Thursday/Friday

Thursday: We pretty much just stuck with the workbook theme. I really didn't want to do much else than work on my hair.

So we are getting no where. They just aren't interested in learning anything. Now what do I do?

That night we went to the Casting Crowns show. The kids stayed with the neighbor and her lovely dogs.

Friday: The kids went about their day and I did cleaning: dishes, laundry, and various other messes caused by 2 active children cooped up in a small space. I did take out some time to do some origami and relax. Later I took K to the church for a girls sleepover. J watched Naruto on the internet and I read a book until Stargate Atlantis came on. Then called it a night.

A quiet, relaxing end to the week - don't you think?

Wednesday with Dad

This morning we had the special "dad breakfast". Lots of eggs with lots of stuff in them, some OJ, and biscuts with jam.

Then the kids did their schoolwork while I worked on my project for the day. They think I don't check their work apparently because I discovered that J thinks every multiplication problem equals 500 and K can figure large sums in her head! So I had to make them do those worksheets again.

Then we grabbed a super quick bite to eat and rushed out the door to go to Downtown Disney. Well, the kids went there anyway. Dad and Mom went on a "date" to the movies! This doesn't happen all that often. We saw Jumper - a sci-fi film. It was okay.

We came home, chilled out and had a smorgasborg (sp?) of frozen chinese food for dinner. The kids ate whatever they felt like having and finished it off with some yogurt.

The best part of the day, well, night really, is the Lunar Eclipse! Since 8:43pm ET we've been watching the eclipse of the moon! This is a first for all of us. Dad had to go to bed, so he didn't see any of it. J just popped his head out every once in a while. And I popped out every 15 minutes or so to see what was happening. K spent almost the whole time with her eyes on the sky. Right now the moon is covered and will begin to start peeping back out again soon.

I'm hoping to be able to download some pics of the eclipse to save here and for the scrapbook. My camera just wasn't up to the challenge. (I need a super-lens.)

So it's been a good day.

Leu Gardens

Tuesday with Dad we went to Leu Gardens. We were expecting something a bit more formal, but we still had fun. We almost made it through the entire garden. There's still a bit left to discover. At one point in the path you come to a lookout point over the lake. Along the water's edge we found all kinds of turtles, a few birds, and a baby alligator sunning himself. That's always fun.

check out the size of those leaves!

I can't believe how intricate and delicate those petals look.

The bamboo is lots of fun, and incredibly smooth to the touch.

There is a section for arid plantings as well. Besides the cacti, there are some pretty cool flowers.

The Rose Garden

I love all the spanish moss growing everywhere. I always try to capture the beauty of it with my camera, but the pictures never satisfy.

Monday with Dad

We got up. Mom and Dad went for a grueling bike ride into 15mph headwinds while the kids had a quick bite to eat and work in their workbooks. When we got back, Dad took J&K down to the field to practice sliding, catching, and running. When they got back they took a quick dip in the pool.

After everyone was cleaned up and ready to go we headed to bd's Mongolian for lunch and then off to the Orlando Science Center!

The Earthquake table was a big hit.

We also spent quite a bit of time at the domino tables.

That's a day! We're tired! And J still has batting practice tonight!

Pretty easy week

We've pretty much just done our workbooks this week. With Chad's schedule all mixed up we didn't go all out trying to get everything done.

I've worked up the plan for next week, but I know I'll have to tweak it since Chad is home Sunday through Wednesday all day long. We'll throw in a few field trips and hopefully Chad will take over some of the school lessons, giving me some extra free time for sewing and crafting :D

Finding that groove thang...

We're slowly finding our way back into school. I'm starting to get excited about putting together lesson plans again.

With family visiting for the kids' baptisms, we took it easy and just did our workbooks, bible study, and our story time. We are now up to Lamentations in memorizing the books and we have 4 memory verses learned. We're studying the Plagues in Exodus. And we finished reading The Door to Time and have started The Long Lost Map, books from a series by Ulysses Moore. The second book is an adventure in ancient Egypt, which ties in nicely with our study from Exodus and the study of Egypt we are beginning. I love it when a plan comes together. (now where have I heard that before?)

Next week I hope to add in some more lesson time and get going on our science experiments again. I want to blow something up! :D I need to remember to take pictures!

The kids have progressed quite well in math. We're working on Pre-Algebra stuff right now. We should finish our 6th grade math books in the next couple months and be ready to move into 7th by May.

Jeremy has joined a baseball team and so he will begin having practices 3 times a week through February and then games begin in March. PE class is pretty hit or miss at the park as many of the families that have signed up don't always show up. I'm going to be looking into soccer for Kylie, which should be starting up soon.

Seems we're getting busier and busier.

Time Off Trouble

We've had way too much time off!

We took time off so I could make all the costumes for the kids Christmas musical at church. Then we took time off because I was sick. And then we took time off for travel at Christmas. And we took time off to rest up from all that traveling. Plus the New Year Holiday. Geesh....

We finally got back to school last week. But it's been tough. None of us were interested in a school day. It was touch and go those first couple days.

Chad's work schedule changed again. So now we school Monday through Thursday with no days off in between. But that gives us a 3 day weekend. That's nice.

We started with some warm up math, reviewing the basic operations. Except for division they didn't complain too much. And then we did some decimals. The remembered how to add and subtract with decimals. Now we'll see if they remember how to multiply and divide!

We finished reading Phineas L. MacGuire....ERUPTS! We had been reading it before the extended time off. So I thought about starting over, but they remembered where we were and what was happening in the story. So we just picked up where we left off. It only took a couple days to finish. Now we're reading the sequel: Phineas L. MacGuire gets Slimed! Cute stories.

We've begun our study of Exodus. And we're adding in some new memory verses and memorizing the order of the books of the Bible. Jeremy is able to recognize and read a lot of the names now, so it's getting easier for him. Soon we'll be able to do Bible quizzes.

This semester we're really focusing on science. So I'm working on putting together lots of science experiments. We did 2 last week. I wanted to do 3, but I can't find the right kind of thermometers. This next week we'll move on.

I also want to really work on History. I have this great time-line I want to use. And it works really well with the Bible study. I need to find a way to put the time-line up on the wall so we can see what's happening with the making of history. We're in the Egypt section now, so I'm looking forward to learning about Egypt and making some costumes and crafts and things. I need to go the library and pick up the books first.

Another goal for this semester is to improve the kids handwriting. I know they can do better. They have really nice handwriting when they make the effort. They just hate making the effort. Jeremy even wants me to switch to the computerized school work so he can type instead of write!

Right now, Kylie is at a 5th grade level on everything except Math (6th) and English (4th). Jeremy is at a 3rd grade level except for Math (6th) and Vocab (4th). So Kylie really needs to work on the English. They both need to improve in Writing Skills. If I can get them close to the same level for everything, switching to computerized curriculum will be much easier. On all of us.

This week the kids begin a P.E. class, along with some other homeschoolers, at one of the local parks. So that will be fun. Jeremy is also signed up for Little League. He'll begin with tryouts on the 30th. Then we'll find out which team he's on and when practices will start. The season officially begins March 1st and then we'll see some game time. He's really looking forward to it. So am I! :D

Now if I can just shake off the blahs and get moving...