I have a couple of things on my heart this week. The first one is the disappointment to not hear from my former employer in the time frame he told me that he would call. In some ways it is a relief to not have to juggle working in town with homeschooling and my first love - motherhood. Last week the graduation speaker, Doug Sparks, told the graduates that living by faith means not knowing where your income is coming from, yet trusting God to supply it. Here I am I guess fully living out what it means to live by faith. This is not new to me...I've been in this place many times in my missionary career. In some ways it is exciting, but it is also hard on my husband, who isn't as used to it. Hopefully it will be a good thing in the end, and that too takes faith...
The second thing on my heart is something else I've been pondering this week. I grew up a very insecure kid, so I did whatever I could to "fit in". At this time in my life, I'm finding that I am living on the fringe. I don't really fit in anymore, and yet I strongly hold the values that I hold and I'm purposed to go on living them until the Lord leads me otherwise. In the past two years God has led me to take the whole Bible, including his early instructions, as valid for today. Daily I strive to obey the commandments, and this often brings me into a place of conflict in the missionary community that God has placed me in. For example, my family doesn't eat pork. We have to make our own meat several times a week and eat differently than those around us. Fortunately, my husband is the cook, so he willingly does this for us. Due to health issues, I and my three girls cannot eat gluten, which is a separate hassle that puts us on the fringe. Within my husband's family and my own, I tend to hold different religious, political, and traditional beliefs. This can become a problem if we gather for holidays and such. We have a family website and various topics may come up. I am reluctant to join in because at times when I have it hasn't always been accepted with openmindedness. Anyway, that is what I've been pondering in my heart these days.
On the Homefront:
Our chickens are here now. This is finally the fulfillment of a dream of both my husband and I. We aren't getting a lot of eggs, but it is fun anyway. Here are some picks:
In the School Room:
We actually started reading some of our read-alouds for the new school year last night. It is so good to be back to Sonlight! I am reading Bubbies' Egermeier's Story Book, Usborne Internet-Linked Children's Encyclopedia about dinosaurs and The Boxcar Children. She seemed to really enjoy it. The older girls and I started The Moccasin Trail. I made a big effort to use the reader guides to help increase our vocabulary and went over the questions as well. I am still anxious how we will do with all three children doing all of their subjects when we get going full-time...
On the Mission Field:
My husband shared at our church this week regarding our financial situation. We were hoping that at some point they would start giving us a monthly support check, but that still is not happening. It is not a good time really to be seeking it as the monthly giving at our church is down. We need to do support letters or something like that, but still haven't gotten clear direction from the Lord as to how to proceed. Since He is our provider, we will wait for His clear direction. He has never failed us yet.
In the Literary Scene:
I'm making a little progress with Torah Club 4. I read from The Charlotte Mason Handbook. I finished my 100 hours of continuing medical education (CME) for this term which ended June 30. I am prereading William Wilberforce by John Holzman (I'm so glad I watched Amazing Grace twice before this so that I could understand all the ins and outs first).
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then leave me a comment with your name and the link to your summary. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox.
This was a wonderfully full week, beginning with a visit from my sister and her family. You can read about it on my previous entry. I really enjoyed having them here.
On Wednesday I took my Mountain Princess to physical therapy, which went well. We also visited the library and did a little running around town while there. On Thursday we had the day off at home, and on Friday we watched the Winter DTS graduate. I'll write more about that on my "from the Mission Field" section below.
On the Homefront:
Nothing new here this week except entertaining family and the usual weekly housekeeping duties.
In the School Room:
Just prereading some of my kids' books. I also previewed a nature study blog that gives lots of good ideas for stories and nature walks that I hope to do in the future: http://www.handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com
On the Mission Field:
Our winter DTS returned from Pakistan, Mongolia and China. They had great adventures to share, and most of them plan on returning to the mission field in the future. Here are some pics from graduation:
In the Literary Scene:
I finished prereading Moccasin Trail (great book). I read some more from Torah Club 4.
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then leave me a comment with your name and the link to your summary. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox.
Last Saturday afternoon, my sister Linda, her husband Brad and two kids Carter, 5, and Gillian (pronounced Jillian), 1, came for a short, but full, visit.. They are from Omaha.
Sunday we spent the day at the Black Canyon National Park. It was a beautiful day. Perfect for exploring the many beautiful sites and picnicking. We actually went to Cimarron's Rock Shop and Morrow Point first, but somehow I neglected to get pictures. Here are some pics from our adventure at the Black Canyon:
Painted Wall
Carter, Snow Crystal, Mountain Princess and my little Buddy
Linda eating with Bubbies
Little Buddy and Bubbies
Carter and Snow Crystal pretending to be falling off the edge! (They actually weren't anywhere near the edge!)
LInda and all the kids.
Me and my too little ones.
Sunday evening we celebrated Father's Day with the two dads, and Brad's birthday at home. It was a simple affair with grilled hamburgers and baked beans. I forgot that I had corn on the cob too, so we ate that on Tuesday instead.
On Monday we took the road we live on up over Owl Creek Pass to highway 550 south to Ouray. I got some pics of our journey, then neglected to take pics in Ouray of the hot springs where we went swimming or Buen Tiempo, where we ate a delicious Mexican meal afterwards.
This is what happens when you let your oldest dd take charge of her own sunscreen. She has been miserable from it all week.
On Tuesday we hung out at home, did laundry, ate spaghetti and corn on the cob and rested. In the afternoon Linda and Brad loaded up their sweet family and headed off to Grand Junction to continue their journey. They hope to go visit Moab and the dinosaur museum in Fruita before heading back to Nebraska at the end of the week to camp with Brad's parents before returning to Omaha.
Jun. 24, 2009
Weekly Wrapup for week ending 6-20-09
From the Heart:
Due to a crazy end of the week and a full weekend with my sister and her family here to visit, I didn't get my weekly wrapup done until now. Last week was full and good. We went swimming one day, and took MP to PT twice. I think I had only one day that I didn't go to town!
On Friday the Discipleship Training School students gave the staff a "Love Feast" to show their appreciation of us. It was fun to eat delicious food (mango hamburgers, chicken and rice, fruit salad, gluten-free butterfinger cookies, cheesecake, among other things). They also entertained us with a real hula dance by a Hawaiian student, original songs, and even a fun blues song with harmonica. This school is very artsy, and we are blessed by their talents!
This is Snow Crystal on the right and her best friend at the Love Feast. The following picture is them without a pose. Don't they look happy?
On the Homefront:
We did a lot of housekeeping this week in preparation of our guests. This finally motivated me to clean the mudrooms, the basement, and all of our regular housekeeping things. Friday was an exhausting day! I took a bunch of stuff I haven't used for a while and brought it to the Salvation Army. It is so good to get those kinds of things done!
I did get pics of our finished chicken coop. Our chickens are ready for us to pick up this week as well!
I also got pics of our new beds for the girls.
In the School Room:
We haven't been doing any school work this week, but I have been doing a lot of prereading and planning for how we will do school next year. I have quite a few electives we will do this year in addition to our regular studies. For example, art history/artist study/art, composer studies, piano, Spanish, and nature study. I'm looking forward to putting it all together. I preread The Great Horn Spoon and it will be a great reader for the girls. I've also been perusing the teacher's guides to plan for our new school year.
On the Mission Field:
So much is going on in our schools, and yet I feel on the fringes right now. I know our being here is enabling the discipleship to happen, yet I cannot say I am doing this or that! Our winter DTS will be home today from their time in Asia. I'm so looking forward to seeing everyone!
In the Literary Scene:
As I mentioned above, I've been prereading teacher's guides and school books. I continue to read Torah Club 4 and enjoy it immensely. I am so far behind in the reading that I don't expect to be caught up by the end of the year, however.
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then leave me a comment with your name and the link to your summary. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox.
Life was a lot smoother sailing this week. I'm actually enjoying not having to go into work on Tuesdays, although I'm still curious as to how the Lord is going to work this out. There's a lot less stress when I don't have to go into work.
Mountain Princess's physical therapy is going well. The therapist says she is making good progress. It does mean two trips a week into town, however. At the therapist's recommendation, we got both of the bigger girls Superfeet Insoles to help with their overall skeletal alignment.
On the Homefront:
Tim finished the chicken coop this week. Now he is thinking about putting wheels on it to help us to be able to move it around the yard. It is beastly heavy. I'll get a pic up soon.
The camper we got is proving to be a lemon. It leaks, and it broke down on Tim once this week... Maybe it ran out of gas. He's not sure. Ah well, it gives him something to do.
We bought new beds for the older girls - just what we were wanting - for $75 each from Wal Mart! They have drawers for storage and a book shelf on the headboard. I haven't taken any pics yet, and dd's bed that we have put together isn't made right now.
Bubbies helped me make some gluten-free corn dogs this week. Yummy! They turned out great!
In the School Room:
Snow Crystal finished her Singapore Math book yesterday! Yea! Now we are just doing review work until we start school again.
On the Mission Field:
The One DTS had a great third week.
In the Literary Scene:
I'm reading a lot from Torah Club 4. As usual, I'm enjoying it immensely. I am prereading By the Great Horn Spoon from Core 4. It is a cute story. I am reading Made from Scratch by Jenna Wohlgenrich. It is about a girl who decided to homestead a little rented place and live off the earth - fulfilling her dreams along with a full-time day job. I live to read her blog Cold Antler Farm as well.
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then leave me a comment with your name and the link to your summary. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox.
Life never stays the same does it? Praise God He moves in our lives, and works things for His glory. Life rocked my world on Wednesday, and honestly I can't remember much about Sunday and Monday because of it.
I took Mountain Princess to PT on Wednesday, and while we were waiting to get in, Dr. Jahani, my employer, called to tell me that they were taking me off of the schedule for the rest of the month. He gave no promises about after that, but said he'd call me at the end of the month. You must understand that this job was 4/5 of our income. I praise God that we have a little savings, and also we know that He is our provider, not Dr. Jahani, nevertheless it has changed our world... Life is like a boat on the open seas. Sometimes it is smooth-sailing, but other times the storms hit without warning...
I've been watching/listening to the "Ancient Path Series" by Rabbi Ralph Messer put on by "The Door Post". It is enjoyable and I'm learning. Today I listened to Rabbi Messer speak on "Addiction to Affirmation". Very good stuff. He speaks live and I can stream his sermon live on Saturday mornings.
On the Homefront:
I've got my hands full with Jo-Jo this week. He is two and definitely trying to spread his own wings... I'm constantly having to keep on my toes.
The bigger girls are doing well this week. There seemed to be less struggling with the "new friend on the block".
Bubbies, my 4 yo dd, had a good week too. She and her new 4 yo friend still love each other and play wonderfully together.
This bird couple came for a visit one day this week. You can go to my nature journal blog to see more of them. I still haven't looked them up to see what they are. We also have a couple of robins building nests in the rafters of our back deck again, and we may have a nesting wren in the front deck rafters...
In the School Room:
This week we officially finished our school year with the 10 and 11 yo dds. That is, we finished our Colorado state reports and our spelling book. We still continue to do Bible (Mountain Princess recited two more chapters of James to me, and has two left to do! Snow Crystal reads a chapter of the Bible and does a journal entry on it). Snow Crystal still has a few days left in her Singapore math book, and then both girls will work in their Miquon math books or do math drills for the remainder of the summer.
Preschool: We had one good day.
Wednesday, in addition to being Mountain Princess's first day of PT, and the day I was laid off, was also Box Day! Box Day is the day our homeschool curriculum from Sonlight arrived (two days after my order was put in!). I keep having to remind the girls that they have to wait to read their books when school starts in August! They don't mind TOO much. I've gotten the instructor's guides filed into big notebooks, and the books sorted onto our school book shelves. I'm so grateful that I already had this stuff ordered and purchased prior to the lay-off or I know I would be doubting my ability to purchase it. The big girls will be doing Core 4, and Bubbies will be doing Core K over 1-2 years (I've got a lot of stuff to work with her on her 3 Rs, as well as trying to do 2 Cores simultaneously!).
On the Mission Field:
The One DTS had a great second week. I haven't heard anything about the two teams overseas. My day in the clinic went great (except now I know it was my last day for a while, which just makes me sad).
In the Literary Scene:
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then click onto the Mr. Linky below (or leave me a comment if Mr. Linky doesn't show up with a link to your post) and leave your name and the link to your summary. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox and I will put it up for you when I get mine done.
God is good. All the time. We've had a great week this week. Tuesday evening we went to Grand Junction, Colorado and traded our old Suburban for a 1973 Dodge Sportsman camper. It runs and is just what we need to make camping a regular part of our weekends this year. The kids already spend time out there with there little friends who are part of the community here this summer. My dh is working on cleaning it out and tuning up the engine. There is sleeping accommodations for six, which will be perfect for our family, but we'll need a tent, probably if we ever invite any little friends to come with us.
Mountain Princess will start physical therapy this week for her back pain that she has had for the entire winter and spring so far. Her x-rays showed that she has spina bifida occulta, which my colleague and a specialist think is not the cause of her pain. This frightened me at first, but now I have peace about it. My daughter's doctor hasn't talked to me about her opinion of it yet, but maybe that is because she doesn't know what to think...
On the Homefront:
Little Jo-Jo is growing up. We've spent a lot more focused time on him and the girls regarding first time obedience. That is a goal of mine for this summer - to become more consistent in my yeses and nos. Jo-Jo is still working on potty training, but he still doesn't initiate going to the toilet on his own. He is, however, keeping his undies dry for longer periods of time.
The girls are having to learn how to relate to a third friend in their circle of playtime. They both love her, but are having a time learning to relate with the three of them together. Mountain Princess is also learning that she doesn't like playing some of the things she enjoyed when she was 8 or even 10, and is making the adjustment to grow up. She is spending more time reading or writing on her own when the younger girls are playing with paper dolls and Littlest Pet Shop toys. She even went so far as packaging up all of her paper dolls that she's made to give away.
Last night the girls finished their season with Audience of One. They performed their dances in a fund-raiser for the summer season, which will be heading off to Romania and Hungary. The dances went great. I was heart-broken to hear my 10 year old, Snow Crystal, didn't have any friends in the group, and to watch her stand off on the side by herself. She told me that she had asked a few of the girls to be her friend and that they had said that they would, but that they always ignored her anyway. Neither of the girls want to take part in the group next fall. I'm relieved to not have to drive into town for this each week. Snow Crystal is bonding well with the little almost 9 yo girl who is here for the summer, and for that I rejoice. They will both be in the fourth grade next school year.
Snow Crystal is fourth from the left (actually on second row), and Mountain Princess is the second one from the right on the first row.
Mountain Princess is the first one from the left.
Snow Crystal is the third one from the right.
Bubbies, my 4 yo dd, on the same note is bonding well with the sister of Snow Crystal's friend, who is also four. They are very enjoyable to watch as their love for each other and their friendship just bubbles all over the place!
In the School Room:
Well, we didn't get done as planned. The state reports still need some pages to be completed. Mountain Princess has one verse left, then she will be finished memorizing every verse in the book of James! I will give her a movie for every chapter she can recite with minimal help. She's already received one for the first chapter. The others she can easily earn with just a little concentrated effort this summer. We finished Little Britches. The girls did one day of Nature Journaling out of the three days we had available to do school.
Preschool: We had a couple of good days.
On the Mission Field:
The first week of the One DTS went great. There are about 11 students, and they all seem to be great people. We are seeing God moving in amazing ways in their lives already.
The teams in China/Mongolia and in Pakistan are doing well. They only have a couple weeks left before they return home.
In the clinic I had some great opportunities to encourage a few of my patients and their families. That is such a rewarding part of my work here.
In the Literary Scene:
Besides "Little Britches" that I read aloud to the girls, I also read "Treasures of the Snow" by Patricia St. John on my own. It is a great story of forgiveness and God's healing. Mountain Princess is reading that for her assigned reading now too. I also made my way through a few more chapters in "A Charlotte Mason Handbook" reading about teaching little ones to read, composition, spelling and vocabulary. It is good to remember these things as I set up my year for the girls for next year.
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then click onto the Mr. Linky below (or leave me a comment if Mr. Linky doesn't show up with a link to your post) and leave your name and the link to your summary. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox and I will put it up for you when I get mine done.
This has been a full week with little breathing room. I'm exhausted! We spent every day in town this week except Thursday and Friday. Phew!
Monday we took the kids to town for their last official Audience of One meeting. They will perform next Friday night for a fundraiser. While in town I signed the kids up for swimming lessons this summer. That was a real ordeal, and after at least an hour, one of the girls still didn't end up in the right class. Of course the class is full now, so we we have three kids on waiting lists... I also signed the kids up for the summer reading program that starts this Tuesday.
Tuesday I worked in town all day.
Wednesday I took the kids into town because my oldest daughter has been suffering from back pain for months and it just isn't going away on its own. We took xrays and then hung out at McDonald's. In the evening we took the kids to the circus. That was a fun, albeit expensive recreation. It won't be a regular thing, but we enjoyed splurging this once.
Thursday night we enjoyed spending the afternoon and evening with visitors who are fast becoming good friends. We were sad when they left after lunch on Friday.
Of course I am still weighing my homeschooling options, and at this point feel like we will probably go back with Sonlight, our own Bible, Five in a Row and perhaps some Homeschoolinthewoods supplementation for the older girls.
On the Homefront:
Tim is making great progress on the chicken coop.
In the School Room:
We've made it to the last week of our official school year. This week we've doubled up on spelling, did math, Bible, and state reports. Our read aloud continued to be "Little Britches", but we are almost finished. The language is a little too much, so I often have to change the words as I read it. That is the beauty of read-alouds, though, isn't it?! The girls also finished the biography of Juliette Gordon Low and worked on their girl scout projects. They did one day of nature journaling, but we've had a lot of rain this week. We should finish officially this next week.
Preschool: We had a couple of good days, and in them we got through about two weeks worth of school!
On the Mission Field:
Things are beginning to ramp up around here. This week we will start another Discipleship Training School. The teams in Pak and China/Mongolia are sending good reports. Pretty soon our community will be more than doubled. Things also went well again at the clinic.
In the Literary Scene:
I finished This Beloved Land, the 5th in the Arcadia series by Janette Oke. I really enjoyed all of this series. I also read the book that completes the Little House series written after Laura Ingalls Wilder's death. Did you know Laura had a baby brother between Carrie and Grace? They lived in a little town called Burr Oak, Iowa for a season between Minnesota - On the Banks of Plum Creek and South Dakota - On the Shores of Silver Lake.
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then click onto the Mr. Linky below and leave your name and the link to your summary. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox and I will put it up for you when I get mine done.
Wow, I can't believe spring is finally here and school is almost done for the year! I'm loving the easier days and the warm weather, the spruce sap scenting the warm air... We've also enjoyed having a couple of courting sage grouse wandering around our yard...
I've been heavy with worry for most of the week regarding what to do with the kids for school next year. I really want a good Bible curriculum that will walk through all of the Word together with my children, that has a whole Bible emphasis (Hebrew Roots bend?). I like what Robin shares about in her Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach as far as teaching Bible, but when I look at her year one stuff, then I'm not so sure that is what I want. I keep praying. I am leaning toward doing Sonlight Core 4 (1850 - modern history), on a slower track to make it more Charlotte Masonish, and more digestable, but I want Bible to be more of the heart of our studies, with Sonlight on the side, instead of vice-verse.
For Babygirl's kindergarten, I am leaning toward Five in a Row with Sonlight's Language Arts K and Singapore Math. I may also supplement with Teaching Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and Shiller Math. I would also like to get a cute Calendar chart with activities that I saw at Christianbook.com, and a letter chart that goes with Explode the Code. Their lessons are so fun! I wish I had known about these when I taught my first two to read! Of course we will probably do Handwriting without Tears again if we need to, or I might just wing it with copy work.
On the Homefront:
The snow is almost completely gone around here, and acts like it isn't coming back! Wahoo! I've been working in the yard today trying to clean up the pinecones and flower gardens, and seeing which of my perennials are coming back. There are some really fun ones out there. On the north side of the house we have a little landscaping to do, holes to be filled and hopefully another garden to put in...herbs and more flowers, and maybe some strawberries... I'm not sure if they will survive the deer, but usually the deer don't come that close to the house - at least not on that side.
Both of the big girls were sick a day each this week, which kind of plays havoc on our schedule.
Tim is continuing to build our chicken coop on our back deck. Here is a more recent pic (but now it also has a divider between the floored and unfloored sections, and chicken wire on the unfloored section. The little ones like to play in it too):
In the School Room:
We are reading aloud Little Britches by Ralph Moody, since that goes along with our Colorado state report that we are doing. We're also reading A Child's History of Colorado for the general history stuff, but it is terrible, frankly. It is very evolution-packed and full of opinions in the history that, frankly, I just don't care for. Oh well. Some days I just kind of skim over it and give the kids a summary of what it said and call it good. The girls are also filling out notebook pages of things like our state seal, our state flag, our state bird and so forth. I have a more modern summary book of the state that we go through each day as well, but I can't remember the title right now. We enjoy it much better.
Mountain Princess got one day in doing her nature journal. I think Snow Crystal would have done more, but she really doesn't get motivated to do it unless I go with her, and I haven't done it this week, so it just didn't get done. We might go do a page tomorrow. It is such a nice relaxing Sabbath day activity.
Bible: Both girls did the final chapter of Boy Have I Got Problems.
Math: Snow Crystal continued in her Singapore 3A. She worked on her multiplication tables of nines, including using it with division. Mountain Princess did her Singapore 5A, mostly working on end of book review exercises. It won't be long now before she finishes for the year.
Reading: Snow Crystal finished Meet Thomas Jefferson. Mountain Princess finished Black Beauty. Together we are reading Daisy, the Story of Juliette Gordon Low about the woman who started the Girl Scout movement.
Spanish: I decided that it would be okay to take a break from this for the end of the year.
Preschool: We had a great week. Bubblies finished her Handwriting Without Tears preschool book. She is on Book 4 of Developing the Early Learner. She only has about 10 lessons or so in her Earlybird Singapore Math book. She is definitely ready for kindergarten! We probably have about 4 weeks left of reading to do with her Sonlight Core P4/5, but that will be nice to draw from during the summer if we don't get it all finished before then.
On the Mission Field:
Continue to pray for the teams in Pak*stan and Ch*na. This gets to be a hard time of their trip when they've been out for a couple of months already and still have a month or so to go. Things seem to be going well with the P team, but the C team seems to be struggling more.
In the Clinic:
I continue to praise God for this job. Thanks for all those who helped pray for me when I didn't get a job for a year and a half when I first moved here. I believe God was preparing this job for me. I worked in the Urgent Care on Saturday, which I don't like to do because it is on my Sabbath day, but I felt the Lord provided it for us to pay for our internet service we got. The day went quickly, and I enjoyed it, but I also really felt the lack of rest of my normal Sabbath throughout this week!
In the Literary Scene:
I've been working on This Beloved Land, the 5th in the Arcadia series by Janette Oke. I really enjoyed all of this series. I read some from Robin Sampson's Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach also, as I search for a good Bible curriculum for this coming year.
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then click onto the Mr. Linky below and leave your name and the link to your summary. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox and I will put it up for you when I get mine done.
This has been one of those roller coaster weeks. There have been some great things happening, and some not so hot things, and a wide spectrum of emotions to go along with it.
On the Homefront:
We got our own internet satellite!
Snow Crystal is settled into her own room now, and is doing quite well in keeping it clean. Of course I did warn the girls that if I find things lying around, then it tells me that they give me permission to take those things and put them away for however long I deem necessary...
Snow Crystal turned 10 on May 7th.
In the School Room:
We began reading a new read-aloud called "A Pioneer Sampler" that shares about Pioneer life with a story weaved through it. It is written great and we all love it. We have also been reading a few more chapters of "Burgess Bird Book" which we started some time last year.
We started our four weeks of "Writing a State Report". This week mostly we talked about the library and where to find resources. This will be Mountain Princess's first real report, and I'm a little nervous about how it is going to go over! For Snow Crystal, she will mostly do the notebook on a smaller scale, but won't be taking notes on note cards and so forth. If it doesn't work out with Mountain Princess, we will skip it with her too.
We started doing our nature journals again. This is going well with Mountain Princess, but it doesn't really excite Snow Crystal yet.
Bible: Mountain Princess (dd11) memorized to James 5:13, and practiced James 1-2. Snow Crystal (dd9) is kind of at a stand still. Like last week, I am really searching as to what we can do next year to make Bible a much more important, centric, and interesting part of our school and lives next year. One plan I have is to do the Biblical Holidays as unit studies through the year. The other ideas is to look again at Heart of Wisdom's Biblical unit studies. Still searching.
Because of the state report, we aren't really doing language arts as were were any longer. We are doing spelling (lessons 157-161 (out of 180).
Math: Snow Crystal continued in her Singapore 3A. She worked on her multiplication tables of eights. and she did a couple of review pages today. Mountain Princess did her Singapore 5A, doing more with angles. Now she is doing her book reviews and will soon be finished with the entire book.
Reading: Snow Crystal finished Naya Nuki by Thomasma. She is now reading Meet Thomas Jefferson. Mountain Princess read 20 chapters in Black Beauty.
Spanish: Snow Crystal and Mountain Princess both took the easier road this week and worked on the Instant Immersion Spanish.
Preschool: This went much better this week.
On the Mission Field:
We got several letters this week from both teams. God seems to be working in them and through them in mighty ways. Pray for one group who have been making great headways until some violence between religious groups nearby caused them to have to leave the area. Pray that they will get the opportunity to return there and finish the work they started before they have to return home in June. Due to the nature of the work they are doing and where they are, I can't speak about any more in detail.
In the Clinic:
Another great day. I still feel that this is part of "my" mission field, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to have this job, and work with these people (patients and staff). They are all so precious.
In the Literary Scene:
I've been doing a lot of hit and miss reading in the same books as the last several weeks. Nothing new. I did go to the library today, so I may have some new books to share next week!
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then click onto the Mr. Linky below and leave your name and the link to your summary. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox and I will put it up for you when I get mine done. Carol
The sun is shining now, but it snowed all morning. Nothing stuck, for which I'm grateful!
I'm thinking...
a lot about how much work I need to do on myself to make me a better discipling mother, and to have my children working with me from the heart. They are embarrassing to have in public, and I suppose it is my own fault.
From the learning rooms...
had a great morning today, because we thougth we'd be going to town and to the library this afternoon. As it turns out my 9 year old got sick at lunchtime and didn't want to go to her dance club. I stayed how with her and her two younger siblings.
I am thankful for...
the ability to grow in grace and God's word.
From the kitchen...
Monday - Chef salad.
Tuesday - Stir fry.
Wednesday - Grilled burgers.
Thursday - Spaghetti and asparagus on request by the birthday girl.
Friday - Roast beef and veggies.
Saturday - Leftovers as usual, or popcorn and cheese and apples while we watch a movie Sunday - To be determined
I am wearing...
Khaki skirt, pinkish-orange button up, 3/4 length sleeve sweater, brown boot socks, hair up in a french braid.
I am reading...
OT: Leviticus & I Kings; NT: Luke Torah Club Vol. 4
Pioneer Samplerand Burgess Bird Book (read alouds)
The Charlotte Mason Handbook by Karen Andreola
Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson
Lots of preschool stories from Sonlight
The Beloved Land by Janette Oke and T. Davis Bunn
The Prescriber's Letter (continuing medical education)
I am hoping... for a good day at work tomorrow, and to gain better skills as a mom and wife.
I am creating... a cleaner and more organized home.
I am hearing... the hum of this computer.
Around the house ... laundry almost finished, the two little ones are outside, dishes need to be taken care of from lunch, and supper needs prepared.
One of my favorite things... a comment from a blog friend.
I am going... ?. A few plans for the rest of the week...
Tuesday I work all day. Thursday is Snow Crystal's 10th birthday. Friday girl scouts and touring the library. Saturday I celebrate the Sabbath. Sunday church.
Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
Tim is building a portable chicken coop. I will keep you all posted as it comes together.
I hope you enjoyed your peek into our mountain haven! Come again!
If you would like to join us in The Simple Woman's Daybook, please see our Hostess,Peggyfor details. You may also visit her for the Mr. Linky to many other Simple Women.
May. 2, 2009
Weekly Wrapup for week ending May 2, 2009
From the Heart:
This week has been good on many ends. The little ones are doing much better about staying in their seats during meals and snacks. The second oldest has gotten a little better about being controling of her little sister. I've had more time to do things like moving furniture and cleaning little used rooms. I've even had more time to blog. Yea!
On the Homefront:
We are getting our own internet satellite! Starting this next Wednesday, I can make the calls as to when my kids or I can use the internet. This will be a challenge that I will have to have lots of self-control with, but I am so glad for it. Yesterday I spent the day moving my second daughter into our computer room and moving the computer stuff upstairs to our loft area. We couldn't do this before due to computer connections not being reliable in the computer area.
Tim is outside working right now on our portable hutch for our chickens!
In the School Room:
My homeschool weekly will no longer be with "Cuddles on the Couch". She has felt the Lord's leading to stop this meme and make her blog private. We will miss her, but I understand.
We finished reading The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle to the girls last night. It brought about some great discussions too.
In history we studied about the California gold rush. This concluded our history studies of Exploration to 1850 with My Father's World. We may still do some fun activities with our Colonial Life unit we got through Homeschool in the Woods. Next week we will start our state study for the last four weeks of school.
We talked about nonvascular plants in science. We were supposted to do another study on Liverworts and so forth, but ran out of time due to moving rooms yesterday.
Bible: Mountain Princess (dd11) memorized to James 5:9, and practiced James 1-4. Snow Crystal (dd9) is kind of at a stand still. I am really searching as to what we can do next year to make Bible a much more important, centric, and interesting part of our school and lives next year. One plan I have is to do the Biblical Holidays as unit studies through the year. The other ideas is to look again at Heart of Wisdom's Biblical unit studies. Still searching.
Language arts we continued doing Primary Language Lessons with Snow Crystal. Mountain Princess has finished her book for the year. We are doing spelling lessons 150-156 (out of 180). They were easier words this week, so the kids didn't mind doing a couple extra lists.
Math: Snow Crystal continued in her Singapore 3A. She is still working with her multiplication tables of sevens. I was pleased with her review story problems today. Mountain Princess continued to work with the area and perimeter of a triangle, then moved on to ratios on Thursday and Friday.
Reading: Snow Crystal continued to read Naya Nuki by Thomasma. She is up to chapter 13, and will finish soon. Mountain Princess started Black Beauty by Seward (I think).
Spanish: Ciara is faithful to do about 20 minutes a day with Rosetta Stone. She is making her way slowly but surely. Jaedyn has finished the Talk Now program, and began it again to get a better hold on these beginning words.
Preschool: Only a day or two accomplished. I have the schedule done and everything, but I just don't get it done!
On the Mission Field:
I'm still not hearing much from the teams on outreach.
In the Clinic:
Nothing new to report here. It was a good day in the clinic. The Lord has laid a couple of my patients on my heart to pray for, but I can't really go into detail here.
In the Literary Scene:
I continued on A Charlotte Mason Handbook by Karen Andreola. I am still doing Torah Club 4 readings, though I am not caught up completely yet, and the plan of reading is very heavy last week and this week. I will do it though! I started reading the last book in the Acadia series by Janette Oke, but my bedtime reading has been difficult since I am so tired!
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then click onto the Mr. Linky below and leave your name and the link to your summary. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox and I will put it up for you when I get mine done. Carol
Apr. 29, 2009
Simple Woman's Daybook - April 29, 2009
For Today, Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
Outside My Window... The sun is shining. We had 60's in the shade this afternoon. The grass is greening up around the dining center and playground. Our yard still has snow, but hopefully the grass will green up soon.
I'm thinking... lots about next years homeschooling plans, and summer plans.
From the learning rooms... will share more on Friday or Saturday...
I am thankful for... sunshiney days! My girls' individual personalities. Days of cheerfulness and diligence.
From the kitchen...
Monday - homemade pizza, salad
Tuesday - Barbecue at friends for a going away party for Lindsay.
Wednesday - Potato soup or eggs and hashbrowns
Thursday - Tostadas
Friday - Crepes with strawberries and whipped cream!
Saturday - Leftovers as usual, or popcorn and cheese and apples while we watch a movie Sunday - To be determined
I am wearing...Rust colored Eddie Bauer skirt, cream colored corduroy button up top with reddish flowers and rusty leaves, white ankle socks, hair up in a french braid.
I am reading... OT: Leviticus & I Kings; NT: Luke Torah Club Vol. 4
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (read aloud)
The Charlotte Mason Handbook by Karen Andreola
Many history books with the girls
The Beloved Land by Janette Oke and T. Davis Bunn
I am hoping... for more days of sunshine, and time to spend in the yard and flower gardens.
I am creating... plans for a great school year next year.
I am hearing... the dryer humming, the girls watching Curious George Goes Pirating in the basement, and the hum of this computer.
Around the house ... laundry in process, and I have nice clean, fresh-smelling sheets on the bed, Josiah is sleeping in his room upstairs, Tim is sitting on the rocker and looking out the picture window. Dinner is waiting to be prepared. I'd better hurry!
One of my favorite things... a job well done.
I am going... to Canada in August to visit Mary and her family. A few plans for the rest of the week...
Monday the kids went to Audience of One while I took the younger two to visit parks. It was such a nice day. Tuesday I worked all day and enjoyed a barbecue with friends. That was mighty good potato salad! Wednesday through Friday I get to stay home with my family and be mom. Saturday I celebrate the Sabbath. Sunday church, and possibly picking up what we need to build a chicken coop!
Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
Josiah looks so cute with this stocking hat on!
The problem with having three older sisters...no privacy...and they are always trying to mother and help little brother!
Yea! Pee-pee in the potty!
I hope you enjoyed your peek into our mountain haven! Come again!
If you would like to join us in The Simple Woman's Daybook, please see our Hostess,Peggyfor details. You may also visit her for the Mr. Linky to many other Simple Women.
I saw this over at Mary's, who found it at Tracy's who found it at Karen's blog and thought it looked like a fun little survey.
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***********FOOD-OLOGY***************
What is your salad dressing of choice?
Ranch or poppyseed.
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What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
El Jimador - Mexican, in Montrose, Colorado.
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What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
Ohhhhh ice cream for sure ! Or anything chocolate. [0= (I'm with Mary on this one).
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What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Vegetarian, mushrooms, black olives.
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What do you like to put on your toast?
Real butter and raspberry jam
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Chocolate or Vanilla?
Usually Chocolate, but sometimes vanilla -esp. if I can put chocolate on it!
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***********TECHN-OLOGY***************
How many televisions are in your house?
One.
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What color cell phone do you have?
Silver.
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Do you have a laptop?
Don't have one but I want one! (Same here)
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***************BI-OLOGY******************
Are you right-handed or left-handed? right
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Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Tonsils and adenoids, wisdom teeth, moles
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What is the last heavy item you lifted? My daughter.
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Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
Yes. I was hit by a car once and I was in a car accident once. Both times I got a concussion.
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************DUMB-OLOGY******************
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How many pairs of flip flops do you own? One.
Last time you had a run-in with the cops? Last year when Tim totaled the van.
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Last person you talked to on the phone? Katia.
Last person you hugged? Jaedyn or Elly.
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**************FAVORITE-OLOGY****************
Season? Summer or Fall.
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Holiday? Not sure.
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Day of the week? Saturday
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Month? July or October
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***********CURRENT-OLOGY*****************
Missing someone? My mom and my miscarried children
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Mood? content
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What are you listening to? Josiah "fishing" with his play fishing pole he won today.
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Watching? Nuffin.
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Worrying about? Can't think of anything.
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***************RANDOM-OLOGY****************
First place you went this morning? Bathroom
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What’s the last movie you saw? Misty
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Do you smile often? I think so...
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Do you always answer your phone? Yes.
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It’s four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it ?
Wouldn't happen. My cell phone doesn't get coverage here.
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If you could change your eye color what would it be? I'm fine with my eye color - blue.
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What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? I don't add. I almost always get a Lemon-berry slush or a cranberry slush, depending on the time of day.
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Do you own a digital camera? yes.
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Have you ever had a pet fish? Yes, several.
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Favorite Christmas song(s)? Away in a Manger, a newer arrangement.
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What’s on your wish list for your birthday? Bigger cast iron skillet, Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer, several books
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Can you do push ups? Maybe one or two!
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Can you do a chin up? Probably not.
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Does the future make you more nervous or excited? Not sure.
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Do you have any saved texts? Yes, Chris Locke's phone number.
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Ever been in a car wreck? Yes, a few. I totaled my car on my 16th birthday.
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Do you have an accent? Doesn't everyone?
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What is the last song to make you cry? Not sure, I cry at everything!
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Plans tonight? Hanging out at home with the family. Maybe driving up the mountain to see how much snow has melted.
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Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? Yes, when I was 19 I was engaged and my fiance broke it off. I was devastated and considered suicide.
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Name 3 things you bought yesterday:
Books at the library book sale, a lemon berry slush, tater tots.
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Have you ever been given roses? Yes.
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Current hate right now? Mud!
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Met someone who changed your life? Jesus.
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How did you bring in the New Year? I didn't.
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What song represents you? ???
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Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? I'm not sure what that would entail, but there are some regrets that I wish I had done some things differently.
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Have you ever dated someone longer than a year?
Yes. I dated my husband for a year and one month and then we were married. (Me too).
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Do you have any tattoos/piercings? Just the ears – no tattoos
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What songs do you sing in the shower? I don't sing there
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Ever had someone sing to you? Not really.
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Do you like to cuddle? Only with my hubby and children.
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Have you held hands with anyone today? Yes, my children
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Who was the last person you took a picture of? Elly.
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What kind of music did you listen to in elementary school? pop
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Do you believe in staying close with your ex’s? No.
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Are most of the friends in your life new or old? Depends on when ceases to be new and becomes old.
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Do you like pulpy orange juice? No.
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What is something your friends make fun of you for? I'm naive at times
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Have you ever ridden an elephant? no.
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Do you like to play Scrabble? YES.
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What are you saving your money up for right now? Vacation this summer and a house.
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When is the last time you ate peanut butter and jelly? Can't remember.
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What were you doing at 12 AM last night? Probably blogging!
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What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? I wonder where my Torah Portions sheet is?
I've really enjoyed not being under the gun this week to study for my recert exam. What a nice load off my mind. I've been thinking a lot about what changes I want to make in our homeschool and lifestyle next year, and I've been doing some work on a few of the kids' bad habits. For the youngest two we are working on staying at the table and eating their food. Right now it is still a struggle, but we will keep at it until some new ruts are put down and new habits are formed. We are also working with Snow Crystal in her habit of attacking her little sister. This one is more of a challenge for us, but then again, some definite changes need to be made so we will keep at it until new ruts of habit are formed in her too.
On the Homefront:
Praise God we had a wonderfully warm week, with highs in the 50's and maybe 60's. A lot of the snow melted, and the kids were able to play outside without having to wade through mud. My hubby and I are looking into getting some hens for eggs soon. He will build a movable pen so they can be grass-fed, and also to protect them from predators. I have a feeling we will need to put an electric wire around it too. Hubby thinks that since their house will have a bottom and they will be shut in at night that we may not need to.
In the School Room:
We are still reading The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle to the girls. They get sore whenever we tell them we are done for the night. Lots of groans and pleas!
In history we studied about the Alamo and Texas's journey to becoming a state. I never knew that the US Army marched all the way to Mexico City and took it at one point in our history (Mexican-American war). We learned about one other state and three presidents.
We talked about seedless vascular plants and ferns in science. There are a lot of cool experiements and projects we could be doing, but alas spring is not far along enough for them to work here. I hope to be able to make them happen in the summer.
Bible: Mountain Princess memorized to James 5:5, and practiced James 1-4. Snow Crystal read her little sister's Bible stories to her and did some journaling.
Language arts we continued doing Primary Language Lessons with Snow Crystal. Mountain Princess has finished her book for the year. We are doing spelling lessons 144-149 (out of 180). They were tough words again, but the kids seem to catch on quite well.
Math: Snow Crystal continued in her Singapore 3A. She is still working with her multiplication tables of sevens. I was pleased with her review story problems today. Mountain Princess continued to work with the area and perimeter of a triangle, then moved on to ratios on Thursday and Friday.
Reading: Snow Crystal continued to read Naya Nuki by Thomasma. Mountain Princess finished Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. (Go see her report about it here).
Preschool: We didn't do so well this week. My baby girl asks for school each day, but I don't always get it in.
On the Mission Field:
We've gotten a report from our Pakistan team, but not from our China team. I guess no news is good news? The Pakistan team seems to be doing well. Here at the base most of the staff were gone to a North American leadership conference.
In the Clinic:
It was a good week. I can't think of anything that happened out of the ordinary. I still have about 17 hours of continuing medical education to do before the end of June. Most of that will be reading journals.
In the Literary Scene:
I focused a lot more on A Charlotte Mason Handbook by Karen Andreola. I am still doing Torah Club readings, though I am not caught up completely yet.
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then click onto the Mr. Linky below and leave your name and the link to your summary. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! If you want to participate in the Homeschool Weekly theme, be sure to leave a link with Mrs. Cuddles also (click on image above). If not, please do not use her graphic above in your post. Hope to read your summary soon! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox and I will put it up for you when I get mine done. Carol
Outside my window...Sunny and warm! A lot of the snow has melted and the red snow is beginning to show through again. I can see grass where the sun hits the ground directly. Very cool!
I'm thinking... I'm so glad that my PA recertification boards are behind me so that I can enjoy blogging and reading what I want again!
From the learning rooms... I am reading the Charlotte Mason Handbook by Karen Andreola and gleaning some good useful stuff about forming good habits and molding the will. I hope to find more good stuff on child training too.
I am thankful for... my husband, the sun shining, a car and computer that are running well, and my income tax return.
From the kitchen....It's that time of year where I have to put out three meals a day from my own kitchen again. I have made up a schedule, but I don't have it here beside me.
I am wearing... a dark pink, long-sleeved t-shirt, black jeans, pink, white and yellow socks. My hair is pulled back into two barrettes at the back of my head.
I am reading... As I mentioned above I'm reading the Charlotte Mason Handbook by Karen Andreola, and Torah Club 4 commentary put out by First Fruits of Zion.
I am hoping... That my son's napping habits return to the way they were before the time change. Also that his cough goes away soon.
I am creating... lots of ideas for how we will do school differently next year.
I am hearing... my husband turning pages to something he is reading in the next room.
Around the house... All the kids are in bed for the night. Tim is reading in the living room. The kitchen is clean.
One of my favorite things... no bake cookies! Maybe I'll go make some!
I am going... to work tomorrow in Delta, while hubby stays home with the kids (he doesn't have to do the base shopping tomorrow).
A few plans for the rest of the week... Work tomorrow all day as a physician assistant, Friday Girl Scouts.
Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
We saw these big horn sheep along side the road on our way to Kansas on highway 50 in Colorado. We saw some mountain goats near Blue Mesa Reservoir on our way home, but didn't get any pics.
Thanks for stopping! Warm Wishes for a Wonderful Week!
If you would like to join us in The Simple Woman's Daybook, please see our Hostess,Peggyfor details. You may also visit her for the Mr. Linky to many other Simple Women.
This wrapup is actually going to be for the past two weeks since we did not do school and I was gone all week last week.
From the Heart:
Some amazing things have happened over the past two weeks. On April 6, early in the morning we headed out to Wichita, Kansas to spend the week with my sister, Becky. It was a 12-13 hour drive each way. In spite of all the snow we had the week previous to this and this week, we had beautiful weather for traveling on both Mondays. I loved being with my sister and getting to know my nieces and nephews. Soon I will be a great aunt again. We played lots of Settlers of Catan, as I brought it with us and spread the Catan "infection" there as well. Eliana and Josiah were both sick off and on during the week, but it did help Josiah (2) to take wonderful naps! We also visited my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Ray, and saw my cousing Kelly and two of her kids there. (We did an egg hunt with them). On the Saturday before Resurrection Day we visited my mom's twin sister, Aunt Ada and Uncle Jack. It was delightful to see my cousin Janet and one of her sons there as well.
My sister Becky and Jaedyn at my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Ray's house.
On Wednesday of last week, Tim, Becky and I took the kids to the zoo. It was a beautiful day, and we all had lots of fun. I will post some pics later when we have a better internet connection.
We complicated my sister's life a bit as we took part in my sister's Easter celebrations. No thanks on the ham, and three of us aren't eating wheat, but she was a great trooper. The kids enjoyed coloring eggs and participated in not one, but two egg hunts. We don't normally do this at our house any more, so it was especially enjoyable for the older kids who remember doing it when they were little. I also insisted on not buying them candy with artificial ingredients... As for Easter baskets, since Becky goes all out with her kids, I splurged a little more and got the girls some new spring dresses, and a few things to put in some new boxes for them to keep their stuff in. Nothing too much. I really hope next year to participate more in the OT Biblical holidays, and incorporate a study on all of them into our homeschooling schedule.
On the Sunday we were there, we decided to visit my old home church where I grew up, and where we got married. It was raining that day, but I enjoyed seeing some very special friends. I even reconnected with my matron of honor, who we didn't have addresses for any more.
On the Homefront:
Our drive way goes back and forth between being a mudhole and a snowpit. It snowed most of yesterday and today, and we have over a foot of new snow on the ground. Ugh! There is some talk of making another base garden on the directors' property at lower elevation this year. If this works out, we will be able to grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, okra and so forth. I'm excited to see what develops from this.
In the School Room:
We called last week our spring break.
We finished our read-aloud, Bound for Oregon by Jean Van Leeuewen. It was a good story. Because we are ahead on that and don't have another read-aloud scheduled for awhile, we started another book called The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. I couldn't put it down, so I know personally that it is an absolutely amazing book. I think this book would even be liked by boys, it is that good. It is full of mystery, adventure, sailors, murder... If you have a boy or girl in the preteen/early teen years looking for a good read, this would be a page-turner for them!
The girls did their national required testing on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings of this week, so we didn't do school on those days.
In history we studied about Samuel Morse and China's Opium War. We learned about two new states too.
We talked about gymnosperms (conebearers) and their kinds of leaves and reproduction.
Bible: Ciara finished memorizing James 4, and started on James 5. Jaedyn memorized James 5:9.
Language arts we continued doing Primary Language Lessons and Intermediate Lessons. I was pleased with Jaedyn's essay today on what a horse is. She has come a long way this year. Spelling this past 4 lessons has been so amazingly difficult. The lesson we started today was better.
Math: Jaedyn worked in her green book one day, and went back to her Singapore book today, since she lost her green book yesterday! She did problems having to do with multiplying and dividing 7's. Ciara finished a review that was about four pages of story problems (she did the last page), and started learning about the area of a triangle.
Reading: Jaedyn started Naya Nuki by Thomasma. Ciara started Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.
Preschool: We are getting more consistent with Elly's school. She will be more than ready for Kindergarten next year.
On the Mission Field:
I haven't heard much from the two teams that we sent out the day Tim and I left except that they got to their destinations and the Pakistan team is already dealing with stomach issues. The other team is in China.
In the Clinic:
I took my NCCPA recertification test on the Thursday that I was in Wichita. I found out this week that I passed. It was a beastly test, and I thought I had probably failed it, but I was pleased to find out that somehow I didn't. I'm so glad! The clinic has cut back my hours, but I know God knows that and will see us through financially.
In the Literary Scene:
Besides my studies, I read a couple of Avi books. The Blue Heron was one I didn't really like. I described True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle up above. I'm also rereading A Charlotte Mason Handbook by Karen Andreola. I would like to read more Charlotte Mason now, and I still need about 18 more hours of continuing medical education. I am still doing well with my Torah Club readings, though I got a bit behind the last couple weeks. I'll probably have it all caught up tomorrow. I do have the Torah Portions read (a Bible reading plan that I use that goes along with the Torah Club studies.
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then click onto the Mr. Linky below and leave your name and the link to your summary. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! If you want to participate in the Homeschool Weekly theme, be sure to leave a link with Mrs. Cuddles also (click on image above). If not, please do not use her graphic above in your post. Hope to read your summary soon! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox and I will put it up for you when I get mine done. Carol
I love my mountain home, the climate here, the speakers, my coworkers! I've felt more at home here than anywhere I've been since I've been married. Sometimes my husband and I get the case of "greener on the other side of the fence" but fortunately it isn't long lasting. My husband felt the Lord telling him to stop it. He's ready to not look on the other side of the fence until the Lord says to do it. I'm glad for that. It is a lot easier to plan for the future when that future is clear.
On the Homefront:
It has been snowy all week. Last night I got caught in a snowstorm and had to pray a lot to get us home. I prayed for there to be tracks for me to follow, and the Lord provided them. I prayed on the way there that we'd have enough gas to get to town, and He filled my gas tank with about 1/8 of a tank. It was really cool to watch the gauge go from empty to an eighth of a tank. Also we watched the DTE on the top of the van go from reading 21 miles left in the tank to 48! Furthermore, we drove all the way to town and it read 46 miles when we got to Applebees. After we came back out, the tank again read "empty" and I was able to go fill it! God is so good!
In the School Room:
We had another good week.
We started Bound for Oregon by Jean Van Leeuewen for our read-aloud. We read several chapters ahead.
We learned about Napolean's demise, how Hawaii became part of the U.S., James Madison and James Monroe. We added Louisiana and Indiana to our states studies. We learned about Simon Bolivar's part in the independence of South American countries.
We started to learn about trees in science.
Bible: Ciara memorized James 4:9-12, and they each did some daily reading and journaling on their own several days.
Language arts was more of the same.
Math: Jaedyn worked in her green book, and it is going well for her. Ciara continued with story problems of fractions.
Reading: Jaedyn continued the second book of the Charlotte Years series of the Little House books. Ciara started reading Journey to Nowhere by Mary Jane Auch. What an exciting story! I'm so glad I found it.
Preschool: We did work each day, but didn't get all the read-alouds done. Elly is making good progress learning her letters. She pretended to have a spelling list this week, and I found that she knew and could write all but about 4 of her letters. I was pleased.
On the Mission Field:
Last night I went out with my small group and the other ladies' small group for dinner in town. It was a lovely, relaxing time. The students have been under some spiritual attack as they prepare for leaving for outreach in just over a week. Pray for their spiritual protection over the next 13-14 weeks.
In the Clinic:
I love my job. I enjoyed it immensely this week, although I was busy working for close to twelve hours again! I feel like it is my "outreach" opportunity, and I'm loving getting to know my regular patients.
In the Literary Scene:
Besides my studies, I read the first two of the Mary Jane Auch books that Ciara has for school. They are such good books I couldn't put them down! I'm also rereading A Charlotte Mason Handbook by Karen Andreola.
What a week. On Monday the Lord urged me to write a letter to my home church in Illinois to try to bring healing to an old hurt. It stirred up a lot of feelings between the elders and myself, but has since brought the desired effect: reconciliation between myself and a family I love in that church, and a platform for the elders and that family to move on to reconciliation as well. Peace is again between myself and the elders too. I continue to pray for the Holy Spirit to finish the work that He began.
On the Homefront:
It's been nice out, with temps up into the sixties. Our driveway is a pool of mud and water. On Thursday we had a few mishaps. Josiah fell into the mud totally covering the back of him down to his diaper. Only his socks remained clean! Later that afternoon, Jaedyn and Ciara were out on a walk and Jaedyn fell through a bank of snow up to her armpits, getting her feet stuck in a creek of icy water. Ciara couldn't get her out so she ran for me. She wasn't far from home, but the snow kept breaking through, so it took me some time to get to her. I was able to pull her up. On the way home, I got stuck in the snow on a steep decline in my own back yard. I was wearing a skirt and my back boot wouldn't budge! My front foot was down hill, so I couldn't get the right direction. When I was finally able to dig it out and pull myself out, I fell headfirst down the decline. (My dh stood on the porch laughing and wishing he had his camera. Where is the chivalrous man these days?) No one was hurt seriously in all of these mishaps, although Jaedyn has a bruised chest and my shin is scratched up a bit.
I got our 2008 taxes in the mail. My husband did them this year, wahoo! We are expecting to get a nice return, which we hope to save towards the down payment on a house some day!
In the School Room:
We had a good week.
We finished William Carey, the Father of Modern Missions last Sunday night.
We learned about the Louisiana purchase, Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, the effect of the industrial revolution on our culture and society. I found it all to be very interesting.
We continued to study about roots and stems in science.
Bible: Ciara memorized James 4:4-8, and they each did some daily reading and journaling on their own.
Language arts was more of the same. I'm thinking of finding something a little more modern for this next year.
Math: Jaedyn started her green book, and it is going well for her. Ciara is doing division with fractions and had some challenging story problems, that she took on quite well.
Reading: Jaedyn started the second book of the Charlotte Years series of the Little House books. Ciara finished reading a Dear America book called The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow:The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, New Mexico, 1864.
Preschool: We did well this week and finished our scheduled tasks each day. Maybe adding kindergarten to our schedule next year may work after all.
On the Mission Field:
One of my favorite speakers, Grahme H, spoke to the students this week. He also prepared an authentic Indian dinner for everyone on Thursday evening. Yummy! I've missed it the past two or three times he was here, so I really enjoyed it this time.
(Winter DTS 2009)
The Lord amazingly provided about $20,000 towards the students' tuitions and some staff needs this week. We are all amazed! Thank You, Jesus! It was awesome to watch!
We had a great small group meeting this week, and the students in my group are feeling the wonder of the Lord's power to provide. Pray for M as she is still waiting for the Lord to finish providing her needs. Rejoice with E as the Lord provided almost her entire tuition in one day, and K as the Lord provided almost all but about $200. Also pray for the needs of C, our Navajo student, who still needs to see about $2500 come in.
In the Clinic:
Didn't study like I should have. Clinic was busy and good.
In the Literary Scene:
Besides my studies, I am working on more of the Charlotte Years books myself. It is easy, but good reading for this simple mother. I'm also rereading A Charlotte Mason Handbook by Karen Andreola. I'm all caught up on my Torah readings. It is good!
One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To behold the beauty, the beauty of the Lord. To inquire in His temple, the temple of the Lord.
This is my everyday thoughts about being a mother to three little ladies (11, 9 and 4) and a two year old son. We serve God full-time, and I am a physician assistant. I have the most awesome husband in the world. I am trying to seek and serve God with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength.
From the Heart:
From the Heart:
