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Week In Review, Week in Preview

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:15:41 GMT

Week In Review (things I accomplished this week in no particular order):

visited a church for children's worship Tuesday night
visited a church for Sunday school and worship Sunday morning
contacted the Cub Scout leader about joining
ordered a book on carpentry for Sebastian
signed the boys up for the next kid's building workshop at Lowe's
finished our study of Vikings
picked up some lanterns and a candy bowl for Halloween at the dollar store (among other things)
bought some inexpensive (less than $5 each) pc games for the kids at Game Stop
ate lunch out at the Chinese buffet
took the boys to the big park on the military base
submitted my Angel Food Ministries order
began reading Don Quixote
continued reading A Thomas Jefferson Education
hurt my back picking up Xander during church
cleaned and organized the kitchen
made another huge dent in Mt. Washmore
went to the grocery store

Week in Preview (things I'm planning for the coming week):

taking the boys back to children's worship Tuesday night
beginning study of the middle ages
visiting the church we're going to for children's worship for Sunday services
picking up Angel Food on Saturday
beginning Sebastian's carpentry unit with the Dangerous Book for Boys
continuing to read Don Quixote
continuing to read A Thomas Jefferson Education
cleaning and organizing the bathrooms
continuing to chip away at Mt. Washmore
plugging away at Sonlight Core 2, Week 8

Have a blessed week!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:18:03 GMT

09/09/09

It's been a busy year. We've moved to a new state, purchased our first house, started a new school year with new regulations. But every anxiety has been turned to good. All the worries have worked themselves out and I can look back now and see how God's hand was in it all along.

We've completed Week 6 of our homeschool curriculum. My first quarter report will be due in just 2.5 weeks. I'm so proud of Sebastian and how much he's learned already. And proud of Xander too, for following along and learning what he can. He's like a little sponge. And I'm proud of me, for learning to be a better wife, mom, teacher, and housekeeper. Not good... just better. Always striving to be better.

I hope everyone has been having a wonderful year. I will try to update my blog more often. No promises, just goals.

God bless you all,

Andrea

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:33:21 GMT

Wednesday's Did-Its
Made breakfast: Oatmeal
Taught homeschool:

Music: Watched youtube videos of Carnival of Animals by Saint-Saens
P.E.: PraiseMoves
Bible: The Brazen Serpent; Keys for Kids devotion
Math: Review 2
Language Arts: Copywork

Tuesday's homeschool:

Language Arts: Handwriting
Reading: The Battle of Jericho
Literature: Homer Price
History: Sumerian civilization, Akkad, The Tower of Babel
Science: Butterflies; experimenting with water; weather forecasting
Art: Picture study of a painting... will add name later; creative art

Monday, January 12, 2009

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:38:32 GMT

Monday's Did-Its
Made breakfast: Oatmeal and peanut butter sandwiches
Taught homeschool:

P.E.: PraiseMoves
Bible: Keys for Kids, "The Awesomeness of God"; Afraid of Giants
Math: Review 1
Language Arts: Copywork

I didn't make a "did-it" list for Friday, so I will just write what we did for school here.

Friday's Did-Its
Taught homeschool:

Reading: The Twelve Spies
Literature: Homer Price
History: Noah's Ark
Geography: Music and dancing
Science: Floods and deserts; Medicine in Mesopotamia
Art: The Oddie Children by Sir William Beechey; creative art
Music: Carnival of Animals narrated by Bernstein

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:33:35 GMT

Thursday's Did-It List
Got dressed
Made breakfast: cold cereal w/milk
Played music for the kids and watched them dance
Taught homeschool:

Music: Contemporary music; Peter and the Wolf: identifying instruments by sound w/ characters from story; looked up musical instruments on the internet for pictures and to listen to samples of each one
P.E.: Chicken Fat Exercise; Dance party to the Gummy Bear song (twice! lol)
Bible: Keys for Kids devotion: Obey and be Safe; "Aaron and Miriam Complain"
Math: Ordinal numbers; subtraction practice
Language Arts: Copywork & handwriting

Made lunch: Ravioli w/ parmesan & fruit
Checked the oil level

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:40:33 GMT

Wednesday's Did-It List
Got dressed
Made breakfast: cold cereal w/ milk and fruit
Taught homeschool:

Language Arts: Handwriting
Reading: "Twelve Spies"
Literature: Homer Price
History: the Flood and first civilizations in Mesopotamia, memory song
Geography: Celebrations and festivals
Science: Rivers, lakes, streams, and tributaries; evening nature sounds
Art: Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuniga by Francisco De Goya Y Lucientes; creative art

Made lunch: Spaghettios, roasted garlic & onion crackers and apples
Read Green Eggs & Ham over.. and over.. and over again
Tried to read Cat in the Hat... got interrupted by requests to read Green Eggs & Ham
Opened and unpacked a box of canned goods from our old house
Threw away expired cans
Swept the kitchen floor
Accepted UPS packages
Opened UPS packages
Helped Sebastian and Xander empty packing peanuts into trash bags
Helped Sebastian and Xander pick up packing peanuts off the floor
Helped Sebastian vacuum broken pieces of packing peanuts off the floor
Greeted the furnace maintenance man
Learned how to reset the furnace and water heater if needed
Learned how to clean the furnace filter if needed
Called the fuel company to give them billing information and order 100 gallons of fuel oil
Accepted delivery of flowers from my hubby who's in Arizona (it's our anniversary)

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:40:58 GMT

Tuesday's Did-It List
Got dressed
Took queen size box spring to curb for haul away
Made breakfast: Fried egg and mozzarella sandwiches on Italian wheat bread w/ mayo, salt, and pepper
Washed breakfast dishes
Taught homeschool:

Geography: World religions (cont'd from yesterday)
Science: Rainbows, lightning, and thunder; trap-door spiders
Art: Edward VI as a Child by Hans Holbien the Younger; lines; creative art
Music: Peter and the Wolf narrated by Bernstein
P.E.: Chicken Fat (thanks to Alyssa at CrazyBusy for posting this on her blog)
Bible: The Golden Calf; Keys for Kids "Prepare for Temptation"
Math: Ordinal Numbers; Intensive Practice
Language Arts: Picture study and observation

Checked the mail
Made lunch: Cut-up leftover hot dogs added to a can of baked beans
Read Green Eggs and Ham to Xander three four five times
Took a shower
Dressed again
Checked email
Updated Sebastian's Didj
Drove to the post office
Drove to the grocery store
Drove home
Put the groceries away
Served the kids their donuts chosen from the bakery
Helped clean up after an accident
Helped thwart a second accident
Gave lots of praise for a successful trip to the potty
Read some posts on my favorite forum
Helped Sebastian cash in his Didj bitz (points)
Rinsed some saved up plastic bottles for recycling
Made dinner: Clam chowder w/ saltines
Instructed Sebastian in how to vaccum the cracker crumbs from the dining room floor (Home Ec)

Monday, January 05, 2009

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:25:44 GMT

Monday's Did-It List
Made breakfast: French Toast
Checked the mail
Called cable company to change billing cycle
Wrote out check for cable bill
Taught homeschool:

Bible: Keys for Kids devotional, Ten Commandments
Math: Ordinal Numbers
Language Arts: Creative Writing, Capitalization, Spelling, Handwriting
Reading: The Ten Commandments
Literature: Homer Price
History: The First Farmers
Geography: World Religions

Made lunch: Leftovers
Washed dishes w/Sebastian (Home Ec)
Bundled up the boys and sent them outside to play for an hour (P.E.)
Took a shower
Got dressed
Checked bank balance
Ordered newspaper subscription
Cleaned all of the leftover clutter out of the dining room from our mass unpacking day
Vacuumed dining room
Washed/folded/put away 4 loads of laundry
Helped Xander put on his Anakin costume
Made dinner: Hot dogs on whole wheat bread w/ ketchup and mustard and broccoli w/ cheese sauce
Washed dinner dishes
Wiped down kitchen counter & stove top
Brought the trash and recycling bins in from the curb

Our Homeschool Report - 11/28/08

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:31:52 GMT

Reading - Sebastian has read orally from The Beginner's Bible through "Jacob's Dream" (Genesis 28). He has also read through "The Children Grow Up" from Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 1. Sebastian has listened to and discussed Charlotte's Web through chapter 12, "A Meeting."

Language Arts - Sebastian has completed through lesson 11 in Language Lessons for the Very Young. Topics covered: picture study of a painting, narration of a painting, listening to poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," narrating the poem, illustrating the poem, identifying stanzas, finding capital letters at the beginning of each line, copying the poem in his own handwriting. Sebastian has practiced spelling by correcting and reviewing spelling errors in his writing. He has also completed through page 12 of My Printing Book for additional manuscript handwriting practice.

Math - Sebastian has completed through page 31 of Singapore Math's Primary Mathematics Textbook 1A and through Exercise 15 of Primary Mathematics Workbook 1A. He has also completed through page 15 of Primary Mathematics Intensive Practice 1A. He has studied the following topics: counting, making number stories, making addition stories, addition with number bonds, and word problems.

Science - Sebastian completed an in-depth study of water and its properties. He studied the states of water, the water cycle, how water gets from the reservoir to the tap, etc. Sebastian also studied the similarities and differences between mud wasps and paper wasps.

Social Studies - Sebastian has studied the following topics: why study history?, methods of studying history, archaeologists, historians, dating methods, prehistoric man, and creation and evolution. Sebastian also studied the similarities and differences of many modern world cultures through listening to the book Peoples of the World. Locations referenced in various studies were located on maps and discussed in relation to our own location.

Health & Safety - Sebastian has studied nutrition, fire safety, traffic and bicycle safety, disease prevention, and proper exercise and rest.

Physical Education - Sebastian has had frequent physical activity including running, scooter riding, and free play both indoors and outdoors. Rules and etiquette for sports and games have been discussed and practiced.

Music - Sebastian has listened to a variety of music. Music has also been incorporated into other studies, such as history and language arts. Sebastian has used household objects to create musical instruments and explore beat and rhythm.

Art - Sebastian has used a variety of media to create both two and three dimensional art. He has also begun picture study in which he is asked to look at a work of art and tell about it in his own words using his own powers of observation.

Home for the Holidays

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:09:11 GMT

Wow, it just hit me so suddenly...

We're going to have a HOME for the holidays.

No more intrusions by maintenance men who come on the landlord's schedule and not OURS. No more giving up on getting the dishwasher fixed because the landlord refuses to buy a new one or hire a knowledgeable repair person. No more worrying every year about whether our lease will be renewed... or how much our RENT has gone up! No more staring at white walls because we're not allowed to paint. No more trying to maintain a space designed for 2 when there are 4 people living there!

Instead we'll have:

Four good sized bedrooms upstairs. One for Ben and I, one for Sebastian, one for Xander, and a playroom!
Another bedroom downstairs that we'll be using for an office/schoolroom.
A good sized kitchen with LOADS of cabinets and counter space! Seriously, this kitchen is at least twice the size of the one we have in our apartment.
A good sized laundry/bathroom downstairs. Compared to what we're used to this bathroom is huge. Yes, the laundry appliances are in there, but there is plenty of room to use it for both purposes. This will most likely be the room we use to bathe the boys, because there is more room for a parent to kneel down if needed and it will be really convenient to undress them and just toss the clothes into the laundry.
A yard! We'll be moving from an upstairs apartment to a house with a yard. That means that my boys will be able to run and jump and play on the grass instead of on my CARPET!
Porches! I guess we technically have these in our apartment if you count the balcony and the top of the stairs. Our new house has real porches! The front porch has beautiful columns and railings and is perfect for a swing or a couple of rocking chairs. The back porch is fully enclosed with lots of windows. I can't wait to sit there and watch the boys play in the snow while I sip my coffee/hot cocoa.
An attic, a basement, and a garage (with an attic)! I've never imagined having so much storage space. The single car garage has space for a vehicle and storage on the first floor, and also an attic room above. The attic in the house is partially finished and partially carpeted. It's not a scary place at all, and I will have no problem going up into the attic to store things or bring things out of storage. The basement is... a basement.... but this will be our first time having one of those.

This is truly the best Christmas present ever... and to think that I prayed so hard against this move. God has blessed us so greatly and I am so thankful that the way is being smoothed for us. I remain in prayer as we get closer to our closing date. Each hurdle has been crossed. We've done all we can do and now it's just a matter of finalizing the details. Our real estate agent seems to think we'll be able to close shortly after our arrival on the 7th.

I'm so excited and so hopeful. I know I can do this and that this move will be a blessing to my family. I have a completely different attitude than I started out with and I have the peace that only comes from God. I can see his hand in this and I know he has some purpose for us in New York. I actually feel like this house is our new home.

I'm ready go home.