are almost done with the state of Georgia. The kids are having a blast doing our state study scrapbook.

 On Friday, we went on a field trip to our local arboretum  The kids enjoyed a scavenger hunt and had fun just being outside in the warm weather. We had a nice spring day.

In the garden......we started cleaning out the flower beds. We started preparing a flower bed for our Mary garden. We are going to start our seedlings for our herb garden next week. We also have a few veggies to start. While walking around the old strawberry patch, that our lovely pig ate up, I noticed that a few plants survived. We have about 6 of the 20 plants starting to emerge. I did buy more strawberry plants to plant this year, but I am happy that Ms. Bacon didn't eat them all up.

What I am reading......home school catalog books and tons of stuff on the Internet trying to figure out what we will be studying next year. I love this time of year. I enjoy preparing for the new year. I try to research to find the best deals. We use a lot of books, so I love finding good deals on used books. Do you have a favorite site you go to for used books?

What the kids are reading....Lego Man is reading another Diary of a Wimpy Kid book.

After that he has to read another classic. I still have to figure out what to pick out. He really enjoyed The Swiss Family Robinson. I am thinking of Treasure Island.

Princess P surprised me by starting to read the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary.

I am so proud of her. She has made a tremendous improvement in her reading skills this year. I love watching her read and seeing the confidence she has now!

What we are eating.....we started loosely following the Paleo diet. We have been eating a lot of fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat. The kids are still enjoying their Easter candy but my goal is to cut out all processed food and sugar. I figured I would start with small baby steps with the kids. Lego Man loved the chocolate and raspberry smoothie I made using soy milk and what kid doesn't love a fruit smoothie, especially if they don't know it has spinach in it. 

What I am praying for....my hubby. He started a new job and I hope he grows to love it. I want him to be happy with the choice and know that God has a plan for us. Sometimes His plan differs from our own, but we just have to trust in Him.

Linking up with.....The Homeschool Mother's Journal, Weekly Wrap-Up, 7 Quick Takes, 

Friendship Friday, No Ordinary Blog Hop, Live and Learn, Friday Flash Blog, and It's a Wrap

Virginia Museum of the Civil War Fieldtrip

Recently , we had the opportunity to attend the Homeschool days at the Virginia Museum of the Civil War.

Homeschool Day offers hands-on learning for all ages. You can join the Confederate Army and learn how to drill, try dancing the Virginia Reel, enjoy 19th century games and crafts, watch the Emmy-award winning film, Field of Lost Shoes, take a guided tour of the battlefield, learn 19th century food ways, visit a one room school house, and so much more.

This is the sixth year that museum has put on this wonderful activity.

Our day started out a little chilly, but warmed up to a pleasant day.

We participated in all the activities the museum put on.

We started our day off with a guided tour.

We learned a few drills and learned to keep up with the fast pace.

The kids did a wonderful keeping up. I had a little trouble paying attention. There were a couple of times I had to ask my hubby what were supposed to be doing. I guess there was a reason while I never wanted to join the military.

We visited the museum that has a wonderful display of the Civil War. They do have a special emphasis on the battles in Virginia. They feature the 1864 Battle of New Market. This battle is important because of the participation of the young men from the Virginia Military Institute.

Outside, we got to visit the Bushong's Farm.

The current home was built in 1825.

During the battle of New Market, the family hid in the cellar.

After the battle, the house became a field hospital.

After visiting the museum and farm, we walked around and visited the different hands-on learning stops.

We visited a kitchen.

We stopped by a saw a lady spinning yarn on her spinning wheel.

We stopped by the one room schoolhouse and received a lesson using the McGuffey Readers.

The kids were thankful that they now have paper to use.

We visited the local blacksmith and watched them make a trivet for the ladies in the cook house.

They played a few games and did a few crafts.

Princess P playing Graces. 

The kids then signed up for the army.

They passed their medical exam. The had 1 top tooth and 1 bottom tooth. This is very important because you needed to be able to rip the paper of your gun powder.

The got to see there sleeping quarters.

There food rations. This was why so many soldiers "borrowed" food from the farms and tons they passed through.

Training for battle.

We had a wonderful time at the museum. The staff was wonderful and fully engaged the children.

If your in the area or planning on visiting Virginia this summer, stop on by.

Better yet what and check out the Homeschool Day next year.

It's held in March each year.

You can find out more information at their website.

Linking up with.....Homeschool Creaions, Look What We Did

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life~

Every Thursday at Like Mother, Like Daughter

{pretty}
We had a beautiful day here weather wise. Temperatures were warm enough that we could be outside without a jacket! Sadly it didn't last long. We sure did enjoy it while it was here. I am ready for spring.

The kids and I enjoyed a wonderful day outside. They played soccer, climbed trees, and played fetch with the dog.
I started raking all the leaves out of the flower beds and pulling the weeds that have already started to grow.  How do weeds grow when it's cold outside? I wish my flowers were that hardy. The kids helped me a little with the gardens.
We started making a garden for Mary. The area already has some daffodils blooming. 

Princess P wants to pick out some blue flowers that we can plant.  We need a statue of Mary to place in our garden. 

I love this one.
We placed a cobblestone pathway through the garden.  We are waiting for warmer weather that stays before we plant new flowers.
{happy}
Easter Sunday was a filled with laughter and happiness. The kids enjoyed there baskets.

They were excited to receive their sacrifice beads from Holy Heroes.

They have attached them to their clothes almost everyday since Easter.

As you can tell from the picture even the dog and cats get a little present from the Easter Bunny.

We had rain on Easter Sunday, so the kids had to do their Easter egg hunt indoors.

We found some really good hiding spots.

{funny}

Soccer practice started this week for Lego Man and Princess P. Of course, the temperatures had to dip back into the low forties for these practices. It was FREEZING standing outside for an hour. 

The cold temps are not funny, but our dogs antics were. While we were at practice somehow our Border Collie stole a box of vanilla wafers off the counter. 

The box was half full. He LOVES this cookies. When the kids eat them, he sits down in front of them and gives them his most pitiful face.

Does he look like a guilty dog? When Lego Man found the box and asked him if he ate them. He did have the decency to hang his head down in shame.

{real}

Sickness! 

Two weekends ago, we went out of town for a home school event and to spend time as a family. When we returned home Lego Man got Pink eye. Well thanks to his wonderful sharing, I got pink eye from him. I woke Easter Sunday with my eyes red, puffy, and swollen. Sadly, I was not able to attend Mass. I was disappointed to say the least. The pink has gone away but now Lego Man and I both have a stuffy nose. I have a sore throat and a severe headache but thankfully he doesn't. I have a feeling our spring allergies are to blame for all this hoopla.

I am so thankful for the my hubby and kids. The brighten up my days even when I feel like crap.

Linking up with....

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Thankful Thursdays