This week

The hanging workbox system seems to be working for Emma.  This week she worked on her spanish for the first time in months.  She learned about Debussy in Music.  She drew using lines.  She did two days worth of map skills and even did her Writing Strands.  This is in addition to her regular math, language arts, science and history.  She is working on Sing, Spell, Read and Write again for language arts, in addition to her other work.  She is reading/listening to The Sisters Grimm:  The Problem Child for her next book report, which we will be sure to save. She has been writing in her journal using prompts we got from the Latter-day Homeschooling blog.  She is almost finished with her plant lapbook.  It needs lots of coloring, but she enjoys that.  In history we learned about the fall of Constantinople (this sounds familiar doesn't it) and about the Black Plague.  Annie joined us for that lesson.  We made plague doctor masks and plague wheels and filled out a map of its movement over 5 years.  yucky stuff.  Next week we will finally be moving on to Joan of Arc.  Emma has been asking all year if it was time for Joan yet.  Joan has paper dolls, which no, we won't be burning, that would be sick. 

Annie got her paper back on Africa.  She got 100%.  She also totally scored high in her geography class capitals game at Friday school.  She did a topographical coloring map of the Middle East and a bit on electricity, which I must admit I know very little about.  At home she is doing well in Life of Fred.  She got a little award in the book for reaching the algebra section.  By little, I mean little.  Like about an inch high.  She is reading and listening to a new book for her next report.  She has also started using her own planner and is taking responsibility for her subjects.  She is starting back up on her Latin and is learning the parts of the body.

As for me, I finally figured out how to machine quilt Emma's blanket.  I worked on it all day on Friday and had to quit when my hands cramped up.  I also made cookies for Sarah and Laura because they were dying with no snacks in the house.  For the record, fruit, saltines, graham crackers, doritos, string cheese and wheat thins are not snacks.  Laura did great in her speech therapy.  She got her new earmolds and they are pretty.  I went to a meeting about transitioning her to preschool, which will have to be another post.

We finally made it to the library on Thursday.  Sarah's new lapbook will be The Little House and we will begin next week.  She also checked out Katy and the Big snow, which we never finished and a Clifford dvd, which I could do without, but hey, at least it is a change from Megamind all day long.

Adam totally climbed the stairs while I was working on the blanket.  One second he was at my knee, the next he was upstairs playing with Laura in her room.  Its baby gate time. 

The little girls room will be painted today.  No more pastel rainbow throw-up on the walls.  It will all be one color, hooray.  Yeah, that color is pink, but I have put up with pink for 8 years now, and this pink is pale. Like as pale as the outside of my house, which is another vent for another day.

And now for the exciting news:  with our tax return money, we are getting vinyl flooring in the kitchen.  I realize this may be a step back to some people, taking out tile and putting in vinyl.  But those people aren't teaching their kids to do dishes and cook and occasionally have plates and glasses dropped on the tile.  Plus I have hated that tile since we moved in.  And its my house dang it.

This week has been brought to you by the letter Y and the number 5.