Thursday, August 6, 2015

Week 3 ~ Searching for Balance

I should have titled this post "Searching for balance and people who do what they say they are going to do the first time". I am so frustrated with the lack of follow-through I see all around me. This week alone I can count a half dozen experiences where people have failed to do what they said they would do the first time. I realize that part of this is because we are a complicated family that I am trying to juggle, plus we have a higher than average amount of appointments and bureaucracy to deal with on a daily basis than many have. But really, when you say you are going to do something, do it already. Why do I have to call over and over again to get things accomplished? I wonder why the world seems to be more complicated now when we have all this media and technology that is supposed to make it easier. On the bright side, Goldilocks' insurance is supposed to be moved back next week to her former pediatrician whom we love. (Her former mental health home wanted her with a different doctor because they didn't want to drive the 10 extra miles to take her to our preferred pediatrician.)  I have been struggling to get that accomplished since the first week of June! That is just one wrinkle in the quilt of life that is filled with dozens of wrinkles. Really, this little rant is not meant to be a pity party. I know we all have struggles; this just happens to be my sticking point right now.

This week has been a week filled with good things! I feel like I remained intentional and was able to do things that were important and meaningful for our family. We accomplished fun, learning, work, and shared loving moments.

We accomplished lots of science. Our most recent Tinker Crate was about flight and the Wright brothers. How perfect is that after our recent trip to the Outer Banks and the Wright Brothers National Memorial?! The kids made nine planes and gliders. Then they made a blimp (held up by helium balloons) and tested how much weight it could take by filling it with rice a few grains at a time.



We attended the movie, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. It was fantastic and left us in stitches. We also visited our local mineral and gem museum, which we try to go to once a month with our annual pass. The kids are learning so much from going back repeatedly to the museum and doing their different scavenger hunts. This time the museum's geode cracking machine was working so we purchased a geode. The kids were so excited to see their geode cracked and be the first to see the inside. How amazing that something so beautiful comes from gas bubbles in a volcanic eruption!

Their geode was clear quartz and amethyst quartz
The kids made a Roman sundial to go along with our Ancient Rome studies. They really didn't enjoy this project, but it came out pretty good. However, they are really enjoying Augustus Caesar's World. I knew this book would be a perfect fit for them.


May I just say that I love Life of Fred? The kids just eat it up and are retaining what they learn. This format works so well for them. It isn't easy stuff, either. We are still in the elementary series, but they are already getting a taste of algebra. This is what our white board looked like after a few chapters this week.


The kids did a fair amount of seat work this week. They made it through all of the writing, spelling and math. We also completed Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson and started Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.

Anne always has that Rubiks Cube handy. She has figured out how to solve it in minutes ~
no matter how much someone messes it up.
Lastly, I decided to take all of our art supplies down to the basement. We had a ton and the art cabinet was always a disaster. This arrangement is so much better. It sure was a mess getting it all moved, though.


Now I can find stuff!

How was your week?

Blessings, Dawn

9 comments:

  1. I'm sorry you are so frustrated. I will pray for next week to be full of people doing things when they say they will!

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  2. Hi Dawn. I just visited your blog for the first time. We loved August Caesar's World too. We read through it many years ago with my son. We went through much of the elementary Life of Fred books with our daughter as a supplement and she thoroughly enjoyed every single one. Where do you find Tinker Crates? I have never heard of them. It looks like you had a great time with them.

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  3. Re people following things through - I think people say they'll do things without thinking it through. I'd rather just have a straight 'No' than wait around wondering if someone was going to turn up. Hope you have a better experience next time around.

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  4. That's so perfect that your tinker crate lined up with your visit to the museum. I love when stuff like that happens!

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  5. I ger pretty frustrated when folks don't follow through on what they say they will do! I hope next week is much less frustrating!

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  6. Organizing always results in such a mess before the end; it's scary sometimes. Sorry about all the hassles this week. We've been going around with some places too. It gets frustrating when they drop the ball, but expect you to always do your part immediately.

    It does look like you guys had a great week though. All the projects are so much fun. Amber is enjoying Life of Fred too and retaining so much more these days. I just don't get it, but she loves it.

    Have a great week!

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  7. I understand the frustration of people not following through all too well. I'm glad that you were able to switch back to your pediatrician, though. I love your art supplies! I'm glad you had a good week!

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  8. I'm sorry for your frustrations this week. Hoping this new week was a better one. Looks like it was a nice full week of hands-on fun!

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  9. I'm sorry you've had such a frustrating week. I cannot believe all you accomplish even with everything you have going on. I hope to start in two weeks and I'm nowhere near ready.

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