This Week At Home, 2012, No. 31, First Week of School

Little notes written to remember each precious day....

Black Eyed Susans at a park. 

Monday...

As I already wrote, today was the beginning of our new school year.  It's a highly significant year for us as we are now in high school for better or worse.  I actually think it is going to be for the better.  Although, lingering doubts can rise to the surface, especially when I discover that I don't want to use one of our curriculum choices on day one! 

I am grateful to have a young man who loves to learn.  He has set up a website on a server in his room that can be accessed from any computer on our local network, which he also set up long ago.  This website will document his work.  I can check in and leave him notes.  He will write all his assignments there.  It's pretty neat.  He also set it up so I can print off things.  I love his attitude towards high school.  You can read more about that here.   

As for the younger two in our little school, they jumped back into our lessons with great eagerness.  I am not naive to think these attitudes will last more than a day.  *grins*  But, I do appreciate them for today.  We did our wonderful  Sonlight reading and I forgot, like I do every year, that the first day or two always leaves me with a strained voice from all the talking I have to do on a school day! 

5th grader! 

Tuesday...

Our lessons seemed to go a bit faster today.  We had the goal to finish and then go swimming with friends.  Unfortunately, our friends' mother canceled due to having a cold, so we went to my mom's pool.  They are in CO on a little vacation, but I know where to find the pool key.  :-)  The swim was just what we needed on such a hot day.  (Oh, this heat is not giving up!)

Frisbee golf outing. 

Wednesday...

We were up early to go to the bakery before school.  I bought them treats to celebrate the first week of school.  I would not have normally gone on a school day, nor bought them treats, but we are out of bread again and flour, too!

Today's high broke another record at 98 degrees.  There is supposed to be rain and cooler air coming tomorrow.  I sure hope so!  We hibernated this afternoon. We also took some time to tidy the house, which gets over looked all too easily.  I think we are starting to feel tired from all our lessons.  Math took longer today and we (when I say we, I mean the younger two and myself) made more errors.  The reality of the every day nature of school is sinking in.  

7th grader! 

Thursday...

OK, I admit it.  We took a little longer to get into our books today.  But the great news is that the reason is that it stormed all night!  We all woke up around midnight and again at 3AM.  At that point, I was awake and could not get back to sleep until after 4AM.  This rain was worth it though.  We got 2.5 inches over night!!!  Add that to the 1.5 we got over the weekend and we are on our way to drought relief.  Although the last I heard we needed more than 8 inches to make up the deficit.  So, I let the kids sleep in a little bit.  I would have too, except I like to have breakfast with Jeff every day.  The temperature will still be warm today, in the upper 80's, but I don't mind so much since it won't be a record high day.  I wish we could nap this afternoon, but after lessons we will go get some groceries. Tonight is also back to karate!
 

Deciding just how far that next hole is. 

Friday...

Fridays are going to be our library and bakery day, plus get ready for small group each week in August.  We are going to have a lighter school day, finishing up any holes from the week.  Amazingly enough, we did not let the house fall into ruins during our school week.  Maybe it was the fact that I knew we'd have to dig ourselves out on Friday before our small group came over.  Even the laundry was kept in check.  Not to brag on myself, but perhaps I am finally getting my act together? 

I thank you, if you've hung in here this long with this post.  I realize this week is not very exciting to write or read about.  I do feel as if we showed up on Monday prepared to sprint through a marathon and now we have the hard work of pacing ourselves through the next 176 days!  This happens every year, so I am prepared.  The weekend will go a long way in helping us catch our stride. 

This weekend we are celebrating extended family birthdays, weed whacking around the yard, tidying up in the garage a little, and participating in Sunday school kick off for the new school year.

Hope you have a great weekend! 

Jenn

First Day of School 2012

Monday was our return to lessons for the year... 

Our students:  Ryan (9th grade), Trevor (5th grade), and Grace (7th grade) 

We started our day with a brisk walk at a favorite park.  I am delighted to report that attitudes were bright as the morning sun shining in their eyes!  Perhaps we are in a season of reaping fruit?  All the many, many years of leading them towards this day when they'd return to their school books with happy hearts. (Oh, the many, many tears shed!)  This is my reward!  And a call to younger mothers to not give up. Keep training  your children.  Keep doing the hard work of being diligent.  One day you will have eager learners who will bless you and bring joy to your heart! 

This Week At Home, 2012, Number 30

Little notes I write to remember each precious day!

Monday...
It's going to be another hot week.  Nothing new there. Today was devoted to laundry, camping laundry to be exact.  I hung out all the sleeping bags, too.  Grace got to go with Nana to The Children's Museum and spend the night.  Trevor was invited to go bowling with friends. 

Tuesday...
It started out like it might rain.  It got really dark, windy and I could smell rain in the area, but no rain here.  It sprinkled and then the clouds blew away leaving the bright sun to bake us again. 

The nice part of our day was that we made a trip to a thrift store and found a little treasure.  Trevor needed larger swim trunks.  Ryan wanted green sheets to make a green screen in his room for his movies.  I wanted a mouse for my laptop. 


Wednesday...
Woke up to a lovely cooler morning, such a rare treat!  We spent some time outside walking at our favorite park.  Grace had a birthday gift card to spend.  We also worked on putting things where they belong. 

Ryan ironing his green screen. 

Thursday...
Grocery day is here!  It's the wonderful day where we get our pantry back to full! But first, let me tell you about the weather this morning. Wow, it dipped down to the low 60's.  It was so cool that I closed the bedroom window and needed a blanket!  Now, that is newsworthy!  And it isn't going to last, so I got myself outside early this morning.  I brought my Bible, journal, and planner outside, enjoying the hammock, as well.  There is nothing like a cooler morning.  It is a gift! 

We did eventually have to close the windows and head to the stores.  After our shopping, the afternoon was spent keeping cool inside.  I did some reading.  It looks as if I am not going to finish the library reading program, unless they let me count reading blogs.  That's OK. I don't really need a book light.

Friday...
It didn't cool down as much as the last two nights, so we are starting out with a warmer house.  The good news is that our electric bill came yesterday and we didn't faint from shock.  It was actually not too bad for a record hot month.  I think my plan is working.  As long as it gets into the low 70's at night, I can cool the house off with open windows and turn off the air.  Then in the morning, I leave the windows open until the house reaches about 79. We close up the house, even all the blinds.  The air is turned on to maintain 79.  I am glad it is working! 

Today, Ryan has a buddy coming over to help him with the short movie he is making.  I am going to get busy on the house's finishing touches for small group coming tonight. 

Should be a quiet weekend at home.  The next 4 weeks we have small group here weekly, so we are not planning any camping trips until Labor Day.  I can't believe Labor Day will be here so soon! 

I hope you've had a great week! 
Jenn

Flashback WW: 2009

And one of all three....

Some Pictures from the Weekend

Spring Mill State Park is easily one of my favorite IN parks.  There is just so much to do that we could not get to it all in one weekend.

Above is the mill at the heart of the restored village.  In its day it was the hub of the area.  350 pigs also free ranged this area back in the day.  Something I'd like to have seen!  The mill was so successful in part because it was located next to an abundance of flowing water from a cave about 500 feet away.

The village also has a beautiful herb and flower garden.  The mill's owner didn't have to grow a garden of food as there were so many wagons of supplies coming into the village every day. Imagine that.  In the early 1800's, they didn't eat local.  (ha!)  The garden was used for parties, medicine, and there were pea fowl walking around as well.  The village owner was wealthy and was not the typical pioneer.  He had money to spend and wasn't afraid to spend it.  (I learned a lot on our walking tour of the village!) 

The park also has a memorial to a local hero, Virgil Grissom, the astronaut.

We also visited the nature center, which is situated next to a man made lake that went wonky due to sediment coming from the cave water.  This used to be the swimming beach. Now it is a favorite hang out of Great Blue Herons.

We spent most of Saturday keeping cool in the giant swimming pool. It got pretty warm, but the pool was delightful. 

 Here's the campsite...

Ryan got his own tent this trip.  It helped him have some private space away from siblings when he needed it.

Here they are in front of the camp store.  I just love their flowers!  

The sunset was very pretty Friday evening. 

Another view of camp site number 125.

Last time we camped here, in 2009, this is how the kids looked.  Amazing transformation in only three short years!

From 2009!

Today, I will joyfully wash and hang out all our blankets and sleeping bags, looking forward to our next camping trip in four short weeks!

This Week At Home: 2012, Number 29

Little notes written to remember each precious day... 

Monday...

Grandma came down from the lake today.  She took us out to lunch, and then we spent the afternoon playing Wii Sports Resort and Wii Music .  It reached 101 today, too hot to do much outside.  At least Wii is a little bit active.  I made a double batch of pizza dough as we hosted a little family dinner in the evening.

Cousins rock!  

Waiting their turn in the oven.  

The Grands!  

Grandma, friend, and Cousin.  

Tuesday...

Ugh!  Woke up to high humidity and muggy air.  And, it never cooled off last night, either.  It was 80+ in our room last night, and I just don't sleep well when it is that hot.  We were planning to go for a morning swim after Grandma went home, but decided to delay it a day, as the radar showed potential rain coming (that never came.)   There is a heat advisory today, too.  All those things added up to us needing a quiet day at home to work on projects... 

Took her a whole day, but it's finished!  

Ta da!  

Working on editing a video he made.  

Building birthday Legos together. 

Wednesday...

Today's high reached 103F!  But we didn't let that stop our fun.  We went swimming at Mom's pool in the morning and then enjoyed lunch afterwards.  The afternoon was spent on laundry and ignoring the heat.  Jeff had to work a little later than usual, so we had our dinner in front of the TV, which I normally hate, but it was cooler in that part of the house and we needed every degree of coolness we could get.  

The first ripe one! 

Thursday...

Today, we met up with friends at a splash park and then got groceries.  I have to report that our summer lessons were put on hold this week.  We've done well all summer.  I decided to take a week off.  Especially since we will be starting back for real in a couple weeks.  We may just take the next couple weeks off, too, for a real break.  Lots of reading is still happening, so that is just fine by me.

Jeff got home and we started gathering camping gear for the weekend camping trip.  The rain seems to have missed us today.  The weather forecasters were thinking we'd get at least another half an inch.  So sad.  

Baby girl doesn't want us to go camping. 

Friday...

We have a long list to take care of today before we head out this afternoon.  The list is a good thing, really, as we need to keep busy.  Waiting without being busy takes longer, right?  :-)  We've not gone camping as a family in 2 full months.  The weather this weekend will be hot, but is supposed to cool off in the evenings, so we can cope. We'll also be at a pool all day Saturday.  Yay!  There is also a living history village at this park with a tour Saturday morning.  There is a cave boat ride, mountain bike trails, and hay ride if we decide to do all that.  Most of all I am looking forward to sleeping in the camper with cooler temperatures!  Oh, and being with my family, too! 

Have a wonderful weekend!

~Jenn 

WW: Silly Boy

He's too young to have a drinking problem.  :-)

*Disclaimer:  This is a posed picture.  The idea was his.  That's how he roles.