A Peek at Our Week: A Not-So-Off Week

In My Life This Week

Every Columbus Day weekend a friend of mine, R__, has a Women's Weekend, and for the first time I joined in. We ate meals at restaurants, window shopped for hours, people watched and chatted, played board games, and had lots of giggles. Over the years, I think I have forgotten how fun it can be to get out with girlfriends! How grateful I am that R__ treated me to every thing we did AND her husband graciously watched my kids so I could get out!

Things I Worked On

❦ Roasted and Pureed One Gallon of Pumpkin ❦ Raked Leaves ❦ Began Winterizing Coop/Run ❦ Cleaned and Vacuumed Van ❦

What We're Cooking

Pumpkin! We harvested 8 pumpkins from our garden this year and a friend gave us a few more. After each of the kids chose one to carve or paint, I baked and pureed the rest, roasting the seeds.

High School Happenings
So, I asked Jake what he did this week and this is what he replied, "Same stuff." There you go! This week's summary from a teenager! LOL

Homeschool Happenings

We had an off week. No school on Monday. For ease, I follow Jake's charter school schedule. When he's not in school, we're not in homeschool. We took yesterday off (for the most part) to kayak. The mild fall weather continues and we're taking advantage of it! (Last year the kayaks were stored the 3rd week of September because it was too cold to go out...)  But some school DID happen!

I was beginning to wonder if Cati and Sam were going to move ahead again in Spelling Power. After WEEKS of playing the Spelling Game, struggling through the same 10-15 words, I'm happy to report that we are once again moving forward. Phew!

Accomplishments
The Serpent's Shadow (C) & The Knight Before Dawn (S)
Easy Grammar - Preposition Test, Verb/Verb Phrases (C)
Daily Grams - Days 21-22 (C) & Days 26-31 (S)
Spelling Power - List 20 (C) & List 9 (S)
Poetry Unit - Diamante (C)
Greek Word Roots - pyro, photos, para, phone, graph
Saxon - Review 38/39, Test 8 (C) &  Math-U-See - 11C-F (S)
Life Science - Earth Changes, Bacteria and Viruses (C) & Plants, Reptiles and Amphibians (S)
Phys. Ed. - Bike Riding, Walking, Kayaking

People and Places

❦ Mom's Weekend Out (Mom) ❦ Library (C/S) ❦ Boy Scouts (J) ❦ Concert Band (C) ❦ Boy Scouts Camping (J) ❦ Kayaking ❦ 

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A Peak at Our Week: A Job Well Done

In My Life This Week

::sniffle:: ::sneeze:: Cold? Seasonal allergies? Not so sure, but I AM sure that I'm going through an awful lot of tissues. It's not slowing down this Mama though!

This week I focused on WORK ETHICS with the kids. I'll admit that I'm not the most consistent with discipline, but there are some things that need to be learned and learned well. Oftentimes I find myself redoing chores that the kids are responsible for because they're poorly done. Do you find sometimes that it's just easier to do it yourself? It doesn't instill GOOD WORK ETHICS in kids though. We had some LONG, LONG days of redoing chores to completion - *I'm* exhausted! - but I think they get it. I hope!

Things I Worked On

✶ Cleaned Baby Pine Trees Out of the Rain Gutter ✶ Replaced Broken Light Bulbs ✶ Dug up Potatoes ✶ Tried to Fix the Motion Sensor Lights ✶ Words with Friends ✶

We're Cooking

MORE apple crisp? I tweaked totally changed up the Barefoot Contessa recipe found here because it seemed like way too much work for apple crisp. All those ingredients! Lemon AND orange zest? And way too much sugar! Our recipe only has 2/3 c and we didn't miss the other 1 1/3 c!

Apple Crisp

Slice, core and peel apples to fill a non-stick sprayed 13x9 baking dish

Combine (with hands):

1 c flour

1/3 c white sugar

1/3 c packed brown sugar

1 1/2 c quick oats

1 softened stick of butter

dash or two of cinnamon

another dash of nutmeg

Sprinkle on top of the apples and gently pat down. Cook at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until apples are soft and bubbly. Serve warm or cold.

Oops! I forgot to take a photo.

High School Happenings
What went on at the STEM school? Measured acceleration of an object due to gravity using formulas. Learned to chart information in different ways. Spoke and wrote Chinese. (I'm thinking he should JUST write Chinese characters because it's MUCH neater than his English penmanship.) Pendulums. Designed an on-line portfolio blog logo. Worked on a photojournalism project. Played Tic Tac Ten. Worked on interviewing someone important in the community (which he recorded on his cell phone).

Homechool Happenings
Cati learned about Punnett Squares in Life Science this week, and dominant and recessive alleles, and phenotypes and genotypes.  Do you remember those squares with upper- and lowercase letter combinations to explain why someone has brown or blue eyes? (If the rolling of her eyes are any indication, Genetics and Heredity aren't her favorite parts of Life Science.) Using blue and white dice, she completed a multi-step Skill Lab over the course of the week to learn about allele combinations, creating her own Punnett Squares.

Sam didn't complete this lab with her. His focus was on Biomes, particularly the tundra and desert. Some concepts he just isn't ready for.

But he did create a castle on Minecraft. I finished reading aloud the Knights and Castles research guide that goes with The Knight at Dawn Magic Tree House book. (It's amazing how much reading gets accomplished sitting in the van during Cati's band practices.) He finds the Middle Ages interesting, and that interest makes for some meaningful learning. 

Next week he's working on a VIDEO PROJECT over Knights and Castles that I hope to share with you. Cross your fingers that I can figure out how to record it with Cati's camera!

I'm not sure if I will continue the NROC U.S. History with the kids. There's nothing specifically wrong with it, but I don't feel Cati and Sam are gaining enough knowledge from the lessons. Perhaps we'll switch to "America: The Story of Us" and "How the States Got Their Shapes" for a while. We need some "life" in our history!

Highlights

✶ The Throne of Fire (Riordan) (C) & The Knight at Dawn (Pope Osborne) (S)

✶ Daily Grammar - Prepositions (C)

✶ Easy Grammar - Days 13-16 (C) & Days 13-18 (S)

✶ Poetry Unit Study - Haiku & Tanka (C)

✶ Spelling Power - List 19 (C) & List 9 (S)

✶ Saxon - Lessons 27-29 (C) & Math-U-See - Test 9, Lesson 10A-D  (S)

✶ Life Science - Chapter 3: Genetics/Heredity (C) & Chapter 7: Tundra and Deserts (S)

✶ NROC U.S. History: Lesson 16-17

✶ Extras: Biking, Hiking, Kayaking, Cooking Meals, Animal Care

People and Places

✶ Drive-in Movies (C/S) ✶ Boy Scout Camping & Kayaking (J) ✶ Girl Scout Bake Sale (C/Mom) ✶ Cub Scout Popcorn Sale (S/Mom) ✶ Jazz & Concert Band (C) ✶ Cub/Boy Scouts (J/S) ✶ Open House (J/Mom) ✶ T__ Lake ✶

Our Favorite Thing

Wonderful warm weather! So, we loaded up the kayaks, packed up a lunch and headed to the lake for some paddling. It won't be long before paddles are replaced with shovels!

We saw a pair of Great Blue Herons up-close. The herons kept flying over our heads as we paddled through the shallow inlets. I didn't have my dSLR with me. As the family member voted most likely to flip a kayak, the camera is safer on-shore. :wink: But this photo I snagged on-line.

Please note copywrite. Photo by Coleta Air & Space Museum

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A Peak at Our Week: The One with Ups, Downs and All-Arounds

In My Life This Week

I had a morning out with my friend A__, eating breakfast at IHOP, shopping at the mall and checking out a new grocery store that opened. Nothing exciting, but it's ALWAYS nice to get out for MYSELF TIME with a friend. 

I have come to the conclusion that I can predict rain with more accuracy than ANY meteorologist. How? It's QUITE simple! No matter how blue the skies, if I hang out a load of laundry it WILL rain. :sigh: Perhaps I should reconsider the dryer...

Things I Worked On
A wall repair. I noticed something amiss with part of a wall near the bay window right before our vacation. It's slowly gotten worse over the weeks, so an insurance agent was called in and a contractor found to fix what needed fixing. But I guess *I* really didn't work on that! :wink: 

I also, sadly, rolled up the chicken wire around our garden, pulled up the metal posts, and stored everything. The kids and I have decided that our lives are just too busy to continue our "yard garden" and will stick with the Square Foot one next season. But I'm excited to share that we have at least 9 Sugar Pie pumpkins; that's 9 more than we got last year. :wink:

In the Kitchen
Cati made our favorite cookies this past weekend: Tollhouse Chocolate Chip. We just flip the bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips over, and follow the recipe, but you can find it here. Unfortunately she cooked them at 450 degrees: burnt edges and gooey middles. I picked up another bag of chips, Halloween ones this time, and she plans on trying again.

Photo Credit

High School Happenings
I suppose I can't call Jake a HOMESCHOOLER anymore now that he's attending high school elsewhere, so here's a section JUST FOR HIM.

I kind of thought Jake would have a HUGE adjustment to his EARLY starts - he's the kid who likes to stay up late and sleep in until noon - but he's surprised me. HE'S not the one with "wake-up whines". (See the next section. :wink:) His days are LONG though, starting at 6:20, heading off at 7:00, returning home around 5:00. He's a trooper though...because he's LOVING this new STEM school.

But what's not to love? There are NO textbooks. The kids work in teams and solve problems or build models of concepts. They discuss and share ideas and give presentations. They jump on their new school-issued lapbooks to share on-line resources and play games. No homework. They have 1 1/2 hours for lunch, "social time" and adviser meetings.  DEFINITELY not your typical public school!

(I'd have some photos, but he's a TEENAGE BOY. Need I say more? LOL)

Homeschool Happenings
Our first full week back...and it went, um, mostly well. There are ALWAYS some "hiccups" along the way to be worked out, but I'm happy with how things are going. Despite a few STILL TIRED, EARLY MORNING tears and some quiet grumbling, we had a productive week. Do you suppose the kids will adjust to our earlier mornings NEXT week?

So, we had a disappointing start to our Life Science studies. Our first experiment didn't work and needs to be repeated. We were testing to see if sugar kept wild flowers alive longer. What we didn't anticipate was the CAT eating the petals off the flowers. :wink:

Highlights
❀ Easy Grammar (10 Lessons): Prepositions, Prepositional Phrases
❀ Daily Grams (5 Days): Capitalization, Punctuation, Contractions, Verb Phrases, Sentence Combining, Plurals
❀ Spelling Power: Lists 1-6 (C), Lists 1-4 (S)
❀ Bridge to Terabithia (C) and Dinosaurs Before Dark (S)
❀ Saxon 76 lessons 10-14; Math-U-See lessons 8D-F, Test 7
❀ Animal and Plant Cells, Renewable/Nonrenewable Resources, Habitats, Labs: Bread Mold, Food for Flowers, How to Use a Microscope, Self-quiz Chapter 1 (C)
❀ NROC U.S. History Lessons 1-6 and Label U.S. Wall Map

We also signed up for our homeschool co-op classes starting in October (because we need something else to do :wink:). Sam will be taking Flat Stanley, Environment and Wildlife Studies and Lego Club, and Cati will be helping with the preschoolers (to get babysitting experience), and taking Environment and Wildlife Studies too, and then Arts and Crafts (where they're supposed to make soap, learn to use a sewing machine, and maybe even weave baskets).

People and Places
❀ Meandering and Gabbing with A__ (Me) ❀ Movie and Pizza Night with Buds (J) ❀ Scouts (All) ❀ Jazz and Concert Band (C) ❀ Library (Me) ❀ Co-op Class Sign-ups (C/S/Me) ❀

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The Homeschool Mother's Journal: The One with Campin', Swimmin', and Grillin'

In My Life This Week
I tweaked my lower back while swimming. I guess I'm too old to be doing twists-and-turns under water. :wink: Sam won; he completed 3 flips before coming up for air. :sigh: A painful back meant a week of "rest" (i.e. not lifting or bending much, but still driving here-and-there and doing some housework).

In the Kitchen
• BBQ Burgers with Grilled Corn on the Cob and Tossed Green Salad • Low-fat Greek Yogurt Smoothies with Fresh Berries and Toast • Beef and Barley Soup • Egg and Ham Breakfast Sandwiches on Garlic Cheese Bread with Pineapple Slices •

I'm Grateful For

A Coleman tabletop grill my friend A__ gave us! Our OLD grill wasn't working well so it's been WONDERFUL to have a replacement and cook-out again. The kids LOVE BBQ picnics! (And I don't have to cook inside a way-too-hot kitchen.)

Sam's Favorite Thing
Why am I SUCH a softie? :sigh: Meet Winnie, an almost 9-year-old Canadian Toller, who's become Sam's BFF.

Homeschool Happenings
Camp week! Jake and Sam headed to Cub Scout Camp this week where the theme was Knights and Castles. Jake volunteered with the Wolves (2nd graders) and proved VERY valuable to the adult den leader volunteers as he knows his way around the camp like a 2nd home. It's a GREAT experience for him in patience, learning to give clear instructions, teaching, discipline, and being a positive role model for younger boys. And Sam had a blast shooting targets with a bow and arrow or a BB gun, swimming, cooking over a fire, and doing arts and crafts while meeting new friends. For him, camp this year was a HUGE STEP towards independence from the familiar, something that he's uncomfortable with (probably stemming from his SPD). 

And Cati went to her 2nd week of Band Camp. She's LOVING it this year she was able to join the JAZZ BAND and plays snappier music. There are only 2 clarinet players in Jazz so I'm looking forward to her final concert and seeing her music showcased.

Homeschool Helps
FREE! Calendar Binder 26 page printable from Blessed Beyond a Doubt

People and Places

• Rec Lunch and the Lake • Cub Scout Camp • Band Camp •

Something to Share

Phew! It's been SWELTERING in Maine, muggy and hot. (I think I'm ready for Autumn already...) Even the MOOSE need to cool off!

Photo Credit

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The Homeschool Mother's Journal: My Birds Return to the Nest

In My Life This Week
All my baby birds have returned to the nest! And the house looks "lived in" again.  (Should I mention the water dripping down from the livingroom ceiling? Accidental WATER GUN squirt from Sam of course! :wink:) But, after 2 weeks, I welcome the mess and noise! I think.

As the Garden Grows and Clucks and Quacks

Well, our garden is starting to produce veggies, beans mostly and a few peas. I'd share some photos, but the weeds have ALSO been "producing". :sigh: It's a jungle out there!

We also go a MONSTER EGG while the kids were off visiting family. I chose the BIGGEST duck and chicken eggs from the frig to show a comparison. The MONSTER EGG is in the center. (Keep in mind that our duck eggs are JUMBO size.) HUGE! It turned out to be a double yolker!

In the Kitchen
Soups and salads! It seems kind of CRAZY to have HOT SOUPS in the middle of summer, even in Maine, but they're easy, filling and a BIG pot is enough for 2-3 meals. (I'm ALL FOR cooking once, eating twice! LOL) Add a salad and we're eating lots and lots of veggies. Nothing wrong with that, right? 

Lasagna Soup with a Spinach-Romaine Tossed Salad and Fresh Homemade Crusty bread (from a Bread Machine)

I'm Grateful For
Seasons! Autumn, my favorite season of the year is just around the corner. I ALWAYS look forward to warmer weather after a LONG winter, but I'm ready for cooler days and pretty foliage and a new school year.

Things I Worked On
• Putting in a Smaller, Rounder, Deeper "Pool" in the Run for the Ducks • Moving Furniture Around •

My Favorite Thing
Fans. Without AC, fans have been a life-saver with these muggy 90s!

Homeschool Happenings
*I* read. Does that count? LOL

Did you know that "Wild Kratts" is on Netflix now? The Kratt brothers explore animals around the globe and have Creature Power Suits. We've been spending some HOT afternoons watching it.

Sam did BEGIN to learn to roll coins. We've been saving our change for a while for our August trip. He soon found that rolling change isn't so much fun. :wink:

Homeschool Helps
I noticed that school supply sales have started! Don't forget to compare ads for the cheapest prices! (And most sales flyers can be found on-line to make a list beforehand.)

People and Places

• On the Island With Grandpa and Nannie Lobster (All) • Noodle's Birthday Party (All) • Dentist (All) • Band Camp (C) • Rec Center Lunch (All) • Lake (All) • Clothes Shopping (All) •

Something Silly to Share

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