Weekly Wrap-up ~ Squeal! We're on Vacation!

In our regular life this week…

This was a pretty regular week for us. Monday night Eli had Scouts. While we were there Kyndal took Brynne to the sand volleyball court at the park so Brynne could practice serving. Then Tuesday night we went to our town's Lion's Club Kids Night. The kids participated in various races for ribbons. (I participated in this Kids Night when I was a little girl.) Eli defended his title and won the blue ribbon in the foot race! Eli and Brynne also entered Chloe in the pet parade.

On Wednesday night Brynne had a volleyball game. Her team played 5th and 6th graders and they won! Brynne also got 5 serves over and scored 3 points with her serves. She did awesome!

Immediately fter Brynne's volleyball game, my mom, Eli, Brynne, and I are drove all night to Pensacola, Florida, for our 8 day vacation! Kyndal and Dawson are home holding down the fort.

In our homeschool this week…

We only had three days at home this week doing our normal studies, but they were very productive!

Bible - We finished up our study of Samuel. The kids got new Bibles presented to them at church a couple of Sundays ago, so starting this week the kids are looking up their own verses and taking turns reading from the Bible. They are loving doing this! It's a challenge to find the right book, chapter, and verse, and they feel so "big" reading from their Bibles.

Grammar - We completed Lesson 6 this week learning about comma placement in a series of objects. We also did some review and Eli came alive this week yelling out answers in our review. He's usually quiet about it, but has obviously been paying attention.

Spelling - We finished our words this week using oar, ore, and or. They both got 100% on their spelling tests.

Reading - We finished reading George Washington: True Patriot by Janet and Geoff Benge. We loved it! Be looking for my review of this book and it's accompanying Study Guide coming up soon.

Math - We finished Week 5 of our Multiplication Teaching and Learning Made Easy book.

Handwriting - We continue to write cursive sentences and learn capital letters. We also added in some sentence writing this week using some Key Quotes from the George Washington: True Patriot Study Guide. I printed the quotes in the whiteboard and they copied them in cursive.

Writing - We continued to learn about acrostic poems this week. Eli made an acrostic poem using "UNDERPANTS" (representing Captain Underpants since he has read 9 of the 10 books in this series) and Brynne's poem used "PUPPY PLACE" because she has read many of these books, and was reading one of the books in the series this week. Then together we worked on an acrostic poem using "WASHINGTON". And then they each wrote their own acrostic poem using "FLORIDA".

Geography - We finished up New York by reading and learning about the building of the Empire State Building.

Extra - Chess occupied MUCH of our afternoon school time. They are LOVING learning how to play chess. It is definitely a highlight of their days right now.

Homeschool Tricks and Tips ...

We put in about 90 hours of schooling in the months of June and July this summer so that we could take off some extra days this fall and winter. Believe me, today I am so glad we did that! We are needing a relaxing break after 6 weeks of working VERY hard at school. This was a great plan because I saw us wearing down and needing a break! And now we are soaking in that break!

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

It was fun to compete with and against friends at Kids Night on Tuesday night! It was also the one year anniversary of Eli meeting his friend, N., who introduced him to Scouts.

A favorite thing this week was…

Coming home from Scouts on Monday night to Kyndal cleaning the kitchen from dinner. I don't think the kids get how just a small bit of help (without being asked) can make things so much easier for me and make me so happy! The bonus for her was that I got done with my nightly activities early enough that we could sit down together to watch a new series she wants us to watch, Hostages.

What's in the kitchen this week ...

I feel like just taking this part out as I am in a REAL funk with cooking, so we are just eating our favorites which are as easy as possible. Food is just so uninteresting these days.

What we're reading ...

Mom:  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (finished) and now reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (I've almost read all of it in one day ... GREAT book!). Next on my list is Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn and then Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. My mom and I are also listening to The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh while traveling.

Eli: Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers by Dav Pilkey.

Brynne: Diary of a Real Payne by Annie Tipton.

Read-aloud: George Washington: True Patriot by Janet and Geoff Benge (finished).

Things we're working on…

Relaxing and enjoying some time off. We've been to the beach every day and to the Pensacola Lighthouse. Brynne is finally tall enough to climb it, so we ascended the 177 steps for a spectacular view!

I’m grateful for ...

enough time to do nothing but READ! I am in Heaven! My mom is grateful, too. She has a book with her everywhere!

What's coming up this week ...

A much fun, sun, and relaxation as possible! And a trip to Fort Pickens to tour the fort and to go to the beash there.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…

We are happily linking up this week at the following sites: