Weekly Report: Bzzzzzz

We were busy as bees this week! As a result, I'm pretty exhausted right now and my house-work has suffered. But I am content because my children's minds were busy and they were happy this week. I really want to record the things that have kept us busy (you may not be that impressed, but it was a lot for us!). Before I do, however, I have to share this: I LOVED President Hinckley's message in the December Ensign. You can read it here. I'm so thankful that he has been preserved a while longer, because I needed these words that probably only he could give. My new favorite quote is from this article.

"When God wants a great work done in the world or a great wrong righted, he goes about it in a very unusual way. He doesn't stir up his earthquakes or send forth his thunderbolts. Instead, he has a helpless baby born, perhaps in a simple home and of some obscure mother. Then God puts the idea into the mother's heart, and she puts it into the baby's mind. And then God waits. The greatest forces in the world are not the earthquakes and the thunderbolts. The greatest forces in the world are babies."
--E.T. Sullivan

Pretty great, huh?

In addition to our school work, we went to a really cool Pack Meeting. Brother Nelson, who is a Crow Indian, came and told some captivating and funny stories and performed some traditional dances. He was wearing a REAL bear claw necklace that had 50 bear claws! Check it out in the picture. (It might be too small) The boys were very impressed.

We also went to our homeschool group's choir practice. They are practicing Christmas songs for the Christmas party coming up. They are learning "Silent Night" in sign language and "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" among others. It was fun to hook up with other homeschoolers in the area. The ladies that organized the choir and are teaching the songs are top notch.

Jeremy took Elise, Sam and their friend T. to "Christmas Around the World" performed by the BYU folk dancers. Sam was thrilled, Elise was too...until she fell asleep. (See picture below)

Finally, we had so much fun in the snow this week! I'm glad it waited until Friday, because otherwise we probably would not have been as successful in our school work!

Here's the low-down:

Scripture Study: Through Helaman 14.
It was nice to read about Samuel the Lamanite this week. I hoped we would be getting to this part right about now. First of all, my Samuel gets really excited when we read about Samuel the Lamanite, for obvious reasons. Secondly, Samuel is prophesying of the Savior's birth and resurrection. Our favorite verses:

"And behold, there shall a new star arise, such an one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you. And behold this is not all, there shall be many signs and wonders in heaven. And it shall come to pass that ye shall all be amazed, and wonder, insomuch that ye shall fall to the earth. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall believe on the Son of God, the same shall have everlasting life." Helaman 14:5-8

Samuel:

• Saxon 5/4 lesson 35-39. Facts test. Assessment test. (Multiplication facts, Reading Fractions and mixed numbers on a number line, Fractions of a dollar)
  
• Language Arts: Lesson 15: Compound verbs and conjunctions, Prepositional phrases, Commas and capitalization. Poem: Variation on "November"
  
• Spelling: unavoidably, fortune, followed, frightened, different, turned, known, intend, knew, knit, knead
  
• Memorization: "November" by Thomas Hood.
  
• Reading: Encyclopedias, various chapter books. We will be reading Huckleberry Finn next week.
  
• Journal writing: good, also wrote some books about Pokemon
  
• Science: How we taste and see.
  
• Piano: "Run Away Rabbit" "Rain Forrest"
  
• Art: Sam loves to create projects out of paper. Watercolor.
  
• Composer:Mozart
  
• SOTW: We listened to part of the Odyssey. My kids thought it was too scary.
• Geography: Europe
  
• Cub Scouts: Finished Duty to God Achievement. Pack meeting.
  

Elise:

• Saxon 2 lessons 31-36. Assessment Test. Facts Tests "Tallying, counting by fives, Identifying horizontal, vertical, and oblique lines, sums of 10, dividing a whole into, halves, fourths, and eights, adding 10 to a multiple of 10, identifying pairs.
  
• Language Arts: poem, variation of "November", by Thomas Hood.
  
• Spelling: bell, tree, Christmas, present, family, Jesus, happy, star, manger, merry
  
• Reading: "Farmyard Tales"
  
• Journal writing: every day!
  
• Science: How we taste
  
• SOTW: see above
• Piano: "My Invention" "March on D-E-F"
  
• Composer: Mozart
• Art: Elise has been doing many arts and crafts this week. She is making Christmas presents!
  
• 50 States Book: Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska
  

Claire: Letter I activities. Claire has been "practicing" her reading too. She's got quite a few books memorized. Some funny Claire-isms this week: "Uncle Mika is my funniest dad" "I didn't punch her, I hit her" "I wish that I could have some candy, do you wish about that too, mom?"

Anna: Talking SO much! She amazes us everyday with what she can say. Her very favorite word is NO! But she can also say uh huh (yes) and sur (sure). She still keeps me busy with all of her mess-making adventures.

Pack meeting

Elise zonked out at the show.

Sam and T. had a great time at the "Christmas Around the World" show.

Sam loves geography.

Sam also loves to write books about Pokemon.

The "Eyes" (and tongue) have it.

Anna loves the snow!

Everyone does.

Once there was a snow man, snow man, snow man....