Weekly Wrap-Up: Where Did This Week Go?!

Seriously! This week has flown by! You know, *more* than usual.

This week I introduced *our* version of the workbox system. I'm still tweaking it and getting it more organized. It was, however, a hit. The kids really like it~especially Mr. B. He loves to see what he's accomplishing (he's so much like me, it's scary). After I complete my setup and final organization (is that ever done?!), I'll be blogging it.

In our Character Sketches studies this week we began learning about Orderliness. The first animal that was an example of this was a *woodchuck*. The kiddos have taken to drawing the animal on their desk chalk-tops while I'm reading. I love seeing their drawings and even though we have to erase them for the next subject, a photo is just the thing.

While we did get through our lesson plans fairly well this week, there were some adjustments. One day we took a break in the middle to meet up with some friends at the park. One friend has a boy about Mr. B's age and I really want him to get to play more with boys his age. He just hasn't had the opportunity to do that much lately and I hate that for him. So I felt it was just as important to go play at the park (and have a lovely Fall picnic) as it was to do math that day.

The Princess has joined back up with Girl Scouts this year with a new troop here in KY. Her second meeting was this week. She's having a good time and making some new friends. And while she was in her meeting it gave me some good hang time with Mr. B.

My sister came for a visit this week. It was great timing since Vince is at the Catalyst conference in Atlanta (yes, I'm so jealous:). So we are having fun spending time with her. We are off to explore our neighboring city of Clarksville, TN today. I'm busy looking up something fun and educational to do (got suggestions for me? Leave a comment!).

She made cupcakes with the kids tonight (she's a such a good aunt!) and The Princess arranged them into a pumpkin shape. I just enjoyed eating them!

And I think that about wraps it up.

(Can you tell I'm exhausted?)

One Way I Refresh During the Summer as a Homeschool Mom

As our homeschool takes some time off this summer, my mind almost never stops thinking of and planning ahead for the upcoming school year. This is probably because I'm Type A and an obsessive planner...lol Whatever the reason, I do enjoy this season of planning. But I also need to be refreshed as a homeschool mom. Homeschooling can be incredibly exhausting and all-consuming. It's not easy and it's a lot of responsibility. And I take that very seriously when I am researching curriculum and planning toward the next school year. So also taking some time to rejuvenate and refocus myself is very important. How do I do this? Each summer I take some time to read something inspiring and motivating that speaks to me as a homeschool mom. Some of my fave reads from past years--that I have nearby on my shelf and refer to often--are Educating the Wholehearted Child, The Well-Trained Mind, The Charlotte Mason Companion, A T...

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while. It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it. However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it. Plus it's a little bulky. When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it! It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make. I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course. They have these little wooden door hangers for .79. I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each. I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing. I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had). Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...

my blessed life

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