Fleur de Lis Homeschool Blog

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Jan. 6-11, 2020 Grace Classes and Bible Study Classes Resume, Flu, Chicken Coop Repair

Jan. 6-11, 2020

Grace Classes and Bible Study Classes Resume, Flu, Chicken Coop Repair

Grand Rapids is a very wet, high precipitation area and moss/lichen seems to shine year-round!

Hello, Friends!

The "Holidays" are officially over and we all have to get back to our studies. Dd spent the last days leading up to her classes trying to get her homework done; she had somehow failed to tell me she had homework over break!!! I had no idea or I would have really pushed her to not wait until the last minute.

Flooring/ Stairs:

You might remember back in August we started putting down hardwood flooring, but we had to stop so Dh could figure out the connection between the stairs going to the basement and the hallway on our main floor. This week Dh has been removing one or two treads on some evenings. One tread (step) had 27 nails that he had to pull out to get the step off!!! We will be using a few strong and dependable screws when we put down the new treads! Nails are a poor choice in this situation and has caused Dh hour after hour of extra work. We are testing different finishing options and trying to decide which finish will be the least slick...don't want to fall down our stairs. We will be replacing the old painted particle board with red oak treads. We will put our hardwood flooring on the landings; we have lots of it leftover from the early job.

North Trail Association: Accountability

I'm putting this up to encourage myself to follow-through with this goal I have. We have a local office for hiking Michigan parks on our local Main Street. I've wanted to walk in there for over four years and finally accomplished that goal this week. I got the information on how to get hooked up with a group to hike with; potentially, that is. I talked with the receptionist and she gave me a contact and some websites to check out...now to do that and hopefully, it won't take me another four years to do it! Maybe before February? I'm trying to stretch myself out of my comfort zones and meet more people like me. My absolute favorite thing is hiking and I'd like to do it more often and in new places.

1) Bible Studies: Thrive with Ada Bible Church:

On Monday, the Thrive group started back up and we were introduced to our new leader. Our first leader was having some troubles and asked for a substitute to take over for December, and then after the month decided to back-down and ask for a permanent replacement and we now have our THIRD leader! I've really, really enjoyed this first book; I actually finished all the lessons although we still have two weeks of classes with it.

An Unexplainable Life: Recovering the Wonder and Devotion of the Early Church by Erica Wiggenhorn

Henry on a hike

2) Bible Studies: Bible Study Fellowship:

Wednesday morning re-started our study on Acts and Letters of the Apostles curriculum. I've learned a lot from these materials and so approach the 'whole-bible' approach this study uses. I am constantly flipping back and forth throughout my bible in every lesson. I just wish I would have clicked with the women in the group better, but I don't think that is going to happen. But, academic growth is outstanding.

Flu:

This was my week for the flu, at the start of it...as it isn't one to quickly move on! Dh was hit in December so I guess I was over-due.

Furnace:

Dh hasn't been able to get the furnace working...trying to figure it out.

Hiking Henry:

We actually had sunshine on Monday and our hike was especially nice.

Chickens:

We had some nice days this week---sunshine and 30-degree weather, so the chickens were able to free-range most days this week. I really make it a priority to get them out and let them scratch in the woods and find bugs and greens for their health. I also took advantage of the nice weather to do repairs on the coop---the plastic I have on one wall hasn't done well, I've fixed it repeatedly. This time I put plastic on the other side of the fence too and leaned two pallets against it as well. I hope this final repair will be the last for this winter.

Dd's Academic Progress This Week:

Bible:

Church with Seth at Ada

Youth Program at South Boston

Independent Bible Study--a book Heather gave her on Proverbs

Reader:

A Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Franke

Read Aloud:

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Art:

Besides her art class, Dd has been doing watercolors at home.

Music:

Tuesday: 40 minutes on Violin and Flute

Thursday: 40 minutes on Violin and Piano

Grace Co-op Classes:
Science: Anatomy and Physiology (Apologia)

Art: Painting Studio

History: American Civil War

Writing/English: Analytical Writing for Essays and Research Papers (IEW)

Math:

Tutor for Algebra II (Saxon)

Work/Job:

Pizza Shop job is going well!

...............

Dec. 29, 2019 to Jan. 4, 2020 Return from Indiana, New Years, Snow and -7 degrees, Dresser Handles, Yoga Class

Dec. 29, 2019, to Jan. 4, 2020

Return from Indiana, New Years, Snow and -7 degrees, Dresser Handles, Yoga Class

This is Henry being an obedient dog; which he really is...

But, what you don't see...is that when he isn't being patient with me he is running like a squirrel on fire! Lightning!

Hello, Friends!

We had enjoyed our Christmas party, with Dh's family in Indiana, on Saturday, but on Sunday morning we had to wrap up our visit to the farm and head back up to Michigan. The family got to meet Henry (our dog) and Seth (Dd's first boyfriend)...both guys were accepted in immediately, though Henry was hugged a lot more!!!

The past few months have been awesome for our usual daily hikes in the backwoods. I love this time of year; hiking with Henry and refilling our cups! The burrs are about gone, as are the fleas and most ticks...and we just love hiking together as often as possible!

Weighted Blanket:

This year seems to be the Year Of The Weighted Blanket! At the Xmas party, the two youngest nieces each received their own weighted blanket and Grandma Giz got one too! Dd liked it so much she ordered herself one before we had even left the party. Her blanket arrived this week and she is also loving it! It was fun to see the big trend coming to our little family!

Snow:

We finally get out the snowblower for the first time this winter. It was so cold and we had about 7 inches. The snow in the woods is always so beautiful, but it does make you worry about a tree falling on the electric lines.

Dresser:

A few years ago I found a nice solid wood dresser at our local thrift store, but it doesn't have any hardware to open the drawers. They built in wooden decorative molding that is supposed to be your 'handles,' but you have to use both hands to open a drawer. I found some pretty brass handles at our thrift store about 6 months ago and I finally took the time to sit down and measure how to put in each of the handles for the six drawers. The extra bonus was I used my Christmas presents to do it...my new cordless drill and bits. Bonus, now I can open my dresser with one hand!

Carpal Tunnel Left Hand:

This week marked a month since my surgery. My hand is healing, but there is so much more pain than I thought there would be. My right hand seemed to have less pain and heal faster, but I also rested it more. My patience for not using my hands is long gone!

Can you see the round dark thing in the very middle of the picture? It's a hornet's nest from last summer---I've enjoyed watching it disintegrate over the winter.

New Year's Party:

I was SO pleasantly surprised that Dd and Seth were able to do our traditional party---sparkling cider with a round-table of what we were thankful this year until we had finished off the two bottles. Up until this week, Seth hasn't been able to come to our house. He works for a chicken company---they have thousands of chickens laying eggs and they sell the eggs. There is some weird rule where they are totally not allowed to go onto any property with other chickens because they could pick up some bacteria or germ and that could infect their chickens and chaos... It has been so hard not having our house be a place where they could visit each other and I get the chance to get to know him better. I brought out our brass thing with the angels circling above the heat from the four candles below---the same kind my grandmother celebrated New Year's with us. It's important to keep up traditions.

Close-Up of the hornet's nest

Yoga Class:

So, I've been doing yoga and Pilates since the birth of my daughter---almost 18 years ago! I've never gone to a class before, I just like doing my workouts at home. But, our library is having a yoga teacher come and offer a free class on Saturday morning and I went this week. I'd been waiting for my hands to improve, plus I've figured out how to work around my hands--using my elbows or knuckles. I had a great time! It was fun---hope they keep this up!

Furnace:

Our furnace stopped working! Luckily we have a back up GeoThermal system we can switch to when this happens, but it runs off electric instead of gas and that is much more expensive here. I hope Dh can figure it out soon.

Dd's Weekly Progress:

Bible:

Church and Bible Study

SAT SIGN-UP:

We *finally* signed Dd up to take the SAT in March! Yay for us!

Read Aloud:

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
I'm loving every chapter and trying rub off my excitement on Dd!

Movie:

Dd and Seth took Hailee to go see the new Star Wars movie--Rise of Skywalker. I think that was her third time seeing it? But, Hailee had not seen it yet and Dd had to be a good buddy!

Baking:

Dd made two batches of this Oreo Cookie that her friends love...I couldn't eat them, but they looked good.

Three-Month Anniversary:

Dd and Seth have dated three months now! They celebrated by going to Olive Garden with the gift card Giz had given Seth for Christmas.

Next Week:

Back to my Bible Studies after having a few weeks off!

............

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Dec. 22-28, 2019 Christmas! Indiana Xmas Party

Dec. 22-28, 2019

Christmas! Indiana Xmas Party

Henry was accepted into the extended family; here cousin Charlotte is snuggling up. She just loved Henry and he just loved her right back!!

Hello Friends!

Dh's Gag Gift for his Dad:

Michigan, especially Flint, Mi., is known for having really hazardous tap water and we joke with our Hoosier family about the water quality here. Dh designed and printed labels and then added some coffee grounds to some water to complete this gift for his dad. Grampy laughed and laughed at the humorous labels!

Merry Christmas, Friends!

We are all trying to finally get in the Christmas spirit and get ready for the big day. Dh is still fighting the flu, so his progress is a bit hindered.

I took pictures while we visited our old home on Dh's family farm. Dh and I walked around visiting our favorite trees and I thought I'd share a few in this post. The farm is in southern Indiana.

G&G's Meat Gift:

Sounds funny, but this is Dh's big Xmas gift for his parents. He bought ribs, pork chops, brisket, hot dogs, and bratwurst then slow cooked them in his smoker. Then he figured out how much they would want for a meal portion and wrapped that up in freezer paper and then in freezer Ziplock bags. They just have to pull out one bag, of their choice meat, and warm it up for their meals. They really appreciate how well he cooks meat and he is happy to make them happy. It took him, on and off, two weeks of cooking and wrapping to get through all the meats.

Aunt April, like most of our family, is a dog lover. Boy, Henry just looks extremely happy to be with her!

Rise of Skywalker Movie:

Last week Dd and Seth saw the latest Star Wars movie the day it opened, but Dh and I waited until Monday this week. We saw it in 3D, but it wasn't really filmed in a 3D way, so it was kind of a waste of money. I liked the movie, but Dh, who has been one of those epic Star Wars fans his whole life was disappointed. The good news is that we both have loved Disney's Mandalorian! That is a fantastic series and we've loved it.

We were hoping for some of the sunshine that southern Indiana is known for, but instead, we thought we were in Grand Rapids still!! The last two visits to Indiana were dreary, so unusual.

Prep & Landing: Disney Xmas Animation

Once again, Prep and Landing (and Naughty vs Nice), got me in the Christmas spirit this week! I have no idea why I like this short little animation, but I do! In case you are corny, like me, feel free to check it out next year and chuckle along with the show. Betty White is Mrs. Claus and has a very funny part in the Specials/Extra section.

Christmas Tree:

I'm not sure which day, but I did get a little Xmas tree up this week. We had bought Dd a small little tree for her bedroom when she was little, and I used that tree this year instead of our big full-sized tree. I used some of my homemade felt birds to decorate the tree. I'm glad I finally got something up. I had asked Dd to do the tree this year, since my hands are healing from the surgeries, but she must not have had time or inclination.

Our Christmas:

This was such a strange Christmas for us! Who knew last year was the last year of having a 'kid' for Christmas? Somehow in the past months, Dd got a job and a boyfriend and has a whole other life beyond us!! Having a job means she can buy herself lots of little gifts that she would only have gotten from me on Christmas, so her anticipation was down drastically regarding what we were going to buy her! So she slept late...for the first time ever! She used to wake us up starting at 3 am!! This year I think she woke up somewhere between 11 and 12 o'clock.

We played games for hours and had such a lovely time.

Presents:

Well, for the first time in 15 years our presents were not thrift store gifts! Although some were present, that wasn't the majority. This year we just had a very small number of thoughtful gifts. I bought Dh two of those 3-button shirts and a very nice dress shirt at JC Penny for work and three fun Star Wars t-shirts. I found a really good history book at a thrift store and his usual supply of M&M's and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. He bought himself a few tools he needed and was kind enough to wrap them up. I know his 'big' gift to himself was a cordless Reciprocating Saw and extra blades. Dd also bought Dh some M&M's, Life Saver's, and Reese's.

His gift for me this year was a cordless drill and a case of various bits to go with it so I can tighten or loosen just about anything. He also bought me another set of screwdrivers to have handy in the house.

Dd bought me: a bag of Epsom's salt--to take a bath in, Burt's Bee's lip balm and a wicked rooster t-shirt!

G&G got me two essential oils, cards, six months of watching Britbox or Acorn TV, and a cut out of sheet metal of a rooster--a small home decoration.

As soon as we brought Dd home from the hospital I started bringing her out here, first in her Baby Bjorn baby carrier, then in a bicycle stroller that maneuvered all the hills perfectly. She spent so much time out here on these trails. Her first night home from the hospital she wouldn't stop crying and crying, so out of desperation I brought her outside and she immediately stopped crying...that worked all the years we lived here.

My mom sent us a gift certificate of $50 to use however I wish--or share with the family.

We opened our presents, which didn't take very long, and Dd had to run off to be apart of her boyfriend's family party which started around 2 pm. It was so weird not having Dd around on Xmas...so weird!!! The changes to our family that has ever been so dynamic are when we first brought her home. We are all trying to wrap our brains around having our 'little' girl get closer and closer to turning 18 years old in just a few months. We have gone into 'warp speed' as she has approached adulthood.

The first picture I've taken of Dd and Seth--they're heading out for a hike in the woods~

Family Xmas in Indiana:

Saturday was Dh's family Xmas party. This year Dd invited her boyfriend, Seth, along. Dd and Seth drove down in his car and Dh and I went together. We played games at the table with family for hours after the presents were opened. It was nice laughing with everyone!