Healthy Moms Magazine mention

Look at the blessing I got today----

I love your blog! I just wanted to let you know that we featured you in a list of 100 best Homeschooling blogs. You can find our article at the following link:

http://healthymomsmagazine.net/2016/09/top-100-homeschooling-blogs.html

We would appreciate it if you shared this with your readers, followers and fans. Have a terrific weekend!

http://healthymomsmagazine.net/2016/09/top-100-homeschooling-blogs.html

Sept. 19-25, 2016 Home Economics Week

Sept. 19-25, 2016 

Home Economics Week

We went to Lake Michigan this week!

Hello Friends!  

We finished "Core G" last week, and so deserved a free week off to celebrate...and get some chores done.  We will start "Core H" next week.  Core G" is the 'spine' of our homeschooling curriculum, that covers the history from Creation to the 1600's.  Next is "Core H" which covers the history from 1600 to Present Day.  We also use BiblioPlan as our history curriculum too.  If you don't know Sonlight: http://www.sonlight.com/

If you don't know BiblioPlan:http://www.biblioplan.net/p/welcome-to-biblioplan.html

Generally speaking we use good books (living books), Charlotte Mason type of a homeschooling style.  We believe in reading, making things, real life, being outside, and finding a balance between lessons and living--always putting God first! We have used Sonlight since Kindergarten, and plan on using it all the way through each grade until my Dd is in college.  



Free week:
Finally the weather was perfect for painting!  Not too cold or too hot for paint to dry fast.  It is hard to believe we have lived in our new home for 15 months and are still pulling down wall paper, spackling, painting, and still trying to get into (use) all of the rooms.  Any warm days that come our way are going to be painting days.  Michigan's fall seems to get cold so much faster than Indiana, and I was hoping for more 70 degree days to use for home projects.  I'm thinking I should have taken more days off from our lessons during the summer and painted then...living and learning!

The upcoming Rec Room in basement...(new patio doors are next on the 'to-do' list.

We still have a LONG ways until we can live in the basement living room.  I painted the floors & stairs "stone" color and then covered them in layers of polyurethane.  Dd used her spectacular blue color she had specifically chosen and we had mixed at Lowe's.

Painting:

This week Dd and I listened to audio's and painted for hours!    I painted the stair well up to her room and brought out a tall aluminium ladder for her to get up and down; placed in the sun-room, so she could keep painting up there.  She had always wanted to bring a ladder in so she could get up and down that way...instead of the boring stairs!  

Basement hall way is finally painted!!!  Two coats of oil base and so far, two coats of polyurethane...more to come, but I used up the whole can and need to go buy more!

Four sections of stairs--two to go up, and two going down!

Kirk Park- Lake Michigan:

On Monday, weather working with us, we went to Kirk Park!  I posted some pictures of our day already on the post before this one.  We had a really nice time; very relaxing.  I thought it would be chilly, and so dressed for the cold. 



 Dd wore her bather under her clothes, and got to swim and enjoy the lovely day; while I was in jeans, smart wool socks, and a long sleeve shirt!  I was disappointed I couldn't get in with her!

Music Lessons:

Wednesday we still had our normal routine---Beginning Band (Tenor Sax), Piano lesson with Mrs. March, and Intermediate Band (Bari Sax).  Dd and another teen girl at church have accepted to do the "Games" section of our church's Olympians program on Wednesday nights (with me there to help out).  This is really fantastic for her to do!  I'm so glad she so easily stepped up to volunteer into a leadership role with the kids at our church.

The pool I only got to swim in three times this summer, is put up for the winter...maybe next year will be better and the pump won't break!

 Closing the Pool:

Thursday night Dh came home; just in time to help us close the pool on Friday.  A church friend is a retired pool man, and he was willing to teach us how to close our own pool, so we don't have to pay other people to do it!  Friday, Dd helped us, as we all worked together in closing up our pool--draining the water, adding chemicals, putting the cover on, taking apart pipes, blowing air through the pipes, adding RV anti-freeze into the pipes... 

Here is the landing on Dd's stairwell-- you can see her bb gun and home-made Captain America shield.

Home Economics/Kitchen:

Dd made dinner twice this week:

Tuesday she made her mayonnaise/Parmesan Tilapia dinner: (time 1:30)

Thursday's dinner: (time 2:30)

Thursday's dinner was exceptional-she marinated chicken in a bunch of different flavors-soy sauce, garlic powder, chili powder, onion powder...then she cut it up into chunks and baked it.  She kept the marinate sauce in the pan.  She asked me to cook some Jasmine Rice to go with her dish, and I did.  Then she made a side dish of peas and tofu in another sauce.  The sauces were really great on top of the Jasmine rice.  We put the chicken, peas, and tofu on top of the rice and enjoyed her dinner for the next two days!   She does a good job of making a lot, so we can have lots of left-overs.

Dd's bedroom

I made her pancakes on Monday morning, to reconcile the fact that Pappa (DH) hadn't made her breakfast over the weekend like he normally does b/c he was in Italy.  He usually makes a special breakfast on the weekends.

Dd's bedroom

Dd's room:

Last year we only had time to paint her floors, so this summer she has been trying to paint her bedroom walls.  Her bedroom is really a long narrow loft above our sun-room, kitchen, and living room.  I don't think it was really planned for bedroom use, but the previous owner used it as one so we are too!  She has had a particularly difficult time painting her walls due to having all her furniture in the way!  She has had to move book cases and dressers, etc. to get back behind there!

Music Classes/Homework: (4:30 total)

Fundamentals of Piano Theory book: Lesson 9 completed (1:00)

Piano lesson with Mrs. March: 30 minutes

Beginning Band class: 1:30

Intermediate Band class: 1:30

Music Practice: (4:00)

Piano: 2:30

Sax: 1:30

combined music total: 8:30

Ginger, orange, rootbeer, and other soda bottles that Dd has collected since Rachel L.'s birthday party, years ago.

Audio Books: 20:09 hours total

1) The Mermaids Mirror by L.K. Madigan: In Process: 2:00 hours

2)Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling:Completed: 8:33 hours

3)The Siege of Macindaw, Ranger's Apprentice: by John Flanagan: Completed: 8:36 hours

4)Story of the World: Vol 3: Early Modern World: 1:00 hour

Readers: (13 hours)

1)Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton:Completed:  (10 hours)

2)Alex Rider:Skeleton Key: by Anthony Horowitz:In Process: (3:30 hours)

My audio:
*I'm listening to God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew, and really enjoying it very much!!!  I love stories that share how God, time after time, after time, provides exactly what Brother Andrew needed.  This story is wonderful for growing faith!

Church:

Volunteering for Olympians: 1:30 hours

Church and Sunday school: 1:30 hours

Sunday night service: 1:00 hours

Dd's chicken, peas, and tofu dish

Home Economics:

Cooking: 4:00 hours

Painting daily this week: 26:30 hours

Chicken Car: 3:30 hours

Laundry: 30 min

Cleaning bedroom: 4 hours

Physical Exercise:

Swimming in Lake Michigan: 1: hour

Games-Dodge ball: 1 hour

Educational DVD:

Liberty Kids DVD, Disc 3: 3 hours

Dd painted her light switches to look like the doors in Lord of the Rings.

This was a good week.  We managed to fit in some educational things along with doing the work/painting.  We missed Dh, but kept really busy!  Next week we will start Core H (1600's to Present Day).



Dd's bathroom decorations are coming along nicely; thanks mostly to Giz and Grampy getting her some lovely Lord of the Rings stickers for the walls.

Dd was super excited Dh brought her home some bags of "Fonzies" chips from Bologna, Italy.  In Rick Riordan's series, he mentions them and therefor our RR fan wanted to see what they were like!  She liked them!

Now to take off all the blue tape around the house!!!
................

Kirk Park, Lake Michigan Sept. 19, 2016

Kirk Park, Lake Michigan 

Sept. 19, 2016

Our celebration for finishing Core G, after 100 Weeks (2 years) on it.  This was a really nice, really enjoyable day!

Sophie was a bit hesitant to get in the water...for the first hour!  Then she saw all the other dogs  swimming out and getting balls and sticks and her courage increased.

It is so relaxing hearing the waves crash on the beach.  There was a nice wind, sunshine, and just a gorgeous day!

Dd brought our umbrella--so glad she did!  It was so nice Sophie moved under it too.

I'm working on a some kind of cowl for me---I need something really thick and warm for the winter....not sure if this is going to work out.  Even though I used a really small needle the cowl doesn't seem very dense, like I was wanting.

Dd has been really enjoying Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.  She read when she wasn't swimming.

Dd did a lot of swimming.  I thought we'd be cold and brought a fleece!  I wished that I'd brought my bather instead, as it was such a gorgeous day.

At Kirk Park there is a large beach for people, and a smaller section for people to bring their dogs to--I really love having Sophie get to swim and run with other dogs.

The walkway is sandy--the trees don't seem to mind.

A final look at the beach before we head home...so pretty!

The half mile walk through the woods back to the parking lot is my favorite part!  This year there aren't as many mushrooms as usual.  

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

Sonlight Core G Week 36 Sept 12-18, 2016

Sonlight Core G 

Week 36 

Sept 12-18, 2016

We have a BROODY hen!!  She sits on eggs, in the nest box, all day long!  

Hello Friends!

Two big news events---1)We finished Core G!!!  This was our 100th week on Core G, and we're done!  The post after this post has our history book list, and only our 'history' books.  For example, Sonlight assigned The Phantom Tollboth, and we read it, but I didn't put it in the post because it isn't a "history" book.  I'm always looking for book lists, especially listed chronologically, so I put one together to post on this blog for others.  Our second news is that Dh is in Italy this week (during our wedding anniversary!).  He left on Saturday, and returns on Thursday.  He is in Bologna, Italy, but will be traveling around a bit.  He is there for work; looking at a machine his company needs.  He isn't sure this is the specific machine they will end up buying, but seeing it will help with the decision.  The German company, BOSCH, also has a machine they are considering.

The walls still have some wallpaper on them--they had papered on top of paper!  Two to three layers of paper!

I've been painting the basement hall and stairwell this week--two coats.  We had to loose access to our computer for two days each time I put a new coat down.  We did crawl through the window for emergency's.  I want to paint Dd's stairwell next---but I'm having trouble getting her to move out of her room for a few days...can't imagine why!

We had the son of a church friend come and fix our skylight that was leaking, and the skylight that wasn't leaking too---while he was up there!  So glad to have that done again---I did it last summer, but the caulk I used didn't hold up to the extreme weather here and it cracked.

Wednesday our church started back it's "Olympians" program; think "Awana" and you are on the same page.  A few people had been asking Dd and I to help out with Olympians, and so we went on Wednesday to see if or how we could help.  We helped with the "Games" part of their program.  I hesitated to officially sign up to do that, knowing my migraines have a mind of their own, but I'll do my best knowing that God has plans that can put migraines down.

We had a good week, Dd's motivation picked back up as soon as she felt better.  She did a good job getting a lot of things done by herself---yay! It was our second week back at the Homeschool Building for her classes with the West Michigan Homeschool Fine Arts music classes--and her 1:1 piano lessons with Mrs. March.  Dd also had her monthly "Girls Club" on Friday night; they played games and had fun.

Week Off!

We are taking next week OFF from lessons, and are going to see if we can find some FUN things to do---maybe go to Lake Michigan? I don't know...

Our Lessons:

Bible: 

Veritas Press: Gospels

Card 122: The Last Supper: completed

Read with Bible and Believer's Bible Commentary:

Matt 26:26-30

Mark 14:22-26

Luke 22: 15-20

Journey Through the Bible, pg's 316-317

Survey of the Bible, pg's 166-168

Gospels Workbook completed

Science:

Apologia: General Science:Module 14: Human Respiratory and Circulatory System, Week 2, of 2, completed study guide and test.

Math: Teaching Textbooks: Algebra I, 52 & 53

Working with Pappa, who works late most nights, so only two lessons completed, but both scored A's.  I'm hoping that she can get back to doing math alone soon, so she can progress a bit faster.

IEW SWI-B:

Lesson 7: completed

Foreign Language: DuoLingo: German

 20 min x 4= 1:20 hours

She wants to try DuoLingo instead of Rosetta Stone

Gym: 1:30

Nuke 'Em/Octoball on Wed. night: 1 hour

Football / Catch with me: 30 minutes

Geography:

BiblioPlan Advanced Mapping:Medieval:

Week 24b: Challenge Map: name all the countries along Africa's coast.

Week 25: The Middle Passage

Week 32b: Eastern Europe

Sonlight Week 36 Timeline and Mapping: completed

Jacques Cartier explores North America, French settle in Quebec, Canada, Hernando de Soto locates Mississippi River, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado discovers the Grand Canyon, British Navy defeats Spanish Armada, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci.....

Art: 

Drawing and Ipad drawing:

Mon, Tue, Thurs: 6 hours

Music: 7:45 hours

1:1 piano lesson:30 min

Fundamentals of Piano Theory workbook: Lesson 8 done

Beg. Band : 1: 30 hours

Intermediate Band: 1:30 hours

practice:

violin: :30

piano: 1:30

Bari & Tenor sax: 2:15

guitar: 1:00

Weekly SL alotment: 

Favorite Poems Old and New &

The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia

History:

This VHS set was a biography on Leonardo, and was pretty good.  It was filmed in Italy and you really did feel like you'd walked back in time.  It is a long movie, 3 vhs tapes, and took us two weeks to complete.

The Life of Leonardo da Vinci: completed all 3 vhs tapes

Renaissance Artists Who Inspired the World:by Gregory Blanch

pg's 44-57, completed the book

Rats, Bulls, and Flying Machines:by Deborah M. Prum

Ch. 2

Read Aloud:

Master Cornhill by Eloise Jarvis McGraw: completed

*I really enjoyed this book a lot!

BiblioPlan Companion:Medieval:

Ch. 25 & 26: completed

In the car we have been listening to Story of the World---I'll try to figure out which lessons we heard this week--maybe chapter 41 & 42 plus some extra.  We have also been listening to a Ranger's Apprentice: The Siege of Macindaw by John Flanagan---which are pretty good.

This little kit was fun.  Dd put the parts together to make the flying machine that Leonardo designed.

Fun Reader:

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Dd is totally into this 464 page book, and has been reading it a lot.  I'm glad she wasn't daunted by it's size or font. 

Busy Hands:

Dd is making a bag and started back working on the shawl I asked for my Christmas gift last year....maybe she'll have it done by Christmas this year!!

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