A New Year...

Here we are, in a fresh new year. I am hoping the ride will be a bit smoother than in 2015!

First off...
The Boy got all As his first semester at the junior college! He is very proud of himself, and he should be—he worked hard for those grades!

I spent the holidays sick. I got a nasty cold just before Christmas, and by Christmas day, I was laying low. It turned into a lovely (ha ha) middle ear infection, which is just now clearing up. Despite sickness though, I enjoyed my time off from work! We ended up not homeschooling over the break (no big surprise!), but instead relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. The kids loved their presents, I loved mine, M loved his. At least before I got sick, we made it out to the coast for Christmas Eve, gathered mussels for dinner, and watched the sunset.

It was, overall, a lovely holiday!


...Homeschooling... Yesterday, we started back with homeschooling. After some brief discussion of what interested the kids, and Saturday's re-watching of the movie Titanic, we've decided to use Downton Abbey as a jumping off point for history. We can watch the series from the beginning, and I'll be bringing in books, documentaries, and movies that cover some of the world events in the Downton timeline, as well as other events taking place at the time. Of course, the Titanic sinking was one of those events. In addition to the movie, which always leaves me a little blue, we read On Board the Titanic, and leafed through Titanic in Photographs.

We'll be reading The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia, as an additive to our studies. I love Russian history, and have always been intrigued by Anastasia. There's a really lovely miniseries I may try to watch with the kids if they are interested enough. I'll be adding in a few movies, documentaries, and other books as the mood strikes, though I know I would like to read The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood with The Girl.

Anyhow, the kids also did a math lesson each yesterday. I am still very pleased with our math programs at the moment!

And I am reading A Wrinkle in Time aloud to the whole family, including M. Very enjoyable! I plan to make it through the whole Murry family series (4 books), then find other good books to read. I am not worried about them matching up with history. 

We also finished chapter one in The Fellowship of the Ring, which is our bedtime reading these days. The Girl has been asking that we read it for some time now, and The Boy says he really likes it. Now that series might take us a while to read!

...On the Agenda...
Homeschooling: 
More math; writing/grammar work; viewing of episode 1 of Downton Abbey; reading from A Wrinkle in Time, and our nature book and travel/geography books (when I get the geography one!); and The Girl starts her Dinosaur Paleobiology course.

Around the House: 
the house is pretty clean after I had two weeks off from work! I am still reorganizing bookcases and such, and there is some deep cleaning to be done, but it looks a thousand times better. The kids will be taking down the Christmas tree tonight, and when the current rain stops, we can take down the outdoor lights. The kids do need to finish cleaning their rooms as well.

Around the Yard: 
picking olives, at last, since we've got a bumper crop and my mom offered to brine them! Deadheading a few more plants. Pruning of the olive and apple trees in the next month. Building raised beds, tearing up the front yard... all things to look forward to in the next few months!

Other Stuff: 
I'm back at work, but just the one morning job until late January. The Boy wants to start back with fencing later this week, and derby practice starts back on Sunday, though The Girl has decided, at this point at least, no to boot camp this time around, just regular Sunday practice. Boot camp is primarily targeted at "newbies", so I get her decision. M's hours have been cut (post-holiday slow down), so he's looking for supplemental/other work. Thankfully, I had saved some money over the fall, so we're just okay there.

My dad is still in the rehabilitative center, at least until tomorrow, although the physical therapist is trying to get his insurance to approve at least another week. My sister and I found that we can move him to another apartment at his senior living facility, that is much closer to the dining room and all. Since his mobility is not what it was, I think this is for the best. We're trying to get everything lined up to make the transition back to mostly independent living as easy, and safe, as possible for him.

I'll leave you with a couple of picture collages from our holiday break... have a great week, and Happy New Year!