Wordless Wednesday

 

My Weekly Notebook: Time for travel? (Is it time yet?)

 

Life this week...

It's about this time of winter that I start dreaming of getting away. Especially to somewhere warm and sunny. I wish I could say I have a trip planned real soon to said place, but I don't. It is time to start thinking about the travels we want to make for spring and summer. Probably a lot of camping mostly this year.

Homeschool this week...

It was a long week of getting work samples ready. Some things we had to focus on more than others to get some good samples. For example, an art project for Alex. He did a Winnie the Pooh chalk pastel lesson.

Mom-school this week...

I am thinking about starting an IEW teachers course. It might be a good idea for me to get trained in a writing course. I didn't do much actual studying of my own this week. It was busy.

Helpful homeschool tips and advice to share...

The website My Teaching Library was super useful for me this week. I highly recommend this resource for lots of extra printables and curriculum.

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

It was a pretty normal week as far as going to Village Home and our nature group. The boys had some friend outings and their D&D group on Saturday.

A few of our favorite things this week... 

One of my favorite things was an unplanned night outside looking at the stars with hubby while sitting by the little fire, and then getting an awesome picture of it.

Something I accomplished...

I made cupcakes for LEGO day (the 28th of January). I even made little chocolate minifigs (green because it was all I had on hand). I also got one kid's work samples finished. Now to get the last 2 done.

What we're reading...

• The Princess and the Goblin by George Macdonald (morning read-aloud)
  
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (mom)

Movies/TV we watched... 

I watched Fried Green Tomatoes with hubby on Saturday night. I'm also making my way through the Once Upon a Time series on Disney+

Outdoor time...

I have decided to take a picture outside everyday and post it to my Instagram. I am on Day 6 and I have to say I'm really enjoying it.

LEGO...

I built a skate shop to go with my roller skating rink that I'll be building soon. I need to have my roller skating rink done by March for the LEGO convention. I've got to get on that!

I'm grateful for...

Each and everyday I get to homeschool my kids.

Thankful Thursday

 

I feel blessed as I see all the great books and lessons we get with all the curriculum available to us. It hasn't always been this way. Sometimes it even feels like too much, but what can I say, I love books! So thankful for them all.

Wordless Wednesday

Booksharing Monday

Alex received a new cookbook for his birthday and he is inspired! He wants to cook all the things now, and that's fine by me. I have been hoping to get them in the kitchen again. As they have gotten older it has been more difficult to get them involved in the cooking. But, I'm excited to see what this brings about.

 

His first recipe choice is this burger one.

My Weekly Notebook: Week 3--tired!

 

Life this week...

By the end of the week I was just tired. Tired of the ice and cold, tired and unmotivated, tired of being cooped up inside, and tired of being bored. I'm looking forward to a new week. I don't know if I'll be less tired, because lets face it, I'm always tired! But, I think next week we'll be mostly back to normal.

Homeschool this week...

We ended up being home everyday for most of the day all week due to ice. So no outside classes or breaks. These weeks are hard and very unmotivating. We did however get something done each day, and we started back up reading The Princess and the Goblin.

Helpful homeschool tips and advice to share...

Look for fun holidays to celebrate to make your homeschool days more interesting. I discovered that it was "Winnie the Pooh" day on the 18th this week and was able to add in some fun things to our days. Here is an extensive list that has so many extra holidays: Holidays and Observances dot com

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

I took a few walks. I really want to get outside every single day and document it, but haven't been able to get out every day because...rain. I don't like to walk in the rain. I should probably just find a way. Here is a picture of the sky one day.

A few of our favorite things this week...

My favorite thing this week was building a skate rental shop out of LEGO for my roller skating rink that I'm going to be making. It came together better than I thought it would, and I'm feeling more confident about making a rink than I was before.

Things I'm working on...

• I'm still building the Harry Potter Hogwart's LEGO castle. Halfway done with this.
• I'm wanting to get back into some other crafts like my diamond art projects, cross-stitching, and possibly quilting.
   

Something I accomplished...

I did yoga two mornings. My goal is every morning, but everyday I find every excuse.

 

What we're reading...

This would be where I'd list all the many books we read this week, but we didn't really do a lot of reading. I am still reading the Addie LaRue book and we had our read aloud, but that was about it.

Movies/TV we watched...

I watched Namu. I saw it featured at the orca exhibit at OMSI a few weeks ago and checked it out from the library. It was definitely a slower '60's movie, but I thought it was fun to watch.

   

I also watched Christopher Robin and loved this little scene from the movie. It so reminds me of my kids anytime I am trying to get something done. Also, the first time I watched this with my kids they loved doing this in the car for a long time afterwards.

Outdoor time...

We are only up to 8 hours. I feel like the more I want to get outside, the less we do. It just doesn't happen naturally anymore. The kids don't gravitate naturally to parks, or playing outside anymore. Although Alex did go out and play in the ice/snow with the neighbor kids for the first time probably since summer. It was so nice, and I counted it!

Games we played...

I can't believe we didn't play any games! But, like I said, I had zero motivation this week with being stuck inside.

LEGO... 

I pulled out my Pooh minifigs from a set to get a picture for "Pooh day" aka A.A. Milne's birthday. I love celebrating birthdays, even if it's just an author of a classic book.

I'm cooking/eating...

I had to cook way too much being stuck inside all week! Just kidding, I don't mind cooking a lot, but I don't remember what I made. I know I made Beef Stroganoff and Chicken fajitas. Those were probably 2 of my better dishes from the week, and the rest was just survival.

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

The ice totally didn't work out for us. Or did it? We didn't lose power and we had everything we needed. I consider that working out for an ice storm considering last major ice storm we lost power for 5.5 days. So, I guess both?

I'm grateful for...

How much doing these weekly posts help me review the week, and how they help me see what we need to work on more throughout the week and how much we really did accomplish.

Thankful Thursday

 

Wordless Wednesday: Icicles

 

52 lists for calm: Your senses right now

Take one minute to focus and check in with each of your senses, what do you feel, smell, hear, taste, and see? List everything you can sense right in this moment:

• I feel warm
• I see ice outside
• I see lights to read in the dark
• I taste a meat stick I just snacked on
• I smell nothing
• I can breathe okay
• I feel excited for bed
• I hear peace and quiet
• I see LEGO to be built
• I feel tired

The challenge this week is to try this everyday in different environments, sitting down for 5 minutes and just go through each sense and jot down what I feel. I am hoping to do this outside at least once. 

This is a lists project from the book 52 lists for Calm by Moorea Seal

My Weekly Notebook: Week 2 - Ice

 

Life this week...

We ended the week with a weekend of freezing rain, ice, and sleet. Everything was cancelled and the roads are pretty much ice skating rinks, so we've opted to not go anywhere. It has been nice, but also just annoying. I would have liked to have a normal weekend. We were lucky and didn't lose our power though! That is definitely a blessing! I will be glad when it all melts. 

Homeschool this week...

We finally played Element Bingo for Aric's Chemistry lab for lesson 1. It was a great review for learning and getting familiar with the elements.

 

Mom-school this week...

I have decided to start a daily separate Mom-school list for myself. I make daily lists for the kids' school, so why not one for myself?! I'm always unsure what to do, having  a list will be nice for direction and record keeping when I need it. Hopefully this will help me do more of my own learning on a daily basis.

Helpful homeschool tips and advice to share...

Got a book or curriculum that you want to use in your homeschool? Check if the publisher offers extra educational material to go along with it. I've found so many helpful, educational things, to go along with our lessons when I check. For example our Turing Tumble set. I looked online to see what ideas there were for teaching and turns out there is a whole 118 page practice guide to print up with extra puzzles and explanations. Don't forget to check when you get a game too!

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

We were back to classes at Village Home this week. It was a long break that started Thanksgiving week. We also went to Langer's on Tuesday and Alex got to celebrate his birthday with his friends. They bowled, laser tagged, and played at the arcade. On Monday we went on a walk with our homeschool nature group at Keizer Rapids Park. I think that wraps up the places we went. I guess I kinda went backwards with that timeline, but it works!

A few of our favorite things this week...

Alex says his favorite thing from the week is the snow/ice we got this weekend. He even went outside to play with a few neighbor kids to play and drive his RC car around for a bit. Not much gets him outside these days unless I make him so I'd say this is no surprise for his favorite thing.

Things I'm working on...

I have pulled out the Harry Potter LEGO castle to work on again. I'm almost exactly halfway through (finished 2 out of 4 books).  It has been slow building because I have to take so much time finding pieces. When I took it apart last time I didn't bag the pieces in separate bags. So, all the pieces are one big jumbled mess. I hope to finish it this week. It is still fun to build though!

Random things the kids worked on...

Earlier this week I mentioned to Alex that he hadn't used his RC car in a while and that he should charge the batteries, so this weekend he finally pulled it out and worked on it with his dad. It's finally fixed and now we can take the RC car for regular walks again!

Something I accomplished...

I got the kitchen table cleared and ready for the new school week coming up. Got assignments ready to go and found books and things needed for at least Monday.

Movies/TV we watched... 

I checked out A Charlie Brown Valentine from the library and watched it with Alex. It made me laugh. I love the antics of Charlie Brown and his take on life is hilarious sometimes.

 

Outdoor time...

We are halfway through January and we only have 6 hours. It's hard because I have no desire to be cold, but that's what it is right now. I just need to do it anyway.

Games we played... 

Alex and I played Boggle for the first time (we got this game for Christmas). Alex did pretty good for his first time! It took him a few rounds to get how the words could be connected/found, but he finally figured it out.

 

LEGO...

I made another mosaic for my collage of mosaics. This one is the puppy. I love these mosaics because I just follow the pattern. I don't have to think about how to make it at all. It's nice for a quick project.

 

I'm cooking/eating...

I made taco pizza for one of the pizzas on pizza night at home. It's one of my favorites right now.

 

Other thoughts from the week... 

Alex scored some fun Croc Jibbitz charms in a mystery grab bag. We also returned a too small pair that I had bought online and he picked these ones out in the store. We were able to make sure they fit. He loved the grab bag.

 

I'm grateful for...

A gas fireplace. It's nice to have for cold days/weeks like this.

Book Sharing Monday

 

I just want to share the book I am currently listening to for the new women's book club that started back up with some local women. I am thoroughly enjoying this book. It's full of great ideas for learning to love where you live. There are stories and lots of real ideas for things you can start doing in your own town and why these things help. There are even check lists at the end of each chapter for fun and service oriented things to do that really help you feel a part of the community.

 

The physical copy that I checked out from the library to have for reference.

 

I love that I can listen to the book. It helps me so much to be able to listen while doing other tasks.

One of the Love Your City checklists.

I am only about halfway through the book currently, but so far it is a very pleasant read. Hoping to put some of these love your city ideas into action. Also looking forward to the first book club meeting of the year to discuss it!

My weekly Notebook: Week 1 - A New Year!

 

Life this week...

Will this be the year that I keep up and post more on the blog? Who knows?! But, I sure wanna try. This is like a journal for me and I've been so thankful for what I have recorded so far. Sometimes I look back on posts, with no recollection of even doing the activity, so I'm glad to see it here! It always reminds me how important it is to write things down and keep memories alive. I also find reading other blogs inspiring and I hope that mine is for others as well. I've gained so many great ideas from others' blogs through the years. Some days it keeps me going.

Homeschool this week...

It was hard getting back to work after the Christmas break! We eased back in with some fun stuff including LEGO building and this math squares game that we started before the break. Sometimes I will have kiddo play this with me for at least 10 minutes (we set a timer) to get his brain going for math. These are great review. Oh and he always wins!

 

 

Mom-school this week...

I started this workbook called "Unravel Your Year". I am excited to reflect on last year and look ahead to 2024. 

 

Helpful homeschool tips and advice to share...

Find things that YOU (the mom/teacher) enjoy and DO them! Take or make the time to do them. Even if just a little bit. 

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

We finally made it to OMSI for Alex's birthday. All the kids came, it was so fun! We visited the orca exhibit and I convinced all the kids to pose in the orca tail for a photo. One of my favorites now.

Things I'm working on...

I am still working on rebuilding the Harry Potter LEGO castle. It's taking me way longer than I planned since I didn't separate the pieces into bags when I took it apart. It's still fun to build though!

Random things the kids worked on... 

Alex built his Christmas gift from April, a LEGO Switch game console.

Something I accomplished... 

I figured out how to make a picture of my sigfig into a sticker on my phone. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to get it onto a nice solid color background like this.

What we're reading...

We read this picture book about Louis Braille called Six Dots by Jen Bryant. What's cool about reading this is that we read this the day after it was "world braille day." I didn't even know! I just happened to read about braille day (after the fact) on Instagram and thought it was a great coincidence. I love to learn about fun holidays like that. Also, I think it would be fun to learn braille.

 

We also read Snow Horses by Patricia MacLachlan. This is a great read for new years. The illustrations are lovely, and the story is so fun for a new years night.

 

Outdoor time...

We officially started a new year for counting hours. My hope is that we'll beat last year and maybe get closer to 1,000, but right now we're barely getting outside everyday. I am making more of an intentional effort to get outside for at least 15 minutes each day no matter what. So hubby and I did a few days of sitting by the new little table top fire pit out front. It was a Christmas gift, and one that I was considering getting anyway. Perfect gift! I'm looking for more ways to be more intentional about getting outside. 

We also went on a hike with a group of homeschool friends at Joryville Park in South Salem. We had a surprise challenge of stump hopping. It was both nerve wracking and fun. Thankfully we both made it out dry and feeling accomplished.

 

LEGO... 

Alex built this Mars rover technic set for LEGO class this week. 

Other thoughts from the week... 

I have a new daily calendar. It's all LEGO minifigs and I really love this librarian. I want to find her to add to my collection.

I'm grateful for...

A full upcoming week and classes starting back up.

Wordless Wednesday

Final outdoor hours for 2023