This Week At Home, 2013, No. 17

Little notes written to remember each precious day...

My happy boy.  

Monday the 15th...

Today is the magical day!  We get our regularly scheduled life back with Daddy home evenings and weekends.  (Sigh of relief!)  Also today, the white flowers are all in bloom and so lovely.  It is going to be 70 today, but storms are possible all week, the warm weather trade off.  We get to have a quiet day at home today.  Much progress to be made in our lessons, I hope.

Tuesday the 16th...

Rainy day, so our day trip up to the Dunes was put on hold.  That's OK.  Daddy went to work.  We kept up with our routines at home.  We got over an inch of rain just today.

Jeff got to go to a Pacer game with friends. 

Wednesday the 17th...

Woke up to a violent storm overnight.  Yawn.  There were several house fires and a local highschool also caught on fire from lightening.  I dislike overnight storms!  Lessons are going well.  Our box of Sonlight arrived today, too.  Yippee!  AWANA went well.  There are only two more regular club meetings this year.

Sweet kitty love.  

Thursday the 18th...

Such a pretty morning.  It's going to be warm today.  More storms on the way.  Today I need to get a menu made and list for grocery shopping tonight while the kids are at karate.  It's a date night!  I really appreciate not having to do this task alone anymore.  Lots of flooding in the neighborhood tonight.  The sump pump is running constantly, making me nervous.  What if it fails?

Grandma is going strong at almost 91.

Friday the 19th...

(Happy half birthday to me!)  We got 3 inches of rain over the last 24 hours.  3!  I think that makes over 7 inches in 19 days.  Today we are just staying home again.  We have had a good week with our school work, 5 solid days.  We only have 30 more to go.

My new baby boy is awesome.  

Have a wonderful weekend!
~Jenn

This Week At Home, 2013, No. 15

Little notes written to remember each precious day!

This year is really flying by....

Sunday the 7th...

After our usual morning of worship and Sunday school, we took advantage of the warmer temperatures and went to play some disc golf, get ice cream, and bought some chicken to grill.  It was kind of windy, but not too bad.  It did make throwing more interesting.  The picture below is of Jeff and Grace looking for a disc that got caught by the wind and tossed over the creek.  Thankfully it wasn't in the creek this time!

Monday the 8th...

Kind of sad today, thinking about Grandpa.  He would have had a birthday today.  Sigh.  This morning, I heard the birds singing for the first time this spring, just before dawn.  I love their singing.  And the grass turned really green over the weekend.  It is supposed to be 77 today!  We got to stay home today, working on lessons, chores, and personal projects.  My project being the cats.  I have noticed that Dorothy is a little more calm, but Giles doesn't trust her at all after her unpredictable hissy fits she has been throwing.

Tuesday the 9th...

Another day at home.  Only 6 day left of tax season. Poor Jeff is working double time now.  It is again very warm, reaching 80.  Rain is coming though.  I worked on my kitchen this afternoon.  The microwave is now clean again.  Lessons are going well.  We are on the next to last lessons in Science.

Walking Wounded Night at AWANA

Wednesday the 10th...

Another warm day.  Busy with lessons, art class and chores.  Spotty rain developed in the afternoon.  BIG hail hit us right at dinner time.  The hail was as big as a quarter.  The yard was almost covered.  More thunderstorms are expected all night.  AWANA went well.  I had six girls.  Only 3 regular club nights left this year and then the closing ceremonies.

Pretty is as pretty does, Dorothy.  :)

Thursday the 11th...

Now it is in the 60's and rainy.  The house seems to be very untidy today.  And we need to get food. Tonight, I drop off two kids at karate and one goes to choir.  I decided to just stay at church and read blogs on my tablet since the church has free wifi.  It pours off and on while I am at church.  I need to find my umbrella.

Friday the 12th...

Now it is in the 40's and we will stay here for a few days.  The house is on my agenda after lessons are done for the week.  How does it get so messy?  We host small group tonight, so it has to get company clean.  I am also making a yummy Mexican Layer Dip for tonight.  Trevor tries the guacamole for the first time.  He decides he likes it in the dip better than on its own.  I think it would be better homemade.  Maybe I will try making it sometime.  We got our shipment notice today.  Our next year's curriculum is on the way.

Giles likes to lick this thing!  

Saturday the 13th...

CATification is on my mind today.  I brought in a big limb, sprinkled it with catnip and let the cats explore it. All was well until Dorothy decided it was ALL hers and chased Giles to his home base.  She is in time out until after lunch.  And I thought we were sharing better!  We were.  This is just a little set back.  Poor Giles will probably hide all day unless I close off the house for him.  Jeff is working long hours today, tomorrow and Monday.  It is the last big push.

Looks like cat fun?

Hope you're having a lovely weekend!
~Jenn

This Week At Home, 2013, Week 14,

Little notes written to remember each precious day.

Grace and Nana. 

Monday...
Two things.  First, this week we have to get up half an hour earlier so that Jeff can get to work earlier.  Not a big deal, but hard, nonetheless.  Next. this begins our "spring break" week.  We are not taking time off from our studies, because we still need 47 more days,but time off from our activities, mostly evening ones.  This will free us up to be a little more social, too.  Today though, we need to get our lessons done and tidy the house.  I love quiet Mondays.  I adore them!  The younger two spent the afternoon getting their rooms in order.  Grace and I tried to ride our bikes, but after one quick ride around the block, I was freezing.  The wind was awful.  Oh well, we tried.

The park's town. 

Tuesday...
Lessons in the morning followed by a long play date in the afternoon.  First, we took our friends to a favorite local park. Then, we brought them home to play.  I made an awesome pizza for everyone to share in the evening.  Then, I brought the kids home.  It was a lovely afternoon.

I really adore this big cat baby!  He's dreamy!  

Wednesday...
Today I relish not having to go to art and AWANA tonight.  But, we didn't want to just waste our freedom, so after our lessons we met Nana for lunch at Panda Express!  Then we went to the bakery to get our bread.  And then we went to the library.  Another fun day!  And being home tonight was a huge treat.

Her first outing.  

Thursday...
Today I decided we needed to be home.  We did our lessons and then we spent some time cleaning the house, again.  This afternoon, we took Dorothy outside for her fist outdoor harness session.  She did pretty well.  She still will slink around, not walk, but at least she moved.  We will try again soon.  No karate tonight, yay!   My, am I loving this week of no evening activities.  It's a taste of things to come the end of May.  Big event of the evening, we ordered our Sonlight for next year.  Cha ching! I always feel like I am taking a leap of faith when I order curriculum.  It's as if I am saying,"Hey, I am going to try this another year, come what may!"

Friday...
After lessons, Trevor and I went to get our groceries for the week.  What a job.  But, I have to thank the Lord for the opportunity to go, the money to buy the things we need, and a happy boy to come along with me.  We always buy a special lunch when we do our weekly shopping. Today Trevor chose corn dogs.  For myself, I got a Ceasar salad all ready to eat.  Yum! This afternoon, Nana came to pick up Grace for their weekend adventure.  They are going to hear Anne Graham Lotz downtown and staying in a fancy hotel, too.  I know they will have a great time.

12th floor view 

Tomorrow is another work day for us.  Sunday will be busy with church activities.  And perhaps we will get outside as a family before rain comes.

Hope you have a great weekend.
~Jenn

Wordless Wednesday: Giles, 3 Weeks at Home

Wordless Wednesday: Best Buds

A Spring Snow

We had a very quiet Sunday after church.  A rare spring snow storm was calling for 4 to 10 inches, so we kept close to home. Seems like we ended up with 6". Local schools are closed.  Jeff is working from home until the plows come down our road. The two youngest just took off to shovel the neighbor's driveway. I told them last time it would be the last time! At least they will earn a little more money, I guess. Ryan will dig us out when he is awake. Jeff, poor guy, hurt his back bringing in his boxes of work Saturday evening. Lessons will get done between shoveling, dishes, laundry, and playing with our feline friends. I just feel so bad for our Robbins. They have nothing to eat until this melts, which might take a few days as we will be below normal temperatures this week.

This Week At Home, 2013, No. 12

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

Look at my baby's toes.  

Monday the 18th...

As usual on a Monday, I let the kids sleep in a little.  Lessons go well.  I attack the laundry piles in the afternoon.  This is the only quiet evening until Friday, so we try to make the most of it.  I love quiet!

Tuesday the 19th...

Lessons as usual.  After lunch, Grace and I went to Petco.  Back at home, I have a long list of things to work on.  Tonight is my monthly bunco group.  I enjoyed being with my friends.

Photo bomb revenge.  I'm posting them.  Ha!  

Wednesday the 20th...

Lessons in the morning, lunch, then art class.  Wednesday afternoons before dinner are usually spent kind of quietly so we can all be ready for church in the evening.  I roasted two big chickens for dinner.  One half of one for tonight and the rest of the chicken for the rest of the week's meals.  AWANA went pretty well tonight.  We are down 2 or 3 leaders every week it seems, so we usually end up combining tables.  It's hard on the girls not having consistent leaders.  And now our secretary has brain cancer.  It's been a tough year.

Sweet girl is still my girl.  

Thursday the 21st...

This is our day to get groceries.  Grace and I have discovered that going early, before lessons, we can get in and out quicker at Trader Joe's, our favorite store.  The lessons got done after lunch.  For dinner, I made a homemade cream of chicken soup to use in a chicken and rice casserole, comfort food for a cold day.  After dinner, I took the kids to karate.  Jeff came home a little earlier after a client appointment.  So he and I were able to go to Costco and Petco before picking up the kids.  Grace has decided that she is going to harness train Dorothy, so we wanted to get right on that and get a harness.  Dorothy didn't think the harness was for her, but we will keep trying!

Grace painted this for me!  

Friday the 22nd...

A lovely day at home!  After lessons were finished for the week, we worked on blessing our home.  We also decided to make a nice big dinner to celebrate Jeff's being able to come home and eat dinner with us, the first time this week.  We're having homemade meatballs and spaghetti, salad, and homemade bread sticks.

Tomorrow, we are going to finish up Grace's apron, bake bread, and the boys are going to a computer super store with Granddaddy!

Have a great weekend.  They are calling for a winter storm here Sunday.  Boo!
~Jenn