Weekly Wrapup

Monday:  First day of Spring Break...but Mason wanted to do Phonics...so we did!  That evening we got together with a few friends at the park for a kickball game.

Tuesday:  Jenessa's birthday...she is so excited to be 12!  Kessiah made her a peanut butter cup cake.



I arranged for some friends to come over for Jenessa, Sienna, and Logan.  Jenessa started planning her birthday part with her friend...she is going to have a mystery dinner...should be fun!

Wednesday:  Ryan came home mid-morning with 3 more chicks to add to our brooder!  We were surprised at the difference in size between the new ones and the chicks we got just one week ago.



Even though it is Spring Break for us...it isn't for every homeschooler...so we did co-op today.  It was my day to have everyone and the first day of our new unit about the Civil War.

Thursday:  We did our homeschool group today, the first week of a new unit.  We are discussing architecture.  I had the 8-9 year olds.  We made pet rocks and then made a jungle gym  and a house for them!  Kessiah and Jenessa's group made structures that could hold a can of soup.  Logan and Mason's group talked about The Three Little Pigs and their different homes.



We went to the library later that afternoon.  It has been hard for us to find a regular library time this school year.  I was glad to be able to pick up several books about the Civil War for Sienna to read during this month to go along with our co-op theme.

Friday:  Mason woke up wanting to know if it was a school day...I told him no because it was Spring Break.  He asked if he could do school anyway...so we did some phonics.  I was happy to do that since he is eager and I think phonics is one of those subjects that is good to do regularly.  That afternoon I took Kessiah and Jenessa to the bowling alley where they met some friends...Jenessa was proud of herself for coming in second place!

Saturday:  We met some friends at the park on 3/14 at 9:26 in the morning to celebrate Pi Day!  Of course...there was pie!  Kessiah scooped out the first piece at exactly 9:26.



All the boys got haircuts...and Kessiah got a trim.



After Saturday jobs were done, Ryan took the girls swimming at the Y.  That evening Ryan and I took Jenessa to Olive Garden...a 12 year old birthday tradition!

On the Homestead

Our local farm supply store has weekly shipments delivered of baby chicks, ducks, and turkeys going on for the next several weeks.  There was a breed this week that we had talked about getting...I wasn't sure if it was going to happen or not.  Some of us were a little worried about putting chicks together that were a week apart.  Ryan told me as he was leaving for work that he might be coming home with a couple more chicks...he came home with 3 more.  He got 2 Buff Orphingtons and 1 California Grey.  We were happy that they all adjusted to each other fairly quickly and are getting along just fine.

We were surprised at the difference in size in the chicks we got last week compared to the ones that Ryan just brought home.  We didn't realize how much they had grown in just one week!



We have one cat that likes to hop up on top of the brooder (it is covered in chicken wire and a couple of blankets) and just watch the chicks.  We even found her inside the brooder once...that was a little scary...thankfully, no chicks were harmed!




Ryan moved the chickens out to the garage on Friday afternoon.  He created quite a nice little area for them to live until they are old enough to go outside....and I am happy to have them out of the house!

What Have We Been Reading?

Kessiah has read Freckles, The Lightening Thief, and Till We Have Faces for school.



Jenessa has read several books for school...A Wrinkle in Time, The Merchant of Venice, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, and Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens.  For fun she enjoyed The Map to Everywhere.



Sienna has read through the Magic School Bus chapter books that we have.



The boys have continued to enjoy reading dinosaur books.  I was excited to get them to let me start reading the Magic Tree House books to them (we have all of them so that makes it easy!)...it didn't hurt that the first one was about dinosaurs!  I wanted to try the research guides along with reading the fiction books...I don't have them all but ordered a few more from paperbackswap.com



I read the Illustrated Classics version of Sherlock Holmes and started the Candy Shop Wars as read alouds to everyone.



Ryan has finished the first Harry Potter book and we let the girls watch the movie this week.  I watched the Fiddler on the Roof a couple of weeks ago with Kessiah and Jenessa (it was a school project for Jenessa).  I enjoyed getting to share that movie experience with them.  Our latest family movie nights have been Spirit,  Earth to Echo, and The Rescuers.

Weekly Wrapup

This week we were on a little different schedule.  For Kessiah and Jenessa, it was mid-term week...that means they didn't have any online classes.  The week for them was finishing projects/assignments and taking some tests.  What that all translates to is it was a slower week for everyone...we didn't get up as early and we stayed up a little later...kind of like a pre-Spring break!

Monday:  Logan cornered me when the girls were at piano lessons and "insisted" that I start piano lessons with him.  In his defense, I had told him I would start teaching him in January...and I still hadn't done it!  So, I got out the primer books and gave him his first lesson. We sat down at the piano and had a short lesson every day this week except for Saturday and Sunday.  He is pretty excited to be learning how to play.  One morning he came downstairs and went right into the piano room to practice before he even said "Good Morning!"  Here is a picture of him taken towards the end of the week...he is showing me a song that he had memorized!



For Family Home Evening we went to see a play at the local middle school.  Kessiah has a friend who was in Oklahoma...now I'm in the mood to see the movie...it might be my pick for family movie night when it's my turn!

Tuesday:  Kessiah went to a nursing home for her youth activity.  She was able to play a couple of piano pieces.  Jenessa and Sienna made cars for the Darling Derby (they are using the track that the Cub Scouts use for the Pinewood Derby)  Ryan got to help them make their cars.

Wednesday:  We got our baby chicks!  We have been counting down the days and now we have 18 cute little fluff balls.  Needless to say, there wasn't a lot of formal schooling that happened today!  That evening I picked up an order of chicken from Zaycon.  So, I had 80 pounds of chicken to put in the freezer before bedtime.



Thursday:  We did our large group day for our homeschool group.  We divided into 2 different groups and solved a crime.  I went with the girls and we did some experiments to determine who sabotaged a cookie shop.



That evening we had our 4H community meeting which included a green contest and a pizza party.  Yeah!  That meant I didn't have to cook dinner.  Jenessa dressed up in the 4H tshirts as a last minute contestant in the green contest.



Friday:  For one of Jenessa's midterm assignments she had to go out in nature and look at some animals in their natural habitats.  So, Ryan took Kessiah, Jenessa, Sienna, and Logan on a hike.  On their way home from the hike they stopped to pick up 2 baby ducks to add to the chick crew.



Saturday:  Sienna went to a birthday party and Jenessa had a friend over during the birthday party (the sister of the birthday girl).  Kessiah went with a friend to the Renaissance Festival.  She had a great time and came home with some elf ears.

Baby Chicks...on the homestead

We lost all our chickens but one to coyotes last December...it was a sad day for us. We have been counting down until we could get baby chicks again...the day finally arrived this week!  Ryan took Kessiah, Jenessa, Sienna, and Logan and came home with 18 baby chicks.  We got 7 Americaunas, 7 Rhode Island Reds, 2 White Leghorns, and 2 Barred Rocks.  A couple of days later we added 2 ducks to the crew.

Last year when we had our chicks we kept the brooder in our kitchen and then in the laundry room for several weeks.  I don't think they will make it that long inside the house this year...mostly because of the cats (we didn't have cats last year!).  We have some chicken wire over the brooder to help make sure the cats don't get in and make a snack of those cute little fluff balls.  At night we have been shutting the cats in a bedroom since we can't keep an eye on them!  One sad thing about having the chicken wire over the brooder is that the chicks don't get held as much as they did last year.  We had such friendly chickens last year...I wonder if it was because they got held so much as babies...I guess we will find out!

 

Ryan got some weeds burned in the garden area.  We could get peas planted if we were ready...but Ryan has been busy working on other projects on the weekends.  There are some more weeds that need to be burned and we are hoping to place some cedar posts around the perimeter of the garden beds...hopefully those things can happen this weekend!

Weekly Wrapup

Monday:  At piano lessons, it was decided that Kessiah would not participate in festival this year...she has not been able to get her pieces memorized.  I don't blame her...her teacher moved her up a level and she was working with some hard songs.  We discussed some different options...but this was the one that was right at this time.  She is such a good piano player, but memorizing is difficult for her.  She is making some goals with her teacher and I know she will continue to progress in her musical talent.

Kessiah made a treat for us...a Greek dessert.  Sometimes school assignments taste so good! They were very similar to a scone...Yummy!



Kessiah, Jenessa, and I watched the next episode of Pride & Prejudice.  We had Family Home Evening where Jenessa taught a great lesson on repentance.  I was in charge of the game and picked UNO...it is a card game that we ALL can play together!  Corbin amazes me a bit at how well he can play.

Tuesday:  Book club...the kids always have a great time.  Sienna discovered a pull-up bar in the doorway of a room and kept hanging upside down.  I couldn't get a picture that wasn't blurry because she couldn't hold still!


That evening Ryan took Jenessa, Sienna, and Logan to a chicken seminar at the feed store.  They came home more excited than ever about getting new chicks..  They decided to name our chicks with a Star Wars theme...we'll see what happens!

Wednesday:  Mason has been pushing to do more formal school at the table alongside Logan.  I have been working on Hooked on Phonics with him and pulling out a few other worksheets.  I decided I better clear off a cubbie in the kitchen for his books.  It can get a little crazy working with both of them...since Mason doesn't want to wait.  Thankfully, Logan is becoming just a tad more interdependent so he can work by himself for short spurts.  It was co-op day...my day with all the boys while Sienna learned about first aid!

Thursday:  LEAP (our homeschool group) was cancelled today due to the group leader being sick...so we just hung out at home.  Here is Corbin showing me a spider that he drew.



Friday:  Logan finished Explode the Code 1 and Hooked on Phonics Level 2 this week.  Mason progressed enough in Hooked on Phonics to read 2 of the readers.



Jenessa made us some flatbread as a school assignment.  She needed to make something from Africa.



It was 4H sewing and robotics for Kessiah and Jenessa.  For sewing, they made some things with bandanas.  Kessiah made a bag and Jenessa made a small blanket.  For robotics, they made small models.  Kessiah made a car...Jenessa brought hers home to make and finished her blanket during this time.




Saturday:  Jenessa and Sienna had Piano Festival.  Kessiah and Logan went and supported their sisters who did very well.  Ryan got the bathroom and laundry room drywall patches sanded and was able to paint the bathroom ceiling...we are finally getting the mess cleaned up from our broken pipe on New Year's Day!