Sonlight G Week 21 "B" Middle Ages BiblioPlan Wk 7 Feb.15-20, 2016

Sonlight G Week 21 "B" 

Middle Ages 

BiblioPlan Wk 7 

Feb.15-20, 2016

Guess who got up from her nap to help me check on the chickens?!  Good ol' Agnes, that's who!

Such a good helper! Don't worry, she won't have access to the chicks once they come out of the incubator!

Hello Friends! another week of learning has come and gone, as has my SAD.  The warm weather and extra exercising has been helping.  We are taking next week off from most of our lesson, to work on our chicken co-op/chicken prep, and we are, SO very much, looking forward to it! Exciting!!!!

Band:

This week at band, Dd had to play due to a challenge from the boy in the chair behind her.  Since she had to play already, she decided to challenge the girl in the seat above her.  We have to wait until next week to find out how she did.  She also had her second 1:1 tutoring session with her band teacher; and seems to be benefiting from this focused instruction.  She is asking for piano lessons, but we will have to wait and see on that.  

LINK Co-op, aligning with Supreme Court Scalia's death:

Ironically Dd's LINK Co-op Government class was focused on Supreme Court Justices this week.  She has to pick a justice and write a paper about them.  This class has actually been really good!  I'm so glad.  Her Cake Decorating class has been a lot of fun.  This week they made cupcakes with Oreo frosting.  Yesterday I went ahead and threw three different batches of frosting that was taking up space in our refrigerator.  The only bad thing about having her love cooking and baking is all the wasted ingredients!  But, it is still worth it, and she is getting much better about washing up her dishes and cleaning up her messes in the kitchen.

Crazy weather:

For the past two weeks our weather has gone from one extreme to another! Arctic cold, followed by spring-like temps.  We enjoyed a walk out in the woods, stomping around in the snow, and found a huge paper wasp nest up in a tree canopy.  Most of the snow has now melted off, as it got up in the 50's!

Sandhill Cranes:

Each spring, in Indiana, we always managed to catch flocks of these cranes flying over our home, and we SO excited yesterday when we heard and saw a small flock flying over our Michigan home!  Two years ago we drove out and visited one of their sanctuaries/reserves; which was great!  We just love hearing them make their unique calls from way up in the sky!

Dd and I on a winter hike

GERD: 

Week six of being off my GERD medications; and things were better this week.  I've been off coffee too--having switched to green or black tea for my morning wake-up.  I'm drinking my first batch of Kombucha, and although it has a bit of a vinegary taste, it does make my stomach feel better.  I'm still buying Trader Joe's plain Kefir, but hope to find a friend who will share a starter of that for me, so I can stop paying too much for it.  

Truck still in garage:

Dh is spent all day Saturday working on his truck, and only has one nut left to remove; and successfully got the previous five off!  He is making progress and ordered a new part that should be in soon.

I just love this section of Spruce woods...so majestic.

Social Visit and Girl's Night /movie/bible study: 

Friday we were invited over to a friends (EV) house on Friday.  It was a really, really nice visit!!!  "E" let me see her parent's chicken coop, which was great to see.  Then I drove the girls over to "S" house, for their "Girl's Night," and saw her chicken coop.  The Girl's Night was to go to another hs families house to watch War Room; which we had just watched last week.  But, the club also has a bible study after the movie.  Dd is so thankful for meeting some really nice Christian girl friends here.

Chickens:

(for Chelle, my chicken / critter friend) -I think it has been thirteen days of having the second batch of chicken eggs in the incubator now.  Dd and I are taking most of our lessons off next week so we can read and research on our chicken coop.  We found out today that Dh thought he was going to help--though I did tell him we would do it ourselves.  The truck isn't running, so we will see if we can get the lumber in our mini-van.  It would be great if we could get some of the construction started; but I know how fast a week will slip by.  But, we are going to be as focused as we can be, considering band/choir, and co-op.

We got the humidify thingy, to monitor the humidity in the incubator.  It is suppose to be 60% right now.

4H:

 At the co-op classes this week; I mustered up my courage and asked someone I don't know very well about 4H, as I heard her family was deeply involved.  "H" was fantastic about talking with me about their group, and her personal focus is CHICKENS!  How great and awesome is that!  (She is also majorly into entomology; another love of mine.) I fessed right up and told her how I know nothing about showing anything in the fair, but have always hoped we could pair up with a family that could walk us through it; and she responded like that was perfectly normal and acceptable.  Wouldn't that be so great!  She was saying how Dd would have to build up her arm muscles because showing Buff Orpingtons were a challenge due to their average weight of 8 pounds, and Dd having to hold the chicken up for an extended amount of time.  I have to say, I was really, really pleased with how well she responded to my questions.  I'll keep you posted on how this turns out; hopefully it will be as fantastic as it could be!~

We found LOTS of turkey sign...we have a lot in our woods.

Church:

 (I know Heather would like an update on this subject!) We are still enjoying our new church.  It is NOT perfect; but I think we are finally old enough to realize that we really won't find a perfect church, but are content with finding a very loving congregation, that really do try their best to follow the bible and Jesus in all their actions.  We can overlook so many things, but having a solid congregation is so important.  We've been to SO many churches, and seen so many different styles over the years.  You can have the most amazing sermon, or the most spectacular music, but if the congregation isn't acting like Jesus in their immediate stretched arms towards new people; it really doesn't feel right.  Again, not perfect, not perfect at all...but none of us are!  They are preaching the Word, and the congregation is amazing---so glad!

Dh's work: 

This was a really big week.  So many prayers from my mouth to God's ears on the big meeting Dh had with the biggest boss on Friday.  I'm so pleased to say that God did bless the meeting, and it is in the works that Dh get a supervisor to work under him to take some of the burden off his back.  This will be a major blessing; can't say that enough.  Praise the Lord!  I've been praying so hard for this, and am so appreciative for the answered prayer.  Now I guess I'll start praying for the right supervisor; one that totally helps, and not one that brings more strife and work for Dh.

Our Lessons:

Bible: New Testament

Veritas Press: Gospels

Card 102: Completed

The Visit of the Magi, Matthew 2: 1-12, 3 BC

Read with Bible and Believer's Bible Commentary

Journey Through the Bible: pgs 205-207

VP Gospels Student Workbook pages

Card 103: Completed

The Flight to Egypt, Matthew 2: 1-12, 3 BC

Read with Bible and Believer's Bible Commentary

Journey Through the Bible, pg's 208-210

Card 104: Completed

Jesus as a Boy, Luke 2: 39-52, 1 BC- AD 9

Journey Through the Bible, pg's 211-212

Survey of the Bible, by William Hendriksen, pg. 141

My additional content:

What the Bible Is All About, by Dr. Henrietta C. Mears

pg's 420-434

Hymn of the Week:

Dd picked: All Things Bright And Beautiful this week.

Church History:

Monks and Mystics: A Divided Church: The Great Schism of 1054

Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris

(daily excerpts) 

Study Skills:
SOAR Study Skills

Exercise:

Dd has been doing various Leslie Sansone DVD's (Mon, and Tues) and had two or three basketball sessions.  Sunday, she and I played for a good thirty or forty minutes---what fun! She is also working out on her own at night, trying to prepare for marching band in the summer.

Music:

Lots of piano this week.  The Star Wars book I gave her has really been a hit.  She played for about four hours this week, maybe a bit more.

Alto Sax: about three hours this week

Choir: 15 minutes each day.

*She "challenged" the girl in the chair above her this week.  This was her first time to challenge anyone.*

Busy Hands: Cooking/Kitchen/Art:

Dd has started her fort

Not much cooking this week, she makes us protein shakes each day, sometimes twice per day.  She has been very much into drawing this week, again.  Her friend, A, draws a lot and that has encouraged her to draw more.  I think I should try teaching her art again...ponder, ponder.  She worked on her moccasins on Monday.  I guess putting up a fort in the woods could be considered "Busy Hands" material.

LINK Co-op:

Government class: always lots of homework and papers to write for this class.  I am so impressed with the caliber of teaching for this class. Still memorizing Romans 13: 1-2

Cake Decorating Class: Oreo cupcakes this week

Nursery Volunteering: one hour each week

Library:

Twice this week

She checked out a movie: MAX, about a dog that served in the Afghanistan war and, long story short, came to live with a boy whose brother had been matched up with the dog to work with. 

Language Arts:

 All About Spelling 7, Step 10

This step had over forty extra words, that I split up into four lists and we finally finished all those words this week,  We can move onto Step 11 next.  

Easy Grammar, Plus:

Pg'ls 263, 267 (Possessives/Nouns)

Dd has been working on a new blog about our new adventure into chickens.  She is writing and posting; which I think falls into 'writing.'  Here is the link to her blog:
http://michiganchickens.blogspot.com/

History:

Read Aloud:

Otto of the Silver Hand: Completed

Such a good story, definitely hard to put down at the end of each chapter.  Knights, castles, dungeons, monks, maidens, jousting....all in here!

The Great and Terrible Quest by Margaret Lovett: In Process

So far this has been really good!  This was our first week reading it, but I'm hooked.  Even though we are taking the week 'off' from lessons, we will still read our chapter each day.  I just admire the main character, a young boy, who had been living with an evil monster of a grandfather.  The boy, Trad, had been acting like he was a simpleton to create a false impression for his mean grandfather.  He still got beatings, but Trad managed to save a few people from certain death by keeping his wits unknown.  Now Trad has runaway to help a knight that was sure to die if he hadn't helped him.  The knight has lost his memory...and the clues have started dropping to find out his identity!  Good story!

The Kingdom Strikes Back (SL):

pg. 17-19

Add-In Reader for Dd:

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies Voices From a Medieval Village: in process, she just started this week, borrowed from our local library as I can't find my copy!

I guess finding a big paper wasp nest would fall into the "Science" category of the week.  We found it just over the line, off our property.  Dd didn't want me to take the few steps to capture this photo, but I really think it is okay, as the neighbors have said they are easy with letting people hike through on walks in the woods.  I've yet to be shown the actual trail they talked about, hope that happens soon.

Science: another good week!

Apologia: Exploring Creation with General Science:

Module 5: The History of Life: Archaeology, Geology, and Paleontology-- In Process

This week we had NO experiments, so no post on what we didn't do!  

General Science: pg's 90-131

Student Notebook: pg's 90-97

Here the graph assignment I created for Dd to do Mon-Thur, for a bit of a review.  I've done these pages for about three weeks now.

Math: 

Math U See: Lesson 11: in process

We had Pappa teach a lot of this lesson, and we are still trying to figure it out.  Not a good math week.  I've ordered Teaching Textbooks to see if they might come at Algebra from a different angle than Steve Demme is, and perhaps we might understand that style better?  It can't hurt; but it is super expensive, but, what else can we do?  I'm fine with taking two years to totally wrap our brains around this subject, I just really want her to truly get all the concepts--no matter how long we are at it.

Math Extra's:

*I also made her a graphing exercise page, to do four times this week, and she did well. I just wanted to keep repeating that process to get it into her long-term memory.*

*Repeat Test 9, and missed one question*

Rosetta Stone: French

Somehow each day Dd managed to put off RS until it was time for bed....oh my....I don't suppose other hs'ing mothers have ever had this happen?!!  We'll try again after our week off to focus on chickens!

Chores:

went fine this week

.........

Chicken Eggs Incubator Progression Feb 2016 (new info added)

Chicken Eggs-Feb 2016
New info added each week:

We are trying to hatch 22 Buff Orpington's

Dd has started a new blog to document her work with the future chicken flock; here it is if you are interested:
http://michiganchickens.blogspot.com/

We moved out to the country so I could raise my own chickens; and we've started down that path this month!!!  Yay!  Although, Dh is not nearly as excited as Dd and I are!!!!

Rooster- Buff Orpington

Our first batch of eggs didn't work out, as the home-made incubator wasn't working right, and the heat in the incubator went way high...which means the eggs got too hot.  Our friend, Michele, had her husband look at the machine (since he is the one that put it together twenty years ago) and he was able to fix it.  So a few days later we got the incubator back and a new set of eggs.  She gave us 22 Buff Orpington (see pictures above to see what they look like) eggs to try again with.

Here Dd is writing, in pencil, a "x" on one side; and an "o" on the flip-side.  This will help us with our turning of the eggs.

This is the incubator!  Michele's husband put it together with parts from all sorts of things...but, it works great.  You can see the two blue and one red peanut butter lid under the shelf inside the incubator; those caps are where we pour water into the container throughout the day to give the eggs the right amount of humidity for best growing--you can see the water pitcher on the left side of the picture.

After Dd marked each egg, then she started moving them into the incubator.  The heat is set at 101 degrees.  If it gets too hot the heating element goes off and the fan turns on.

  

This isn't all the eggs, but a good picture showing the eggs and incubator.  Now we are on day 8 or 9 and have "candled" all our eggs, and so far they are growing well and very active! Yay!

We are still looking at all our chicken books, trying to figure out our next steps.  Next week we will try to build the next home for the chicks after they hatch.  Dd and I are equally excited our new project!

**********
Day Thirteen, of our chicken eggs:

Brooder House: Chicken Prep:

This was the form I wrote up to make sure we didn't have our eggs up on the "X" two nights in a row.  By following my chart, we were sure to have them alternating each night; regardless of the day's rotation.  We only had to turn the eggs three times per day, but we rotated them more than that.  When we got closer to the 18th day, we started slowed down how much we touched them.  

At their 18th day, we have to put them all alike, but more vertical, rather than laying down flat, with the bigger/rounded end on the top, and the pointy end down.  Their egg sack should be in the rounded part, and having that on the top should help their hatching.  You can see the humidity monitor; where we make sure we focus on keeping it higher these last days.

We were keeping the incubator's humidity at around 60%, starting the 18th day the humidity has to be around 80%.  I brought in our humidifier to help keep the whole room more humid.

 Dd made the brooder house this week.  You have to design the brooder box with rounded corners so the chicks can't pile up on each other, and possibly crushing a chick.  

 We haven't put in the newspapers yet.  Dd put in a temperature reading prob and then kept working until she had the heat light placed exactly high enough to get a 95 degree reading on the floor.  She put the heating lamp to one side, so if the chicks are hot they can go over to the cool side to cool down, or get right under the lamp to warm up.

Now all we need are the chicks!  We bought the feed, the watering thing, and pine shavings for the bottom cover.  First we are to use something not slippery for the floor cover the first few days; just not newspaper since that is slick and slippery.  I have some "painting shirts" and lots of those red rags you buy for home projects--I'll have to get those out and ready.

I was also thinking I might put up a door and cardboard to block the air drafts that could come in the sun-room from our front door.  The books all say to have the room be draft-free.  Also, perhaps Dd could build us a second brooder home to put out in the garage (or outbuilding), so we can move our chicks out there after their first few delicate days in the sun-room.  I keep reading how we shouldn't have the birds in our house due to 'chick dust' that is very unhealthy for people to inhale.  But, I do want them inside the first few days where we can keep a constant eye on them.

Tractor Supply Website has the Buff Orpington's as the chick of the week---here is what they said about these chickens:

William Cook was a humble coachman living in the Kentish town of Orpington, in England, and he had an idea. He began crossing Minorca roosters with Black Plymouth Rock hens, and then the offspring to clean-legged Langshan chickens. His goal was to develop a hardy, fast growing chicken that laid well and yet had the table qualities the British market sought. In 1886 he introduced his creation to the public – it was a success and within 10 years Orpington chickens were well established in England and began to be exported to other countries.

William Cook enjoyed a rare commodity – success – and his fortunes grew. But it is not his entrepreneurial spirit that is to be celebrated, but his skill in breeding. Mr. Cook focused his breeding efforts on developing the body and productive traits of his poultry; in the process many birds came as they might in color pattern. Thus Mr. Cook had the bright idea to create many varieties of his Orpington chickens. He first introduced the Black, and then the White Orpington, the Buff, the Jubilee [Speckled], and the Spangled [Mottled]. His son-in-law, A.C. Gilbert, created the Blue and the Cuckoo Orpingtons.

Orpington chickens reached America by 1891. In 1903 William Cook himself brought over a large importation and showed them in America. Farmers of the mid-western states favored the Buff Orpington chicken for its generally superior table-qualities, and its unique color – different than most general-purpose breeds. Orpingtons continued to boom until the poultry industry experienced a depression about 1912.

The qualities that won all the Orpington chicken varieties recognition were fast rate of growth, excellent egg production, and excellent table-quality. Historically, Orpington chickens made excellent broilers weighing 2 to 2.5 lbs at 8-10 weeks of age, excellent roasting chickens at 5 months of age, and excellent old fowl for the table as well. They are first-rate layers of large light to dark brown eggs.

........

Core G (Sonlight) Week 21"A" Middle Ages Feb. 8-14, 2016

Core G Sonlight Week 21 "A" 

BiblioPlan Week 7

Middle Ages 

Feb. 8-14, 2016

We had a few nice days that melted 80% of the snow!  Then the Arctic temperatures hit us hard!  Not too much snow this week, a lot of dusting, but not a lot of accumulation.  But, wicked cold temps.

 Due to our schedule being so busy, I didn't schedule a lot of work for us this week.  This was a 'low expectations week' where I was content to not lose ground.  We can't shine every week!  I know many hs'ing mom's can plan months ahead, but for us, I just plan each weekend what we can do the next week.  Even with this style of planning, we still don't get everything completed and I have to put some of last week's work on the next week and scale back or move forward consistently.  Planning our lessons is not easy for me, and takes up a lot of my time.  But, I do like how I can decide to repeat a week of math or science if I feel like she didn't absorb the whole thing--and repeat it until she does.  I find this is one of the blessings of homeschooling; that individual scheduling and pacing (and repeating) can profit each child.

This week I decided to buy my own Valentine's gift, and tell Dh that he did a great job of listening and knew exactly what I wanted for a love gift!  Isn't it great when you get older, and you can accept reality and work with it, instead of against it?!  I just love orchids!  I found this one for $9.99 and couldn't beat that wonderful price!  I've been looking for over a year and hadn't found one for less than $15.00.   Thank you, Aldi discount grocery stores!!!

I have to share how thankful I am to God---You know it was REALLY difficult for me to move up to Michigan from Indiana.  I had finally been in the same state for something like fifteen years, after moving, moving, moving my whole life prior.  I finally had a real FRIEND (Heather L.) and homeschool connections and networks.  The prospect of me having to back up my whole house and move really was a big downer for me!  Plus, my Dh has such crazy amounts of hours to work each week; that meant I would be doing 80% of all the packing, carrying, and unpacking of thousands of books, and all our other stuff.  But, I am so grateful to say, I really did have full faith in the Lord and that He had a reason for moving us--it was just that I didn't need to know what that reason was....!  So, fast-forward a year and a half later and I am sitting in my new home in the woods.  Literally this morning I had TWO PILEATED Woodpeckers under my feeders outside my 'library' (homeschooling room) window eating my suet!  They were literally twenty feet from me!  Not only am I surrounded by nature, birds, trees, deer, turkey...but I also have 2 real friends! ALREADY!  I didn't ever have that many friends in Indiana!  Not to mention-- I totally love this house; it is half the size of our last house, but SO much more "me!"  I am SO very grateful/thankful/appreciative to the gracious Lord for blessing me so much in this move. 



 I also am SO thankful that I can finally get Dd the music lessons that I've been praying for for years now.  Music has always been her talent from God, but we didn't have the opportunity to feed into it, and here she has weekly classes and her music is filling our days. 

 Dh works for a company that although they work him even more hours than he had in Indiana, he is in a really good group of co-workers, and every.single.thing is not solely on his shoulders, but is spread out somewhat.  He has some really nice co-workers that he gets to joke around with!!! Fantastic!  I could go on and on, but want to really loudly share how much the Lord has blessed our little family.  I feel like Abraham and Sarah!  Have faith in the Lord, obey Him, talk/pray daily, turn over your heart, and watch what happens! Praise the Lord with me!



We were never so social and so busy in Indiana, and I am trying to adjust to all of these options and things to do.  I'm thinking about trying 4H again, and seeing if that might take the place of us doing co-op next session in the fall?  I'd like to be able to focus more on our lessons, like we use to.  I felt like Dd was due for more social opportunities after a whole year in the apartment with little outlets; but now, I think we are fairly established and transitioned (my guilt is gone!).  



  Perhaps I need to schedule a week off soon--we do need to built a box for the new chicks, and need it done in fifteen or so days.

We are close to completion of BiblioPlan's first (of six) units.  We are doing Sonlight (SL); like we always do (Core G), but also adding in BiblioPlan (BP)Family Guide for Medieval History, Medieval and Church History from the Fall of Rome to the Renaissance.  These two curriculum's fit together quite nicely.  BP suggests more options on book ideas for various ages/grades; some of which are in Core G, or use to be, before they were discontinued with their (SL) revised cores.  The unit we have about finished with BP was Unit 1: Weeks 1-7: "Early Christianity and the Rise of Islam".  
Our history highlights right now: Clovis Rules Over the Franks AD 481-511, Tariz invades Spain AD 711,  Charles Martel AD 690-741, Charlemagne AD 742-814....

I've been trying to schedule more things for Dd to do on her own, but she definitely doesn't like that as well as when I do it with her.  I am trying to slowly help her adjust to more independent work, but some students are more open than others.  

Our life updates:
Dh still hasn't had any time to fix the used truck he bought a month ago, that ran for 1 1/2 weeks before transmission fluid went everywhere...and he decided he could fix.  It is in the outbuilding/barn waiting on him.  Prayers Appreciated.

Dh, Dd, and I have all been run down and fighting something.  Dh had to take Monday off as his flu.  We've kept going, but the wind is not filling our sails...hoping we feel better soon.  

GERD: I only had BAD heartburn twice this week; and it wasn't too horrible.   It isn't really getting any better, I'm still getting heartburn, but it is only half as bad in the pain as before.  I can tolerate it, but it still feels bad.  I am really working hard on getting as much probiotics in my system as possible (Greek, plain yogurt, keifer, probiotic supplements...) Plus, keeping my diet super veg/fruit/nut driven.  I've been trying whey protein, and shakes--something I'm new to.  I am hoping things will be better next week, when my stomach isn't so gurgley.  My LINK friend, Michele, gave me a SCOBY from her Kombucha tea, and I made my own batch on Monday. I found this excellent YouTube video that explains how to make your own:
How to Make Kombucha Tea Cultures for Health 5 years ago471,746 views




Dd's music: Last week Dd had asked her band instructor some questions after class, and the teacher (Mrs. March) said she should get some private tutoring to help her---so we set that up and she had her first private class with Mrs. March.  Come to find out, Dd had been 'tonguing' wrong, and Mrs. March has taught her the correct way to play her alto sax!  So, Dd has really had a good week of extra practicing this week, trying to get down the new technique.  Plus, the boy that is now in chair six, wants to challenge her for chair five...so, she knows she is going to be challenged next week (tested and recorded while playing her sax, and the results could mean she could move up or down the chairs...)  So, Dd decided to challenge the girl in the chair better than hers, and see if she might move up.  This is a big deal for her, she normally is not a competitive player, so this is a new thing for her.

LINK Co-Op: I'm still trying really hard to say hello to everyone as I learn all their names; but do not see that same effort in return.  But, so far, that has only challenged me to try to be more outgoing and friendly.  I have to be honest, I think next week I am going to give myself a week off and gear down a little as my 'cup is empty' right now.  So far, all but two times this year, I have been working during my "free" period to help out in the Nursery.  The Nursery is always short staffed, and I do love babies and toddlers.  But, last week I really was exhausted by the time all three classes were done, and then I had to clean the church, as it was my turn, and I had missed getting the heads-up on that.  We had a chaotic KinderKids day, to put it mildly, and then not getting a bit of a break was really hard on me.  I literally went home exhausted and didn't have anything left to do our studies.  That is the part I really don't like--getting home so spent that I don't have anything to give to my own daughter!!!  I need to try to find a balance between helping at the co-op and yet keeping some energy back for our own home.  I definitely didn't do a good job of that this week.



I'm sure there are lots of homeschooling mom's who, like me, feel like they don't have enough energy to do all the things they want to do for their child's education.  This week was definitely a week where I didn't meet my own expectations of what I wanted to do with her!  I would not have given myself a good grade on my teaching skills this week!

House Update:  Dh has been working out in the outbuilding.  We still have a LOT of boxes out there and I try to get to a few boxes each week.  I didn't do a great job this week on that--I only emptied one box!  Dd and Dh got a new light fixture put up in her loft /bedroom bathroom.  Our dishwasher is still seeping nasty, gross, smelly water into the bottom part of the washer.  It is such a mess!  I can't wait for my FIL to visit again--perhaps he can either fix it or stop the nasty water from the garbage disposal from backing up into it and smelling up the place.  I know we need a new garbage disposal too---I think that is part of the problem!  Prayers appreciated on getting this house in better condition!

Chickens and Eggs Update:  My new friend, Michele, had her husband fix the incubator and we met her at the library on Tuesday to take back the incubator and new eggs to try and hatch.  These are Buff Orpington eggs.  I will do a new post and show you all the incubator and eggs!!!!!  So exciting!!

Dd, Sophie (dog), and I taking a walk in the woods.

Church: We started the local Christian church in our new hometown on Nov. 1st, and have been really enjoying their services there.  Dd still is uncomfortable there...praying she will find a friend there soon.  I guess I should be praying for that--I hadn't thought of that yet.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker---see that big hole? wondering if it is his home?

Our Lessons this week:

Bible: 

Veritas Press: Gospels
card 101: Simeon Meets the Christ: completed
Luke 2: 25-35 c. 3 BC
read with Bible and Believer's Bible Commentary

Journey Through the Bible, pg 204


Survey of the Bible pg 139-141

Dd finished the worksheets for this card.

Card 102: in process
The Visit of the Magi: Matt. 2:1-12, c. 3 BC

Read Matt 2, 
with Bible and Believer's Bible Commentary

Journey Through the Bible pg's: 205-207

I took this photo from our kitchen window.  It is so great to watch all the many birds while I do dishes!

Exercise & Walks:
I've put pictures around this post from our walks in the woods this week.  Dd is working out on her own, and has been each night.  I've always tried to connect brain capacity and productivity with physical health/exercise.  I focused on that this week with her. Monday we went for a nice walk through the woods. Also,twice this week; despite the extremely cold weather, she hiked out in the woods to work on her new fort.  I'm so pleased for her to spend time outside and building!  Can't wait to see her fort.

LINK Co-op Classes:
Government Class: another paper was due this week, and lots of reading in her Gov't book.  She is working hard and has learned a lot in this class.  She is still working on memorizing Romans 13:1-2

Cake Decorating Class: I'll put in a photo of this week's cupcakes.  The focus was a cream cheese icing; which Dd had been making for a long time now, but dipping strawberries in chocolate as a decorating tip was new.

Volunteering in the Nursery: This week went well.


Music:
Besides her normal schedule of working on her Alto Sax, piano, and choir this week; Dd had a 1:1 lesson/session with her band teacher, Mrs. March!  This has been a good music week!  Plus, the boy that is in the seat below her has "challenged" her for her fifth place chair.  So, on Wednesday she will have to be "chair tested" to keep her place/chair.  Since she already has to be tested; she decided to challenge the girl in the seat above her.  So, she could either move up, go down, or stay where she is.  We won't find out for two weeks.  

Hello Sophie! such a sweet dog!

Science:
Apologia Exploring Creation with General Science
Module 4: Science, Applied Science, and Technology: completed
Dd didn't do great on the test, but did okay.  The test was full of questions where she had to figure out the formula; Mechanical Advantage for wheel axles, multiple pulley system, inclined planes, screwdriver, screw, etc. etc.  I am going to let her move on to the next module, as she knows most of it, and I don't think she needs to memorize the formula since she can easily look that up to calculate it. 
Study Guide for Mod. 4: completed
Student Notebook pages: completed
Test for Mod. 4 : completed
Reading for Mod. 4 : completed



Khan Academy:
( I personally love Khan Academy and watch it a LOT more than Dd.  I highly recommend this site for furthering your education--parents or your children's!) Here is their site:
www.khanacademy.org
*Listening to the Medieval Book
*Making the Medieval Book
*Charlemagne: An Introduction (wrote a paragraph on it)
*Charlemagne and the Carolingian Revival (wrote a paragraph on it)



Busy Hands:
Dd is working on making herself moccasins from scrapes of leather, and drawing.  

Baking/Cooking:

Here are the pictures from this week's Cake Decorating class: Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, with dark chocolate dipped strawberries, in a plastic cup with a Valentine's decoration.

I didn't get a picture quick enough!  She does a fantastic job.

She made a cheesecake from scratch, that I couldn't eat...bummer.
She made me eggs, and has become a pro at making smoothies with whey protein, greens, Keifer....good stuff!  She is doing really well with her kitchen skills.  She has been doing much better with her chores, in general.  She did her own laundry, all the way through, and put away--all within the space of a few hours.  



Her bathroom looks fantastic!  Dh had taken her to Menards to pick out a light fixture for her bathroom, and they got it put in on Saturday.



Math:
Math U See: Algebra I: 
10 A,B,C,D, E and test.
Dh helped us again this week on figuring out this lesson.  Dd missed one question on the test, and feels good about comprehending this lesson, so she will move on to Lesson 11.

Graphing: I made some sheets for her to graph each day, so double enforce her graphing skills.  She was switching up the formula for graphing and was doing "Y" before "X."  I will continue to make these sheets for her next week too, to get this into her long-term memory through repetition. 

Study Skills:
SOAR Study Skills: pg's 1-17: IN PROCESS
My friend, Christie's daughter had a class on Study Skills and they used this book.  Christie recommend to me, so we are fitting it in to our schedule.  

Read Aloud:
Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris: IN PROCESS
This is our third time through.  Dh had started to read this to us aloud in December, but it kept getting too late for him to read, so I've taken it back to slowly read during our days.

The people that live on the other side of our property line had put so much plastic tape on our property line.  It seems they were in a feud with the last owners of our home.  Dd has been trying to free the trees that are now growing into the plastic.  Good thing she keeps her knife with her on hikes!

History:
Khan Academy

Trial and Triumph: IN PROCESS
*Boniface, Missionary to the Germans
AD 680-754
*Charlemagne, Protector of the Church


Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle : IN PROCESS
Ch. 1-5

Monks and Mystics: Vol 2: Chronicles of the Medieval Church: IN PROCESS
*Charlemagne: Crowned By God
*What is Islam

Dd's Reader:
Catherine, Called Birdy: Completed

BiblioPlan: Advanced Maps: Medieval:
*Islam and the Franks

Fun Books:
The Only Pirate At The Party by Lindsey Sterling

When Comes Spring by Janette Oke


DVD of the Week:


War Room, Exclusive Collector's Edition DVD + Soundtrack CD
The War Room
Highly recommend!!!


KinderKids craft project; I help in, at LINK homeschool co-op:





In class we had the kids press their hands into this salt dough, molded into the shape of a heart.  Then Michele took a picture of each child with their momma, printed those photo's and attached them to the back, so you could see the photo in the heart, in the center of the frame.  Then she attached a rope through the two small holes below the thumbs, so the mom's could hang up their new Valentine's photo of them with their kindergartner.  Such a cute craft...time consuming, but cute!  Michele took four frames home, and I took four as well.  We each baked and painted them at home and brought them back to this week's class for the kids to wrap and give to their mom's on V-day.