Weekly Wrap-up: Birthday Parties, Dentist Appointments, a Zombie Teacher, Science Dilemmas and a Whole Bunch of Soap

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This was an off-week for us.

Not as in we took the week off from school, but as in there were so many disruptions that we might as well have taken a break.

Monday, we started our day with swimming.  My new weight-loss plan includes swimming twice per week, and we are blessed to have a membership to a recreation center with an indoor Olympic-sized pool.  My mom joins us since her PT plan includes water exercises.  I managed to tread water for 30 minutes.  Hooray!  We were off to a good start. 

Then we went to a birthday party for one of the boys' friends.  He is a fellow homeschooler and former soccer teammate.  It was a beautiful day, and we all had fun at the party; however, by the time we returned home, there was only time for Omnibus (Orville), Rod and Staff (Wilbur), math, and grammar.  I call these our school staples, and when we are rushed, sick, or facing an unusual schedule, this is what must be done.

Also, Orville read the next science experiment in his General Science text and told me it couldn't be accomplished.  I told him that I would look at it later and we would see about that.

Tuesday was the most "normal" school day this week.  The boys completed all of their subjects, and we were completely engrossed while reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  All of us have read this book before.  We have seen the BBC production about a zillion times and the Disney/Walden movie at least a dozen, yet we could read the original work over and over again.

I got to the bottom of the science experiment dilemma.  Orville needed a working flashlight which I quickly found and handed to him.  Problem solved! (or so I thought)

The boys also chose writing projects for unit 2 of History Revealed, and we made a library run for research materials and tutoring materials.  Orville chose to write about Sumer, and Wilbur is writing a paper about the Egyptian pyramids.  He is also working on a drawing that compares the Great Pyramid to the Ziggurat of Ur and the Pyramid of the Sun.  Both were supposed to be completed today but are still works in progress because....

Wednesday was Orville's birthday.  Now, being the mean  goal-oriented mom that I am, I made him complete school work on his birthday.  But just the essentials that I listed on Monday.  And I mostly had him do that work so he would be occupied while I baked cupcakes for his celebration dinner.  So when the cupcakes were baked and the independent work was graded, we left for the playground for a playdate with one of my tutoring students.  We have agreed to meet them twice each week to play in addition to tutoring sessions so he can be immersed in English.

Later we headed to Wal*Mart so Orville could use the gift card sent by his paternal grandparentsThen we went to dinner with Papaw and Nohnie (my parents) and my student joined us.  Orville purposefully picked a southern cooking restaurant because he thought my student needed the experience.  Tutee, however, seemed to be quite familiar with fried chicken, and we had a lot of fun celebrating Orville's special day.

Oh, and did you read about my present?  I lost 4.4 pounds!

Oh, and Orville returned the flashlight and again insisted he could not complete the experiment.  I told him I would look at it with him later.

Thursday was one of those days that if I could erase it from my memory, I would.  We had dentist appointments which took the entire morning.  Need I say more?  Well... maybe a bit.  Just that I don't like going to the dentist.  I really don't like taking the boys to the dentist.  And in a few weeks I have to take them for a consultation with an orthodontist, and we're going to have to make hard decisions about braces. 

I was zombie teacher for the rest of the day.  Wondered how I was going to work that in, didn't you? 

Another day of basics for the boys, tutoring afterward, and praying for the grace to recover from a difficult day and wisdom for Michael and me to know what really is best for our boys and whether they really NEED braces or if it is just what our culture mandates.

And the later I had promised for that science experiment never arrived, but I insisted Orville try it anyway and see what would come of it.

Friday started with tennis lessons and then another 45 minutes at the pool.  We returned home for an early lunch, a full school day (I tried hard to make up for the lost time this week), and another playdate with Tutee.

Somewhere in the middle, I asked Orville if he had completed the experiment.

Nope.

Because (and this is what he had been trying to communicate since Monday and somehow I just didn't get it) the experiment required breaking the only working flashlight we own.  Apparently, Michael and I are serious about keeping that flashlight in working order, and Orville knew better than to touch it. 

We decided to skip science this week. 

And that experiment.

Sorry, Dr. Wile.

And last, but not least, a HUGE package was at my front door when I arrived home from the playdate.  Inside were all the materials I ordered for soap "making".  I'm not really making soap but scenting and forming a pre-made soap base into novelty soaps to sell for the holidays.  I had a great time smelling all my new fragrance oils.

Then I opened the bottle of vanilla color stabilizer, thinking it might smell yummy, too. 

It didn't.

I felt like a stink bomb went off inside my head and I almost passed out. 

Good thing school was done for the week, else it would have been the return of Zombie Teacher!

Ha!  I worked it in twice!!

Happy Schooling!
Dawn