When I last checked in on September 12 I didn't expect a month would go by before I really got a chance to sit down and think somewhat coherently again. Over the last month I've been working as hard as I can to get some money to put away for Christmas. Unfortunately, bad luck has been working overtime also and that is sucking us dry.
September 16th was Katie's sixth birthday. She is growing up into such a beautiful, sweet child. We had a small neighborhood/family birthday for her.
In late September our whole family was laid low by a late-summer cold. Some of us (dh and I) are still trying to recover from it.
On October 2, Robbie turned 2!!! My mom was in town and all of us took a birthday trip to the Zoo. DH even managed to get off work to come with us. The weather was perfect, the kids were great and it had to have been one of the best field trips ever! The only downer was finding out that my digital camera had died.
This past week we have faced an unexpected trip to the dentist for Mary for an undetected cavity that required a cap instead of a filling. Then on Friday Robbie woke up from a nap having another one of his fever spikes. So scary as he was limp and unresponsive for 30 minutes before the Ibuprofen took affect. Thankfully DH was home and I could run Robbie to the doctor to have him checked. Since then he has been okay. This afternoon he experienced another spike, although it occurred simultaneously with me giving him his medicine so he didn't get too bad.
Now, Mary seems to be coming down with whatever Robbie has. She has been pretty immobile all day and we are trying to keep her temperature in check also. She did insist on playing in her soccer game this afternoon as her team is already short a few teammates. But, she played defense instead of mid-field so she didn't have to run too much.
So, we'll just wait and see and hope that the rest of us are able to avoid this viral bug.
When we are not sick, stuck in the car trying to get everyone to all their activities or me working; we have actually been sticking a few educational moments. We finished up Mary's Elizabethan study and have been kind of at loose ends until this past week when she has become very interested in US history. A friend gave us a US History timeline which she has been reading and studying. I see a crash course in US history coming over the next few weeks. This ties right in with her recent focus on US states and geography.
Mary's science has been focused on a physics study of simple machines and motion. We've taken a little break as she and Katie try out a few experiments from "The Best of Beakman's World" DVD that we have been watching.
Katie and I have just finished a unit study on Fish and Sharks. I'm not sure where we are going next. I'm still thinking about it and watching her for clues.
Mary, Katie and Emily have also been working together in making up various fairy tale plays for me. The amount of learning in these activities is priceless. And, often the highlight of our week.
Mary is currently reading "Judy Moody" and really enjoying it. Katie is enjoying reading through her HighLights magazine. Katie is still enjoying working through the reading primers with me and her reading is really improving. Over the last month we have read Kipling's Jungle Book aloud and are now reading through Black Beauty.
Robbie and Emily are really enjoying their "school" so far because we have either been sick or busy, they have only been twice. They never want to leave when it is time to come home. Emily has also started taking a Kinderdance class my friend is teaching. We are bartering for the class, so thankfully no $$ for that. She is doing great and loves to show me her dance.
I think that brings us up-to-date. It looks like it may be Christmas before I'll have a new digital camera unless I can borrow Mary's. I miss my camera :( . I'm going to keep working at putting aside some time every week to not only update here, but also our homeschool journal, that is really behind.
Peace,
Amy
