Our Summer Plans

So, I've been sitting around thinking about what we plan on doing this summer. And since I've been thinking about it I thought I'd share my thoughts.

Beaches, lots of trips to the beach this summer. We live in Michigan with a ton of lakes around us both in the Great Lake variety and smaller inland lakes. I can think of five right off the top of my head that are all located within a half hour drive of my house and are all on the great lakes. The campers aren't really good at swimming yet but they love going to the beach. Although I usually burn several times during the summer, no matter how much sun screen I put on, I too enjoy the beach each summer. 

The zoo! We haven't been to the Detroit Zoo in over a year. There's a new penguin exhibit that the girls are desperate to see and several animals that we haven't ever caught sight of. A day at the zoo, or two, will give us some much needed happy time this summer.

Parks. All kinds of parks around us. And we usually make it to at least one park a week anyway. But we'll be hitting the park a lot this summer. As many as we can get to. This might just be the last year that the older two campers will actually have fun playing on the playground equipment and I'm going to eek every second of that time out of them this summer.

The library! We only live a couple miles from our local library and within easy driving distance to three more in our area. We love the library and we'll be going there at least once a week, every week, this summer. Reading and movies abound!

And lots of more fun stuff like hiking, arts and crafts, nature journaling, and the like. I'm also already planning on next summer. Next summer will be filled with lots and lots of camping as we'll have our camper by the middle of next spring. We've got several favorite state park campgrounds that we love going to and several more on our list to check out. As a matter of fact, YCJ and Peanut have both requested that we go camping for their birthdays next year and that sounds like some major fun to both Daddy and I.

Other things that I must get done this summer include getting my crochet items stash up to the point where some items I will have on hand to sell at all times; such as baby dresses, baby blankets, water bottle cozies, can cozies, etc. I must get ECJ's courses figured out by September and buy all the materials not just for him but for the girls (who I've already started getting things ready for). Gardening is also getting done this year. We're just hoping that this year will be a good one for the tomato plants that we did in containers ... last year planting them on the side of the house didn't provide enough sun. I also have plans to exercise and loose weight over the summer, considering this past winter I gained 30 pounds over the holidays! And of course our summer lessons must be done. 

What are your summer plans?

Last Regular Week

OK, so some of you will be asking why this is our last regular week. The answer is simple... I originally planned to start our summer schedule the first full week in June, but Noni is coming next week and that would already count our week down to four days or working again on the weekend. The campers have been working really hard this year and so I decided that we'll start our summer schedule a week early! What does our summer schedule look like? Well, we do three weeks on and one week off all summer with only three school days per week. Usually those school days fall on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. What do we do with our other days during the week? We hit the beach, walk to the park or library, follow up on personal interests, you name it and we probably do it. Schooling year round isn't for everyone but this schedule works best for us because then we always finish all of our textbooks, we have no learning gap from vacation memory loss, and we still have plenty of fun days to do what we want to do.

Needless to say the campers are very excited!

Friday Daddy had to work so the campers and I got lessons in right after he left for work. We got them done in two and a half hours, with me planning the next week's worth of lessons during the last half hour while it was only ECJ working on book work left. He's very excited to try Life of Fred Fractions starting on Monday. We accidently got shipped LoF Fractions when I ordered LoF Beginning Algebra ... but looked into it and since it's a book to keep reviewing and that contains needed information for just about every higher math we've decided to keep it and work through it first. Noni ordered LoF Beginning Algebra for us to have on hand after we finish Fractions so we'll still have the book we wanted to begin with. He's nervous that he won't like it but I think he'll eat it up. If we have time this summer he'll also review Painless Algebra, if not he'll likely review it in the fall before doing the next level of Life of Fred. (If it really doesn't work for him I'll look into getting him Saxon math again before fall comes.) Peanut worked on measuring items around the house for the first real time with a ruler, using the inches for things like combs and pencils ... and centimeters for our seedlings that we're growing. YCJ struggled through some review of improper fractions and adding them together and then simplifying ... she'll get it eventually and now we have another book for her to use to review it, though she'll probably review it next fall or even next summer. After lessons and Daddy getting home we relaxed and enjoyed the cooler weather. We were thrilled by two days in the high 80's this past week (Wednesday and Thursday) but I got sunburned really quickly due to my fair skin and red hair ... Friday was only in the 50's so that was a HUGE jump in temperatures! Of course scooters were rode and friends were played with.

On Saturday we did the lessons we missed from the week when we were hanging out with Noni. The campers got them done really quickly (in under two hours) so that they could go outside and enjoy the 70+ degree weather. They all wanted to ride their scooters and possibly go to the park when Daddy got home from his appointment. But Daddy and I had to go do some quick grocery shopping and then when we got home Daddy gave the truck a tune up. The campers did spend a good portion of the day playing with their neighborhood friends, riding scooters, and enjoying the weather. I planted my mother's day flowers from the campers. And then, just as it started to rain in the afternoon, we all came inside to relax. Daddy took a nap, I crocheted, Peanut and ECJ played minecraft together on their tablets, and YCJ played her new Nintendo 3DS game for Pokemon. We had bratwurst and seasoned french fries for supper and relaxed the drizzly evening away.

A shawl I made for myself!

Sunday we got off to a slow start. Waking up on a gloomy gray day sometimes takes some extra effort. Once we did get up we went to mass and then left for a drive. We ended up at a cider mill close to Grandma and Papa's house so we stopped and grabbed a gallon of cider and two dozen donuts. Then we went over to their house to share in the bounty. Everyone enjoyed a lunch of cider and donuts and we hung out for several hours, Daddy cleaned out the gutters for Papa, and ECJ went next door to help take some things down to the basement. After leaving Grandma and Papa's house we went scrapping and, after filling the back of the truck, we headed home... grabbing some quick pizzas to eat in the truck on our way.

Monday rolled around to all the campers coughing from sinus drainage brought on by allergies. I actually had a decent headache from sinus pressure (first real painful headache since getting my daith piercing), so I took some medicine to try to get rid of it. Before beginning lessons for the day the campers did their chores and ate breakfast while I put together a crock pot supper for us and Daddy went to work. Lessons took approximately an hour and a half to do with ECJ doing his first chapter in Life of Fred Fractions. He sped through it, got all the questions correct, and really enjoyed the layout. We'll see if that continues. Peanut continued studying about insects, in particular the monarch butterfly, and working on Starfall learning to read a bit more. (We'll be working through McDuffy's Primer and Phonics Pathways again this summer just to cement the knowledge ... we might even pick up a level of The Good and The Beautiful over the summer for her.) YCJ did some extra work with multiplying fractions this day and reviewed more verb work. After lessons were completed. ECJ went outside to begin breaking down the scrap, YCJ worked on research for her last science report of the year using her new tablet, and Peanut kept switching between watching Netflix and playing with her brother's tablet. I spent some time working on the blog and our Facebook page and then crocheted. Once Daddy got home we reloaded the truck with the scrap, went to the scrap yard, sent some items across country for our eldest, and then went scrapping some more.


So, Tuesday rolled around and we didn't have enough scrap to take back to the scrap yard. This sometimes happens with Monday night loads. Daddy went off to work, the campers and I did lessons, and then I did just about half an hour worth of crochet while laundry ran from changing all the bedding in the house during those lessons. Daddy came home from work and we suddenly were in the middle of a project. He decided that today was the day to not only put the screens in the windows but to install the new window in our bedroom on his side of the bed. So suddenly I had a hole where my wall used to be! But soon enough the window was in along with a nice ledge above it to hold our window air conditioner year round and all the framing and caulking were finished. Siding still needs to be put back around the window opening and some dry wall work inside of our bedroom but I'm pleased as pie that it's done. After the window work Daddy and I had a "date night" and went scrapping on our own without the campers and filled the back of the truck pretty easily. Once we were home, after stopping at the grocery store for a few things we needed, I got in about another half hour of crochet while talking to my sister who lives in the next state ... she invited Peanut to be her flower girl in the wedding in November! Peanut of course said yes! Then it was off to bed with the campers and shortly followed by Daddy and I after I snuck in another half an hour or so of crochet. I'm currently working on a large cotton tote bag to take to the library with us since I threw out all of our backpacks because they were all ripped and no longer functioned. I'll buy more come fall when they're on sale.

Wednesday Daddy, ECJ, and I broke down the scrap that we had and organized it and then Daddy and I went to the scrap yard. They were talking rain in the afternoon so the girls rode their scooters while we were busy with the scrap until we left for the scrap yard. When we got back Daddy had to go into work for a little while and the campers needed to do their lessons. This was kind of a switch to our normal schedule but we still got our lessons finished in about an hour and a half. This is because we're already on our summer textbook load (well, except for ECJ who is still working on several things on the computer along with his textbooks). For summer we only do language arts and math and those are the only textbooks that we haven't finished yet this year. So spelling, then grammar lessons (and parts of speech), then a math lesson, followed by personal reading time. Which the older two prefer to do right before bed and Peanut prefers to work on her reading with me right after supper each night. Daddy came home and took a quick nap and I crocheted while the campers played some games together in the girls room. When Daddy got up he and I went scrapping again (usually Wednesday night is the last night each week we scrap, though sometimes we do Thursday's as well). After we finished it was home for supper time, medicine, reading with Peanut, games, quiet time, and bed.

Finally we got to Thursday and we were nearly done with the week. One more day of school after today (I type these up on Thursdays) and we're off for a week and then picking up our summer schedule. The campers and I are all excited for this. Lessons actually got done in less than an hour while Daddy was at an appointment. Then the campers split apart to do their own thing while I crocheted in between loads of laundry. There was no scrapping tonight and we ate leftovers for supper while the rain kept drizzling down all day and night.

Come on summer!!!

Posts you may have missed this week:
Homeschooling High School
What in the World is Scrapping

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What in the World is Scrapping?

It's come to my attention that some of you have no idea what we're doing when I say we've gone scrapping (which we do usually three to five nights a week). This is just a short blog post to let you know just what it is that we're doing.

First thing we do is figure out when trash night is each night and then drive around that area starting between four in the afternoon until five. We'll continue driving around until we fill up the bed of the truck. What are we looking for?

Metal. All kinds of metal. Aluminum, brass, auto cast, steel, just every metal that you can think of. Each type of metal is worth it's own amount at the scrap yard and we get paid per pound. So we separate the scrap by type and take motors off of things like lawn mowers so that we can be sure to get the most return for our work. 

Once we've done all the separating and taking apart of the metal we load the bed of the truck back up and drive to the scrap yard. Where we get weighed and then dump all the basic metal into a pile. Then we get weighed again and head to the office where we turn in the motors and special metals. After which we get paid for the metal that we've brought in.

It's a dirty bit of work, and you don't want to wear your best clothing or shoes to do scrap work. And often it doesn't pay a whole lot. First the truck gets back whatever we've used in gas to pick up the scrap metal ... usually about $40 with gas prices being what they are. What's left either gets saved for specific items like a camper (we're currently saving for a new one as we miss camping), birthdays, pizza nights, random things like that. Some days we're putting five dollars into the camper envelope and some days we're putting a bit more in ... there are even days that we put a lot more in.

The scrapping we've done so far in the past month and a half has paid for new used tires for our truck, brake pads all the way around, and a tune up. Plus items to send out to our eldest daughter and our granddaughter who live across country from us.

Scrapping is not for everyone. But, it's one of Daddy's hobbies and I enjoy going out with him. The campers join us in looking for scrap two to three times a week as they enjoy it too. They're learning to tell types of metals and the mechanics of taking apart small engine items. They may or may not continue to scrap once they're older (and we don't scrap in the winter) but they're learning to respect all types of hard work that make money, the value of the dollar, and that just because you do not have a college degree doesn't mean that you cannot support your family.

I hope that this clears up what scrapping is for those of you who didn't know.

Homeschooling High School

OK, y'all. Homeschooling high school for the very first time is flippin' scary! You're so afraid that you'll mess up your child at this stage because it's your last chance to teach them everything that they need to know before college! Totally freaked me out!

So, our first year (this past year, 2017-2018 school year) I enrolled ECJ into a public online high school because I didn't want to do him a disservice. Well, that only lasted about two months before we were officially over it. It just didn't work for us and he was often frustrated with the amount of waiting time between classes and having to be online at certain times of the day because he got credit towards his grades for being there for the live class. Yeah. Not a good fit for our family. 

So, I ended up piecing together a curriculum for him on the fly for his ninth grade year. We did a lot of items from Easy Peasy All-in-one High School such as :

• World History (which we also had a high school level text book for to reinforce) 1 credit
• Art Appreciation .5 credit
• Music Appreciation .5 credit
• Spanish 1 ... 1 credit (also added duolingo)
• Algebra 1 (which we also had a high school level text book to work through) 1 credit
• Earth Science 1 credit
• PE/Health 1 ... 1 credit

On top of that we did Literature and Composition for 9th grade, using a textbook that I had on hand) for 1 credit. Bible 1 ... also 1 credit. This gave us 8 credits for 9th grade which is within the normal parameters. 

It took about two weeks for me to get us set up and we did use a college level Algebra book for ECJ during those two weeks, and for a bit longer, before I found a high school level text for him to work through. He's hated Algebra all year long and so this summer we'll be working through Life of Fred Fractions AND Beginning Algebra and possibly reviewing Painless Algebra again. 

All of this got me realizing that it really isn't all that different from all the previous years that I've homeschooled him. I assign the books and daily lessons and he works through them asking me for help as needed or looking up answers online. Whew! What a relief! I won't mess my kid up while homeschooling him for high school! 

So, if you've been scared of those high school years just take a deep breath and relax a bit. You can do this! You are capable! You are awesome!

Mother's Day Week

Lilacs Daddy picked
for me since they're my
favorite!

Friday we spent the day with distractions. First Daddy and I went to the scrap yard and then we went and bought four new tires for the truck (well ... new to us tires with great tread) and had them mounted and balanced. After which ECJ mowed our yard and the neighbor's yard while the girls cleaned up some of the sticks that have fallen off of our many trees. Daddy started a fire to burn more of the old deck wood and a lot of the sticks that we have in a pile near the burn container (it's an old dryer drum lol). The campers spent most of their day outside due to the warm weather despite allergies kicking back up big time thanks to the cotton wood trees beginning to let go. All three campers are stuffy and not too happy, we're going through tissues like they're made out of air. I also ordered the Little House on the Prairie book set to get a start on what we'll need for next year's school year. The link provided is not the exact set that I purchased and has less of the books than I bought.

Fan in action

On Saturday Daddy had an appointment in the next town over, while he was gone the campers watched Netflix while I crocheted. I'm currently working on a pure white shawl, having put aside a blanket I'm working on for a little while. After Daddy got home he installed the fan in our living room. Which made me very happy! We'd found it while scrapping and it works perfectly, which is one of the reasons that I love scrapping. We spent the rest of the day relaxing together while the campers ran in and out of the house dodging the scattered showers.

Flowers the campers got me
for Mother's Day!

Sunday was Mother's Day and it was a really good one for me. We woke up a little early and got ready for mass then drove down to go to church with Grandma and Papa. We don't get to go to that church often but still love it, all of the campers were baptized there. After church everyone went out to brunch and then went back and visited with Grandma, Papa, Auntie and Uncle, and some of the cousins. The campers and their cousins mainly played outside while the adults sat and chatted. Around 3 PM we left and went scrapping, it took awhile to fill up the truck but we also found a full roll of still in the package laminate flooring (yay! Just the kind I wanted for my kitchen too!) and took a break at a local park that we usually stop at on Sundays after visiting with Grandma and Papa. Daddy bought supper while we were out so that I wouldn't be required to cook anything and then we came home and relaxed the rest of the day. Peanut had a minor meltdown where she sobbed and called my name, even while I rocked her, and she didn't know why she was crying. Sometimes autism sucks y'all.

Our school week started right on schedule Monday. Daddy and I woke up super early because I had an early appointment for my yearly mammogram at the women's healthcare center a couple of towns away. After we got back Daddy unloaded some scrap for ECJ to take apart then Daddy left for work and I began the girls book lessons. The girls were quickly done with their lessons and I was finished thinning out some tomato plants by 11:30 in the morning. Then Peanut worked on her art, YCJ began researching hamsters, and when ECJ finished with what he was doing he came in and did his book work. He still owes me a book report which is extremely late so hopefully he turns that in soon. Each week that goes by he's losing grade points on it. After Daddy got home from work he and I ran to the scrap yard and then went and did some more scrapping. Supper was leftover potato soup and most of the evening we just relaxed quietly and enjoyed a couple movies on Netflix as a family. The campers almost fell asleep during the last one because they'd spent so much time outside playing in the wonderfully warm weather.

Me goofing around
on one of the campers
scooters.

Tuesday was my birthday. We did our lessons like planned (I only do days off of school for the campers) and then Daddy and I did a quick trip to the scrap yard and then the whole family went scrapping in the afternoon. We BBQ'ed steak (a real splurge on our part) and had broccoli and cheese on the side. Topped off with a strawberry cheesecake for desert. The birthday person picks the meal in our family and that's what I picked.

Oreo ice cream cake! YUMMY!

Wednesday Noni came out so we didn't do any lessons (we'll be doing some lessons Saturday because of this). Daddy went to work before Noni got here. Instead we went out and celebrated my birthday and YCJ's (May 27th). We ate brunch at Denny's and then went shopping where I got yarn, printer ink, and a ton of new clothing (all on sale or clearance yeah!). ECJ got a tablet, a new Nintendo 3DS game, and some Littlest Petshop Toys. Peanut concentrated on My Little Pony stuff and ECJ got himself a new Nerf gun and a Playstation 3 game and a new to him DS game. Noni gives everyone a certain amount on every birthday that she'll spend and every member of the family gets something. A little bit of overkill but we love and appreciate that she does this. After Noni left it was another trip to the scrap yard and more scrapping. (Are you noticing a theme to our days yet?)

So, on Thursday, with temperatures in the 80's we did our lessons early in the morning while Daddy was at an appointment. Then we went to the park in our community where I dropped some things in the mail and the girls played. ECJ was at home breaking apart some scrap for Daddy. When Daddy got home we headed to the scrap yard and then came home to simply relax and try to stay cool. We did make one stop to pick up some clothing for our eldest daughter who lives on the other side of the country that we'll be sending out this weekend. 

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First Communion and a Break

Friday we did a home economics lesson first thing in the morning by making pancakes. The girls really enjoyed it and it was determined that we'll be doing this once a week until they know how to make them on their own.



Sunday was Peanut's first communion! Mass was at 8:30 in the morning and the whole family showed up to be with her on her special day. Then Auntie left with her family and we went out to breakfast with Grandma and Papa to celebrate! Here's some adorable pictures of Peanut in her pretty dress...

Monday in the middle of the night, 1:30 AM to be exact, we got a phone call that a family member unexpectedly passed away and we were devastated. Lessons were called off for the week, Daddy's boss gave him the entire week off to be with the campers and I, and we spent a lot of time distracting the campers at parks this week. Honestly there's not much to write about this week because I have been so emotionally drained and exhausted. I've felt lost except while during prayer. 

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Family and Fun

Peanut diagramming sentences.

Friday we did our lessons really quickly while Daddy was at work in the morning. Again he had to leave on this day before the rest of us even woke up, he stopped back into the house right around the time we were all waking up to pick up a couple of his tools. He's enjoying his new job which is only part time and gets him out of the house and keeps him busy. He's been very tired running around like a chicken with his head cut off since starting it but I can tell that he's happy. On Thursday night he'd installed a fan into our bedroom like he'd been planning on doing for over a year now and we picked up a ceiling fan for the girls room that will get installed sometime soon. The goal is not to have to use the window air conditioners very much this summer, but we'll see as it's already been unseasonably warm of late. After lessons we walked up to the store to pick up Daddy's medicine from the pharmacy and a gallon of milk since we used the last of it at breakfast. After coming home the campers spent most of the rest of the day outside enjoying the sunshine while I puttered around the house straightening it out. It's hard to really clean when most of the hallway and part of the living room is holding our new bathroom counters and sinks and the new kitchen counter tops that we'll be installing sometime soon. Just as soon as Daddy gets a day that he has nothing else that he needs to do. 

The seedlings at about
one week in.

On Saturday we spent most of the day relaxing. Peanut had her first reconciliation in the morning that Daddy and I took her to and then Daddy went to work for a little bit. But, for the most part we just hung out around the house and relaxed. Sunday one of the cousins had her first communion so we went down to attend their church and spend a good part of the day with family. We spent more than half the day with family and then went scrapping in the afternoon. Getting home early in the evening I cooked supper out of repurposed leftovers and then we settled in to listen to the rain on the roof. 

Monday we continued our lessons in fractions, decimals, and sentence diagramming. Lessons went rather quickly which was good because we were all restless because of the gray skies and the rain. YCJ began studying ferrets for her science topic this week, Peanut spent about an hour on ABC Mouse before calling it quits to play Minecraft, and ECJ tried to convince me that he really didn't need to know about graphing in algebra (he didn't manage it and spent a good chunk of his morning graphing and grumbling). In the afternoon Daddy and I went to the scrap yard to drop off the load that we'd picked up the night before. The rest of the day was rainy day laziness topped off with chili dogs and fried potatoes.

Now, normally I'd continue to go day by day and tell you what we've been up to each day. I'm sure that gets boring after a while. So, mainly our rest of the week went just like Monday. Lessons each day, scrapping each day except for Thursday, and lots of family time together. Peanut spent most of the week working on fractions and sentence diagramming and did very well. Both subjects are a little hard, especially when first learning them, and she's been breezing through them without much issue. YCJ worked with contractions in language arts (a total breeze fest for her) along with pronouns and worked with decimal usage and placement in math. ECJ wrote poems again this week, a chore for him since he absolutely hates poetry, and worked on his graphing in algebra. Science this week consisted of a workbook for Peanut, a report on ferrets for YCJ, and online work through Easy Peasy All In One Highschool for ECJ. And the only thing we did towards history this week was watch Liberty Kids DVDs ... this is because we're mainly done with history until fall, same with science, now we just enjoy the topics and dig deeper into the subjects that interest us. The only subjects that are done throughout the summer are language arts and mathematics, reading daily is also something that we do year round. Sometime this summer I'll break out some health books for the kids to go through and we'll get through health for this year as well.

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