Spring Break: Week 2

I started a couple more blog posts last week, but we were so busy, none of them was finished. Maybe if things slow down, I can post them.

This week we're making raised beds. I replanted garlic, since last fall's planting failed miserably. It's late, but we'll see what happens. Tomorrow I hope to get the peas and spinach in the ground. Other seedlings are doing well under the grow light.

Wednesday was a big shopping day down in "the Cities". We had a Lowe's card from Kentucky, so we went to the nearest Lowe's and spent what was left on that. We also had a coupon for Home Depot, so we went a little wild buying plants there. Lynae and I both bought shoes at the Nike outlet. I noticed a Claire's across the parking lot, so we took the opportunity to do something we'd been discussing quite often lately; the girls both had their ears pierced.

We went to Perkin's for supper. It was the most peaceful restaurant meal we've enjoyed in years. We had a whole back dining room to ourselves, with wonderful ambiance and classical music. The kids are beginning to recognize classical composers, which made it even more special. We took some time to pray together while waiting for our meal. It was truly memorable.

Before coming home, we picked up a few more things for the garden at Walmart. Then a handsome young man drove us safely home, whereupon all the children soon tumbled into bed.

And now... it's my turn!

We may have a breakthrough!

The kids had their annual testing last month. The results aren't all that interesting, except for Jon's. He's tough to figure out sometimes... what IS going on in that brain of his??

His results showed that his vocabulary is extraordinary, and he has a very good grasp on social studies and science, but his language skills and math skills could only be worse if he didn't answer ANY of the questions. So basically, the best way for him to learn is to hand him a book and let him read about a topic, rather than using workbooks like we so often do for grammar and math.

Guess what? I found the Barron's Painless Series on Amazon, and I think we're on to something! I handed him the Painless Junior Math book and said, "Here, read your book." No conflict, no frustration. Within five minutes, he was excited to tell me he understands a concept he's struggled with for the five years I've tried to teach it to him. He keeps nodding his head as he's reading, saying, "Ok, I get it now." And the beauty of it is, it's a book he can read again later if he needs to. He just told me, "That's a pretty good chapter (on telling time). Now I don't even have to count the numbers by 5's anymore."

HALLELUJAH!!!

"I can tell today's gonna be awesome. It's warm out, and a good day to be outside. And also, I just learned how to tell time, so that helps my feeling that it's gonna be awesome."