Weekly Review

In the school house...

We've been busy this week continuing to double up on school while taking care of Princess Bethany the Tonsil-less. She has turned into quite a Princess indeed. It may take us another week to undo the spoiling!

Ashlyn's been spending extra time online making new blogs-one just for communicating with her best bud who lives about a half hour away and one where she's posting a story she's writing (and would like to get published). It's great timing for our language arts lessons on imagery, character, plot and the like. I love seeing her live out a language rich lifestyle. She's a natural at all things related to words!

The big girls are both studying ancient times and we're especially into Egypt right now. My grandma bought us tickets to see the King Tut exhibit so hopefully we'll get to schedule that soon.

We're using a science book I love, love, love. Apologia is known for it's outstanding upper level science curricula, and a few years ago they brought Jeannie Albright on board to write science for the elementary level. I read it to all three schooling girls. This year we're studying the flying creatures of the 5th day (of creation). The current focus is on birds, so we've become official birders. We've learned the names of several varieties that come to our feeders and we're planning on attending a Purple Martin meeting to learn about this beautiful bird & how to attract it to our yard.

As for me...

I'm so very pleased to report that three months postpartum, I've experienced no depression. This tells me that the struggles I had after Jaika's birth were more based in the crazy situation of going from a husband in college but home most of the time, sharing the load to a husband working 2 jobs and going to school-and adding a new baby. It was just too much to adjust to.

I am working through my goals of not eating refined sugar (brown, white, high fructose corn syrup) in 2009. I've only accidentally had a glass of sweetened tea. Whoo hoo! One month down, 11 to go. I'm also planning to see a pain management doctor for my carpal tunnel. I need to add more exercise and I'll be on track.

Here are some things heard around our house this week:

Hope as we're making suet for the bird feeder: "Mom, what kind of seed is that?" Bethany: "I think it's leperseed." You know, as in the skin disease, lol.

The piano teacher mentioned a little boy who played a Mozart piece at the fall recital, suggesting Hope and Ashlyn use the same book. Hope said quietly to me, "I don't want to play Noah's Ark!"

We were playing "Go fish" during school-Bethany insisted that we play even though I was working with Ashlyn & Hope. We ignored her, so she dealt the cards and just started asking us if we had angelfish, swordfish or tuna. As we looked around, we noticed that each of us had a vastly different amount of cards. I only had 5, Hope had 8, Ashlyn 4 and Bethany had the rest of the deck to herself. I called her on it and she said, "I get all de tards betauze I'm the do-rector (director)." I used to be the director of the PRC so she gets that it's the "boss".

Finally, one last thing. I have to share that my dad casually told me he loved me at the end of a phone call he initiated this week. He's told me before, but usually only if I say it first or if it's a warm & fuzzy holiday or something...I was touched for sure.