Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Honest. Quirky. Real. Practical tips, candid reviews, and stereotype-smashing humor for homeschooling families.

Honest. Quirky. Real. Practical tips, candid reviews, and stereotype-smashing humor for homeschooling families.

Weekly Wrap-Up: The one with the random tidbits

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Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Friday, y’all! How has your week been? Mine has felt very unproductive. I don’t know if my schedule is off or I’m just not spending my time efficiently.

I’ve struggled a bit with school. You know a couple of weeks ago when I was so excited that Megan was so self-motivated? Well, that’s over, and I’ve been the nagging homeschool mom this week. Maybe it’s something in the air since I’ve been so unproductive, too.

She did tell me that she couldn’t sleep Wednesday night, so she got a bunch of school done. That made me feel better. I’m glad she chose school over Fortnite. Well, that one time anyway.

I can’t believe how big my boys are getting. Oliver is solid and muscular, compared to his rather scrawny brother.

We are finally getting going on our remodeling project. Our home improvement loan was delayed for two weeks waiting on an appraiser to come take a picture of our house. I offered to take one with my phone and text it over. {Grrrr!}

So, we’re now finally ready to get things going with our contractor. It’s supposed to take several weeks before they get started. I’m thinking my beautiful new bathroom is probably going to be my Christmas present. I guess my beautiful new kitchen will be my Easter present if there is such a thing.

I’m trying not to be too impatient because I know it’s not going to be fun during the renovations either, but we’re going to love it when it’s all done.

I’ve still been picking up goodies here and there. I got this gorgeous, antique Coke crate this week.

I love to hear the stories behind the antiques I purchase. This lady said that their house was 100-years-old and the crate was one of many things that had been stored in the attic for decades.

I also snagged a beautiful antique washboard. I haven’t gotten any pictures yet, but I’ll share when I do. I want to get a vintage wooden ladder and make shelves from the rungs. It will go in the downstairs bathroom, complete with the washboard, for towels, toilet paper, and such.

Okay, so this is completely random, but I thought it was funny, and I bet you will, too. This past Sunday at church, the other lady who helps in the nursery every week looked over at me and said, “So, did you get any new pets this week?”

Oh, y’all. My reputation is well-earned because I had to admit that, although we didn’t get a new pet, it wasn’t for lack of trying. There was a dog at the local animal shelter that was so gorgeous. I really should quit following the shelter on Facebook.

I did talk Brian into going to see him Wednesday, but he wasn’t the dog for us. See? I do have some self-control. Well, a little. Okay, a smidge. Although the one dog wasn’t the one for us, there was another one that caught my eye. It’s a sickness, y’all. I wish I had a few acres of land.

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Weekly Wrap-Up: The one with ferrets and butter crocks

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Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Friday, y’all! I hope you’ve all had a fantastic week. It’s finally starting to feel a teeny bit like fall here.

Of course, the cooler temps didn’t arrive in time for the outdoor festival we attended when we went to see Brianna last weekend. It’s hard to enjoy a fall-themed festival when you’re pouring sweat because it’s nearly 90° in October. {sigh}

Life in the south, y’all.

Are there any other ferret owners out there? If so, heads up, because I’m about to share something that may change your ferret-owning life. Okay, so I never wanted ferrets because they stink. And, then we kept Brianna’s ferret, Dobby (named after the elf in Harry Potter because both like to steal socks) for a week.

He didn’t stink if I cleaned up after him regularly, and he was so much fun and had such a great personality, that we decided to get our ferret, Sophie.

Then, Brianna and Andrew moved into a new apartment. Because of  the pricy pet fee and the fact that they’re worried he might damage the carpet, we have Dobby again. Probably permanently.

Y’all, I was doing pretty good cleaning up after one ferret, but two of them were kicking my butt. We were about ready to try to rehome Dobby because the smell was so bad. Then, last week, I came across a video on YouTube (completely by accident because I was there for something else) on keeping a ferret cage clean.

This lady is brilliant, y’all. Last Friday, Brian and I went out and bought the supplies that she recommended that we didn’t already have. Then, Sunday afternoon, we put the ferrets in their pet playpen (yes, for real) so we could tackle the room. Brian steam cleaned the carpet while I took their pen outside and scrubbed it down.

It took about 3 hours to get everything cleaned and set up based on the suggestions from the video, but it has been so worth the effort! The smell is completely under control. Even Megan has said so and she was the most vocal about how bad it was. (Maybe because the room where we keep the ferrets is right next to her room. {ahem})

So, if you have ferrets and you’re having trouble with the odor, or you’ve considered getting a ferret but that’s what’s holding you back, check out the video. It was a lifesaver – particularly since Dobby is apparently a very smart ferret. As soon as we started talking about rehoming him, he became the most loving, playful ferret ever. Well, except for Sophie. She’s the sweetest. {grin}

It was seriously as if he were saying, “No. Don’t send me away. Look how cute and sweet and fun and loveable I am!”

My to-be-read pile: Fellowship of the Ring and A Man Called Ove

I mentioned a while back that, as part of our remodeling project (which is taking forever to get underway), I’ve been scouring antique stores looking for rustic décor. I’m trying to be careful about what I buy because I love so much of it, but I don’t want to get so much that the house just becomes junky-looking.

Well, last week, I found a gorgeous piece that I’ve been purposely looking for – an old butter crock. I found it on Facebook Marketplace. (I so did not need to know that they have an entire antiques and collectibles category.) Because it was from an individual rather than an antique store, the price was much more reasonable than others I’d seen, and it was in much better shape.

I love it! Today, I’m meeting someone to buy a fantastic old Coke crate that I plan to use as a spice rack. And, Brianna is visiting this weekend, so we may go wander around the antique store a bit. I’m on the prowl for a vintage wooden ladder that I can turn into some shelves for the bathroom.

What’s going on with you? Is it feeling like fall where you live? What sanity-saving tip did you discover this week? What are you reading? Fellow moms of teens, what’s going on in your life since we can’t really share what’s going on in theirs?

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Weekly Wrap-Up: The Sweltering One

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Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Friday, y’all! I hope you’ve all had an amazing week. We’ve had a hot week. Our air unit was not a simple fix. Lucky us. We got to buy a whole new heat and air unit. {sigh}

We got some recommendations and had some folks out to give us estimates. The company (a father-son team) we decided to go with (who came highly recommended from several friends) told us on Tuesday that they were several weeks out in their scheduling, but they would try to do some shuffling since we had no air at all.

These boys have enjoyed a lot more time outside this week since I’ve had the deck doors open so much.

They called Wednesday morning and said they could get it installed on Thursday if that would be okay. Yes, please! When I got up Thursday morning, before 8 a.m. it was already 83° in the house – and 69° outside!

After I started opening doors and windows that we’d had to shut for the night and got a few fans running, it dropped to 81°. I was extremely thankful to see the guys show up to work on our unit!

I’ve also been extremely thankful for the portable air conditioner we borrowed. We’re going to move it to Josh’s room now that we have air again. Despite being in the basement, his room stays pretty hot. If the air conditioner helps, we’ll probably buy it from Brianna and Andrew.

Brian hates it because it’s really loud. To me, it’s just a good white noise machine. I always wake up and think it’s raining. It will be perfect for Josh since he works third shift.

On the school front, the kid I know and love so well is back. Translation: I’ve had to nag her all week about schoolwork. Oh, well. At least there are little spurts of self-motivation. They give me hope.

I’d like to give a shout-0ut to HomeEducator.com, a new website with some fantastic resources for homeschoolers.  Plus, they’ve got a fun giveaway to celebrate the launch of their site.

Now, I’m off to enjoy my weekend – in air-conditioned comfort once again! Have a great one, y’all!

How was your week? Post about it on your site and link up. If this is your first time to join us, be sure to read the Weekly Wrap-Up guidelines. You can also follow the guidelines link to grab the banner code.

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Weekly Wrap-Up: The one where I rambled

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Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Friday, y’all! I hope you’ve all had a wonderful week. Ours has been mostly good with a wet and rainy start to fall.

I’m actually very thankful for the rainy, overcast week we’ve had because our air unit went out Tuesday. Thanks to the rain, we had highs in the mid-seventies to low-eighties outside, rather than mid-eighties to low-nineties. With the doors open and the fans on, it’s remained fairly pleasant in the house.

Brian’s parents got Brianna and Andrew a portable air conditioner as a wedding gift because the apartment they were in only had an air unit and it didn’t work very well. When they moved into their new place at the beginning of the month, they didn’t need it anymore. It was sitting in Brian’s parents’ garage while they decided if they were going to try to sell it or do something else with it.

I think we’re just going to start calling her Snoopy.

On Wednesday, Brian went and got it for our room, which is always the hottest room in the house even with the air unit working. It was miserable Tuesday night, but the last couple of nights, even with our air unit out, we were sleeping under the covers with that handy little air conditioner. Josh works nights and sleeps during the day, so he took advantage of it by sleeping in our room.

Megan considered camping out in our room, too, but her room wasn’t too bad with the window open and the fan on. First-world problems, I guess. I know we’re very fortunate.

One thing that has really excited me again this week is seeing Megan really take ownership of her schoolwork. I don’t think she’s ever worked as diligently as she has this year. I don’t know if it’s because we’ve found the right mix of curriculum for her or because she’s in 11th grade and knows she needs to be prepared for life after high school.

Whatever it is, it’s pretty exciting. Even though she was commenting on how much work she has (it is a lot, but I feel that it’s right where she should be as a junior), she kept plugging along and figured out a plan to get everything done. It makes my homeschool mama heart so happy.

On the remodeling front, we’re rather impatiently waiting to get started. We’re waiting for our home improvement loan to be finalized so that we can get the cabinets and countertop ordered. You know, a little more hurry up and wait.

Megan’s cat tried to give me a heart attack. I went to get something out of the storage cabinet and all of a sudden there was a face peeking at me from the top of it.

I am so anxious to get started! I discovered this week that Brianna enjoys wandering around antique stores, too. I had no idea! We wandered around one for about an hour Tuesday night.

That may be our thing now because we’re going with a rustic look with our remodel, and I really want to decorate with antiques and distressed stuff. I keep seeing stuff I love, but I want to wait until I know what we’re going to do before I buy a lot.

I’m going for a rustic/modern farmhouse look, not explosion of crap from the antique store. {grin} Brianna’s not especially helpful. I keep seeing things I like and commenting that I’m not sure what I do with it, and she gives me fantastic ideas. Between the two of us, I’ve really got to guard against the explosion of crap look.

Like, the other day, we saw these nifty old wooden drink crates. One of them had lots of small slots instead of the bigger ones that you usually see for drink bottles. Brianna suggested that it would make a great spice rack.

Why, yes. Yes, it would. I made myself leave it for now, though. I want to see the finished product that is our kitchen before I buy too much.

I’m off to enjoy the weekend. I’ll try to stay out of the antique stores. Y’all have a great one!

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Weekly Wrap-Up: The one with the kid who looked like mine

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Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Friday, y’all! Did you have a fantastic week? It’s been a busy one here, but that always seems to be the case these days.

Some kid who looked a lot like my daughter, but seemed to be taking her schoolwork a lot more seriously than my daughter usually does was working hard to catch up Tuesday evening.

She had an out-of-town visitor for her birthday. (It was a boy. He is really nice.) So, Megan got a little behind on school last week. I’ve never seen her work so diligently to catch up. And that health course? That girl is seriously enjoying it! I have never seen her as into a subject as she is that one.

Luna rarely submits to photos. I just happened to catch her snoozing.

We finally made some decisions on our remodeling project and we’re just waiting to get everything lined up to get started. We can’t afford to do the bathroom and the kitchen at the same time like we’d hoped, so we decided to start with the kitchen since it will make the biggest impact on the house as a whole.

We bought a new-to-us kitchen table and chairs Wednesday night that we just love. It was a great deal and had hardly been used. We’re most likely going to get a friend to stain the top a color similar to the new kitchen cabinets we’ll be getting. It’s going to be beautiful!

Oh, I can’t wait to replace that ugly, old floor!

We plan on starting some of the updates that we can do ourselves (such as painting and replacing interior doors) and sprucing up our bathroom a bit until we can do the big remodel. I think we’re going to tile and get a new vanity and sink. When we do the big remodel, we’ll move the vanity to the downstairs bathroom since it’s on our update list, too.

Yesterday, I picked up some old wooden windows. We’re going for a rustic/modern farmhouse look, so I’ve got decorating plans for the windows. They were exactly what I’d had in mind and were very reasonably priced.

Now, if I just had time to do everything in my mind without everything else falling behind. {sigh} Isn’t that the way it always goes?

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