Sept. 2-8, 2018 Dh Sick, Return Violin, Purple Hair, Migraines, Dietitian, Cranes

Sept. 2-8, 2018 

Dh Sick, Return Violin, Purple Hair, Migraines, Dietitian, Cranes

Hello Friends!

Zeus-still having seizures

Dh stayed home sick on Sunday, which began a whole week of him being laid off for various reasons.  I guess it is good to have a week of being cared for and treated special and he seemed to appreciate the care provided.  He ended up getting sick again on Wed. and had to go to Immediate Care.  He worked from home Thursday and Friday.

Wisdom Teeth:

Dd's mouth is slowly recovering and she only has one open cavity from getting her wisdom teeth removed last week.  She continued to eat liquid foods--lots of soups and applesauce!  She was steadily improving and then on Saturday, she felt up to mowing our yard.  She didn't get far before she got stung by a ground hornet; which REALLY hurt!  Our pool had been so infested with hornets we gave up swimming weeks ago; our problem was that we could never find the hornet's nest--until now!  I sure did spray that nest as soon as the sun went down...finally, after being tormented by them all summer.

Canning Fail:
We worked so hard, picking green beans all week, snapping and storing in anticipation to can on Monday.  Once we got the beans in the jars and loaded in the canning pan we saw the gauge was broken.  



We looked online, trying to find a new gauge at a local store to no avail.  We had to dump out all the beans and agree to blanch and freeze them instead.  We had to order a new gauge and hope it arrives before too long.

Music: Returned Violin

Last year we really kicked Dd's music lessons up a notch because we joined a "Homeschool Partnership," which means that we could spend a few hours every week online submitting information about the classes she was taking so that we could submit our receipts for those classes to be reimbursed by a nearby school; another words, free music classes.  I spent about 2 hours each week typing in the information to keep us meeting their requirements and it was not easy, to say the least!



 But, what a huge blessing for a homeschool family---music lessons for a musical daughter!  We hadn't been able to afford that before and we were so appreciative.  This year the program has flip-flopped 3-4 times - first they wouldn't pay for 1:1 lessons, then they would, then the music store we use wouldn't work with the partnership, then I tried to change how we would pay to make it work and yet, no, the partnership will only work if they pay them directly (no reimbursement). 

Agnes in the cooler

So, no music lessons for Dd this year and I doubt that will change next year.  Hopefully, Dd will practice on her own?!?  Dd needs braces for her teeth and that will be an extra expense each month as our dental insurance doesn't cover orthodontics--the oral surgery or any of the expenses for braces...ouch.  



Dd will still be playing with our church's Strings Group; either on the Ukulele or guitar.  Maybe I can talk her into playing the piano there?  I don't know if people realize it costs $25.00 for 30 minutes of violin lessons!  As homeschoolers in the United States, we pay into the government every day and voluntarily decide not to enroll our children in government education and government music lessons; which has a lot of upsides and a few downsides---like our budget being tiny!!  Dd has decided she will focus on her academics more this year instead.

Purple Hair:

Ah, the parents of teenagers can probably relate to my parenting dilemma this week---purple hair.  Dd has wanted to do all sorts of *fun* things to her hair since we've moved to Michigan which probably has nothing to do with Michigan and more to do with her age---16.  The past three years Dd was enrolled in a homeschool band that had strict rules about the student's appearance and especially didn't allow wild hair on girls so it was a simple 'no' to all her pleas for experimentation.  



This year she isn't in the band and wanted to finally do something fun and decided to try PURPLE HAIR!  I struggled with that---I'm the kind of person that doesn't go out to look for attention, quite the contrary, and it was difficult for me to agree to do something so 'attention-grabbing' as she was wanting to do.  But, as a forty-something mom, I do wish I would have tried some fun and outrageous things with my hair when I was young.  This week after church, on Sunday, Hailee came home with us and the girls spent the afternoon together---having fun and dying her hair.  Fortunately, it will wash out in a couple of weeks.

Cranes:

We went from really hot and humid to cold and 'fall-like' weather in the course of two days!  Along with the chilly, breezy weather came lots of falling leaves and lots of cranes flying overhead to their winter destinations.  I love hearing the cranes!!!!

Out my Window:

Friday morning I looked out my window and was surprised to see a big doe (deer).  



Then I noticed a few Blue jay birds were throwing a fit and looked up and saw a hawk sitting on a branch above the deer---just sitting there, ignoring the fuss from the Bluejays.  I got down my binoculars and was enjoying all this nature when a Hummingbird came to look in the kitchen window!  Oh my---out of that window, in the span of minutes I have so much nature blessed to me...thankful!

New Trail:

I've added another big section of walking trail for Henry and me to walk on.  I literally take our beaten-up, old push mower, push aside all the trees and branches and mow a path through the woods!  I just wonder what our neighbors think?  There is a good chance they can't see me so they might not know, but I just wonder if they catch glimpses of me mowing out in the woods or carrying around my big five-gallon bucket and filling it will weeds and greens for the chickens to eat...they must wonder about my sanity!  The new trail is great!!  I think a family of deer have been living in our section, each time we go down there we stir-up a few deer and we can see them jumping off back farther into the woods out of our view.  I feel bad forcing them to move for our walks, but don't know what else I can do?  They could just hunker down and ignore us, but I guess they don't like that option.

Migraines and Headaches:

Still another week of pain.  I went and had an MRI done to have that looked at.  Since going off the Amitriptyline I've been struggling, especially when I am sleeping at night.  I hate being in pain the whole time I am sleeping; I wake up tired. 

 

Olympians:

Our church's youth program on Wednesday nights has started back up.  Dd is still volunteering to co-run the Games portion of it and perhaps will also work in one of the classrooms as one of our leaders had to back out this year due to cancer in the family.  We had nine teens/adults for the three children!  Next week we should have two more kids that were on vacation this week, but still, we have a lot of helpers for the few children that make it out, unfortunately.



Pool:
I've been vacuuming the pool and trying to get it looking good so we can close it down, but it isn't working with me at all....hours of work I know won't amount to anything.

Academics:

Bible: 
Church & Sunday School
I've been reading the book of Matthew to Dd this week.



Driving:
Dd worked with Dh in church parking lot to master the two parking drills that she will be tested on-parallel parking and backing into a spot.  She has been doing 90 percent of the driving these past few weeks to prepare for her upcoming test.



Music:
Dd practiced guitar on Monday



Math:
Algebra test for Grace Academy

Henny Penny

Buckbeak

Audio:
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: In Process
I'm continuing to order classic audio's from our library.  This one has been the least impressive so far.  I really love the concept behind the book, but something just isn't clicking great with us. 


Movie:
Animal Farm
We finished this book a few weeks back and finally got around to watching the movie--an odd animated version by John Halas.



Science: Apologia Biology: 3 days this week
a few pages farther along this week.

Next Week: BIG WEEK!
Starting: Grace Co-Op Classes: Fridays from 9-3:40pm
Hunters Training classes--Thurs, Fri, and Saturday
Pick-up my mom (now in Ohio) for a little visit, I think she has seen Dd four times in her lifetime.
.......