Weekly Rundown: Mother’s Day
Hey there! I’m back with a weekly rundown after slacking off last weekend. Do you feel like these last weeks of school just fly by? I do! After a long school year, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and summer is on the horizon. It use to be that I would be really excited for summer to come, but the current season I’m in feels a little more bittersweet. These high school years go so incredibly fast that I just want it to slow down.
So, while I’m ready for the summer break, I’m also wincing a little because the end of every school year is one more “last day” closer to the last day of homeschool.
Ahhhh, this is a weird season. (More on motherhood later in the post…)
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In other not-so-emotional news, this week (and I’ll include some of last week’s highlights too) we had a great time observing our Bug Zoo. Yes, I said Bug Zoo. And for some reason it’s situated right by our dining room table where we eat three meals a day. Mother’s Day. We had an amazing spring band concert. AND the bathroom project that has lasted 47 years, is looking like we may finish it this century–PRAISE!
Here’s the rundown from this week:
MAKING HOME
Seriously, this bathroom project might be the end of my life in projects. We have finally finished the tiling and the grouting. Today I am working on paint and hopefully wallpaper too.
I will spare you the 436 things I did wrong in tiling, but I will give these tips:
- Even if you’ve tiled before, you forgot how to do it. Seek help.
- Read package directions, even if you are in a hurry and think you don’t need to read them.
- Don’t let the grout dry before wiping it off–this is very important. I’m not saying I did this, but sometimes, some people, somewhere, sometimes, might think that you should let it dry before wiping it off to make sure you don’t wipe off grout between tiles–where it goes. This is false. You definitely SHOULD wipe off the grout while it is still wet. Just wait like 30 minutes, max. Again, I’m not saying I did this. But someone might do it. And if you DO do it, it will be very very difficult to remove the excess grout, I’ve heard.
WHAT WE’RE LEARNING
Sometimes I get emails about how to plan or organize your homeschool days. Here’s how it looks right now in the Hutchinson Homeschool:
- We wake up around 8am.
- We are unmotivated to begin until about 10:30 or 11am
- Walk around 11:30am
- Math, history, and science are usually accomplished.
- Lunch around 1pm
- Stop school around 2pm, even if we’re not really finished because we’re just kind of over it.
This is spring homeschooling, folks. The sun is out, the birds are chirping and we are burnt out on school. This is normal!
RELATED: Spring Homeschool Planning
That said, I AM determined to finish our last three weeks of homeschool strong! I’m talking bedtimes enforced, alarms set, assignment lists, start time by 9:30am!!
We have some projects and curricula we are going to tie up and I can’t stand just sputtering out. I like a definitive end date with courses tied up and high fives all around for a job well done. (NOTE: I’m typing this on a Saturday morning…we’ll see how this motivation fares on Monday morning!)
HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE READ:
- The Birds Our Teachers by John Stott. (HIIIIIGHLY recommend!)
- Exploring Creation with Zoology: Flying Creatures of the 5th Day
- Beautiful Feet Books Around the World with Picture Books Part II
- Genevieve Foster’s George Washington’s World and I cannot express how much I love these books! We are reading this as part of Beautiful Feet Books Early American and World History
We also read The Little Prince for part of our Around the World curriculum. Seriously guys, this isn’t a good book. What is all the hype about?
We have a Bug Zoo in Our Dining Room
Yes, you read that right.
We’ve done the butterflies in a cup so many times and we love it! But this year, since we’ve been studying different insects in our science curriculum, I thought, “why not buy some more bugs?”
Insect Lore has several choices you can pick from. We grabbed the Ant Hill, the cup of butterflies, AND Ladybug Hut (or something like that.)
Our babies are growing up! The ants have dug a whole bunch of tunnels–they are so crazy to watch! The ladybug larvae are starting to adhere to the side of the hut where they will become ladybugs soon. And the caterpillars are currently entering into their metamorphosis.
Spring Band Concert
Last week, we celebrated the end of our homeschool band year with our spring concert. It was truly beautiful. My friend, Jen, does such an amazing job teaching these kids and they love this time to be around friends.
The music they play is almost all classical or hymns. They pray together each week and read Psalms together. I couldn’t wish for a better “extra-curricular” for my kids to be involved in.
This year, Sophia played a duet and a solo. Jack’s group played several challenging pieces and they ended the concert with the Doxology, which made me cry. I think we’ve all been through this last year+ that was taken over by ugliness and we’re all craving beauty. And this concert was beautiful.
NOTEWORTHY
This week someone pointed me towards an Elisabeth Elliot podcast. It’s really so good! It’s recordings of her past teachings, hosted by her granddaughter. Prepared to be spoken to straight! No fluff–my favorite!
ON MY HEART
Mother’s Day
In a world that is trying to blur the lines between men and women, let’s stand up tall today, Moms. We can’t comprehend just how big this job is that we’re doing, but we know it was design by God and that we must do it well. All the commercialism and ads and weird messaging that comes around Mother’s Day, I could definitely do without. But cheesy expensive cards aside, what if we all just took a minute and re-committed ourselves to this battle of motherhood.
It is a battle.
Be sober-minder, be watchful. Our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
The adversary is seeking for someone, anyone…of course he’s looking for our kids.
That’s what we’re up against, but not alone, friend. We are walking with the living God who has already conquered death.
So while I could do without so much fanfare on Mother’s Day, I do love this day as a reminder to stop and remember my assignment.
Happy Mother’s Day, friend.
ON MY NIGHTSTAND
Here’s what’s on my nightstand:
BE THANKFUL
Quick List:
- feeling rested this week
- long chats with my mother
- amazing friends and sisters in Jesus
What are you thankful for this weekend?
Talk soon!
Oh my goodness – we felt the same way about The Little Prince when we tried to read it a few years ago.
We had a bug zoo in our library/school room a few weeks ago – ladybugs, butterflies, sea dragons and pond water, Oh my! The pond water is all that is left now.
Our spring schedule is looking the same way and I have felt determined in the same manner this week and have already failed to enforce bedtimes and start times both days. Ha! I really want to finish strong – my pregnancy/nesting hormones are intensely desiring this – but we do usually end up petering out in the spring. We will see how things look the next two weeks as we finish up.
Love your Mother’s Day reflection. I also dislike the commercialism of these holidays, but love a day to celebrate and be with my sweet family remembering and recommitting to my calling.
Meant there and not their in my comment. Typo ?♀️
The Little Prince is my husband’s favorite book after the Bible. He can talk for hours about it and other books from the same author. He said their are different versions of The Little Prince and he doesn’t like all the versions. He has read it to our children and they seemed to like it, but it’s not one of my favorites. It’s just not the type of book that I prefer.
Trying to decide on a history for next year. I love BF! I’ll have a 6/7th grader and a 9th grader. Oh my ! High school years!
Anyway, love your posts and hearing about your bathroom reno. We have tiptoed into ours.
Be blessed
Hi melissa! We loved florida! I wrote about a few posts back!
The Little Prince…I agree. Or I used to. I’d tried to read it years ago and did.not.get.it. We read it this past fall or so because of BFB same curriculum and I loved it. I cried. Something about the description in the teacher’s guide or something helped me to actually understand it. Loving the new look in the bathroom! Still curious how your FL, was it, vacation went! Happy Monday! ?