Review of the Week #18 -- a little off schedule

We wee a little off schedule this week since we had colds and other ailments witht he little guys. Monday was quiet because the 3 younger boys slept a very long time. It was nice. It was way easy for everybody to get their work done, but we missed our little guys. Tuesday was a little more normal. Some of the kids seemed whiny and had runny noses, we skipped some outings and just watched T.V. but everybody got their work done. Everybody seemed O.K. on Wednesday. We played with some homeschool friends.

We woke up on Thursday though to a crying 4 yo that his ear hurt. I put garlic oil in his ears and gave everybody echinacea, colloidial silver and a cherry bark blend. We turned on the T.V. and he started to feel better. I even made a hot cooked onion pack to hold over his ears. His dad also gave him a priesthood blessing before he left for work. When my kids get sick, I just give them everything I know. I'm not sure which thing works best, maybe they all work together. But he started feeling better and said his ear didn't hurt anymore. I decided to go to the health food store and get more herbs for him and so I decided to go ahead and do my weekly shopping. I told the girls they could finish the one movie they were watching but then they would have to get working on everything they can do on their own except math and greek. I took the babies with me and we got all kinds of errands taken care of. The boys hardly knew we were gone. We don't watch much T.V. so when they do get to, they love it.

The girls did very well and finished all their work for the week so that on Friday they only had a couple fun things to finish up. Then we got the house all cleaned up and had friends over. It was very refreshing. The boys finished everything they needed to also. I think we've got a good system in place. Even though we didn't do everything according to schedule, we were still able to do what we needed to because of our checklists. We had 4 group times and 3 story times this week which is the goal. The kids had time to play and the house was clean. One thing I discovered this week is how much the kids can pick up and clean in 15 min. when we all work together. So we will start incorporating that in too this week.

I didn't spend as much one-on-one time with kids as I needed to this week since I was playing doctor mom and went to the store during prime school hours. So this coming week I will have a lot of checking to do. #3 finished his 3A workbook and needs me to check it and help him get ready for the test. #2 has passed up #1 in math this week. It comes easy to her and she asks me for help when she needs it. #1 spends way too much time trying to figure out problems before I realize it. I need to make sure she is progressing and not wasting time better.

#1 has been playing really good pieces of music that she makes up on the piano. She is amazing. I need to help her write her pieces down on music paper and on notepad ( computer program we have). She did great at her violin recital also. Music is a very strong point with her as is anything artsy really. It is so fun to see their talents develop and see them turn into young adults.

I can't wait to see what they each turn to, they all have their natural likes and abilities and they are all so different. Even though we are giving them all the same strong educational foundation, I can see that they are all going to choose to delve deeper into very different areas.

Also this coming week I think we will try to get our garden beds ready and maybe plant some peas.