A Patchwork of Blessings

A Simple Woman's Daybook -- Sept 29, 2008

Remember to go to The Simple Woman  for all the other entries and links. 

A Simple Woman's Daybook entry for 9/29/08

Outside My Window... Indian Summer has come to our valley!  The sun is warm, coming up over the mountains, and not a cloud in the sky.  All the leaves are changing, but our temps for today will reach the mid 80's.  

I am thinking... about Art's retirement again.  The date is set for 1 July 09, we will be leaving Utah at the beginning of May.  Our plans (at the moment) are to buy a travel trailer.  We hope to spend about a month "on the road", as we travel to Massachusetts and then live in it for a few months while we scout out our new home.  

I am thankful for... our scripture study group, 20 wonderful people, sharing and learning together.  We are using A Quick Journey through the Bible  by Jeff Cavins.  It is my first time leading/coordinating such a group and it is such a wonderful journey.

 

From the kitchen... breakfast -- warm pumpkin bread and pears

lunch -- Mexican soup and corn bread

dinner -- grilled flank steak with garlic potatoes & green beans

I am wearing... my favorite comfy jeans, apricot long sleeve tee, red crocs and my hair up in a sloppy pony-tail!  All about comfort today, fighting a sore throat/cold virus.

I am creating... quilts and gifts for Christmas.  My fall quilt is coming along nicely, I am sewing the blocks into rows at the moment.  Hopefully, I will be done by the time it turns cooler.  My 6 gifts are at various stages, I plan to work on them throughout the week.

I am going... to be getting lots of rest and fluids today, I hope to fight off this cold bug!

I am reading... Christ the Lord, Out of Egypt by Anne Rice

I am hoping... for the cooler weather to come, we have gone 28 days without running the A/C.  I would really like to keep it that way.   

I am hearing... pitter-patter of not-so-little feet, getting their morning chores done, before we start school.

Around the house... finish decorating for Fall, all done except for the dining room, going through the kids clothes, and making up meals for the next month.

One of my favorite things... Sunday morning brunch!  I love when my husband makes waffles.  YUM!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: trip to the dermatologist, a fall hike at Snow Basin lodge, quilting class and possibly basket weaving!

Here is picture thought I am sharing... Happy Fall Y'all!

The Last days of Summer

The end of summer is coming, as September marches on.  I love waking in the morning to the cool crisp air.  No need for A/C right now, and that is so nice.  Last week while running errands, I noticed that our local farm stand still had U-pick strawberries, and since I missed the beginning of the season, I wasn't about to let this opportunity slip by!  So off we went to the fields.  All the berries were little, but very sweet. The kids and I picked 5 1/2 lbs, and we were delighted.  Over the weekend, I made freezer jam, and then cleaned and froze the rest for smoothies.  Here are a few pix of our adventure.  

I have even more plans as fall approaches, I hope to start a new fall quilt, find apples for picking and try a batch of pumpkin butter.   We were able to order some fresh cider from our local dairy, so warm cider in the evenings this week while we enjoy the sunset. 

I hope your end-of-summer brings you blessings. 

Following the path to the fields!The berries were small, but we had lots of fun hunting!

A Simple Woman's Daybook -- Sept 8, 2008

Please be sure to visit The Simple Woman for all the other day book entries.

Outside My Window...Clear, crisp morning, the sun is peeking over the mountains and tinting the sky pink, no clouds or chance of rain, high mid 80's, right now low 60's.

I am thinking... about the strawberries we picked last week and how I need to get them in the freezer today!

I am thankful for... these last few wonderful days of summer.  Our daytime temps have been in the upper 70's and the nights in the 50's.  A whole week without A/C, and counting!

From the kitchen... South of the Border Quiche w/ warm tortillas and salad

I am wearing...grey gym short, black tee, tennies and grey fleece.

I am creating... My Christmas planner, using ideas from FlyLady and  OrganizedChristmas.com.I have started all my different lists (gifts, meals, power cleaning, shopping, parties).  This week I will focus on budget, and decide on the gifts I will make.

I am going... to make it to the gym at least 4 mornings this week!

I am reading... I am in between books right now.  I just finished the Twilight series and just don't feel ready to jump into anything else, yet.  Although, I was asked to join a book club meeting that will discuss Breaking Dawn, so I may just start re-reading it at a slower pace.

I am hoping... for more wonderful weather.

I am hearing... quiet, the kids are sleeping, all is very quiet for a Monday morning.

Around the house... Switching out some of our summer stuff, both kids had big growth spurts this summer, so new jeans and the like are needed.  

One of my favorite things... sitting on the patio in the cool crisp morning, with a hot cup of coffee, and watching the sun rise over the mountains.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Quilting class, I am planning to start a fall quilt and some other crafts for Christmas gifts.  Attending the Clinic Booster Club meeting, we will be continuing plans for the Christmas Stroll.

Here is picture thought I am sharing... boating at Pine view Reservoir, enjoying the last days of summer.

Back to school

As Sept roles around, many kids are heading back to school, and so are we.  With Art's retirement planned for the Spring, we hope to be done with school by the beginning of April, so we are actually beginning Week 8.  

I thought I would share some of our plans for the year, since that is the question I answer the most.  Caitlin is beginning 6th grade and Connor is in the 2nd.  It is very hard to believe this is our 4th year of homeschooling.  We have done standardized testing at the end of the last 2 years, and Caitlin continues to test at the top of her grade level, so we debated on skipping from 5th to 7th grade, but instead we chose to add language and writing.  Here are the materials we are using for this year.

Catholic Heritage Curricula is our primary source for language, especially.  We also use The Well-Trained Mind for planning and reading lists.

Caitlin -- Grade 6

• Math: Saxon Math 7/6
• Reading Comprehension:  Stories of the Saints Vol II  from CHC & Grade 6 reading list WTM
• Logic:  Mind Benders 
• Spelling:  Phonetic Zoo from Excellence in Writing 
• Grammar, Usage, Mechanics:  Language of God Level E from CHC
• Composition: Student Writing Intensive from EIW 
• Religion:  Faith & Life 6 and God's Merciful Love (Old Testament study) from CHC
• Science: Chemistry, Biology & Physics using Real Science 4 Kids 
• History: finishing Story of the World 1 and start SOTW 2
• Latin: Latina Christiana I 
• Spanish: Rosetta Stone Latin American Spanish  
  

 Connor -- Grade 2

• Math: Modern Curriculum Press B  
  
• Phonics: K12 Phonics program (cont from the end of 1st Grade) 
• Grammar/Language: First Language Lessons   
• Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears 
• Religion: Faith & Life 2 & 1st Communion Prep from CHC 
• Science: Real Science 4 Kids 
• History: finish SOTW 1, begin SOTW 2   

Our school day usually begins at 9 AM and continues until noon.   We break for lunch and weather permitting, go out for some playtime, then at 1 PM, we finish up, usually no later than 2:30.

I plan out 9 wks at a time, this is very helpful, because Caitlin knows exactly what she needs to do for the week, and can work through the week at her own pace.

We hope that everyone has a wonderful beginning to their school year!