Weekly Wrap-Up: The One with the Turkeys

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Welcome to this week’s Weekly Wrap-Up! I hope you’ve had a wonderful week. We have. Either we’re still in the honeymoon phase or, after long last, we’ve finally found the curriculum that is the perfect fit for us. Even the boy admitted today that he enjoys it.

Yes, there are things he really doesn’t like – such as copywork and the book he’s reading (Ambush in the Wilderness…not a commentary on the book; he’s just not a fan of fiction). Overall, however, even he admits that it’s good stuff.

So, I’ve already missed a day on Project 365, but it wasn’t intentional. I completely forgot about it last Saturday. Just like with weight-loss, though, I’m not going to let one setback derail me. I picked right back up on Sunday and I’ll just keep going.

Day 8 - P365

Day 8 – P365 (I spent part of last Sunday night impulsively cleaning out the junk drawer. I got the medicine cabinet a little later and I hope to get the filing cabinet tonight.)

Speaking of weight-loss, I hit two huge milestones this week. First, I finally hit 90 pounds lost! I’m so excited to finally be able to say that I’ve lost 90 pounds. I never thought I’d get there when I started out.

Second, I’m in the 120’s for the first time in I-can’t-even-tell-you how long. Probably the first couple of years of marriage. I gained after that, then, lost quite a bit before I got pregnant with Brianna, but I didn’t even get into the 120’s that time. I’m less than 5 pounds from my goal weight!

Day 9 - P365

Day 9 – P365 (Lazy cat!)

The younger kids and I are still studying the early colonial days of America, so Monday we played a type of ring-toss game called quoits. We were supposed to make the rings out of rope, but we cheated a bit and just used plastic swimming pool rings. Both kids loved it.

Quiots

As part of science, we attempted to make a barometer. The directions said that one part of it – getting the water up into the straw and sealing it before the liquid leaked back out would be tricky. It was. We finally gave up, but we’ll probably try again when we figure out something a little better than Play-Doh to seal it with. When they said “modeling clay,” I guess they really meant modeling clay. Oh, well.

That’s one of the big things I love about Trail Guide to Learning – that not only is history covered using great books, but it also includes fun, relevant, hands-on activities each week. Not only that, but it contains detailed instructions. It’s exactly the kind of curriculum I would have designed myself if I were that organized.

Day 10 - P365
Day 10 – P365 (Thanks to a friend who loaned me her book, the addiction is complete. I finished this one in about 24 hours.)

You know how some men can brighten their wives’ days by bringing them a bouquet of flowers? Mine could make me happy by surprising me with a new 3-hole punch. I’d think that was odd, but I know I’m talking to a bunch of homeschool moms. (Sunflowers would make me smile, too, though.)

I was going to buy one myself while I was out yesterday, but I had too many other things that had to come out of my grocery budget, so I’ll have to wait until next week. Unless my husband decides to surprise me. Tell me it’s not just me.

Day 11 - P365

Day 11 – P365 (Doesn’t every school cabinet need a cat? He climbed in by himself and was even more content when we shut the door.)

My sister sent me a text on Thursday. She said she was headed to pick my niece up from school when she saw seven wild turkeys walking up her street. We live in a subdivision, so that’s not a common occurrence. Not common as in, it’s not something I’ve ever seen in the collective thirty-ish years I’ve lived here.

I asked her if she got a picture. She said no, but that they’d probably be up my way soon. We live just a couple of streets over, so I didn’t really expect to see them since there are so many other places they could go.

Lo and behold, about 20 minutes later, I looked out the window, and there were seven turkeys strolling down our street! I’m so glad there wasn’t a film crew around because I jumped up, hollering, “The turkeys are here! The turkeys are here! Don’t scare them off before I get my camera!”

Day 12 - P265

Day 12 – P365 (The wild turkeys.)

Yeah, sometimes, it’s the little things.

The local schools were on a 2-hour delay today, so I decided we’d take a 2-hour delay, too. As a few people – my mom included (Hi, Mom!) – pointed out, we’re on a 2-hour delay every day.

True, but it sounded fun and I thought the kids shouldn’t miss out on some of the perks of public school, like when the schools go on delay in anticipation of inclement weather and the weather is just fine. Besides, we’d stayed caught up all week, so we had a light day ahead of us anyway.

The kids enjoyed getting to sleep in a bit and eating lunch before starting school. We did some review stuff and Brianna, who had also stayed caught up, quickly finished her work for the week.

We wound up the week with the younger kids’ new favorite school-related activity, watercolor. Today, they got to splatter paint and drop pools of paint onto the paper so they could blow them with straws and make designs. It turned out pretty cool.

Day 13 - P365

Day 13 – P365 (Watercolor fun.)

Since my school planning now consists of getting any needed supplies from the store (done), hitting the print button three times, and hole-punching about 40 papers, I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home. I’m sure there will be some laundry and some blogging stuff, but I don’t mind that when everything else is basically caught up.

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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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25 Comments

  1. Great wrap up.  I'm enjoying watching how you implement this new program.  I've ordered it and it should be here in the next 2 weeks.  I can't wait to get started, though I'm a little worried about the time factor for myself. 

  2. Turkeys galore!! Awesome. That's some spontaneous nature study. What a great week you've had with so much variety!

  3. I'm laughing about your Playdough comment. We made a tornado in a bottle and were suppose to use modeling clay to seal the bottles. All I had was Playdough. It didn't work too well. The more we use the tornado, the more the Playdough disintegrated into the water.

  4. Ahhhh… the Hunger Games.   I read those three books in record time.  I can't wait for the movie to come out this spring!   

    Glad you are in a groove with a curriculum that's working for your family.  AND, congratulations on being so close to your goal weight.  I admire you!

  5. You and I are opposite.  I'm glad you've found your curriculum groove, for the first time I'm struggling with mine.  For the record I would have been super excited about the turkeys too! 🙂

  6. I was lol about your mom's comments about being on a perpetual two-hour delay!  I actually am here at my mom's house and made her read it.   I think she has thought the same thing about us on occasion (probably more than one occasion!)  We definitely have relaxed mornings around here, especially since returning after Christmas break.  🙂

    I love the kitty in the cabinet picture!  He seems like a real character.  You just have to love kittys!

    The watercoloring by straw looks like a lot of fun.

    Hope you have a great weekend!
    Many blessings,
    Lisa

  7. Looks like you had a great week too!  Love the wild Turkey story.  Your sister is only 2 blocks away… that is fantastic!!!   Congrats on the weight loss too!

  8. How exciting! I can't wait to hear what you think about it. We're loving it, obviously, which is such a relief. We really haven't found it nearly as difficult as I'd feared to adapt to our new schedule. I hope you find that to be true, as well. I find lots of little windows of time while the kids are working on things like copywork or a writing assignment — just enough time to unload the dishwasher or start a load of laundry, for example.

  9. Don't feel too bad. It's taken us quite a while. We've had a few things that have worked for us, but to feel like I'm finally happy with everything is new…and very nice. I hope y'all find your groove soon.

  10. Gus, the cat, is quite a character. Our neighbors, who don't particularly like cats, made a point to tell us how much they like him. He's got a unique personality.

  11. Wonderful week!!!  I'd be excited over a three hole punch too!

    I've been doing Project Life for two years.  It's similar to 365 except you have a special binder and photo pages so you have a place to put all your pictures.  My kids love looking at last years album.  I do it by the week instead of daily.  Daily is too much pressure for me.  Plus some days have a lot going on so I want to use more than one photo.  I'm a girl who likes options I guess. LOL  

  12. That sounds cool. I might have to do that next year. It always surprises me how much my kids enjoy looking at photos. One time I ordered all my "backed up" digital photos — a couple of years' worth at once. They came in two big boxes and all the kids sat around the table with me for an hour or so passing them around, looking at them. It was so much fun. I guess we'll be doing that again sometime soon since I've let a bunch of photos back up again.

  13. When I lived in the mountains and first saw a herd (I know it's suppose to be flock, but they were walking, not flying, so that seems wrong) of wild turkeys go past, it was crazy! There is still one near here that has even been in the paper because he's in the same place all the time, crosses a major road, etc. Ken has a photo of him somewhere on his blog…

    I may have to at least look into this curriculum you're beaming about. Satisfied with what we have going right now, but we may have Lindsey back home next year, so if that happens I'm going to have to revamp things one way or another. Glad you've got something that's going so well for you!

  14. I laughed out loud at the excitement over turkeys!  We get excited over a male and female duck that have been frequenting our bird feeder each spring for the past two year! Oh, and I recently jumped up and down over the laminater that arrived in the mail!  Sounds like I need your weekend.  I am gearing up for multiple blogs post that should already be done (like my Weekly Wrap Up), and planning for school for the upcoming week!  Happy Weekend to you!

  15. I ABSOLUTELY love that cat!!! It's a good thing I don't live close…he might become mine 😉 (jk!!)
    CONGRATS on the weight loss! That is totally awesome.
    Very interested in this new school curriculum you're using and am going to investigate more (although we are quite content with what we are using).
    Love all the photos. I should take more…
    Have a great weekend!!!

    PS- I *totally* get the three-hole punch thing…totally.

  16. OH! And forgot to mention that we see deer and geese all the time where we live but NEVER a turkey yet 🙂 A fox once… that was extra neat.

  17. I'm glad you have found a curriculum that really works for you! We're still looking for our perfect fit, but I think we get a little closer all the time. And congrats on the weight loss milestones! I just passed the first 20 pound mark, and it is such an exciting journey!

  18. I wouldn't call a (gaggle? flock? school? family?) of turkeys in the suburban neighborhood a little thing! That would thrill me, too. We've seen them on our road in Maine, but that's the country. We've also seen foxes, skunks, deer, etc. Our neighbors saw a moose once, but I missed it. Congrats on the weight loss! I haven't seen the 120s in several years now…

  19. We chose well when we chose Gus (that cat).

    My husband made my day today — he bought me a new 3-hole punch. I love it! It's a whole lot easier to use than my old (cheap) one and it does up to 20 sheets at a time. I had all of the kids' school paper punched in less than a minute.

  20. I love orange tabby kitties 🙂  The turkeys are hilarious.  I one time saw a group of chickens actually crossing the road about a mile from out house.  I was fairly new to Texas and cracked up when I saw it.  I had to call my friends in California to tell them.  So glad you got a picture of the rare event!

  21. I enjoyed this wrap up! Congrats on the weightloss! That Project 365 sounds like a good thing too! 😉 Maybe I need to do that!

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