My Weekly Notebook: I spy printable, bike rides, and fanny packs

Life this week...

It was a good summer week that ended with April coming home for a visit and a boat ride through Portland. Of course, there were many things that didn't get accomplished and I always wish I had more time, but overall it was a blessed week. 

Homeschool this week (summer edition)...

This week we were able to get a little school done, and I did some planning for the next school year. I decided to give a new curriculum a try called The Good and the Beautiful. It looks like such a great curriculum, and I have been wondering about it for a while now. I decided to download the free PDFs of the course material just to give it a try. 

I also made some plans for books we will read and units that we'll do along with them. That included printing some lapbooks and other materials. I feel like I just did lots of printing and planning this week with more to come!

Mom-school this week...

I worked on this I spy nature study for some downtime this week. I also pulled out some of my books that had gotten buried under other things. I am hoping to sit down and study more on my own.

 

Helpful homeschool tips and advice to share... 

Need some incentive to get outside with your kiddos? The 1000 hours outside website has some free printables with fun outdoor ideas for each month of the year. I put this up on our fridge for inspiration, and I've put a lot of the books on hold. They look like some fun books to read!

Places we're going and people we're seeing... 

We have gone on a few bike rides this week. We are working on getting working wheels for each member of our family and so that means bikes are being switched around as people have grown, or purchased. I was trying out Aaron's bike this week to see if it would be a good fit for me because April has my bike down at college. Aaron's bike may be a bit small for him so it looks like he's going to need something different. We also picked up a new bike for Aric who hasn't really had one for a few years. These things are expensive! But, we are on our way to getting everyone outfitted and hopefully, we'll be able to go do some mountain biking soon!

Our ride to Mcdonald's one morning this week. I said that anyone who went on a bike ride with me could have lunch from McDonald's. I had only 1 taker for that deal.

My favorite thing last week was...

Going to breakfast and shopping around with a friend.

Something I accomplished... 

I finally finished this 4th of July puzzle that I started about a month ago. Maybe more like 3 weeks. It was a fun one!

 

Outdoor time...

We have about 11.5 hours outside this week. It has been pretty eye-opening to track how much time we spend outdoors! It makes me want to spend more time outside. We went on a boat cruise through Portland that we spent most of our outdoor hours on, and a few hikes and bike rides. I do have to keep track in real time a bit better. These are just estimates that I make when I remember at the end of the week. 

Games we played...

We played Spot it! regular version AND Harry Potter version. I found the Harry Potter version while out shopping with my friend. We all really like Spot it! But the Harry Potter version rocks.

 

 

Something that worked out great or didn't work out for us this week...

I have something that worked out good! This fanny pack worked out great for bike riding. I was able to convince 2 of my boys that this is the way to go for carrying things while bike riding. I love this fanny pack, and it's easy to just slip on. Good for any outdoor adventure!

 

I'm grateful for...

As we head into a week with high temps, I am grateful for air conditioners.