Weekend Review- The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Image courtesy of Sura Nualpradid / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I can finally tell that spring is coming. We had several warmer days this week, including Tuesday, which was over 60 degrees! I’m not even going to complain that the wind chill was in the single digits today because spring has announced its imminent arrival, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yay!

We had another busy week this week, but busy is good because it means that we actually left the house. I’ve gotten so used to being stuck inside that every little outing is exciting for me.

Sunday we made it to church, despite losing an hour. Although we did miss Sunday School and attended the later service, we made it. Sunday night was the first Awana and Ladies’ Bible Study that we’ve attended since before Christmas, so the kids were ecstatic, and I enjoyed spending time with the ladies.

On Monday, I had to get my blood drawn, so Arianna walked to the hospital with me. I had some sort of trainee drawing my blood, and she must have done something wrong because my blood was leaking out everywhere. Arianna even pointed out that it was dripping on the floor. Note to Phlebotomy instructors- keep your trainees away from people on blood thinners. Just saying. I made it out of there alive, and we enjoyed walking home in the warm(ish) weather.

Tuesday was just an awesome day. Shawn took a vacation day because he knew that it was going to reach 60 degrees, so we took the kids to the trout nursery. We had an amazing time, and we all learned so much, despite the fact that we’re there several times a year.

They’ve set up a bunch of information boards, which we really enjoyed reading. They really made a difference in that we learned more on this visit than we have in the last several years of going there, combined.

Afterwards, I took Devin to the local camera store where she got a very detailed lesson on her camera. I posted about this day right here because it was such a good illustration of what unschooling is all about.

Wednesday we were back at church. This time the kids went to Kingdom Builders, while I helped in the nursery. Again, the kids were so psyched to go because we have’t been to church on a Wednesday night since December, either.

Thursday was too cold to go anywhere, but we actually needed the down time, so it worked out.

So what about the schoolish stuff?, you might be wondering. We started the Life of Fred math curriculum this week. We all love it. I wish we would have known about this curriculum years ago. Since I have so many kids, I bought almost every single book in the series, including the new language arts set.

See? I wasn’t kidding.

Ireland and Luke have actually initiated a lot of seat work this week, so Luke has been completing some basic addition problems, while Ireland is getting familiar with her letters and numbers.

Dillon is still going strong with his gaming, but something great has come out of it…he’s found a like-minded friend in Taiwan who’s been helping him with the mods, so they’ve been emailing back and forth about Minecraft. Sunday they plan on chatting via Skype, so Dillon’s really looking forward to it.

Today Arianna and Caollin were learning French, Irish, and Japanese, thanks to Mango Languages. This is the same free program that Devin is using for Swedish. We also created some chalk pastel sunsets today, thanks to a tutorial over at Hodgepodge. Chalk pastels can get a little messy, but it’s usually the messy stuff that creates the best pieces.

On Friday, Devin is going to a sleepover/tea party at her friend’s house, and then she’ll be headed to her painting and drawing class on Saturday afternoon.

These past two weeks have been such a boon to our souls. I can feel our cabin fever slowly melting away…

How about you? Have you been enjoying getting out of the house?

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