Homeschool Mother's Journal: In Which We Do It Ourselves

In our homeschool this week... Spencer enjoyed a full week off, but I'll be finding some things for him to do starting in July!  Landon worked on some algebra and English.  Kennady worked on some math skills and art.  She read the last couple of Getting to Know the Great Artists books that I had on the list - Matisse and Picasso - and I got out some cardmaking supplies and let her play around making Matisse-inspired do-it-yourself art.

We've got an Olympic unit study ready to start working on, and we're doing some geography/history studies related to the War of 1812, Canada Day and Independence Day.

I'm working away at lesson planning, and generally loving it.  I'm weird like that.

In other news... we had another week with very little on the calendar.  Harrison and Spencer went to Creation, so it's been a little quieter at home without them. I hope it hasn't been quite as hot there as here! It's been over 100 degrees a couple of days.  Then last night we had some powerful thunderstorms, and while that cooled things off just a bit, I don't think being at Creation in a tent during a storm like that would have been very pleasant.  I guess we will find out tomorrow when they get home.

My van has been in the shop all week, and I am starting to wonder how jacked up the computer in it really is.  *sigh*

We finally got a new kitchen faucet this week - how exciting is that! Hubby installed it last night, with a little help from me and Landon.  Admire how clean it is under the sink (I cleaned and organized it before the install)...

And here's the new faucet -

If women can't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy. ~ Red Green

Lucky me - I find my hubby to be both.  And no plumber butt either.  LOL

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice...  I've done this before, and will probably do it this summer.  Have kids take some of the responsibility of vacation planning.  They can research some of the sightseeing opportunities and help plan driving routes and all sorts of things.  My kids got interested in visiting lighthouses a few years ago, so we have made a point of visiting any lighthouse that is near our vacation destinations.  It's turned out to be a fun (and educational) way to tie disparate vacation destinations like Cleveland and Florida together.

Questions/thoughts I have... we've finally got a pretty good idea of what we want to do with summer vacation and when, but there's a lot of stuff to figure out.  I've got lots of questions rolling around in my head about where to stay and what to do.  And of course, how we can do the things we want to without spending too much money!

One of my favorite things this week...  Free stuff!  W finally found a new swimsuit for Kennady that meets our modesty standard, fits her well, and best of all - was free!!  I had earned a gift card for Sears, and the swimsuits were on for half price, which meant that it cost me nothing out of pocket to get Kennady set up with a swimsuit (which she'll need next week because we plan to be at a waterpark) she likes.  Then I also cashed in on a free burrito at Chipotle for my lunch yesterday.  Chipotle is also one of my favorite things, but especially when it's free.

A photo/video/quote or link to share...  I was looking for books that Landon might like to read, and thought of author Wayne Thomas Batson.  I dug around in a pile of temporarily displaced books because to find my copy of The Curse of the Spider King and found a spider on it, which struck me as humourous.  So I took pictures before squashing it.  LOL  I don't know if you can see him, but he's right below the letter R. ;-)

On the bookshelf...

• Brightest Heaven of Invention by Peter J Leithart, and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
• The King's Mistress by Emma Campion
• Saraband for Two Sisters by Philippa Carr
• I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This! by Bob Newhart

I finished Have a New Teenager by Friday by Dr Kevin Leman.

A Parting shot...

This post is linked to iHomeschool Network - see what other homeschoolers are doing themselves this week!