Weekly Wrap Up - 9/30/16

Olivia loves to curl up in our lawn chairs (since she's small enough she can actually curl up) and read books.

Olivia has been riding biking with the neighbour's children in the evenings. She became quite the pro at riding a 2 wheeler this summer and helped teach her year-younger friend how to as well.

Olivia was recently shown how to properly use a steak knife to cut. Joshua loves this as it means that she is willing to often cut up strawberries for him!

Brianna got a note from the local organizer of the Terry Fox Run thanking her for her continued fundraising and offered to make sure that her run is officially recorded (as Brianna was sick on the actual run day).

Olivia finished up her apple experiment with all sorts of gross success.

We recorded our "day in the life" post for iHomeschool Network.

Brianna has really taken a big change in responsibility in her school work this week. She went from needing more prompting (and arguing) to do schoolwork than Olivia, to really buckling down and getting it done. Her chores still take a lot more prompting, but I'll take it!

We all began working out again this week. Because of my surgeries in June, this summer was way too laid back. Brianna really fell short in the healthy dept. We have a dedicated workout room that we share with the neighbours (we have the equipment, they have the space) so no excuses!

If you've been reading my blog for a while (or just read back to a few years ago), you'll remember my niece Tanya used to homeschool with us. She went back to the public school route and is not working on dual credit courses at the college that Brianna plans to attend. Today was her Sweet 16.

Linking up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers and Hip Homeschool Moms

New Schedule!

My niece, Tanya, has left our homeschool earlier than planned so I'll be implementing our new, totally different school plan sooner than July! I will be taking the next week to move stuff around and get prepared, but I'm totally excited to start this new chapter! Watch for a new "Current Curriculum" post soon!

Some Pics From The Last Year

Since I've been gone for almost a year, I figured I should throw some pics out there!

The one who started the blog hiatus. Joshua Thomas, minutes old, born at home.

Isaac received his Chief Scout Award

Brianna and Olivia in Olivia's first ever race

Grandma teaching Olivia how to swim

Tanya and Brianna hard at work

Brianna and Tanya's "Joshua's Birth" stories

Watching the Perseid Meteor Shower

Learning to crochet

Brianna's Thanksgiving contribution - pumpkin pie made from scratch

For St. Nicholas' Day we made cards and cupcakes for the neighbours

Brianna had a blast breaking into her geodes and finding crystals!

Olivia's first non-parent-initiated thank you note. She insisted on sending this to the cable guy who "fixed the tv" LOL

Brianna and Tanya checking out Brianna's new microscope

Olivia's first writing of her whole name

A Pi Pie for Pi Day

Brianna loves to help teach Olivia. Here, they're working on math

Olivia's first big project

A request for Subway turned into running around the house mooching change off of everyone and having a mini money/counting lesson. It paid off though, she mooched enough money to buy everyone Subway! She was so proud of getting supper for everyone.

I Need My Blog Back

I've been "gone" almost a year. A lot has happened in that time. But I need to be back here. While I love having people follow my blog and leave me comments, really, I write this for me. I'm a sentimental person who loves looking back and reading what I've/we've done and seeing pictures.

I've been putting off this blog. "I'm much too busy." Bullshit. If I have time to virtually wander around facebook for at least an hour a day, I have plenty of time to post here.

A lot of uncertainty has been going on in my homeschooling world. My kids still won't be going to public school, but my niece will be. Over the last year she has left and restarted homeschooling with us 3 times. As of June, she is done with us and will re-start public school in September. The option is always open for her to come back, but this random flip-flopping has put a damper in my enthusiasm about school projects. Come July, we'll learn a new normal.

Joshua's birth last June brought about a big upheaval. Prior to that we hadn't had more than a week break since starting homeschooling in November of 2010. Brianna doesn't take long breaks well. Understandably though, I didn't really care about school after just giving birth. We took 6 weeks off. We may as well have taken 6 years off. Brianna and Tanya seemed to have forgotten everything they learned in the previous year. I was obviously distracted. Thank crap it was summer and we were normally on a very light schedule.

Olivia "should have" started Junior Kindergarten last September (in Ontario, we have 2 Kindergartens, for 4 yr olds and the usual one, for 5 yr olds). A few years ago I had thought about sending her to public school just for Kindergarten, then pulling her out for Gr. 1. When she proved to be almost "done" the 2nd year of Kindergarten (by school standards) before she was due to start her 1st year, I knew she would be bored and end up labelled a "trouble-maker" or something.

I have picked back up my business, LoveBugs Accessories. More than a couple people have insinuated that I'm possibly insane for homeschooling 3 kids, having a baby and running a home business that can require hours of "creating" (for those who don't know, I sew a variety of items, make hairbows and tutus, make crochet hats and the like). While it can be stressful at times (we're trying to "catch up" Tanya as much as possible before PS and it's craft show season), I truly do love it.

So I'm back. I may post several times a week or only a few times a month, but this is important to me and I WILL be posting.

Obligatory cute current-ish pic of my 4 hooligans

Month in Review (May)

Making my Mother's Day cake

Helping Daddy carry the top soil

She's very proud of her little flower garden

Tanya and Brianna's first run of the season!

Being comfortable while homeschooling is great!

Brianna and Olivia playing hangman with Isaac. 

Tanya's Annual Review for cadets (she's in the middle holding the flute)

Tanya's group's presentation

She loves to practice cutting!

Month In Review (March)

Life has very much gotten in the way lately. My niece, Tanya, is currently staying with us and that just adds an extra kid's worth of busy-ness! Here's what we did in the month of March:

Tanya made a cake for my sister, her mom, for her birthday. She tried a new technique, marbling, for the icing.

 This was the girls 2nd year taking part in the World Education Days. They love it!

Cutting practice. Olivia constantly holds her scissors like this even after being showed how to do it correctly... any ideas to help her?

Her first time doing a pattern page! She got all of the right on the first try, the smart cookie!

My mom is in Culinary School and Olivia loves to help Grandma with her homework!

Tanya got promoted in Air Cadets!

 The age old science experiment of burning stuff with a magnifying glass was a huge hit!

Dot flowers

Tanya and Brianna are taking a bookmaking class this spring.

Olivia's attempts at writing 10. Pretty good I say!

Pre-writing practice. She goes from right to left often, but the lines are getting straighter