Weekly Wrap-up ~ Busy, Busy, Busy

In our regular life this week…

the days were BUSY! I am working on my curriculum every chance I can squeeze it in, which means that a paragraph gets typed here and there in between laundry, fixing meals, teaching the kids, running errands, taking the dogs potty, and cleaning house. I am 3/5 of the way finished with it and it's due by the end of the month. I am wanting to have it done by the end of next week so that we can enjoy Halloween without extra work!

DAWSON TURNED 17 YEARS OLD ON FRIDAY! It just seems impossible that so many years have gone by since I was being rushed to the hospital because of hemorrhaging getting ready to meet my ornery boy after an emergency c-section. The first thing he did, before he even cried, was to pee all over the doctors and nurses. That's my Dawson! He has been such a blessing to my life that I can't even talk about it without tearing up.

In our homeschool this week…

We finally had a pretty regular week of schoolwork, including all of our regular studies.

Bible - We continued to read God's World News with a cup of coffee (in our pjs and robes) each morning. Then in our Stick Figuring through the Bible Lessons with Grapevine, we learned about the anointing of Saul and then David as Kings of Israel.

Grammar - We completed Lesson 8 this week.

Spelling - This week's words were plural words, including those words that end in y so that the y is dropped and -ies is added. It was another fun and excellent week in Spelling! I am so glad we found Soaring with Spelling. We will continue to use it for years to come!

Reading - We continue to read Poppy and Rye by Avi. Eli is only a few pages away from finishing the last of the published Captain Underpants books. He is anxiously awaiting NEXT August when Book 11 comes out. Brynne is finishing up a review book called Diary of a Real Payne. She has zipped through it and is really enjoying it!

Math - We picked back up with Math U See Gamma and did two workbook pages a day out of Lesson 11. We also did multiplication lessons on IXL (review coming soon) and Multiplication Wrap-ups. Gotta get those multiplication facts down!

Handwriting - We started Handwriting Without Tears Cursive Success. The kids are annoyed that it has them starting over writing their letters again. I explained to them that this time around they are working to correct any bad habits they have formed. I really like this program.

Writing - We have been reading and writing nursery rhymes this week. On Thursday we took the nursery rhyme "Little Boy Blue" and made changes to it, by changing the rhyming words. Then I erased other words and had the kids give me nouns, verbs, adjectives (like in Mad Libs) to replace words in the original rhyme. What we came up with was hilarious! They loved it!

Geography - We visited Pennsylvania and Rhode Island this week. I will be posting about this in Study America Saturday NEXT week (hopefully I will get to it ... I have some catching up to do!) We did make yummy philly cheesesteak sandwiches and peanut butter kiss cookies. We have a vacation planned for next summer, but the summer after that the kids want to go to Pennsylvania! Eastern Pennsylvania would be an amazing trip!

Extra - Daddy and the kids put together a genius light by using a product by EEME. I will have a review about that soon.

They also played Daddy in some Chess.

Homeschool Tricks and Tips ...

Make sure your kids understand that making mistakes is still learning! Eli gets so hung up on getting answers right, but I don't make a big deal about it wanting him and Brynne to work through their mistakes instead.

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

Dawson and Brynne went to two of Taylar's out-of-town volleyball games this week. Brynne loved spending time with her brother, and I think Dawson actually enjoyed it, too. While they were gone, Eli and I had some quiet time at home together. We watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days one of the nights. That's a funny movie!

Kyndal and her love, Collin, celebrated their two year dating anniversary this week. He sent her flowers to work and they went out to dinner. Then they continued the celebration the next morning with a medication cocktail for Collin when he had his wisdom teeth extracted. He was home with us recuperating this weekend.

And THE BOYS WERE BACK IN TOWN! Dawson's two best friends from Oklahoma, Tonio and Wesley, rode home with Rick this weekend to spend Dawson's birthday with him. I cannot even begin to express how much we have missed these boys. They are, and forever will be, "The Triplets".

A favorite thing this week was…

Watching Brynne play some awesome volleyball on Friday night and watching the kids on the first day of their bowling league on Saturday. Small town sports are so fun!

What's in the kitchen this week ...

We had some smothered round steak with mashed potatoes one night and philly cheesesteak sandwiches another. I am finding that my grocery budget is MUCH LESS when I decide what we are going to have for dinner each day, trying to use what we have available, and then running to our local grocery store for the ingredients I need to supplement. Our grocery prices are more expensive, as opposed to Walmart or Aldi, but the variety is MUCH LESS and there is certainly no impulse shopping going on. I like only buying what we need instead of filling our fridge and pantry to overflowing every couple of weeks. This is one area of simplifying I have been working on.

What we're reading ...

Mom:  Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and At Home in Dogwood Mudhole by Franklin Sanders. (Sadly, my reading has come to a screeching halt since coming back from Florida .. BOOOOO!!!)

Eli: Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers by Dav Pilkey.

Brynne: Diary of a Real Payne by Annie Tipton.

Read-aloud: Poppy and Rye by Avi.

Things we're working on…

I completed Brynne's puppy dog Halloween costume late in the week so that she could wear it to a costume birthday party on Saturday. Now I just have to make Eli's Luigi costume. He was Mario a couple of years ago so all I have to do is make the same costume, but with green instead of red.

I’m grateful for ...

my sister. She is an amazing cosmetologist and she does all of our hair for free, squeezing us in whenever she can. I know that we stress her out sometimes with it, but I appreciate her so much. When I was figuring an Income and Expense Statement this week, I realized that she saves us a TON of money by doing our hair for us. She probably saves us a good $500 every three months or so.

Then, she has always been my supplier of GOOD jeans. You know how they say that a good pair of jeans is worth the cost? That is completely and totally true. The problem is that I am a cheapskate. She is not. She buys expensive, good quality jeans, and several pair of them, keeping up with the latest trends and styles. And then she passes the ones she no longer wants onto me. Without her I'd probably just be wearing my old Walmart jeans all the time. (In all fairness, I do have a really cute and comfortable pair of jeans I got at Walmart several years ago.) Again, without her I would spend so much money on jeans, or look freakishly out of style.

I doubt I tell her enough, if ever, how much I appreciate her. If you are reading this, Kristen, I do!

What's coming up this week ...

Brynne's last volleyball for the season is tomorrow. I have been so darned proud of her this year! She  has improved a little every game. Way to go, Brynne!

We'll have handbell practice at church Wednesday night and then the kids will have their bowling league next Saturday. Other than that it will just be regular school and nighttime family time.

And, my mom is leaving for Florida in the morning for FIVE WEEKS! Boooo .. Hisssss!!!! I hate it that she is going to be gone that long! And I especially hate it that I will not be there with her!

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

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