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Weeks of March 25th, to April 7th 2012
In my life this week....We are busily preparing for our trip out west and to partake in the wedding of our sweet daughter Robyn who will be getting married in Denver. Happens most of our family is in CO so it's a perfect wedding/vacation spot. Robyn was smarter than the rest of us though as she flew out this week rather than take the long haul with her family in the van. (smart girl) Her big sister Juli took the most awesome engagement photos and their gallery can viewed HERE and HERE.
In our homeschool this week....We are learning all about weather. But our main focus has been tornadoes. We are continuing with our Amanda Bennett Tornado unit study and doing lessons from The Weather Book.
The girls designed their own version of a weather map and described what the symbols meant, how the patterns affect our weather and how to read a weather map.
Every morning this is where we find our twins. Same chair, same corner, doing the same thing.
They not only read and do their lessons together but they love sewing and coming up with ideas to create. Here they decided it would be fun to sew up some curtains to hang in our hall window. They found them online along with a tutorial of how to sew them.
We have now entered into the world of Eugene Delacroix for our picture study. I love seeing how much the kids' knowledge and their talent in drawing is coming along and I believe I owe it to the exposure they have had in years past to great artists. If they choose not to do a copy drawing of the weekly print then they write or tell a story that the picture brings across to them. The variety of tellings I get from them are amazing to me and testify of the many different personalities between them.
Helpful homeschooling tips/advice....As summer approaches I suggest light schooling with our children. We continue our lessons through the summer months but on a smaller scale. A summer day might look like this: After chores are complete we do a few math problems from a lesson, an hour or so of independent reading, some copy work and memory work, and finishing up with mom reading aloud from some books we are in. Lunch, then hopefully some swimming, taking a walk or a picnic, or just playing in the yard running in the sprinkler or jumping on the trampoline or whatever the kids want to do.
I am inspired by....The faith of Job. Complete and total faith and trust that in all things the Lord is in charge, will never leave us, and does all things for our good.
Places we're going and people we're seeing....We are heading out west for a wedding and fun with family. We will end our time with spending a few days tending to 3 grandkids while their mom and pop take a quick trip together. Should be a ton of fun seeing extended family and spending time with our 5 wonderful grandkids.
My favorite thing this week was....Flying through the wooded outdoors while taking my kids rides on the motorcycles. The weather was screaming for us to come out and play!
What's working/not working for us....Our commonplace/learning journals. They are an irreplaceable tool in the children's learning. I am amazed at what they retain when they journal what they are learning through their reading of whole books. It's simplicity in the purest form but it brings the utmost in a quality education. I am at the point where I have volumes of them saved up from previous years and I love looking through them and see how far the children have come.
Questions/thoughts I have....I've been thinking a lot about "losing" another daughter through marriage. But at the same time, while it makes me sad, I love seeing the branches of our family tree expanding and growing new limbs. So really, I'm not "losing" anything. I'm only being added upon!
Things I'm working on....Strengthening my faith in the Father. Putting things into perspective, straightening up my spiritual vision and trusting more, questioning less.
I'm reading....Power Yoga
I'm cooking....Bust Your Buttons Buttercake. Or rather Miss Emma is. My Emma loves to bake. But her favorite baking project is bread. Every other day you will find her in the kitchen whipping up her favorite bread dough. And it is delicious.
I'm grateful for....Luke. Luke would be our future new son and our Robyn loves him very much and he loves her. Grateful that he is a strong man of God with faith and a vision to walk hand and hand with our girl forever.
I'm praying for....Safety on our trip, happiness for my bride to be daughter, and for smiles all around as we look forward to an extremely crazy, busy couple of weeks.
A photo and quote to share....Per my little daughters request. I am showing all the "blog people" how well she can balance!
Quote....There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent. ~Ghandi
