Checking In- First 'School' Post of the Year

Midway through week 2 of the second half of our 2013/2014 school year. I'd attempted this post the first week but eh, it is here now. After 5 weeks off of school, 2 1/2 of those on vacation {a literal vacation!}, it has admittedly been a little difficult to get back into our groove.

But here we are, finished with the third day of the second week. And we survived. Math didn't make it in the 'schedule' for the day. I'm not too upset and the kids certainly aren't crying over that.

Round Table is/was the most difficult thing to get back into. The first week we skipped it with the understanding that we would start again this week. Being concerned that the day would get away from me before we got it done {and honestly if it gets put off until later in the day, it just doesn't get done}, I set out to make an agenda for us. Agenda, schedule, whichever. 

Here's our plan:

Mom up- school- 6:30 to 8:30

Kids up, breakfast, Bible reading- 7:30 to 8:30

Round Table- 9:00 to 11:00 

Break {bike ride}, lunch- done by 12:30

Jeff's time with mom- 12:30 to ?

Lee's time with mom- after Jeff to ?

School done by 4:00 

Mom school- after kids' school until 6ish? and again from 7:00 to 9:15

I also now have a box that now has our Round Table books and papers. I put the items in the box when Round Table is done so that I make sure I know where they are when I need them next morning. So far, so good. Our Round Table for the week thus far has included:

• Hymn
• Verses
• German phrases
• Sign Language
• Memorization/Recitation
• States/capitals
• Presidents
• James study {Tuesday}
• Chemistry {Tuesday-Thursday}
• Logic {Wednesday -Art of Argument from Classic Academic Press}
• Music
• Prayer

We missed The Attributes of God on Monday so we'll pick that back up next week. We have Science Matters on Friday. And that is how homeschool is going.

*My* school is going as well. It started Monday and I have assignments due every week. There is a lot of reading involved and many papers. Lots of information to synthesize. Speaking of which, I have to get off of here and get some of it done. 

Late start...

Yesterday was our 'official' first day of school...well, not really! I had it all planned: start and end date; breaks; vacations; holidays; exam weeks; etc. Then we took our scheduled (yes, I planned that out too!) trip to Oregon.

So we didn't start yesterday but instead will start tomorrow. Our Oregon trip lasted two more days than planned because silly silly me, I didn't factor in the 4th of July! It was all about numbers, days, places, people. I totally forgot about the 4th. We got home late on Monday night and I slept until close to noon today. Ahem, I woke up at 3:30am on Monday though...I was a bit tired lol.

all the red blobs are places we stayed on our trip
doesn't seem so far when I look at it like that!
...18 hour drive home...

Our official start date is still July 5th but we were doing 'other' kinds of learning...like counting cars, keeping data on license plates, reading signs, budgeting money...and, you know, the sort of learning that takes place anyway, no matter where you are. And a lot of sleeping for the kids...a LOT of sleeping... :)

And because I slept so late (although I am pretty sure the sleep was needed and necessary) here it is 2:30 am and I cannot sleep! I don't have any planning to do for the week, or even for tomorrow. It's all been done in advance. Fox actually asked if you could just do some school because he was bored tonight. I wasn't ready though, nu uh... We will do it tomorrow. Instead we played a game of modified Scrabble. We ditched the rules though and didn't bother keeping score. Next time we ditch the rules, I am going to say we can start a word ANY where on the board...ooooh yea... that'll be great!

Tomorrow the kids have to have their 4H entries in for what they are entering in the fair (which we won't even be here for) and some how they have to get all their stuff done in two weeks. We are going to be gone the week of the fair so the kids have to have their static exhibits ready the week before to be judged. That means 4 more cakes to bake and decorate, photos to take and develop, a robotics poster to put together and their project notebooks to fill out. I would say 'they' but well, yea, it's going to be 'us'. At least next year (if they still want to participate) we will know what to expect and we will have an entire year to get it all ready; instead of 2 months with little information!

I noticed that my last post-post was almost a month ago...wow, oh wow, where did the time go? What did I do in all that time?? I know one was planning the start of the school year! And the Oregon trip planning. I have been trying to finish the book The Case for America's Christian Heritage and I am enjoying it but it seems I have so much more to get done. I am taking two classes this summer (history classes on medieval Ireland and the Celts) and I have a preview to get finished for TOS crew. I've been busy :) Oh, I am also reviewing the book a Girl's Guide to Life by Katie Meier for BookSneeze. It's good, too.

Ah, and I got a new phone :) That was an awesome random thing that happened. I was expecting a new phone in another year with the New Every Two deal that Verizon has. Well, I got a text saying that I was eligible for an upgrade. They offered the LG Cosmos for $19.99 (after $50 mail in rebate) and had a toll free number to call to complete the upgrade. Well, my phone was bugging me to no end on the trip *telling me I had new texts when there wasn't any; saying my message memory was 99% full when there were no texts at all; service then no service; battery dying like crazy* so I just deleted everything in my inbox and totally forgot about the nifty offer. I decided to go online to check out what the LG Cosmos even was and why I might want it for $20. Good thing for me I did! Online it was a free upgrade! Instant rebate and free shipping. Plan stayed the same, no extra charges. I did have to renew my contract for another two years...but I'm alright with Verizon. So, yea, I think my phone is spiffy and am happy with it.

At some point, I hope to get some pictures of our trip and other things to put on here. Until then...I think I am going to attempt going to bed!