Collage Friday - STINK! and Too Much Rain

Welcome to Collage Friday!   
This week was truly a "homeschool collage" for us.   We touched on every subject area and will end the week with a homeschool day at Turner Field (home of the Atlanta Braves).  We are HUGE baseball fans, so we are all looking forward to this.  

There was A LOT of reading going on this week.   GMan discovered the Stink books - you know Stink, right?  He's Judy Moody's younger brother.   I was very impressed with these books, and G read two of them this week.  My favorite thing in the second book was the glow in the dark bacon and egg pajamas!  No wonder my son couldn't put them down.  (I also just discovered a discussion guide to go with the first book, and it's really good - putting that on the "to do" list for next week!)
Miss B finished Saddles, Stars and Stripes: Chance of a Lifetime.  I'm not sure she LOVED it, but she read it and said it was pretty good.  I'm still struggling to find books for her to sink her teeth into that AREN'T Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.  She has read those books several times each.  

I am almost finished reading Kisses from Katie.  All I can say about this book is GO GET IT AND READ IT NOW!  

 
Yes, that would be my crockpot buckled into my van.   I had to cook for co op this week -- every mom is responsible for bringing food one week, so this week I made Paula Deen's Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese and Squash Casserole (the theme for lunch was Southern Cooking).    I wanted to make SURE the food stayed in place on the drive to co-op, and GMan suggested I just buckle it in.  Clever boy.  

1.  It rained this week in Georgia.  A LOT.   I'm glad I have cute rain boots.  That's the only good thing about so much rain.

2.  Miss B and I made a very productive trip to IKEA.   Did you read how this little trip and a cupcake pulled me from the homeschool abyss.   Maybe you can relate? 
3.  My daughter is still responsible for one meal each week.  This week it was VERY simple, but she learned how to put it all together from start to finish:  grilled ham and cheese, fresh fruit, and chips.  This is one of those "clean out the frig" meals for our family.   She was a little intimidated by the griddle, but she got used to it.
4.  GMan was VERY excited to begin learning cursive.  Right now I'm just using some basic printables from Donna Young's site.  That is working well.  I may switch to Handwriting Without Tears (I used this for Miss B), but for now I'm going to try and save some money and piece my own handwriting curriculum together.  Donna Young's whole site is full of great resources -- it wins my Favorite Resource This Week - thanks, Susan for hosting this linky each week!!  
5.  Our sweet dog, Gizmo, had a seizure Thursday morning.  It came out of the blue and really scared me.  Miss B is VERY close to Gizmo.   (He came to us right when we took her out of school -- kind of like her first homeschooling friend.)   She laid with him most of the morning to make sure he was going to be ok.   Needless to say, a vet appointment has been made. 
6.  GMan saw this quote from MLK when we were downtown Monday.   "Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve."   I love that he pointed it out to me, and we all had a good discussion about what it meant.   We've been learning a lot about MLK recently and I'm so happy to see them understanding what he stood for.  
7.  We have been reading The Railway Children aloud from the iPad.  The book itself is a free download in the Kindle store.  I love that I can highlight quotes and use the dictionary with a tap of my finger.  This quote really struck me this week:  

Grown up people, even Mothers, often make remarks that don't seem to mean anything in particular, just for the sake of saying something, seemingly.    

Guilty.as.charged.    
8.  Both children made good progress in math this week.  I'm not above a little bribery, either.  They each have a favorite candy (G's is the Lego bricks pictured above) which I will let them snack on as long as they are focused during their math lesson.  It seems to work.  Somehow gummy worms take the edge off of reducing fractions!  
9.  Maple Bacon Yogurt - my new favorite - and I'm not kidding.   
How's that for a collage of a week?
I'd love for you to join me this week!  Feel free to link up your collage from this past week's activities.  Make sure you grab the button from my sidebar and use it in your post or your sidebar, or link back to my blog in some way.   I think Collage Friday is getting to be a great resource for some homeschool bloggers and that makes me very happy!

Comments

[Jess]

What a fabulous week! I just popped over to Amazon to learn about your book recommendation. I am going to see if I can get it for my Nook! Thanks! I love stories that are about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

[MamaTea]

My oldest LOVED Stink, I think I need to make that macaroni and cheese...and Maple Bacon Yogurt? Really? Hmmmm. I will try anything once!

[Amy @ Hope Is the Word]

Sounds like a great week, Mary! I'm still going "hmmmm" over that yogurt. ;-). It has been a HOT week in Alabama, with severe weather predicted for later today. Where did our winter go?!?

[Karen]

LOL I love the strapped in mac 'n cheese. WTG G-Man. How great that Miss B cooks once a week. That is awesome. Hope everything is fine with Gizmo. That picture is too sweet.

Bacon yogurt....really? Not sure about that one ;) Great week Mary.

[Jenn]

Maple Bacon Yogurt...never even heard of such a thing!! I'll just have to take your word that it's good:)

Looks like a beautiful week. Love the quotes you shared (MLK and the one about mothers)!

[Phyllis]

It must be so wonderful to have such eager readers. My younger boys hate to sit still long enough to read, and my older ones are very selective as to what they WANT to read. I also love the way you have a wonderful balance between home and social activities...it seems we homeschoolers always seem to err in one direction or another -too much or not enough social activities. The idea to have your daughter be responsible for one meal is an excellent one. I remember doing that with my daughter and now she is very capable in the kitchen...she is better than I am at some things. We love the Railway Children, too. Thank you for reminding me to get it out again for my younger two. Don't worry too much about the seizure. There are lots of medicines out there now...at least I know there are for people, I assume they are out there for dogs, too. Two of my children have epilepsy, so if you want to talk, I am here.

[Jen @ Forever, For Always...]

We have had the Lego candy before, of course what kid wouldn't love that?? I won't tell my kids your kids get candy while doing math, they would be so jealous! LOL! We haven't done a family read aloud in a while, my dh reads to the girls at night before bed and I think the Railway Children would be great for me to read to the boys. Thanks for the link!

[Hodgepodgemom]

Oh boy - having fun at Turner field! What a great way to end the homeschool week. Still loving your IKEA shelves and how you made them work for you. Slow cooker mac and cheese is a regular at our house as well. I agree with Phyllis that you have a wonderful balance between social activities and homeschooling :) And, yes, we love Judy Moody and Stink around here too! Thanks for hosting.

[Natalie]

Sounds like you had a great week! Thanks for hosting this fun meme :)

[Susan]

What a great collage of your week :) So many good things, as usual! The talk about mac & cheese really makes me want some...I do LOVE a good mac & cheese!! I hope your Gizmo is doing OK.
Thanks for linking with Favorite Resources...I have had Donna Young's site bookmarked on my computers since we started homeschooling, and have looked there several times for various printables :) It is a good site!

[Dawn]

You all had another great week. I love the mac and cheese with a seat belt on. I hope your sweet dog is ok.
Blessings,
Dawn

[Joelle A.]

Finally get to participate. I have been wanting to. That dish in the crockpot must have been good, anything from Paula Deen!

[Stephanie]

I'm sorry about Gizmo's seizure -- that sounds really scary. I have a friend whose dog has regular seizures -- it's disturbing but not life-threatening in any way. The number of seizures he experiences dropped dramatically when they changed his dog food.

[Wonder Mom]

OK, we will be thinking and praying for Gizmo here at the Fantastic Five. We have 5 big doggie friends, and i know how heart broken my kiddos would be if one of ours was ill...

[Karen]

That picture of the buckled up crock pot is the best thing I've seen all day. Made me chuckle. (:

[k balman]

Great week. Aren't you just loving a more relaxed style of homeschooling? Love that your kids are readers. That is my top goal to get the kids to learn to read and enjoy it. Because a great man once said "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."

[Theresa]

I saw that Maple Bacon yogurt you posted--not sure about that one! lol.

How was Paula Deen's mac & cheese?--too cute that you buckled it in!! I love my slow cooker and am always on the lookout for recipes!

We are planning a trip to Ikea this week!

[Michelle]

I've heard so many people comment that they love Handwriting Without Tears, but I've never tried it myself. I clicked through the link you left though to look at the way it works a little more. Thanks.