Monday Musings...

...Outside My Window...

Clear and sunny again after last week's rain, though on the cooler side again. I'm back to wearing a sweater most, if not all, of the day. We'll get some rain again late next week, I think.

...In My House & Kitchen...

I was definitely more organized over the last week, as far as cooking goes. For example, I had today's crockpot meal (yellow chicken-chickpea-veg curry) prepped and stored in the fridge last night, so I could just throw it in this morning. And I'm planning a bit better! We're using leftovers more, and more creatively, and meals seem to be pretty well balanced overall. As far as housework, I am currently reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. We'll see how it goes! Glancing through it though, I think both the clothing donation bins and the local library may well be getting some more donations from us soon.

...In Our Homeschooling...

I asked The Boy to set 4 days a week for math, and so he chose Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Now I just need to get him to work through a whole lesson at a time! He's easing into TabletClass Algebra 1, so I've been letting him do problem sets A & B one day, C & D the next, but honestly, I think he could handle A-D in one day. The Girl is doing well with Life of Fred Fractions—she even handled long division fairly easily yesterday. I'm hoping to work in some extra math this week for her, though I haven't decided if it will be Math Essentials, Math Mammoth, or Key to Fractions, all of which I have handy (probably either the first or the last choice). She's also working on spelling this week, and I have some writing work set up for her. The Boy will be  working through lesson 3  oops... finishing up lesson 2 in The Lively Art of Writing.

And history is going well! As for science, well... at least they're reading things (see Reading & Watching below).


...Pondering...

Since I backed off on science, interest has ramped up. I don't think I'll be adding anything much more to our homeschooling load in the near future. Instead, I hope to allow time for exploration, and then soaking in what they have explored.

...Reading & Watching...

The kids are both reading for science at the moment: The Boy is reading Mysterious Universe: Supernovae, Dark Energy, & Black Holes, and he and I are talking about reading Death By Black Hole: and Other Cosmic Quandaries together. The Girl has books on animals, the ocean, butterflies, and of course, diseases (history and science!). He's still reading Magnus Chase & the Gods of Asgard, book 1, and she's still reading Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone. I'm reading the book mentioned under House & Kitchen above, and I am hoping to start Wickett's Remeday: A Novel this week. We're making good progress together on the Romanovs book, and A Wrinkle in Time.

We finished watching Lost together on Saturday. I have to say that the series certainly led to a lot of interesting discussions about time, nature, human nature, alternate universes, etc.! We're watching a few episodes of Downton Abbey this week (season 2), and will be watching World War 1: Cause & Effect, and we will try the first episode of WW1: The People's Story. 

...Crafting/Arts/Doing...

The Boy is teaching himself wildlife illustration from a library book, trying to expand his repertoire past simply automotive drawings. The Girl is working on acrylic painting, alongside her sculpture work. The Boy will be getting some more hours logged on his automotive internship this week too, and The Girl got to pet new puppies!

...On the Agenda...

Fencing tonight for The Boy, derby on Thursday for The Girl. Birthday planning for The Girl. M had a job interview Saturday for a job he really, really wants—unfortunately, he won't know about it until the 25th to 29th. No doctors appointments, or things of that nature this week.. just home life, work, and college!

Exercise: I am doing well with this these days. I've been strength training, and getting in good cardio (jogging, walking, biking). Definitely on the agenda!

On that note, I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from last night's bicycle ride, just M and I, as the kids spent the night at my mom's house...

Have a good week!

Monday Musings... Morning Basket...

Edited to Add: I just got word, literally minutes ago, that my layoff notice is officially being rescinded! Financially this could not have happened at a better time, though I admit I was looking forward to being at home with the kids more... at least I have 6 weeks off to enjoy with them.

I am feeling very inspired by Wildflowers and Marbles' Morning Basket, which you can read about here and here. So much inspired in fact that I have decided to set up my own, which I plan to start using with the children next week. I think summer is a good time to try something new like this, as long as it is gentle and not very demanding since, after all, summer is a time to relax! Anyhow, I'd like to see if this routine is something that would work well for us before I launch into it full on this fall! Due to the above news, mine will be an Afternoon Basket though.




I do have a lovely basket to use already at hand. It is a strong, sturdy affair made of sea grass, so it also has a lovely smell. Right now it is full of miscellaneous homeschooling papers, perhaps a book or two, so I plan to clean it out first.




Then comes the fun part... filling said basket with books! I've been considering very carefully what all to put in the Morning Basket, and have come up with:


Tales From The Odyssey (which we've already started!)
An Everyday History of Somewhere
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare
Stories of Rocks & Minerals
and
Turn Homeward, Hannalee (this last because there are some local Civil War days coming up!)


I think this will easily get us through July, then in August, I can switch it up! We'll still keep our bedtime reading intact as well, which generally includes some reading to The Girl while The Boy reads on his own, and then a whole-family story.

What We're Up to This Week:

Another quiet week on the agenda:

~ I work every morning this week, and am taking my dad to a doctor's appointment.
~ The Girl has roller derby practice
~ The Boy has a piano lesson.
~ I think our one fun excursion for the week will be Park Day!
~ I've gone ahead and started sorting through more clutter, and "summer cleaning" has commenced! I want the house in uncluttered, spick-n-span condition before fall.
~ BIL is finally actually moving out, so soon we will be moving lots of bedroom furniture about the house. The kids are very, very much looking forward to having their own rooms! I have a plan for this too: 1. Steam-clean the BIL's bedroom once he's moved; 2. Move our stuff into the master bedroom; 3. Steam-clean and hopefully paint our old bedroom for The Girl, move her stuff in; and 4. Clean out thoroughly, and perhaps paint, what will now be just The Boy's room. See? Very organized! We'll see if it really works out as well as I have it working in my head.

And that's our exciting week! Of course there will be reading (see sidebar for what we're reading now), arts and crafts, some TV and computer time, swimming/splashing about in the pool, chickens to care for, a veggie garden to weed and water... and so before we know it, the week will flash right by.

Hope you all have a good week!

Monday Musings...

On the agenda this week...

Reading

• Finish The Children of Green Knowe, and start Ginger Pye
• Finish The Ordinary Princess with The Girl, and start A Little Princess
• Start reading Dinosaur Bone Wars
• Read about California Missions, and re-read The Song of the Swallows
• I plan to have The Girl work through a few lessons in Easy Lessons for Teaching Word Families, with the new (and pretty) alphabet cards I printed up for her. She'll also either read from a Dr. Suess book, or practice in Phonics and Reading Pathways.
• The Boy wants to finish The Son of Neptune, and then probably the third Nathaniel Fludd book. I think he might also like The Sea of Trolls.

Planning

• I am working on a fairly gigantic list of all the books I would like to share with the children over the next year or so. Not a plan mind you, of what to read at a particular time, just a list of books we can pick and choose from, books I don't want to forget to read with them. 
• I'm also reading through Teach a Child to Read with Children's Books (which you can download for free here).

Activities
A much less busy week than the last one!

• M's birthday on Wednesday. I think we're going to head off to the redwoods for the day, since he and I are both taking the day off from work.
• Park day with a special focus on the Summer Solstice on Friday -- a potluck and some crafts/games.
• Roller derby and piano lessons.

Other

• Probably a movie or two, and a documentary or two (I think I have one in my Netflix queue about redwoods... hmmm)
• An art project or two, or three.
• Maybe a science experiment from this book.

What are your plans for the week? Will it be a laid back one, or hectic? Whichever it is, enjoy, and stop by this blog post - some good thoughts here!

Monday Menu Plan, Musings, etc....

I've got the house clean and tidy (now if I can just keep it that way.) My laundry is actually... gasp... folded and put away! I've printed out math and spelling for the week. I am feeling fantastically organized today!

So I thought I would actually menu plan this week too. I had done well with this for about a month, maybe a month and a half, then fell with a thud off of the organizational wagon.

Hopping back on, and here's this week's menu:

Sunday: We ate at my mom's Pastor's house for Easter. BBQ'd lamb, a yummy rice dish, warm corn tortillas, addictive homemade salsa, watermelon. So delicious, and best of all, I didn't have to lift a finger (though I did help clean up!)

Monday: Ribs (cooked by M); artichokes with a lemon-pepper-garlic mayonnaise.

Tuesday: Soup, of some sort, with good bread for the kids and M. I haven't decided which soup yet though! What are your favorite soups?

Wednesday: London Broil, with a homemade marinade of some sort. Sauteed green beans, red bell pepper, and mushrooms with garlic and ginger.

Thursday: Baked beans, cornbread, and a green salad.

Friday: Homemade pizzas!

Saturday: Spaghetti and meatballs; garlic bread for M and the kids; green salad

Frugal Notes:
We're actually doing okay. Our budget is tight, but we have a roof over our head, the bills are paid, and we have grocery money! Things are better than I thought in all honesty. Our electric bill dropped another $50 - that's a savings of over $100 in just two months. I am learning to not worry so much, and just accept things as they are. I even managed to squirrel away a little money for savings. Of course it helps that I am NOT buying anything for homeschooling right now! And my tax refund will someday be appreciated... whenever it decides to show up!

I have been doing a little side work here and there too, and that is one of the things that is making a small but appreciable difference. I graded papers in March, and did a few hours of website work. Hoping to do more of the same in April--well, the website work is a definite this month, so I am merely hoping for more papers to grade.

Next month is Beetle's birthday, so in part the money I am setting aside will help with that. I need him to prune down his wish list a bit though. It seems everyday he got about ten new ideas for things he must have!

Musings for the week:
Cricket wants to learn all things Little House for the rest of our school year, and perhaps beyond that. I imagine it'll take us more than the 8 or 9 weeks we have left to get through the books. Cricket rarely makes a special request for something to study, so I am all gung-ho to go with it!

Both kids want to get back into some anatomy. Maybe we will finally make the amazing human body paper models from this book!

I think Buge might enjoy some pirate studies. Yesterday, we visited a tall ship. And it was a great little field trip! The one we were on, the Lady Washington, was The Interceptor in Pirates of the Caribbean, which now we're going to have to re-watch. I put Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates on my Kindle, so I'll give that a go with Bug.

Other than that, there will be more gardening, weeding, cooking, playing, documentaries, and so forth. We'll continue too with lots of reading!


Hope you all have a good week, and belated Happy Easter!