Homeschool Week Three: Keeping Busy

Monday was a no school day and it turned out to be pretty busy. Mason and I were into the big city early at the wheelchair vendor for a couple things. First we picked up his new Rifton Dynamic Stander because he outgrew his other one last January. (Yes, it took insurance 7 months to decide he needed a new one.) We also started the process to order Mason a new wheelchair because he has gotten too big for the orange one he has. He got that when he was 18 months old so it really isn't surprising that he's outgrown it at age 5 years 7 months. The process to get a new wheelchair approved by insurance and then built is every bit as long as the process to get a stander - and probably longer. Today's appointment had us choosing wheelchair brands, designs, accessories, pieces, parts, paint color, etc.

Makayla got some fun mail on Monday. She wrote a letter to Christopher Paolini, the author of the Inheritance Cycle, two weeks ago. He wrote back and sent her several things. She was thrilled - and surprised.

Once we got home from our morning appointment I ran to the store for a prescription refill. Kids played outside. We ate lunch and did the usual afternoon medical care. Then it was off to physical therapy for Mason and I. We got home just as Tobias threw up. The poor guy had been 'off' all day and it went downhill. He threw up and a fever started. He threw up again later in the evening. We spent a lot of time just snuggling - including all night long because he didn't sleep much. I was a tired momma!

Tuesday Tobias was still not feeling great so we did homeschool while I held Tobias. Makayla worked at the veterinary office. Kids had piano lessons. I prepared our homeschool notification paperwork for the year. By evening Tobias was feeling better and playing. He slept through the night peacefully. So did I.

Of course that meant Wednesday we woke up to Samuel with the same fever Tobias had - but no throwing up. He seemed to rally by mid-day. I ran to the post office to send in our homeschool notification papers and picked up denatured alcohol for Makayla's alcohol burner to do her chemistry work. Kids did their school work. Makayla baked a cake just for fun (spice cake with lemon frosting). The oldest two had a youth activity that has become a tradition at church as schools are getting ready to start again - a color war. Basically any game they can do outside with an added dose of water and paint.

Thursday started off with paint by the youngest boys because that's what sounded fun after breakfast. Who am I to disagree? We made a joyful mess and will use their painted papers later in art projects. Kids were mostly off to a slower start today. They might have been up early but they didn't get to school work until 9am. Our slower start schedule is working well - so long as I remember not to nag them about getting a move on school work before 9am. I'm still working on that.

Oliver was the most excited of the kids today during school. He got to start reading the first story in All About Reading level 3. It's called Train Cat. I was slightly worried when we opened the book that he would panic about the smaller text and more text per page. He didn't. He read steadily, sounding things out as he went, and a couple pages in asked to finish the story tomorrow. So that's what we decided to do.

After a relaxed afternoon I baked chicken legs for dinner. The sauce was simple: soy sauce, ketchup, and honey. Daddy got home from work after dinner and the little boys asked to paint again - so out came the mess.

Friday started with oatmeal for a few of us. I'm in denial that it is summer for another month and I am ready for fall. My kids are pretty chatty about the solar eclipse coming up on Monday. We ordered solar eclipse glasses 2 months ago because I knew they would become very expensive and hard to find if I waited for the last minute(yes, they're safe, I triple checked) and so those are waiting in our science bin. We did try them out by looking at the sun this week. One of my kids said, "It looks a lot smaller this way."

Several of my boys got to work as soon as possible on school today. They love getting things done early on Friday. Who doesn't?! This picture shows Mason working in a coloring book, Daniel writing a short story about a homesick duck, Caleb and Joseph doing math, and Samuel and Tobias drawing on the chalkboard.

By mid-morning we were nearing the end of the school work when grandma called to see if we were up for a visit. She had a half day off from work. Hooray! Makayla just did her Algebra 2 while grandma was here to commiserate that it was something grandma had never used in her 50-some years. We talked, laughed, played, and had pizza together. Oh, and put together a peanut butter pie in a 13x9 pan (because a real pie is way too small for a family of 11). It's chilling in the fridge for after dinner tonight.

It's Friday afternoon and this post is ready to publish. Next up on the agenda - dinner prep.

Linking to Weekly Wrap Up.