Week 30 ~ A Mixed Week

April...Why do you so often mean illness to our family? Sure enough, we came home from vacation and promptly got sick, and not just a little sick, but some of us have spent the week bedridden sick. My mother and husband were struck down the worst. Dear husband only made it to two half days of work this week. Thank goodness he has loads of sick leave and a very understanding boss. The rest of us are at varying degrees of illness. Anne still managed to get to all of her dance classes. She had no fever so was allowed to go. Still we managed to get lots done. I suppose it isn't a big surprise that I didn't take tons of pictures this week.

Home Economics ~ It came to my attention a few weeks ago that Anne thought that, if everything wasn't made from scratch, then it was substandard. She seemed to have some guilt and judgment associated with boxed food. Now, it is true that we make the majority of our meals from scratch, but that is because of the dietary issues in our family. I certainly do not think that way of cooking is the only way to provide good quality meals. So this week our lessons revolved around stretching a ham into as many meals as possible and taking lots of short cuts. After all, being able to provide healthy "box meals" when your family is in crisis is very important, too.

Our first lesson was how to create a holiday meal when time is very limited. Anne made our Easter meal this week using pre-made food whereever possible. She planned the meal with the only rule being that the food had to come in a bag or a box. I helped her find safe ingredients with her meal choices. She made bagged Caesar salad, canned pineapple (she baked it), store bought prepared organic mashed potatoes, chocolate silk pie (she just had to thaw it) and nitrate-free, cooked ham that she only had to glaze and warm up. The meal was delicious, and she could have been proud to put it out for guests.

Her lessons on how to stretch a ham into many meals continued with a "boxed" meal concept. She made homemade mashed potatoes with ham; boxed organic mac and cheese with ham; canned biscuits with ham and cheese sandwiches; rice, broccoli and ham dish; and Crockpot bean and ham soup made with canned beans and boxed chicken stock. In total, she stretched a 6 pound ham into six different family meals for our family of five.

Biology ~ We only managed one biology lesson this week. The kids looked at the 35 slides we own and picked their favorite four to draw. They both were impressed with the slide of frog blood, of all things.

The Chore Guy ~  Dean got the least sick and so he got to do extra chores, poor guy. He mowed the yard and started painting his closet. He also kept up with the dishwasher and carrying anything heavy (like overflowing laundry hampers) around for me, plus folded lots of laundry. The house is still standing, albeit a bit cluttered.

The School List ~

Anne is very motivated to be done with all of her 8th grade classes (hopefully, next week), so she can just concentrate on her 9th grade classes.

• 8 math pages math
• Finished the fourth Harry Potter book
• 6 lessons in home economics
• 4 English grammar lessons
• 1 biology lesson
• 18 hours of dance classes
• Listened to the family read aloud, The Westing Game

Dean

• 6 math lessons
• Illustrated and studied two poems by Longfellow
• 2 Earth Science lessons about coral reefs and rocky shores
• 9 grammar pages
• 3 history lessons ~ immigration and the Statue of Liberty
• Two hour art class with Miss Laura ~ painting self-portrait with watercolors
• 1 Biology lesson
• Listened to the family read aloud, The Westing Game

Birthday ~ Tim (our adult disabled son who lives with us) celebrated his birthday this week. Those who felt well enough went out to dinner with him and we had cake at home. He has some big goals this year. He is finishing the training to be a dog companion at the Humane Society and is taking up boffing at the Wandering Swordsman with his brother. He is also continuing four days a week at the brain injury program he has gone to for years. That is a busy schedule for him. We are so happy he is finding contentment and meaning in his days.

Hopefully, we will all be completely recovered by the end of the weekend.

Blessings, Dawn