In my life this week… It’s been a busy week with two days of snow. It seems like winter has finally arrived, but we’ve already used 12 cords of wood in our new fireplace insert. If we hadn’t covered our windows with stretch plastic last fall we would probably have needed a lot more to heat our home.
Other than the weather, it has been a busy week. As I mentioned in the Fit Mommy post, we’re still struggling with a cold, and it makes us dopey. On Tuesday morning I was just enjoying a wee catnap after doing French with the children (it’s such a sleepy subject!) when the phone rang…I was 10 minutes late for my dentist appointment! Oops! Fortunately they let me in on Thursday and did not charge me for the missed appointment.
In our homeschool this week… We just kept on keeping on.
We’re nearing the end of some books, and that is so exciting! For my teens that means exams, always an intimidating prospect, but they usually do very well. I’m very thankful for textbooks with exams, answer keys, and marking schemes.
After allowing Miss 11 to try to budget some of her own weekly schoolwork time, I’ve laid down the law and told her exactly what to do; she’s just not ready for that responsibility yet, although sometimes she managed very well.
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share… Here’s a bit of encouragement from our dental hygienist. “I would learn so much myself if I homeschooled.” Yes, it is true. I’ve learned a huge amount, and I’m thankful for this opportunity. If you get discouraged, just think of all you know now that you didn’t know before you began to homeschool!
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… Most of us stayed home from most places because of illness.
My favorite thing this week was… Again there were so many things! Here are a few:
- Playing games.
- Enjoying another winter storm.
- Airing out the house after a storm.
- Hearing three of the kids—bundled up in blankets because I was airing out the house—chortling at the audiobook of Dave Ramsey’s Entreleadership. They just love Dave’s reading style and have asked if he has any other audio books. Miss 9 says, “I don’t understand him, Mama, but he’s so funny!”
- Watching the 1952 movie of The Importance of Being Earnest. It is so delightfully silly!
- Listening to the children practice their music.
Questions/thoughts I have…We are so blessed to live in a free country like Canada. But we must keep on being vigilant, because everywhere freedom of speech and freedom of religion, the two pillars of our society, are being attacked.
Things I’m working on…
- Homeschooling.
- Dejunking and spring cleaning. We did a lot of that this week.
- Emptying the mending basket. This week I fixed 4 t-shirts and one slip. Miss 9 begged to help, so she sewed 8 bathmitts out of an old towel, using the sewing machine.
- Getting fit.
I’m reading… Acts. I am also reading The Odyssey (the version by Samuel Butler) and Folks, This Ain’t Normal. This week I’ve ignored Mindsight and Fit and Fabulous in 15 Minutes, but I will pick them up again soon. I finished Promise and Deliverance Vol 1, a book Miss 14 has been using for Bible study; I hadn’t even realized I was reading it since it was just a weekly part of schoolwork! Although I don’t keep up with all of the kids’ reading anymore, I always read the weekly chapters in Promise and Deliverance.
With the kids, I’m reading Acts, Little Town on the Prairie, Rozemarijntje Gaat Naar School, the second volume of the Wambu trilogy by Piet Prins, The Story Bible for Older Children, and various books for school.
It occurred to me to write down what my husband is reading with us. Of course, when he’s home, which is quite often these days, he leads the Bible reading. We’re starting Isaiah after blushing through the Song of Songs. He’s also picked up Silver Ley again, a book set in the British country side between the wars.
I’m grateful for … More sunlight. Warmth. Less coughing. A Friday afternoon with almost no schoolwork.
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This post is linked to The Homeschool Mother’s Journal and to Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
I’m glad to hear you all have had less coughing. I aired out our house when it reached 69F this week. I wish I could have windows open all year! We, too, have plastic on some leaky windows. I think we’ve just gotten used to being warmer this winter, so I did not see a big savings in the energy bill, a little, but not as big as I thought with the warmer temps. I want to read that book, Folks This Ain’t Normal. I saw Food Inc., yesterday, finally having the courage! It was as bad as I thought. I am really going to make an effort not to support that kind of industry, even if I have to eat less meat, which would make my health coach happy! lol.
Folks This Ain’t Normal is quite the book! I love the fact that the author is Christian, not new-age. You’ll be cooking up a storm after reading it, and considering growing a garden or having half a dozen chickens. Lots of fun!
I went to a play of The Importance of Being Earnest. I loved it!
One of the things that I love about homeschooling is learning with my children. I’m really hoping that the things we learn together sticks with them. I don’t remember a whole lot from when I went to school.
Except for the sickness it sounds like things are going well. Glad you had a pretty good week.
I used the Social bar from http://blogplay.com/ . I like yours too.
Oh and I meant to say I have an online facebook page called JoAnns Journey. I didn’t make it as a business page, just a normal page. It looks like journey is my last name so it took it. You could try creating a FB page that way instead of a business one. Just a thought.