This week has been packed with stuff-mostly good! We started our Crime & Punishment unit in Konos and we are really enjoying it. One thing we did that the kids liked was making road signs and setting up our driveway as a road course with the signs. I was the policeman. For each traffic violation, they had to pay a coin. They only had 5, so after that, they went to jail. Jonah went thru his coins the quickest. Hannah went to jail before her coins were all done for failure to comply w/ the policeman's order-LOL. All chickens and dogs were considered pedestrians.
After they were both in jail, we talked about how we can't save ourselves from sin, but Jesus can. That He is our judge & redeemer. That He took our place. So, I told them I was pretending to be Jesus and I stepped in the jail and had them step out to symbolize that.
I got this(the part about Jesus) idea from the Konos loop. Very powerful! My dh is a police officer, so it has been great being able to ask him questions and hear how he says miranda rights, etc.
We've been very sad this week about the Crocodile Hunter's death. Jonah didn't want to watch the show like we often do in the evening because he knew Steve was dead and it would just make him sadder. My heart breaks for Terri and their children. We have been praying for them nightly.
I listened to an interview by Steve's Dad as he was talking about how Steve was as a child-always active, often missing, never still, hyperactive, etc. He sounded like he was describing my son. Often, Jonah's busyness frustrates and embarrasses me-especially if people make comments about it. He's a good boy, but he just doesn't rest. I started thinking during this interview that I really need a changed heart toward my son-God designed him this way for His reasons, not my convenience. I've never been able to squash his energy, not have I tried hard, but I've never been happy with it either and sometimes I get downright angry. Lord, please help me to love the way you designed him-I really really need patience & wisdom-I don't want to ruin this boy you've lent us.
Pat got Jonah a new-used bow that is his size and the two of them have been shooting their bows at targets almost every evening. Jonah decided to get in a tree with his bow and fell out of it-about 6 ft. He's ok. He also caught his fingers in a mousetrap again-LOL. Here's a pic of Jonah shooting his bow. He put Susanna to work holding arrows for him. Hannah likes shooting bow, too.
We had a "Not Back to School Party"today-it was a lot of fun. We had 16 kids among 5 moms. We had a game and crafts and the kids had lots of free time to play while us moms talked. There were only 4 boys in the whole group, but 1 of the moms commented that it seemed like there were more-LOL. They presented us with a snake inside the house once. We all really enjoyed ourselves. Here's the cupcakes we made for the group-notice the little homes we made on top-home for homeschool.
I've been doing lots of organizing. I'm making my "Brain in a Binder" book. I plan to take this with me everywhere I go. I printed forms from http://www.organizedhome.com/printable/index.php/cat/501 and http://www.school4jesus.com/freearticlesanddownloads.html .
I got ideas from http://largefamilylogistics.net/index.htm and from Cindy Rushton. I got her free Homeschooling the Easy Way e-book and it is incredible! It really inspired me and made getting organized fun-the e-book also included loads of free printables to xerox for your personal use.
I found an awesome school planner at http://davidandlaurie.com/ . It's a whole year's planner for just 2 dollars! I really like how it is laid out.
Also, put together a Bible Memory Verse System-I got this from Simply Charlotte Mason and it is excellent!!
http://simplycharlottemason.com/timesavers/memorysys/
I also recieved my first This Old SchoolHouse magazine and I can't wait to dive into it without distractions.
I made out a month's worth or menus and used a form and I'll keep that in my binder, too. I'm also working on making large quantities of things and freezing them.
Tuesday, we made butter and had a lot of buttermilk from that, so made a ton of waffles. We ate some and froze the rest.
Wednesday, I made 2 large batches of dinner rolls and froze them in dinner size packages-using the vacuum sealer.
It feels really good to do this! The only thing is we don't have a lot of freezer room as it is full of venison & our beef and pretty soon 13 roosters. Plus, hunting season is coming up again and Pat usually gets 2 deer at least.
My dh is building me shelves for school and the first set is almost done!! I'll post a pic when they are finished. They are made with maple left over from building our house. The maple wood is from trees off our property that dh cut down and took to a mill to be kiln dried and cut.
I'm done with canning for now-until we start apples soon. I missed pears & peaches this year-which I'm a little upset about.
This week I got 2 garden beds cleaned out. Picked the last of the cucumbers & zucchini & greenbeans and pulled out all the plants.
We've taken Piper (the guide dog puppy) to several places this week and he did great. We took him to the grocery store, video store and the chiropractor.
I think that's it for our week so far.
Today the kids have a field trip to the Conservation Center-the topic is Bogs-we'll have 2 hours with a naturalist. This afternoon I have a dentist appt.
No comments:
Post a Comment