Weekly Report: Long Week

This seemed like a really long week. Probably for several reasons. One of them being, we were really busy! Monday and Tuesday were beautiful days! The sun was shining. The snow was melting. The kids got out their bikes and scooters. It felt SO good to be out in the warm sun. But alas, Wednesday night brought 4 inches of snow and all the cold back.

Jeremy worked a lot this week. He taught his class Tuesday, so didn't come home until 9:30pm. He was stuck in the storm traffic Wednesday and didn't get home until 8pm. He worked passed midnight both Friday and Saturday, so Saturday pretty much felt like a regular school day. We miss him, but are so grateful for all the work he does for us. (He'll be getting extra time off this week--yippee!)

We had a few nice surprises this week. Several kind friends stop by with Valentines this week. What a treat! Thank you very much.

We got some packages from Mummu and Pappa this week. That is always fun. We especially like the audio book. Sam loved the origami paper airplanes. Everyone loves the bee game. Anna (and Claire) love the aroma therapy pillow. Thanks Mummu and Pappa, we feel so loved!


We had a Valentine's party at our house on Thursday. That was a surprise because we drove all the way out to Cedar Hills, where the party was planned, only to find that the party was cancelled because of the weather. Those of us that didn't get the message went to my little abode. (We were not expecting guests, thank you friends for over-looking the chaos) We had a really great time!



We participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count on Friday. Last week, we made bird feeders. On Friday we watched for 15 min out the back window and counted 3 Black-capped Chickadees and 1 California Quail. We usually have about 5 or 6 Chickadees around in the morning. Hope the others are okay. I haven't seen them today either.

We liked studying the ancient American civilization this week. (although we feel like we do everyday with scripture study :D ) We were really fascinated by the Nazca line drawings. We drew with white crayone on white paper to give us a little taste of how difficult it would be to carve huge pictures in the ground without really seeing what they would look like. We then went over the crayone with water color, to reveal what we drew. We also like the story of "Rabbit shoots the sun."








This is the poem we are memorizing this month. It's a favorite.

The Arrow and the Song

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

---Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Scripture Study: Up to Mormon Chapter 1
It is just so mind boggling. The people had 200 years of peace and prosperity. Why would anyone want to change that? It says that, "they did not dwindly in unbelief, but they did wilfully rebel against the gospel of Christ." (4Ne.1:38) Well, it gets pretty sad from here on. I stop to think, do I ever "wilfully rebel against the Lord?" I know what it takes to be happy. I know what is expected of me. I fall short too. Elder L. Tom Perry said, "I guess one of the greatest mysteries of mortality is why mankind fails to learn from history. Why do those who profess to be true followers of Christ so often become victims of the enticements of the world?" I'm going to focus on the positive here, though. We can learn from history. That is exactly what Heavenly Father wants us to do. That is why we have this record. I feel so blessed to have it in my life.

Samuel:

* Saxon 5/4 lesson 55-60 assessment test
* Language Arts: Unit 3 lesson 3
* Spelling:
* Memorization:."the Arrow and the Song"
* Reading: Stories from Shakespeare, Greek Myths
* Journal writing:good
* Science: Bird Watching
* Piano: "No Moon Tonight"
* Art: Water Color--landscapes
* Composer: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
* SOTW: Chapter 26: The People of the Americas (We still really liked our Usborne book of Ancient History)
* Geography: Japan
* Cub Scouts: Sam is going to get his Wolf badge at the Blue and Gold Banquet the Thursday!

Elise:

* Saxon 2 lessons 55-60. Assesment tests.
* Language Arts: Complete sentences, punctuation
* Spelling:
* Reading: Pony stories, Usborne book of Bedtime Stories, read-aloud: The City Behind the Steps
* Journal writing: good
* memorization: "The Arrow and the Song"
* Science: bird watching
* SOTW: see above
* Piano: "Fireflies" Elise has moved to the next level book!
* Composer: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
* Art: Water Color--landscapes
* 50 States Book: Connecticut

Claire: Letter S activities. Doing well! Loved the party.

Anna: Loves to dance with her sisters, She has gone potty a few more times last week. When we run out of diapers, I'm going to buy pull-ups.