As American as Cherry Cheescake Tarts...

Okay, so this is another one of those mundane posts revealing all the sorted details of our school week thus far.Well, had been tossing around the notion of calling off school on Mondays to allow for necessary "serious cleaning" and school planning for the week. (Making the choice to school year round really frees our family up as things are always cropping up that cause us to miss a full day here and there) That way, the rest of the week is easier, cause I'll only have to do the few daily cleaning tasks necessary to maintain the appearance of the house until the next cleaning day. Not to mention I won't have to fight tooth and nail for computer time at night to do my planning all week. I had thought of this idea before, but always used Saturdays as my cleaning days, but Jody is home then and I never seem to be able to get much accomplished. Probably lack of motivation. I feel like I have been drowning in my duties for awhile now, not sure what to do when and how often and what priorities should be where and how much. Ever been there? Overwhelmed...that's the appropriate word I think. I have been too neglectful for too long about things because it's really stressful over the course of the day if you don't get it all done. Maybe it will be better when the kids get a little older. Lillie is a HUGE help in the kitchen to me, but even she is really too young to bear a load of housework like I'd need to put on her shoulders. So, Monday, I cleaned and cleaned...snacked...and cleaned...nagged...and cleaned (you get the picture). Then I planned and planned...checked my email and planned. By that night I was totally worn out, but the house not only looked clean...it was clean. Tuesday morning I got up and after breakfast and Bible time, I did up the dishes, put in laundry, made the beds, and surfaced cleaned the bathrooms, swept and then did school. I acutally found myself sitting down for about 30 minutes and didn't feel one lick of guilt! Praise the Lord for answered prayer, as one of the biggest things I've hassled HIM with is this subject of getting it all done and maintaining a cheerful heart while doing it. During our unit on George Washington we've been into, I read a quote by Martha Washington where she described herself as "Busy as a bee, Cheerful as a Cricket." That's the way I want to be. Time and time again, the Lord has led me to scriptures about work and idleness. I feel as if the Monday Cleaning Bash is the way to go.

Okay, so here's what's been up in the school department. We've been into George Washington this week. Actually, last Friday we read "George Washington's Teeth" and made 3 corner hats. Chloe would not keep hers on which was a shame.

The pattern for these, oh-so-simple hats is here. Well, so since Monday was an off day, we picked back up with old George Tuesday. I found a very well made three part film on the Life of George Washington at Archiving Early America. I found out alot I didn't know, like Washington was almost poisoned by one of closest associates. One time as a young man,while trying to ride a horse that did not like him he hung on till the horse fell over dead from a busted blood vessel. Man, that George Washington was rough on his pets! He loved to hunt and ride horses and really didn't want to be president either time, but did it more out of duty to this country than anything. When he was 14 , he wanted to join the British navy, but at the last second, his mother withheld her consent. Good thing too, cause we might have lost the revolution and history would have been much different! Yesterday we read the short and sweet story George Washinton's Hatchet, the famed account of his chopping down his father's beloved cherry tree and his honesty. I just love a good story that can lay the guilt down on your kids at the same time! So, in honor of little George and all honest children everywhere, Lillie made cherry cheescake tarts. And when I say made, I mean made...by herself. She mixed up the Jello cheescake pudding, she filled the mini graham cracker crusts, she scooped the cherry pie filling...she.... licked the bowlShe licked the scooper in the bowl...

My children are expert batter bowl lickers...I am so proud. Under my steady tutillage, there is never a batter bowl left standing around that isn't licked plum clean. Children learn by example, you know... Any how, this is the finished product. You'll have to forgive the less than professional photo. I am no food photographer, I prefer taking pictures of things that won't wind up in my tummy.Sadly, I really liked them. Lillie didn't. She ate the pudding earlier, but because the cherries resembled something healthy and balanced ,she shrunk away. Jody said he could've done without the pudding. Sigh. Sometimes I wonder about him...

Alright, so we also read about iguanas Tuesday and found out that they live in the desert as well as there being some marine iguanas as well. So, I thought we'd do some activities with sand. I went to pull up my bag of play sand from under the house, and alas , it was too wet to use for the lesson. Well, necessity being the mother of invention and all, I decided sugar would do the trick. So, we learned about different land forms you'll find in deserts and how the wind shapes the sand. I poured some sugar into a shallow pie pan , gave Lillie a straw and let her blow the sand around. Poof! That girl pumped out hurricane strength wind and sugar went everywhere. How fun! So, I immediately transferred the "sand" into a VERY deep dish. She really liked making a mess and I enjoyed the fact that I just bought a new broom with those magnetic thingies on the ends of the bristles.

I drew her a desert scene and gave her a full moon and some common desert animals to glue onto the scene. She traced around the scene with glue and then sprinkle (or was it dumped?) sugar over the picture, shook it off, and PRESTO! A wonderful desert scene where the sugar lumped up and turned a wierd shade of greenish gray( some reaction with the school glue I didn't see coming.) Note to self, next time use sand to experiment with sand.

Played Roll Say Keep with our List 1 Phrases from this nifty dolch kit. Did our Math Mammoth and practiced our basic strokes in writing. For Bible, we read about Ishmael and did another activity from the Family Blueprint site. The object lesson for this story was that God's way is the way that brings about happiness, joy and peace. When we buck God and do things our way, we often cause confusion. So, I took three index cards and wrote the first two steps of brushing your teeth. Then I asked Lillie to tell me one of the things she does while she's washing dishes. I added that to the third card. Then I told her she was going to brush her teeth using the steps I tell her. Pick up toothbrush. Check. Pick up Toothpaste and squirt some on toothbrush. Check. Now, go put away the dishes. She stopped and looked at me with that same nutty look she did last week, like she's trying to figure out if she should have me certified or not. "Uh, you told me to brush my teeth." "Yeah, I know. The last step of brushing your teeth is to go put away the dishes." There's that look again. "Are you confused?"I ask. "Yes" she answers. I then explained to her that God has a way laid out. He promised Sarah and Abraham a son, but they got impatient and bucked the line and took matters into their own hands. This caused confusion and alot of hurt and pain to their family. Ishmael and Hagar had to suffer because of the lack of faith Sarah and Abraham had in God. Really suggest you check out the Family Blueprint Website. It really does have some good stuff on it. Well, the sun is up and daylight's a burnin'. Have a blessed day!