Weekly Wrap-up ~ Back at it!

In our regular life this week…

Temps have been all of the place this week! We hit 60 one day and Rick and I took the kids on a long bike ride, and we rode our bikes again on Monday over to grandma's for lunch because it was still fairly nice. The wind really picked up on Thursday and it got colder and today it is only supposed to be a high of 30 … and then close to 60 on Sunday. That's Missouri weather for you.

On Tuesday I had to make a trip to Springfield for a mandatory class for my child support case, so that had me away from home for the entire evening. Wednesday night we were back at church for handbell choir practice. And Brynne had basketball practice last night. Rick and Collin will be here this evening and I am looking forward to putting on a movie and chilling with the family.

In our homeschool this week…

We had a great first week back to school! After a long break, I was worried about what kind of attitudes we would all have (especially me). But we started our week with prayer and a crazy good discussion about the devil's influence in our lives. From there we blasted forward and accomplished everything in our planner. I will admit that we were wearing down by Thursday afternoon, but we kept pushing on and had a very successful week!

Bible - Our lessons this week centered around Solomon becoming King, his request for "wisdom and knowledge" and the blessings he received, and the building of the first Temple.

Grammar - Our lessons were a review of the parts of speech, proper uses of commas in a series, and parts of a sentence from the first 12 lessons.

Handwriting - We completed another 5 lessons in Handwriting Without Tears Cursive Success.

Spelling - Our words this week contained /oi/ and /ou/. Both kids got a 100% on their final test.

Math - We completed Lesson 19 and learned how to skip count by 8.

Writing - We have been learning about Who, What, Where, When, Why and How when writing a news story. Eli and Brynne made a story detail wheel this week with the topic of what they did over Christmas break. Then they wrote their pieces, edited them, and revised them for a finished product.

Reading - We are reading Ribsy by Beverly Clearly. This is the first Beverly Cleary book we have read and they really love it.

Literature - In our Paddle to the Sea unit, we learned all about beavers and the dams they make, and created a diorama. Then we did a group brainstorming project identifying the point of view of the beaver as Paddle floated past him in the pond. That was fun! We did a "circle story" where I started a story with the first sentence, then Brynne continued it with the next sentence, and then Eli the next one, and around and around the circle until we completed a story. The kids were out of their seats, acting out their sentences, and just giggling and carrying on. Who says writing has to be on paper??

Geography - We had an exciting week learning about Kansas and Iowa. Those states don't seem too exciting, do they? Well, they were our favorite states we have done so far! Check back tomorrow for Study America Saturday where I tell you all about what we did.

We also spent some time learning about Nicaragua as my brother, sister-in-law and one year old niece are traveling there right now. (Please pray for my brother as he recovers from a food sickness.) We learned about 10 year old Yilbert and compared what his typical day looks like versus Eli and Brynne's. We also colored the country flag.

Science - Here is a peek into our study of Iowa. The state rock is the Geode. We made our own egg shell geodes and then used our science notebooking process to record our experiment.

We are reviewing a science product right now so spent some time learning about Scientific Tools. It is a really fun online program. I really like this one!!!

Physical Education - This week we went bike riding, had basketball practice and a game, went bowling, and did some Just Dance 2014.

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

Last Saturday Brynne had a basketball game. She had gotten her pinky and ring finger on her right hand jammed at practice the night before, so we were worried about how well she would be able to play. She wasn't able to bowl in her league Saturday morning. But, we taped up her finger and she got right out there and played like a trooper. Her little self even put up a couple of shots! She didn't make them, but they hit the rim. Considering just a month ago she could barely hoist the ball two feet above her head, we thought she did awesome! She is a really good player, and we are so enjoying watching her play sports!

A favorite thing this week was…

An encouraging conversation I had with my online teaching mentor. He was also my instructor for the orientation course I took from the college where I teach. I received news this week that my course will not be offered again until June, and then it is an onsite course (in Michigan) that I will not teach. It is possible my course might be offered online one more time this year, but that is it. I was bummed because I am enjoying teaching it so much and hoping for about 5 to 6 offerings this year. Doc Johnson gave me some great advice and encouragement and we just had a neat conversation.

What's in the kitchen this week ...

We had everybody's favorite Easy Chicken Parmesan with Penne on Monday night. I put chicken and noodles in the crockpot for the kids to eat while I was at my appointment on Tuesday night. Apparently the noodles got mushy and the kids said it was awful! Oops! Wednesday night we ate dinner at church (my favorite meal of the week … I don't even care what we are having there). I was planning to fry some fish for Brynne on Thursday night, cause she loves fried catfish, but she ended up having basketball practice from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m., so I am saving that for this weekend. This weekend's meals include that fish, enchiladas with chips and salsa and chipotle rice, and some burgers and hot dogs on Sunday.

What we're reading ...

Mom:  The Distant Hours by Kate Morton. 

Eli: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth and Hard Luck by Jeff Kinney.

Brynne: The Dog Days of Charlotte Hayes by Marlane Kennedy.

Read Aloud: Ribsy by Beverly Cleary

Things we're working on…

Having a relaxing weekend after a busy and productive day of schoolwork! (Well, we have a basketball game, bowling league, and church, but the rest of the time we will be relaxing!)

I’m grateful for …

the fact that I am a good sleeper. I know people who have sleep problems and I just think I would keel over and die if I didn't get a good night sleep each night. 

My progress on reading through the Bible in 2014 …

I read Genesis 1-7 this week, as well as completed four days of study from "Putting on the Spirit" by Katie Horner.

Money saved this week …

I am just going to be real here. This savings plan isn't turning out to be very lucrative, at least not at this time. Last week I needed more of my savings for necessities for the family, so I only ended up with $20 saved out of the original $103 I put in the jar. This week I put in $99 more for a total of $119. But, I know that I am going to end up spending the majority of it just on groceries and such, probably even today. This pay period I needed lots of household extras, like printer cartridges, dog food, vitamins, etc. When all of that hits at once, it takes a toll on my grocery and household budget. Any savings for my jar has to be what I shave off this budget, and taking $200 out of it each month for a few months is next to impossible. BUT, I am not going to give up. I am going to put the money in the jar on each pay day and only use it if absolutely necessary. If I have to use it, I will. I am not going to beat myself up, and I'll tell you why:

I feel like God is really talking to me right now about HIS provision in my life and how He gives me exactly what I need when I need it. He will give me the Christmas money I need in time for Christmas next year. I do not need to feel alone and like I need to take food out of my family's mouth because I think I need to start saving for our Christmas budget NOW. Do I trust God to provide or not?

I did add $4.25 to my change jar. This was from any cash I spent this week, as well as from a couple of purses I cleaned out.

I exercised ...

every day this week! On Tuesday morning the girls even got up and did Rockin' Body with me. (They wimped out and slept in on Wednesday .. and Thursday … and Friday … looks like I am alone in this). On Wednesday I did some Tae Bo. On Thursday I did the buttocks workout from Rockin' Body, and then on Friday I got the kids up and doing some Just Dance 2014 with me for P.E.

What's coming up this week ...

Next week we will just continue with our schoolwork, have basketball practice and a game on the weekend, have bowling league, go to church on Wednesday night and Sunday. I think it's going to be a very normal week. (I hope!)

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

Oh …. teenage boys. I found this on my camera.

Linking up at the following ...