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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