August 17th - September 6th

Our Family the Past 3 weeks...

* COVID UPDATE: Total Cases in Idaho are now 33,884 with 386 deaths. Total cases in the USA are currently 6.26 Million with 188K deaths and total cases in the world is 27 Million and 881K deaths. The schools here in Idaho are mostly virtually right now. Some school districts are doing a hybrid of 2 days in person classes with 3 days at home. Anytime students are in the school, they must have a mask on and distance from the other students/teachers. Some school districts are allowing sports - but NOT allowing parents to go watch their children play. This (along with many schools being taught virtually) has caused a large division between the parents. Also, there are rally's and protests to get the kids back in school. I watch from afar and am just so very thankful that we're starting our TENTH year of homeschooling and can keep doing what we've been doing! 

* Mom celebrated her 45th birthday on the 26th of August. The girls surprised her with decorating the house to be all festive when she awoke. They didn't let her lift a finger and did all of the cooking and cleaning while she just relaxed and "put her feet up!"... We all had our first Youth Activity that night (mom's group played volleyball at the park, the girls' group played outdoor games as well and Dad and Nathan fished at Fuller Park)... We ate the yummy cookie-cake that Aubrie made afterwards and got ready for the big celebration that was going to take place the next day - BOATING! We rented a large Pontoon boat and took it out for the day to Lake Lowell. Most everyone was able to get work off for that day (except August so he came until about 3ish) and so we had the entire family (plus Maggie,  Natalie and McKenrdra's sister, Marleyna ) out on the lake together!  Lots of wipeouts, waves, holding on for dear life, sore muscles, water spray, a few "relaxing rides" for mom, wind in our faces and food filled our day! Dad and the kids said that mom was a terrifying driver (but they loved it when she drove because the tube ride was more "thrilling") but she always thought she wasn't being adventurous enough and they were "bored"! haha  The only bad part of the day - we all got sunburned! Even though we applied sunscreen! Seth got it the worst (as he fell asleep in the sun!) so needless to say, the aloe plant got some use when we arrived home!

* The following week, we ventured down to the Boise River (mom, dad, Aubire, Lexi and Nathan) and rented a raft and inner-tube and floated the river. It was 100 degrees that day and boy was is HOT!! The kids each took turns riding in the inner tube while the rest of us were in the raft. It was pretty busy and the river will only be "open" for floating for another week or so. Part way down the river, there's a place to pull off and do some "cliff jumping"... dad and the girls were the adventurous ones and went for an adrenaline rush while Nathan and I stayed back with our gear. Dad got a reminder that he's 45 and ended up pulling his groin and straining his Achilles heel!! He spent the next few days not doing more than resting and relaxing trying to heal!

* We officially started our school year and things are going well so far! I was telling dad that this is truly the BEST situation for schooling! I only have the 3 youngest and all are old enough for self directed learning (although we all prefer me to be right there with them learning BUT I can make assignments and have them get done)... they are all at the same level academically so I only need to come up with one lesson plan - yay! AND they're at a great and fun age that we can do more detailed experiments, art projects and field trips (as soon as things open back up from Covid!). To keep us all on track and ensure a smooth running day, I created some daily/weekly schedules for us all. There's a place for our daily schooling, our "habits" and zone chores, a place to write down a goal that they want to focus on for the week, the specific chore they're in charge of for the week (they rotate a week at a time between Dishes, Bathrooms and Pet Care) and also a blank area to put individual task and assignments (and their "fun stuff" electives)... and of course, I needed something to keep me on track and so I designed up a double sided "brochure" where I can see all of the week's lessons (as well as other important tasks) all at a glance! We're starting on our 3rd week of using them (I laminated the kid's and they use a wet-erase marker to check things off and then at the end of the week, we wash them and they're ready to go! For my "brochure", I just print a new one each week... On Monday's during Enrichment, we go over our goals and also select with Zone Chores we'll do that week.

Clarifications for what some of the below subjects are:

Enrichment = our morning devotional: song, prayer, and typically a Come Follow Me lesson

Math - we're using the Learn Math Fast curriculum this year.

Grandma Time (for Nathan) is his 45-60 minute tutoring reading session with grandma. They do a facetime call over Facebook Messenger and do their lesson virtually! They work on phonics, fluency, spelling, vocabulary, writing and reading comprehension. This has been SUCH AN AMAZING blessing and help for Nathan and we're sooooo grateful for the sacrifice of time that Grandma gives to Nathan each day!

RAZ Kidz =  Reading A to Z which is a reading program that helps with fluency and reading comprehension 

IOB and Quantum Decks = "Inside Out and Backwards";  part of the Math Hacked system that I want the kids to use to continue reviewing multiplication and division concepts

3 QM App = the Quick Math app that I want them to do 3 sessions on each week for review

Extras = all of their electives like art, sewing, baking, German, Target shooting, crocheting, etc...

IGNB = Interactive Grammar Notebook (for teaching Grammar)

Light Up Lit = our Literature curriculum for this semester (possibly for the year if we like it!) It's a new program that looked fun! I've been creating my own lesson plans on NearPod incorporating the Novel Studies and Vocab.

Social Studies = the kids will do a Live Virtual SS class on Mondays with a teacher via Zoom

Science = we're using several difference resources for Science but our main program is a new one called CrossWired Science.

PLGs = Power Learning Goals... basically the state standards we hit throughout the week

Writing = the girls are doing a Live Virtual Writing Class this year as well. This will be held each Thursday afternoon at 1pm.

* The rest of the time has been filled with lots of Come Follow Me lessons, Nathan and John going to the Shooting Range, lots of travel for Dad, BBQ with the Jordao's, snuggling on Henry, work at Marco's for Ben and Seth (and of course, August), training Maggie for duck huntingand also, Ben made a deal to get paid $75 for shaving his head... his hair was quite long so as dad was shaving it, he made it into a mohawk that he kept for a teeny bit (like less than a day). We actually all think he looks pretty cute with his new buzz :)

Spiritually Speaking...

* I had a really neat experience with Prayer recently. It was actually last month when we were all quarantined at home together. I woke up in the middle of the night with severe nausea, back pain and abdominal  pain. It wasn't long before I was throwing up like clockwork about 20-30 minutes. The sad part was that I didn't feel any better or get any relief afterwards and it was just CONSTANT pain! After several hours, Dad and Seth gave me a blessing and miraculously, I only threw up one more time after that. But the back pain... oh the back pain was insane and I couldn't get any relief (at this point we were pretty sure I was dealing with a Kidney Stone - noooooo!!) Dad came up and sat near me as I writhed in pain and at one point, I opened my eyes and could tell that dad was praying and I instantly KNEW that he was praying for me. I could PHYSICALLY FEEL his prayer being offered up to our Heavenly Father for my relief of pain - and it came! With each breath I took, the pain lessened. It didn't completely go away, but subsided enough that I could relax and fall asleep. I've heard others bear testimony that they could "feel" prayers offered on their behalf but I guess I didn't really know what that meant OR that it was truly a physical feeling one could feel! When dad ended his prayer, he looked over at me with such love and tenderness in his eyes and I said "You were praying for me, weren't you? I could feel them..." and then I shared this experience with him.  It was a pretty neat experience! The pain lasted for about 15 hours and then I was fine! I'm hoping that I passed that ol' stone or that it goes back up into the kidney and leaves me alone for another ten years!!