The Simple Woman’s Daybook ~ Aug 12th
Outside my Window… it is hot, but the skies are nice and blue!! The forecast for the rest of the week is “Patchy Smoke.” :S
I am thankful… for hubby’s overtime! On Saturday I spent the day at Les Schwab getting new brakes, rotors and tires on my mini-van. Thankfully hubby spent the day working overtime as an engine boss… God always provides, doesn’t He?
From the kitchen… what kitchen?
I am creating…a HUGE desire to just STAY HOME!! I have had to be out every day for the last 2 weeks for one reason or another, and I am TIRED!
I am going…to take the kids to swimming tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day…
I am wearing…myself out!
I am reading… emails. Sorry if I owe you one… I am shamefully behind with all my correspondence!
I am hoping… to be able to slow myself down. Why do I always feel like I have to do it all? Do any of you do this, or is it just me? The funny thing is, I use to LOVE being out all the time, now I find myself longing for a few days at home with no plans! It is SO weird!
I am hearing… Snuggles breathing as he sleeps in my lap, and the rest of the kids playing quietly in their rooms.
Around the house… I have quite a bit to catch up on. Basically, laundry, laundry and more laundry!
One of my favorite things… is getting together with family! My sister Jennifer had a BBQ/Housewarming party on Sunday, and it was so nice to see everyone! Well, almost everyone, we were missing 4 of my siblings… However, 8 out of 12 isn’t bad!
- Auditory Processing Class for Captain, Mon-Wed 8am
- Visit the chiropractor for an adjustment. I somehow messed up my neck.
- Summer with the Saints on Thursday
- Mass & Benediction on Friday. The boys will be serving!
Swimming lessons on Mon-Thurs. The girls were moved into a “big girl” class this week, and are doing marvelously. We are now at the pool from 9:30 to 1:00. Today we skipped Snuggles class and came home early…
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Our Plan: World History
I still have quite a ways to go before I have our plans for this coming school year finalized. However, I have decided on our history course, and I am very excited!!
This past year we switched to studying history through the use of living books combined with lap books and notebooking. It was a huge hit. We all loved it!! I used Beautiful Feet’s Early American History as a guide, and tried to supplement with Catholic books as we went along. It worked out alright, but I was really hoping to find a Catholic program to use for this coming year.
Well, I ran across RC History, and it seems to be just about perfect for us! One of my favorite aspects of the program is that we will all be doing the same time period together each year, based on a four year rotation. Yeah!!!
We have found that history comes alive when the family learns together. Particularly if you are not well-acquainted with history yourself (which I am not!!), or you are teaching multiple ages (which I am!!), studying the same time periods together will strengthen everyone’s learning and interest and make your job of teaching simpler! (Anything that will make my job a bit simpler, sounds good to me!)
It should be a fun year as we make our way through the Old Testament and Ancient History!
I have just finished ordering all of our books, and the kids have really been enjoying previewing them as they arrive in the mail.
Here’s the list of what we will be using…
Teacher’s Guide:
Connecting With History: A Guide to Salvation History
Year One: Old Testament and Ancient History
“Connecting With History is our first self-published history curriculum. It takes an integrated approach to history and literature from a thoroughly Catholic perspective, covering the Old Testament and the ancient cultures of Israel, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome.”
(I am also hoping to read a few books myself from the Logic and Rhetoric book lists.)
Reading List:
- Usborne Time Traveler
- Archaeologists Dig for Clues
- Noah’s Ark by Peter Spier
- Tut’s Mummy Lost and Found
- Aesop’s Fables Coloring Book
- Pyramids: 50 Hands-On Activities to Experience Ancient Egypt
- Old Testament Days: An Activity Guide
- Classical Kids: An Activity Guide
- The Trojan Horse or How the Greeks Won the War
Supplemental:
- The Genesis of it All
Noah’s Ark (It’s not on the list, but my kids LOVE looking through the pictures in this book!)- The Great Pyramid
- Favorite Greek Myths
- The Librarian Who Measured the Earth
- Exodus
- The Story of Hercules
- D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths
- Blackline Maps of World History
- Jewish Holiday Stories
- Tales from the Old Testament
- Egyptian Treasures: Mummies and Myths
- Greek Myths
- Strengthened by God/The Great Deluge
Each of the children will also be starting their own Book of the Centuries (updated link), as well as a couple lap books throughout the year based on Ancient History. I am also considering ordering the Timeline, for our school room wall, or possibly making our own. We’ll see…
I did order the book History Pockets – Ancient Civilizations to help us with our lapbooks, as well as an Ancient Egypt Toob
is to blame inspired my love of history through living books last summer!! 🙂
Oh, and I even ordered a number of stickers and stencils too…
I can’t wait to start… Is it September yet?? 😉
Roses for St. Thérèse
One of our favorite things this past month has been the weekly
Summer with the SaintsMarci has done an amazing job coordinating and hosting this get together each week! I feel so totally spoiled. Each week, I just show up with my children and they get to learn about the Saints, make Holy Cards, do a fun craft, eat symbolic snacks, and have a total blast. And as if that wasn’t enough, this week Marci even featured my favorite saint. Yep, Sara was right, it was in honor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux!
My kids (and I) were all so excited when we pulled up and saw the sign.
Captain said, “Yeah! I just knew it was going to be St. Thérèse!” Twinkle Toes said, “I love St. Thérèse!!!” I said, “Me too!” 😉
I snapped a quick picture of the kiddos squinting in the sun next to the sign and headed around to the backyard once again.
Right away, they all got busy coloring pictures of St. Thérèse. My children love to color!!
Next Marci served the cutest little rose cupcakes for a snack. Thank goodness that we were the only family attending this week, since my children practically ate all the cupcakes. I guess swimming makes my little ones extra hungry… I do feed them!
I didn’t get a very good picture of the cupcakes, but you can see them (along with lots of other cute photos) over at Marci’s blog.
Marci even made some delicious dairy/gluten free cupcakes. They were SO good!!! I am going to definitely pick up some of that mix
Next they all moved onto making their St. Thérèse holy cards…
(They now have quite a nice collection!)
…followed by lots of playtime.
Then it was time to make paper roses! Even though they were a tinsy-winsy bit hard to make, with a little bit of folding…
…they all turned out beautifully!
I am sure St. Thérèse was smiling!
Marci even sent us home with a big box of hand-me-downs from my favorite children’s store! Thank you once again Marci, we had a wonderful time!
O Little Thérèse of the Child Jesus, please pick for me a rose from the heavenly gardens and send it to me as a message of love. O Little Flower of Jesus, ask God today to grant the favors I now place with confidence in your hands …(Mention specific requests)… St. Thérèse, help me to always believe as you did, in God’s great love for me, so that I might imitate your “Little Way” each day. Amen.
Scenes from a Summer’s Day ~ Aug 7th
The Saint of the Week by Captain
We had busy yet fun day of swimming followed by Summer with the Saints. I’ll try and post a few pictures soon, but in the meantime, any guesses on which saint was featured this week?
Scenes from a Summer’s Day ~ Aug 6th
Remember this picture?
Well, she is back…
It looks like my Auntie B anonymous commenter was right!
**I have been trying to get a picture for weeks, and today was the first day I was able to get close enough without them running away!!!
Scenes from a Summer’s Day ~ Aug 5th
Relay Races…
Great Auntie B came to help…
First time off the diving board this year…
“I want to be a dolphin too-ah!”
All tuckered out…
A Very First Swimming Lesson
Snuggles had his very first swimming lesson on Monday. He LOVED it!
Then he said hello to his big brothers.
He had a blast splashing.
It was so cute! He usually HATES being in water.
He worked on using his arms.
And then he learned about floating on his back.
He did great…
Scenes from a Summer’s Day ~ Aug 4th
P.S. To those of you that I owe emails, I am so sorry that it is taking me so long to respond! I really love hearing from you all, I am just totally slightly behind with everything right now… It has been a fun but EXHAUSTING week so far. I feel like I am treading water trying to keep up with it all! Did you notice my schedule? Of the 5 swimming lessons, I am suppose to be in the water for 3 of them, and my poor body is just not use to this, plus it is not the best time of the month, IYKWIM… I am SO sore and exhausted! I thought I was in better shape than this! ☺ See you all soon… Hopefully!
The Simple Woman’s Daybook ~ Aug 4th
Outside my Window… we saw a bird fly out of the nest!!! So, it must not have been abandoned…
I am thankful… for my wonderful, healthy children.
From the kitchen… hot oatmeal with blueberries, toast, orange juice, and a smoothie for me. I have been very bad about my diet and I feel the effects… I am planning on changing that today.
I am creating…our curriculum lists for the upcoming school year, still!! It has been very slow progress this year.
I am going… to be super duper busy this week.
I am wearing…my jammies. It is still early, though I really should be getting ready for the day, instead of sitting at the computer.
I am reading… or rather, pouring through, tons of homeschool catalogs, and forum discussions, trying to figure out what will work best for my children. We need to make some changes, especially in Math. Saxon just didn’t work this past year for us, and the thought of having children doing Saxon K, 1 and 2, is completely overwhelming. I am leaning towards switching to Right Start, but I am not sure yet…
I am hoping… to finish my planning and any ordering by next Sunday.
I am hearing…the washing machine. I have a few loads to do this morning, but nothing too overwhelming.
Around the house… I still have quite a bit of organizing to do. I started with the girls closet (armoire) the other night and sorted through 42 pairs of shoes! YIKES!! They ranged from size 6-10, so when I was done they had a much more reasonable number left over!
One of my favorite things… is having out of town friends come to visit! I have another best friend, from my teenage years on, who will be staying overnight with her 3 boys! It has been over a year since I have seen her, and we have each had a baby since then… Basically, it has been too long!! I’m so excited!!
- Auditory Processing Class for Captain, Mon-Wed
Sign the boys up for a week long beginner Piano Camp - Summer with the Saints on Thursday
- The boys will be serving Mass and Benediction on Friday for Father C. (It is so nice to have him back in town!!)
Swimming, Swimming and MORE Swimming!!!! The swimming teacher called me last night, and is able to get my boys into another session as well, so it looks like all five of my children will be having lessons the next two weeks. We will be at the pool from 10:30-2:00 Mon-Thurs . YIKES!!! Speaking of which, I have to get going!!
Here is a picture thought I am sharing:
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Scenes from a Summer’s Day ~ Aug 3rd
He even said he will help me start a garden next year!!! I have never grown anything, but I am looking forward to trying…
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