Wordless Wednesday

 Salem the cat has been a big help in all the back to (home)school prep!

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My Weekly Notebook: August Week 2

 

Life this week...

New beginnings are coming as we get ready for school starting back up and fall happenings. I have to say I am excited for it all. I love going back to home school after the summer is over. I love the anticipation of new books and supplies. We will be getting our new curriculum and classes like co-op will be starting back up. I am feeling the itch this week to get back to it all, and I am hoping that the boys will cooperate in some fun back to school pictures. We haven't done those in a few years.

Homeschool this week...

We are slowly adding back in subjects to amp up for September when everything starts back up. Alex got a little math in after not doing it for most of the summer, and it was nice to see that he hasn't forgotten everything. In fact he got every problem on his workbook page right!

The Good and the Beautiful Math 5 workbook page

 

Alex is currently learning about castles/middle age times and this week he learned about Midieval clothing. He colored some stick puppet figures while I read to him.

We are using parts of the Project Passport unit study from Homeschool in the Woods called The Middle Ages

Mom-school this week...

Unfortunately, I didn't get any mom-school done this week. 

Helpful homeschool tips and advice to share...

I was recently challenged to find something that I can do for myself to help my self-esteem. Something that brought me energy and life. Not something that I had to do or that is life draining, but something that would be uplifting for me. I realized that thing was blogging. It is often the first thing I put off to the side when I get busy. After thinking about the things I do that are fulfilling and that I enjoy blogging was the only thing that I could think of that gave me energy and excitement and doesn't feel like a chore. So, my advice this week is to find something that you can do for yourself that is fulfilling to your soul, life-giving, and energy renewing. It was eye-opening for me to think about this and helped me to realize that blogging might need to be more of a priority in my days and weeks as it lifts me up.

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

We went blueberry picking with friends from our homeschool group. There's nothing quite like freshly picked blueberries!

 

My favorite thing this week was...

Going to the LEGO store to build a free "red brick" for the 90 years of play birthday celebration of LEGO. We built it right in the store which was fun. I also had Alex take a picture of me for a change.

 

 My kids' favorite thing this week was...

Alex says his favorite thing this week was helping April move into her new apartment. I love that kid's heart! (there were a lot of other things he could have chosen, but he chose the hardest thing because he loves to help people) He also loved the ramen we ate afterward.

 

Random things the kids worked on...

Alex worked a LEGO Minecraft set we picked up at the LEGO store. This was a summer fun activity that I picked up for him. He worked through a few bags, but has yet to finish it still. 

 

Something I accomplished...

I made this August quilt square last summer in August but never finished the edge. I came across it and realized I should really finish the edge, and I did it! 

It makes me so happy and accomplished to look at it now. Turned out pretty cute. I really want to make one for every month.

I even made my own binding! I always forget how easy that is!
 

What we're reading...

We had the book Dandelions by Eve Bunting checked out from the library. I was excited to read it. It was a good story, but the poor mama in this story! She was so lonely without family or friends and leaving all she knew behind to go claim land. Wow, I couldn't imagine! It really puts into perspective life and what's worth working hard for.

 

Outdoor time...

Our outdoor adventure this week was a bike ride. We decided to try out Newell Creek in Oregon City. It has a bike trail or 2 that we saw not too long ago, and wanted to try them out. So, we packed up the bikes in the van and headed over there.

Posed for a picture at the beginning of the trail.

Checked the map to make sure we knew where we were going. We went out on Shady Lane and came back on Tumble Falls.

Stopped to admire the lovely view at the Tumble Falls bridge, then headed back to the Tumble Falls trail because we were tired.

Going back was not easy because it was mostly uphill. We ended up walking the bikes quite a bit. We definitely need to build up endurance and strength!

Games we played...

We played Star Wars Monopoly (Mandalorian version). We didn't get very far though as it turned into an argument and right at that moment we had to go somewhere. We left it out hoping to come back to it after we came back and the argument had time to cool down, but we never got back to it. So, it was a very short game. Now we have Roblox monopoly to play that we just bought this weekend.

I'm cooking/eating...

I made an absolutely delicious blueberry cobbler with the fresh blueberries I picked. We had it warm with a little vanilla ice cream.

 

 

Other fun pictures from the week...

Playing tic-tac-toe in the pool was super fun.

Salem the cat waking up one morning after sleeping on my feet half the night.

I'm grateful for...

LEGO. It is a fun hobby, but it's also a stress release. It gives my hands something to do, and my brain a break. A lot of the time my mind goes through 5 million thoughts per minute, and LEGO gives me something to focus on that I don't have to think too much about.

A LEGO mosaic I made this week

My Weekly Notebook: August week 1

Life this week...

Sometimes I feel like I'm doing a lot of stuff, but not really accomplishing much. This week was one of those weeks. A lot of stuff just didn't pan out the way I thought they would. But, there were a lot of good things from the week too. Just little moments and little things that added up to make it a good week.

Homeschool this week (summer edition)... 

Some of those little things happened in our homeschool this week. First, Aaron finished his online Journalism 1a class (exactly half a credit of an English class), and started Journalism 1b. He got some great comments from the teacher, and he has been working hard all summer to get it finished. If he finishes Journalism 1b the last half of this summer he'll be caught up on all his English high school credits. 

 

We had a nice afternoon of writing one afternoon. Alex picked writing in his journal (which he never does on his own), and I was able to sit and do my cursive/coloring for adults book. 

We also visited the owlery to learn how to write a letter. Alex picked a friend that he talks to pretty often. But, it was a good exercise for him. He even learned how to address the envelope. Where to put the to/from address. We'll try to add visits to the owlery more often this school year for Harry Potter school.

Mom-school this week...

I finished coloring a page in my Brain Games/Dyslexia Games from Funschooling.com. It's amazing how much this brings me peace/calm. Even though I feel like I don't feel like I have time to sit down and color, it does amazing things for my brain to work on these books. 

 

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

This was a week with not a lot of going and seeing, but we did get to the LEGO store...

It's always a fun time at the LEGO store

 

 

My favorite thing this week was...

Seeing glimpses of Fall outside and in the stores. I am looking forward to cooler days and fall activities.

 

My kids' favorite thing this week was...

I don't know if they had anything favorite this week. I always forget to ask them this question.

Things I'm working on...

Getting rid of the spray chalk on our grass. Remember that fun stuff we used for 4th of July? Well, it's not coming off. So, I'm hoping by growing the grass it will at least cover it up a little, and maybe get it to a point where we can cut it off. That means I have to water the lawn. It was pretty much dead, and it's so dry that I have to put the sprinkler on every morning. I think I finally see some green coming up! I have been watering everyday this week. It's going to be a long process.

Something I accomplished...

I finally got out my photo box that I checked out from the Library of Things. I LOVE this thing. I have always wanted to try one out. I decided to walk by the shelf at the library that has all the "library of things" to check out. This happened to be there. I was so excited to finally get a chance to try one out.

Trying out a photo box that I checked out from the library

This is the result! Beautiful background and perfect lighting. One of these is definitely going on my wishlist.

 

 Also something I accomplished this week, building Severus Snape Brickheadz

I love the library of things. We have discovered that trying things out before we buy is so good. And, sometimes we just want a one-time use also.

 

What we're reading...

We are currently on book 6 of Harry Potter, and listened to a lot of that this week. It has been so long since the first time I read book 6, that I don't remember most of what's happening. It's like I'm reading/listening for the first time. I am looking forward to the movie for this one too.

Movies/TV we watched... 

Interestingly we have not been watching a lot of movies/tv together lately.

Outdoor time...

A lot of our outdoor time was spent on yard work this week. We got a good portion of the back yard jungle weeded. There's still so much more to go!

I'm grateful for...

Experiences. Big or small, good or bad. I'm grateful for all experiences. They help me to learn and grow, and have made me the person I am today.