Year 2/Week 25: Seeing the Light

This week I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! Once I realized we were in Week 25 and I started to sort work for my end-of-the-year umbrella school review, I got to see the big picture of how we were doing and it started to come into focus. Yes, we have problems, but thank the Lord we are homeschooling and they can get addressed. It seems the more we homeschool, the more we "unschool". Maybe that's why this year seems so much more chaotic than last year - and scarier. I'm not trying to stick to a strict curricum, but rather be more organic in working with my kids where they are. When they feel like it - which is almost never with my middle-schooler. The month of February, while the shortest month of the year, seemed to last forever for us. We have no pictures of what we did and I think it's best we just forget it happened...

I did realize that middle school happens, whether you homeschool or public school. Some days are almost intolerable with a tween and some are almost okay the way it was when we started. I'm starting to REALLY appreciate the good days when we have them! Every day is definitely a challenge. Last week things did FINALLY start to fall into place for the first time in 2014. After a few cancellations due to lack of enrollment, we finally started our Abrakadoodle art class and PE class at the YMCA. It was such a relief to know they were getting instruction in those subjects, because even though we do ad hoc artwork and the boys place outside and do workouts on our basement glider machine, I love that they are learning from specialists in those areas - and from someone other than me! 

Monday the boys' Abrakadoodle class did a study of reflection along with learning about Vermeer...guess who did a reflection of Big Ben and who did the study of a green train? One guess. :)

The first 2014 Abrakadoodle - Reflection art a la Vermeer

It's hard to believe it's only been a week since Lent began last week, but we had a good start to Lent this year. Maybe that's why things have finally started to turn around! We actually began Tuesday with making a lapbook of the history of Mardi Gras and baking a King Cake - my first! Easy to do with Pillsbury cinnamon rolls and the boys liked dyeing the sugar with food coloring - and eating it :)

                                    The finished King Cake
 Making the colored sugar

Our Mardi Gras Lapbooks

On Wednesday, we had a nice discussion of Lent using our Lent calendar that looks like a Chutes and Ladder game. We discussed what is involved in Fasting, Almsgiving, and self-denial in order to work on self-control. I'll let you know how I'm doing on this...as soon as I stop playing Farmville 2 the way I was supposed to...:)

Since the boys tend to hibernate in the endless winter we decided to take a nature walk (with remote control car thanks to Danny) at the Ellicott City Trolley Trail on our first nice spring Saturday over the weekend. Although we had to pry Danny out of the house with a shoe horn, they loved getting back out on the trail. We had the normal Danny breakdown halfway through - where he balked because we wouldn't let him go down a steep cliff to run his car in the creek at the bottom - but we lived through it again and it was so nice to get out in the beautiful rare warm day in Maryland these days.

 Excited about the frozen waterfall

Happy the amphibious RC car survived

Although Monday and Tuesday of this week started out fairly normally (and our new history reader "The Terrible Wave" is about the Johnstown flood - unbelievably relevant since that is George's hometown and we can work a visit to the Johnstown Flood Museum and Discover center during our visit home this weekend!), once again we didn't have a full school week.

This week our little sleep issue worsened (Danny has begun to stay up ALL night-in his room- without our knowledge which really throws off our day activities) and Ben got strep throat. Actually, he started with a sore throat last weekend off and on and by Wednesday he had a fever, so I took him to the doctor and had him checked for strep. Nothing on the rapid test, so we treated with ibuprofen and smoothies to drink. Because of running to the doctor and other stuff, we didn't have school on Wednesday or Thursday and Ben rested alot, but since he seemed no worse on Friday, we did have reading and spelling and started a science lab. Very minimal but at least it was something. Then - I get the call from the doctor that the strep culture came back positive...and not long afterward, Ben goes downhill very fast. He is miserable in pain and crying as the pain goes to his ear. And he has to miss a friend's birthday party at the gokart track. Not a good week for Ben, all in all. Thank goodness the antibiotics are in him and he's sleeping at the moment. Small blessings that mean alot.

Less than three months...:)