Second Week of School

I didn't take many pictures of our second week of school, but it was a good one. 

The only pictures I took: 

We had apple day this week. Traditionally we would have gone apple picking, but we don't have anywhere to do that, so instead we had apple shaped sandwiches, apple slices, and homemade caramel dip. Then later in the day I made apple dumplings. 

For tea time this week, we had puzzle cookies and apple cider. It went along with our geography lesson, so we had it in the schoolroom during that class. 

British Literature

 I am also doing school this year! I'm doing the Master Books British Literature. this is just one shelf of the books I will be reading to complete this course. I am very excited about it. 

First Day of School

 Our first day of school pictures: 

Madi, 8th grade

Abi, 12th grade

We had a teatime with apple cider and donuts... 

We had a fun little lunch like we did when they were little. 

It was a good day and a good start to the new school year!

The 2023/2024 Schoolroom is ready!

I set up our Fall decorations before we started school, so I had it all cozy when the girls came down for breakfast on our first day of school. 

I had the school room all set up and ready to go....

I always try to give them one toy/ special item and a treat. 

So, Abi found her new weekly work folder along with a beyblade toy and KitKats. 

Madi found her new folder and some of her books along with a new drawing book and some Pocky.

 

Back to School feast

 On Wednesday night, the 6th, we had our annual back-to-school feast. We had chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn. It was a fun night, and I was so excited to be finally getting back to school!

Kindled Podcast

    I was invited to be on the Kindled podcast right before we started school. We "met" on Instagram and she reached out to me after a few messages. She called and we talked for about 45 minutes. Then she invited me to record the podcast the next day.

So, Wednesday the 6th she called over zoom and we recorded for over two hours!

It would be released over the next two weeks in two episodes. 

 

2023/2024 curriculum

These are the subjects we will be doing together: Answers in Genesis Bible, hymn study, Master Books and Tuttle Twins logic, Master Books biblical archaeology, Notgrass history, Master Books Geography, Master Books Christian Heritage, Abeka Culinary Life Skills, and a lot of read-alouds. (not pictured)

Abi will be continuing with Life of Fred for algebra as well as for Financial Choices. 

Madi picked fairy tales and retellings for her literature this year. 

The originals are coming from Hans Christian Anderson and the Fairy Tale Collection book,. 

After every two fairy tales I am inserting a regular book. 

Abi chose learning about literary time periods for her literature. I used Master Books' American, World, and British literature as well as Oxford alumni to pick books and excerpts. She will read the books pictured along with the poems, short stories, and excerpts in the binder. It is a vigorous course, but looks really fun. 

For science Abi is doing Master Books Human Body part one and two.

For the rest of her language arts she was going to be using the following books, but we realized it is all things she already knows, so from this picture she will really just be finishing the Spelling Power and doing the cursive. 

For Madi's language arts she is doing cursive, Practical spelling grade 8, and Master Books Writing Strands. 

For Madi's science she is doing year one- Weather, Ocean, Mineral, and Astronomy from Master Books.

 

 

Back to School dates: part 2

Madi's date also started with medical appointments. We left pretty early and went to the hospital. 

She had to have a chest X-ray and do an EKG.

We waited around a lot. 

It was weird to watch my little girl (I know, I know, she is thirteen. She is still my little girl!) get an X ray like this. 

It came back normal, thank goodness. 

Then we had to go for her EKG. The tech looked so young. He didn't seem too much older than her. He was very nice and soft- spoken, and it turned out that he had been home-schooled too. 

Thankfully, this came back normal too. The doctor did call later as we were shopping to tell us about both tests. She also let us know that Madi's vitamin D was extremely low and that it looked like she might have hypothyroidism. However, a few days later the pediatric endocrinologist refused the referral saying that while she was low, she was still normal. So we are going to focus on the vitamin D and see what bloodwork tells us in two months. She may still have to go for a few more cardiac appointments if symptoms don't go away, but for now we are thankful that she seems okay. 

After the hospital visits were out of the way, we went to Target and then to the mall. 

We visited Build a Bear to pick up Madi's friend that had been left there the day before. 

We shopped a few stores in the mall, went to Barnes and Noble, and then went to Applebees for lunch. 

We visited Old Navy as well, and then Hobby Lobby last for my art supply loving girl. 

Madi needed more clothes than Abi did, so we got quite a few things for her. She also didn't have an activity like the escape room that she wanted to do, so we spent that money on craft and art supplies. 

We also bought Abi a shirt and some shoes. 

 It was another really fun day. I was exhausted after two days of nonstop shopping and doctor appointments, but I am so glad I chose to do this. 

I love these girls so much. 

Back to School Dates: part 1

We used to go to a hotel and have a girls' back to school weekend. We would shop and eat out. Eventually, it turned into just shopping as it seemed weird to spend the money on a hotel that was just minutes from home. When we started homeschooling, it morphed into just going school supply shopping, getting a meal out, and buying an outfit. 

This year, I decided I needed to make it more of a big tradition again. 

I told the girls that I was going to take each of them out on a date by themselves. Abi would have Thursday; Madi would have Friday. 

We would go shopping for clothes, supplies, eat at least one meal out, and do a couple of fun activities. 

It was good that Abi and I weren't planning to leave until after lunch, because Madi ended up having some health issues in the weeks leading up to the dates. 

I took her to a local pediatrician and she sent us to get blood work. It was her first time doing this. She was so brave. 

After getting home from the appointments with Madi we had lunch, and then Abi and I set out for our day together. 

Our first stop was Great Clips where we got her hair cut. I've been cutting it for three years now, and I felt like it was time we had somebody else do it. 

After that we visited an eyeglass store to fix her glasses, Five Below, and Old Navy. 

Then we went to the mall. 

We visited a lot of stores there, but the favorite one was Build A Bear because they had a Pokemon plush she wanted. Madi also had a plush in mind, so we were able to purchase both for the sale price and then leave Madi's there for us to pick up and fill the next day. 

We spent quite a lot of time exploring the mall and shopping, and then we left to go to a local escape room. It is one that lets you do the room with just two people. We have only been here once before, and we barely escaped. This time we were back to try a different room. 

Abi is way better at this than I am (and I think I'm pretty good at figuring out puzzles), but this was a hard one. It had a LOT of steps. Unfortunately we didn't escape this time. 

After we left there, we went to the Purple Turtle so Abi could try a strawberry milkshake. Then we visited Barnes and Noble and a few other stores. We had a very late dinner at Taco Bell after trying to go to Kneaders and finding out they were out of what we wanted. 

Abi didn't need many clothes, but we got her some really cute things, and I would pick up some more later. I had a great time spending the day with Abi. 

 

A Late addition to Maddy's Golden Birthday

It came to my attention a couple of weeks ago that Doug and I had messed something up. 

When Abi had her golden birthday (thirteenth) we bought her the normal amount of presents (we do a set amount of money) but we also asked her if she wanted a room re-do. She did not. Then I woke her up at midnight to tell her happy birthday and give her a gift. Then Doug brought home a special video game for her. 

Well, when Maddy's came around (also her thirteenth), I forgot about all of that. I asked her if she wanted a room re-do, which she did. But that mainly consisted of changing from a small room to a bigger room. We bought a couple of organization items and a plant. But I completely forgot about waking her up at midnight. I didn't get her another special gift. Doug didn't do anything for her. She never complained about this or even mentioned it. 

It came up casually and I was shocked that we had done this. It had made her feel bad, not because she got less gifts, but because it made her feel not as special. 

Doug and I knew we needed to rectify this. He bought her a game she really wanted, I bought her a gold colored Copic marker, and he even brought her home balloons. We wrapped the game in gold tissue paper and put a gold bow on it. Then we called her downstairs. 

She was so surprised. 

I am so glad we were able to do it for her. I hope she always knows how precious she is to us and that she and Abi are the most wonderful daughters that we love so much, equally.