Weekly Wrap-up ~ Exchanging What is Good for What is Better

In our regular life this week…

My brother Tim, sister-in-law Shawna, and niece Bell, are visiting this week. They have consumed our regular life as we try to squeeze in every second we can with them. We took some family photos while we were all together. Unfortunately we had to gather at night because of school and work schedules, so we didn't get any outside shots with good lighting. We just did the best we could.

In our homeschool this week…

School is good. Family is better. We did get lots of school work done this week, but we condensed it into shorter amounts of time because we wanted to maximize our time with my brother's family, and we have a special time planned with daddy in Oklahoma this weekend.

Spelling - Best Guess was a success this week. And, both kids got 100% on their Pre-tests so we don't have to take a final test. They learned about the long e sound using e, ea, ee, ei, ie, and y. They had the pleasure of learning the "i before e except after c" rule.

Grammar - We acted out more action verbs, and learned about transitive verbs and direct objects.

Reading - We finished reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, and I cried through the last several pages. The story is just so sweet and expresses the true meaning of Christmas.

Writing - We slowly worked on a news story about our trip to Oklahoma using the 5W's.

Math - We completed Lesson 18 in Math U See.

Handwriting - The kids completed five more lessons in Handwriting Without Tears Cursive Success. 

Geography - We watched more episodes of Liberty's Kids. We completed Episode 36 of 40.

Literature - In Paddle to the Sea by Holling C. Holling (related activities), we learned how to measure pressure (kg per cm2) to see what animals would be more successful walking through the snow without sinking. We even factored in our own pressure calculations to see how we would fare against various animals. Then we talked about various scenarios between animals walking on the snow. We used Sid, Diego, and Manny from Ice Age as examples.

Extra - We did another rainbow lesson in science notebooking from Kindergarten Kindergarten. This time we mixed paint instead of water.

The kids continue to work on their Holiday Minecraft class. This week they learned about the Wild West.

Homeschool Tricks and Tips ...

Give your kids some independence in their work. I know a lot of homeschoolers use workboxes, but I am typically more hands-on than that. This week, however, I had to be out of the house for a couple of hours. So I saved their independent work for the afternoon and left them a list of subjects to complete. When I got home they are "happily" working away, checking off the items as they were completed.

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

We cannot wait to see our friends, the Linns, this weekend! They were our best friends in Oklahoma and we have missed them so badly! Megan and I did some unit studies together with our kids and they were just amazing friends. We have only seen them once since we moved back to Missouri so we are so thankful to get the chance to spend some time with them on Friday!

A favorite thing this week was…

spending time with my brother and his family. They live too far away and we miss them! They are getting ready to take a 6-month trip to Nicaragua. Please join me in praying for their safety in their travels!

What's in the kitchen this week ...

Easy foods again this week because we have been busy, busy, busy! Last night we had chicken fettucine because it's the kids favorite! When I got home from handbell choir practice, the kitchen was all cleaned up by a collaborative effort between Kyndal and Dawson and Kyndal, Eli and Brynne were sitting at the table playing Uno. I love to come home to that!

What we're reading ...

Mom:  First Sight by Danielle Steel. (I haven't touched it this week). The Christmas Story by G. A. Myers.

Eli: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney.

Brynne: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney.

Read-aloud: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson (completed).

Things we're working on…

Wrapping up our school lessons for this semester (we're almost to 500 hours!), getting the gifts ready to deliver to the kids for the W. Children's Christmas Fund, making props for the Children's Christmas program at church this Sunday, enjoying family and friends and each other.

I’m grateful for …

my upcoming child support trial date. That has been a money-, time-, and energy-sucker that I am glad to conclude!

What's coming up this week ...

We are heading to Oklahoma this weekend to visit Santa at Bass Pro Shop, stay in a fun hotel, visit Toys R Us to spend some birthday money, see the Rhema Christmas lights, go out to dinner, visit our best friends, and celebrate Christmas with Rick's sister and her family.

Then next week we are focusing all of our lessons on Christmas. We are shooting to be done with our semester of school on Wednesday the 18th. We will take a break until January 13th.

Brynne has her first basketball tournament the weekend before Christmas and we will be celebrating Eli turning 10!

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

I love this picture with my kids!