In my life this week…

Feeling better has brought on lots of things for me to catch up on.  I am still behind, but I will get there sooner or later.

In our homeschool this week…

Chandler finished up reading Around the World in 80 Days.  He liked it quite well.  We have been using Excellence in Literature this year and so far he has liked each of the books we are reading and studying.  This next week, he will finish up some papers on the book and then we will watch the movie.  Then we will start reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  It’s nice to have such a great literature program!

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

My sister came to visit the end of this week.  She brought my niece and it was so much fun to see them and play with the baby.  My other sister came over and we grabbed my mom and had a girls night out on Saturday.  We went to the movies and saw The Help.  Then we went for ice cream after that.  It was a lot of fun to just be with the girls.

My favorite thing this week was…

Getting our family pictures done finally.  It has been several years since we have taken any, so it was definitely time we did something about it.  I needed a new picture to use for a work assignment, so it was the perfect excuse to get some done.  Too bad it took something like work to get me to spring into action.  LOL!  But we had a lot of fun together as a family.  It was a great afternoon and we even took some pictures of just Chandler for his school pictures this year.

Things I’m working on…

Right now, I am trying to catch up on the canning and cleaning of the house.  Hopefully I will get there soon.

I’m cooking…

I have been canning again this week.  I put up some pear sauce and pear butter.  I also made some really yummy plum jam.  This next week I will be finishing up with the pears with another batch of pear sauce and some pear-orange-pineapple jam.  Then I will do another batch or two of salsa and then start doing some peach pie filling.  It will be busy.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

What better to share than a couple of our favorite pictures from our family photos this week?

In my life this week…

I have finally begun feeling better.  The better I am feeling, the more I realize how sick I really was this past little while.  It’s nice to start feeling better.

In our homeschool this week…

We continued with our current studies.  I am continuously amazed by the quality of work that Chandler is turning in this year.  It is almost as if we jumped a couple of years in his abilities.  He works hard and I am proud of him.

We had some internet/cable/phone issues this past week.  I finally called our provider and they sent out a technician to fix things for us.  While the tech was here, Chandler was working with some flashcards that we made for him for the periodic table of elements.  We have the name of the element on one card and the symbol and numbers on another.  He matches them and it helps him memorize them.  Anyway, he was working with them and the tech commented that it didn’t look like much fun.  He then commented that he didn’t think homeschoolers worked that hard.  Chandler started laughing and said, “Meet my mother.”

I am sure the tech sees many different homes and has seen some homeschools that don’t work nearly as hard as we do.  I am glad he was able to see ours and see a difference.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

This week we had a field trip to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.  This is a museum in our area that actually houses 5 different museums.  It is pretty unique and it is pretty nice.  We have been toying with the idea of getting a family membership so we can go lots of times.  There is just so much to see, that you couldn’t possibly see and do it all in one day or even two.  We managed to quickly go through 4 of the 5 museums, but only the first level of each.  There are different floors and levels within each museum.

One of the museums is one that focuses on the Plains Indians.  They have a neat display and presentation that we enjoyed watching.  Here are some pictures that we took from that museum:

Another museum is a Natural History of Yellowstone.  We are planning to return one day and have fun really getting into that one.  Chandler did run one floor down so I could take some pictures of him on the tile floor that is a map of our area.  It was pretty cool.

My favorite thing this week was…

Definitely our field trip was the highlight this week.  We were able to take my parents with us and we all had a really good time.  We stopped and got Chinese together and then headed to the museum. It was a lot of fun and we had ice cream on the way home.  I enjoyed spending this time with my parents and family.

Things I’m working on…

Grading.  It seems that High School has brought on lots of grading.  I have always graded Chandler’s work, but I am trying really hard to keep things graded so that he can see what he has done wrong so he can correct those mistakes and learn from them.  The good news is that Chandler IS learning from his mistakes and his work just gets better and better each time.

I’m reading…

Currently, I am reading Raising Real Men by Hal and Melanie Young.  I will be posting a review of this sometime this next week.

I’m cooking…

I have been canning this week.  I put up some salsa this week and will be doing more this next week.  I have lots of other things I need to get put up and will be trying to conquer this coming week.

Here are some pics of the yummy salsa I made this week:

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

This is another picture from our field trip.  Chandler gave me an entire story about how he was just minding his own business and this polar bear came out of nowhere and attacked and ate him.  This kid cracks me up.  And I am so glad to see his imagination continue to grow every day.

In my life this week…

So last week I dealt with an abscessed tooth.  This week, I am dealing with an UTI.  We really aren’t sure if this just cropped up this week, or if it was in the background while I was dealing with the pain from my abscess.  In any case, I am now on antibiotics and hoping I can finally enter the land of the living this next week.

It has been a hard summer for me.  I need my health to return.  I am feeling like a slacker and I don’t like that feeling.  My poor family is doing the best they can while I try to get back on my feet.

In our homeschool this week…

Our third week of school went very well.  Chandler is still doing a wonderful job and having a great time being a high school kid. This school year is just the best we have ever had.  I hope it continues this way.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

This week I went to the doctor.  So again…enough said.

My favorite thing this week was…

The same as last week…My boys taking care of me when I couldn’t.  I thought that was very sweet and I so appreciated it.  It made me feel loved.

I’m cooking…

I am currently being blessed with a subscription to e-mealz.  I made the Ritz Rollups this week and it was such a hit, I had to make them again for our big family dinner.  It was a big hit.

I have a few things I want to try this next week.  I am hoping I feel up to doing them.

I’m grateful for…

My son.  He is doing such a great job on his school work this year.  I love that he is being so responsible and putting out such high quality work.  I have seen such a maturity from him and it makes me proud.

One thing that I want to mention is how grateful I am for his own personal testimony of the gospel. He loves to learn about the Savior.  I was pretty sick last Sunday and was not able to attend my church meetings.  Gary was out of town on a work trip.  Chandler never once thought about not going to church on his own.  He went and attended all 3 hours of his meetings because he wanted to and it just never occurred to him to not go.  I don’t know many 14-year-olds that would do that by themselves.

I am glad he is my son.  I think I will keep him.