Meet the Campers - Revised

So, every year I take part in ihomeschool network's not back to school blog party ... and this year is no exception. This happens every September with a new topic each week to link up to the party. This year they're not doing a "meet the student" post, but I still thought that I'd do one. (I'll be doing a post for every week of the blog hop too don't worry.) I know you all basically know my campers by now, but we'll just revisit them a little individually so that you can get to know them a bit more!

A basic review of the entire family (and this blog, along with the earlier version of it) is that we were once a full time camping family! Yes, we lived in an RV with three dogs and a cat for a little over 18 months and homeschooled!!! That also happened to be our first full year of homeschooling. I started the original version of this blog that year as well but for some reason never really got into what it was like to live full time in a camper (maybe a post for another time). Now, we enjoy camping as often as we can but since we're not tent campers (I am too old to sleep on the ground comfortably lol) we haven't been camping in over two years ... we're saving up for a new camper. Hopefully we'll have a new to us camper before summer of 2018 ... but we're not planning on ever living in a camper again, at least not so long as any of the children live with us.

So, we'll begin with me ... Mom. I'm currently 37 years old and my main hobby is crochet. I enjoy teaching my children so much that I plan on eventually getting my teaching degree and teaching other children, preferably in a private school with a little leeway in how I handle the day to day. I also enjoy reading and playing The Sims 3 on the computer ... though I don't play video games as often as I used to. My main goals for the 2017 - 2018 school year are to make learning more fun (we're doing more unit studies this year) and to make sure the campers enjoy learning.

Daddy is 39 this year and has a disability that limits how much he can actually do at any given time. But, you wouldn't notice it most of the time because he's a busy beaver who knows how to pace himself to get what needs to be done done. He works part time outside of the home and some days he enjoys his job while some days he does not. His main hobby is scrapping - he's been doing it on and off for nearly the last decade. He fully supports homeschooling and teaches the campers things like home and car maintenance.

ECJ (Elder Cracker Jack) is currently 15 and will be turning 16 in January of 2018, he's going into tenth grade this school year. He's been diagnosed with ADHD and although he once was on medication for it he's been off of medication since before we began our homeschool journey. His main interests right now include video games and his skateboard. The main thing that he wants to learn this year is to drive a car ... because, you know, teens and driving. He'll be taking driver's education this fall and is very excited about it.

YCJ (Younger Cracker Jack) is 12 right now and facing all the troubles that come with being a twelve year old girl, she's going into sixth grade this school year. Diagnosed dyslexic back in 2010 when she was in public kindergarten she's worked hard at her reading for years now and not let her diagnosis become a crutch. Her main hobby is collecting, and participating in an online community about, Littlest Pet Shops. She's just recently discovered that other girls can be very mean and is trying to learn how to deal with it without taking it completely to heart. 

Peanut will be turning 9 in September and she's entering third grade this school year. Peanut has a myriad of diagnosis, one of which (the one that impacts day to day life most) is autism. Her favorite color is pink, favorite subject in school is math, and her favorite animal is horses ... though she'd say unicorn if they existed. She currently enjoys playing with Littlest Pet Shop toys and collecting them. She's only beginning to enjoy spending time on her own, up until the last six months or so she always needed to be playing with one of her siblings or us parents. She's the baby of the family and she knows it too.

Moragon is Daddy's service dog. She's six years old now and we've had her since she was very little. She might seem a bit scary because she's so big but really she's just a giant lap dog.

Shadow is our 16 year old lab mix. He's getting really old for a dog and we cherish each day that we have with him. Mostly he sleeps the day away now.

Lily Cat is our five year old cat, but we've only had her about a year and a half. Yes, she came to us as big as she is now. You'd never guess it by her size but she's really a picky eater ... unless it involves ice cream.

And finally, last but not least, is Sugar Baby. We brought her home from a family that needed to rehome her last year. The girls are still absolutely smitten with her. She enjoys every part of dandelions and eats bananas like their going out of style but won't touch zucchini.

So, that's us. Just a regular homeschooling family sharing our lives with you.

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Week with the Solar Eclipse

Friday was a pretty normal day around here. The girls slept in until 11 which meant that I'd drank three cups of coffee, Daddy had gone to work, and ECJ was out unloading scrap from the truck and taking scrap apart. I jotted down some notes for this post and then I went with the girls on a walk into town to pick up Daddy's paperwork from his new doctor that he's seeing next week. Once we got back the girls went outside to play while ECJ finished taking apart scrap and I went back to work on crocheting things for the craft sale that I have coming up. When Daddy got off of work he and I ran to one of the houses in town where we'd been hired to take down a shed, it was quick work and we were done with it in short time. After that we loaded up the truck for Saturday morning and relaxed the rest of the day. I made tuna noodle casserole for supper which is a favorite in our house.

Saturday morning started with a trip to the scrap yard. We had money that we had to pick up from earlier in the week and a load of shred metal to get rid of. Then it was off to Grandma and Papa's house (ECJ stayed home with the dogs by his choice) to help Papa get the camper out of storage. Daddy and I went with Papa to make sure the dishes were secure and tow the camper back to his house while the girls stayed and hung out with Grandma. When we got it back to the house we hung out for a while and Papa bought pizza for supper. Shortly after that we headed home and were in bed pretty quickly. On Sunday, after mass, we all loaded up into the car and went down to Grandma and Papa's house again. We stopped to play at the park at the end of their street because they'd gone for a ride after church. While I hung out with Grandma and the campers played outside for the majority of the day, Daddy and Papa worked at repairing a leak in the front of the camper and caulking some areas that needed redone this year (it's been three years since maintenance has been done on the camper). The campers helped Grandma get some bedding out of the camper and I was Daddy's go getter (go get me this and go get me that) for most of the afternoon. For supper we ordered chicken and enjoyed each other's company. Then it was back home ... where Daddy and I ran to pick up some scrap and the campers did their evening chores.

Monday I struggled with not wanting to wake up for the day. Daddy went off to work, ECJ did his morning chores and then took apart a little bit of scrap, the girls ate breakfast and then took showers, and I did laundry. When Daddy got home the girls were doing their chores and I was making some notes for this blog post. He and I went to the scrap yard really quickly and then called Grandma and Papa to see if we were going down this day to wash the camper or if it would be another day ... it was decided that we won't be going down again until Wednesday (due to rain in the forecast on Tuesday). So we picked up the girls, ran an errand in the next town over, watched the eclipse (77% totality here), and then went scrapping. While we were out we stopped at two more parks and picked up frozen drinks. Supper was breaded fried zucchini and mac and cheese. And right before bed I pulled a muscle in the lower right of my back!

On Tuesday everybody slept in late. Like after 11 am late. My back was still hurting and Daddy had to go to work. I put the clothing in the dryer on for half an hour to get out the wrinkles, ECJ went outside to take apart scrap, and the girls were playing with their Littlest Pet Shops. I folded the laundry after updating the blog and then crocheted until Daddy got home from work. We then dropped everything off at the library that was due, went to the next town over to scrap, and came home so I could cook tuna noodle casserole for supper. Due to on again and off again rain all day long the campers didn't spend a ton of time outside but they did get some time out in the yard with their friends (and of course ECJ was out the longest taking apart scrap). By night time my back was feeling better ... motrin and muscle rub works wonders. But, I have a huge bruise near my tail bone from pulling the muscle (at least I'm assuming that it's a pulled muscle).

Wednesday Daddy went into work and ECJ took apart more scrap. The girls played outside with their friend (the neighbor girl) most of the day. I crocheted most of the day and rested my back. When Daddy got home from work we went to the scrap yard and then out scrapping, taking the girls with us, and picking up pizza for supper after a stop at the park. 

So, Thursday Daddy again went to work and ECJ was taking apart scrap. The girls and I were supposed to walk up to the big park in town but it was too chilly to go up there without jackets and they were all still packed away with the fall and winter clothing. Instead they had a lazy morning at home. When Daddy got home we all loaded ourselves and the scrap up into the truck and went to the scrap yard. Followed by a trip to Grandma and Papa's house so that Daddy and ECJ could wash their camper. The girls spent the afternoon (now warmed up into the high 70's) outside in the backyard.

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Civil War Reenactment

Friday Daddy went into work for a little while and then he and I went and hit part of the 200 mile yard sale that was going on! Yup, 200 miles! Every year in Michigan at this time of year they hold it and you've never seen so many yard sales in your life! We scored big time with a purchase of eight new to us Nintendo DS games and twenty or so books (mostly Amish romance, which I like because there's nothing unwholesome in them). After we got home I worked on a camisole top that I've been trying to finish for what seems like forever (I finished it after supper) and then made cheesy chicken again for supper ... because we just have so much chicken!

On Saturday we had a blast!!!! Everyone slept in until we were ready to get up and then we got ready and went to a Civil War reenactment a few towns over from us. We saw a one room school house that was built during the Civil War, Peanut tried to ring the school bell but was lifted right off of the ground by the rope! They had a chapel that was built out of stones and shells from all over the world, a log cabin that had three rooms ... bedroom, kitchen, and main room, a blacksmith shop, a gift shop, and several tents set up. At one of the tents we met a man who had authored several children's books and we bought two (which he signed to us, one to the entire family and one just to Peanut), he also let the campers try on some of his Civil War gear and showed them some dirt from a real battlefield of the war (I think he said it was from Georgia but I could be mistaken). The campers saw so many people in period garb and watched a lot of how they lived during the war. Afterwards we came home and the kids played on their electronics while Daddy took a nap and I worked on a hat for a friend. The historical society that hosted the reenactment will also be hosting a craft fair that I just might attend and set up my shingle at.


Sunday we went down to Grandma and Papa's house for mass and hung out all day long. We'd brought steak and strawberries with angel food cake for the meat and desert and Grandma made baked potatoes and corn on the cob to go with it. We try to do something like this at least once a month with Grandma and Papa. After mass Papa treated us all to brunch! This was an unexpected surprise and was awesome to say the least. Seven of us sitting around in a restaurant chatting and eating our brunch after a wonderful mass. We watched a couple movies at Grandma and Papa's house, well ... the adults did. The campers were in and out of the backyard, watching Spongebob Squarepants, and in the play room. Supper turned out fabulous! The steak was darn near perfect and had that wonderful taste from a charcoal grill, the potatoes and corn were awesome, and the company made the evening wonderful! We stopped at a park on the way home (so that Peanut kept part of her weekly routine, though we skipped the frozen drinks because it was getting close to dark). We also discovered, after the campers ate almost a whole jar of peanuts, that Peanut "may" just have a mild peanut allergy. She doesn't eat a lot of peanuts or peanut products and was saying that her throat felt funny. It's something we'll be keeping an eye on in the future. 

The chapel that was on the
Civil War reenactment grounds.

After a busy, but fun, weekend we ended up with Monday. I'm really not a Monday type of person, although Tuesdays usually end up being the bad day of the week for me for some reason. Daddy and I got up around 8:30 and drank coffee together, wondering quietly to each other if the truck would be finished at the shop this day or Tuesday. Around 9 we woke up ECJ to do his morning chores and eat breakfast, we discovered that ECJ had left the hose on all day Sunday and overnight! I am dreading the next water bill now! Daddy left for work around 10 and I woke the girls up for their chores and breakfast. While they were eating breakfast I started a load of laundry, turned off the crock pot to cool of the chicken soup that was in it, and chopped up the veggies for and finished making a tomato, cucumber, and onion salad. Then while the girls did their chores I updated this post and took out meat from the deep freeze for supper ... pork chops was what was on the menu. After that it was just a mix of ECJ cutting grass at our house and those he'd hired on to cut grass at, the girls cleaning their room and then playing outside, and me running the vacuum and the crocheting quietly until Daddy got home. Daddy got home around 12:30 from work, just in time to take ECJ and YCJ to the dentist to fill a couple of cavities that had been found on their six month check up. Peanut and I went along for the ride (that, and Daddy doesn't like going into the offices during dentist appointments if he can help it). So, after the dentist appointment we ended up picking up the truck from the shop since it was done and going out for a quick scrapping trip just Daddy and I. YCJ felt like cooking so she made pancakes for supper for herself and her siblings and when Daddy and I got home we just ate the salad I had made for supper. So, that found me (after a long bath and watching some TV with Daddy, plus doing some more laundry) making more salad for Tuesday night's supper.

Tuesday we unloaded what little scrap we'd picked up out of the truck and then Daddy went to work. ECJ had four things to take apart so he headed outside directly after chores and breakfast. Peanut woke up and watched YouTube while eating breakfast and I put her bedding in the laundry while updating the blog. YCJ slept in this day. Since I'd prepped for supper on Monday I didn't have anything to do for supper in the morning. I got a piece of exciting news that we were going to be able to do a review on Exploring Nature with Children this morning!!! We'll be starting it with our regular lessons in September so look for a beginning review in October! I did more laundry (the girls bedding needed washed and changed ... ECJ does his own now), vacuumed the carpets again since the dogs are shedding like crazy, and crocheted while Daddy was at work. The girls did their chores and cleaned their room after YCJ finally woke up and ate breakfast. ECJ played his new favorite Playstation 3 game after finishing with the scrap and cutting one more lawn that he hired on to cut. We had an appointment at six o clock here in town so when Daddy got home from work we ran to the next town to do some scrapping, made our appointment, and then finished scrapping. I made supper when we got home, adding mac and cheese to the menu since the kids don't eat much of cucumber/tomato salad (they don't like the onion that I put in), and everyone was in bed and sleeping by their allotted bedtimes ... including Daddy and myself.

On Wednesday we had pretty much the same type of day as Monday and Tuesday. The only main differences were that Daddy and I stopped at the grocery store for milk, dropped the milk off back at home, and then went down to Grandma and Papa's house to take out the trash, followed by an evening of scrapping their area. And sometime in the middle of all of that we also went to the scrap yard. The campers ate what they wanted for supper (pancakes again) and Daddy and I ate fried zucchini "steaks" for supper with the ever present (this week at least) cucumber/tomato salad. 

Working on washcloths

It's now Thursday morning and it's raining outside with the forecast calling for more of the same off and on all day. Two out of the three campers have already been up, done chores, and have eaten breakfast ... Daddy is at work. I'm waiting on YCJ to wake up while I have laundry in the washer and I'm busy typing up the last bit of this post. There's not much on the agenda for today. Cleaning a bit of the house, organizing some of our homeschool stuff to get ready for the beginning of the school year, and crocheting more washcloths to be sold in an upcoming craft sale that I'm going to be a vendor at. Daddy has a scrap load to pick up this afternoon that he's had scheduled for about a week now. And likely with the rain the campers will spend most of the day playing the Playstation 3 and their tablets/phones (only one has a working phone that makes calls and texts ... the others are simply used for games and YouTube).

Cucumber/Tomato Salad

• 1 cucumber
• 3-4 tomatoes ... depending on size
• 1/2 med. chopped onion
• Italian dressing
• chopped up mild cheese (optional)

To make cucumber/tomato salad chop 1/2 a medium onion and place in a bowl. Slice up a cucumber and quarter the slices and also add to the bowl. Then cut tomatoes into small wedges, cut again in half, and then add to the same bowl. Pour in half a bottle of Italian Dressing and stir well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least three hours, better if left overnight. Add a mild chopped up cheese such as provalone, munster, swiss, or mozzarella right before serving and also give the salad another good stir right before plating it. 

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Two Weeks Instead of One

So, I decided to do two weeks instead of one in this update. Usually I update weekly but since one of my favorite places to link up was taking a week off I decided that it might be a good week to take a week off myself! Not that I'm actually taking a week off of blogging (I work on updates every day) but I just won't publish this until there's two weeks worth of information.

Relaxing at Grandma and Papa's house.

The first weekend:

• Friday Daddy and all of the rest of us got up relatively early and when Daddy went to work I jumped on the blog to finish up a post and then start this one, threw some laundry into the wash, and then played my computer game for a bit. ECJ finished taking apart some scrap while both girls played on their electronics (mostly watching Littlest Pet Shop YouTube channels) ... and then ECJ did his lawn mowing job. After Daddy got home we all ran to the scrap yard and then to Grandma and Papa's house. Daddy had to install their new dishwasher that had gotten delivered and the campers wanted to go for a visit. We ate supper at their house and when we got home everyone simply relaxed until bedtime. Three kids and a mom reading books while Daddy watched the local news.
• Saturday we ran Grandma and Papa's old appliances to the scrap yard first thing in the morning to get them off of the truck (the wind kept trying to blow the fridge out of the bed of the truck even though it was strapped in!). While we were doing that the campers were doing their chores. When we got back Daddy went to work, I ran the vacuum and did some laundry, and the campers went outside to play in the amazing weather (it was only in the 70's this day!). Daddy wasn't at work long and when he got home he played catch with YCJ, who really wants to join the softball team next year, and Peanut. We watched a movie as a family in the evening ... just one of the ones that we have laying around. Supper was chili dogs and chips.
• Sunday we went to mass first thing in the morning, for us that means the 11:30 mass on Sunday's because we all like to sleep in. After lunch we packed up some chicken and some corn on the cob and headed down to Grandma and Papa's house. We BBQ'ed there for supper and then went scrapping. Doing our normal park stops and frozen drinks while we were out. We didn't get home until late and the campers all went straight to bed after the girls had gotten their medicine.

Monday Daddy had to go to work first thing in the morning, the campers tried to sleep in but ECJ had scrap to take apart and it was too nice of a day for the girls to sleep until noon. So, they quickly ate breakfast and did their chores and then all three of them were outside either playing or taking apart scrap. I caught up on this post and did some admin related things on our Facebook page so that the holidays for August would be ready the next day. I then researched a little more into just what was left to be bought for the school year curriculum wise and figured out how much more I needed to spend on it. When Daddy got home from work around 1 PM we loaded the scrap back into the truck and went to the scrap yard. It was a small load. After that we came back home and I made pork chops with fried zucchini for supper and we all relaxed for the rest of the night. 

On Tuesday we pretty much had another relaxing day. Daddy went to work after taking me to an appointment that I had at 11 AM (which means the girls woke up around 10:30 AM with me saying we'd be back soon lol). I walked in to the lovely sight of YCJ cooking pancakes for herself and her siblings for brunch, she'd meant to get up early and make them for breakfast so she was a little disgruntled that she'd slept in. After pancakes the campers finished their chores and all went outside to play, well ... ECJ went and mowed one of the lawns he gets paid to mow that he hadn't mowed on Saturday. I tended the garden, did some laundry, and played on Facebook for awhile and then read until Daddy got home. Daddy took a nap while I read some more and the campers stayed outside playing. Around 6 PM I called the campers inside to eat something (this night it was leftovers or make your own supper as neither Daddy nor I felt like cooking), Daddy woke up and he and I ate cinnamon sugar toast for supper. After we ate I took a long hot bubble bath with my book and Daddy watched some TV while the campers played off and on on their electronics together and separately. After my bath it was bedtime for the campers, complete with reading and battle of the kisses. Daddy and I were in bed and asleep before the 11 PM news finished.

Wednesday I slept in until it was time for Daddy to leave for work, then I got up and drank my first cup of coffee while looking at emails and Facebook notifications on my phone. ECJ decided to play a little Playstation 3 Final Fantasy X while the girls still slept (I beat the game he's working on now the year that Peanut was born but on a different game system). After my second cup of coffee I sat down at the computer (after turning on the dryer to get the wrinkles out of the clothing so I can fold it in half an hour) and updated this blog post. The girls slept in until after 11 this morning, ahhh the joy of actually taking the summer off of lessons ... my children seldom sleep in past 9 AM during the school year and it's awesome to me to see them so relaxed that they'll sleep until almost noon. After folding the laundry leftover from Tuesday (during my reading binge I decided that folding the last load could wait) I worked on a couple blog posts that I want to get posted for the new school year. The girls did their chores and then headed outside to play some more, ECJ saved his game and joined them even though he was still a little sore after falling out of a tree on Monday (no serious injuries he's just sore from the impact where he wrenched his back when he landed on his feet). I crocheted some on the top I'm making for myself, a cami that's to be worn over a tank top, and waited for Daddy to get home from work. Supper was soup and sandwiches on this rainy evening. I did cut up a tomato and cucumber for the kids to add to supper so it'd be a bit more healthy. After scrapping we all watched some TV together (while I crocheted) and then the campers went to bed, shortly followed by us parents.

On Thursday we started out our day with Daddy going to work and me paying some bills online. Daddy surprised us all with breakfast from McDonald's!!! The girls were over the moon excited to be woken up to breakfast burritos and hashbrowns. After eating breakfast Daddy went back to work and I finished paying the majority of August's bills. The girls went outside to play right after eating and ECJ went outside to take apart some scrap. After finishing paying the bills I worked on some blog posts for the upcoming two months and did a load of laundry. Once Daddy got home we went to the scrap yard twice! Bringing home pizza for supper was a nice surprise for the campers. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing together.

Friday!!!! Friday was awesome!!! We went to a local homeschool group's annual family picnic and had a blast!!! There were lots of families and tons of food. Face painting and the local fire department came and showed off for the kids. Everyone had a lot of fun socializing and meeting new people. (We also picked up some awesome homeschool curriculum for free!) After the picnic we dropped ECJ off at home, because he wanted some "me" time, and went for a long drive ending up at Grandma and Papa's house for about two hours. We had a great visit and the campers (yes, even ECJ) were given bracelets by the neighbor lady who lives next to Grandma ... ECJ got his when we got home. Supper was rotisserie chicken, mac and cheese, and cucumber/tomato/onion/provolone salad. We watched some TV together as a family and then it was off to bed for the campers ... shortly followed by us parents.

The rest of the second weekend:

• Saturday Daddy got up pretty early and went into work, making up for the time that he took off on Friday to take us to the picnic. Daddy makes his own schedule at work so he really didn't need to make up any time but he also has responsibilities that he takes seriously and he knows the time frame that he has to get certain things done. The campers slept in this day, waking up around 11 AM ... well, except for ECJ who was up by 9 taking the dogs out. The campers cleaned their rooms and did their other chores after eating breakfast. I did a load of laundry and finished up the first pot of coffee. I won an e-book related to homeschool and organization from a Facebook flash giveaway and updated the blog. Four wonderful tomatoes were picked off of the tomato plants (perhaps a day or two early but trying to fall off of the plants). After Daddy got home he and I ran to the store and picked up Boss Baby to watch together as a family. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying pizza and movies all together. 
• Sunday we went to mass at 11:30 ... one of my favorite things about our church is this mass time. No waking up early on the weekends unless we choose to. After mass Daddy had an appointment a couple of towns over so I went with him. We then went scrapping on the way home and filled the truck up twice (!) before we grabbed the girls (ECJ again wanted to stay home) and went scrapping down by Grandma and Papa's house. We filled the truck up for a third time, went to three parks, had frozen drinks, AND stopped and got McDonald's for supper before heading home for the night. Daddy and I were asleep almost as soon as our heads hit our pillows ... the campers stayed up a bit later in their rooms ... enjoying what's left of summer.

Sunday night's scrap load!

Another Monday rolled around and we were still having unseasonably cool weather for August. Daddy and I woke up late, when it was nearly ten am... and spent about half an hour together before Daddy had to go to work. ECJ took the dogs out and then began taking apart scrap. I woke the girls up just before 11 AM and they ate breakfast, did chores, and then broke out the electronics to watch various YouTube channels that they subscribe to. I updated the blog and did some things on Facebook, then did laundry and dishes, followed by some crochet while I periodically checked on ECJ taking apart scrap in the yard. The girls went outside to play with the neighbor girl for a while in the afternoon. When Daddy got home from work we unloaded the third load of scrap off of the truck to work on taking that apart too and then his friend showed up because he was having car troubles and needed Daddy to check it out. We didn't end up going to the scrap yard but we did we go scrapping this night. Burger Helper was what was for supper and we topped the night off with a movie together before everyone heading off to bed.

On Tuesday Daddy and I got up at 5:30 AM ... yup, you read that right. Daddy had to take someone to the hospital for their shot and I wanted to cook some peanut butter cookies without heating the house up too much. He was out the door by quarter after six and I was in the shower shortly afterwards, I find a shower can help me wake up on these early mornings. Cookies were then baked and coffee drank ... some blogging took place while I baked as well. I woke the campers up at 8 AM for breakfast and chores. By 9 AM the girls and I were out the door while ECJ began taking apart the rest of the scrap left from the three loads we'd picked up Sunday night, the girls and I walked to the library here in town. By the time we got back from the library ECJ was done and shortly there after Daddy came home from work. He and I took the first load of scrap back to the scrap yard and then took the last load and a half back as well (it's amazing what happens when you break scrap down). After that Daddy and I ran down to Grandma and Papa's house to do a few chores for them that they just can't do themselves now and then it was back home ... only to run some movies back to the rental store and go pick up some necessities while we were out. When we were finally home for the evening I made chicken thighs, butter noodles, and corn for supper and then we all relaxed for the rest of the evening. 


Wednesday we were up early, but not as early as on Tuesday... Daddy had to go to work again while the campers and I got ready for a day at the beach with Noni. Daddy came home right before Noni showed up, he'd cracked three of his ribs and didn't know how. He decided to rest the rest of the day while the campers and I went to the beach. We went to our favorite beach for the day where the campers had lunch, swam, burried each other in the sand, swam some more, then played on the playground before we left. A quick trip to the grocery store for a few essentials and we were home again. I went with Daddy to scrap our town (mostly to help him if there were heavy objects because of his ribs) and then when we came home I made chicken wraps for supper. They're always a big hit in our house and we didn't have any leftovers. The campers went to bed around nine and Daddy and I went to bed around midnight.

On Thursday Daddy got up and went to work, the campers ate breakfast and did their chores, and I blogged. ECJ took apart what little scrap that we picked up from the night before, always have to maximize what money you can get out of scrap. Then Daddy came home from work and we took the scrap back to the scrap yard. Daddy then took the truck up to the shop to get a rear seal fixed on the rear end. When he got back we took the car and ran up to the grocery store to pick up some things I'd forgotten so that we could make cheesy chicken for supper. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing.

Cheesy Chicken Recipe - 

• boneless chicken breasts or chicken tenders
• mozzarella cheese slices
• spaghetti sauce

Brown your chicken and cook through (season how you wish). Cut up your chicken into bite sized pieces. Place a portion of chicken on the plate, top with some spaghetti sauce and a slice of cheese. Pop it into the microwave just long enough to melt the cheese. Serve with whatever sides you wish. YUMMY!

Posts you may have missed:
Curriculum Choices for 2017-2018

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2017 - 2018 Curriculum Choices

Every year I do a post about our curriculum choices for that school year, and this year is no different from any other year in that respect. What is different is my approach to this year, we're doing a lot more unit studies than any other previous year. This has me excited and nervous all over again, just like when we first started to homeschool and I really didn't have any idea of what I was doing. We tried a lot of different things that first year and I'm hopeful that this year we'll be able to stick to this plan and not have to abandon it as I'm really excited for the experience of unit studies for most of our subjects.

Peanut (8, going to be 9 in September) - third grade

• English - we'll be using The Prairie Primer as the base of our Language Arts this year!!! We'll be reading through the whole Little House series together and doing worksheets that I pull off of the web for each book. Spelling words will come from The Good and The Beautiful language arts levels 1 - 3, as will grammar lessons.
• Handwriting - a combination of Handwriting Without Tears level 3 that I received from a good friend of mine and practice books from the Dollar Tree.
• Reading -  this is an area we'll be focusing on quite a bit this year as Peanut struggles a little with reading. We'll be using some of the stuff from The Good and The Beautiful levels 1 - 3 and a selection of books by reading level from our local library. Our goal is for her to be reading completely independently by the end of the school year. We may also pull out Phonics Pathways again and go over it once more.
• Math - Math Lessons for a Living Education level 3 and some Life of Fred (starting with Apples) as we've not done any of the younger levels of Life of Fred. We've also been given a complete set (!) of Math You See Beta!!!!! Which we'll be working through. As math is one of Peanut's favorite subjects we'll see how this program works for her (we were also gifted parts of both Gamma and Delta sets as well).
• History - Notgrass America the Beautiful ... we received this set for free for review towards the end of last year, we'll be using it for the spine of our history (with The Prairie Primer as gap fillers) and I'll be writing a more in depth review later in the school year.
• Science - We'll be doing physical science this year from a book I was given for free that spans k - 8th grades ... we'll be picking and choosing units to study from it and I'll figure out which one we'll be starting with just before we head back to school on September 5th. We'll also be pulling science lessons out of The Prairie Primer. We'll also be doing nature journaling with Exploring Nature With Children, a full year long program.
• Physical Education - Family Time Fitness !!!! We've been given a free year of Family Time Fitness to check out and do a review on! I'm very excited about this because it'll be easier to keep active during the cold Michigan winters with this AND my one exercise DVD lol ... Peanut will also be doing soccer in the spring and possibly ballet classes
• Art - this will be pulled out of The Good and The Beautiful that we'll be doing as they have excellent art ... I'll also be pulling up how to draw videos off of YouTube to go along with whatever she wants to learn how to draw
• Bible - Just for Me, The Bible and catechism classes through our local parish

Peanut is our autistic angel so it's an amazing thing that after having to redo both preschool and kindergarten levels during her first grade year because she had forgotten everything (and redoing first grade year so she's a year "behind" by Michigan standards but right on track due to her birthday by many other states standards) that she's where she is now!! We don't worry about being behind or ahead with any of the campers, because we go at their pace. Peanut has just made very big strides in learning over the last couple of years and we're very proud of her! What a wonderful thing to be going into third grade with our youngest!

YCJ {Younger Cracker Jack (12)} - sixth grade

• English - we'll be using The Prairie Primer as the base of her language arts this year as well. Spelling will come from The Good and the Beautiful level 5, as well as her grammar lessons.
• Handwriting - we'll be doing copywork of our Bible study and select passages out of the Little House series as well as more practice with a workbook on our cursive
• Reading - YCJ still struggles with reading due to her dyslexia, but she is nearly on grade level now. So, we'll be concentrating on working on reading comprehension with her and letting her pick a new chapter book from the library every couple of weeks where she'll be required to give a book report on each one.
• Math - Saxon math 7/6 ... this is the only subject that she's advanced in so she's actually doing seventh grade math this year. We'll also be using the early Life of Fred books with her so that she'll be prepared to go through the Life of Fred pre-algebra books starting in the fall of 2018, she'll probably do Fractions over the summer of 2018
• History - Notgrass America the Beautiful with Peanut and pulling some studies out of the Prairie Primer
• Science - she'll be doing the same science as Peanut with just more required out of her work wise ... like research papers and extra studies. And of course, nature journaling.
• Physical Education - Family Time Fitness. YCJ will also likely be joining a ballet class during the spring and possibly softball
• Art - this will be pulled out of The Good and The Beautiful and she'll be working through a few how to draw books that we picked up
• Bible - Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul and catechism classes through our local parish

YCJ is our lovely dyslexic child who wouldn't let her diagnosis become what her definition is. She's worked hard on her reading over the years and is very close to being at grade level, which is such an achievement! Of course we'll be working on her reading still this year but I have no doubt that she'll be up to grade level by the end of the school year. We're very proud of her!

ECJ {Elder Cracker Jack (15)} - tenth grade

• English - this year I've made up the curriculum for his language arts. He'll be reading through a book of classic short stories, writing in a writing prompt book (that I found at a local store) that has over 200 writing prompts, and going through American Literature through Easy Peasy All in One High School. Also, going through Life of Fred Language Arts books. (1 credit)
• Math - he'll be working through three Life of Fred books, starting with finishing up Fractions (as a review), moving on to Beginning Algebra and then Advanced Algebra. Using Easy Peasy All in One High School Algebra 2 as well. (1 credit)
• History - The Good and The Beautiful History Level 1  (1 credit)
• Science - he'll be working through a Physics book that we were given for free (way older edition) and Easy Peasy All in One High School Physics with Lab ... if this doesn't work then we'll be using Guest Hollow's High School Conceptual Physics (which doesn't include the math aspect) (1 credit)
• Physical Education - Family Time Fitness and PE/Health 2 from Easy Peasy All in One High School (1 credit)
• Spanish - Easy Peasy All in One High School Spanish 2 and Duolingo  (1 credit)
• Bible - Easy Peasy All in One High School Bible 2, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, and daily Bible readings (1 credit)
• Drivers Education - going through a local driving school (half a credit - fall class)
• Computer Coding - Going through Easy Peasy All in One High School using CodeAcademy (1 credit)
• American Government - the Everything American Government book ( half a credit - spring class) 

This gives ECJ nine credit hours this year. He requested Computer Coding or it wouldn't be on his schedule this year. With his ADHD we've found a mixture of online and book learning to be perfect for keeping his attention, so we're going ahead with the same type of mix that we had last year. Some of the courses look like a lot for one kid to do (like how much is scheduled for language arts) but it's a subject that he excels in and will fly through the information.

Something that all three campers will be using this year again is Discovery K12 ... we don't do everything that they have scheduled each day but it's a good place to touch base to make sure that we're covering what needs covering. And often times it works for a great reinforcement of subjects already covered in other places that we work through. We'll also be using CNN 10 (formerly CNN Student News) for YCJ, ECJ will be watching the regular news with us nightly to keep up with current events, and Peanut will just get the highlights so she doesn't have to deal with the more depressing parts of the news just yet. CNN 10 is a fifteen minute daily news program whose target group is middle school and up, YCJ began watching it every day last year and ECJ began watching it several years ago. We'll also be working through, and reviewing Exploring Nature With Children year long nature study!!!

So, that's our current curriculum choices for the upcoming school year. Things for ECJ could change just depending on what ends up working for him. If the language arts curriculum that I've come up with doesn't work for him then we'll be moving on to The Good and The Beautiful high school level of language arts if it is released in time ... if not he'll be doing level 7. And I already listed above his options for Physics this year (another course that he requested). The girls will pretty much stay the same no matter what, if the unit study approach with The Prairie Primer doesn't work for us we'll simply drop it and move into the appropriate level of The Good and The Beautiful all the way. 

Here's hoping that we have a wonderful and exciting year!!!!!

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