Our Week in Review

This week went by quickly.  I guess because of how I've reshaped myself in it.  (I'm making time over the weekend to reflect on the intentions set for this week.)

Monday was spent with our homeschooling community. We are reading a few books together over the course of this year. A few of us completed the book, Calm and Compassionate Children: A Handbook by Susan Usha Dermond. Our discussion was centered around the importance of preparing our environments for our children and all that entails. With that being the focus, I made it a point to be early so as the purposely set up our space. We changed how things usually flow so the everyone would take note of it.  It worked. Many of the comments made during our sharing time spoke to each of the things we intentional adjusted.  Then we encouraged one another to try some of the things mentioned in the book in their homes--one or two.

As far as my children are concerned we spent time learning more about birds and sharing what they'd learned so far with their peers. They also got time to play and talk freely. The treat during their time together was watching a movie together before our time was over. (This was not a typical Monday for sure.)

Tuesday is typically my 'recovery day' from being out of the house all day on Monday. It's also the day the children take it upon themselves to study further and get into the things they enjoy doing most. We passed by the library to drop off and pick up books and over all had a pretty calm day.

Wednesday we ran a few errands in the morning before meeting some friends for lunch. As I am never always sure just who will be joining us when I invite our friends (different schedules and commitments), I decided not to share with my children just who they'd see. They were all pleasantly surprised to see some faces they hadn't seen in awhile along with those we see regularly. A great time was had by most (I say most because the little one in our midst spent a good bit of time in tears.)

During errand running, I was able to secure some yarn for the gifts I'm making this season. I caught a sale too--which makes it even better.

Thursday we celebrated the birth of my eldest daughter. She has been with us now for 12 years. The day was full of music, some dancing, cooking and baking, opening cards and gifts and speaking to dear ones on the phone.  We did do more study for our bird unit and worked on our 'Gratitude Garland.' One of the rituals we do around birthdays is taking a 'Last Day as [age]' Photo Shoot the night before the birthday. Then on your birthday we do another photo shoot to start the new year.  I started this years ago when things were getting crazy with moving and unpacking and not having time to scrapbook or record things as I'd wanted to. Also, since we don't take 'school pictures,' I wanted a way to document visually each of their ages. It's something they look forward to each year. So do I.

Friday has been, well, much like most Fridays. We're glad it's here as it's the beginning of the weekend--time for rest, rejuvenation and whole family time. We've been working on completing our list of chores--everyone has their specific jobs and then jobs they do in pairs. We also have a few 'entire group' chores to get to as well. I put on some music and we danced as we cleaned--which made cleaning time move along quickly. We completed our tasks today in just an hour.

I've been in the kitchen as I got a hankering to cook.  We'll be enjoying an early dinner of acorn squash, sweet potatoes, black rice with coconut milk, black-eyed peas, corn and green beans.  Oh, and some corn bread.  Yeah, I don't know just want got into me--perhaps I'm just hungry.  It smells so good.  So, I'm going to end now so we can enjoy it.

Here are a few pictures that capture some of the things I just shared about.

Our 'Prepared Environment' at the Rec Center

Lunch with friends

Yarn I snagged on sale

Working on Bird Lap-book

Lego construction

Researching Blue Jays

drawing a dragon

Birthday Photo Shoot
Photos by HeatherJamesPhotography

12th Birthday Cake

Preparing fruit to put in our morning smoothie

Making the leaves for our 'Gratitude Garland'

This post is linked up with Weekly Wrap Up over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.  You can find out more about linking up yourself here or read the blogs of those who link up weekly.

Hope your week was filled with fun, learning and together time.  I'd love to hear from you so comment below.  If you're hopping over from the link-up do say hello. Thanks.

Be well.

Weekly Wrap Up

We've made it to the end of another week.  We have spent a good deal of time enjoying each other and catching up with my dh.  The kids have rituals that they've missed while he's been out of town.  When they were younger I used to try to still try and make them happen.  But now I respect that they're his things to initiate and engage them in--and so I allow that time to be 'special time with Daddy.'  (It also alleviates the added stress on me--win-win.)  

Here are the highlights of our week:

Monday--Homeschool Classes:

We started a new unit studies on birds.  The children continued their P.E./Health class taking about more healthy habits--how to read body language when playing with others.  They also practiced group juggling.  We found that it not only takes coordination and concentration but takes a lot more practice than we first thought.

Learning to pay attention to body language.

We have been blessed with a husband/daddy who is focused on nutrition.  Monday began with a breakfast smoothie using fresh fruits.  This particular Monday it came in quite handy since we were running a bit later than we had hoped.  We drank it on the ride to the rec center.

Fresh fruit

Monday evening I attended a book reading and signing with a couple of the mothers from my homeschooling community.  Author Ritu Sharma read from and discussed her book Teach A Woman to Fish.  I will share more about this event in an upcoming post.  Suffice to say that it was very stimulating and we had a rather lively discussion afterwards as well.

Tuesday:

The boy had a birthday recently.  He's started taking guitar lessons and we were blessed with a guitar from some dear friends earlier this year.  He's been using that and doing quite well--even though it's a bit large.  Grandpa sent us a better sized guitar this week.  Isn't it a perfect fit?

New kid-sized guitar

For the better part of the day the kids spent time with their father.  I GOT THE DAY OFF.  I caught up with a dear friend who I haven't had time with in a rather long time.  We sipped and chatted.  I then caught up with another dear friend for dinner.  Cussing, fussing and tons of laughter ensued.  I needed this break.

Wednesday:

Daddy fixed breakfast and then we headed to the library for our weekly library time.  We had lots of books to return and several we on hold for us--we're researching and studying about birds.  Our library branch has been adding new books to the shelves and today they were in the process of adding when we arrived.  The children were excited to see more new books and checked out several of the graphic novels. 

The day ended with soup!  Tortilla soup to be exact.  All made in a matter of 6 minutes.  Yes. Six.  And it was delicious. I'm learning about other recipes and just started a board on Pinterest to hold them.  You're welcome to check it out.

Making soup.

Yummy Soup!!

Thursday:

My eldest just completed The Giver by Lois Lowry.  She's been reading it for her reading/literature class.  We've been discussing it as she's read it and completing vocabulary and comprehension work as we go.  I found a test of the entire book online to give her tomorrow.  This book has many layers to it--we've shared many good discussions.

The boy enjoys building with Legos, yet his first love is writing stories and illustrating them.  He spent much of the afternoon writing and illustrating the story he created using the Legos he built.

My no-longer-little second daughter enjoys creating as well.  Today she wanted to paint--and so she did. (smile)

Friday:

My eldest has started the Harry Potter series.  This is one of the books she reads for entertainment/enjoyment.  I agreed that she could watch the movie AFTER she read the book.  She finished this first one a few weeks ago and is already well into the second book.  We checked out the DVD from the library this week and she watched it with her father.  She enjoyed it and has been able to compare/contrast it with little help from us.

We have plans to read together later this evening and maybe invite some friends over. We'll see how things go. We're also looking forward to a relaxing weekend. There are a few things we have planned but for the most part, I'd like to continue with the easy pace we've had this week. Thankful to be able to do just that.

How did things end up for you this week? What things did you get into? How did you learn with your children? Want to join in? Click here for the current Weekly Wrap Up to read it and those who have joined in this week.  Click here for further information.

Enjoy the weekend.

Weekly Wrap Up

So I've decided to join in this weekly wrap up.  For starters, because it will help me get back into the rhythm of blogging and, secondly, it's a good way to keep records of what we're doing--more just academic type work.

Since our homeschooling year began with our homeschooling community, many things at home have become a blur.  I'm actually having to think about what we've been doing this week.

Monday we spend at co-op.  The children participate in P.E./Health class, a Nature Study class and an Art Appreciation class.  Then there's free time with their friends outside and in the gym.  This Monday we celebrated the boy's birthday.  My dh attended with us and made ice cream on the spot. Upon returning home he opened his gifts and went right to work on one of them--new set of Legos. There was a candle to blow out and cake to be shared. Overall good and exhausting day.

Tuesday I was able to walk alone--used voting as my reason.  Our precinct is just around the corner from where we live--so the kids were able to stay put.  Although and overcast day to start, it warmed right up when the sun appeared and we were able to walked up to our neighborhood library and spend a few hours there.  I'm researching for the next nature study class and the kids always enjoy looking through books.  Our library has gotten a lot of new books in over the passed three weeks, so my girls enjoyed looking through what's new on the shelves.

Wednesday we spent at home. Nothing special. Regular learning time and chore time.  We did watch the Lego movie again.  It was fun listening to my children laugh.  I have to admit, that movie does have some funny jokes.

Thursday I gave most of my time to assist my daughter through her very first online class.  Our library offer free classes through the UniversalClass.com site.  She's taking Fashion Designing 101 and is thrilled.  She completed her first lesson and we made a schedule for when she'll have access to the laptop to complete the rest of her lessons.  My middle daughter played dress-up most of the day, in between our reading lessons.  She's enjoying that still and I'm glad to still have a little girl on my hands.  Time is winding up in this area---so there's no need for me to rush her.

Friday has been spent drawing.  I've tried to make it a point to do this with my kids.  We all enjoy it. We've been studying perspective and creating landscapes with 1 point perspective.  Right now we're all just copying pictures I've found on Pinterest.  In the next few weeks I'll start pushing them to create their own using the techniques and skills we're learning.

I'm looking forward to the weekend.  Although this has been a slow week, it has felt full.  I guess this is probably because I have been holding things down by myself.  My dh has been working out of town since Monday.  I'd like to sleep in a bit on both days--probably won't happen though.  We do have things to do on both afternoons and since it's just me if I don't get up we won't get out on time.  I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I would take myself to sleep at a reasonable hour. LOL!  Something to start working on for next week.

Hope you all have had an enjoyable and productive week.  But if not, don't be too hard on yourself.  You get another one to do things differently.  Should you be interest in joining in on this weekly wrap-up click here.  You'll find information on how to link up.  What to read others' posts for today? Click here.

Have a good one.