Weekly Wrap-up 16

I didn’t make a collage of all the food I cooked this  week, I didn’t really make anything note worthy.  But I did some special cooking with the children, you’ll see that in a bit.

This week we wrapped up our Thanksgiving Unit.  We had a such a great time, all of us!

They had a lot of fun gluing in the all the lapbooks and decorating the cover.

The Fronts.

The insides!

Along with finishing up their lapbooks we also did lots of reading.  I read them most of the books I got from the library.  One book, An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott, had a recipe in the back.  In a moment of inspiration I suggested we make the recipe.  Wow, you should have heard the squeals of delight!

It was delicious, they did a GREAT job!

My original plan was to let them make soft pretzels as a closing activity for our Thanksgiving study.  Pretzels hold no significance, I just thought it would be fun.  And thankfully it WAS fun!

On the highschool front…

Banana Taffy and Chocolate Taffy got fitted for their graduation cap and gowns this week.  So exciting!

Strawberry was supposed to take the PLAN test this week.  I totally screwed that up.  I had the time down wrong…we were a half hour late, the test already started.  I’m out the money, which is disappointing but not tragic. I’m more frustrated with myself for getting the timing wrong.  I tried so hard to make that happen.  Ah well…can’t do anything about it now. I guess I just have to find another test for her to take.  On a happier note, she is so excited to have 2 weeks off from school.  She was pretty much giddy all day!

Are you taking next week off?  Enjoy the time you’ve dedicated to being Thankful!

Joyfully,

Mrs. Taffy

Weekly Wrap-up Week 14

I just decided to keep this running theme of showcasing some of the different things we ate this week.  It really does help me in some strange way.  The pictures aren’t brilliant because I just took them with my phone, but I think they look pretty tasty still, even if my tortillas aren’t round, I am getting better at being consistent with their shape though.  (grin)

Okay, on to the children…

Tot School~

     

Coloring and Stamping.  She’s claimed this seat at the little table for her own.  All of Bubble Gum’s papers have little baby scribbles on them, at least it’s peaceful this way!

Watching an intense game of Chess.  She climbed up on the table all by herself and just sat down and watched like she knew what was going on.  It’s amazing watching her transition from being a baby to being an active member of the family, participating in things, expressing her opinion, wanting to be involved, clearly communicating.  She is approaching my favorite age (2) and I find myself delighting in her more every day!

Kindergarten~

A little Cowboy joined us one day…working on his Song School Latin Coloring Pages…

    

Matching up Lowercase and Capital Letters in his pocket chart and showing off his final page of this Linking Cubes book.  He finished it this week and was VERY pleased with himself.  I’ve had this book for years, since Banana Taffy was 4, love it!

2nd & 4th Grade~

     

Blue-Raspberry wrote a poem about the weather in his Write Shop book and illustrated it .  He did such a nice job that we thought it deserved a special piece of paper and his best cursive handwriting.  We made a copy of it and sent it to Grandma Judy.  Surprise Mom! 

Bubble Gum finished level 2 of All about Spelling.  So proud of her!!  We hung her certificate up in the school room so she can feel good about her accomplishment.

Okay, so this was really fun.  Erica provided the skeleton printable, I laminated the different bones and stuck magnets on the back, the kids worked on putting the bones in the correct places.  They really enjoyed this activity. 

Highschool~

This is my daily view of Strawberry Taffy.  She’s such a focused student.  She worked extra hard this week so she could take Friday off.  She’s about to finish her first history book and has finished her first logic book.  I’m giving her a break from both subjects until after Christmas break.  She’ll read the second history book then and start the second half of logic.  She’s taking the Plan test in a couple weeks to get ready for PSEO. She’s also studying to take the Biology CLEP.

She got inspired to make sugar cookies, she was so ambitious that she made a double batch including fall and Christmas cut-outs!  Yay Strawberry!

We had a big week for my high school seniors.  It started out with me making their official transcripts and getting a plan in place for their final semester of high school and their 4th semester of college.

My planning mess…

The all important file box that holds every important piece of paper for their education. 

Here they are, I actually got a picture of them this week.  Here we are waiting for an appointment with a Guidance Counselor at a University that they boys will (if they get accepted) be taking their final semester at.  This is the school that Banana will be able to get his Law Enforcement Degree from and it’s the school that has the science classes that Chocolate needs for his Mechanical Engineering Degree.  I had to take the two littlest ones with me, but they were very good and this was a very proactive and out-of-my-comfort zone thing to do!  lol  I’m experiencing a HUGE learning curve here.  Phew.  Good thing my sons are so patient with me. 

Another big thing week was the meeting regarding graduation.  They have to apply to graduate with the group that hosts their PSEO classes.  We went to a informational meeting and turned in applications.  We’ll find out next week if they get to graduate with their friends.  I hope they do, I’m so excited for them to have this experience!

I could say more, we had a pretty big week, but I have limited space left for photos on blogger, so I’ll stop now. 

Thanking God for the ability to homeschool and be involved in all these little details!

Joyfully,

Mrs. Taffy

Let’s have a meeting…

I keep finding myself calling “meetings” with my teenagers.  This is not to be mistaken for a “family meeting” which can have some negative connotations accompanied by moaning and groaning.  Though, they do sometimes still let a little groan escape when I call them to come sit with me and “meet.”  Still, the topic is one they ultimately like: themselves,their lives, their goals, etc.

 

Teenagers are complicated creatures and often change their minds about things without telling me, so these meeting ensure that we are on the same page. 

One of my jobs as resident Mother/Guidance Counselor/Busy-Body is to help them meet their goals.  I have no idea what I’m doing.  But I know that I love them deeply and that I am FOR them.  I trust them, I believe in them and I want them to obey the Lord and follow His will for their lives even if I don’t quite get it all the time.  And most importantly, God is on my side and constantly helping me (us) in this parenting journey.

All these plans we make have to be reevaluated as new information comes our way, as minds change, etc.  Thus, the reason for meetings.

Something's have to be contented for as well.  A certain professor made a certain remark that has made a certain person buy into the lie that mediocrity is acceptable and, in fact, desirable in this last year of highschool.  Oh if I could give that professor a lecture I would!! 

So I’ve been having to remind this certain person repeatedly that the expectations that Mr. Taffy and I have are the expectations that matter, not the Professor’s.  Why do something half-way?  Our sinful nature loves half-way, loves mediocrity, loves to be lazy.  Well, I’m going to contend for excellence.  Not perfection.  But doing the best you can with what you’ve been given, being faithful to do what you’ve been given to do, not taking short cuts.  That’s a good thing to contend for, and model.  (smile)

It’s already time to start registering for Spring 2013 classes.  Wow!  One semester left of highschool.  It looks like Banana Taffy will be transferring to a different school, an actual State University that offers the Law Enforcement Degree that he desires.  We are working our way through that process.  Which means making a new transcript, filling out new applications, figuring out transportation, meeting with guidance counselors, etc.  It’s all very exciting, so much to think about, it’s a stretch for my brain that’s for sure!

Anyway…all that to say, when your teenagers give you a little guff, resist a little, make a bad face, that’s a signal that you are on the right track, a “tell” if you will. 

I love peace.  I’m probably the resident peace-keeper, I can’t stand it when I feel that yucky friction between me and a loved-one.  But these are the times we contend.  My husband calls them “fence testing” moments.  Kid’s will push against boundaries, against the standards, but God has given us sure footing to stand our ground, to stay steadfast and contend for these moments.

It’s hard work.  It’s uncomfortable work.  It’s good work and it’s important work.

Stand fast Momma,

Mrs. Taffy

Weekly Wrap-Up~Week 12

Yeah.  The last time I did this was week two.  10 weeks have passed since then.  10 weeks that were gone in a blink. 

Blink.

If I’m not careful another 10 weeks are going to be gone too.

Blink.

I’ve got to get some of these school days on my blog, proof to my children and myself that our home education was a rich and satisfying, if not a hectic and bizarre experience!

Blink.

Tot School~

See the cool chair that I bought for my sanity.  It holds a child up to 40 pounds, Marshmallow is tall but really skinny and only weighs about 22 pounds so I have lots of time with this beautiful chair.  She loves sitting at the table with us, though she has the ability to get the whole table moving with the swinging of her feet.

I gave her the hot dot pen and some picture cards to play with.  She loved hearing the pen cheer for her and she loved turning the pages in the little picture book.

My mom got Marshmallow this awesome learning toy!  She loves it! It holds her attention and even though she’s not real interested in matching up the colors, she will put them where I tell her too. 

Kindergarten~

I got these alphabet pages from Confessions of a Homeschooler, her printables continue to bless me more than I can express.  I’m so thankful for these young Moms who are computer savvy and share their creativity with the rest of us.  I’m also amazed at how well and thoroughly Laffy Taffy understands and writes his letters.  He can write any letter I tell him too.  I don’t think my other children were doing that at four.

Linking cube activity’s.

This is new thing I added to our schoolroom this week.  They are beautiful and the children think they are great fun!

2nd Grade & 4th Grade~

Homeschool Bowling!

Team:  Bubble Gum Blast

Team: Warrior of Valor

I’ve also had them doing All About Spelling together.  I didn’t plan to do it this way, but it’s working out really well.  We are almost done with Level 2, I have us doing 4 lessons a week.  We’ll be done before Thanksgiving Break.  I’ll get the next level during that time.

10th Grade~

Strawberry is a little more elusive during school time.  She’s often sitting at her desk or up in her room, so I don’t get many photos of her.  She is taking the PSAT on Saturday.  Exciting!  She’s also working on developing a new blog that will encourage other teenage girls to be courageous for Christ in everything they do, including how they dress.  She and her friends are working on it together, it’s such a great concept and I pray the Lord will bless it!

My older sons are plugging along through their senior year of PSEO/Highschool.  Chocolate Taffy had an Ethics presentation at school this week, 45 minutes long!  It was a group project and I heard they did fantastic! He wore a suit coat and everything!  Banana Taffy’s presentation is in two weeks.  Chocolate’s speech was on lethal force used by Law Enforcement Officers and Banana’s is about Stem Cell Research. They are being stretched and challenged in their PreCalculus class and they are both enjoying having their best friends join them at PSEO this year! 

Blink.

Before I know it they will be graduated and I’ll be planning an open house, helping them with college applications and taking their senior pictures. 

Blink.

Somebody tape my eyes open, I don’t want to miss anything!

Joyfully,

Mrs. Taffy

P.S. I’ve been updating my “Meet the Taffy Flavors” Page.  If you want to read the new bio’s and see what’s on everybody’s mind this year click here.  Blessings!

Weekly Wrap-Up~The one where I prove Marshmallow makes a big mess in our schoolroom.

How’s that for a long title?  I’ve been reading a lot of teenaged-girl blogs, I think they are rubbing off on me.  (smile)

It’s just something we have to accept, us moms of toddlers,  they make a mess.  A BIG mess. The trick is to teach them how to put the stuff back and if that’s not possible because of timing then to remember to pick it all up BEFORE we are done with school for the day.  I don’t know about you, but it makes me grumpy to walk into our schoolroom and see a huge mess.  And believe or not, Marshmallow is getting really good at putting things back.  She can’t put the books back on the shelf, but she can hand them to me.  (If you didn’t see my video about our schoolroom, you can see it here.)

Here Bubble Gum is working on a Latin Word Search for her Song School Latin activity.

I think they are working on their history coloring pages here while they are listening to the CD that is reading to them.

Laffy Taffy.  I found these free number worksheets on this website.

 

Working on our science lapbooks.  They are copying answers from our white board.  I always ask them the questions first and then write their answers up there so I don’t have to spell everything.  Blue-Raspberry Taffy writes a lot faster than Bubble Gum.

This is one of the cool games I found at a garage sale over the summer.  He’s matching the lower case letters to the upper case letters.  Then putting them in order on the floor.

I don’t have many pictures of Strawberry doing her work, but she wrote a funny post about her first few days of school here if you are interested in reading it from a 14 year olds perspective.  I love it!

This is pretty much the first picture I took with my new phone, it’s awful, but you can see that Banana is doing a good job earning tips as a Server’s Assistant.  He turned in his notice this week since summer is winding down, he can’t work two jobs when college resumes.

Here’s Chocolate Taffy getting to know his new phone.  We all got new phones this week, well 4 of us did.  Banana and Chocolate paid for their own phones and will be paying their portion of the phone bill which amounts to about $30.00 a month.  The older boys are still working through their Geometry (almost done!!) and Chocolate is still studying for the SAT.  Their college classes resume after Labor Day.  Exciting!

Okay, I just have to share some funny pictures from my phone from the week.  Some of the photos above are from my phone, some are from my camera.  I’m getting better at getting good pictures on my phone.

        

Okay, so there you have it!  It wasn’t all smiles and kisses, but overall it was pretty good.  And I think I forgot to mention that we completely unplugged our TV’s, so we aren’t doing videos or anything, not even the Olympics!  It’s adding an overall peaceful atmosphere to our home and I finished 2 books this week because of it!  I do miss vegging out though, sad but true.

Did you start school back up yet?  How’s it going?  Remember this is a long-distance race, not a sprint.  One day at a time, one subject at time.  You CAN do it!

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 6-7

Joyfully,

Mrs. Taffy