Week in Review - Cozy Blankets, Peace Mountain, and a Tadpole

Mason, snuggled up in a blanket and hoodie, listens and reads along with a book on tape on the "ugly couch" in the school room.

We had a cold snap this week...but not cold enough for my husband and I to turn on our heat yet.  So, the kids did a lot of their schoolwork this week snuggled up in blankets. 

Now, the weather has warmed-up again.  Most likely, the next few days will be the last warm weather here for a long time.  That's completely OK with me, though.  I'm completely ready for sweatshirts, fleece blankets, and warm drinks by a roaring fire!

This week was a pretty normal week filled with lots of schoolwork.  For whatever reason, though, the full weight of the busy fall schedule hit me about mid-week and I had a mini-breakdown.  Thankfully, with an incredibly supportive husband, I bounced back very quickly from my feelings of being completely overwhelmed.  I think every homeschool mom feels completely overwhelmed every once in a while!

Our tadpole arrived this week.  After receiving a full grown frog last time, I was happy to see that this time we received a tadpole.  The tadpole arrived happy and healthy...with a gigantic head!  The boys have nicknamed the little guy, "Catfish."

Our habitat was all ready to go from the arrival of our little frog.  We are all looking forward to watching the tadpole change and grow.  


I just love those "I'm so glad I homeschool" moments and was so happy to have one this week.  Amber was working on her vocabulary words for her literature class.  She had the word, capstan, to look up in the dictionary from the book, Treasure Island.  She said, "Sometimes you just have to see something to understand it.  There was a capstan on the Santa Maria that we toured last week."  I love when those connections are made!  

We toured the Santa Maria last week.  I think we all have a greater understanding of some nautical  terminology and a greater appreciation for Columbus' voyage after touring the ship.

Mason finished his volcano project this week and we will be causing a volcanic eruption next week!  Mason asked me if he could take some artistic liberties with his project.  I said yes.  So, he created Peace Mountain.

Mason's volcano project turned out to be a HUGE project, mostly because he made a very big paper mache volcano.   It is much bigger than I was expecting.  Even with his artistic liberties, I think he did a great job!

To bring this Week in Review to a close, I will end with five random statements that relate to our school year thus far:

• Duncan officially HATES long division.  Now I'm 3 for 3.  All of my kids have hated long division.
• Mason earned the Touch Typist award this week in the typing program he is working through this year.  
• Duncan earned the Expert Touch Typist award this week in the same typing program.  Duncan didn't miss a chance to tease his older brother a bit about his superior typing skills!
• I really don't like our current read-aloud book for history, Secret of the Andes.  My boys don't like it either.  I try very hard not to laugh at their llama jokes during every read-aloud time but am not doing a very good job.  We will finish it next week and start a book that I adore, Sign of the Beaver.  I'll be glad...so will my boys.
• We had history video time first thing this morning to start off our Friday.  It was a great way to start the day and I think I will move our Friday history videos to Friday mornings.  We watched Biography Christopher Columbus.  I thought it was very good and, for the most part, all of my children enjoyed it as well.      

Swim meets start back up this week-end.  We have swim meets both Saturday and Sunday along with a family birthday party for my newest teenager, Mason!

Happy Birthday, Mason!  Mason will be 13 on Monday!  Now, I've got TWO teenagers in the house!

That was our Week in Review!  To read about what other homeschooling bloggers did this week, visit the Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.