A favourite of mine

Cleaning out and organizing and a walk down memory lane

It seems that although we have the next month off it is going to be a busy one for us. Next week we have our churches VBS, the week following we have Family Camp, then Michael is going to PEI for a golf weekend with the boys from work, then we have overnight company from Quebec. We are looking forward to all of it. I also have many tasks that are too big to do during the school year that need to get done, so on the days when nothing else is going on these tasks will be put on the list of things to do.

Last week I managed to get all of John's clothes gone through, put all the too small stuff in a bag, it actually end up being a garbage bag and a half, for our pastor's son. He is just a year behind him in size and the season match pretty well and since he is the only boys with 3 sister he is in general need of clothing. Most of it to be honest are just play clothes by the time they get to him but he loves them especially any of the ones with Spiderman, Batman or other super heroes. Then I pulled out the next season of clothes, which come from Wallace and his friend 'new Jacob'. It is always a fun time to see what treasures are hidden in those bins, John always finds one or two things that are his new favourites. You know the things that barely make it back into the dresser before they are worn again. I am so grateful for hand me downs it save money, the environment and my sanity. (If you have ever tried shopping with a 5 year old, you'll know what I mean.)

Yesterday, Micheal cleaned out the cubby under the stairs, it was a job that has been needing to be done for....years (if I am honest) and it finally got done yesterday. The thing that made it such a chore was that is was the storage place for all of our photos. I have no idea how many but there is a lot. We separated them into years for the past 13 years that we have been together and then another section for what Michael called 'pre-me'. Now that they are divided into sections I can take a year out at a time and further organize them. It sure was a walk down memory lane. We looked at ones of the boys when they were babies and sat and thought "Where has the time gone?". We looked at ones of friends and relative who are no longer with us and thought "Am I ever glad I have these.", as the memories came flooding back.

Last night I was talking to my mom and I was telling about what we had done, which brought us to reminiscing about the stories we've heard and we discussed the need to write them down so that they can be passed on to the next generation. Maybe we can write them down and pass them around the family so that others can add details that they remember from the stories. It looks like I may have just created a project for myself. I think it would be wonderful to pass on their family Legacy to my boys.

I'll leave you with a photograph that we came across yesterday. We know when and where this photo was taken, we aren't sure by who or what the joke was but it sure looks like Micheal (in the chair), my sister, my brother-in-law and myself think it is really funny.

School

We are done school!!!!!!!
Who's more excited me or the boys, it is really heard to tell.

Days of the Weeks Book

I read an idea somewhere that kids like to create books, that they enjoy the process and it helps in recollection of the information that they put in the book. John and I were studying the days of the week at the time so we made a days of the week book, here it is. The original is going to his baby sitter, whom he adores. Enjoy!

Hair cuts

Today after school Michael, Wallace and John went and got their haircut. They really needed it, especially John as you can see the hair was hanging in their eyes.

Now they look nice and neat and ready for summer. In either picture I think you can tell that John just loves his big brother.

At the dinner table

Tonight while we were eating dinner it hit me how much of our meals are homemade. We tend to eat homemade of the regular things like bread, cookies, muffins, tomato sauce etc. but what hit me tonight was how many of the condiments were also homemade. I don't really know if making them myself saves any money but let me tell you the taste sure is an improvement over store bought, plus I know exactly what goes into each of them. I was also surprised at just how long they last, I haven't had any problems with them going bad. They haven't been left for months in the fridge but they have been in there for several weeks. Pictured above is ketchup, sour cream, salad dressing and "Miracle Whip". These all easy to make with the exception of the "Miracle Whip" and I wouldn't recommend it to a novice at preparing home cooked meals, it takes forever to make and if you don't do exactly right it will separate quicker than you can wink. However, Michael really likes it, so much so that he was willing to stand in front of the mixer and add the oil drop by drop last time. It does taste as good if not better than the name brand stuff, but I don't think I am saving any money on this one, at least not if time is money and you take into account the electricity, but there are no stabilizers or preservative in that jar.

What do you like to make from scratch?

Not so good

Wallace and I have caught whatever it is that John had over the weekend. Today has been unproductive, a total write off. John was feeling better with in 2 days so hopefully that will hold true for Wallace and I too. Oh, well, the TV, Wii and the computer have been well used today and I got a nap in too. Praying for a better tomorrow.

Monday and Tuesday

We are doing the count down to finish school. We have been faithfully following a routine for the last 7 weeks and have gotten so much accomplished. Wallace likes it, John likes and best of all I like it. We will tweak in just a tad when we start the new year, only because we will be changing the curriculum at little bit.

At the beginning of the week or the end of the one we've just done I write out a daily to do list of sorts of all the required work for each day for each of the boys. I only do a week at a time in case there is an interruption or something doesn't get done for one reason or another so I will only have to make changes to a maximum of 4 days. I used to get very discouraged if I had done a whole lot of planning and then to miss a day due to sickness or some other unforeseen circumstance and it would just mess things up. Wallace loves being able to tick off each thing that he does, it gives him a real sense of accomplishment and he knows when it is all done the rest of the day is his to enjoy. John loves it too, he runs to his list, which for the most part he can't read and tries to figure out what is next.

I don't let them work ahead though because I don't want them overwhelmed by the work and just rush through it just to get it done. I find that they don't retain much if they do it that way, and what is the point of doing school work if you aren't going to remember what you've learned.

We will be taking the month of July off, and will be heading back to school the first of August. This is unusual around here as the school are off for both July and August and head back to class the day after Labour Day, but with our move (prayerfully hopeful) and not knowing when it will be, I would like to work ahead so that we can take up to 3 weeks off at that time.

I can hardly believe that we are completing our 4th year of homeschooling. We had planned on taking it one year at a time but last year I had ordered the books before I had really thought about it and this year we have pre-planned on homeshooling, with moving it just seemed best not to change too much at one time. The future of homeschooling as with all things is in the Lord's hands which gives me great comfort.

and to end the day....

We didn't get to the picnic today. On my way to bed last night I stop and kissed the boys good night and when I bent down to kiss John he sat right up and started talking to me, very unusual, and then I kissed his head, he was burning up. I got him some medicine and moved him into my bed, seeing as daddy is away. We didn't get a very good nights sleep, but his fever did break around 4 am. Today we were kind of on a roller coaster both with the fever and the emotions.

I had him running around in shorts and nothing else, to let that fever out. Tonight when he was feeling "better", he was running outside on the driveway in his crocs and tripped. This is the resulting mess. Poor little guy are those just the saddest little eyes. We gave him a cool bath and applied some polysporin to the really bad ones, thankfully no rocks in the cuts. Now he is watching a DVD and will be heading to bed early tonight. He just wants to snuggle with his mommy.

Friday

(9 am)
After yesterday's post and this morning's late start you might think that I am letting the boys have the day off but that won't be entirely true, some things just have to get done. I have trouble with sleeping when Michael is away. Last night I didn't go to bed til late, then couldn't sleep and when I did sleep I slept fitfully so I am anything be rested this morning. It is a late start but better late than not at all so here we go, I hope I get cooperation from the boys.

(6:30 pm)
So what did we get done today....most school- math, spelling, history and science.

A trip to the chiropractor, whose wife loves the boys. They always have a good time because she listen to whatever they want to talk about.

We received two loads of gravel for the driveway repair tomorrow.

We baked a cake, chocolate cake with mint icing.

I worked on Michael's father day gift. He has been bugging me for these for months, his last pair wore though in the middle of the winter. I happen to hate this yarn, it is rough and is really hard on my hands but since I had it on hand and he asked I'll do it but I did tell him that when these wore out his next pair would be of natural fibers.

And since Wallace modelled the slipper, John had to get in on it too. Aren't those the cutest little toes.

Now we are going to watch the original Wizard of Oz and then to bed early so we can enjoy the Sunday School picnic tomorrow.

Is it Thursday or Friday

Michael is away on business for the next 3 nights. I don't normally mind but this was sprung on me quite suddenly and I wasn't mentally prepared for it, we also had several things planned as a family which I now I have to do by myself. Oh well, I am trying to learn to roll with the punches.

If we were not trying to finish up school in the next couple of weeks I'd take tomorrow off but as it is I don't really want to miss anymore school. (Good thing Wallace doesn't read this blog, he be pestering me to have it off.) We also have kind of tradition that Wallace sleeps upstairs in Daniel's room when Michael is away over night. We pull out the camping mattress and one of the boys sleep on it. Until recently Wallace has always slept on the mattress but last time John wanted to sleep on the mattress, he started out on the mattress but by the time I went to bed he had rolled off and ended up sleeping in the closet. We'll see how it plays out this weekend.

My goal for the weekend besides all the regular things that need to be done and maybe a few tasks to prepare for the move, is to have sit down proper meals with the boys. When Michael is away the meals I prepare tend to be half hearted and usually eaten in the den in front of the TV. Not a habit I am very proud of mind you and one that I am going to endevour to change....starting tonight. Tuna casserole, veggie sticks and dip at the kitchen table. What do you cook for supper when it just you, or you and the kids? I am always looking for new ideas.

It is finally done

.... and wow does it ever look good!! Michael spent his whole day off today working on the final two tasks. We had pea gravel delivered and he spread it out underneath the arbour, no grasss would ever grow there as it is on the north side of the house. Then he re-shingled the little roof over the porch. 99% no more, it is done.....anyone want to come and have a chat and an evening cup of tea.

Still Alice

Well I finally finished it, it took me a week and not becuase of time, or that I wasn't interested but because I got to a point and I had to take an 'emotional' break. It was a well written, informative and heart wrenching story. If you have a loved one with Alzhiemer's it is a must read.

Wallace's Picture of the Sunset from his bedroom window

The joy of Read-Alouds

We have really been into Read-alouds in the last month. Over at Higher Up Further In, which is a great blog for explaining how to give a "Charlotte Mason" education to your children in practical terms, I read about taking books slowly over a extended period time. There is no need to rush, let the children absorb the material and identify with the characters over a period of time. I had heard this before but for some reason this time it made sense and we put it into practice. The idea that you could have more than one book on the go at a time was okay, for example a book for literature, a book for science/nature study and a book for history would be just fine. I thought that it would confuse them but I thought I would try it out. Wow! has it ever been successful, they are both loving it and I am getting to spend more time with them.
This is the book I chose to start with. We had read two others in the series, the book on George Mueller and the one on Gladys Alyward, both of which were awesome so I knew it would be a hit. Wallace loved it, John liked it but sometimes the chapters were too long. (If I had been reading just to him we would have significantly shortened the length of each passage.) Michael had to finish the book for me, I sat there and bawled, it was so sad. I would highly recommend this book or any others in the series.

John and I just finished reading Chatterer the Red Squirrel by Thornton W. Burgess today. It has 23 very short chapters so it was perfect for his first ever experience with narration. He did a great job, although I had to work hard at not prompting him. He loved it, and each day couldn't wait for story time. He has picked this for his next book.

I think I will be looking for Collection of Thornton Burgess work so I can have all these wonderful stories in one place.

We have Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare out of the library but have my own copy on order from my homeschooling supply. Wallace and I are reading these aloud too. I know that some his age would already be studying the actual plays having read these earlier but since we haven't I didn't want to jump right into the plays. I thought it would help to know the plot and the characters prior to trying to understand the old English.

This one was just a happy surprise, we just started it today and both the boys are totally enamoured. John has been on a Owl kick lately and so I have taken every owl book out of the library and this was in the mix, seems like a great 'living book'. I read Farley Mowat when I was in school and never enjoyed him, but I think that is because they were pulling him apart rather than just enjoying him. I must say that I don't agree with everything that he stands for but I am not one to 'throw the baby out with the bath water' and will enjoy what is good and discard what isn't.

So as you can see we've been having fun with living books, and probably for the first time all because we are taking it slow and enjoying the process.

Edit: Wallace just walked up and grabbed the Owls in the Family book and asked if he could read it.....looks like a good sign.