Tag: off routine

Week in Review: March 23-27

Grace-Filled Writer
Like much of the rest of the country our spring break turned out to be in quarantine. We do not mind at all as we recognize how serious the situation already is and knowing we can do something to help. Still, it’s hard. Thankfully we already had plans for a new back-yard project and my husband went out to get the supplies before the quarantine order was announced. So we took our spring break last week and my husband and the girls started building an obstacle course! 

This is just the beginning. There will be 2 more sections that crate an L shape. I have some other ideas we may add in the future, but this is a great move for us. We had a sweet little swing set that was here when we moved in 12 years ago. Unfortunately the wood was rotting and they were mostly too big for it anyway. We bought disc swings that they can use to swing on if they want. 





Life in Review

Grace-Filled Writer

Well, we are still around! Now that the world has slowed down I have time to get back to an update. As the girls are getting older we have more and more activities going on, which is a wonderful thing. We intentionally stayed away from too much busy when they were little. I’m so glad we did that. They love the activities they are involved in and passionately pursue them. 

These include: 
Science Classes
Basketball
Cross Country
Clogging (Traditional Appalachian Dance)
Piano
Ukulele
Hand Drumming
And more! All three aren’t involved in everything on that list, but they do have a nice balance of activities each. 
Basketball season ended just as Clogging was getting started, but now everything is on a break. 
As our schedule has been abruptly disrupted I decided to do some things differently. Even though we homeschool, our routine has been altered dramatically just like everyone else. So we are doing “together” learning instead of individual studies like we usually do. We aren’t doing all of this every day, but we are still getting our schooling in! 
(None of these are affiliate postings! Just the resources I use!)
1. History
Using American Girl movies as a jumping off point to study ares of American history. Not using any particular curriculum, just books I already have on my shelf!

Studying individual states

3. French – TalkBox!!!!

Seriously, if you’ve not looked into this program, do it now! They have a free activity you can do RIGHT NOW to try out their amazing immersion system! Below is a coupon you can use for your first purchase!

We are continuing on with our regular individual math studies and also challenging our minds with lego builds! We have enjoyed watching Lego Masters and this is an awesome in-home friendly version!

5. Fitness – Family Time Fitness

We haven’t used this excellent program in a really long time. We did when the girls were younger, but it’s been a while for sure! I’m excited to get back to this program again.

6. Bible – Virtue Training Bible
Again, this was an excellent resource I used a lot (along with the Child Training Bible) when the girls were younger, but as they got older it wasn’t as much a part of our daily routines. It’s exciting to get back to this at the moment. It is good to refocus on the Lord in the midst of unrest all around us.

7. Literature – Shakespeare

We are using Usborne’s Complete Shakespeare book read aloud. The girls are also coloring the wonderful Shakespeare notebooking pages from Heart of Dakota!

I would love to hear what you are doing with your days at the moment! Are you keeping the routine the same? Changing things up? Comment below! 

Week in Review: July 30 – August 3

Grace-Filled Writer
My husband and I spent this last week in Clarkston, GA serving alongside Envision, a ministry of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. It was a wonderful to work alongside them as they seek to minister to refugees. The Lord spoke to us both and we are looking forward to the next opportunity we have there. I’m not posting many pictures for privacy reasons, but here are a few just for fun! 

Even though we are used to serving together in ministry, this was different. We served in different ways and with different roles than our “usual” which was incredibly refreshing. We laughed a lot, along with our other team members, and really just enjoyed one another’s company.
 
 This is me. I’m the one in pink. I’m whacking at weeds…
 This was not my favorite moment of the week. I had no idea what I was doing with the tool I was given. It was a beautiful reminder that we need to be willing to serve where it is needed, not always where it is the most comfortable. 

The girls spent the week with my parents and while I know they had a great time, we were all very excited to see each other again. We snuggled a lot when we got home!

Week in Review: July 1-7

Grace-Filled Writer
We had quite a busy week! I had the girls work on school Monday and Tuesday because too much “off routine” leads to excessive amounts of bickering and generally driving me to Crazy Town! 

We had dinner with dear friends on Tuesday evening who live in Atlanta and were in town for the week. Wednesday was busy with celebrating with my parents and celebrating Beth’s 11th birthday! Her actual birthday is the 5th, but we often celebrate the day before. She was almost a little Yankee-Doodle baby, but held off for one more day. 

Thursday was more celebrating of Beth! This time with Blaze Pizza, presents from us, and a nail painting party using Beth’s new nail art kit. It’s bittersweet seeing the gifts we give our girls become more grown up. She still asks for and plays with toys, but her interests are shifting to more grown up things. 

Here are a few pictures of the week! 


No fireworks photos for this year…yet! It was rainy the evening of the 4th and we usually do the little stand on the ground ones in our driveway, but not this year. We have plans to enjoy them when we get to take a trip to FL to visit family.

How did you celebrate the 4th of July?

Homeschool Review Crew Weekly Link Up

Week in Review: March 26-30

Grace-Filled Writer
Our week was lighter than usual school-wise. The girls read literature, biographies, and completed math each day. Wednesday was their science class and we were planning to have our Passover on Thursday, but some other things came up so we postponed that until Friday. Friday night was our Good Friday celebration at church. I love hearing my husband preach. I learn so much under his teaching. 
So my kids aren’t as miserable as they look here! They are listening to my husband guiding us through the Passover symbols.
Besides that, we mostly just enjoyed some beautiful warm weather! After no less than three snowfalls in March it was nice to have some t-shirt weather. I know that is probably normal for most of you, but for us in the South this is completely out of the ordinary. It was just really cold and wet and miserable. Yay for warmer air! 

We also took advantage of the closing of Toys R Us and the girls spent some of their savings. Rose bought a build-your-own drone kit and has had so much fun with it! I had a friend ask if this was for school or fun. Well, I definitely didn’t assign this as a project, but this hands-on learning opportunity was incredible!

So that was a bit of our unconventional week of learning! We will be back to our normal learning routine Monday. How was your week?
Check out what my Crewmates have been up to! 

Homeschool Review Crew Weekly Link Up

Peek at Our Week: January 15-19

Grace-Filled Writer
So the virus that hit our house last week made its way through the rest of the family. I’m the last one down and have no voice at this point. I am starting to feel better, but having the entire household sick means we didn’t get much work done this week.  Rose finished up the work from the previous week she didn’t get a chance to complete because she was sick. Beth came down sick on Monday, so she had the week off like her sisters did the previous week. Grace did little bits of learning here and there, but it was pretty much just independent whatever she felt like.
We also got a beautiful and rare snowfall! Eleven inches is a big deal in the south. Unfortunately the girls didn’t get to play in it as much as normal because of being sick. 
 Buckets out in preparation of making snow cream! We also tried to make maple candy like Laura Ingalls did, but that didn’t work out so well. I’ll have to read up more on how to make that happen.
 Once their coughs calmed down a bit, I let them hang out on the porch long enough to build a little snow buddy. 
Take a look at what my Crewmates have been up to this week!

Homeschool Review Crew Weekly Link Up

Week in Review: August 7-11

Grace-Filled Writer
Wow…this week has been soooooo full! And I don’t even feel like we accomplished much. I already hadn’t planned on doing school and I’m glad!
Sunday  
My in-laws arrived, we had church, celebrated Rose’s birthday early
 
Monday  
We start to empty the living room in preparation for new carpet coming on Wednesday and my in-laws left
Tuesday
We celebrated Rose’s birthday for real (She is now 12!!!!) and finished emptying the living room. 
Wednesday 
 I pack the girls up and we head out to the library and to shop while my husband stayed home to get the new carpet…and their van broke down so no new carpet!
 
Thursday  
New carpet (For REAL this time!) and the girls and I shopped again. Then we started putting things back. 

 

Friday  

We finished putting the living room in order and my sweet neighbor came over and helped! Then my in-laws got here again. 
So I’m looking forward to some time this weekend to work on a major writing project. It’s a good feeling though because most of the house is now organized. I’ll also be prepping for next week and our official start of school! 
How was your week?

Week in Review: July 17-21

Grace-Filled Writer
Lots of good learning happened this week! But no pictures. I just got busy and the camera never came out. Oh well! 
The girls are working on lots of math, literature of their choice, a biography of their choice, and we are memorizing the states by region on the map as well as their capitals. We started in New England and they have mastered the first 6 with ease. We are enjoying working with some material we are reviewing and just in general having a great summer break from our “routine” curriculum. Experience has taught me that by mid-August the break will have served its purpose and we will all be ready to be back on schedule with Heart of Dakota.
These days are bittersweet in so many ways as my girls are getting older. Two daughters in double digits can make my heart squeeze sometimes, but we are also enjoying one another greatly. We are playing lots of games. Yahtzee is the current favorite. Our neighborhood has a pool and we are taking full advantage of that. Even with the wicked hot summer days we have been having the morning and evenings are still a good time to swim. We are laughing and playing and generally just having fun. This doesn’t mean there aren’t those moments. 
You know the ones. The ones when Mommy has to give the look, the ones when one of the three is angry at another, or when I have to say for the 4th time to do a very simple task from around the house. Those moments are still happening regularly, but I’m sensing a shift in the relationship with my daughters. They are still my little girls in so many ways, but more and more we are having deeper, longer conversations. I treasure these in my heart and when it starts to squeeze with the bittersweet thoughts of my girls growing up I push them away with prayer and memories of the sweet moments we are having.

Week in Review July 3-7

Grace-Filled Writer
We have joyed another week of vacation, this time in Florida with my in-laws and sister-in-law and her kids. We love spending time with them and this was a nice ending to our time away from home.
My 3 with 5 of their 7 cousins on the 4th of July
The most significant thing about this week was just how relaxed we all have been. It made my husband and I realize that while we have a very solid relationship, we need to be more intentional about relaxing together. I don’t mean in the same room doing different things, but choosing to be together in our down-time both physically and emotionally. We don’t have a 5-step plan or anything like that, but it is just a choice we are making. We do a really good job of finding relaxing things to do alone. He loves to golf. I love to scrapbook and read. Yet we have neglected the joys of down-time together. So that is our new goal for us.
This ends about 6 weeks of almost non-stop activity and travel for our little family. Next week brings reality, where we are busy and happy, but it should include a much calmer pace. I hope to squeeze in a couple of day trips this month and next, but I’m really looking forward to some more low-key moments. 

Week in Review: May 29-June 2

Grace-Filled Writer
Talk about an off routine week! After our church service on Sunday we began our trip for a week-long conference with our denomination in OH. We have had so much fun and have a few more days to enjoy ourselves. 
On the way up we stopped at The Ark Encounter. I can’t put into words just how amazing this was. We enjoyed it so much!
We also had the opportunity to visit a house used as a hiding place for the underground railroad. 
We went to Anthony and Thomas Candy company for a tour. 
Finally, we went to COSI, a children’s museum in Columbus, OH. 
I will have separate posts up about these soon. 

It has also been a week of hearing how God is working through our denomination all around the globe. It was encouraging and challenging. We came back refreshed and ready to see where God will be taking our church in the coming months. 
Next week’s review will have even more peeks at our adventure north!