Weekly Wrap-up June 30 - July 6: The One With Hobbling

In My Life This Week

Hobbling around with a pinched Sciatic. ((sigh)) I tried  not letting it slow me down, but it annoyingly did. I guess a few days resting with my laptop, Kindle Fire and several books isn't all THAT bad, right? And it's even better when everyone is pitching in to do my housework! My back might need a rest NEXT WEEK too...Just kidding. Kind of. LOL

Sugar Maple and Balsam Fir Drew Our Family on our Dirt
Road with Sticks

I did get out for slow, limping walks around the yard, excited about the growing garden and enjoying the bright, summer weather. The Sugar Snap peas are almost ready! The beans are flowering, and the pumpkins, corn, potatoes, and cucumbers are taking off. The elderberry has beautiful clusters of tiny white flowers, the crab-apple tree has tiny apples, and the cherry tree has little cherries. Everything is bloomin'!

Elderberry Blooms and Buds

And we enjoyed some "lazy" summer days at the lake with friends. The kids went swimming...and I enjoy the view from the shade in my camp chair with my library books, chatting with other Moms, and, um, resting my back.

Balsam Fir and Sugar Maple Digging in the Sand After Swimming

What's for Dinner and Dessert?

(Click on the recipe name to see the recipe.)

Mom's Macaroni Salad from Favorite Family Recipes. Reese's Peanut Butter Bars from Baker Lady. Soda Pop Ice Cream from The Farmer's Nest.

Homeschool Happenings

((echooo echooo)) OK, see the next section! LOL Now, Sugar Maple DID do some keyboarding and writing for a couple of product reviews coming up, but otherwise not much schooling going around the mountain. It's summertime, right?

Flipping Pages

Where's your favorite place to read with/to your kids?  We spent many HOURS this week under the shady maple trees, swaying in the hammock, reading, while the the "clucks and quacks" foraged near by and splashed in the brook, and the Mourning Doves cooed from the woods. Such a pleasant time!

Places We Went and People We Saw

♦ Swimming and Playing with Buddies at the Lake ♦ T__ Hung Out and Stayed the Night ♦ Gym Games and Lunch at the Rec Center ♦ B__ Hung Out with White Pine and Sugar Maple Hung Out with C__ ♦  Portland Sea Dogs Baseball Games ♦ 

Helpful Homeschool Hint

I found this COOL - pun intended! LOL - summer motivation printable from iMom. As the Saplings read or do Math or another subject (as I wanted to include writing, mapwork, clarinet practice, and unit studies too), we place stickers in the boxes. And when it's full, we're off to the ice cream shop!

What's Working/Not Working?
Our weather! Lots of sunny high 70s/low 80s with some heavy rain here and there. It's been just enough rain that we haven't had to worry about dragging the hose out to the garden to water it. And it's perfect for spending time at the lake, swimming and relaxing!

Photo, Video, Link, or Quote to Share

Ha! Ha! There's some "questionable" words in the song for young listeners, but the "fancy footwork" of the chickens are a real hoot cluck!

Linking up With

The Homeschool Mother's Journal: June 11-17

 

In My Life This Week

Our baby chicks are starting to hatch! We have 4 pipped eggs! "Pipped" means that the chick has made a small crack or hole in the shell for air. They will rest after pipping and then begin chipping around the entire shell and finally push their way out. This process takes approximately 6-24 hours. Check back in a few days to see how many of our 12 incubating eggs hatch! The kids are SO excited! There are NO plans for sleeping tonight! LOL

 

C and I went on a nice walk one evening together. It's WONDERFUL to bond over nature! I snapped a bunch of photos for her project while we strolled along. 

A Bumble Bee on a Red Clover

C's Favorite Wild Flower - Daisy

An Inch Worm on a Leaf

The Beautiful Red Ladyslipper

C, S and I created a new, bigger brooder for Cheeper, using a cardboard box. We even added a roosting stick to the corner, which she LOVES.

Cheepers New Brooder (Missing: Wire Top and Reflector Light)

Cheeper (3 Weeks Old) on Roosting Stick

In Our Homeschool This Week

C decided on her 4H poster theme: Backyard Botany. We talked about what she would include on her poster - local plants, flowers and trees, a diagram of flower parts, types of leaves, and evergreens vs. deciduous trees - and how she would put it together over the summer. What will the boys do?

C found a dragonfly stuck in the garden netting and brought it inside. She and Sam spent a while looking it over with a magnifying glass and trying to determine what species it was. They were fascinated with its compound eyes!

Dragonfly - Species Unknown (for now)

S continues to draw pictures and copy words into his Do-it-Yourself Diary of a Wimpy Kid journal. It's exciting to hear him sounding out words, although I have to say the first 4-letter word he Spelled correctly was a BIG surprise. ((sigh)) But he IS spelling!

The First 4 Letter Word that S Spelled - The A is backwards

Did you know that a frog's skin needs to be kept wet or it can not get enough oxygen despite having lungs AND gills? I didn't! We spent some time learning about frogs this week in anticipation of getting to the Audubon center and catching frogs in their pond (which they encourage). We also made origami jumping frogs from Enchanted Learning.

Places We're Going and People We're Seeing

• J spent the weekend camping at the lake with Boy Scouts
• C, S and I had a picnic dinner at the lake and then the kids swam - BRRR! - and played in the sand 
• S had T-ball (in the rain) 
• C had softball practice and a play-off game (win!)
• We joined a LARGE group of homeschoolers at the state park to swim, play, and toss around ideas for a new EARTH SCHOOLING co-op in the fall 
• We went swimming with friends at 2 different public swimming beaches 
• We visited the library to sign up for the Summer Reading Program and get new movies and videos

The Lake on a Cloudy Early Evening

S Swimming with his Board

C Getting "Waved"

And a Mallard With Her 10 Ducklings at the Lake

  My Favorite Thing This Week

J and I drove to the bowling alley for our first Kids Bowl Free games! It was nice to go out with my "big kid", chatting and exploring the town, leisurely playing a couple of strings (and joking about our terribly low scores), visiting the library nearby, and "hanging out".

 

 What's Working/Not Working For Us

Don't get me wrong - we DO love our activities - but sports and weekly Girl and Boy Scout meetings ended this week until September and it's WONDERFUL to have more time for other things. THERE IS NOTHING ON THE SCHEDULE NEXT WEEK UNTIL THE WEEKEND!

 

 Questions/Thoughts I Have

What will we do while visiting my family the last week of June? And will Cheeper come with us to live with Mom or is it coop buying time?

 A Photo, Video, Link, or Quote to Share 

A quick, sneak peak! You can hear Cheeper in the background at the end, cheeping at the little ones. She's not sure what to think of them! LOL

I'm linking up with Forever, For Always, No Matter What, Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers, Fun Tuesday Hop, Hip Homeschool Hop, and Science Sunday. Click on the sidebar buttons and see what other homeschool families are doing!