Busy Busy Busy

This we have been for sure !! Well, things are beginning to settle into a fairly normal routine here, the only trouble being that this is Springtime which is ALWAYS very very hectic and "pushed for time" for our family. In the thick of it all, we have had a pretty productive, "structured", busy week so far.

We started back to school full time on Monday, all subjects covered for everyone. HOORAY !! On Monday we work together all day. We reviewed our Geography, American History, Botany, Zoology, Shakespeare, Artist Study, Composer Study, and Poetry. We even made a few new notebook pages to start things off. We also reviewed our Bible lessons and decided to begin again on our book study of King of the Golden City (by Mary Loyola). On Tuesday and Wednesday (and Thursday and Friday we do this same schedule) we did Bible together with breakfast. Then the three older children (Cherub 1, Cherub 2, and Cherub 3) worked independently on Math, Math Drills, Spelling, Penmanship, Writing, Copywork, Grammar, and Literature. When they are finished, we go over each assignment 1:1 and work out any difficulties, and they make any necessary corrections. While they are working independently, I work with the 2 younger children (Cherub 4 & Cherub 5) with Math, Math Drills, Spelling, Reading, Literature, Phonics, and Penmanship. Cherub 6 joins in from time to time. He even has a special notebook of his very own, which he loves. At lunchtime we are all helping to read our current read-aloud which is Five Little Peppers and How They Grew right now. With diligence and focus, we are normally finished with school around 2pm daily, and so far we are right on schedule. The children have each said how much they enjoy doing their school work again - "it makes life feel normal again" they said. The children are looking forward to doing our Nature Journals on Friday - the pond is overflowing with "inspiration" - cat tails, birds, algae, wildflowers, plant life, and our ever evasive Grey Crane.

We mowed the grass this week and trimmed around the edges. And we are preparing our veggie garden for planting - hopefully we can get to this in the middle of next week. The plan was to use it as part of our Botany study, and then we will get to eat the "projects". We are growing the basics - tomatoes, squash, zucchini, peas, green beans, watermelon, cantelope, carrotts, radishes, and so forth.

Tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon we go to pick up our Ford Expedition from the body shop finally. It was damaged in the fire quite a bit as it was parked by the garage. A 1 week repair took 2 weeks. But we are not complaining because it is all fixed and detailed, and has new brakes and wheel bearings. HOORAY !! It looks beautiful again. We are excited to get it back, espicially as it is getting hot. Our little van does not have air conditioning, but it runs like a champ, and we were never without a car to use.

DadToCherubs finished hanging the curtains in our bedroom, and then assembled his "monster" desk today (it is HUGE !!) . He is getting ready for his T1 to be installed (May 8th according to Bell South - ha ha ha !!). He is still working "in town" until his line is installed - then he will be working full time from home again. This will make life seem VERY normal again for everyone. Speaking of DadToCherubs, he turned 35yo on Monday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADTOCHERUBS !!

On Monday I coached Cherub 5's soccer practice, while DadToCherubs took Cherub 3 and Cherub 4 to their practice. We will do this again on Thursday, after which we are going to the High School to watch the Boys Varsity Soccer team play. The children are very excited - we get to go to watch "the big boys" play and sit on the bleachers and cheer loudly - they are all looking very forward to this !

Due to schedule issues, we do not have horseback riding this week, but will again next week. Our instructors schedule was very busy, and with our focus being on school so intently this week, it worked out well to skip this week for us as well.

Oh, and last Wednesday was the end of CCD for Cherub 1 for the year. And this Sunday is the last week of CCD for all of the other Cherubs for the year, so there will be a luncheon after church. All we have left is 2 classes to prepare for First Holy Communion for Cherub1 , Cherub2, and Cherub3. They will have their First Confession this Saturday, and will receive their First Communion on May 19th. So church life will be calm for the summer, except maybe for Bible school if we attend.

So - when soccer ends for the season on May 19th, we will ONLY have school, horseback riding, and perhaps swimming lessons in May (if the class still has spaces left - I forgot to go to register early - YIKES !), and then just school and horseback riding through the summer with the exception of some side-trips (aka Field Trips). We had originally planned to do "some" (light) school through the summer, but having lost a bit of time after the fire, it seems we will be doing "full" school through the summer with a few breaks inbetween for trips to the Lake and Field trips. The children were not upset at all when we told them this, which is good. They want "normal life" to last for a while, so it all worked out well.

UPDATE MAY 4: The Homeschool Swim Class has been cancelled because there are not enough instructors. So we are planning to take lessons in a the regular 5-day-per-week-for-2-weeks session in June. This actually works out better for us because by then soccer and church activities will be finished so we will not have to do quite so much "running".

We are quite busy, but even through it all, we have had a great "normal" week ... and we thank God for every minute of it, no matter how exhausting. (HA !)

Goodness, it makes me even more tired just reading it all ..... but this is life at Beck's Bounty lately....

The photo above I found via Google Image search - this is definately how I am feeling lately. HA !!