What did we do this week?

This week didn't go exactly as planned.  I had hoped to have the kids do a little bit of schoolwork but not a single thing was done :( 

But we did get the tree up, finally! 

Chunky is very intrigued by it and is constantly pulling decorations off of it!!  Good thing we went for the non-breakable ones this year rather than our usual assortment.  We continued the tradition of giving each of the kiddos a new ornament, and here they are:

Chunky's ornament

Hug-A-Bugs's ornament (yes it is the Biebs)

Miss Muffet's ornament

Mr. R's ornament

We headed across the border Tuesday to pick up a few things, had piano with Hug-A-Bug Tuesday night, and he helped me finish up some Christmas shopping later that evening.

The kids have decorated gingerbread houses, played a LOT and have spent time planning a special "event" of some kind for everyone on Christmas day.  We've also been doing a few random acts of kindness throughout the week........I know we get so much more out of it than the recipients :)

Uncle M stopped by with the coolest Christmas tree for the kids!  Love it!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more." —Dr. Seuss

The rest of the week has been busy with getting the house ready for all of our guests this weekend.  We are having various family over beginning the morning of Christmas Eve through to Boxing Day so there was lots to do!  The kids have been very helpful the last few days but today (Friday) they are just going crazy!!  The anticipation and excitement is making them all so goofy and silly.  I think it is time for the Polar Express and a big bowl of potato chips!

So, here we are today.  The presents are all wrapped, the grocery shopping is done, the house is clean (mostly) and now we can enjoy the next few days!  We start by celebrating the 50th birthday of a good friend tonight! 

We wish you & your loved ones the gift of faith, the blessing of hope and the peace of His love this Christmas and all year.  May you be surrounded by much love and joy this Christmas season.

3 Weeks Ending Dec 16th

We are back!  Not that we went anywhere.  I have just been very busy with my PT work and keeping everyone on track.  And trying to prepare for Christmas. 

Here is a little bit of what we've been up to these last few weeks;

We sorted & packed up most of the toys in the basement play area.  Lots were donated and the rest are in the storage room.  Rather than having every.single.toy that we own all over the place - they can pick & choose which one they want, play and then tidy it all back up and put it away.  The older 3 were pretty good about keeping their things organized - it was Chunky who would pull everything off of the shelves and make a huge mess and then the others would have to clean up.  This has worked great so far.  But I am not so sure what will happen after Christmas. 

Again with the boxes!! They spent the first hour just playing with the boxes before getting down to business and actually packing them!

Hockey season started for Mr R.!! Yippeee for good ol' Canadian ice hockey outside!  So far, DH has been taking him but hopefully all of us will get out and support his team.

We went to our homeschool group Christmas party!  The kids had so much fun.  Unfortunately we haven't been going to the classes this year.  The couple of times we went, I spent my time chasing after Chunky & trying to keep him entertained and not really contributing to the activities/discussions.  I felt so un-helpful to the other moms and so out of the loop.  That combined with juggling the demands of PT work & homeschooling - well I just didn't think it made sense.  The kids always asked if we could go and I was always saying no; but after talking with a very special mom at the party - I realize that we need to be there, as much for my family as for the others who are there.  So we will be heading back to our classes in the new year!  

I've spent a lot of time shopping on-line :)

The kiddos received their video messages from Santa (http://www.portablenorthpole.com/) and they were very excited.  I won't tell you which of them are on the naughty vs nice list but let's just say that a couple of them are working extra hard to be good as we countdown the days to Christmas.  DH even received a message from Santa!
 
Chunky Monkey;  well I can hardly believe I'm writing this but he is actually sitting still and watching TV for 15 minutes!!  If someone else sits with him - he can even manage a little longer!  This is huge progress and such a big help to me.  15 minutes is just enough time to explain a new math concept, or help out with a piano lesson or even sit down & listen in on a history lesson.  I most definitely don't want him to be in front of the TV all day but what a difference it makes to have him sitting still for short periods of time.  His latest discovery is playing soccer (with a plush ball) and he loves running all over the house with this ball.  Again, it holds his attention for more than 5 minutes so even though I am still chasing him most of the morning - I do have more time to spend with the older 3.....yes, I define even 15 minutes as more :)

When he isn't running around making a mess - he does really try to help as best he can.  He loves to help vacuum :)

Hug-A-Bug continues to be a star student.  His eagerness and interest in his work just boggles my mind.  He just finished Lesson #69 in his math and rarely has any mistakes.  His timed facts practice sheets are perfect every time and he is working really hard on remembering his odd numbers from 1-19.  For some reason, he doesn't recall these as easily as the even numbers. 

He is almost finished his Abeka Language Arts 1 book - just a few pages left and he wants to finish it before Christmas.  He also started Spelling Workout A and finished 6 lessons in 2 weeks!  I was initially worried that he was sacrificing speed for accuracy/retention in quite a few of his subjects but not at all....he gets it.  He really does.  He worked very hard on his Christmas songs for piano and played Good King Wenceslas & Jingle Bells for his class. 

I need to start thinking ahead to other subjects/curricula I can use with him since he is just whipping through what I had originally planned. 

Here is a recent conversation that Hug-A-Bug had with his sister;

Hugs:  I think I'm going to marry you when I grow up.
Miss: What?! You can't marry me!!  I'm related to you and you're not allowed to marry your relatives.  You have to marry a friend.
Hugs: Oh.
Miss:  If you have a crush on someone, then you can go on a date and then you can marry them.   But something important you have to remember for when you grow up is that if you are 5 or 10 minutes late for a date then they won't like you anymore so make sure you are always on time. 
Hugs: OK can we play with the lego now?

Miss Muffet
She has her good days and her not-so-good days.  She can be so motivated one day and then so ornery the next.  I've heard that 8 is a fun age.  If a particular subject or lesson isn't interesting to her (on that particular day) - then she procrastinates like crazy.  Eventually she gets it done - but not without a struggle.  She is amazing with Chunky & spends a lot of time playing with him; and will often use him as an excuse for why she isn't doing her work! 

I may switch up her subjects so that we can do some of the more intense ones in the evening.  She is a night owl and I know she likes to work in the evening.  She is doing really well in her math - and doing a lot of it on her own.  Her test scores have been 20/20 & 19/20 so I know she is understanding the material.  But we are moving into the multiplication tables now and I know she doesn't like them so I think we will take a break from her text and have her spend some time on Timez Attack to get those solidified.  Mr R credits Timez Attack with teaching him so I am hoping the same works for Miss Muffet. 

I had mentioned earlier about switching her back to WWE/FLL.......and it is still under consideration.  We took some time off of GWG3 and just spent time reviewing the concepts she has learned so far and I think the review made a big difference to her understanding.  Her writing needs a lot of improvement so I think that may be a subject we do in the evenings. 

She is doing really well in piano - so much so that her teacher has asked if we would consider moving her into another class so she can be more challenged.  I'm not sure about this.  The current group she is in has 4 kids - 1 boy & 3 girls.  Given that she is around boys all day here at home, I like that she gets to interact with the girls.  And she does get together with one of these little girls on weekends so there is a friendship there.  The other class that she could move into is 2 other boys.  Still thinking on this one.......

Her history, french, poetry, science and religion are all moving along.  No issues at all. 

Here is another conversation she had recently, this time with Mr R;

MissM: We have 4 students in our homeschool, right Mommy?
Mom: Yes
Mr R: No that isn't right. Chunky doesn't do work so we have 3 students.
MissM: Yes he does.
Mr R: No he doesn't. He just runs around & makes a mess everywhere.
MissM: Well he is still learning stuff.
Mr R: Like what?
MissM: Like love, that is what he is learning.

(awww - so sweet. And of course she is right)

Mr R

Mr R is, as always, moving right along.  We took a break from GWG6 (when he bombed the Chapter 3 Review) to solidify some of the grammar concepts and I think it was helpful to him.  I'm not crazy about this particular program for him because I think the retention is not great but we will stick it out until the end of the year and then reassess for next year.  It is definitely getting more complicated so I think we will slow it down a little and rather than doing a lesson per day - maybe spread that out a little more and have Mom spending more time with him.

Math is going pretty well - I think it is getting more challenging for him, which is a good thing.  He is asking for me to help him with the new concept which is good and then once he understands it he is off.  I'm so glad we jumped up to 7/6 - it definitely is better suited to his level right now.  He keeps "forgetting" to do the facts practice - he thinks it is a waste of time since he gets perfect on them and does them very quickly.  Too bad - I insist that he does them.

We are on Chapter #11 in the Baltimore Catechism #2 and I'm starting to feel a little lost myself so I've ordered a number of books for ME to read (I was not raised in the Catholic Church).  It is one thing to take them to mass, teach them the basics and even prepare them for First Communion, but as they get older and start to ask more questions and start asking all of the hows & whys.......well, I simply don't have the answers.  Not that I need to have ALL of the answers, but I'd like to be able to have a good, theologically sound discussion with Mr R.  I don't think he realizes that I don't know all of this.  Truthfully, I think he knows far more than I do so time for Mom to catch up.

Mr R finished up the Biology section of his science - and we never did get to dissect the fish :(  I know that was a huge disappointment for him so I need to make that happen somehow.  There was a big Biology test that I was trying to help him prepare for.  He insisted that he didn't need to study that much and that he understood all of it.  I decided to let him take the test and let the chips fall where they may.  He scored 67%.  He was satisfied.  I was not.  (even though he did OK for not studying at all; the point is that he didn't do as well as he should have or could have)  So when we finish up the Chemistry unit - he will definitely be studying for the test.

He also finished up Level 1 of L'Art de Lire and is well into Level 2 now.  We are aiming to be through Level 3 by the end of the year.  I may start up Rosetta Stone again in the summer, just for fun.

Lastly, Mr R is preparing for his Grade 1 piano exam in the new year.  In addition to the requirements for the exam, he was very sweet and agreed to learn the Charlie Brown Christmas song just because it is one of my favourites :) 

Well that was a very long post. But now you are all caught up!  Next week is a "half" week which means we will be doing just half of our subjects - math for sure, and I'm not sure what else.  And shopping, and baking, and decorating, and Christmas movies, and all of the things we need to do to prepare for Christmas.

Have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday

Who knew that plastic cutlery was so interesting?