Weekly Wrap-up: Week 14 - Back from Break with NEWS

EVERYDAY LIFE
Welcome to 2015! (Where did 2014 go?) I wish all of you a year of spiritual growth, good health, contentment with life, and laughter and love...

I got engaged! Eek! On December 20th, my BF asked me to marry him! I am SO blessed to have such a wonderful man in my life (and my kids'), one who is Godly, hard-working, selfless, giving. Despite life's bumps along the road, it IS good!

We all - my fiance and his kids too - spent 6 days with my family to celebrate an early Christmas. Weather was unseasonably warm and we took the kids to the Atlantic beach. No, not to swim, but to climb rocks, wade in the salty water with "muck boots", explore. It's not too often you can go to the beach in December in Maine! (Compared to this week when the Polar Vortex descended upon us and we had some -20s or so at night with wind chills. Vehicles were hard to start. Pipes froze. And schools closed.)

Photo Credits T. Skehan

We did some organizing, decluttering and rearranging in the bedrooms and closets. Sam is super happy to have a "livingroom" in his bedroom now. (He and Jake moved an extra sofa and coffee table into his bedroom, making a perfect area for him to build Legos or use his new Physics science kit.) Jake's bedroom went through BIG changes; a downsizing of stuff and a change of furniture placement. It took us a whole, exhausting afternoon, but so worth it!

We rang in 2015 with board games, an "Ice Age" marathon and yummy munchies.

And I whipped up a number of crochet projects (of course)! I created headband "ear warmers" (PATTERN) and a hat (PATTERN), with and without flowers (PATTERN), dishcloth scrubbies in greens and blues (PATTERN), and mid-sized mesh bags in sherbert ice cream and blue, mint green and white colors (PATTERN). I finished a cluster stitch bag for my daughter in harvest colors and another in orange, peach and white (PATTERN). I finished a cowl for me (PATTERN). And, finally, I am working on some coasters (PATTERN). Yeah, I'm obsessed. But my stash of yarn is getting low...

Check out this link to see why crafting, knitting and crocheting, is neurologically AWESOME for us

PEOPLE & PLACES
❄ On the Island (All) ❄ T__  Visited ❄ Lego Club (Sam) ❄ Jazz & Concert Band Practice (Cati) ❄ Cub Scouts (Sam) ❄ Patrol Leader Meeting (Jake) ❄ Bible Study & Fellowship (Me) ❄

HOMESCHOOL HAPPENINGS

It's always a challenge to get back into our every day activities and learning after a break, but especially so after 2 1/2 weeks of indulging in late nights and later mornings with unscheduled days. But we meander on. Our year is not quite half over.

Cati was blessed this Christmas was a MacBook. She spent a lot of time over the break writing stories on Wattpad. Have you seen Wattpad? I love seeing her delve into her creative writing with focus and excitement...and now she doesn't have to wait until my laptop is free!

Sam received a GREAT physics science kit as a gift. He has spent hours building and exploring on his own, but I thought it would be a great week for him to delve into the experiments provided by the booklet included. So, I replaced most of his Earth Science with Physics experiments this week.

It was also a review week for him. Those of you with unique learners know that sometimes a skill just needs repeating...and repeating...Sam reviewed multiple digit and multiple addend regrouping and alphabetizing with this game. Alphabetizing several words proved to be a visual challenge for him, one that not only worked his reasoning skills but his visual tracking. I came up with an adaptation for him: Write down the beginning letters then place them in order. All those letters needed visual "management" to avoid frustration and cognitive shut-down. I think he's got it now!

Cati

• English - Wattpad Creative Writing and Editing, Transitive & Intransitive Verbs, Active & Passive Voice, Adjective Prepositional Phrases, and Indirect Objects
• Pre-Algebra - Order of Operations with Fractions, Exponential Expressions & Radicals, Surface Area, and Scientific Notation
• Earth Science - Energy Resources, Fossil Fuels, Renewable Resources, Nuclear Energy & Energy Conservation, The Water Cycle
• Ancient History - Cyrus the Great, Sparta and Athens, Greece Around 500 BC
• Current Events - CNN Student News
• Phys. Ed. - Walking
• Creative Arts - Jazz & Concert Band, Minecraft

Sam

• Language Arts - Spelling Weeks 36-40 (1st grade) / Weeks 1-4 (2nd grade), Fables & Moral Copywork, Alphabetic Order, Grammar Ninja 
• Math - Addition Regrouping, Elapsed Time, Solve for Missing Addends, Multiplication Facts
• Earth Science - Rocks & Weathering
• Physics - Center of Gravity
• Ancient History - Cyrus the Great, Sparta and Athens, Green Around 500 BC
• Current Events - CNN Student News
• Phys. Ed. - Playing in Snow
• Creative Arts - Minecraft, Kinetic Sand

READING & VIEWING
❄ Pigs Can't Swim: A Memoir (Peppe) (Me) ❄ Quartet (Lowry) (Cati) ❄ Ben and Me (Lawson) (Sam) ❄

PONDERINGS

Happy Homeschooling!

As always, special thanks to these weekly link-ups:

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts this week!
Six Word Saturday: As 2015 Begins
Memory Monday: A Sticky Situation
Tuesday Coffee Chat: That One Resolution

Weekly Wrap-up: Week 13 - Winter Break

EVERYDAY LIFE
We tried really, really hard to focus this week, but how could we? The week before Christmas with family, presents, good food. The week before knowing we've got 2 whole weeks off. Not that we JUST didn't have 2 weeks off for Thanksgiving...

But I could focus on my CROCHETING. (I need a smiley face icon, huh?) I created a cover for my 2015 Bullet Journal/Planner. I love the colors, but I'm not crazy about the cover itself as it's already pilling and collects hair, fur and lint like velcro. :: sigh:: I may just remove it and decorate the Moleskine notebook cover instead with scrapbook stuff. In the meantime, I'm trying to make some fingerless gloves for Cati. (Pattern here.)

PEOPLE & PLACES
❄ Jazz & Concert Band Practices (Cati) ❄ Christmas Band Concerts (Cati) ❄ Bible Study (Me) ❄

FROM THE KITCHEN
❄Chop Suey with Cucumber Slices & Carrot Sticks ❄ Biscuit, Egg and Cheese Sandwiches & Clementines ❄ Baked Chicken, Rice & Peas ❄ Meatball Subs ❄ Clean Out Fridge Night ❄

HOMESCHOOL HAPPENINGS
Determined to get in a full productive week of learning, Sam and I had some long, long afternoons. Cati finished her core work most mornings before Sam and I rolled out of bed. Isn't it interesting how unique we are? Sam and I are "night owls" who prefer a late morning start, but Cati is an early to bed, early to rise person. We're fortunate to have a schedule to works best for all of us.

Cati's Accomplishments

Capitalization of Greetings & Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Multiplying/Dividing Mixed Fractions, Algebraic Equations, Perimeter, Decimals, Roots & Order of Operations with Exponents
Types of Fossils, Radioactive Dating, Geologic Time Scale & Earth's Eras
CNN Student News

Phys. Ed. Walking

Sam's Accomplishments

MobyMax: Describe Events in Stories/Dramas, ID Supporting Details in Paragraphs, Quotations, Suffixes, Prefixes and Word Roots, and Vocabulary Building & Grade Spelling Weeks 35-37

Multiplication Facts, Word Problems, Fractions, Time, Square Roots & Regrouping
Inside a Volcano, Types of Eruptions & Volcanic Landforms

CNN Student News

Phys. Ed. Walking/Jogging, Biking (in the Snow)

READING & VIEWING
❄ Star Wars (Cati) ❄ Stuart Little (White) (Sam) ❄ Ben and Me (Lawson) (Sam) ❄

❄ "Different Types of Volcanoes" (You Tube) ❄ "Volcano Eruptions Song" (You Tube) ❄ "What is a Volcano?" (You Tube) ❄

PONDERINGS

With all the celebrating coming up, I'm not sure I'll be getting to more blogging until 2015! So, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

As always, special thanks to these weekly link-ups:

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts this week!
Tuesday Coffee Chat: Christmas Traditions
Wednesday Hodgepodge: Randomness

Tuesday Coffee Chat: Christmas Traditions

I'm joining Leslie from Time Out for Mom for this week's Tuesday Coffee Chat. (I don't drink coffee, so hot chocolate will have to do...) Why not head over and read how others answer this week's prompt? or link up your own post!

What does Christmas Eve look like in your home?

Never the same. Lately.

When I was married we lived in the mid-west for a while. It was hard to get back to New England to visit family for Christmas, but we often did, juggling family in Connecticut and Maine, on airplanes, in cars. It was hectic! But then we moved back to Maine and settled into a routine. The kids and I would drive 4 hours to my parent's house a few days before Christmas, opening presents and having a family dinner on Christmas Eve, but arriving home to celebrate again on Christmas day. And again with my ex-husband's family on the weekend.

But divorce has a way of changing things.

Last Christmas I decided to simplify as I was no longer able (or wanting) to celebrate so much. Don't get me wrong! It's nice to see family, but the "running the roads" not so much. So, I decided to just celebrate Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve and that weekend with my ex-husband's family.

Photo Source

Christmas Eve will be on the 22nd this year. My sister is hosting, but works on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year. (Let's hear it for Correctional Officers!) We'll have a big family, but informal dinner of spiral ham (with a sweet glaze), homemade mac n' cheese, steamed veggies, and a TBD dessert(s). We'll open presents.

And I hope to get some egg nog...

What about you?

Merry Christmas!

Surprise! We Dropped Goodies Off!

Merry Christmas!

One of our favorite family traditions is to bake, make and decorate a bunch of homemade sweets to give to friends and neighbors.

This year Sugar Maple chose our sweet treats from my Pinterest boards. (Don't you love Pinterest?)  And on today we spent the morning baking.

A perfect way to enjoy a fun time with my saplings and make something to surprise our neighbors and friends with!

Sweet Treats Menu

(Click on the name to see sources and recipes)

Holly Crackles

Hot Cocoa Packets with Candy Cane-Chocolate Stirrers

Christmas Tree Brownies

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

Peppermint Chocolate Fudge

Why yes, there is a lot of chocolate in that menu! ::grin::

Once all those sweets were cooled, cut and decorated, we divided them onto sturdy, Christmas tree themed paper plates, wrapped them in plastic wrap, added homemade Christmas tree Paint Chip tags, and delivered them to some wonderful people.

Now, I know the picture doesn't show our great treats well, but with a hustle and bustle of getting everything baked, decorated, cut, and wrapped, I forgot to take photos!

The saplings love dropping off the plates and seeing the excitement from our neighbors and friends. A very special way to spread holiday fun!

To You...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

I'll be taking a couple of weeks break from blogging and homeschooling to focus on family over the holidays. All the best to you and yours!