Week in Review July 5th - Week #1

In Our Homeschool

We started our new school year on Monday and had a pretty fantastic week.  We are starting our 3rd year of "official" homeschooling and we definitely have our groove set.

This year we are adding in some Tot School activities for Gabrielle.  She insists she is a big girl and no longer falls for me telling her that a coloring book is "school".  I have a little bin of Busy Bags for her to work on while we are doing school and she seems to enjoy them so far.

Philip has been helping out a bit by keeping Gabrielle busy when she has hit her wall with the busy bags.  He also taught the kids a science lesson this week - all about gravity!

Around Town

We stayed at home most of the week so that we could get into a good school routine, but we still had some great fun out of the house.  We only school 4 days a week, so we used our day off this week to take a family trip up to a new-to-us hiking spot in the Jemez Mountains.  It was an adorable little half-mile trail that ended in a small waterfall and natural swimming hole.  We wished we had brought our bathing suits, but that didn't seem to stop the kids from having fun in the water!

On Saturday, Michaela participated in the 4th of July Parade with her American Heritage Girl troop, and then we watched the city's firework display later that evening.  On Sunday, we found a cool new pool and spent a few hours having some summer fun.

My Kitchen

I tried a few fun recipes this week.  I made a chicken pesto pizza with leftover rotisserie chicken, pesto, and this 30 minute pizza crust.  I also made Chicken Paella and Flan for the feast of Bl. Junipero Serra.

I'm Grateful For

I'm so glad that my husband (a teacher) is off for another month.  It is so lovely to have him around to hang out with.  Not to mention he helps with school and cleaning!

Things I'm Working On

I've been having a lot of fun with my new-found peg doll obsession.  This week I made my first set of non-saint dolls.  I signed up to do a geography-based swap and painted a set of dolls from Hawaii.  I had a hard time making the grass skirt look good, so I ended up painting the bottom a solid green.  I still think it came out all right thanks to the lei's I made with a toothpick tip.

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