Friday, April 18, 2014

Weekly Wrap Up - Easter Week

 
Sometimes it is hard to keep up with all of Grace's current passions. Right know she has fallen in love with our chickens again. Every day you will find her outside feeding, watering, collecting eggs and playing with the chickens. This week she even decided to learn out to clean all the coops. She wants to earn some extra money for a business venture she is interested in starting. So now she is the proud recipient of a weekly allowance. The allowance is for all the chicken chores (which takes a huge load off of me) and of course keeping her room cleaned and picked up (which is no easy task for any teenager).
 
This week we had the joyous experience of another Easter hatching of chicks. It has happened the same time frame nearly every year. This go around 3 or 4 eggs hatched. We didn't want to do big clutch because we already have so many chickens on hand. As you can imagine Grace spends a lot of her time with them. She wants this clutch to be very tame and we are hoping they are not all roosters which will eventually have to be harvested.

 
Hubby bought a new camera for him and Grace to use for their art. Grace has become quite interested in taking pictures due to the new camera.

 
Puppy of course is always a great model.

 
Our Cooperative classes are winding down for the year which means a performance in a couple of weeks. The high school kids are working on finishing the set for Fiddler on the Roof. Grace helped with the set and will be doing a lot of the stage makeup for the performances. She is really missing not performing in this one which brings me to our next piece of news. Grace wants to audition for the King and I at our local community theatre. Auditions are on May 11and 12th and will take up most of her summer with performances at the end of July and early August. Hoping some of her friends come out and do the same as they need a large cast for this one.

 
Trim Healthy Mama is going great. Grace has lost 6 pounds and I have lost 4. She is really enjoying this way of eating and is really happy with the results. To see results so fast is very encouraging for her.

 
I am in the process of writing a chicken study guide/lapbook for the company I freelance write with. Grace is taking all my pictures for me and the above pic is of our only rooster in residence.
 
So what did we do academically this week? Well we finished up with the Supercharged Science review and went back to our General Science textbook. The module for this week is about Geology, Archaeology, and Paleontology. We are also just about finished the Philosophy Adventure review and that post will be coming up at the beginning of next week which means we are going back to finish up our Middle Ages study for the year. So happy to be able to get in 4 Algebra lessons this week even though Grace is having a little trouble understanding reducing factions with exponents and reverse distributing with them same. The program she is enjoying the most this week is Micro Business for Teens. Reading through this book and doing the activities have really sparked an interest in her with creating a micro business. She has talked with her favorite teacher Ms. Christy about helping with birthday parties by dressing up as Disney princesses. This would let Grace do all the cosplaying and makeup that she loves so much. She will also be helping with summer art camps at the same location. It is really going to be a very busy summer for Grace and me for that matter.
 
I should also mention that Grace has started some sewing lessons. Her first project was a skirt that was finished in a couple of hours. Her goal is to one day be able to sew her own costumes for cosplaying and the micro business she is planning for Birthday Disney Princesses.
 
So, summing up this week our biggies are finishing Cooperative Classes, delving into costuming, makeup, photography and chicken care, getting healthy through diet and exercise and working on review products with some Algebra thrown in the mix. It really has been a good week.

5 comments:

Jamie {See Jamie blog} said...

That skirt Grace made is great! My 13yo so wishes we could have chickens but our community doesn't allow it unless we have more land. So I live vicariously through other bloggers. ;)

Karen said...

What a great week!!!! I love all of Grace's interests. Isn't it great they can explore them all? Kei is gearing up to audition AGAIN too. Just thinking about it makes me tired. :) YAY for losing weight!! How exciting. Very interested in the writing you are doing; the chicken study guide. I would LOVE to be able to do something like that. Any info you could point me to? Happy Easter Diane!

Sandra said...

What a great sounding week - a nice mix of traditional academics, real-life learning, interest-led learning ... although I often find the labels irrelevant anyway! Looking forward to your review of Philosophy Adventures. I'd love to do some more philosophy with Miss 13 - not sure where we'd find the time though!

Leah Courtney said...

Congratulations on the weight loss. I've heard so many good things about Trim Healthy Mama.

The skirt your daughter made is very pretty. She did a good job!

Carol Topp CPA said...

I'm so glad your daughter is liking my Micro Business for Teens books! She has some great ideas for several micro businesses.
Cute skirt! Grace should watch this short video clip about a teenage girl who makes and sells skirts as her micro business. http://microbusinessforteens.com/getting-an-idea-for-your-micro-business/

Carol Topp
Author of Micro Business for Teens books