Summertime Week 1 -- Looks and Links

This summer has required some planning.  For the past 4 years, use of the campground pool has kept us busy every afternoon so I never felt like I needed to limit use of electronics.  Not to mention we had other activities that took us out of the house various days of the week.  This year, though, I knew that I would need to do some intentional things or there would be a lot of TV and X box going on!  I'm not opposed to either - it's summer time after all  -- but I'd like the kids to step away for a bit each day.  There is a theme each week that pertains to what we do in group time in the afternoon.  The morning has some review/individual time. 

This weeks theme is: Oceans

I introduced the schedule to the kids as follows:

-- 10:45-11:45 - Individual Time
-- 1:30-3:30 - Group time (This time varies depending on our activities)

Here's week 1:

Individual Time:

I purchased packets for review for each of the kids.  Each day there is a work page that covers math and language art skills that they have to complete.
First Grade
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade

These packs are awesome because I don't have to do the work.  It's just a matter of printing off the work pages and putting them into a notebook.  It also includes the teacher pages for easy correction.

Besides the review page, the three oldest have to practice Multiplication facts and take timed tests each day.  The first grader is practicing adding and subtracting.

All the kids are also supposed to read for 15 minutes each morning.

Josh and Nate are supposed to practice piano and complete a handwriting page in their book until the book is complete.

Keeping it real:  The review page took each of the kids between 25-35 minutes to complete on Day 1.  Since individual time is only hour it is a tight fit to get everything done in that time frame.  I'm hopeful that as the weeks progress they will get faster :-)
2. By the second day they were MUCH faster and were able to finish everything in the hour plus even have a few minutes left to find something else to do.

Group Time:

Monday - Our friends were gone today so the boys got a free day.

Tuesday: We started our fun about Oceans - this is not in depth teaching by any means but rather just some fun info and activities.

I found some great "theme packs" at Education.com so I purchased a one month membership so I could download everything.

From the packet we completed a Ocean Salt Evaporation experiment, an Ocean Animal crossword puzzle and they started coloring book marks. (For the record, we worked on the bookmarks for three days and Josh and Nate are STILL not done HA!  They are going for perfection!!)

Wednesday:

We completed the Ocean Zones work sheet found at Simple Everyday Mom.  She has several great ideas for ocean studies included on this page.

We also did a color by number worksheet about Ocean Zones but I can't locate the link for that at the moment.  Here's a photo:

Finally, we completed a craft from our theme pack - a port hole.  It was a super simple but fun craft and they look really cool.

Thursday:

First we did an ABC order page about Hammerhead Sharks which can be found HERE.

Then we did this really cool Ocean Math Activity.  The kids had to roll dice to build their ocean scene and then do some math problems using their scene.

Friday - Our Friday schedule only includes the individual time in the morning (just enough to pull them off electronics for a bit) but the bonus this week was that our two friends were gone so the boys got a free day :-)

I think week one went well.  They don't love the individual time because my boys feel like it is "School" no matter how many times I say it is review HA!  But, they have told me they really enjoy the group time activities.  On average, we are spending about an hour in group time

Weekly Worship - David Dunn - Starting Now (Official Music Video)

I've not really heard of David Dunn before but came across this video in searching the Top Christian Videos of the week. He's got a really gentle voice making it easy listen too.  I think I might have to search for more of his music. 

Weekly Photos 2020 #23

Here's a look back at our week

Saturday - We had a great day.  We had a peaceful day at home before heading to my mom's for a fabulous dinner.  After dinner we came back home and did yard work.  Darryl I worked on cleaning out the "back corner" and then we had a huge fire to burn some stuff.

 Nate cut up our Christmas tree so we could burn it.  

 This is the back section we are working on - I'm horrible at taking before photos but this already looks 100% better! 

Josh was our fireman - he had the hose ready to go! 

Sunday - It was another peaceful day.  It ended with an great visit with my brother Ken, my sister-in-law, Lynnette and my niece Kate.  They made a quick, unexpected trip home for a funeral and stayed the night at my moms so we got in a quick hour or so visit.

Monday - We had an unexpected "vacation day" as our little friends came in the morning but them left because the princess wasn't feeling great.  I always treat those unexpected days as "bonus" days and the boys get the day off.  We also got a new "toy".

This is an echo dot.  It was on sale for $1.00 and I have been wanting something to play music in the kitchen for years.  I've tried a radio - it's fuzzy; I hate streaming; and said I'd never get one of these things.  BUT for that price, I got it.  The kids love it.  I keep reminding them that it is mine - to play my favorite radio station .  

Tuesday - We finally started our summer plan today.  The kids did not love the "school review" part but seemed to enjoy the theme.  My mom came for dinner and we burned some more stuff!

 The kids working on one of our Ocean themed worksheets

 The boys got the sprinkler out and had fun in the water for a while in the afternoon. 

 We had lots of brush to burn - Nate was helping to get it all burning. 

 Nate was also our fireman tonight. 

 It's looking even better!  We just have a little more to burn plus a couple of holes to fill in and it will be done.  

 Our bird nest - the eggs have hatched and the mom is sitting on the edge of the nest to feed them.  We are waiting to get a photo of the babies when she isn't on the nest. 

Wednesday: We did more individual and group time.  We also got photos of our baby birds!

Thursday - I went grocery shopping and we did our normal activities (I even heard these words, "I really liked our group time today HA!).  We then surprised the boys and headed to the Lakeshore for Pizza, Swimming, and a Sunset.  It was a great night!

Friday - We had no extra friends here today so we enjoyed a quiet day.  I did some organizing, Darryl set up our Roku (to test it out) and we just tried to stay cool!

It was really a good week.  

Weekly Menu

Welcome to another week of eating.  I stuck to my menu last week.  Boom!

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday -- The past few weeks we've enjoyed moving our once a week treat of getting some fast food out to Friday.  So that's the plan.  the back up is just some frozen pizza if we decide to eat in!

Saturday - We are heading to Darryl's mom's for the afternoon.  I'm guessing we will eat there.

Sunday - We moved our weekly "eat at mom's" dinner to today since we were gone on Saturday.  It's also Father's Day and having my mom cook means Darryl gets the "day off".  Why do we always make Dad's grill on Father's day?? HA!

Monday - Club Sandwiches, Chips, and pickles (I'm going to make "homemade pickles for me - sliced cucumbers and onions in vinegar - yum!).  I'm still trying to find a good plan for TKD Monday's -  the plan this week is for Nate to eat around 4:00 so his food has time to settle before working out hard at TKD; I can eat by about 5:00 leaving Darryl and Josh to either eat with me or eat after we leave . . .. so dinner has to be flexible!

Tuesday - Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin, baked potatoes (Maybe a sweet potato for Darryl - he likes those better!), mixed veggies and yeast rolls.

Wednesday - Breakfast Burritos (I saw this on Pioneer Woman recently) and fruit. I might make some homemade cinnamon rolls too but I have to decide if I actually feel like it :-)

Thursday - Frozen Lasagna, Salad and Garlic Bread

How we ZOOOOOM!

Did anyone even know about zoom before the lock down?  I had never heard of it that's for sure!

For a few years my oldest brother has tried to get my other brothers and I to connect in various ways - phone calls, video chats, face time, etc.  I know that I would always say, "Sure!" and then never make the time.  Well, guess what, when we are all locked in our houses with nothing to do, it's easy to all make time!

Zoom is great because you can see the people you are talking too and everyone can interact.  We can also do it from anywhere.  One week my little family took off to the lake shore so I zoomed from the car and shared the beach with my brothers and mom.

Guess what else it did?  It helped us discover that we enjoy meeting together once a week and now, always make time to do it.  I think (and hope) we are planning to continue to do these meetings even as things open up. One of the advantages to zoom for us is that we use the "free" version which means it cuts us off after 40 minutes so we know going in that it won't linger on for hours!

That was just one way we took advantage of Zoom.   Josh and Nate had Sunday School via Zoom and it was great.  Their teacher went above and beyond with games, quizzes, and fun activities all through Zoom.  It was such a neat way for the boys to connect with a few friends from church.

I've said it before, even though there were things we were sad to miss over the last few months, the slower pace and even the "stay home/stay safe" concept has been really nice.

Rhubarb Slushy (What we're eating Wednesday)

A few weeks ago I shared a recipe for a favorite summer drink, Strawberry Freckled Lemonade which is a super simple but refreshing drink for summertime.  Today, I'm going to share another fabulous summer drink recipe.  This one takes a little more prep but it is well worth it!  It's a Rhubarb Slushy and it is the best thing ever!  My mother-in-law made this for me a few years ago and, for whatever reason, I never thought to make it until just a few weeks ago even though I distinctly remembered how amazingly refreshing this drink was at the time!  It's a great thing to keep in the freezer and just pull out and enjoy on a hot summer day.  When I made this recipe, I cut it in half only because I didn't have 8 cups of rhubarb.  It was easy to cut in half and, really, for my freezer, it was the perfect size.  Also, I used sprite instead of ginger ale.  To serve I use a spoon to scrape the slush mixture off the top of the container until either my thumb is frozen or I have enough in the glass HA!  If you like the frozen mixture sit out for 5-10 minutes it will make it easier to serve. 

8 cups diced fresh or frozen rhubarb
4 cups (16 oz) frozen unsweetened strawberries
3 cups sugar
8 cups water
1 pkg. (3 oz) strawberry gelatin
1/2 cup lemon juice
Ginger Ale

In a large pot, bring the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar and water to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 5-8 minutes or until rhubarb is tender.  Press through a sieve; discard the pulp.  Stir in gelatin and lemon juice until dissolved. 

Transfer to a freezer container and freeze, stirring occasionally until firm.  May be frozen up to 8 months. 

To use frozen rhubarb mixture:  In a punch bowl or several pitchers, combine equal amounts of rhubarb mixture and ginger ale.  Or for one serving, combine 1/2 cup rhubarb mixture and 1/2 cup ginger ale in a glass.  Serve immediately.

Haircuts! (Finally!)

Just like everyone else in the country, we were desperate for the hair salons to open!  Well, 2 of the 4 of us were - the boys!  Thankfully our hair stylist stayed in contact with us all the way along so we didn't have to wait to get a trim!

Here are the before photos:

 Josh's hair was very long HA! 

 Because of the style, Nate's wasn't quite as noticeable . . . .

 Until you look at the shaved side and see how long it is! 

 and the back which touched his collar! 

And the after!!

 Nate - so much cleaner!  :-) 

 Josh can see again and doesn't need a head band :-) 

No, I didn't take pictures of me - I just needed a slight trim; nothing big.  :-)