SL Core 100 Week 15 D May 20-26, 2018 IOWA Testing, Cello,Gardening, Friends

SL Core 100 Week 15 D 

May 20-26, 2018 

 IOWA Testing, Rented a Cello, Gardening, Friends

Oil painting Dd did for my Mother's Day gift

Hello, Friends!

I finally took some photo's of the last Botany Art class paintings Dd did the last weeks of the class!

IOWA TEST: Dd completed the IOWA Testing this week. The IOWA Tests are a two-day, multi-subject, academic test that scores the student compared to other students in the state and region as well as places them in whichever grade their scores put them into.  For example, the student could do so well in math they could be put in "grade 13" or so poorly to be in "grade 5" depending on how they did in each subject. It is a concrete way to see exactly how well Dd is doing in the main subjects.  I had missed the deadline last year so I am very interested to see how Dd scores this year.  I think we have done this test three other times over the years.  She has always done well on these tests which reassures my confidence in our decision to continue homeschooling.  I don't do a lot of testing and have found this two-day process helps me to see how Dd is measuring up to the national averages. 

Dd's watercolor of Agnes

The Buff, the yellow girl on the right, is BuckBeak---one of my favorite chickens.  Each morning she stays up on her perch until I come in and pick her up and put her down on the straw.  It is such a sweet little thing we do each morning.  She is such a sweet little girl.

 

Henny Penny

I've been having Dd bag the grass as she mows and then I dump the grass in their coop.  It is so funny to see the girls suck up the grass like they were eating spaghetti.

Pauline

The testing was in Grand Rapids both Monday and Tuesday.

Piano Lessons Ends:

Wednesday was Dd's last piano lesson with Wendy for the year!  There wasn't any 'final performance' or anything to signify the end of the year.  She is still playing most days, which is always nice to know she enjoys playing and not just for the lessons.

Another of Dd's watercolors from the last Botany Art class paintings Dd did the last weeks of the class!

Olympians Ends:

Wednesday night was the last night of our church's Olympians program.  We had a big awards ceremony followed by them using their 'bucks' to buy all sorts of great prizes!  I'm sure going to miss seeing those kids each week!

Friendship Struggles:

Dd had her worst, most difficult friendship struggle this week.  As her parent, you know I really don't *really* know the details of it, but she had a really tough week with this.  She didn't sleep well and didn't have any motivation. 

Dd had a friend over to go thrift store shopping with---they have prom coming up.  We have found EVERYTHING for her prom at thrift stores! Dress, shoes, clutch, jewelry....

Mowing:
Dd has been doing a good job, so far, in helping with the mowing this summer.  



Last year had started off good, but by July she had stopped helping.  We are really hoping she has better follow-through this year.



Hike:
Dd and I went on a fun hike through our property this week.  I'm going to do a post especially on this to share some of the green photo's.

Cello:

The day after the friendship troubles started Dd asked if we could go ahead and rent the cello we had been planning.  Dd wanted to take lessons and rent a cello for one month this summer when her other lessons were done.  She still has violin lessons going, but they are close to wrapping up.  She wants to have a bit of an extended time trying out a cello so she can decide if she might be interested in learning it next year.

Amitriptyline:
I'm still weaning myself off this migraine prevention medication and every time I go down another step my head can surely feel it, but I can see the end in sight.  Who knew it would be so hard to wean off this medication.  I found another article on how this medication, especially when used for more than three years, really is very bad for my brain.  I put up the link to the article before this post.

Morell Mushrooms:

I actually stumbled across some Morell mushrooms this week and by the end of the week, Dd and I found 9 big ones! 





 Dh fried them up for our banquet!  YUM!  

Dd pointing to a Morell she found.

They were not out in the woods, but right near our house!!!  It has been years since we had Morell's!



Dirt:



I've been digging up dirt from out in the woods for our garden beds. 



 It is beautiful going down into the woods, but it is super hard pushing the wheelbarrow, full of dirt, up the hill to our garden.

Chickens:

Ms. Lemon is the smallest black and orange in the middle, with two Buff's on her left and two other birds on her right.

Our Bantam hen, Ms. Lemon actually started laying eggs again this week!  I just love her, she is just so very sweet.  



She actually talks to me all the time, she has a cute little voice, unlike anything else I've ever heard before.  She is just so chatty!  All the other chickens are doing well and enjoying as many greens as possible.

"Herb Bed"

Garden:
Too much going on to share if you can believe it.  Lots of transplanting, planting, and just daily progress of getting our garden going.  I've planted many different things of spinach and it always seems odd how sometimes it sprouts and sometimes it doesn't!  So frustrating!  I keep planting and hoping for good batches to eventually return.


New Raised Bed:
We built a new, bigger, advanced raised-bed!  It is 12' x 6'.  Then we built a smaller, potato raised-bed.  Dh dug out the grass and I moved it, piece by piece, to the grassy area by the chicken coop where the grass had died.  Then we put in about ten wheelbarrows of compost from our compost garden down on the dirt.



 I must have pushed up at least 12 wheelbarrows full of woods humus from the bottom of our woods up into our garden and put in our new beds.  That was the hardest part, pushing the wheelbarrow up the long hill from the woods while *swarms* of mosquitoes were attacking!!!  This year, like our first summer here, is a huge mosquito year, which makes all my gardening harder.

We took up the good grass from where the new bed is going and moved over that grass to this area that didn't have much grass.  It was a much bigger project than I had thought it would be.

Academics:

Bible:

Church, Sunday School, and Olympians Group (last of the year!)

At the End of the Year Party for the Youth Program they painted rocks---here are the four Dd completed.

Physical Education:
Hike: Dd and I went for a hike in the woods on Tuesday.

Mowing: Dd has been 'Push Mowing' which is great exercise, twice this week.




Fun Reading:
Testament of Youth: An autobiographical study of the years 1900-1925 by Vera Brittain
Dh read this book a few years ago and then we watched the movie.  Dd is enjoying the book!



Music:
Piano Lesson: 30 minute 

Watercolor - Dd's Botany class

Practices:
Violin, Cello, and Piano



Testing:
2 Days of  IOWA Testing (Mon and Tue)



Gardening:
Dd dug dirt, planted flower seeds, and mowed.

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Weaning off Amitriptyline, Anticholinergics:Dementia, Memory and Learning Difficulties

Amitriptyline:
I'm still weaning myself off this medication and every time I do down another step my head can surely feel it, but I can see the end in sight.  Who knew it would be so hard to wean off this medication that I was prescribed to help prevent migraines.  I found another article on how this medication, especially when used for more than three years, really is very bad for your brain.  The higher the dose and the longer you are on the medication the more likely you can be to get dementia.  I already have a bad memory and dementia runs in my family so it was important for me to get off this med as soon as I found out that it isn't a good choice for me personally.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/two-types-of-drugs-you-may-want-to-avoid-for-the-sake-of-your-brain

. In two separate large population studies, both benzodiazepines (a category that includes medications for anxiety and sleeping pills) and anticholinergics (a group that encompasses medications for allergies and colds, depression, high blood pressure, and incontinence) were associated with an increased risk of dementia in people who used them for longer than a few months. In both cases, the effect increased with the dose of the drug and the duration of use.

When the researchers examined medication use, they found that people who used anticholinergic drugs were more likely to have developed dementia than those who didn't use them. Moreover, dementia risk increased along with the cumulative dose. Taking an anticholinergic for the equivalent of three years or more was associated with a 54% higher dementia risk than taking the same dose for three months or less.

Anticholinergic drugs block the action of acetylcholine. In the brain, acetylcholine is involved in learning and memory. In the rest of the body, it stimulates the autonomic nerves—those that regulate contractions of blood vessels, airways, and our cardiovascular and digestive systems. The strongest anticholinergic drugs include some antihistamines, tricyclic antidepressants, medications to control overactive bladder, and sleeping pills.

SL Core 100 Week 15 "C" May 13, 2018 Mother's Day/Dd sang Duet/Strings Group Performed

SL Core 100 Week 15 "C" 

May 13-19, 2018

Last week of Grace classes, I was sick, Dh home

Hello, Friends!

We picked up Dh at the airport Sunday (5-13) from his trip to Bologna, Italy, at 7:30 pm.  We stayed up until after 10 pm getting our little travel trips, necklaces from Venice, black licorice, cheeses, balsamic vinegar's (5), pasta, newspapers...and hearing his stories! Fortunately, Dd was allowed to stay home on Monday and rest up from all his travels.  He was very tired and so happy to be home!  Unfortunately, I had a vomiting migraine so he had to take Dd to her violin lesson while I stayed home.  Thankful he was home to help again, being a single parent is so very hard.

Happy Mother's Day!
 Dd has been working on an oil painting of an owl for my MD gift, but it isn't done yet.  Dh plans on making me Whoopie Pies (dessert) for my MD & birthday treat next week.  He also gave me a pretty necklace from Italy.  

Last Grace Classes:

Dd's Grace classes ended this week.  Dd spent a lot of time preparing for her final on Friday.  She really wanted to get a good grade in her Geometry class; although I would have been very pleased with a 'C,' her final grade in the class was a B+.  

Grapevines doing well!

Hummingbirds and Owls:

The two Barred Owls are back and hanging out in our yard a LOT.  I use to be so excited to see them, but now fear for my chickens!!!  I just can't look at them with the same joy now that I know they want to eat my chickens.  The Hummingbirds are also hanging out in our yard too!  

Hummingbird Nest~

Dd found one of their nests near our outbuilding on Saturday!!!  YaY! I will be able to watch the progress of that little family during the summer.  So interesting to see her sitting on her eggs.

Church: Dd Duet with FaithAnne:

Dd and her friend, FaithAnne sang a duet in front of the church before our Strings Group performed for Mother's Day.  The girls sang: I Heard My Mother's Call My Name In Prayer, and did a lovely job.  It was such a nice Mother's Day gift for me.  Then around 7:30 pm we picked Dh up from the airport, he was home from Bologna, Italy!  It had been nine L-O-N-G days away from us.

Migraines, and Kidney Troubles:

 Looks like eating a bag of sugar wasn't a very good idea, it totally broke down my immune system.  There is a good reason I don't normally eat it!  Sunday and Monday were the last two days of my migraine series, with Monday being the worst day with vomiting and misery.  Wednesday I mowed the front driveway and pushed my weakened body too hard and that put my kidney's out of wack, and made me really nauseous and LOW. I drank and drank and drank, cut out meat and sugar, for the most part to try and prevent a doctor visit and ugly antibiotics.



 I really couldn't do a lot beside my 'have-to's as I really had very limited energy.  So far, I have been able to very slowly improve again.  Now that Dh is home again I am hoping I will do a better job taking care of myself and keeping my immune system up.  

Amitriptyline:

  I have been trying to slowly lower my doses of my migraine medication, Amitriptyline, since I've just recently found out the side effects are problems thinking and dementia.  My doctor hasn't been helpful so I've done internet research on how to best wean myself; they suggest only dropping 10% of your dose each week, but with one pill being 50 mg's, it is hard to cut the pill in less than four pieces.  I went from 150 mg to this week getting down to 75 mg's.  The side effects from lowering this medication, *for me*, has been headache, head in a tunnel, insomnia, very blurry eyes, and feeling generally very off.  



Last week I tried to go from 100 mg to 50 mg and that is what set off all my migraines, so I cut my pills into fourths and switched to 75 mg's, which seems to be much more tolerable.  Next week I'll try to go down to 50 mg again.  I can't wait to be done with this medication and only wish I'd known earlier that it affects my brain's abilities short and long term.  I saw a new migraine treatment coming out this week and looked online for its side effects and it also affects the brain detrimentally.

Mowing:

I got the mower going this week, and tried to do too much for the tough job of mowing on our property with a rickety push-mower.  All our neighbors have their fancy riding mowers, but I'm getting a free work-out along with mowing my yard!  At least that is what I tell myself when I am sweating up a storm!  Dh wants to get Dd doing a lot more of the mowing this year and I look forward to the help!!  I'm glad it is warm enough to mow and another confirmation of spring, but it is another chore to try and fit into a very busy schedule!

Garden:

The Hoop House (mini-greenhouse Dd made to enclose seedlings with a plastic cover) is doing a great job of growing the seeds we planted.  Some of the seeds we planted were old and didn't sprout, but most of our seeds have sprouted!  I've planted a few more rows of lettuce, kale, spinach, etc. in the garden beds this week, since the frost warning is over, but the seedlings in the hoop house grew faster and better.  

Saturday I moved a bunch of seedlings from the Hoop House to the regular beds.  I've put in some more new seeds to sprout to get a jump-start on the next batch of spinach.  I planted the green beans against the back fence of two raised beds.  I can't wait to start back eating fresh green beans again! 



 The asparagus is doing well and growing fast, if only we had more plants to make more of a batch. 

Chickens:

The chickens had a good week, thriving from the abundance of green weeds I'm feeding them throughout the day. 





 I didn't get them into the tractors this week, but, I did feel good enough to weed/harvest greens for them a few times a day.  



One of the benefits of living on a few acres and not mowing a lot is the tons of available dandelions!  They like quite a few different things and I enjoy pulling up greens for them.  

Last Girl's Club at DeVries:

Thursday was the LAST Girl's Club of the year at the DeVries house.  They had a bone-fire to roast hot dogs and played games.  Dd asked me to drop her off at 3 and pick her up at 9pm, which meant three hours of driving for my day since they live so far away, but I'm glad to drive so she can keep up good friendships with the girls she has been BFF's with the past three years.  Come to find out they had switched the starting time to 5:30, but we didn't get the memo!  Of course, Dd was happy to get more time with her friend, Lexi.

Movies: The Avengers: Infinity Wars

Saturday we took a break from gardening and yard work to go see the new Marvel movie with Dd.  Dd and Dh are big Marvel fans, especially Dd, and she had wanted to go earlier in the week with her girlfriends but I had said 'no.'  It was really nice getting to go to the local theatre again and see a movie; such a treat!  I have to say I wasn't nearly as impressed with Infinity Wars as I was with Black Panther, which was such an awesome movie.  

Academics of the Week:

Dd really wanted to study for her math final that I told her she could spend most of her homework time on math to ensure doing the best she could at the final, so she didn't move on the Week 16 in our Sonlight Core 100.

Dickens helping with piano practice

Bible:

Church, Sunday School, Olympians-volunteer Games 

Entrusted Bible Study by Beth Moore.  We went over and reviewed a few of the lessons Dd had completed this week.  

Math: Geometry: FINAL GRADE: 87 or B+

Saxon Geometry with Grace: Practice Questions from Lessons 77-107

FINAL Test, Dd was the last student in the classroom, and the teacher was so kind to wait for Dd to finish.  Dd texted her teacher on Saturday to find out her final grade and was overjoyed to get a B+ for the year of Geometry!!!!  Yay! for her PERSEVERANCE!  

SL History:

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis: Ch's 1-7

Eleven-year-old Elijah is the first child born into freedom in Buxton, Canada, a settlement of runaway slaves just over the border from Detroit. He's best known in his hometown as the boy who made a memorable impression on Frederick Douglass. But things change when a former slave steals money from Elijah’s friend, who has been saving to buy his family out of captivity in the South. Elijah embarks on a dangerous journey to America in pursuit of the thief, and he discovers firsthand the unimaginable horrors of the life his parents fled -- a life from which he’ll always be free, if he can find the courage to get back home.  *Review by GoodReads online.

Art Classes:

Painting Studio: 2 hours

Botany Art Class: 1:30 hours

Art at Home:

Oil Painting

Polymer Clay: She made a tree trunk and a ring and baked them in our oven.

Cooking:

Various "wraps" and Brussel Sprouts

Fun Audio:

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowlings (In Process)

Music Lessons:

Monday: Violin Lessons with Christie 30 min

Wednesday: Piano Lesson with Wendy 30 min

(No Strings Group this week)

Music at home:

Dd had another piano week again this week.  She is doing better practicing her piano, that new music book has really given her something new to work on.

Next Week:

Monday and Tuesday Dd is scheduled to do the IOWA Test in Grand Rapids so it will be another week with our focus being pulled in different directions.  Wednesday, another drive to Grand Rapids, will be her LAST piano lesson of the year with Wendy March.  It will be our LAST Olympians night with the kids and it will be an awards night! 

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