Week 2 Review

I know, I'm jumping the gun a bit.  The school week isn't over until tomorrow, but we're really finished with the bulk of our stuff.  Tomorrow will be a good review and finishing up of some things.  We've been a little more flexible with our schedule this week.  The days were a little longer than the first, but we threw some extra "recesses" in.  ;)  Maddie starts preschool next week, so this is her last full week at home every day.  The girls have enjoyed playing.  No worries, we have gotten all the essential information in and even added a few things of our own.

Audrey has thoroughly enjoyed The Boxcar Children (ok, mommy has, too), so we jumped a week ahead and finished the whole thing.  She made her own diorama of the boxcar.  I was very proud of her creativity!  We also finished her reading assignments a day early.  She has done very well with her reading.  We've been talking about similes, commas, short a sounds, and double consonants this week.  We finished up with a creative writing assignment about her family.  It's always fun to hear what the kiddos think about their family!  =)

In our history core, we've looked at ancient civilization and Egypt.  We did some virtual tours of the Pyramids, learned how to mummify a person (which she thought was very cool, btw!), and made some Egyptian neck dressings.  Fun stuff!

The kid is going through math quite easily right now. She's a little bored.  So, we just touched on lessons  2-4 and started 5 today.  I have a feeling we'll be moving through to 6-8 next week.  I realize that most of this is review for her for what she already knows.  But, this will give us more time to get into the new stuff more in depth and not worry about not having enough time this year.  I think she's going to be fine.

Handwriting is still a bit of a struggle - an attitude struggle, that is.  I've done less "lessons" in writing and just made the corrections as needed through copywork in other subjects.  I have noticed an improvement already in these past two weeks.  :)

She's still not overly excited about Science, but we did work with the planets a little bit more.  We made our own mnemonic for learning and remembering the order of the planets.  (My Valentine Eats Mommy's Jellybeans Says Uncle Norton.)  We attempted a model clay solar system, but that was a project FAIL.  They looked pretty good, but wouldn't stay on their strings to hang.  Mommy clearly doesn't do well with some of these projects.  We're all suppose to be learning here, right?

We are continuing our reading through Egermeier's Children's Bible Story Book.  I really like it!  Audrey is retaining the information well.  I've found some great supplemental work to go along with it - like coloring sheets, puzzles, quiz sheets, etc. 

Derek started teaching Audrey Tai Chi today.  (Yes, dear, I know that is not the proper spelling, so feel free to comment with the correction.)  ;)  In September, D will be with Audrey on Thursday mornings while I sing and participate in our Women of Worship Bible Study at church.  D agreed to add this to their time together.  I think she enjoys in.

Did I mention we got a dog this week?  Yeppers - she still doesn't officially have a name.  Her original name is LuLu.  Her shelter name is Tootsie.  I don't particularly care for either, but we can't seem to agree on anything else.  ;)  She has enjoyed school with us this week, as well.

That's it for this week's review, though I will leave you with one funny.  Since we finished with the Boxcar Children a week early, we started reading The Secret Garden.  I had been reading to her for a while when she decided she needed to get up and do something.  She says, "Can you pause it?  I'll be right back."  Love that kid!

Math is much easier with a doggie on your lap!

The Boxcar Children Diorama complete with grass, real pine straw beds, Jessie & Violet, a clothesline, waterfall, swimming pool, and fire pit.

Daddy is a great teacher!

Newest Addition

One of the things my hubby and I like to do is try new restaurants.  We'll drive a little further away from home to try out a new place that he has usually read or heard about.  :)  Today was no different.  We all loaded up and headed to a cool hot dog joint called Barkers Red Hots.  Pretty yummy place!  As an added bonus, one of our favorite shopping spots that we rarely get to visit was in the same shopping center - Trader Joe's!  (For my non-ATL peeps, you seriously need to come visit so you can shop here!)   Right next to the TJ was a PetSmart.  There was an adoption group set up outside and the girls had asked to go see the dogs after lunch.  There was a big crowd gathered around the enclosure that housed the dogs and the volunteers were starting to pack up.  We walked up, looked around, petted a few, and read some descriptions of the adoptable dogs.  Then something miraculous happened.  My husband, the "I'm never going to have an animal in my house" man, fell hard and fast for a sweet little 5 pound gray Chihuahua named Tootsie.  At his suggestion, I spoke with the lady about specifics and before we knew it, we were talking adoption.  I held her and she just snuggled up under my chin and went to sleep.  She is so precious!  She's 3 years old.  She was rescued and is currently in "foster care".  She was used as a breeding dog.  :(  I wish she could have come home with us today, but she is scheduled for some dental work and surgery this week.  We hope to be able to pick her up Saturday.  The more I think about her, the more excited I get!  The girls are just giddy!  They have been wanting a dog for a long time.  Since dog sitting our little friend a few weeks ago, they've really expressed an interest.  I guess it’s time to teach some new responsibilities while giving a sweet little dog some much needed love and companionship.  :)  Here's a picture of her.  These are from their website.  She is currently named "Tootsie".  Audrey wants to name her "Sarah".  I'm throwing around some more ideas like Marley, Molly, or Izzy.  We have a week to decide!