Sonlight Core H Week 5C (mostly vacation) Dec. 26, 2016 - Jan 1, 2017

Sonlight Core H Week 5C

 (mostly vacation) 

Dec. 26, 2016 - Jan 2, 2017

My Christmas present from Dd this year- a Wood Thrush

Hello Friends!

The family Christmas party was held on the last day of the year, Saturday, this year in Indiana.  Dh had Monday and Friday off this week! (Plus, Monday Jan 2nd!)  We spent half our time in Michigan and the other half in Indiana, on our family farm, the other half.  Indiana in January is like October in Michigan. 



 It was nice having a break from the cloudy, soupy Michigan weather to enjoy the sunshine of Indiana.

With my new vacuum in hand, Dd cleaned out two vehicles for us.  She really likes our new cordless vacuum and got busy breaking it in!  That is a double gift--the gift of the vacuum, and also the gift of Dd doing the cleaning!  

We had a few warm days--the chickens got to get out and free range

We did lessons on Tuesday, and specifically worked on our BiblioPlan Medieval Companion.  We are WAY behind in our BP Companion compared to where we are in our Sonlight Core H.  BP isn't something you can rush through; you must take your time and slowly read through it.  My goal is to try and catch up.

The "D" family hosted the "Girl's Club" this month, on Wednesday.  Dd made a big batch of No-Bake Cookies to share with the group.  They played 'Mafia' and had a great time together.

Thursday Dd and I packed the van and after Dh got off work we headed south to Indiana.  It was after midnight before we finally arrived at the farm.  The first three hours of driving were very difficult with all the snow on the highway---especially around the state divide between Michigan and Indiana.  

Dh got to hunt Friday morning and evening---but, he didn't see anything but squirrels!  The wind was so gusty that most things hunkered down and stayed in.  Meanwhile, Dd and I helped Giz with her preparation for the big Christmas party.  I was glad we could be of help to her.

The party on Saturday went well.  It was nice to see everyone, as we generally only see them once a year and it is fun to see how everyone has changed over the year!  Dd played for hours with Norah and Charlotte (maybe 2 & 4 years old?).  Uncle Greg got Dd a Star Wars blanket and Star Wars watch.  Uncle Jeff got Dd a bundle of Civil War books.  Uncle Jeff is a history teacher in a public school, whose major passion in life is the Civil War, so he always gives Dd the best Civil War books!  Giz and Grampy gave Dd some Star Wars "Rey" clothing, to help out her Rey costume that she made.  Dd didn't like the pants and top she wore under the fabric costume, so these items should help her improve her costume.  Oh- and Giz found two pairs of Star Wars socks!  One pair is dark gray with black Republic symbols on them, and the other pair is of R2D2...cute!

Sunday we packed up the van, cleaned up the farm house, ate lunch with a big group of family, and then headed back home.  Luckily our arrival was before 8pm, so we could go to bed at a decent time and not at midnight again!  It is a seven or eight hour drive between our Michigan home and our Indiana home!

 Academic progress for the week:

History:

BiblioPlan Companion Medieval History, Vol II.

Ch. 34: The Spanish Armada, the Counter-Reformation: Completed

(This concludes our Medieval BP books, and we move to the Early Modern texts next.)

DVD:
America, The Story of Us
*Really fun, visually exciting DVD of American history---many library's have this---recommend!

Audio's:

1. Stella Bain by Anita Shreve: Completed

This was a seven hour audio, we heard one hour previously, this trip we heard six hours to complete the WWI story.

Goodreads summary: An epic story, set against the backdrop of World War I, from bestselling author Anita Shreve.

When an American woman, Stella Bain, is found suffering from severe shell shock in an exclusive garden in London, surgeon August Bridge and his wife selflessly agree to take her in.

A gesture of goodwill turns into something more as Bridge quickly develops a clinical interest in his houseguest. Stella had been working as a nurse's aide near the front, but she can't remember anything prior to four months earlier when she was found wounded on a French battlefield.

In a narrative that takes us from London to America and back again, Shreve has created an engrossing and wrenching tale about love and the meaning of memory, set against the haunting backdrop of a war that destroyed an entire generation.

Our barns at the farm

2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by James Rollins: In process (1 hour in)

Goodreads summary: “The name is Jones. Indiana Jones.”

He’s back. Everyone’s favorite globe-trotting, tomb-raiding, wisecracking archaeologist is finally at it again–hurtling headfirst into high adventure and relying on his wits, his fists, and his trusty bullwhip to get him out of deep trouble. But the man in the jaunty brown fedora and battered leather jacket is no ordinary digger in the dirt. From the fabled lost Ark of the Covenant to the legendary Holy Grail, he’s salvaged the world’s most amazing artifacts, while beating the baddest villains and defying the most breathtaking odds. 

Now it’s 1957, the atomic age is in full swing, and McCarthy-era paranoia has the nation on edge. But for Indiana Jones, the Cold War really heats up when his latest expedition is crashed by a ruthless squad of Russian soldiers. Commanded by a sword-wielding colonel who’s as sinister as she is stunning, the menacing Reds drag an unwilling Indy along as they brazenly invade American soil, massacre U.S. soldiers, and plunder a top-secret government warehouse. Their objective: a relic even more precious–and powerful–than the mythic Ark, capable of unlocking secrets beyond human comprehension.......

Sophie was willing to go on hike after hike with me this week at our farm.  This is one of our big fields.

Busy Hands/ Home Economics: 3 hours

Baking: Wed and Thur were Dd's baking days!  She made 3 batches of No-Bake Cookies!

Sewing: 2 hours

Vacuuming: 4 hours- house and auto's

Cleaning Auto's: 4 hours

Wrapping presents: 3 hours

Chicken Care: 3 hours

Kitchen/Dishes: 1 hour

Party Prep for Giz: 3 hours (setting tables, making food...)

Art: 

4 hours watercolor, 3 hours drawing

Dd has been doing watercolor painting this week; I think she gave Giz one of them for a gift.  She also did some drawing in her new sketch book with her new pencils!

Writing/Typing/Language Arts/English: 4-5 hours

Dd spent two days on the typewriter, typing up her story---one that she wrote.  I've not read this story, it is something she is doing on her own.  She has been enjoying the typewriter a lot this week!  Hours of typing---good thing I enjoy that sound!

FUN BOOKS:

(I didn't give her any Readers for the week; just let her read on her own.)

Eldest (the Inheritance Cycle #2): by Christopher Paolini

Goodreads summary: Darkness falls ...Despair abounds ...Evil reigns ...Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have just saved the rebel state from destruction by the mighty forces of King Galbatorix, cruel ruler of the Empire. Now Eragon must travel to Ellesmera, land of the elves, for further training in magic and swordsmanship, the vital skills of the Dragon Rider. 

It is the journey of a lifetime, filled with awe-inspiring new places and people, each day a fresh adventure. But chaos and betrayal plague him at every turn, and Eragon isn't sure whom he can trust. Meanwhile, his cousin Roran must fight a new battle back home in Carvahall - one that puts Eragon in even graver danger. Will the king's dark hand strangle all resistance? Eragon may not escape with even his life .

A wonderful book, full of fantasy and suspense. 

Dh and I found this section of holes...perhaps a mice den?

Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson
Goodreads summary: James Patterson returns to the genre that made him famous with a thrilling teen detective series about the mysterious and magnificently wealthy Angel family... and the dark secrets they're keeping from one another.

On the night Malcolm and Maud Angel are murdered, Tandy Angel knows just three things: She was the last person to see her parents alive. The police have no suspects besides Tandy and her three siblings. She can't trust anyone -— maybe not even herself. 

Having grown up under Malcolm and Maud's intense perfectionist demands, no child comes away undamaged. Tandy decides that she will have to clear the family name, but digging deeper into her powerful parents' affairs is a dangerous -- and revealing -- game. Who knows what the Angels are truly capable of?

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: COMPLETED

The Eighth Story. Nineteen Years Later.

I always like finding woodpecker holes--I found a few this week!

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016. 

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

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