Another Week of Blessings * week of 11.17.13

MUCH more excited about our 

first snowfall than I... :)

What a week.  Again!  Seriously, if these weeks start flying by any more quickly, I'm really going to have to stage some type of intervention.  

We are having a ball.  I am having a ball.  We are living and learning and learning and living.  Being the type of person ( I thought) who prefers a laid-out plan for, well, life, I am finding a whole buncha joy in going with the flow.  I'm learning so much about myself, and my kids' learning styles.  A and G are complete visual and kinesthetic learners, while S is an auditory (as well as kinesthetic) learner.  My learning style fits more with the girls', so I am learning that I need to be intentional about remembering how S learns.  More reading aloud, and discussion :)  

This week, we conquered half of "Old Yeller".  Of course, as I read, the kids do handstands, and the like.  It's all good...!  I have learned that some learn and hear better if their bodies are occupied :)

It's worth it, just for the reactions I get when the story line gets intense... they all stop in their tracks, mid-handstand, mid-whatever, and just stare at me, motionless. HA!  Today, I told them that we were going to have, "Old Yeller" day.  <interest peaked> And then I proceed to go into detail about how Soren could trap and kill the squirrel, and the girls and I could cook it up for dinner!  Haha, Soren was all for catching the squirrel; the girls - not up for their part, as much :)

Random things learned this week...

Ava learned how to use the Thesaurus - and really well, at that, as evidenced by her English assignments.  I love that this girl's strength is English :D

Soren, after reading a book from our "Egyptians" selection, informed us that the Ancient Egyptians all shaved their heads due to the heat (women, too).  Women wore wigs when seen in front of men.

Earthworms have no heart or brain... their main function is to benefit the soil with their dung. Also, they develop into two completely separate earthworms, when cut in two.  Particularly useful, as they reside in gardens and soil, where they often are split with gardening tools, such as a hoe.

Gressa has become proficient with her addition and subtraction facts, even asking to do some, "Math for fun" on Friday night :)  You go, girl.  Math and fun don't go together in the same sentence, for me!

Soren has learned how to locate articles in a magazine, using the table of contents.  All three kiddos are becoming masters at using the library to find what they are looking for, place materials on hold, and check out their resources.

All have learned what Caldecott and Newberry Awards are, and how that is determined.

Other highlights from this week:

field trip to the Post Office

Ava finally received her volleyball certificate.... MVP! :)

We attended, "Skippy Jon Jones" at the PAC

Soren's printing continues to be a work-in-progress, and this mama couldn't be more thrilled.  This is an English assignment, in which I read the sentence, and he writes it down, concentrating on what punctuation goes where.  

Soren continues with his shoe fetish... "needing" another new pair of running shoes :) This pic was taken at approximately 5am on Friday.  He ran into our bedroom for some snuggles, and me, bleary-eyed and exhausted, rolled over for a snuggle.  When met with rubber soles, what could I do - but take a pic! :)   We also had to head out on a run to try them out, of course.  Love him.

We picked up our projects from the Fire; they were created last week :) 

Gressa's soccer ball bank

Soren's bulldog

 Ava's owl

I thank God for another blessed week, with so much more mercy and grace than we deserve!  We are looking forward to another week filled with His love, as we approach the blessed Christmas season!