It's been a boring summer week. That's good. Boredom leads to creativity. Now, my kids might not tell you that same thing. Evidence, however, will prove otherwise.
After a fun Father's Day weekend (which included a piano recital and Braves game), we were ready for a dull week. The kids have been to swimming lessons and have done A LOT of drawing and crafting. They've also been playing a lot on the Wii Fit - playing together happily, which makes me happy.
I had created a Father's Day Pinterest board and let the children choose the crafts they wanted to make for their grandfathers and dad. I was so pleased with their choices, and they were, too. If you missed the post about "A Sample of Why We Love Our Grandpa", you should read it. This was such an easy and meaningful craft - and it doesn't have to just be used for Father's Day.
The real winner, however, was Daddy's Star Wars Kit. This was SUCH FUN! After a fiasco with our printer (which still isn't fixed - grrr...), we were able to print and assemble the kit. It was so clever, and the real joy came in my husband seeing what fun the kids had making everything.
Saturday we took my hubby to an Atlanta Braves game. We wound up purchasing tickets to three more games, so we'll go more this summer. We all LOVE baseball!
Sunday was Father's Day and also my piano students' recital. GMan played (his very first recital) and did a great job. I was a proud mom and piano teacher. I'll be honest and tell you I seriously considered stopping my piano teaching. In the end, however, I decided that I love giving the gift of music to children, and I love the interaction I get with students each week.
Father's Day culminated with a cook out at my father-in-law's house. We all had a great time.
We all spent a lot of time drawing this week, thanks to the clever game Pick and Draw! It has been a LONG time since we've done something this fun as a family. My husband (not generally the creative type - he's a numbers guy!), texted me a cartoon from work... he was inspired to keep creating beyond our time together. The game has also gone in Miss B's bag so she can play it with friends while we wait at GMan's swim lessons. I'm telling you -- it's just FUN! Pick and Draw definitely was our Favorite Resource this week!
I'm still reading Harry Potter aloud to the kids... they both know the story, but I've never read it before. My mission this summer is to delve into this world - specifically for my daughter, who loves Harry. I feel like it's been a whole world that I can't share with her, but that is changing!
The kids are also doing lots of summer reading. We are recording it on the printable reading logs I made (did you get yours?). Miss B is particularly enjoying the first book in The Viking Quest series.
I found out through Amy about getting A Thomas Jefferson Education through the Kindle Lending Library on Amazon. While Miss B was in piano, GMan and I spread a quilt on the teacher's front lawn and just READ. If you haven't read this book you really need to - it's an eye opener. I'll be done with it by the weekend I'm sure.
Other odds and ends from the week:
I've almost lost 10 lbs! Thanks to the LoseIt! app on my iPhone it's been easy to track my calories and exercise. The goal is to lose 40 total by December, and I'm on track to do that. I already am noticing that I feel a bit lighter. Hooray! {This isn't an easy topic for me to write about. I'm pretty private about some things, and weight is one of them!}
My favorite recipes this week was Baked Swiss Steak; it was easy to prepare and delicious. I continue to use Plan to Eat to plan all my meals - I would be lost without it.
We'll be going to the Georgia Aquarium this weekend. We haven't been in almost four years, so everyone is excited. The new dolphin show is supposed to be very good.
We listened to The Sorcerer's Apprentice, from Maestro Classics. Next week we will be making a water xylophone, which I think will be tons of fun. I learned so much from this CD - each time I listen to one of their CDs I keep getting a new favorite! These CDs could be your complete music history curriculum for next year!
Did you miss any posts this week?
Getting Started With Notebooking - Notebooking Success ebook giveaway
Why Being Confused in Your Homeschool is GOOD
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