This Week At Home, 2013, Week No. 21

Little notes written to remember each precious day...

Sunday the 12th...

Made for Mother's Day with love.  

The moms.

Monday the 13th...

The wild weather roller coaster ride begins.  It got almost cold enough to freeze this morning, so we covered all our tender plants up just in case last night.  Today is supposed to be 60 degrees and tomorrow above 80.  The goal of today is to get as much done in our lessons as possible because tomorrow will be a busy day away from home sweet homeschool.  Still no hummingbirds here yet, by the way.  I am trying to be patient.  I put out a suet cake and it was gone by evening, so no more will be going up for awhile.  Time for them to eat bugs.

Sweet Mom and Grandma. 

Tuesday the 14th...

Today is Grandma's 91st birthday.  To celebrate, we went to Panera with Nana and then to the nursing home to deliver a bunch of ballons, which the residents all enjoy.  Grandma was very excited to see us.  Her whole face lights up and you just know she knows who we are.  She even called my aunt by name.  And she wanted to hold everyone's hands.  My aunt brought all of Grandma's photo albums and we spent time dividing the photos.  I am in picture heaven!  In the evening, the guys went to play disc golf while Grace went to a meeting a church with Nana.

My salad at Panera.  Yum! 

Wednesday the 15th...

Oh, it is so warm today, over 85 and so humid, too!  We need to spend time today working on lessons and catching up laundry.  Isolated thunderstorms are moving in tonight.  Otherwise a quiet, lazy day after art class. I made pizza for dinner. I am getting really good at making dough by hand.

11 year old Trevor! 

Thursday the 16th...

Storms woke us up during the night.  Nothing very violent, just noisy enough to wake us all up.  I am thankful for the rain.  Everything is so green and the leaves are about full sized.  Today, Grace and I went to a couple stores before school time.  And, I broke down and turned the air on!  Not a thing I take lightly.  But it is so humid that I can't think straight, much less work!  Hopefully, the humidity will go down again soon so that I can enjoy this view.

The view from my hammock.  

Friday the 17th...

Thankfully, the humidity is back down to tolerable, so the air was turned off last night before bed and the windows are back open this morning, making the kitties happy.  Speaking of the kitty cats, I have not given them a chance to interact this whole week.  I have kept them apart hoping to try to reintroduce them  when I get the courage to try again.  Today we will stay home and work on finishing up our lessons.  Since the weather is better, I also want to ride bikes after lunch.  We will also make an effort to put away all the books, too.  We have not done too bad of a job keeping a clear path through the living room, my request this week.  Usually the books get scattered on the floor along with a ton of Lego bricks, making it a hazardous journey across the floor by Friday.

This weekend, we will be visiting with family from NC and friends from NY.  I am looking forward to the chance to meet Jeannie and her family.  It is always fun to meet online friends.

Have a great weekend!
~Jenn

This Week At Home, 2013, No. 20

Little notes written to remember each precious day...

Monday the 6th...

It's a cloudy morning, but still 56 at 8 AM seems warm.  Today is a normal Monday at home.  After lessons and lunch, Grace and I go off on a bike ride.  This evening we all went outside to enjoy the great weather.  I spent some time in my hammock for the first time this season.

Tuesday the 7th...

It's another pretty and warm morning.  More lessons and chores to do today.  Getting the laundry under control is the big priority.  Again, we rode our bikes after lunch.  After dinner, the whole family went to play disc golf at a local park.  Unfortunately, it was not all roses today.  The cats had a big fight during lessons.  I had let them be unsupervised because they had been doing better together and I also thought I know where they both were.  Well, they were put back into separate but equal quarters.  Sigh.

Wednesday the 8th...

Lessons and then off to art class.  The picture below is not a current project of Grace's, just something she drew for fun at home and I liked it a lot.  During art class I visited with my friend.  She is such a  good friend to me.  On the way home, we picked up 3 neighbor kids and they all had a nice play date at our house.  The girls made us chocolate no bake cookies, too.

Thursday the 9th...

Lots to do today. Hoping the rain holds off until after our busy evening.  We were very distracted today.  Trevor was interested in looking at old photo albums and so was I to tell the truth!  We did get our work done, but not in as timely a fashion as usual.  It did start pouring right when we had to leave for karate, choir, and grocery shopping.  We have had a lot of rain again this week.

Friday the 10th...

More rain today, but scattered, so maybe not an all day thing.  We worked hard to get lessons done and the house cleaned for small group.  I made homemade hummus and cut up colorful peppers to dip.  The men of the group helped Jeff hang a new tree swing rope for Grace.  She loves her swing!

Saturday the 11th...

Finally, it was dry enough to mow.  The yard was looking pretty bad.  Today, I went to the grocery store to get a few things and then baked a cake for tomorrow's BBQ here after church.  Ryan and Jeff went to play disc golf.  It's a cool 65 degrees, but sunny.  Tomorrow is not supposed to be ideal BBQ weather, either.

To all my friends who are mothers, Happy Mother's Day to you!!!
~Jenn

Wordless Wednesday: Sprucing Up

This Week At Home, 2013, No. 19

Little notes written in order to remember each precious day...

Monday the 29th...

Such a lovely day!  We did our lessons with efficiency before lunch.  After cleaning up, Grace and I took a long bike ride, she on my classic Schwinn, and I on my old hybrid bike.  I mention this because, tonight we went to see about a bike for her.  I was excited all day about the idea of her having her own bike once again.  Last year, she out grew her own bike and took over my Schwinn.  She had saved up some money from shoveling snow this winter and was able to get a very good deal on this 1976 Schwinn Collegiate.

It's hers! 

Tuesday the 30th...

Another lovely day in the low 80's!  Once again, Grace and I rode our bikes after lunch.  This time with us both on our Schwinns!  In the evening, Jeff and Grace worked on getting the rust off her bike, and Jeff made some adjustments on the brakes.  The weather makes being outdoors so inviting.  We spent some time cleaning up the outside areas.  We planted some sunflowers and zinnia's, from seeds we collected last year.  Hope they grow!

Happy blooms!

Wednesday the 1st...

Sounds like a broken record, but another lovely day of good weather.  And yes, Grace and I rode our bikes again.  I also took a short walk with a friend while Grace was at art class.  My stand mixer is still broken, but I am learning how to make pizza dough by hand.  I finally have it down.  I think I won't miss the mixer now.  Tonight while Grace, Trevor and I were at church, Ryan and Jeff went to check out a disc golf course.  Love this weather!!!

Sweet kitty dreams.

Thursday the 2nd...

The week was going so well, and now Trevor has a tummy ache and is kind of lethargic.  We manage to get lessons done even with Grace and I taking the morning to go to the library, bakery, and garden shop.  We bought some herbs and flowers.  We also got them planted before the rain is supposed to come.  We did not get to ride our bikes as weeding and planting left us a little worn out.  Jeff and I did our usual shopping while Ryan was at karate.  The other two stayed home to rest.

Lovely girl. 

Friday the 3rd...

Looks like rain today.  I wrote a nice long list to do to the house after lessons.  We finished our science curriculum today.  We need to go back through our notebooks and fill in holes.  It is a good feeling to finish something.  Tonight was Grace's second art show. We met the art gallery owner.  Her advice to Grace,"Don't ever give up!"

No hummers yet.  

Weekending...

Jeff is playing in a disc golf outing.  We are going to see Grandma in the nursing home.  Jeff and I are subs in 5th grade Sunday school.  Grace works in the preschool.  Trevor has choir rehearsal.  Whew!

Hope you all have a great weekend.
~Jenn

This Week At Home, 2013, No. 18 , Tardy Edition

Little notes written to remember each precious day!

Sunday the 21st...

Up early to eat breakfast, load the van, and then off to camp at IN Dunes State Park, which I blogged about here.  

Monday the 22nd...

Home around 6:30 PM, such a fun, but quick trip.  Wish we'd gone up Saturday, but we thought it would be too cold to sleep outside.  It was in the 30's.  I think we could have kept warm enough.  We were glad to sleep in our warm, cozy house, anyway.

Tuesday the 23rd...

Delayed the start of our school day since the weather was starting out nicer in the morning and we were tired.  The younger two went outside to play.  Ryan push mowed the front yard before the rain started.  I got a ton of laundry done.  It sure seemed like a Monday today.  But, we got lessons done, chores taken care of, and some to time to rest from our weekend fun.  All of a sudden the world has turned a brilliant green.

Wednesday the 24th...

Over an inch of rain fell and it's still raining this morning.  We will be busy today with lessons, chores, art class, and AWANA.  I am feeling the need to purge, especially books.  I finally got next year's books on the shelf after filling a huge box with ones to donate.  Yay!  Tonight while the kids and I were at church, Jeff took the camper to get its crank fixed.  It was very hard and very slow working this last trip.

Thursday the 25th...

Sunny start to the day, at last!  Just the usual Thursday stuff, lessons, chores, and karate.  Jeff was ill this evening and we didn't get to our evening shopping trip.  I will have to find time to go soon.

Friday the 26th...

Jeff feels better, thankfully.  Today we have a lot to do to get ready for small group tonight.  The house needs a major tidy.  Wrote a long list for us to get through.

Saturday the 27th....

Went to pick up the camper, which is all fixed.  It needed greased and it was off track.   Ran some errands.  Jeff mowed the yard.  Ryan went to spend the afternoon with a friend.  We grilled out.  Got all this done and the rain started again.

Sunday the 28th...

After church, we met up with Grandpa at Cracker Barrel.  Grandpa is here on a quick visit from Texas.  It is another rainy day.  

Well, that is a quick look at our week, last week.  I didn't take a lot of pictures, unfortunately.  I hope to do better this week!
~Jenn

Not So Wordless Wednesday

This scrappy geranium has been holding up in my garage all winter. I brought it out on a nice sunny day to take this picture. The best I can remember it is 5 or more years old. I got it a few years ago when my grandpa went to live in a nursing home. I am amazed at how it keeps going.  It even bloomed all winter. All I did was to fertilize and water it.  I can't wait to set it out for the summer after our frost free date in May. The hummingbirds usually love it, too.

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