Wednesday, May 31, 2017

SL Core H Week 20 May 22-28, 2017 Last week of Driver's Education, G&G arrive

SL Core H Week 20
 May 22-28, 2017
 Last week of Driver's Education, Giz and Grampy visit, not an 'academic' week!
Hello, Friends!



Dd finished her Driver's Education class! Phew! I am sure glad all the driving back and forth is done!  I really didn't know this class was going to take over our month of May, but what is done is done.  Dd sure enjoyed this class and drives very safely.  This week was not an academic week, though Dd had lots of 'Home Economics,' Art, Reading, and Music.  This post isn't for those looking for book suggestions for Core H!  



Lab visits (3), Dentist, and Dermatologist appointments:
Besides Driver's Education Dd and I both had doctor appointments and it took three visits to two different labs to get the right order done.  Luckily, because the first lab lost our script and the doctor's office didn't get the info they needed, they called me and after hearing my story searched out a LOCAL lab for us to use!! Yay! No more driving 45 minutes to the busiest street in GR to go to the lab!  Now we can get our labs done and back home again within 30-45 minutes!  The new acne medication Dd is taking requires monthly lab work, plus doctor visits, but it could "cure' her acne.


Heather, my friend, mailed me this great book.  I finished it this week.  If you have chickens, you will enjoy hearing all about this woman's up's and down's with her flock!  Thank you, Heather!!!



Dentist:
Another visit to the dentist-- another difficult and painful visit.  But, my new bridge is in, and I can't believe how much it cost, even with insurance.  It seems impossible to believe that dentists can charge you thousands of dollars to hurt you?!?!?  At least I have a few months before my next cleaning.



Chickens & Ducks:
They are all doing well!  The ducks have been spending most of the day out in their kiddy pool.  It is so cute to see them both floating out there, asleep, with their heads tucked down.  Unlike the chickens, these ducks just ever seem to be anything but 'wild.' They always waddle away from me when I try to pick them up to take them to the pool.  I can't tell you how many deep scratches I've received on my hands, wrists, and forearms...they have such sharp pointy nails.  I hoped the ducks would come around to me, but I don't think that is going to happen, even though I feed them!  I've been walking around the yard pulling up as many dandelions and plantain weed/herbs.  I've been kind of laughing at myself for doing all the foraging for all these critters, but I want to help them grow up healthy.


Zeus is getting his tal feathers back!  Unfortunately, he is also getting aggressive to anyone but me...Dh is not liking his behavior lately.

Agnes, totally asleep...and yet still cute!

Birds:
Hummingbirds arrived this week, and don't you know it, I can't find my hummingbird feeders!  One flew right up to the window and looked in at me, as if reminding me it was time to put out the sugar water for them---I feel awful and am trying to find the feeders (that I put in such a great spot!).  The weather has been so windy, I've already found two small bird nests on the ground.


Giz and Dd making a GF apple crisp together! Yum!~

Family Visit: Giz and Grampy
Thursday Giz and Grampy arrived for their spring visit.  We last saw them when we got home from Italy on Feb. 10th.  It was nice to see "family" again.  My husbands family returned again to visit with us here in Michigan.  It is always SO hard when they leave, I'm sure we miss them WAY more than they miss us!  Our little family has such small family ties, which make those few ties even more precious.


Volunteer: Hats
We were asked to help clean the Marching Band hats with the other woman who volunteered with me (Ruth) in the year long band classes.  We drove to her house and cleaned each hat by hand.  It was nice to meet her eldest daughter, who use to be in the band program a few years ago.  She has been taking college classes at Grand Rapids Community College, where we are looking to sign up Dd for some classes, and she shared how well she likes it there.  We are planning on Dd taking one class in the fall, not sure if it will be an online class, or at an outreach location--they have one locally for us!

Volunteer: Olympians
Wednesday night was the LAST night of the Olympians program.  The kids were given money, the amount depended upon how many bible verses and missionary books they had read for the year.  We had a big presentation on the church stage, in front of the kids parents and our church congregation before going over to the community building for our party and prize tables.  The kids bought prize after prize--bibles, basketballs, candy, balls, games, etc. etc.  Even the siblings of our students went away with bags of goodies!  I was impressed with how much our church blessed everyone!  This concluded the program that started back in Sept. 2016, a whole year of sharing the Lord with such great kids!


Music Classes: Violin
Dd had her violin class with Christie.  Christie is taking July off, and maybe August.  I'm so glad we found Christie, she is an excellent teacher.  Dd will be trying out for Intermediate Orchestra sometime this summer and has been working on memorizing her scales for the audition, as well as trying to decide on a song for her try-out song.  Christie brought Dd a book of suggestions.


Music Class: Saxophone, Alto.
Mrs. March and Dd had their lesson time this week, though they did saxophone instead of their usual piano lesson..  They worked on her "sight reading" because when she tries out for Advanced Band in July she will be tested on her sight reading skills.  They are trying to get her abundantly prepared for her audition.


Music: Strings Group
Dd and I took Giz with us to our Strings Group at church.  She asked to go and see what it was all about and she had a great time!  She tapped her foot through our whole practice!




Music Practice:
Dd played her various instruments this week.  Giz said she could really hear a big improvement in her playing.  Giz was especially interested in seeing the ukulele and banjo ukulele.


Band Camp: Coming Up Soon!
Band Camp is coming up soon, so we hit our local thrift stores, Goodwill stores to look for extra shorts for Dd.  We both found a few things! It is so great to buy used and re-use many items that others were done with.  Dd says she has enough shorts now.  We went to the grocery store and stocked up on four tubes of 100 sunblock and two cans of spray sunblock, which I am normally opposed to, but considering she will be marching and not have proper time to stop and re-apply sunblock, I had to bend my rules!  I'm just glad she wants to wear it!



JoAnn Fabrics: Tie-Dye and owl painting kit
Dd used the gift certificate my mom had mailed her for her birthday to buy a super tie-dye kit!  Then Dd made two t-shirts this week, and had a lot of fun in the process!!


Driver's Education (Navigator):
Class Monday and Tuesday drove for her test evaluation and took her final test.  She spent the first days of the week in deep study for her upcoming tests.

Giz's goal was to get our 'Sycamore tree table' out of storage in garage and up in the Rec Room.  It is nice having our table back up!  Dh's Grandfather built this table with wood from a huge tree on the family farm.  The top is two pieces of wood!  That was a huge tree alright!!
Home Economics:
Dd made a GF apple crisp, skillet potato and carrot dish, and Dd cut up mango and banana for the dehydrator.  Dd helped Giz make up our meals and spend time in the kitchen together.  Giz is a wiz in the kitchen.  Dd did extra chores before G&G arrived--cleaned the bathrooms and tidy.  She did her normal chicken care and help with the dishes and laundry.



Cards:
Each evening of Giz and Grampy's visit, we sat around our dining room table and played UNO, Skip-Bo, and PIT.  We always have such a great time playing and laughing together.


Power Wash:
Dd had a blast working Grampy's power washer again.  She cleaned our pool wall and concrete floor.

Working in four new Peony plants and three new Dinner-Plate Dalhia's in our front garden.  I hope they grow!
Fun Reading:
Dd had the week off 'lessons,' but still did plenty of reading: her 
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer : Completed
Trials of Apollo: The Dark Oracle by Rick Riordan: Completed
Prudence by Gail Carriger: In Process



Bonfire:
We all broke out our camping chairs and sat around the bonfire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.  It is beginning to feel like summer is almost here.  It was a chilly, windy week.  At Band Camp each day has a different fun thing to dress up as, one of the days is a Hawaiian Shirt Day, so we picked up the blue shirt this week for Dd to wear on that day.

Sophie and Agnes kept a close eye on all of our work! She is our inspector!  She had fun coming and going out of our normal window - without the glass in!

Grampy & Dh's window fixing: Leaking window
The angle of the wood holding in the window was tilting back into the window, causing rain water (or snow water) to angle back instead of away, causing wood rot to the wood under this window.  Little did I fully grasp we had a major problem in our sun room.  During the winter a middle window had become covered with ice on the inside.  I had to put little heaters on it, scrape off the ice, dry it, and then I peeled off the old caulk and applied new chalk to seal the moisture from coming inside. 



 I don't know if Grampy heard about that then or if he had already seen a hint of the problem last summer, but, when he arrived he had his sights set on working on that window.  Dh and Grampy pried off all the outer boards and found a LOT of weathering and rot.  It took the whole visit (minus Sunday), but they cut out the bad and replaced it with new.  What a BIG project!  I'm so thankful for Grampy and all his knowledge and ability...at 82 years old!  What an amazing man.  

It was fairly easy getting all the rotted wood out, but then they had to buy replacement wood (this time they used plastic wood that can't rot!) to complete the repair.










They put aluminum flashing up on both windows to completely be sure that this problem won't happen again!  I love flashing!  They really worked hard to remove any chance of this problem repeating itself.



The work isn't all the way completed, but the time of Giz and Grampy's visit arrived.  Dh and I will have to finish up this job on our own.

I brought up another seven or eight loads of humus from out in the woods; the humus pile that probably was where the previous owners dumped their horse manure.  I filled all the new raised beds we built last week; now we can plant!
Another car needing repair:
Grampy and Dh took my faulting auto out for a test drive and diagnosed a major problem, the 'boot.'  It is a major thing to replace.  Dh replaced one in his car a few years ago and it took up so much time and effort.  I'm prayerful that this time things will go easier.  Dh just got his truck back on the road about 2 weeks ago---if it isn't one car it is the other! Oi!

I planted spinach and Swiss Chard in the garden on the left side.


Giz and Grampy don't leave until Tuesday morning, so next week will still be a happy limbo, which is fine with me as we needed a break!


The turnips we planted came in way too thick, so I dug up a bunch and transplanted them to this bed.  I hope the transplants will be happy in their new spot!

I brought up another wheel barrow load of humus for this empty bed.  I planted a bunch of marigolds, sunflowers, cone flowers, etc.  I will be curious to see what comes in!


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Monday, May 22, 2017

SL Core H Week 19 (1700's ish) May 15-21, 2017

SL Core H Week 19 (World History, Year 2 of 2)
 (1700's ish) 
May 15-21, 2017

Agnes, it is always funny finding her in her little spots!

Hello, Friends!
This was (finally) a week without much incident!  No major migraines, no dental strife, no attacks on the chickens, no illnesses, just a rare routine week.  Dd completed week 3 (of 4) Driver's Education classes.  She just has three classes and one 'drive session' left before it's completion.  



With having so much of our weekly time spent on  Driver's Education class; our assignments were down to the bare essentials. I'm still processing all that I heard at the 'Preparing for High School" lecture, and feel like we have so much to learn and accomplish.  Part of my hesitancy is that we spend SO much time on history, as is Sonlight's strength (Sonlight is the curriculum we have used since Dd started "Kindergarten," and it has guided and directed all we've done in homeschooling; our "spine.") and often fall behind in our other subjects.  I'm just not sure, for once, if we are scheduling our time correctly, and if not, how exactly to improve that!  



House/Renovation:
I've been working on the Rec Room (basement) floor this week.  I woke up early three mornings this week and painted the floor with a gloss polyurethane coat.  After six coats of polyurethane, the floor finally looks 'finished.'  We need to let it cure for at least three days before we can move anything in.  




Next, we will need to decide on the moldings to go around the space between the floor and the walls and around the sliding door.  I'm not loving the green that Dd chose for the walls...hoping it won't bother me too much and I can move on.  Then there is the stairway to the basement that still has to old wallpaper on it, and the hallway in the basement that still has old (plastic) wallpaper on it too!  We have YEARS of work ahead of us, trying to fix up this house.  Mind, we will enjoy every day of it, too!


The seeds we planted two weeks ago are coming up!


Garden:
Dh and I built two new raised beds and added the final two sides to one that we were using, but didn't have closed in yet.  Two weeks ago we had planted a few rows of seeds and some really sprouted and some rows were pitiful--guess we'll have to re-plant those lines.



Dh picked up about ten tomato plants of different varieties, and we planted those, along with 4 celery plants.  I used my wheelbarrow and got around 8 loads of that wonderful humus from out in the woods; from the spot where the old owners of this property must have dumped all their horse manure and dirty hay/straw.  This hummus is wonderful!  I'm so happy I found that area and noticed how great it was at first sight.  The typical soil here in Michigan, close to Lake Michigan, is lots of sand, sand, sand!  This area is perfect for growing blueberries and other fruits.



Dh and I both shopped for some herbs, for our new perennial bed--two oregano's, basil, and sage.  We already had 3 asparagus's, 4 strawberry, and 1 catnip.  The garden spot we used last year for our perennials was not a good spot--too wet, too shady, and the chickens kept finding their way into it and eating all the strawberry plants.  Hopefully, this new spot will be a good final spot for them to thrive.

Dd is a big herb garden fan and loves to find new ways to use them.  She has also found herself a little spot, in the front, for her own little garden for flowers.  She has taken some bulbs from around the yard to put in her spot; along with some flowers.



Chickens/Ducks:
All our critters are doing well this week!  The amount of eggs we collect each day has been dreadful, and the older chickens in the outbuildings coop have taken to eating an egg when the opportunity presents itself, which also cuts down on the amount of eggs we can eat, or that Sophie can eat!  To help keep the chickens from eating the eggs we've been trying to collect eggs throughout the day.


I dug up some ferns, out in the woods, and transplanted them here by my 'library' window.  I'd wanted to do that since we moved in, so happy I finally accomplished it!

Our lessons this week: limited what they were!

Bible:



Walking With Bilbo by Sarah Arthur
Monday and Tuesday: The Word on Getting Along: Ch. 17: Decent Companions:
Genesis 37:1-4, 45:12-15
Exodus 17:1-7, Mathew 5:38-42
Luke 6:37-38, Romans 15:5, 
Colossians 3:12-15

Colossians 3:12-15New International Version (NIV)

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

1 John 4:20-21
 Matthew 18

 "We are called to love those whom he's given us as fellow travelers on the journey--and not only to love them, but to serve them as well."
Walking With Bilbo, pg 139


Some of our Peonies are getting close to blooming!  This plant is from the family farm in Indiana that Giz and Grampy brought up for us last summer.  

Wed. and Thur: Living Legends: The Word on the Return of the King:
Isaiah 9:6-7, Micah 1:3 and 5:2; Zechariah 9:9-10;  Matthew 24: 30-35 and 25: 13; Luke 17: 20-24; John 18:33-37; 2 Peter 3:8-10; Revelation 22: 12.


The Poppy plants are doing well and are preparing to bloom!  I brought these from our house near Indy.  I saw some poppy's blooming on our drive to church Sunday.


Fri: True Identity: The Word on True Identity: 
Genesis 17:1-6 and 35:9-15; Isaiah 62: 2-4, Ezekiel 18: 30-32
"Therefore turn and Live."
We had a great conversation about that sentence: "Therefore turn and live."  Basically saying how we have to not just ask forgiveness of our sins, repent, but also turn off that path and change, do not repeat those mistakes.  I have heard people say that they invite Jesus into their hearts, but they want to keep to the path they had been on before; with no change, no fruit.  I think that is a hard point for new Christians to fully grasp, that they must change, and get on the path that the Lord guides them to, and to follow His will in all areas.  That by our fruits, there is proof of us following His will.  This quote; "Therefore turn and Live." from the book of Ezekiel is interesting--as it was written before the birth of Jesus, Ezekiel is an Old Testament book where the Jews had lots of rules to follow and steps to go through for purification.  



Church, Sunday School, Olympians (Volunteer 1:30 hours), Youth Group--last meeting of the year, and they were taking all the kids to some party place, with go-carts, laser tag, etc.


Live Like a Jesus Freak: Spend Today As If It Were Your Last: by DC Talk
ch. 2-3



The BBC Manuel Turn Your Bedroom into a Bible College: by Gregg Johnson
pg's 84-95



SL Reader:
Betsy and the Emperor by Staton Rabin: Completed



SL Read Aloud: 
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
I can't seem to keep up with the pace that SL has us reading this book.  I think they had it scheduled to be completed in 3 weeks!!!  I'm not sure if we will get it done in 5?!!  We are really enjoying our deep dive into dissecting this book.  I've found there are some good online guides and plan on looking there for future book guides.



Christian Guides to the Classics: Dickens's Great Expectations
Ch 11-19
This guide is really aiding us in getting a lot more out of this book than we would if we didn't have it.  It does add more time to reading each chapter, but time well spent.

Online Guide for Great Expectations:
http://www.gradesaver.com/great-expectations/study-guide/summary-part-iii-chapters-11-20-50-59

Dickens DVD:
We are watching the 2008 version of Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens, made by BBC

*I liked it so well I bought it a few years ago!



SL Read Aloud:
A Heart Strangely Warmed by Louise Vernon: Completed
I'm not Methodist, so I learned a lot from reading this book.  It was very interesting hearing the story of John Wesley.


SL History:
Abraham Lincoln's World by Foster
pg. 36-74

History Audio:
Story of the World: Early Modern Times: Ch 2-6
Two: THeThe Dutch RevolTheQueen Without a Country
Three: James, King of Two Countries, James and His Enemies, King James's Town
Four: Searching For the Northwest Passage, The French in the New World, Henry Hudson's Quest
Five: Warlords of Japan, Hideyoshi, Japan's Great Ruler, The First Tokugawa Ruler
Six: New Colonies in the New World, Strangers and Saints in Plymouth, The Dutch in the New World

Fun Audio:
The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
In Process (20 hour audio!)



Math:
With things so busy right now, we are taking a time-out on our MUS Geometry and instead having Dd do Khan Academy for 30 minutes per day for now.

Fun Book:
I Like Him, He Likes Her by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor: Completed



Driver's Education:
Class: M,T, Th : 4-6 pm
Drive time: Tues 2-4 pm



Music Lessons:
Violin: 2-2:30 

Music Practices:
violin, sax, piano, ukulele...



Science:
Fixed the two questions she got wrong on test from Module 5

Garden:
1 hour on her new garden


This garden always seems a bit too wet, so I've added more soil and figured it would be perfect for growing celery.  Last year I didn't do a great job with celery, hoping this spot will do better.  I also planted the four plants in 100% manure/straw.

Judy from church gave me a bucket of some flowers she had.  They have beautiful blue flowers.  I had planted them in a spot that was getting taken over by weeds, so I moved them here hoping they would do better.


Home Economics:
Mowed yard, chicken care, dishes, working on cleaning her bedroom and boxing up her winter clothes for the season, and laundry.


Next week is her last week of Driver's Education and Giz and Grampy are coming for a visit!!!  So, it will be another week of light lessons as she finishes her Driver's Ed.  I don't think I want to take the whole week off Great Expectations, so I hope we can fit in a little of that, but I think we will take the rest of the subjects off.

.........