Weekly Wrap-Up: The One Where I Finally Got an iPad

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Happy Friday! It’s been another insanely busy week at my house. I’m determined to enjoy this weekend, because the next three are going to be very busy. I think I might just need a weekend getaway by the first Saturday in October, so that my introverted self can recover. Better yet, maybe I’ll plan a weekend getaway for everyone else and just hole myself up in the house alone.

Next Saturday is Megan’s birthday. I’m not sure what we’re going to do yet, but she wants it to involve some friends, the mall, and possibly a sleepover. The next weekend, Brianna takes the ACT. I’m sure that will be stressful for all of us. At least it’s only Saturday morning, so the rest of the day shouldn’t be too crazy.

The last Saturday in the month, Josh has his second band performance at a local fair – the kind of thing that we never go to. It’s going to be crowded, early, and probably hot. Yuck. I do look forward to hearing Josh play the drums in a show again, though. He really enjoys it and does well.

Hot Dog Show 7

It has occurred to me the last several Fridays, as I’ve put together my Weekly Wrap-Up, that I’ve gotten really lazy about taking photos again. I need to do better. I really enjoy them and it’s fun to look back on what we did over the week, not to mention that they make the WWU post so much more visually appealing. I just tend to forget. I should make myself a reminder on my Google calendar.

Monday was a rough day. Josh and Megan clearly did not get enough sleep. I solved that by making them both go to bed early Monday night. I don’t know if it was the extra sleep or the threat of having to go to bed early again on Tuesday night, but that seemed to do the trick. I’d ask if you ever have those days, but I know you do. I was just thankful that I wasn’t grouchy, too. It’s bad when you throw a grouchy mom in the mix with grouchy kids.

The rest of the week has passed in pretty much mundane sameness. We’ve been reading The Captain’s Dog as our read-aloud since we missed it by starting with Paths of Settlement instead of Paths of Exploration. I love when a books makes you laugh out loud – especially when it makes the kids laugh, too. We even got a chuckle out of Josh. It may say something about our personalities that what we found so funny was a scene where Sacajawea was giving her husband down the road for doing something foolish.

Remember last Friday when I said I was going to try to convince Brian to do something fun? Well, I finally got myself an iPad! I’ve wanted one for awhile, but it was very much a want, not even remotely a need.

Good sense lost the battle, though, and Brian and I both indulged in a couple of wants as slightly belated anniversary gifts. I’ve downloaded a couple of apps that I knew I wanted because I’ve already got them on my phone, but I’m sure there are plenty of great, undiscovered (by me) apps out there. What are your must-have tablet apps?

I hope you all had a wonderful week and that you enjoy your weekend. I’m going to work hard to enjoy the last peaceful I’ll probably have for awhile.

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Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.

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16 Comments

  1. Ooh an iPad – cooool! Our favourite iPad app of the day is Netflix. Instapad is great for viewing Instagram. And TimelineBuilder for super-quick timelines. Have fun – and enjoy a restful weekend 🙂
    Thank you for hosting the linkup!

  2. Congrats on the iPad! We all love ours and I’m not sure we could do without them anymore. We love to watch videos on them via Netflix or Amazon. It is so convenient when working out to take my iPad so that I have an array of distraction items 🙂

  3. Probably my most used software & app is Evernote. I’ve used the desktop and web version for many years, and was thrilled when I finally got a smartphone and ipad and could be totally mobile with my “second brain.” 🙂

    I find that “favorite” apps really depends on personality type and what the device is going to be used for. My iphone has hardly any games b/c I don’t want my child to get the idea that it’s a toy. It’s MY phone, not entertainment for him whenever he’s bored for 30 seconds. *lol* However, my ipad has quite a eclectic collection of apps since I use it for school, entertainment and personal stuff.

    Favorite apps after Evernote are Amazon Instant Watch and Netflix, because I like to throw on my headphones and watch a little tv without having to worry if the show is child friendly. I also have Kindle and Audible apps for reading and listening to books on the go.

    I have quite a few games, but I try (try, mind you) to only get ones that have some redeeming value. So I have Angry Birds in many flavors, Plants vs Zombies (my guilty pleasure), Bookworm and Scribblenauts (they count as educational, right?), Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne and Where’s My Water. I also paid for the full version of Toontastic because I thought that creative story telling was a lot better than mindlessly pushing buttons. Oh, I also have ChessKid, but that’s because we also have a full membership at the website.

    I have quite a few photography apps, with my favorite being PicTapGo (for editing), Camera Awesome for taking pictures, and Photo Transfer app for getting them off my device and onto the computer wirelessly.

    Besides Evernote I also have Dropbox and Google Drive. I also have on called Notability which is a note taking app AND lets you mark up PDF files, which I don’t use all that often but has been awesome for the few times that I’ve needed to use it. I use Evernote for taking most of my notes, but Notability is awesome in it’s own right.

    I live in tornado alley, so weather apps are really important to me. I have RadarUS+ and a free one from the Red Cross called Tornado. I have quite a few truly educational apps, but those depend on the ages of your kids, their skills, etc. Although I do have to say that I like using Word Wizard (which is a wee bit childish, but still doable) as a substitute for my AAS/AAR alphabet magnets. It’s not perfect, but works reasonably well.

    Since I use it for school, entertainment and personal stuff

  4. Yay for iPads!! Unless you’re my husband and need to see Candy Crush jumbo-sized (love him lol), then I like using it for seeing YouTube videos that go along with art and history lessons. We watched one today about Pharos Lighthouse, and it was so cool! Congrats on your new toy!

    1. That’s a good idea about the YouTube videos. Want to know a secret? I’ve never played Candy Crush. I know how much time I waste playing Words with Friends, so I am staunchly refusing to get sucked into another game. I won’t even allow myself to look at it.

  5. Kris, Thank you for hosting! Your blog is so helpful and accessible….I’m sub to your email del so I don;t miss a thing.

    I don;t have a tablet, wish I could offer suggestions. enjoy your new device though!

    God bless and have a lovely weekend!

  6. Hey Kris, there is a Yahoo group for iPad4homeschoolers. Check it out.
    My favorite iPad app is Flipboard – great for organizing blogs, etc.

    There are so many. Sounds like you had a great week and are blessed to be super busy.
    Take care,
    Em

  7. Well, my kids are younger than yours – so most of our apps won’t apply! But I totally second Timeline Builder (by Knowledge Quest) and Word Wizard (for when we don’t want to do AAS at the dry erase – I really think AAS needs to come out with a version that has their specific tiles, though this one already has vowels in red and consonants in blue!). Then kindle (for kids and me – school and pleasure) and audible (my younger kids listen to the Bible daily here – the Word of Promise version and they LOVE LOVE it!)
    If you have pdf teacher books or other materials that go with your curriculum? Read them on the ipad!
    Khan academy is available on mobile and IEW has an app for those that use it. Some textbooks are now heading to ipad versions and I can’t wait! My house is full of books and I would prefer the less fun ones (science textbooks, you know?) to not take up my shelf space.
    One of the star gazing apps. Star Walk is our favorite but there are many. We can sit indoors, day or night, aim the ipad and it shows us what the stars right there look like right then – even through the floor and at day. 🙂 My kids LOVE doing this.
    AppShopper is one that lets you track apps and their prices. You enter apps on your wish list. It shows you price changes in the past and it will alert you when the price changes.
    Britannica Kids does some good ones if there is a topic your kid is studying or interested in.
    The History Channel has some good ones, a metronome for that instrument practice…
    Book Crawler lets you keep track of the books you own. Literature based learning involves lots of books! I have bought doubles before. Using this I can scan in the books I own and even mark if I loan them out, what shelf they are on, what curriculum I use them with, etc. And I can scan in ones I want and mark them as such…
    You Version for Bible reading and tons of versions at your fingertips.
    I love our ipad! Mine was a birthday present when my husband finished residency after returning to school right during our having babies years. After a 9 year process I got an ipad for being supportive. 🙂 Enjoy the splurge!

  8. Ok, I thought I left a comment, but I may not have.
    YAY for your iPad. Look up the ipad4homeschoolers Yahoo group. Learning games for kids (if you want to let them use it). Flipboard is good too.

    I stay away from Candy Crush and Words with Friends. Those games are like a “squirrel” moment for me (from Up!). Too much of a time suck.

    Sounds like you had a great week. Hugs,
    Em

  9. I’m starting to see that I should have been more specific. {grin} If it tells y’all anything about me, my iPad, and my kids, I actually laughed until I cried (and was joined by Josh) when Megan asked if she was going to be allowed to play with it. Okay, mostly I started laughing just being silly, but then I got myself cracked up and I really did laugh until I cried. My iPad is totally for me, though. I won’t say that I won’t put things for school on it, but that was not my plan.

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