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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SL Core 100 Week 15 "B" May 6-12, 2018 Dh in Bologan, Italy

SL Core 100 Week 15 "B" 

May 6-12, 2018

Bologna, Italy and Birthday

Zeus, being Zeus.

Hello Friends!

Migraine Week.  This was one of my worst weeks in a long time.  The hardest part for me, besides my own physical pain, is that Dd always see's these migraines as her opportunity to relax, watch movies, and do whatever she can get away with when I have nothing in me to push back.  I wish I could share that she steps-up and helps out more when I am ill, but that would be a lie.  I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing when I was 16, but I do expect more from her and am always a bit disappointed by it all.  We are definitely not over-achieving home schoolers!  But, we do keep trying to move forward the best we can. The week started with super blurry eyes on Sunday and progressed to a migraine Mon-Wed.  Thankfully, I did better Thurs-Sat., before it started back up again.

Already eating out of our garden!

Dh in Bologna, Italy:

It was fun getting our daily phone call from Dh each day and hearing what all he ate and saw.  He would call after 10 pm (his time) so he was always really tired, but it was great to hear about his day.  He was there 9 days this trip.  

The airlines lost all the luggage on the way there, and then the plane broke down for the scheduled return.  The airline put them up in a new hotel while reworking their return flights, so they spent an extra day there, but the replacement hotel wasn't nearly as awesome as their first hotel.  

Birthday Surprise:

Judy and her daughter, Joy sang me "Happy Birthday" on a voicemail and then brought over some flowers.  The best part--we sat out on our deck and had a nice chat for over an hour; which made up for the rest of my birthday being kinda gloomy with my migraine.  Dd surprised me with a pretty bird colored pencil drawing!!!  That was very kind of her.  I didn't know it at the time, but Dh brought me home a necklace from Italy, but I didn't get until he returned. 

My mom sent a flower in the mail, which was a big surprise, I think I made her feel bad for letting her know she missed Dd Sweet 16 last month.  It's tough, we don't have any family members that are interactive with us except Giz and Grampy and I know how isolating that can make my daughter feel.  I wish my mom could send her a little card for Christmas and her birthday, but I know by asking her to do it she gets very offended.  The ironic part is that I was the one that ended up getting a flower, when really I'd rather my daughter get a card.  I don't understand why family has to be so.very.difficult.  Even when you have a close relationship with your church, they still don't really welcome you into their 'family.'  Cue song: "This World Is Not My Home."

Garden:

The seedlings in the two hoop gardens are doing SO well!!  I'm really excited at how fast the seedlings are growing in these mini-hot-houses.  This year the mosquitoes are out in swarms, so that is making time outside not as fun as it usually is!  The turnip seeds I planted in our garden have sprouted and the onions are doing really well too.  So far none of the lettuce seeds I planted have sprouted.  Planting seeds is always a big risk as seeds over a year old have a much less likelihood of sprouting.  Sat. I planted more seeds in the garden: Swiss chard and lettuce.

I planted more seeds in cardboard egg trays this week, for the hoop house.  I planted: spinach, sweet basil, and purple basil.  Again later in the week, I planted more things for the hoop house: chard and LOTs of Spinach.  We had planted both in plastic trays and cardboard egg trays and the cardboard seemed to procure more seedlings---I don't know if that was due to old seeds or if the humidity was better with the cardboard.

I put up a big black plastic wall as a lean-to for the chickens to have extra shade and protection.

Chickens and the HEAT Back On in Our Home: Cold!

Lots of green weeds coming into them throughout the day.  It keeps getting easier and easier to find masses of greens to bring to them, plus they get tractor visits too.  With all the rain this week they didn't get as much time in the tractors.  



It was so cold and wet our heat ran for 2 1/2 days this week!  We were in the upper 30's and 40's a few days this week.  One day I didn't let the chickens out of their inner coop b/c I didn't want them wet and freezing.  I had to plug in their heat lamp again, so keep them warm after they got wet on the other rainy days.  They did well with the bad weather.

Spring:

We had such fierce Thunderstorms on Wed. we lost our power.  It was already dark outside, so I decided against trying to get the generator out.  It rained a lot this week, so I had to go back to drying my clothes inside; which felt like a step back!  I saw owls, deer, goldfinches (among all the usual cast), and hummingbirds this week around our house.  Even if it was cold, things are growing!

Candy:

After having a migraine for 3 1/2 days, with no motivation to make much food, Dh being in Italy, not getting much a birthday celebration, and struggling with Dd,  I decided to just be very bad!  After Grace classes, Dd and I headed out to Dollar Tree to un-remorsefully buy a whole bag of candy!  We got Sugar Daddies, Milk Duds, Hot Tamale's, Worms, York Peppermint Patties, and those caramels with white sugary middle.  We got in bed and splurged!

Academics for the Week:

Although Dd was over being sick, her motivation did not return this week.  

Bible:

Church, Sunday School, Youth Program, Olympians (volunteer Games), Strings Group (singing hymns and playing her ukulele)

Entrusted Bible study by Beth Moore

Math:

Saxon Geometry: 

Lessons 106-107, Practice test questions lessons 57-76. and class

Tues.  I drove Dd to the Home School Building for some paid time with her math teacher.  Dd went over some questions she has been having trouble with.  I hope it helps her with the upcoming exam.

Writing: IEW: Continuation B:

Working on the paper (Biographical Essay) on Giz.  Now I need to edit it.

SL History:

The Story of Us, Book 5: Chapters 23-26

Art at home:

Dd made these two little octopuses 

and she made me the colored pencil drawing of a bird for my birthday card, top of post.

Art Classes:
Painting Studio - Grace class: 2:00 hours
Botany Art class: 1:30 hours

Fun Books:

A Star Wars book (In Process)

Audio:

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman (In Process)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling (In Process)

Music Lessons:

Violin Lessons with Christie: 30 min

Piano Lessons with Wendy: 30 min

Strings Group at church: Ukulele

Dd had a big piano week.  I bought her a new piano book last week and she has really been loving it.  It is Faber Studio Collection Level 3A-3B.  She especially loves the one song: Misty, a 'jazz & blues' song written by Johnny Burke, music by Erroll Garner.  

Three Deer in our Yard:

Next Week:

Next Friday will be Dd's last day of classes at Grace.  She will have her big Geometry exam that she has been working so hard studying for.

  

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SL Core 100 Week 15"A" April 29-May 5, 2018 Dh to Italy

SL Core 100 (high school American History) Week 15"A" 

April 29-May 5, 2018

Dh to Bologna, Italy

Hello Friends!

 This week Dd was not feeling well; which really put a stopper on much academic progress.  She came home Sat. after spending Fri. night with her girlfriends.  She slept 4 hours.  She normally sleeps around 9-10 hours, so she was asleep on the sofa after church on Sun. 

 Mon. began Dd's week of not feeling good.  Our violin lesson was abruptly stopped with only 15 min. to go because she felt so bad.  She was miserable.  Luckily, she was still able to work on her math homework in bed.  She was able to rally enough to go to all her other scheduled events for the week, but had a rough week.  She didn't even get through half of her SL assignments.  

Spring!

Tue. May 1st the GOLDFINCHES arrived!  I just love the way they fly, as if they were going up and down hills in the air, so graceful!  Fri., I saw the first HUMMINGBIRD!  



I quickly put up four sugar water feeders for them and by Sat. I saw the birds throughout the day, both male and female.  The signs of spring are everywhere--leaves are popping out, weeds are growing fast--which is great for the chickens!, bulbs are blooming, and hope abounds.

Garden:

The hoop houses are working really, really well!!!!  



I wish we could have got our act together faster and started using these last year. 



 Some of our seeds sprouted by Wed. and Fri. it was warm enough to plant some early spring seeds in the regular raised-bed garden bed: lettuce, 3 different types of onions, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas.  



Our blackberry bushes have planted themselves outside of their spot, so I decided to start a little spot in the yard just for them and begun the process of finding the wayward plants, digging them up and moving them to their new home.  

Chickens:

The chickens are doing great.  I've been getting them out in their tractors a few times a week. 





I wish there was an easier way than having to pick up 2-3 birds, carrying them to the tractor and putting them in, load after load, but that is the only way I know how to do it.
  


They are just LOVING all the weeds and grass I pick for them!!!!!

Church and Friendship:

We are still loving our church, we've been there since Nov. 1st, 2015.  The people there really have a wonderful way of welcoming new people in.  



My only heartache is that everyone is so busy and involved in their own life and work that they don't have any time for deeper friendships.  




I have been praying for God to put a friend in my life, someone I could call and chat with or invite over for a cup of tea, outside of our normal church activities.  



With my mom's new move and my brother's upswing in problems, I sure could have used a good friend to share with and ask for prayer.  There just isn't enough time at our church programs to share things that are so personal and close to the chest.  Prayers Appreciated, Chelle and Christie!  My best internet friends!  Thanks for being such good friends all these years; I only wish I could chat with you both in person!  And I thank you for praying along with me.

Dh to Bologna, Italy

Dh's LAST trip to Bologna!  Dh's work needed a special machine built and Dh has gone over to Bologna to help out in the process.  This was the last trip, and six other staff went along for training.  They went a day early, to adjust to the time change, and spent that day in Venice!  We have gone there before Dd was born.  Just like our visit, Venice was once again VERY crowded and hot!  I'm so glad he gets to go and have wonderful adventures; just wish the tickets were not so expensive that I couldn't go along!   

Another Sleep-Over:

As if last week's sleep-over wasn't bad enough, Dd had another one this week.  Addy's birthday party and sleep over was Fri. night.  I dropped Dd off at the Home School Building for her Grace classes and then dropped Dh off at the airport, Fri. night was a bit quiet!  

Academics for the Week:

Bible: 

Church, Sunday School, Youth Group, Olympians (volunteer Games), and Strings Group

Entrusted Bible Study by Beth Moore (on 2nd Timothy)

Math: Saxon Geometry

Test, lessons 102-105, and class


Double Fencing for the upper run.

I've surrounded the wire fence with our old backyard wooden fencing sections to give the coop double or triple security.  They are fairly safe.

SL History:

A History of US, Book 5, Ch's 17-22

Writing:

IEW Continuation B:

Biographical Essay on Giz---worked on this a bit more this week.



Art Classes:
Painting Studio - Grace class: 2:00 hours

Botany Art class: 1:30 hours

Physical Education: 

Dd did workouts 5 out of 7 days

Fun Book:

Audio: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling

Music Lessons:

Violin with Christie

Piano with Wendy

Strings Group at church: ukulele

Dd has been doing better practicing her piano, the new book I bought her on Mon. has a song on it (Misty) that she has really connected to.  She is trying to get down a few songs for her lessons with Wendy, but she is spending more time practicing Misty!



Next Week:
Dh will be out the entire week so we will do the best we can.  I have a birthday coming up! Dd has a lot of math homework as she is preparing for the big final exam on May 18th.  

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