A Week, Briefly (2/19/18)

This is a short week for us because tonight is Pixie's Sweet 16 party, and we're getting ready for 50-ish teens to come over to our house tonight to help her celebrate.

We've cleaned out the garage, and we're covering the walls with thrift-store sheets.  Then we've got a bajillion chinese lanterns and tiny LED bulbs to go in them.

Pixie's pulled out some fun games from the closet; all of the teens have been cleaning the basement living room and kitchen and bathroom; Rose Red is helping with the music playlist.

Add some pizza and sodas, and we've got ourselves a party.

But it's going to take all day to get everything set up, so we're not having our regular school--just Morning Meeting.  However, I am fully prepared for some one-on-one time with my small people should they seem to need it.  (Note:  I never did have one-on-one time with them, but we did have Academy!)

And I quite expect Ladybug to need it.

Thursday was a nightmare for her.

We're not sure what has triggered her regressive behaviors, but they are back and in power.  She spent well over 2 hours screaming her head off, resulting in her not being able to dance in our show at our favorite nursing home.  We left her tucked into bed, calm, but wiped out, with Super Star at home to keep an eye on her.

For the rest of us, the show was a lot of good fun.  And those residents are so, so, so kind and appreciative of our group.

We've got another driver in the family!  She had a crazy-strict tester (who failed the kid in front of us), but Pixie passed, and she's driving safely everywhere!!

The teens and I finished Huck Finn!!!  It just about killed us, but we're glad we did it.  Though Pixie said, "Someday when I have teens, I am not going to be nice like you are and read it out loud to them.  They're going to have to read it on their own!  I can't do this again!"

As we read we groaned and laughed and tore out our hair, so I do give Mark Twain credit for writing a book that affected us so deeply.  Our biggest struggle was with wading through all of Tom's foolishness--we had a lot of good discussions about the value of common sense!

Rose Red gave Nature Angel her 3-D pen.  Nature Angel has spent much time figuring out how to use it well.  These tiny (1/2" each) fried eggs she made for Mister Man's playhouse are an example of her efforts.

The elementary 8 and I made art portfolios so we could clear the walls of their art projects . . . to make room for new ones.  We just folded posterboards in half and stapled them to make huge pockets.  It was a sleety, icy, frozen afternoon so the kids spent long hours decorating their portfolios in crayon.

This is my favorite of the portfolios.  It is Lola's, and it is a  family portrait.  She almost got all of us in it. :)

We finished The Bible Smuggler in Academy, and we've added in Nature Anatomy along with a freebie set of notebooking pages.  (I don't know if the pages are free now--they were when I got them.)  Our first lesson was on the layers of the Earth, and as the kids had watched a Bill Nye the Science Guy episode about that fairly recently, it was a good cementing sort of lesson.

We're at a major changing place for most of the kids in their individual school needs.

Nature Angel is almost done with her math book, her Greek studies, her grammar book, and both of her science books.  It's a bit early to call her school year finished, so I'm on the hunt for what would bring her joy through the spring.

She's been making collages about her passions and goals. 

Little Princess finished her second math book of the year, and has started using The Lesson Book level 4 for a language arts study with Pollyanna.  I ordered Math Lessons for a Living Education grade 4.  It should arrive today.

Ladybug has started The Lesson Book level 1 for use with her Free and Treadwell First Reader.  And I'm printing math worksheets for her to build up her math confidence after the debacle we had last fall in trying to do Rod and Staff math.

Mister Man looooves Rod and Staff math (though for him, there's too much practice, and I have him skip pages often).  He's recently started Explode the Code level 4, and he's pretty sure he's died and gone to heaven since getting to start the Alpha Omega Lifepac Grade 2 Science book I got him.  I only purchased the first worktext out of the set to see if it would be a good fit . . . and it is perfect.  I'll be ordering the rest of the set ASAP.

Brother has reached his Waterloo with the Eclectic Foundations program we've been so happily using until now.  Getting 8 new words each lesson is way too many for him, so I've pulled out our favorite old Sonlight grade 1 readers and a bunch of blank index cards.  I'm printing off the word family lists, pasting them to the index cards and creating matching games for him.  He plays and reviews the basics, and then reads the stories that accompany the word lists.  It's a really good fit for him, and a season of rest and review will help him build his confidence and joy.

I'm wondering if he's ready to start Rod and Staff math--he so loves the language of numbers.

Beowulf is struggling to do academics right now.  I'm not pushing it because he's 5--and a new, young 5 at that.  I am discouraged to see what feels like a loss of attention and focus, but perhaps that's just because he's not getting enough outdoor play during this season of ice, ice, ice, we're having.  In the mean time he sits by me for 5 minutes or so each day, cutting or coloring, but then he's done . . . and so am I. :)  As I've prayed about him and meeting his needs, I've realized that I've not been using Forbrain and reading aloud with him one-on-one.  I think that may really help him, so I pulled it out of the drawer, and read with him on Thursday morning.  He enjoyed it; I enjoyed it.  I'm putting it on our daily to-do list.

Lola and Baymax are both potty-training now.  Some days are dry.  Some days are filled with puddles and changing clothes.  This very morning Baymax woke up dry and ran to the potty first thing!  That's huge in our world.   They still love to color in their school books, and they are full participants in Morning Meeting and Academy.

I laughed until my sides hurt watching these three work together to complete one of their Mystery of History review activities.  They're so fun--both the girls and the activities!

Anyway, even though it is February, it feels almost like the start of a new school year.  I've spent a lot of time evaluating, planning, and preparing curriculum for the kids, and I've begun to look forward to the homeschool convention that usually takes place in April.

And Sir Walter Scott is going back to school!

He received his letter of acceptance to the masters degree program to become a nurse practitioner offered by the school associated with his hospital.  We have to come up with cash up front, but then we will receive tuition reimbursement for 90% of his expenses.  He'll attend part-time and take several years to finish, but orientation is next month, and classes start in May.

I'm trying not to hyperventilate.

I'm happy for him, and I've encouraged him. :)

I'm just also panicking as I face dreams changing to reality . . . the reality of full-time work, overtime, and part-time school for my right arm.

I'll miss his presence.

So will the kids.

But it will be good for us all, I'm sure.

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Post Edit
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I never got to press publish on this post because the party prep was so, so, so labor intensive!  We all worked all day on getting all of the work done, and then the party happened.

Exactly as Pixie hoped it would happen.

It could not have been more fun.

When over 50 kids all danced the Macarena at the same time, the house literally shook!   Even with the dancing taking place out on the concrete garage floor. :)

It took me a long time to get the littles all taken care of and tucked in because I'd tuck in a child and make a party round, tuck in a child and make a party round.  While I was busy, Mister Man took it upon himself to help with the toddlers.  He bathed them(!), almost got them dressed (I helped), and then read them stories.  Oh!  How full my heart is to watch this small boy practicing to be a father someday!

Nature Angel and Sir Walter Scott worked until they ached (so did I).  Super Star stepped way out of her comfort zone and figured out how to get the chocolate fountain running.  Little Princess and Ladybug ran errands, held hammers, and tied fishing line onto Chinese lanterns.

I have zero good pictures, but here a few to help us remember the feel of the night:

At one point, one of Pixie's church friends asked, "How do you know so many people?"  Pixie answered, "I don't know--they're just my friends.  A lot of them are homeschool friends."  The questioner exclaimed, "These kids are homeschooled?"  He looked around kind of confused and muttered, "They're cool!"   Sir Walter Scott and I just laughed.  Score for the poor unsocialized homeschoolers!!!!

Only 3 more major parties to go this year . . .

(linking here)