Week 15 - 16

Sunday we had intended on going to mass, but instead ended up staying home. Daddy wasn't feeling very well and neither was I (remember the stomach virus that the younger kids had last week?). We lounged for the majority of the day and watched Netflix, watching Sing as a family. While the campers and I have seen it before Daddy never had and so it was enjoyed by all again. I worked on ECJ's crochet tablet cover that he knows that he's getting from me for his birthday. I didn't get a lot done on it because I simply wasn't feeling well.

16 now!

On Monday it was ECJ's 16th birthday!!! We kept everything low key because we (the adults) still weren't feeling well and we'd already arranged with him to celebrate his birthday both on the 9th and the 11th (Tuesday and Thursday) of this week. He, and his sisters, played video games pretty much all day long. He had received two new games for our Playstation 3 at Christmas and he was anxious to play with them. So hour after hour was played of both Minecraft and Black Op's 1 ... great fun was had by all of the campers and grand-campers. Daddy and I rested as much as possible and we just had soup and frozen dinners for supper. I worked a bit on ECJ's gift, but again didn't get very far on it.

SweetPea helping herself to some brownie mix lol

Tuesday was a very busy day. We were supposed to start lessons back on this day, but after looking at our schedule for the week and the amount of things needing to be done on this day alone I called one more week of break and decided that it would be called our Winter Break. The weather is supposed to be warmer this week as well, so I want to make sure that the campers can get outside as much as possible to enjoy the weather. Daddy had an appointment first thing in the morning and I had several phone calls that I needed to make. Daddy then stopped at the grocery store (Aldi's is right next to where his appointment was so it only made sense for him to stop there before coming home) and came home. He and I then went to pick up Monkey from work, taking the long way there and back to enjoy our time together in peace and quiet (not that easy with five children running around the house). Monkey made ECJ brownies for his birthday, Daddy and I spoke with him about his gifts from us this year - a new cell phone and getting the screen on his tablet replaced, along with helping him fix a car this summer if he can pay for half of it. We had pizza rolls for supper because that's what ECJ wanted for his birthday supper. I worked more on his tablet cover on and off all evening and was glad that I was beginning to feel better than I had for the last couple of days.

On Wednesday we had a relaxing day at home the whole day long. Thursday, Noni came out and the campers and I went with her shopping for ECJ's birthday. Daddy stayed home with the grand-campers and Monkey went to an eye exam in the next town. While out with Noni we ate lunch at Denny's, shopped at five stores, and then came back home with mega amounts of bags. Each child was thrilled with what they had gotten (Noni spends money on the birthday camper and gives each sibling $25 worth of spending money while we're out). I was able to pick up a few things I was missing for supper that night and some over the counter supplements and medications ... One of Peanut's medications is no longer covered by her medical insurance because it can be bought over the counter, so I picked up several months worth of it while we were out so that I could be sure that we wouldn't run out.

First ride on the
carousel!

Friday through Sunday we mainly relaxed. We ran some errands each day (just stuff local to town as was needed) and everyone seemed to enjoy the weekend. Daddy and I slept in a bit on Sunday morning and had some quiet cuddle time in lue of dragging the campers and grand-campers out in below freezing temperatures to go to church. Some general cleaning was done ... you know, things like vacuuming, doing laundry, sweeping, taking out the trash. Daddy ran an errand in the next big town from us and was gone a couple of hours. This being our last day of break the campers were keen on getting their chores and tasks asked of them completed so that they could get back to their preferred passtimes ... such as making videos, watching YouTube, and reading. In between tasks I crocheted just a little bit because some how during the course of the morning I pulled a muscle in the top of my back. 

Monday was the only day this week that we didn't have appointments during the day. And, as I sat in bed drinking my first cup of coffee, I contemplated if we really should come back off of break this week or not ... most days we were going to be gone several hours out of the day and we've tried schooling in the evening before and it simply doesn't work for us. So, instead of getting back to our book lessons I gave each camper a goal for the week. ECJ needed to start his learning for coding (second semester plan anyways) and he did so by finding his own site that he preferred over Khan Academy (he really doesn't like Khan and I don't know why) and began studying on his own and researching... even wrote his first bit of code before midnight this night. YCJ was given the goal to make three well edited videos as that's her current passion ... she takes her Beenie Boos and makes videos of them, edits them, and then posts them to a share site. Peanut was simply told that she must work on her crafts (she calls them her DIY's) each day at least once a day, she truly is becoming a talented artist and I become amazed nearly daily by her creations. On top of these general goals they're to either work on their reading or read a certain amount of time each day, the reading material can be of their choice. ECJ's chosen to read about programming and really research it as he feels that it might be a career choice in the future, YCJ chose to read a bit daily about how to edit videos so that she can possibly get even better at it, and Peanut and I are working through Phonics Pathways again doing a bit each day. We had stopped reading Charlotte's Web over the holidays and chose to pick it back up this week ... but didn't get to it Monday night. 

On Tuesday morning Daddy, ECJ, and myself woke up early to take ECJ to his yearly physical appointment. ECJ rarely gets ill so he doesn't often see the doctor other than this yearly physical appointment ... this year he chose to ask about getting back on some ADHD medication but had specific requests (such as not wanting to be put back on Ridilin). Our wonderful pediatrician started him on another medication that doesn't have a stimulant in it. This was our main appointment for the day and we were home before ten in the morning. Each camper worked on their projects for the week, helped look after the grand-campers, did their chores, and helped prepare meals. All in all it was a good day.

Wednesday was a rather busy day with Monkey having an eye appointment in the morning (she'll have to see a specialist about her vision) and the grand-campers having check-ups in the afternoon. Both babies are doing well and are right on track for where they're supposed to be. Thursday Monkey had an appointment in the morning with her new primary care doctor and I went with her, everything went very well. Really life just hummed along happily all week long. I rather enjoyed it! That afternoon I made our lesson plans for next week ... making sure to take into account that Noni will be visiting on Monday so we'll be having a four day school week for the book lessons.


So, today is Friday, and I've just gotten back from the last appointment of the week with Monkey. The kitchen is being cleaned by Daddy who went on a cleaning jag this morning, ECJ is in the other room working on his coding right next to Monkey who is working on her new online college class, YCJ is editing a video that she made last night, and Peanut is watching some YouTube videos for inspiration for her DIY's for the day. I'm blogging with SweetPea on my lap while Little Man sleeps behind me in his bouncy chair. Our afternoon plans include cooking a pork roast on the rotisserie cooker for supper, me working on a crochet birthday gift for one of my nieces (I didn't get all the blankets done for Christmas so they're becoming birthday gifts for this year), and in the evening Daddy and I will start a marathon watching of Game of Thrones season 1 again. I also plan on starting back to the reading of Charlotte's Web so that we can finish it by the beginning of next week and the girls can watch it on Netflix.

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