Homeschool Highlights~ January 2019

Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you.

I know I've been horrible with keeping things around here up to date. Summer hit and the chaos began. Summer was followed by the start of school, a kitchen remodel, and then the holidays filled with sickness! I'm just exhausted thinking about it all. Now things can hopefully settle down a bit. I have almost all of Christmas down, everything except the tree. I was going to take it down today, but my baby boy decided to sleep under it again.

He just loves the Christmas tree. I couldn't break his sweet little heart. I'll try for tomorrow.

So what have we been up to? 

Getting back into the swing of things. We officially started back to school last week. This week is a short week, since dad is off work on Friday. Michael and him have some outdoor plans for chopping some wood for the wood stove. It's going to get down into the single digits this weekend. Too cold for me!

School is going well for the kiddos. We've made a few changes since the start of the year. Nothing major though. The kids are almost done with their 2nd quarter. It's hard to believe the year is half way over.

The kids have been working on a report about 2 careers they want to learn more about. I'm having them right a paper for the course we are doing from SchoolhouseTeachers.com, called Career Exploration. I'm hoping it will help them figure out what they might like to study in college and what type of career they would like to pursue. Michael is definitely leaning towards something to do with animal wildlife conservation. Therese is still undecided. She does like photography.

In science, the kids have been learning about plate tectonics and how they are formed. Neither Michael nor Therese care for Earth Science much. I've been looking for ways to make it a little more exciting. They find it a little boring. They both can't wait to study biology next year.

I'm already looking into stuff for next year. I love planning our school year. I think I enjoy doing that more than the actual homeschooling. High school is a little boring if you ask me. I'd love to hear what you do to keep your homeschooling exciting for the older ones.

We had snow on Sunday. We had about a foot of snow fall up here on the mountain. The kids have been taking the dog out and playing with her in the snow. It's just a little too cold for me. I love looking out the window at it though. We supposed to get a few more inches this Thursday/Friday. I think winter has finally hit us here. It'll get into the single digits this weekend. I think I even saw that with the windchill it'll feel like we're in the negative temps! I swear I was meant to live somewhere warm. The older I get the less I like the cold weather.

Have a great weekend!

Till Next Time,

Monique

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Weekly Wrap-Up # 3~ School's half way over

Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you.

It has been forever since I did a weekly wrap-up. September was my last one to be exact. Where have these past few months gone? I swear this year has flown by. We have been busy. I honestly can't tell you exactly with what, but each week has brought on new challenges and adventures. Some years are just like that when you home school.

So what have we been up to?

School, of course! Things have been going so-so. We've made a few switches over the past few months. The biggest one is Michael is back to using Saxon for math. Teaching Textbooks was just too easy. I felt is was a complete waste of time for him. Oddly, he is enjoying Saxon now where before he dreaded. Sometimes mom does know best. I guess he needed to learn this on his own. He now has to do math over the summer, but he doesn't seem to mind.

Therese had try-outs for a play. She is now officially old enough to join our local drama club and was thrilled to be able to try out. She did a great job. Prayers she lands a role would be greatly appreciated. We're looking into voice lessons for her. She's thinking about joining the swim team if she doesn't make the play.

Michael started a new shooting team. He gets to practice his shooting and hopefully be able to compete if he's good enough. He was excited to be able to actually join the team.

Their Founding Fathers class is going exceptionally well. They really enjoy the class and have learned a lot from their teacher.

I've been planning for next year already. I am about half way done with our lesson plans. I hoping to be able to enjoy the summer months!

What I'm reading....

For my mom's book club, I've been reading The Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos. I've also been reading through various curricula for next year. We officially start high school next year.....ugh! 

What the kids are reading......

For English, Therese is reading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and Michael is reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

For history they are currently reading a handful of books about World War II. I really need to post about all the fun stuff they are working on in history.

For fun, Therese is reading Botanical Beauty, Your Own Beautiful: Advice and Inspiration from Chelsea Crockett , and Fabulous Teen Hairstyles.

Michael is reading a ton of books about Star Wars. This is probably because the new movie was released on DVD and he got it in his Easter basket. 

Photo of the week....

Till Next Time,

Monique

Happy New Year, Everybody!

Happy New Year! 

O.K., I know it's a little late. We have been busy with the holidays and then right after New Years we had that horrible cold with the cough that never stops hit our home. So 2018 hasn't started off all that great for us, but it can only get better from here. Right?

Christmas was fairly low key around here. We attended Mass on Christmas Eve. Mass was beautiful and was packed of course. I really wish all those people that only attend Mass on Christmas and Easter would see the beauty of attending Mass every Sunday. Mass and receiving Our Lord every Sunday helps me with my daily life. It just adds a peaceful presence to my daily schedule. We sang  O Come, O Come, Emmanuel in Latin and it was divine. Therese sang with such beauty. She has a beautiful voice. She just gets a little nervous when others are listening to her. I wish I could sing that well. Michael didn't altar serve at Mass, he ushered instead. He is a busy young man at church.

On a side note, he passed his test for his 2nd year confirmation prep class. He is well on his way to receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. 

After Mass, we headed out to our annual dinner at the local Chinese restaurant. The past two years it hasn't been that good, so I'm trying to come up with a different alternative for next year. 

What do you do for dinner on Christmas? 

The kids suggested the good, old stand-by of PIZZA!

I actually got to sleep in on Christmas morning. Now that the kids are a little older and no longer believe in the Big Guy, there's no made rush to get up. The actually sleep until 6:30. Yes, that is sleeping in on Christmas morning in this house.  

The kids were thrilled with there gifts. For there big item, Therese got a Fitbit while Michael got an XBox One. I got an Instant Pot and a fantastic pair of Ecco boots. I love them!

For dinner, we had the normal Christmas food...ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, and pie. My in-laws were are only guests this year, so dinner was simple and pretty low key. 

For New Years, we stayed in and celebrated with the kids. I made Chicken lettuce wraps. They have become yearly thing on New Year's Eve in our house. We played the kids new Star Wars and Harry Potter Trivia Pursuit games. 

School was supposed to start back on the 2nd, but with the germs floating around we postponed till the 8th. I didn't hear any complaints from the kids though. 

I just love the flexibility of homeschooling!

So that's what we've been up to the last few weeks. 

I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas!

Till Next Time,

Monique

Weekly Wrap-Up #2~ Almost a Month of School

Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you.

I can't believe we've been back to school for a month already. The time has been flying by too quickly. I will gladly report that we are currently on schedule. I better go kn knock on some word before something happens to derail our steady progress!

I hope you all have been well. Its been a crazy for weeks in the world. I pray that you are all safe and sound!

So what have we been doing in school......

The kids have been steadily working through their classes. They love our new English program! We stitched to Easy Grammar this year and it has been a wonderful change. In science, we are learning about habitats. We studied this before so this is a great review for the kids. They are currently working on creating a diorama for a habitat of their choice. Therese picked the ocean and Michael picked wetlands like the Everglades. We are taking a few weeks right now to study various Native American tribes. We have broken up our studies by the different regions the tribes lived in. The kids have been working on Latin not too happily though. Even though we've studied Latin before, it seems like they have lost all the information they had learned in the past. I feel like we are starting over. Prayers for this mama would be appreciated. Spelling....we HATE it. This year, we decided to give Rod and Staff spelling a try. It's just not working for us. I've already ordered spelling books from Seton as requested by Michael. 

What we've been up to......

We've had eye appointments (both kids no longer need glasses), dentist appointments (no cavities), working on setting up my classroom for CCD,  religious education classes started, and apple picking with our homeschool group. We've been trying to deep clean the house. We're about 1/3 way done. Next week, the kid have their first government class and Therese has her first Saint Zita's Home Ec club. It will be a busy week. 

What the kids are working on.....

They are cleaning their rooms. On top of that weekly chore, they are working on cleaning up the basement and going through their toys. Therese has decided she no longer needs her dolls out. So we are packing up her American Girl dolls. It's a bittersweet moment. I love the young lady she is becoming, but it's so hard to say goodbye to my little girl.

What I'm working on......

I finally got pictures developed of when we went to Disney World a few years.....9 years ago to be exact.  Now that I have the pictures developed, I will be working on a scrapbook for each kiddo. Better late than never!

What I'm reading.....

Informational catalogs from various homeschool providers for high school. Michael will be officially in high school next year and I'm trying to figure it all out. I'm currently looking at Seton, Mother of Divine Grace, and Homeschool Connections. This is new territory and I'll admit I'm a little nervous about it. If any of you homeschooling mamas of high school students have any advice that would be great! Please share.

What the kids are reading......

A lot! Therese is reading Anne of Ingleside Book 6 of the Anne of Green Gables series for her leisure reading. For English, she is reading Tuck Everlasting and Michael is reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He's reading a Marvel's Comic for his leisure reading. The difference between boys and girls is quite funny.

For school, both kids are reading Sing Down the Moon and Macbeth. Shakespeare is new for us this year. So far, it's going rather well. We are use the Macbeth Study Guide from Progeny Press to help us.

Till Next Time,

Monique

A Weekly Wrap-Up #1~ The Week Before School Starts

Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you.

The kids summer activities have all come to a close. Therese's volunteering at the library is done. She had fun, made a few new friends, and learned some new skills. Michael's wildlife camps have all ended. He too learned a lot and is already planning his next camp. It's an overnight camp.

The school room has been organized (well I'm almost done) and old books have been purged. The last remaining books have been ordered. The rest of the books have been sorted and shelved. Science supplies have been chosen and ordered. Michael is waiting not so patiently for the dissecting kits. Have I mentioned we are dissecting some stuff this year? I can't wait...not really! We are in the final count down until school starts. It's hard to believe that summer is almost over!

Next week is our last "FREE" week before school starts. This week we had a get together ( I think they're too old to call it a playdate) with friends before we all start back to school. It was their last hooray before they all get back to work. The kids had a blast and are already planning their next get together.

So are the kids ready for school to start?
Yes and no....I think the lack of routine is starting to bother them. Boredom has set in.
I think they are ready to get back to a more structured setting.
 Do they want to do all the work? I doubt it.
I can't think of any kids that says "I'm so excited for schoolwork!" Well, maybe when they were five. The pets are ready though. The cats have joined we in the schoolroom as I have purged, cleaned, and organized. They have taken up their usual spots on the table, in the baskets in the window, and on the floor (in my way).

Well, I'm off to finish the school room and plan our dinners for the next month.....
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Till Next Time,

Monique

Our Weekly Wrap Up ~ December #1

I know, I know! It's been a long time since I posted a weekly wrap-up. In fact, I haven't done one yet for this school year and it's almost 2017! So this will be the first for this school year and the last on for 2016!

So where have been? 

Here, there, and everywhere. Life just got very busy. In fact, it was down right hectic. We took a month long vacation in September and I've been trying to get back into the swing of things since then. I can't believe it's almost Christmas and a New Year! A month off at the beginning of the school year has thrown things off. We've struggled with getting back into things. The kids have had a hard time getting into school and their lessons. Now with two in middle school, I swear it feels like more work. I miss the days of learning to read and fun crafts to learn new things.

We are already a little behind this year, but hey it seems like we fall behind every year. Officially school didn't start until October for us, since we were traveling across the United States the month before. We did a lot of hands on learning that month. Geography, history, science, nature studies, animal studies, etc. We were able to see so many beautiful places in our country. It was an amazing trip! Stay tuned, I'll be sharing all the places we traveled over the next few weeks.

So we are a little behind but that's O.K. since we can school whenever we want and go year round. I've found schooling year round helps solve summer boredom and all that forgotten information from months off of school. I've been saying we homeschool year round for the last few years since we fall behind or take breaks when the first warm days after winter arrive. When it's warm and sunny after a snowy, cold winter who doesn't want to head outdoors. As long as they are learning then we are doing fine.

So what have we been doing in school.....

We are now into our 3rd month of school. We are figuring out what is working and what doesn't. The kids are part of few co-op classes...science and art (I'm teaching that one). Therese is still doing her St. Zita's Home Ec. club. They've made pillows, a memory board, embroidered a hot pad, made a Christmas ornament, and had a Advent party last week. We are slowly, very slowly getting back into the swing of things. Te kids are figuring out what subjects they are enjoying and which ones they are not. We switched a lot of our curriculum this year, so it's been a little challenging so far. I think we've made the right choices so far, but only time will tell.

In history, we are learning about the Civil War, reconstruction, and heading west. We bought fabric this week to make fake coon skin hats. We haven't started the hats yet, but the cats keep fighting over the fake fur to sleep on. They've even growled at each other. Silly kitties! The fabric is currently in their sleeping baskets and they love it. We may not get it back.

What are the kids working on....

Michael is teaching himself how to play the guitar. He found some old books in our basement and is trying hard to master the different cords. So far he is doing great. If he keeps up the interest, we'll look into lessons for him. He's getting an electric guitar for Christmas. SSHHH...don't tell! I know he will be extremely excited about it.

Therese is learning to sew. She's still practicing her singing. She wasn't able to try out for the play this year, but plans to give it a try next year. She is getting more and more interested in fashion and hair. My baby girl is growing up into a beautiful young lady. I don't think I'm ready for that.

What I'm working on....

Well, I've been busy. Of course, we decorated for 

Advent and Christmas. We've made a few Christmas cookies. Actually the kids did this while I was sick.

I've been busy sewing. I made one of our hens a chicken apron, since you didn't get all er feathers back with this years molt. I didn't want her to be cold.

I made curtains for our back door.The sun comes in during the late afternoon hours and blinds whoever is sitting in there. 

What the kids are reading....

Michael is rereading The Hobbit. He will finish it tonight, He then is going to move onto The Lord of  Rings trilogy.

Therese is reading through our Christmas book collection. 

You can see a few of our favorites here, here, and here.

What I'm reading.....

I just checked out A Call to Mercy: Hearts to Love, Hands to Serve by Mother Teresa from the library. I plan on starting it once things settle down after Christmas day.

Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you. Make sure you don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Mountain of Grace Homeschooling below and get the post delivered directly to your inbox!

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Our Weekly Wrap-Up~ March 4, 2016

It's March already! February just flew by, but I guess it will do that when your spend the majority of the month sick. The family is finally on the mend. I have been praying real hard that we are done with illness this year. We have definitely done some penance this Lent.

In our life this week....Well, we finally have ventured out into the world again. I ran errands on Tuesday. We headed to the thrift store to look for summer clothes for Therese. She has outgrown everything from last year. We returned overdue books to the library and paid our fines. We been cleaning the house, catching up on laundry, and going through the kids summer clothes. I have 3 giant bags to donate already and still need to go through the most of the house. I may just get those 40 bags for 40 days of Lent. 

What I am working on.....I have gotten my sewing area cleaned up and my goal is to start sewing little girl skirts,dresses, and First Holy Communion dresses. I can't wait. I'm also working on some 18 inch doll clothes for Therese and a few to sell. I need to finish the skirts I started for myself too. Lots and lots of sewing.

In our homeschool this week....We are getting back to work after a few weeks off do to sickness. We are little further behind, but that's O.K. We usually work year round now, so we'll get it all done and have fun while doing. We started learning about biomes and the kids are going to create their own biomes. This should be lots of fun. A desert biome is up first. I'll share the kids creations next week.

The kids are still working on their country reports. I gave them a week extension since everyone has been sick. I can't wait to see what they come up with.

I'm researching and figuring out our plans for next year. We finish up with Classically Catholic Memory this year, so the field is wide up to what we can learn. I enjoyed the set of Classically Catholic Memory, so I'm sure I'll figure out our lesson in a similar pattern. It would be nice if they had a program for high school. I've been looking at Mother of Divine Grace, RC History, and Apologia. Only time will tell on what We decide on!

What I am reading.....Sadly nothing! We went to the library and forgot to get something for myself. I am going to start reading Dressing with Dignity by Colleen Hammond. I found it at our local thrift store. I can't wait to read it.

What the kids are reading.....Therese is reading American Girls Kirsten for a book report due at the end of the month. Michael is reading My Side of the Mountain. 

Photo of the Week......

 Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you. 

 Make sure you don't miss a thing! 
 Subscribe to Mountain of Grace Homeschooling below and get the post delivered directly to your inbox!

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Our Weekly Wrap-Up~ February 12, 2016

Chilly, Chilly, Chilly! It is downright cold here and it's only going to get colder this weekend!

So what have we been up too? Dreaming of this.....

and

and of course this

But weather like that is a little farther away than I would like. So while dreaming or wishful thinking we've been doing school, even though Mama has been sick. Thankfully no children have come down with it yet.

In our school this week.........So school has been off and on. The kids have worked on all the basics....Math, Spelling, and English. We added a new curriculum to our English, a writing program. I am loving it! We've done 3 weeks now and I have seen improvement in both kids writings. I'll be sharing more details about this program later with a TOS Review. It's been helpful this week, since the kids have been able to watch the video  and work on the lessons with very little help from me. The kids have jumped right into their next book reports. This month they are learning and writing about a country of their choice. Michael picked Vietnam and Therese picked France (since she really, really want to got there). We were reading about Our Lady of Lourdes this week and she was in awe of the cathedral's beauty. 

Source~Wikipedia

I pray she is able to make a pilgrimage there someday and see the grotto and the cathedral. I know she will be deeply affected by this beautiful and sacred site. She is still leaning towards Bernadette as her Confirmation name.

We have been working on our Election lap book. This week the kids learned about the different branches of the government and how we ended up with our government. I love this lapbook from HomeSchool in the Woods. The kids and I are learning so much. It's a perfect way for the kids to learn all about our government and the election process, especially this year since we are electing a new president! 

For science, the kids created a plant cell out of Legos. What better way to learn than with a fun project. They both did a fantastic job trying to create a plant cell.

What I've been working on.....Preparing for Lent, trying to feel better and not get sicker, planning for next year. Yup, I'm already thinking about next year. So far I've decided on science for the kids next year. The kids love learning about animals and have really enjoyed their co-op class Swimming Creatures. So for next year, I have decided on doing the Flying Creatures and Land Animals. The are already excited about it. They haven't enjoyed learning about plants that much this year. I'me still trying to figure out the rest since we will have completed all 4 cycles of Classically Catholic Memory. If the kids were younger, we would just recycle the program, but both will be too old. I guess I'm back to planning it on my own. Sounds like fun doesn't it? It's funny, I actually love planning lesson.

What we are reading.......

I'm reading From the Angel's Blackboard: The Best of Fulton J. Sheen. The book talks to our minds, hearts, and souls. 

Michael is reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. He's loving it. He finds it extremely funny.

Therese is reading Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink.

Quote for the Week......

How was your homeschooling week?

Please note~ This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small percentage. Thank you.

Make sure you don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Mountain of Grace Homeschooling below and get the post delivered directly to your inbox!

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Our Weekly Wrap-Up ~ 1/30/16

Well, we had a rather uneventful week this week if you don't count the 40+ inches of snow we received this past weekend!!! Yup....I said 40+ inches in 24 hours. I think it set a new record for snow totals here in a 24 hour time span. We were snowed in until the middle of the week. Not too bad until you start to run out of the basics.

                                     

During the snow storm

The dog lost in the snow. 

By the end of the storm, the fence in the background was hidden by snow.

Too much snow!

Since we had so much snow the kids did have a few snow days so they could go out and play in the snow. They built a snow fort, made a luge track to sled down, and shoveled paths for the chickens to walk around. 

Last week, school went a little better and we are almost on target for our lessons. Of course since I just said that something will go wrong....someone will get sick, we'll lose a book, an unexpected event will occur, etc. Oh well! If it happens that's life.

In our school this week......

We are now on week 8 in our Classically Catholic Memory curriculum. We are learning a lot. The only subject we are not on week 7 is history. I decided earlier in the year to take history a little slower than CCM takes it this year. We are just know getting into the pioneering days and heading west. We have been using HomeSchool in the Woods 19th Century cd-rom and we love it. I can't wait to share all the fun stuff the kids will create. We even have a pioneer feast at the end...gluten free of course!

The kids have started a U.S. Election lap pack from HomeSchool in the Woods for a TOS Review we are doing. So far it's been fun and we are learning a lot. We have a lot of fun reviews coming up and I can't wait to share them with you.

In our lives this week.......

Well, if you have watched any news this week, you know the east coast was bombarded with TONS of snow. We got lots and lots of snow up here on the mountain. The kids were very excited of course. They wanted to build snowmen, forts, trenches, and tunnels. They did most of those things. The only thing that they couldn't do was build a snowman. The snow was too deep. It was impossible to walk through. The snow was up to my waist in many places. Just walking through it made you exhausted. The kids and the dog had a blast. I stayed indoors....too cold and a certain boy is now wearing my snow pants so I had no snow gear.

On Friday, Therese and her home ec. club made burp cloths for young moms at the local pregnancy center. The made 13 burp cloths total and were thrilled to see their handy work. 

The girls collected items for a gift basket for a baby boy being born in March. I love the Pro-Life message this shows our girls. 

" A person's a person no matter how small."

~Dr. Seuss

After the club, we headed for a fund day of bowling! The kids bowled two rounds and a great time with friends. It was great to get out after being stuck at home all week. I enjoyed visiting with fellow homeschool moms and catching up with friends I hadn't seen a few months. Life just gets too busy sometimes.

What we are reading this week..... 

I read a novel from a new author I picked at the local library..Irish Meadows by Susan Anne Mason. 

Therese is still reading the Hunger Games. Michael has switched gears and is giving the Redwall series a little break. He is currently reading the The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. After that, he wants to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I love how he enjoys reading the classics and not all that junk being written now a days!

What I'm praying for.....
our country and the upcoming election
an end to abortion
a friend and her newborn baby
our priests and vocations
my family and friends

Make sure you don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Mountain of Grace Homeschooling below and get the post delivered directly to your inbox!

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Our Weekly Wrap Up~ Week 4

The weeks just keep flying by! So much has been going on the past few weeks. Christmas break has come and gone. It doesn't seem possible that our 2 week break is over. We are finishing up our first week back to school. We are a little behind this year, heck who am I kidding, we always fall behind. Thank goodness we tend to homeschool year round. My theory is as long as we complete the work, it doesn't matter when they finish.Last summer the kids had off and bored at least this summer they'll have plenty to do.

What we've been up to...
We have had a lot going gone. Our days have been filled with co-op classes, field trips, vacation to Colonial Williamsburg, parties, home ec. club, errands, rehearsals for Therese, opening night for Therese's play, Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, and of course trying to get some school done in there. Our two weeks off went by too fast if you ask me. Busy, busy, busy!
We went from 67 degree weather for Christmas to 30 degree weather. Talk about one extreme to another. What happened to a gradually approach from winter. No snow yet, but the kids sure do want some.

We did process 6 of our roosters for meat. This was our first time doing it and I have to say it definitely makes you appreciate your food a little more. The kids did an amazing job. Now we have 6 organic free range chicken roasters in the freezer. I think it's important for kids to see where there food comes from. We still have 20 chicken...1 head rooster, 3 young ones, and 16 hens. We are loving the fresh eggs!!

In our homeschool....
Things have been a little crazy. We are slowly getting back into the swing of school. I spent Monday preparing/organizing  lessons for the next few weeks. It feels good to back into the groove. We still need to straighten up the school room, but hopefully that will happen this week. The kids have been loving their science co-op class. They have been learning about water animals. They've been doing Apologia's Exploring Creation with Zoology: Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day. The mom leading the class has been having the kids work on a ocean box and a lot of fun educational projects have been done. She has found some amazing experiments for them to try. Right before Christmas break, she had a fun class where they watched Finding Nemo and the kids had to name all the different sea life they saw. They love going and are really learning a lot of great information.!

What I have been working on......
Well after completing seven fish costumes, a bird costume, a costume for All Saint's Day, and Halloween I've taken a little break. The fish and bird costumes for the play turned out great. For Therese Halloween costume and All Saint's Day costume, I created a colonial gown. She decided to go as Saint Maria of the Incarnation.
I had planned on finishing up my tree skirt and the stockings I had been working on last year, but never got around to it. Oh well, there's always next year.
My goals for the spring are to sew some more stuff and really get my etsy hop off and running. I plan on making a few First Holy Communion gowns, so if you have a sweet little girl making hers this year stay tuned!

What I've been reading.....
A fellow homeschool mom has started a book club, so I am reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin.

What they kids have been reading.....
Michael is reading another Red Wall series book.
Therese has started reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins .

                                            

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Weekly Wrap-Up~ Week 3

Hello Friends! It's hard to believe we are in the middle of October already. I don't know about you, but fall has definitely hit here. It's going to be in the 30's this weekend at night...yikes! I'll be dragging out the wool socks for sure.

Well, I'm sure you already noticed that it was a little quiet around here last week. We went on vacation to Colonial Williamsburg. It was a wonderful trip and we were thrilled to get away for a little while. Now we are back and ready to get back into the swing of things. 

What went on last week.....So last week, we visited Colonial Williamsburg, Historic Jamestown and the Jamestown Reenactment Center, Historic Yorktown and the Yorktown Victory Center. It was lot of fun. I'll be sharing out our adventure in a few days! We returned home on Friday and Grandma came for a visit. On Saturday, we headed to the Catoctin  Colorfest Craft Show. It's a HUGE craft show. This was the 52nd year. We love going. I always find way too much stuff I want. This year, I found a adorable Mr. and Mrs. Scarecrow set to display for fall.

So our week was filled with lots and lots of walking. You would have thought I would have lost some weight but nope! Oh well.

So now on to this week....

Sunday, we went to Mass but the kids didn't have CCD. They were happy about that. We went shopping since Michael and Therese have both grown so much. They need some new clothes for fall. I found Therese few cute tops ans skirts at a local thrift store. They had a room in the back where everything was a $1.00 or you could fill a grocery bag up for $5.00! We got 15 items for $5! Nice stuff too. A Lands End top, a J Crew skirt, a Gap skirt, an Eddie Bauer dress, and a little jacket. We will be checking that store out again!

Monday was a holiday, so everyone was off. We went to our local apple farm and bought some pumpkins, apples, apple cider, and 2 mums. Of course, I left my camera at home. 

Tuesday was a day for relaxing. Grandma went home and the kids I just ended the day playing and enjoying our time home. I think we all need it. The kids did head to their science co-op class in the afternoon. They learned about seals and manatees.  While they were at their science class, I headed to the fabric store to get some material to start making fish costumes and a Mayzie costume for the play. I will be busy sewing the next few weeks. I'll share my creations once they're completed. 

On Wednesday, we got back into the swing of school.....well that was the plan anyway. I though I had planned everything out before we left for vacation but I was wrong. I only organized half of the materials we needed to get school done. So the kids did the basics...you know math, spelling, and English. I worked on planning and organizing the lessons for the next 4 weeks. I also did laundry of course! When doesn't a mama not do laundry? We all now if we fall 1 one day behind, it's all over. It will multiply while were are not looking. Therese had rehearsal at night. The girls worked on their fish dance and started to learn the hunch dance for the play.

Thursday was a a great school day. They kids got to work and really worked efficiently. I love when the do their schoolwork without complaining. They didn't waste too much time. We did take a walk outside to look for types of vascular plants. We found all 3 mentioned in the CCM book. I learned something new this week. A pine tree has male and female pine cones. Who knew? I must have missed that day in science all those years ago. The kids found both outside on the tree.

We had relatives traveling through on Thursday, we we headed out to dinner with the grandpa and his cousin and his wife. 

I had sleepy heads on Friday morning. After running around the past two weeks, I let my kiddos sleep in. Thank goodness for homeschooling. In the afternoon, we headed to Mass with our fellow homeschoolers and then went to a farm so the kids could go on a hayride, pick a pumpkin, and go through a corn maze. I get lost in the corn maze every year. They kids had fun hanging out with their friends.

So what are my plans for Saturday? 

Sewing and cleaning!

Hope you all had a wonderful week! I would say I'm looking forward to a relaxing week next week, but that isn't going to happen. We have another full week. The only days we'll be home is Monday and Thursday. We are very excited to be seeing the relics of Saint Maria Goretti on Wednesday!!!

If you have any special intentions, please let me know and we will pray for you.

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

The Homeschool Mother's Journey/Weekly Wrap-Up~ Week 2

In our life this week......Not much! We've stayed at home most of the days enjoying the cooler temperatures. We did have a sick kitty, but he is doing much better. Back to his old self again. Therese has plat rehearsal again this week. She is working hard learning songs and dances. She is really enjoying herself. I can't wait tho see her in her fish costume twirling around the stage. I've been meaning to start sewing but I just haven't been motivated enough to get going. It means I would have to finish organizing my supplies. Maybe this weekend.

In our homeschool.....Therese's new math books came....yeah! Now we can get down to business, So far it has been going well. So far we are still on schedule. I've had to rearrange our schedule a bit since we seem to have a lot of things going on Friday afternoons. I'm thinking I'll need to rework the schedule so it's a 4 day school week with Friday being an easy day. Between co-op classes, field trips, and Mass, we just haven't been around much on Friday.

This Friday, we had our first field trip of the new school year. We went apple picking with some friends. We had a beautiful day for a picnic with friends. I took my camera but forgot to put the memory card in it.


What we are reading....All of us are still reading the same books as last week. I guess we are moving through them like turtles. We do need to go to the library soon to get some new books. I've been wanting to read more books our Catholic faith, so I may need to just order them. I guess I should make a list first. Any suggestions would be great!

What I am working on......I've gone through the kids clothes and now I need to take stock in what the need for winter. I know shoes is definitely on this must have list. Therese now has bigger feet than me. Where did my baby go?
I'm still trying to figure out what fabric I want to use for the 1930's farmer's wife quilt. I like too many. Hopefully, I can decide soon.
I've also created a few pages for my CCD class this Sunday. I am so excited to be sharing our beautiful faith with them. I have a very cute craft planned too. I'll share it later I promise.
For those of you who follow out CCM curriculum, I finally finished my blog post for Gamma Year from last year. I fell behind last year....sorry!  I plan to be more on top of sharing our journey through the Delta year this year. I am laready working on posts for the first two weeks.

What I am praying for.....an end to abortion, the holy souls in purgatory, our country, for the safety of police officers everywhere, and for all the Christians throughout the world being crucified.



                                         

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner