Snow melts. Schoolbooks don’t.

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• Sumo

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“Snow melts, Mom.  Schoolbooks don’t.”  That quote pretty well sums up our week.  We did school whenever possible, but we did not miss any chances to do special things.

Monday we managed to do traditional schoolwork, with textbooks and scribblers and more.  Our three writers worked on their NaNoWriMo goals, and Miss 17 finished packing for her trip to Europe.

By 6:30 AM on Tuesday, we were on the road with two puppies and four children, heading toward the spay-neuter clinic.  Although I’ve not done any puppy training, the children have.  When a very excited dog entered the clinic, barking and scrambling and pulling wildly on his leash, our puppies just sat.  They needed reminding pushes on their rumps a few times, and they were trembling with eagerness to meet this exciting new fellow, but they obeyed and sat.  I was so proud of the kids and the puppies!  That was the day we did groceries and bought our annual treat of pomegranates.  We had time for a little bit of schoolwork before we had to pick up our two sedated puppies. 

Wednesday was another ‘normal’ school day, and the children accomplished a lot.  They also made wonderful chocolate cookies.  And we ate the pomegranates.  Yum!

Thursday, one child informed me she was ‘too busy learning to do schoolwork’. This was the last day the puppies needed their syringe of pain killers which Mr. 15 and Miss 13 administered.  Miss 13 spent the morning making her first painting with acrylics.  Mr. 15 worked on his website.  Miss 10 read various books, spending a lot of time with The Coolest Cross-Sections Ever by Biesty.  Miss 8 found her old dress in my rag pile, and sewed the buttons back on so she could wear it as a shirt (we remove buttons before putting things in the rag bag).   All the while, I reinforced towel edges and mended two bedspreads.  In the afternoon we went travelling in Germany with a Rick Steves DVD, only needing to skip a few scenes.  And Miss 13 made this scrumptious chocolate caramel cheesecake.  Meanwhile, Miss 17 and her friend were actually touring Paris by foot on their first afternoon there!  Miss 13 and I finished the day off by watching Sense and Sensibility, which we both hugely enjoyed.

Friday morning the ground was covered with thick frost, and the little girls told me, “Snow melts, Mom.  Schoolbooks don’t.”  So of course, I let them go back outside to try to sled on the frost. And then it did snow!  Even so, we got some schoolwork done before it was time to head out for our weekly Rideau Trail walk.  And when we came home, we did some more regular bookwork.

Today, we will all need to do ‘homework’ for a while to ensure we don’t get much further behind.  As well, there’s judo, more snow, puppies, Saturday chores, and, for me, a lot of resting to recover from yesterday’s walk.

To see what other families have been up to, visit Canada Girl .