A Week in Review

Have you ever watched that show on VH1, Best Week Ever? Occasionally I find myself stopping as I flip thru channels, but I'm not usually on it long enough to actually watch. I was thinking about titling the recap blogs that, except for the fact that some may not be very good weeks. Oh, well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

It has been a good week. We started back to school on Monday. We were going to start next week, but we can actually finish a couple of our curriculums if we started early. So we started early. And the kids did very well.

We started our new science, Geology. When I put the lesson plan together, I realized how lengthy and just a little complicated it may be. But as we are starting to get into it, I don't think it will be that bad. It will just require some buckling down and a little time. We have this great activity that we start next week. You get a bunch of dirt in a pile, as large as you can or want to make it, and observe every week. You check and see how tall, wide, flat, whatever the pile is. And then you talk about erosion and how it affects your dirt pile. Then the discussion is broadened to talk about erosion on Earth. That's hubby's department. I like the fact that it can be a relatively quick activity that they can do together.

The kids were so excited to get back to dance class. The big girl missed hers because public school was supposed to be out. It was the last day of Christmas break, but they used it as a hurricane make up day. I love that. Most people have snow days, we have hurricane days. But the dance teacher went ahead and left it as an off day. So no dance for her. But the baby, and the boy and I all got to dance.

The boy's class started learning their recital dance last night. It is going to be fantastic. The music is a fast paced, square dance type song. But, of course, with Ms. Tiffany it's upbeat and up to date and very catchy. They did the first 32 counts over and over last night and then put it to music. I love my boy. He did so well. He loves to dance and move his body and just lights up when he hears music he can shake his butt to. He gets that from his Mama. And he has a little mini solo at the beginning, pretending he is playing the fiddle and then motioning for the girls to come onstage.

For those of you who know my boy, he loves the stage. He loves to be the center of attention. He loves to be where all the girls can see him. He just cracks me up. He certainly didn't get that from his father. He got a little from me, but not as much as he has. He was so upset that there was another boy in his class last year. He liked him, and they were friends, but when the girls cheered for him at the rehearsal last year, look out. He would have been happier without sharing the stage.

The baby and I have started reading books together. We check out easy readers from the library and do that instead of a reading lesson some days. She likes to shake it up a little. And I am so impressed with her progress. I like that she is seeing that words exist outside of her curriculum. To me, that has been very exciting. To see that understanding dawn in her eyes and know that she is doing something new and wonderful just floors me every time. And she picks out her books. I want her to be engaged and not just going through the motions. I like for her to read them a couple of times to help cement the new words and phrases in her mind.

We always do a little reading comprehension when she is done. I ask her questions about what she has read so I know that she knows what she has just read. That helps with the reading as well. Reading without comprehending isn't reading. Sometimes we talk about the pictures while I ask her questions. So far, she has done very well in that aspect as well. So I'm pretty proud of my little bundle of brains and beauty.

And the big girl is the one that makes my faith in God grow and grow. He sent her to me. He loves me enough to allow me to spend my time with her and be her Mama. She is one of the smartest, funniest, most beautiful people I have ever met. She whips through her work and her brain just amazes me. I'm thinking about boosting her a level in some subjects next year. I very much know that she can handle 7th grade work. And when she smiles she just lights up the room.

She wants to get back to dance so bad. She was disappointed that she didn't have dance. She is champing at the bit to get back to it. She did tell me that she doesn't like the recital so much. She would rather not do it, but she does it. Last year she hurt herself on the trampoline 2 days before rehearsal started. She hurt her neck and upper back. But she went through with it, with a smile. You would never know that she was hurt. I just iced her down and gave her ibuprofen when she asked for it and she pushed through. What a trooper. I told her she was banned from the trampoline the week before rehearsal started. And she was alright with that.

There is our update. I hope that everyone had a great week. We start another one soon, but for now, we're taking a rest.

Have a great day!