Weekly Wrap-Up: The one in which we’re down to our last two weeks of school

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Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Friday, y’all! I cannot believe we’re already through the first week in May. It just hit me the other day that we only have 2 weeks of school left. How in the world did that happen?

I’m not going to lie – one of the benefits (for me) of boring old workbooks is that I’m not limping into the end of the school year, eager for a break. Nope, my job these days is to check assignment sheets and ensure that work is being completed. The kids do their work completely independently except for questions here and there.

I do usually spend some time each afternoon helping with a handful of math problems. Homeschool mom confession: Megan got one of her problems wrong yesterday because I made a multiplication error. Yep, it happens.

I mean, granted, I should have been having her do the multiplication herself, but I was using it as a practice problem to explain the concept. She could/should have caught the error, but, I mean, you kind of expect your mom to know how to multiply, you know? {ahem}

I won’t live that one down any time soon.

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Pretty flowers just make me happy.

In other news, Megan has decided to drop gymnastics (her coach moved out of state and she wasn’t crazy about the gym on the other side of town) and Josh has graduated from his music class. Our weekday afternoons are suddenly wide open. It’s a very strange feeling.

I’m sure they’ll be filled again soon as the kids get involved in some new activities (I hope!), but for now we’re all enjoying a bit of downtime.

I asked for workbook suggestions on my Facebook page the other day, but I wanted to ask y’all, too. My kids really like workbooks and are doing well with them. However, we’re not 100% sold on the ones we’re using. Josh, especially, would like to find something else for history. So, do y’all have any suggestions for workbook-based curriculum for 8th and 10th grades?

Can you believe it’s time for Kids Bowl Free again? It starts May 15 in our area. We’ve signed up every year for the last several years and get a parent pass, too, for me, Brian, and Brianna (you can add up to 4 adults). Last year, Brian and I joked about finding a random kid to take bowling with us the week the kids were at camp, since you have to have a kid bowling to use the parent pass.

It was mostly a joke. {grin}

Team Mercy

I figured I might as well become a Team Mercy member since I already talk about Mercy House and Fair Trade Friday all the time.

It’s so nice to have something fun and free to do during the summer. Since we start school before Kids Bowl Free ends, I’m also going to count our bowling time and jump park time for P.E. I’m really thinking of working up a whole homeschool P.E. curriculum for next year since Megan isn’t going to be doing gymnastics now. There is an archery center in town that all the kids (and Brian and I!) have expressed an interest in.

I would love for our P.E. “curriculum” to include a variety of sports and activities. I’m thinking we might also try indoor rock climbing and do some biking and hiking, along with some basic stuff like sit-ups, pull-ups (which I can’t do yet), jumping jacks, and such. And, I’m still contemplating joining the Y again.

The funnest highlight of our week was going to see Avengers – twice. We loved it! Well, Josh and Megan didn’t go see it the second time, but the rest of us did.

Plus, it was much more enjoyable the second time when I wasn’t battling a splitting headache during the last half of the movie like I was the first time. Without the headache, it was better the second time even with the addition of the 3 kids, all under the age of about 4 or so, who talked/whined/cried during at least half of the movie.

No spoilers, but if you’ve seen it, you’ll know what I’m talking about. My favorite part was, “Language,” and the subsequent ribbing.

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This is what we lovingly refer to as “the Luna glare” – and she likes me.

I hesitate to mention this because I feel like I’ve had lots of false starts, lately, but I’ve started a weight-loss challenge with some friends and family. I’m really excited because 3 of the people doing the challenge are my mom, my sister, and my cousin – the people I eat dinner with once a week. So, we’ve got support from each other and everyone is on board with healthier food choices.

Okay, maybe the husbands aren’t on board, but they don’t cook the food, so they’ll have to live with it. And, the kids may not be on board either, but they don’t get much of a say. So, um, basically, the three of us are on board. That’s mostly everyone, right?

My eating has been much better this week. I still need to ramp up the exercise, but I feel like I’m off to a good start. There are 10 of us in the challenge. We each put in $20 and the person who loses the biggest percentage of weight wins the pot. We’re going until September 1, so that will get us through the summer and off to a great start getting our weight-loss back on track.

Did you catch my articles at About.com this week? The whole month of May is going to be centered around tips for wrapping up your homeschool year. This week, I offered some tips on planning a homeschool graduation party and ideas for a year-end homeschool celebration.

Now, I’m off to enjoy a nice, quiet weekend, which may wind up including a date night. My Mother’s Day plans involve a nap and steak on the grill. What about you?

How was your week? Be sure to post about it 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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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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10 Comments

  1. I got click happy and my first attempt at commenting disappeared. So let’s try again. (I haven’t finished my first cup of tea, which is clearly the problem.)

    I pinned that graduation party post. Kathryn’s will only be a few years away! Ack!

    Love that your mom and sister and cousin are in on the healthy-eating challenge with you; support is always a good thing!

    And: have a very happy mother’s day weekend, friend!

  2. Thanks for hosting, Kris! It’s so exciting summer is almost here and you are in your last 2 weeks of homeschool! I think we are taking the summer off also. Hope you have an awesome weekend 🙂

  3. I can’t believe you only have two weeks left! I feel so far behind. We’ll probably be doing at least reading and math a few days a week through summer. We’ll be starting Classical Conversations in the fall and I think that will help keep me on track!

    I wish I had some workbook suggestions for you. The only thing I can think of is my teens did literature studies from Progeny Press – loved them!!

    Way to go with your healthy eating and weight loss challenges. Do’t feel to bad about the false starts – I’m sure you leaned something with each of them. I know all my starts and stops through the years helped me better understand what my body needs <3

    Have a FABULOUS mommy's day!

    1. I’ll check out those literature studies. That’s one area I’d like to ramp up next year.

      Yeah, the weirdest thing with all the false weight-loss starts is that I was so successful and lost so much before. Then, in trying to maintain, I just got completely off-track. Getting back on track was much harder and took much longer than expected. I think I may be there now, though. Finally!

    1. They’re funny, aren’t they? I don’t think it’s as hateful as it appears to be – I hope not, anyway!

  4. Ah, enjoy those free afternoons. It’s nice to hear that you aren’t limping into summer! This is the first year I have felt that way too as I’ve simplified our schooling a bit. Love your weight loss challenge. Hubby and I are kick starting our weight loss goals, we might amp it up with a similar challenge!!

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