A Week, Briefly (12/3/18)

We made jingle bell necklaces in Academy.

It was a partial school week for us.

Not by design.

It started when I lost my keys and could neither pick up Rose Red from work nor go grocery shopping on Tuesday afternoon.

Then Wednesday (after we'd gotten a new key made) was too full of school and commitments.

And school was awesome!  We rolled tiny beeswax candles--44 in all--and burned them all at once.  The kids only rolled them loosely, so it took maybe 15 minutes for them to burn all the way down, and it was the highlight of our week.  It was beautiful and awe-inspiring and gorgeous.

Beowulf, inspired by Baymax, drew his own interpretation of the candle-burning activity.

When I woke up on Thursday morning (a birthday morning) and we had no supplies for the cake or birthday dinner or balloons or anything else that helps make a day special for a small person, I knew something had to give.

So I cancelled school for the day.

Sir Walter Scott was home, and no one complained.

I will give the oldest girls credit for going ahead with The Book of Mormon challenge and then more credit to Pixie and Belle for doing some Spanish translations all on their own.

Shopping took forever because two different stores were out of gluten-free bread (except the gross brands)!

But eventually I came home, and I looked at the kids watching Sir Walter Scott hang a xylophone and old CDs in the chicken coop (to prevent boredom and fighting when there are no insects to hunt and scratch), and I didn't even try to do school-at-the-table.

I still don't regret the "day off."

Then we had only a half day (Symposium and a partial Academy) because Sir Walter Scott's work schedule was off, and with teen approval, he and I ran out the door to catch a temple session and get home again before the teens met up with friends to attend a local Yule Ball.

We had Morning Meeting every day.

Ladybug still had her individual school each morning.

We managed 4 Symposiums and 3.5 Academies.

The teens finished Unit 5 of their English class, and that's exactly halfway, so we're putting formal English work aside until after the new year, and we're going to read aloud together more.

The preschoolers studied the letter "E."

The early elementary crew had 3 school-with-Mom sessions.

The teens worked their tails off getting their individual studies done.

The upper elementary girls did 5 days of schoolwork in 4.

We finished  Henry and Ribsy, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and Mary on Horseback as read alouds.

And we watched some Christmas movies.

It's cold out, but Wednesday got up into the 40s, and it was sunny, so on the farm Belle was assigned to clean up and mulch the strawberry patch that hadn't been cared for before the blizzard.  She came home muddy and blistered and happy.

We did another picture study this week.

Beowulf has made such sudden strides in his ability to draw!

Pixie drove to the airport by herself to meet her friend coming home from study abroad in Australia.  It was a good life lesson to navigate the airport terminals and parking garage and find the right gate on her own.

Today is for chores and Christmas preparation and more partying for the teens at WinterFest--but not until they help out at home.