Weekly Wrap Up - April 11, 2013

Here is our weekly wrap-up -- things we did, things we learned, things we liked, and just the normal things of the week.

My goal is to be finished with our school year by May 31 so as I planned this week, I looked at where we were and what we needed to do to meet that goal. I might have to adjust those goals again but at least I know what we need to do.

We enjoyed our backyard visitors and also our trip to the Tulip Festival this week.

Together we continued reading Mystery of History Vol 1. I love it when J realizes we are almost finished that book and asks if there is another volume, "yes, we have it and it is in our shipment." We read about Malachi, Plato and Aristotle, Philip of Macedonia. Together we did review the history timeline that we learned last year in CC. We don't have the cards so the cards don't have that reminder. I think we need to continue reviewing. It has been fun to see how we are filling in the details of so many of these events and understanding more.

We are also reading Exploring the World of Biology together.

We finally started our Greek and Roman Myths Literature Pockets. Maybe it was realizing we only had a few weeks remaining and so it was time to get busy. We did one last fall and we all enjoyed it. We have done lapbooks in the past but found that for now History Pockets or Literature Pockets are easy to do.

J is doing more and more independently which was a goal for this year. He has hit a point in math which is a bit harder and requires that he review his work so he is having to slow down.

Together we are enjoying doing Memoria Press Classical Composition Fable Stage and enjoying it. We are on Lesson 3, The Fox and the Grapes.  He outlined it all by himself. I jokingly asked if he had looked at the teacher guide because it was so close to the suggested outline.

Miss K tells me that she just wants to do a "tiny bit" of school. We do more than a tiny bit. She is able to do her Explode the Code by herself and today she did her math fact sheet by herself. When her brother is doing his work by himself she wants to as well.

It was a good week and now we are ready for the weekend -- soccer (if the weather holds out), a trip to the library, grocery shopping, church, chess, and who knows what else.

Tulip Festival

I have two things on my things I want to do while in the Northwest in the spring. One of those we did today and one we have to wait until May or June. Today we went to the Tulip Festival.

When we left our house, it was raining. The forecast had said no rain so we decided to go. We got about 30 minutes north and the rain had stopped. There was no rain up at the tulip fields. We stopped at the Tulip Festival Office and got our map and information.

We drove out to the fields and were amazed at the color and variety.

The daffodils were still in bloom though I think not for how much longer. We just saw one field as we were driving by.

We enjoying stopping at one of the places and walking through the fields looking at the tulips. It cost $5 to get in but was worth it.

As we walked, we kept looking at the tulips and taking more pictures. I think we took over 130 photos so when we got home I had to sort through them.

I don't know if I had a favorite tulip. I did enjoy just the different colors.

These had such a nice deep color.

I  did enjoy the two colors on these.

It was a bit muddy but we enjoyed just walking and looking.

J said this was his favorite tulip.

Miss K likes anything and everything pink and so it was easy to guess which was her favorite.

I am glad that we were able to do this. When we told the kids that we were going to look at tulips, I don't think they knew just how many and how interesting it would be.

Handwriting

Handwriting is an important part of both children's homeschooling day. We have been using Handwriting without Tears which I picked because of the OT elements for Miss K. I do require neat handwriting. J spends part of each day copying and working on his handwriting. Miss K and I are working on her printing.

I was pleased to see the article which supported the benefits of handwriting.

How Handwriting Boosts the Brain

From the Atlantic to the Pacific

Last June we were at the Atlantic Ocean for our annual family beach vacation.

One evening is spent getting family pictures. J had fun between his photos running in the water.
In March we made it to the Pacific Ocean.

J had fun running along the beach at the Pacific Ocean. He didn't go into the water as it was a bit too cold. He did have fun climbing the cliff there.

Miss K doesn't want to be left out. She is a bit of "monkey see, monkey do".

She got about halfway up and needed to be rescued.

We enjoyed our short visit to the Pacific Ocean. The kids had so much fun that they went back again for more climbing.

Easter Sunday

On Friday evening our celebration weekend began with attending the Messiah concert. Miss K did fall asleep for part of it. Then sh
We are in the Northwest and so that does mean a bit of cooler weather combined with an early celebration this year. It was a cool day so the sweater was added. I had bought this dress for Miss K last summer at a thrift store. When I was ironing it, I discovered that the hem was falling out. I did something that I have never done before in my life -- purchased stitch witchery. I am still in a bit of shock that I did that. Honestly, I still need to get a needle and thread and hem it.

Miss K loves to pose for her picture. Getting a good picture is a challenge but we try and sometimes we succeed.

Dresses that twirl when you spin are always lots more fun.
Sorry there are no pictures of J (he was not in a mood for photos).

As this was the first year in four years that we have not been with extended family for the holiday, I asked the kids what they wanted to do -- paint eggs and have an egg hunt. Usually painting eggs is something that we do with grandma. We waited until Aunt Becki arrived and did eggs.

I bought a kit but honestly I think we had as much fun with just food coloring and vinegar in water.

Ham dinner is one of our favorites as long as it has mashed potatoes and ham gravy. We had that on Saturday evening as Aunt Becki was living to visit her other sister after church.

Then we went to a friends house for an egg hunt and to visit. They have a yard but also part that is wooded.

The kids got enough candy to last them for a long time -- I will probably end up throwing half of it out as we just do not eat it fast enough unless it is dark chocolate or peanut butter cups.

Puzzles for Therapy

We are a puzzle family. We have had an extra table at times where we where able to put a puzzle that we were working on and just work on it when we had time. I love buying puzzles at thrift stores. They are cheaper and I think most of the ones we have bought have had all the pieces.

One of my favorite brand of puzzles for the children is Ravensburger. The pictures are timeless, the pieces are nice size for small hands. I found one on Saturday and I admit to standing in the store and counting the pieces. It was just 35 pieces so it didn't take me long. I know that for Miss K if a piece is missing it will just not be understood and so I would be better off not buying it. This one had all 35 pieces so I bought it.

Miss K was very excited to have a new puzzle. She got her bath and started to work on it.

I encourage her to do puzzles. She will ask for help but I try to just guide and let her put the pieces together. Puzzles are good for development in thinking and seeing how things work together.

Our Backyard Visitor

This morning as we were doing school, J said, "Look". So we looked and we had backyard visitors.

We watched them for a few minutes. I got the camera and tried to get some pictures. They are big like crows and have a red crest. We then looked up online and discovered that we had two pileated woodpeckers. We added natural study to today's lessons.