Weekly Wrap Up: Museums, Pixie Dust, and More

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In my life this week… Although I did not have high hopes for our staycation, it’s been blissful.  What’s surprised me most of all is how much learning went on even though the focus was on everything else.

In our homeschool this week…

• One evening Miss 12 was bored, so we snuggled on the verandah couch with Favorite Poems Old and New.
• While we were trimming beans to be pickled, we listened to Diana Waring’s history CD’s.
• On the way to a museum, we enjoyed Dave Ramsey’s audiobook on Entreleadership.
• We learned about a century-old telescope at the Museum of Science and Technology.
• We explored a museum library and found books of ancient maps (with the legends showing different miles for each country, since there were no standard measurements yet), an ancient 2-volume guide to making pipe organs (with a quote from Emperor Julian the Apostate, just mentioned by Diana Waring above, about an organ he had seen), a thick volume of Morse Code codes (short groupings of letters for phrases such as ‘the captain has given orders that’ etc.), and the detailed plans for the railway construction through Roger’s Pass.
• Miss 14 participated in a focus group that discussed the future with a museum CEO.
• We visited to the Van Gogh exhibit at the National Art Gallery.  When Miss 9 was exhausted, we had lunch and, since we just became museum members, we could go right back in.
• Another exhibit featured an astounding display of hundreds of preserved butterflies.  The colors and patterns are an amazing testimony to the artistry of our creator.
• The Voyage that Shook the World, about Darwin’s life and thought, tied in beautifully with this.
• We visited the Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica, a place of contemplation and incredible beauty.
• I found Mr. 17 lying on the couch, listening to Thomas Sowell talk about economics (on the new smart phone, of course).  He was multi-tasking and reading Milton Friedman’s Money Mischief at the same time!

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share… Sometimes you learn more on vacation than at any other time.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

A beach that was full of pixie dust!  The water at Murphy’s Point Provincial Park sparkles, and so does the wet sand!  Most likely that is because of the nearby mica deposits, although I am not sure.  It’s just like the craft glitter that little girls love so much, but my husband calls it pixie dust.   We would love to go back to visit the abandoned mica mine and swim in the pixie dust again.

Museums and the cathedral as mentioned above, as well as all the usual: Church. Library. Stores. Neighbors. Work. Friends.

Some of my favorite things this week were…

• Learning so much just by having fun.
• Friends and family.
• Swimming in pixie dust.
• The Van Gogh exhibit.
• Miss 14’s enjoyment of her focus group with the museum CEO.
• The new baby chicks.
• My husband fixed the dishwasher!

Questions/thoughts I have…  How can people be bored?!?

Things I’ve been working on…

• Having fun.
• Going places.
• Resting.
• Pickling beans.  We did 18 quarts this week!
• Keeping up with the garden.
• Straightening out the bookshelves.

We’re watching… The Little Misses watched Robin Hood.  Miss 14 and Mr. 17 enjoyed the beginnings of Lord of the Rings.  We all watched The Voyage that Shook the World.

I’m reading… Exodus. I finished Stress Point by Martin and am now enjoying Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin and Father Hunger by Wilson.

Waiting to be read: You Shall be Free Indeed by Ganz and Cradle my Heart by Ketola.

With the kids, we are reading Genesis. We finished reading Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinor Pruitt Stewart and have just begun Man of the Family by Ralph Moody.

When my husband is home for meals, we’re still reading Jeremiah. It’s a long, long book.

I’m grateful for … So many things to think about and learn and do with my family.

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This post is linked to The Homeschool Mother’s Journal and to Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.