Saturday, May 23, 2009

Our Week

Our Week May 17-May 23, 2009

Faith

I've had one of those really great weeks. God really does work everything for the good of those who love Him. You can always just look back. I mean I've had really bad times in my life don't get me wrong, but honestly for the most part during those times my heart was really turned away from God. And, Job, oh man, he had difficult times, but God restored him. And, ultimately, I needn't fear he who can harm the body, but should fear him who can harm the soul. My point is that times are hard; things are hard financially out ther, and man there are people out there that are DOWNRIGHT despicable towards Christians and towards God. But still God's hand is always there for us; providing, healing, sustaining.

Our Farm

I've been weeding like crazy and planting some. I ended up having to replant my second batch of starts, they never came in. Something went wrong. We will mostly likely try to get the garden in over the weekend. But, I've been tending the flower beds mostly. I planted a couple of tomatoes in my greenhouse in hopes of some earlier tomatoes and they are growing alright. I need to get more compost mixed in on the soil - or I'll have to resort to chemical fertilizer.

Below are some pictures of our some flowers and my greenhouse - so you can see the status. The first two pictures are of a couple of Rhodedendron bushes in front of our home. I used to hate Rhodies. They can look so overgrown and when the flowers dies - just horrible. But, I no longer dislike them. One thing I've noticed is that in nature, they most often grown in the shade and don't get so overgrown - look just beautiful as they offer just a spot of shade color. But, the second thing I've learned is that you can really shape Rhody bushes. A couple of years of diligent pruning and you've got a wonderful shape. These two bushes are actually a bit marred as a Feral cat took to scratching them a while back and well they have a bunch of weeds and our manufactured home in the background.

rhody_2

rhody_1

shade_garden

blue_perennial

greenhouse

our_farm

Our Home & Health

I have been well this week. My husband is now sick. I kept up OK on the house. I made dinner four out of five days - did take out the other day. Not too bad. I didn't get back out my sourdough yet from the fridge. I hope it is still OK. I think I'll get it out on Sunday if it is OK and get going on that again.

In The Schoolroom

Well, we had a great week in the schoolroom. My Charlotte Mason reading is really starting to help me. Check out my summary on the latest chapter from Charlotte Mason on moral habits. It has really helped me in keeping the homeschooling rolling along. We've been breaking things into 30 minute chunks of time and if they get done early and in an excellent manner, then the kids get a little free time to do just what they choose. It's amazing what they'll do for 10 minutes of free time every half hour.

I did have a bit of a break from school this week. I went into our business and Jon did the homeschooling TWO DAYS this week. Way to go, honey! The cool thing is that because I was feeling better and because I feel like I'm getting a handle on this Charlotte Mason stuff, I was able to type out a lesson plan for Jon that he could easily follow.

Rachel is doing Abeka writing and phonics and math. I don't really do Abeka, but for phonics and writing I think they are excellent. And I start Saxon math in 1st grade and their Kindergarten math was just right - getting into adding and subtracting, counting by 2's, 5's, 10's, and coins. Just perfect for Rachel. At Jon's suggestion, we started giving Rachel stickers when she finishes schoolwork - and she likes that. Rachel also reads Bob books to me.

Natalie finished the Human Body book in Science. We are back in the Plants book which we previously skipped part of as we didn't have access to plants that time of year. Nat does copywork, Saxon Math (we just moved into 3), reading and narration, art, violin. In reading we/she have/has been reading the Bible, Parables Of Nature, the Burgess Bird Book, Trial and Triumph, and the Discovery Of New Worlds. She likes them all except maybe Trial and Triumph - but I think that one is a good stretch for her and I am certainly learning new bits of history.

We also went to dance this week. The girls are signed up for soccer for the summer and are excited about that. I'm skipping swimming this summer as it just seems too expensive for how much of an impact it is making. At the suggestion of a fellow homeschooling mom, I've gotten the girls life jackets and plan on spending lots of time at outdoor parks and lakes this summer. Perhaps next year we will take the discounted homeschooling swim lessons offered during the year. I'm homeschooling through the end of June. Our schools here actually go through the third week of June, plus I missed a few weeks when I hurt my arm earlier this year.

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