Week 20 ~ Friday Wrap-Up

On My Mind ~ This week flew by. It was a good week. I am totally engrossed in the book, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.  I find it has good research and many of the facts ring true in my family's life. We are already eating this way to some degree (organic, very few grains, lots of whole foods). We will be implementing more of her ideas in the coming months, although I don't think we will be moving to raw milk. However, we may drop milk (but not dairy) from our diet altogether. We already are eating raw cheese and whole milk yogurt. I plan on learning how to make yogurt very soon. We are planning on getting chickens in the spring and having cage-free, pasture-fed eggs.

Our Field Trip ~ We went to the Nasher Museum to see the Cone Sister exhibit and visit the Duke Gardens. I talk more about it here. We loved seeing close up so many Matisse and Picasso works of art!

Science ~ Our ants finally arrived. We are having so much fun watching them dig their new home. They sure are busy creatures. Hopefully, they will inspire my children to clean their rooms more often, ha ha!

Literature ~ We are working our way through Laura Ingalls' book, The Long Winter, and doing projects to go along with the book. I will be posting about it when we are done. We are also enjoying the audiobook, Al Capone Shines My Shoes, in the car. It is a great book that keeps us on the edge of our seats.

The Three R's ~ We finished Level 1 of All About Spelling this week. They all liked it very much. It was easy for two of my kids but a real struggle for one. I will be moving all of them on to Level 2. Math is going well and I need to order the next level of Teaching Textbooks. I am waiting for all of them to have their multiplication tables down pat just a bit better. I am requiring a short paper from each child each week now. This involves much whining from Tom Sawyer. Nonetheless, I am seeing improvements already in week three of this new technique.

Charity Work ~ We are well on the way with our project to do 26 acts of kindness in remembrance of the Newtown tragedy. I will be posting about this in a week or two when we are done.

In Other News ~ There is a small portion of our land that looked like it was ours, but alas was mistakenly left out of the foreclosure. It still belongs to the previous owner. However, the city is about to take it because she has not paid taxes on it in a few years. Fortunately, she has agreed to sell it to us, and we are trying to jump through all the hoops with the lawyer before the 1st of February (the date when the city says it will take the land). Please pray that this all goes well, and we get the land before the government does. Thank you! We will be paying the back taxes in the process of buying the land.

I am joining Homegrown Learners.

Blessings, Dawn