Weekly Wrap Up

Good day to you, my treasured friends!  Today is a Teacher's Inservice Day here at my patch.  (Hooray for the teacher!)  This means that the teacher will be in service to her family doing things like catching up the laundry, addressing Christmas cards, perhaps making a batch of cookies to survive a "monster of a storm" on its way.  Oh and she must take time to rest, too.  Perhaps a movie this afternoon before making dinner? 

On the Heart and Mind:


It's been a harder week for this mom.  Another cold has made the nights long.  However, I am on the mend and am hoping this bug is going to flee.  The one thing I am going to do is take some time to work on adding back my walking program or even Wii Fit.  I think exercising is just the boost my immunity needs this winter. 


On the Home Front:

Have I said before how wonderful my children are?  They helped so much this week.  Chores were done with happy hearts, mostly.  The only area that got backed up a little is laundry.  It will be caught up today.  We had friends stop by yesterday, so the whole house was tidy and bathrooms cleaned before they arrived.  Have to love the "rush" one gets when company is coming!   

Learning and Life:

This has been a shorter week with taking time off Monday to see Casting Crowns and taking today off so that the teacher can rest a little.  It's all good because this is the beauty of home education!  We shall make up these days this winter when Daddy is working long, long hours at the tax office. 

We finished up a great book this week, Mission to Cathay.  If you are looking for an interesting book to read aloud about how the real Father Ricci was able to establish his mission work in China, this is the book for you!  Perhaps you did not know that missionaries were sent to China in the 1500's?  I didn't.  This book is historical fiction in that it tells the story of a little orphan boy befriended by the priest and the adventures and struggles they have setting up the first church in China. 

We started a book on Genghis Khan and another book about a little girl growing up in China as an ex-pat in the 1920's, Homesick.  We have only read the first chapters of both, but already, I find myself thinking about the books and wishing we were having school today to find out what happens next.  Sometimes I will read ahead.  I think I just might do that today!  (Shh!  Don't tell Grace.  This makes her mad.)

We are still reading daily selections from 100 Gateway Cities, Our 24 Family Ways (devotions), and All Small Poems. 

For our weekly writing assignment, we polished up our last week's assignment and sent a copy off to family for them to read.  (At least Ryan did.  I still want to send Grace's.) 

From Doll School held this past week.   

As suggested by our curriculum, we watched an intense movie this week called Seven Years in Tibet.   I always liked watching movies in school myself.  This movie was a good opportunity to discuss the culture of Tibet.  We also discussed how the main character making bad choices can have serious consequences.  It was rated PG-13 for tense moments, no romance or bad language. Thankfully we have a remote control and zipped through some of those parts (falling off mountains, World II fighting).  Usually I avoid movies that are very dramatic, in favor of 19th century romances, so giving Seven Years in Tibet  3.5 out of 5 stars is high praise for me.  If you choose to watch, be sure to keep the remote handy!

In The Kitchen: 

Grace made some wonderful cookies this week. They were from a mix we found at Aldi.  I am OK with mixes.  She was able to follow the directions and needed very little help from me.  I made my super easy icing and she put sprinkles on top.  Wish I had remembered to take a photo. 

Super Easy Glaze Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla  ( peppermint or almond extract may be substituted.)
2 T milk

Whisk together in a small bowl .  Add coloring if desired.  We use this icing on cut outs. It sets up well when dry and then the cookies can be stacked.  I like to make 3 batches, leaving one white and the other two red and green. 


In My CD Player:

Is the CD from Vision Forum, "What to Expect from a Twelve-Year-Old."  The world would have you think that the teen years are to be dreaded.  And if that is what you buy into, get ready for some hard years to come!  But here in this house, we didn't buy into things like the Terrible Twos, nor will our children be wild teens.  This CD is an excellent sermon from Dr. S.M. Davis on this topic.  I hope to get more Cd's from VF soon. 

I am continuing to read through the Old Testament.  I am still in Exodus, plus I read a selected Psalm and Proverb each day. 

So there you have it, our week! 
~Jenn

If you would like to join us in this meme, just write up your weekly summery, using Mary’s or your own categories. Then hop over to Mary’s blog to link with the Mr. Linky . We'd love to read your Weekly Wrap Up summaries too. This meme is a great way to be encouraged and encourage others in our journey of homeschooling.