The Homeschool Mother's Journal/Weekly Wrap-Up & Giveaway

In my life this week:

It's clear: Baby Brother already loves television. And he has been to two movies so far, and he quite enjoyed looking at that screen, as well. (He slept through most of them, though.) Sorry, Academy of Pediatrics, and I promise his television viewing is rare.

Big things going on at our house this week (which have created this whole new world of exploration for the kids...for some reason, the uniform of choice in the dirt pile seems to be underwear + rainboots). Stay tuned!

This picture was actually taken a few weeks ago, but it shows some other big things going on at our house. New furniture, which equals lots of cardboard to play in. They loved it.

I adore this picture. What would I do without the sweet help of my 3 big kids?



What My Kids Are Saying:
*So...apparently my daughter is boy crazy. How did this happen? And she's so brazen about it.  Ryan is already having panic attacks. She looks him right in the eye and tells him who she thinks is cute and who she is going to marry. I would have never done that at her age! Anyway, we don't discourage (other than putting out our ideas on marriage and courtship) her because we love that she is open with us, but we don't tease her and encourage it, either. We try to remain as matter-of-fact as possible, although Ryan can't help from shake his head in bewilderment at times - and she just giggles about it.

*I was talking about two of the boys' friends the other day. I said, "They are such polite, respectful, sweet boys." She finished, "And cute & stuff." Then proceeded to giggle. And since then, she has asked if these brothers are going to be at certain events!

*Another recent one:
"I'm not getting married. I'm going to be like Aunt Tracy (who is not married, as of yet). But I don't know...cuz there's a lot of boys that's cute."


*In further daughter-airheaded news, as I was reading a book to myself, she didn't understand why I was just "looking" at the pages. "Why do you always look at books, but you don't read them?"


*My 7 year old was NOT impressed that I painted my fingernails black. "Only mean girls paint their nails black...you know, like in fashion..."


*Something I want to remember that my oldest son does, in case he stops doing it: he uses "very" instead of "really." He'll say, "I very want to." 


*That above is one of those things that I adore so much, I don't want to properly correct. It's just like my daughter who says, "E-den," instead of "The End." She says it with flourish, too, like, "Eeeee-den!!!" I'm a bad parent sometimes because I'd rather enjoy their sweet, endearing flubs than teach them the correct pronunciation.

What I'm Reading This Week:
Frommer's 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up
Clearly there are not enough years in childhood to visit all of the places in the book. And although I'd like to go to every place included, somehow I don't think Venezuela or Hungary are in the cards for us. I was happy to see that I've taken the kids to a lot of the places in the book - although some of them they don't remember at this point, so we may have to redo a few. I've been jotting down my list, and here is part of it that might be realistic:


Ireland (The Giant's Causeway - because of it's "tie" to my son), England (too many places to list), Scotland (Loch Ness Monster), all of Europe basically - we hope to do this our 40th birthday year, Arches National Park (Moab Utah), Hawaii (Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Pearl Harbor), Niagara Falls, Mount Rushmore, Abe Lincoln museums in Kentucky & Ilinois, Mount Vernon, Colonial Williamsburg, all of the Laura Ingalls Wilder museums, Diamond MO, bats in Austin, Hannibal MO, The Hermitage, Monticello, Canada (too many places to list, including Prince Edward Island - Ann of Green Gables), Joshua Tree National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Mackinac Island, Traverse City, tubing on the Gaudalupe River, Plymouth, Jamestown, Boston & Concord, etc. Valley Forge, Minute Men Museum (This is because they ask frequently to go since it's mentioned in their audiobook.), Alamo, San Diego Zoo, Redwood Forest, a few places in Philadelphia we missed last time, space center to watch a shuttle launch, Kitty Hawk, D.C., Chicago, Roanoke Island, Tombstone, and not in the book - many farm sanctuaries I know of...I also really want to go on a cruise.

Audio books this week: Mercy Watson (the pig), Arthur (the aardvark)

Places We're Going and People We're Seeing:
Exciting news! Baby Brother, my 7 year old, and I are going on a trip together. We're taking the train to NYC and hoping to get out at a couple of places along the way! Wish me luck! I'm going to do something for my other two kids individually, as well. Wish my single-dad husband luck, too! I think they will have a lot of special time together.

In Our Homeschool This Week:
Still reading Little House on the Prairie and doing journal entries and online quizzes. Tornado is finishing up a Saxon Math workbook, and Dash is doing a few pages in a sight words workbook everyday. Tornado consistently has a book he's writing or an art poroject he's creating. Other than that, we've just been working on reading aloud. Dash continues to have track practice, which is so important for him in every which way. (He has energy to burn and emotions to clear out.)

I forgot to write last time about our homeschool field trip to the zoo. I took it this way so that Baby and I could also be in the pic. One thing I want to point out is my 7 year old's matching outfit. He has these red shorts, which I love...and he is so insistent that he pairs them with a red shirt. I'll try to breezily suggest a different shirt, and he's very defensive. "This matches! I think I look good." Indeed, you do, Sweet Boy!

a few of the kids who went

Link to share:
Enter my giveaway for free bread and art supplies. Only 5 entries, so far! No requirement other than your name in the comments. Ends June 1.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

Weekly Wrap-Up