Gluten Free Trifle
In my life this week…
We enjoyed another busy but relatively peaceful week. We did a lot of school work, visited with friends and family, ordered glasses for one of the girls, and started our spring cleaning.
On the health front:
- We do feel better after eliminating the water cooler. Imagine! So if you have health issues and drink from water coolers, remember that they often harbor bacteria and can rarely be cleaned properly.
- Miss 10’s toe is completely healed. Within two weeks of using the banana peel treatment, her two enormous warts were gone, and in the last two weeks the skin has healed beautifully.
- It turns out our sick girl may have adrenal exhaustion which often develops after pneumonia. That’s a big one and will require some serious research and some assertiveness with a doctor. Sigh.
- To top it off, she and I are struggling with yet another cold. I am so thankful that we’re just dealing with relatively minor issues, though!
I’ve been spending some time everyday preparing for the homeschool conference where I will be on two panels, one about teaching multiple grades and one about teaching high school.
In our homeschool …
We took a very long weekend and it always takes time to settle in again after that, but we’re all back in the swing of things now.
We tweaked Mr. 17’s Dutch program. Since he’s pressed for time and not eager to work on the grammar, we decided to drop the grammar component from now on, focus on reading novels, and drop it from a 1 credit course to a half credit course. Reading out loud together is a lot more fun and, at this stage, developing fluency and an intuitive understanding of the language is more important than finicky grammar rules and all their exceptions. Besides, the novel we are currently reading is phenomenal: A Dutch family with 5 sons emigrates to Canada and sets up farming in British Colombia. We learn Dutch history and Canadian history all in a great novel written by one of the Netherland’s very popular writers, K. Norel. What makes it even more meaningful is that my Dad bought this book well before he and my mom moved to Canada to set up a farm.
Making Mr. 17’s Advanced Physics work will be a bit more of an effort, because the first edition textbook isn’t as clear as second edition Apologia texts. This is the only one of Apologia’s science texts that they are not planning to revise, although it does really need it. It’s a good thing I know physics!
Miss 15 is learning some complicated songs with difficult timing. I was not able to play them properly on the organ, and wondered how she could learn them, but she’s using MuseScore. She just types in the soprano line and out pops the tune. What a wonderful resource!
Some of my favorite things were…
- Sleep.
- Hanging out with family and friends.
- Sunshine, a warm fireplace, and a comfy couch.
- Getting some of the spring cleaning done. At 15 minutes a day, I can manage it even when I am tired.
- Reading Mr. 17’s Dutch novel.
- The trifle that Miss 10 made.
Questions/thoughts I have… I’m speaking on two panels at the home school conference, and my head is spinning with thoughts and ideas. I’m worried that I’ll focus on the wrong things, because there isn’t enough time to talk about everything.
Things I’ve been working on…
- Homeschooling diligently.
- Remembering to relax, eat well, and exercise a bit.
- Reading books for school.
- Spring cleaning. We’re working on bedrooms this week, a wee bit every day.
- Preparing for the homeschooling conference.
We’re watching… Nothing.
I’m reading… 2 Chronicles. I also read Crucifying Morality, Seaside Harmony, and Sunflower Summer, and have almost finished How Then Shall We Live? Other than that, I’m going through Caesar’s Gallic War, Pinterest Power (almost due back at the library), and Decisive. It works out well that Thomas Sowell’s book Knowledge and Decision just arrived via interlibrary loan. We’re skimming through books about GIMP and paleo cooking, too. I’m also still listening to Les Miserables, an audiodrama by Focus on the Family.
Reading Aloud… We’re reading 2 Samuel and Children of the New Forest now, as well as Twenty-One Balloons (Miss 10 and Miss 12), In de Zoete Suikerbol (Miss 10 and Miss 12), Pioneers in het Wilde Westen (Mr. 17), and KijkBijbel (Miss 15).
When my husband is home for meals we’re reading Haggai.
We’re memorizing… Psalm 31: 5,7,8, which was apparently a Jewish bedtime prayer in Jesus’ time.
I’m grateful for … The opportunity to rest when I need it.
Quote or link to share…. In Francis Schaeffer’s How Should We then Live, we are shown that without the moral basis of Christianity, law and justice become arbitrary. The authorities can make any decision they want, as long as they can convince most people that it’s OK or not important enough to bother about.
This post is linked to Kris’s Weekly Wrap Up and to HomeSchool High.
Sounds like you’ve had a good week, well except for the colds. I hope you all feel better soon. 🙂