Weekly Wrap-Up
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It’s really wrong to start every Weekly Wrap-Up post with, “Yay! It’s Friday!!” isn’t it? I was just thinking today, though, that one good thing that homeschooling does for us stay-at-home moms is it keeps every day from being the same (okay, that’s my daydream of what life as a stay-at-home NOT homeschooling mom could be like, anyway) and still gives us a busyness everyday that helps us to appreciate the slower pace of the weekends.
First off, I said I was going to use my Weekly Wrap-Up to keep me accountable on our 30 Days of Gratitude, so….we did pretty good. There were a couple of days when we weren’t home for dinner and that messed up our routine. We tried to get caught up, but were weren’t consistent with adding to our tree every day, though. Of course, according to the Reader’s Digest article, people who updated their journals (or trees, in this case) once or twice a week were more consistent and saw a more positive result than those who updated every day. We’ll see.
One of our most heartfelt, exciting additions to our gratitude tree wasn’t related to our family at all:
Well it’s not related to our family other than the fact that we’ve been praying for Stellan for months and, after reading this post, we were ecstatic to read about his “outta the park, grand-slam home run”! I love when God lets us see His miracles.
We’re learning about Columbus in history, which has been a fun change of pace from what we were doing. We’ve really enjoyed using this wonderful map that a friend gave me a few years ago:
It’s a map of all kinds of different explorers and their routes. I’ve been saving it for when we studied the explorers again. I got it laminated to protect it from constant use. It’s right up Josh’s alley; he loves maps!
We’ve also started Christian Kids Explore Chemistry. I’ve got some fun ideas lined up for as we get further into our Chemistry study, but they’re for later. The most fun we had this week was an impromptu science lesson in the kitchen. Doesn’t it always seem to work out that way? We were reading The Magic School Bus Gets Baked in a Cake and it talked about baking soda and vinegar. Josh and Brianna remembered mixing the two when we made our own volcanoes years ago, but Megan didn’t. So, hey, why not?
We pulled out our chemistry set, courtesy of Chick-Fil-A’s awesome kids’ meals and got to work. First, we added some baking soda to our graduated cylinder. Then, we measured some vinegar in our beaker and added some food coloring for fun.
The kids loved it! As we went back to reading the book, we discovered another experiment — adding a balloon to catch the gas produced. I just so happened to have some balloons, so we did that one, too. (I got smart and added some newspaper under the graduated cylinder the second time.)
Remember how last week we had that beautiful day for going to the nature center, but none of us was in the mood to go? We should have gone. It poured down rain all day — literally — on Tuesday this week, so, even though it cleared off by Wednesday, the nature center was sure to be a giant mud pit. We didn’t get to go again this week.
We used the extra time to run some errands, which proved to be an exercise in frustration. Yes, I knew it was Veterans’ Day. However, the fact that there were several veterans in Chick-Fil-A enjoying a free lunch and the bank was closed didn’t tip me off that the post office would be, too. And, it never once entered my mind that the little place we went to pick up some last minute souvenirs to finish off a package destined for France (for the family who sent us goodies for Around the World Day) would be closed, too. *sigh* So, we ran the errands, but we didn’t get much done.
I had to run to the store Thursday to pick up a couple of things I forgot, and I couldn’t resist these for Brianna and I:
They made me laugh. I am so incredibly excited about the premiere of New Moon next week!!!
Now, I’m going to rush off of here and go enjoy a date with my husband — except I think it’s actually going to be a date with my husband and older daughter since her plans for the night kind of fell through. Not the same as just the two of us, but still quieter and more relaxing than all five of us. If you find any typos in the Wrap-Up, it’s because I’m in a hurry to get started on my date. I’ll clean everything up tomorrow. Enjoy your weekend!
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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.
LOL I forgot to mention in my WWU that even thoygh I knew it was Veteran's Day I went to the bank…didn't give a thought to the parking lot being DESERTED, unbuckled Bram from his car seat THEN realized it was closed. After we got home I sent Fox out to check the mail THREE times. Yup.
It looks like you had a fun week. Enjoy your date, you deserve it! And of course, CONGRATS ON YOUR NOMINATIONS!!
First off, congratulations on your nominations! I've got to get over there to finish my voting.
After reading your blog, I'm a little confused about the unschooling nomination though. 🙂
It really is great when simple items like baking soda and vinegar can be so much fun! Sometimes mine will ask for them just to play around with.
The map is really cool. I think I could cover my whole school area with maps!
I love the balloon experiment! It's been awhile since we've done it, and I bet my two youngest don't remember it. We'll have to do that again. Thanks for the reminder.
Hope you had a fabulous date with your hubby. And daughter! 😉
I love the map! Looks like a great week otherwise. Hope you guys had a great date!
Love the chemistry experiments! We were so excited to read about Stellan also. Isn't God good!
(And I can't wait for the New Moon premier either.)
I"m laughing at the Twilight thing, and I'm loving that explorer map you found.
Love the Twilight paraphernalia. I'm going on a girl's night out next weekend with some friends to see New Moon, I will have to look for some items like these to give to my friends. I will be voting for you on everything. I love your blog!
I love that explorer map, I'm a bit of a geek and I always loved the Age of Exploration. The science projects looked fabulous and fun, if a bit messy. Hope y'all have a very blessed week and continue your Gratitude tree, that looks so cool and inspiring.
Hey, we have that same chemistry set! LOL