Weekly Report: Warmth in January

It's cold. and snowy. and icy. and did I mention cold?

Nobody wants to go outside and play. Except Sam. He loves it. He rolls around in the the snow and builds huge piles. I watch him out of our window. He sits on top of his huge pile of snow for a while, then slides down. Climbs up and slides down. Again and again. Finally the sky begins to darken and I call him inside. "Mom! I was on top of the world today! I could see everything! Someday I'm going to climb the highest mountain. Just imagine what you could see!"

I love this! I love being part of this.

For most of the week I had the winter blahs. My girls have been sick and are not sleeping well. I was tired and cranky. I'd look out the window and see forbidding cold and ice. My eight year old son looks out the window and sees a magnificent world. One that is his for the taking and conquering. He was all smiles and enthusiasm and the effect brought warmth to my heart.

The girls are recovering. Elise is all better. Anna is still boogery with a cough. Claire is on anti-biotics for an ear infection. Sam has remained unscathed. I'm beginning to wonder if his daily outings in the frigid weather have been a help.

We're still reading. This week we started Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. A couple of weeks ago Jeremy quoted from the musical at the dinner table: "More?? You want... MORE??" And we all started singing, "Oliver, Oliver, never before has a boy wanted more." Well, now everyone is quoting it whenever anyone says "more". We realized that the kids had never actually seen the whole musical or read the book. So at the library we picked up the book and everyone is enjoying it. We looked up a couple more songs on Youtube. Elise has learned a lot of "Consider yourself, at 'ome." She even does it with the accent. It's been fun. Sam and Elise have been singing their version of "You've got to pick a pocket or two" to Claire and Anna (who have been quite boogery this week). It goes like this: "You've got to pick a booger or two, girls, you've got to pick a booger or two."
Nice, huh?

Sam learned about percentages in math. We've been working on accuracy in arithmetic. He's been speeding through his lessons and isn't always very careful. Overall, he understands the concepts and does pretty well with his facts.

Elise learned about the Venn diagram. She is also great at counting money. She is doing well with her math facts too.

We all thought the story of Cyrus the Great was amazing and agreed that he was a good leader. Elise said, "I bet that he just conquered those other countries because he knew he could be a better leader." I had to wonder if she was right. Claire was thrilled to win our Conquering Mesopotamia game.

We enjoyed watching our crystals grow! Slowly but surely.


We also had a blast with the Kid Kits that came in this week.



I forgot to mention last week, that all four kids went to the dentist. I'm very happy to announce that they are all cavity free! Yippee!!

Another sunny spot in the week was the opportunity I had to go out to lunch with some friends. It was wonderful to visit. The conversation was lively and upbeat. I respect and love each of those women so much. I feel so honored and blessed to have good friends!

Scripture Study: 3 Nephi 19 - 3 Nephi 24
Isaiah is pretty heavy. But I've always thought it significant that Jesus teaches the Nephites here with Isaiah. Bruce R. Mc Conkie says, "If our eternal salvation depends upon our ability to understand the writings of Isaiah as fully and truly as Nephi understood them--and who shall say such is not the case!--how shall we fare in that great day when with Nephi we shall stand before the pleasing bar of Him who said: 'Great are the words of Isaiah'?...The risen Lord commanded the Nephites and all the house of Israel, including us, and, for that matter, all the nations of the gentiles, to 'search...diligently...the words of Isaiah'"
("Ten Keys to Understanding Isaiah, " 78)

My favorite scripture is in these chapters: "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of the children. In righteousness shalt thou be established; thou shalt be far from oppression for thou shalt not fear, and from terror for it shall not come near thee." (3 Nephi 22:13-14)

Samuel (8):

• Saxon 5/4 lesson 50-54 assessment test, Investigation 5
  
• Language Arts: Poetry Unit Study
  
• Spelling:
  
• Memorization:."Snowflakes"
  
• Reading: Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
  
• Journal writing:good
  
• Science: crystals
  
• Piano: "Forrest Drums"
  
• Art: Origami
  
• Composer:
  
• SOTW: Chapter 21: The Medes and the Persians (We still really liked our Usborne book of Ancient History)
  
• Geography: Europe
  
• Cub Scouts: Sam is so close to earning his Wolf badge!
  

Elise (6):

• Saxon 2 lessons 51-54. Facts tests.
  
• Language Arts: Complete sentences,
  
• Spelling:
  
• Reading: Pony stories, Usborne book of Bedtime Stories, read-aloud: Oliver Twist
  
• Journal writing: good
• memorization: "Snowflakes"
  
• Science: crystals,
  
• SOTW: see above
• Piano: "My Team"
  
• Composer:
  
• Art: Under Sea mobile
  
• 50 States Book: North Carolina
  

Claire (3): Letter P activities. She had fun doing her Mermaid picture and finger painting. She also LOVES it when Elise teaches her "school". We hope she feels better next week.

Anna (1): Feeling better! No repeats of the potty enthusiasm. Too bad.