Week 21

This week was another 4-day one and we had something about every day!  Busy, busy!  

The kids watched an admittedly boring video on Solomon's temple:

Nathan is working hard on reading.  He knows letter sounds but struggles to blend them together.  We just keep working at it, though.  The other boys are doing awesome with Barton so maybe that's what we'll have to do with Nathan.  Lily finished reading The Odyssey and started on The Hittite Warrior.  We also started a new read aloud, Mary Poppins.  It's interesting to see the differences between the book and the movie!

Wednesday was my birthday so we took the day off.  We had a lot of fun being out and about, including a stop at the downtown library because it's not the library we usually go to.

My sweet birthday treats and cards:

Week 20

Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. day but we had school anyway.  Brian ended up being home due to an ice storm.  Samuel wanted Brian to do math with him so Brian did get involved some.  :)  We listened to the "I have a dream" speech--some of it--and then the kids created their own dream.  It was pretty funny to see what some of them put.  

Legos are what consumes the boys' time right now!

Nathan started working with the balance this week in math and that seems to be more fun than the usual math lesson.  :)

We continued our inclusion of art, music and gym this week.  It is still a hit.  All the kids participate so well in all three.  In gym, the kids tried out leg circles, planks and crab walks.  In music, each child tried playing the song we're learning on the recorder (Dragonflies).  It's only 2 different notes but I was impressed everyone wanted to try playing it alone.  History and science are uneventful.  Lily got a 84% on her English test this week so that was a big improvement from her reviews--it's a tough subject for her.  She is taking a science class about birds and owl pellets right now and seems to enjoy that.  Next week will be shorter because we will take a day off for my birthday!

Week 19

 We officially started back to school this week!  I felt ready to start and most the kids were ready, too.  We changed things up a bit by adding some more art, music and PE-type things in.  This is easy to skip but it keeps the kids looking forward to the afternoon.  

Painting a snowman scene:

 Nathan got a "big dog" with some birthday money and it's a big deal because his two older brothers also have a "big dog".  He named it "Black Spot" and it joined us for school one day.  :)

The kids finished a sticker chart so now we are counting down to day 100!!

Plans Change

Well, this week did not go according to plan!  Brian was home Monday and I woke up not feeling well.  As the day went on, I felt worse and worse.  Tuesday, Brian headed back to work and I headed to the doctor.  I was diagnosed with strep and started meds but it still took a few days to bounce back.  School was canceled, except our read aloud that I managed to start at the end of the week.  The bright side is that I have had so much more time to prepare.  I cleaned out the whole school area and am making plans and changing some things.  I even sharpened about 100 pencils.  

This was my view all week while on my "sick bed":

Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday, Happy New Year!

It has been a long and fun break but we are almost ready to get back to normal life!  Here's some pics of all the fun we've been having.

Gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve:

Everyone got new Christmas pajamas!

Christmas morning started between 5:30-6 AM.  It was early but fun!

We all needed a nap before the day was done!

Merry Christmas from all of us!

 We've kept busy with Wizard chess, Harry Potter clue, DS games, etc.  

 Aunt Lisa gave the kids suncatchers to paint and ones to bake so Brian crafted when I was at work on New Years Eve!

Nathan turned 7 December 29th!!

We had a big turn out at Play Station!

Nathan requested chocolate cake, green frosting and his name in white.  :)

Happy New Year!  We watched the ball drop at 11 and called that good.  :)  We had sparkling grape juice and party crackers to celebrate!

Brian heads back to work Tuesday and we start school Wednesday so we have a couple days to enjoy free time!