Homeschool Mom's Journal: May 7-12

In my life this week...
Goodness gracious!  Lots!  The week started with a trip to the dentist.  Dentists terrify me so before I visited this one, I made Chris go first to check him out.  Turns out, he's pretty awesome but I was shaking and praying in the waiting room (sad but true).  Our family is totally addicted to the game Tripoley!  We had another fun game night with that one!  On Friday, we ended the homeschool co-op Chris and I had started.  It was a bittersweet day - sad to say goodbye to it and many wonderful friends but joy and peace in knowing God's got it under control.

We headed up to Truckee on Saturday to visit the Donner museum and lake.  We went with good friends and spent the day together.  It's a day trip we had planned WAY back in February and I'm glad we did because I sure needed that R & R!  We originally were going to Petaluma for a Living History day but opted for cooler climates when we saw that Petaluma would be 84.

In our homeschool this week...
I'm suffering from a split mind right now - one half is focusing on finishing up this school year and transition into some light summer work and the other half of my brain is focused on next school year.  Our co-op did a wonderful lesson on Monet and in our personal school, had some great discussions on critical thinking, worldviews as well as history (both World and California)!  We've hit a much slower pace and I actually like it!

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share...
Don't fix what isn't broken!  Don't throw out a curriculum just because "it's that time of year".  If it's working, keep using it for the next year!  It's tempting to want to try new things out there, believe me, but I'm learning resist the urge to tweak!

I am inspired by...
authentic faith; today's sermon and the challenge put out there to all moms by Pastor Chris and perseverance...


Places we're going and people we're seeing...
We're heading to Truckee for some much needed R & R with friends.  It's a daytrip - which I LOVE - and the temps. will be much cooler than in Sacramento! We plan on going through the Donner Museum and hanging out at Donner Lake for the day!

My favorite thing this week was...
Leaving church today.  I'll blog more about it soon but I left crying. In a good way because Jake's Sunday School teacher shared with me her heart for Jake.  I was so overwhelmed!  Ahhh, LOVE my church family!

Oh! one more.. Jake was telling me how much he loved our church this week, which made my heart smile, but he turned to me and said, "Mom, the very first day we went there.. I just knew.  It was OUR church!".  (sigh)


What's working/not working for us...
The color in my living room is DEFINITELY not working for me right now.  Ok, now that I've got that off my mind... I'm re-thinking our English curriculum, at least for my youngest, as it doesn't seem to be working that well for him.


Questions/thoughts I have...
Why does Starbucks put their frapps on sale once a year or so???  I guess that's a good thing, though, because I'd be there all the time if they were always $2!  LOL!

Things I'm working on... 
VBS craft preparations with a group of ladies at church.  Our all-church memorial day weekend picnic - I'm heading up a couple of kid games!  I'm also beginning to lay the ground work for next year's school with establishing goals, purging our book shelves, etc.

I'm reading...
Spiritual Parenting

I'm cooking... 
NOTHING!  Yay!

I'm grateful for...
provision that comes, not from man, but God alone...


I'm praying for...
Baby Livvy; to live out my faith, first and foremost, for my children and for others.  May I leave a legacy of faith that Lois and Eunice left for Timothy; for family; for the ability to forgive as God did and to live that out daily...


Photo/video/quote to share...

Watch Mike from Tenth Avenue North talk about elephants and forgiveness.  VERY. AWESOME. REMINDER!  God, may I absorb more pain than I inflict!  May I not keep a record of other's wrongs for you erased mine!

I'm linking up to...

Homeschool Mother's Journal: May 5

In my life this week...
Good things!  A beautiful nature walk with co-op friends. Encouragement and laughter from good friends. A sleepover at a friend's house for my oldest and a "date night" with the hubs and youngest for me.  Tummies that didn't feel too good this week too.   Lots of planning and researching for school with an 8th grader and 5th grader next year! A fun bridal shower for our old babysitter and youth group attendee (am I THAT old?!).  Earlier in the week, we had dinner with said bride and groom to be and two dear friends of ours!

In our homeschool this week...
Lots of living room learning!  This is a carry-over from the homeschool conference I attended a couple of weeks ago.  A more simple, relaxed approach to school.  For this time of year and season of our life, this has been perfect.  We've done lots of reading and discussions and their retention has been better!  We plan on pushing through May and then doing what I call "lite" school through June.  Living room learning is helping with our desire to be DONE with schoolwork though!

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share...
Enjoy the journey.  Learning is not a race, competition or long list of "to-dos".  Enjoy it and make it fun!

I am inspired by...
Those who walk their faith more than they talk it.


Places we're going and people we're seeing...
We're heading to an all church event tomorrow night for a performance and ice cream social.  Later in the week, we'll meet up with some friends at a theater downtown and see "Hansel and Gretel".   Friday marks our last class day of our homeschool co-op.  We'll be wrapping that up with a lesson on Monet and a potluck.  I'm hoping to meet up with a dear friend of mine to begin aqua-aerobics classes (we did them two years ago and they were great!).
My favorite thing this week was...
Family game night and watching my adorable boys laugh so hard until they were crying!  That was so fun!  LOVE our nights like this!


What's working/not working for us...
Conducting education with a "school at home" mentality.  That's what I've done the past few years and while the public school system has its merits, the reality is I can't copy that and bring it into my home.  Education has to be unique and molded to the environment and people to whom you're trying to teach.  So, our "living room learning" has been AWESOME to get us out of our school room and help us love to learn again!
Obviously, living room learning is working right now!  Our 2 month trial of Aleks math is working... so far and next year's plan is coming together nicely!

Something else in our life is not working and it's time to acknowledge that and let go.  Even though there is some sadness to this door closing, I feel relief and release even more.   Knowing I can let go of what doesn't work, I'm SUPER excited about the future!


Questions/thoughts I have...
Oh boy! I have lots of thoughts and questions!  There's been a lot on my mind lately and decisions that have had to be made - the ones that don't come so easily but make you mull it over and over in your mind.  There's been a lot of extra talks with God lately around these parts!

Things I'm working on... 
Curriculum and school next year. I'm also working on gathering up summer plans for some continued school through June and our two week vacation in August.  I'm also getting a plan in place for MORE purging through my "6" (which was inspired by the book, "7").

I'm reading...
To the boys, I'm finishing up "By The Great Horn Spoon" with them.  What a cute book!  For me, I'm making my way through "Spiritual Parenting" currently.

I'm cooking... 
Homemade chicken noodle soup and foccacia bread.

I'm grateful for...
An amazing husband that loves me as I am yet encourages me in my pursuit to become more like Jesus and less like me!  Two awesome boys that have amazing hearts, quick wits, and ingenuity!  I'm humbled at having these three in my life!  I'm grateful, so grateful for God's grace.  His guidance.  His release from things that burden and weigh down.  I am in awe of who He is.


I'm praying for...
Peace. Continue guidance. His wisdom to discern.  For my family.


Photo/video/quote to share...
Refuse to waste our lives. Build Your kingdom here.   Amen. and Amen.

Rend Collective Experiment.  Love this Irish worship band.


I'm linking up with

Weekly Wrap-up: Weeks of April 9 - 27

Josh's anaphylactic reaction to peanuts occurred on April 9th so that week, short of some reading and a few documentaries, was shot as far as our regularly scheduled school work went.  We did enjoy a VERY delicious recipe for homemade whipped cream!  It's a keeper in our house!  We plopped that on top of some homemade hot chocolate and enjoyed some documentaries on the Westward movement while the patient convalesced on the recliner.

 Walk away from the whipped cream, Jake!

The patient, Josh, enjoyed a lick from the spoon in his make-shift bed.  You can see his lips mildly swollen 2.5 days into his reaction and on round the clock meds.

He's going to kill me for putting this picture on here.  He'll say "my hair isn't done!" and "I'm in my PJs!".  Oh the horror!! :)

The following week, we hit the books again and jumped into our next chapter in anatomy, the heart.  We literally jumped into the heart!  After learning the inflow and outflow of the blood from and away from the heart (which can get a bit overwhelming to explain), I taped up the floor with 4 "chambers".  The top two being the atriums and the bottom two, the ventricles.  The chair on the right represented the pulmonary vein (one of four) that the blood travels into the heart from the lungs, carrying oxygenated blood.  So, the boys became the blood and traveled the journey of the blood!  They were squeezed out of the left ventricle with a hearty hug from me (which represents the force in which the heart must push the blood out in order to travel all over to our body and back)!  It was great fun and helped the boys remember how the heart works!

Chris took the lead on the heart dissection (well, let me be honest... he takes the lead on ALL dissections) and did a great job showing the boys the different parts of the sheep heart.  I just wished he would have used gloves! Eew!  Such a BOY!  (or maybe I'm such a GIRL!).

After the Santa Clara CHEA conference last weekend, I came home with a renewed spirit and a commitment to do more hands-on learning in a more relaxed style and work on instilling a love of learning, for real!  Last week was a great start to that as we did our school in the living room instead of the school room to give a more comfy feel.  We started each day with our Bible curriculum and devotions and the push back from the boys, as we moved through each subject, just wasn't there!  Yay!

Here's hoping for another great week of relaxed homeschooling!

Weekly Wrap-up: March 26-30

This was a great week for learning!  We did some hands-on activities that we really enjoyed and (I hope) made the lesson more memorable for the boys!

Jake is working through the pioneer portion of California History which tied in perfectly with our co-op's Pioneer Day this week!  There was so much to learn about this short era in time!  In preparation for our Pioneer potluck, Jake made baking soda biscuits. He did a great job!

He used both a mason jar and an actual biscuit cutter.  He also made the followed the recipe and did each step!

Some of our co-op friends got dressed up for our Pioneer Day and that made it extra fun!  We learned about the first missionaries (as well as first recorded woman) to the West, Narcissa Whitman as well as the Donner Party.  Another mom led the group in making covered wagons as well as working as a group to estimate how many items a family could take in a wagon.  We also learned that wagons were typically painted blue or red with blue or red wheels, not the typical brown we always see (although, I'm sure there were wagons of that color too).

In science, we learned about our blood and the different components of it.  Here was our hands-on diagram of it: the clear corn syrup is our plasma, the red hots are our red blood cells, the white sprinkles are our white blood cells and the white jelly bean.. hmm.. I can't remember that one!  LOL!  Ah well!  It was a great lesson!

To wrap up this unit on blood, we each took a blood typing "test"!  That was really interesting!  The boys were crazy about being pricked in the finger, especially Jake, but they survived and enjoyed learning about their own blood type!

As we went into Easter break, we wrapped up our Grapevine study of the Resurrection.  This was our first time using one of their studies and we really enjoyed it!  In depth learning while drawing stick figures to help focus.  Great stuff!

We had a lot of rain that week and while visiting my brother and nephew, we caught this double rainbow and had to pull over to take pictures.  We weren't the only car that did so either!  It was so beautiful!

This was a great week for us!

Weekly Wrap-up March 19-23

This week has flown by so fast! After not feeling great last week and weekend, we entered into this week rather slowly. Or, at least I did. Looking over the boys' work, though, they jumped in with both feet!

We are lingering on the pioneers and settling California for a bit in California History. Our co-op has a Pioneer party scheduled for next week. Even though one had nothing to do with the other, the timing has ended up being perfect! We SHOULD have hit all of this pioneer/gold rush days in January but with illnesses and breaks, we just arriving to it!

We watched a great PBS documentary on the Donner Party and we are continuing with our read aloud, "Be The Great Horn Spoon". Jake finished his Cobblestone reader "California Trail" and we have started the introduction material for "Patty Reed's Doll". I can't wait to get started with that book! Jake and I drew out a map of half of the U.S. to track the typical California Trail and then the one the Donner-Reed Party took. We are going to move a wagon traing along the trail as he reads the book. Not too shabby for freehand drawing, I say! Our California is a little anorexic but we need to tighten our belt here anyway! :)

What is a home schoolers kitchen if it doesn't have some science experiment set up, right?? We have our root viewer that Jake started a month and a half still going, although, the carrot and onion seeds haven't produced any plants. The radish seeds have taken off! We also have baggies of radish seeds in various states of wet/dryness to see what happens to the seeds in different environments. We are inadvertently growing pink-dotted mold in these said baggies too. Gross and cool all at the same time!

Josh is chugging along in World History, Intro to Physics and Math. Here he is trying out Time4Learning website. He's working on exponents (and is not very thrilled about the picture taking, as always).

In addition to beginning "Archimedes and the Door of Science" book, he also began "Where the Red Fern Grows" book this week. We didn't get to it last year in 6th grade, so I figured we'd squeeze it in now. He's not very thrilled about it as he knows it's going to end sadly. This is his 15th and 16th books for this school year (so far)!

Jake is continuing with Ramona Quimby, Age 8. He's digging her style and loving this story! I just hope he doesn't pick up any ideas! Oh boy!

As part of his monthly Little Passports package, Jake received a "artifact" from Egypt (if you don't know about Little Passports, it's a monthly package club that sends your kids neat packages from a different country each month and they get to learn about the country, its culture and geography. It's pretty cool!). So, Jake decided on Thursday night he wanted to unearth his pyramid. It was pretty fun! He really got into it, too, thinking he had discovered the latest Egyptian find! (I'm not sure why Blogger reversed the order of these pictures.. sorry about that!)

Much to the delight of both boys, the iPad entered into our educational time last week. They brushed up on fractions, took their spelling test with a neat app., tested their knowledge of world and U.S. geography with Stack the States app, Stack the Countries app, and GeoQuiz. Their favorite is probably Presidents vs. Aliens though. Man, that game really challenges you to know your presidential facts! I even enjoy it!

We cancelled our trip to Marshall Gold Discovery park, not knowing if it would rain, and my need for a day at home to prepare for a birthday party sleepover. We also got to hang out with two of my brothers and my nephew and then Josh, Chris and I got the chance to see "The Hunger Games". They did a great job! They left out some details but stayed close to the main events. Chris hasn't finished the first book let alone the series yet, and he really enjoyed the movie! We left Jake with Nana so we could preview it before letting him watch it. They did a good job of displaying the violence in a way that wasn't horribly jolting or traumatic and that is saying a lot because lets face it.. at its core, The Hunger Games is violent. It was a very busy, crazy, fun week!

Happy Birthday to our oldest!! I can't believe how big he is! Oy Vey! Both boys are such a joy and blessing! So glad they are in our life!

I'm linking up with Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers for their Weekly Wrap-up!

Weekly Wrap-up: March 3 -6 and field trip Friday!

We had a full week last week! So much so, that I'm just finally getting around to posting all that we took part in!

We are plugging along in math and I've been exploring a few options for online math drills besides what we already have which is IXL
I came upon a math site that, so far, I'm really digging! It's called dreambox . We are currently using the 14 day trial to give it a whirl before purchasing. If interested, Homeschool Buyers Co-op has it on sale until 3/31 for a SPECTACULAR discount!

Saturday, the 3rd we had friends over for dinner and owl dissecting! Sounds fun, huh?
My friend found an awesome printable online of an owl pellet chart and we used that as our guide for when we found tiny bones in the pellets.

If you are unfamiliar with owl pellets, they aren't poop, as some believe, but really Owl hairballs. Owls do not have teeth to chew, so they swallow their meal whole and digest the meat. All other materials - fur, bones, seeds - are indigestable and so regurgitated back up in these nice, tight fur balls. Within the fur balls, contain different bones. It's pretty fascinating really!

Monday saw us slow down significantly in school in order to tame the excess beast. We collected a HUGE pile, which I affectionately called "Ruthless Purge, part 1". This pile went to our church's rummage sale and proceeds helped the cost of sending a group of people to go build two homes in Mexico in a couple of weeks!

This pile grew to about 2 to 3 times this size by the end of the week.

Tuesday and Wednesday saw us with a horrible bout of seasonal allergies which slowed us down greatly.

We finished the Read-aloud, "The Hunger Games" and my oldest went on to read the trilogy within the week. Josh and I had an excellent discussion about the series (which I had read in three days the week before) including thinking through critically the belief systems within Panem as well as within each character. Deep thoughts came out of that! Good stuff! If you are unsure about whether you should read this book or have your kids read it, go here: Redeemed Reader for an excellent review!

We are still working through "By The Great Horn Spoon", our other read aloud!

Friday was our field trip day with our co-op and it was a blast! It was a long day but so cool!

First, we had a school lesson in the Old Schoolhouse in Old Sacramento.

Each student got to ring the school bell on the top of the building as we left.

Then, we walked over to the Wells Fargo building, where the Pony Express stop was for Wells Fargo bank and had a great history lesson there as well as given lots of opportunity for hands on learning!

We met outside at first and moved in. Our group numbered close to 35 which made for super tight quarters! Those stairs, behind the guide, led to California's first Supreme Court!

A drawing of Old Sacramento during the Gold Rush

This is a model-size replica of a Wells Fargo stagecoach. Did you know that they fit 20 people in these things?!?! Ugh! Talk about a rough ride!! Did you ALSO know that the shout-out "shotgun", when someone wants to ride in the passenger seat comes from our stagecoach days. The guy who rode next to the driver was the guy carrying the shot gun and protecting the loot that was placed under his seat, near his feet!

And this... this is Black Bart... famous in Sacramento and all the gold rush hills surrounding Sacramento. Wells Fargo history would not be complete without mentioning Black Bart!

We had gorgeous weather and about 1.5 hours for lunch, so we picnicked in the middle of Old Sac in a green, grassy field and let the kids run and play and hang out while the moms got to chat and catch-up.

Finally, with our group dwindled, the remaining 20 braved the Underground tour of Old Sacramento and I have to say, it was AWESOME! We had an excellent tour guide and learned SO much! Because Old Sac was built right next to the river, it would be flooded every year, until they created our levee system. They also raised the town 9.5 feet up from it's original spot! So, we got to see old buildings, archeology digs, interesting findings, etc. under Old Sac! Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures under there due to private property laws or something. Too bad because they had some great pictures of people rowing down J st. back in 1860!! So, all we got was this group picture before entering the doors behind them and going underground!

It was an awesome day learning with friends!

Josh and Jake in front of the Pony Express memorial

Saturday brought a watercolor lesson for me, rummage sale at our church for Chris and the boys, a stun gun purchase, and the Rock and Worship Road Show!!!
We saw Sidewalk Prophets, Rend Collective, LeCrae, Disciple, Tenth Avenue North, and Mercy Me.

I LOVE Tenth Avenue North so I was most looking forward to seeing them and they did not disappoint! What amazing truth was spoken by that band, in song and word. At one point, the lead singer, went into the crowd and ended up two rows down from us! Mercy Me was also amazing, as usual! Bart did a talk and then they performed and it was moving and challenging. We walked away with a renewed spirit and a song (or two or more) in our heart! We also walked away with a new band that we Chris and I love - Rend Collective! Awesome, God honoring band! We had an incredible time! Check and see if the Rock and Worship Road Show is coming near you! If so, DON'T MISS IT!

I hope you had a great week too!

I'm linking up with