Weekly Recap: With the Week Before Christmas

We tried to catch up on some school lessons this week and succeeded! One child is not ahead in math like they'd like to be, but they are on schedule now.

In keeping with this week's Review Crew linkup, I want to mention a book we found recently through one of our Family School lessons. It has turned out to be a favorite- I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day The book is lovely and comes with a CD to narrate the story, but you can also watch the video here.

Monday we had a history lesson about Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, and Sequoyah. We talked a little about the Trail of Tears and how the treatment endured by the three Native Americans we discussed was not limited to them or their people, but extended to all Native Americans. It was a good lesson, in a good way. I nearly had a heart attack with my new computer.. I got all of my files transferred to it and ran a backup to my external hard drive. When I checked on it later I could not access anything on my data drive, all folders were E.M.P.T.Y. I tried to figure out what was going on, where things went, etc. but nothing worked. I had the thought to restart the computer. Suddenly everything was there. Something happens that causes the data drive to not show any files. I deleted the backup program I was using but it has happened one more time since then. I'm a bit frustrated but hoping to figure it out after next week when I have a little more time.

My father-in-law built stall bars for M to use for at home physical therapy. He brought them over but we discovered that there was no way they were getting down the stairs to the room we wanted them in... this basement has small halls and an odd room arrangement. We were ready to trade bedrooms when he had an idea, they'd cut them in half and make brackets to put them together again.

Tuesday we had a literature lesson on Amos Fortune. This is a great book so far, we're really enjoying it. I think my kids are having their eyes opened a little between this unit and the history lessons we've been doing. We made spinach rolls and this little one ate it right up! She said, "When it comes to good foods, I don't really fill up that fast." She's been difficult at meal times lately, eating less than a toddler, so it was nice to see her eat something, especially when it contained a big handfull of spinach.

Wednesday was a fun science lesson, we did a body systems project. Each child uses household items to create a physical model of a body, and they add a certain number of systems according to their age. It was neat seeing what the kids came up with!

The stall bars came back today and my father-in-law and his friend installed them. M is SO excited to have them so she can do Schroth therapy exercises the right way! We've been using a chin-up bar in the hallway, strapping her to the railing for floor exercises, and hanging from the top of a door for others. Now she has her own area to exercise in, and she is much more comfortable there. We still need to install a mirror on the wall behind the bars, but we've found one and just need to buy it and get it hung. I am so grateful that M's grandpa and his friend were willing to take on this project. They did beautiful work.

Thursday we had two geography lessons, to make up for the one we missed last week when we spent the day at the hospital and touring the capitol building. Both geography lessons were on political boundaries, and the kids mapped the countries they are studying. My husband had part of the day off work and we finished up some last minute Christmas shopping, as well as getting groceries for the weekend and Christmas.

Friday we did regular chores and rented The Nutcracker on Amazon. It was a nice, relaxing day.

Saturday I made our last two batches of bread. I made a total of 24 loaves if I've been keeping track correctly. We watched Instrument of War as a family. I highly recommend this movie! It snowed today, and the kids started their snow fort out front.

Sunday morning we attended church. It was a wonderful meeting full of music. We visited with our neighbors (we have wonderful neighbors!). We had our annual Christmas Eve dinner with some of my husband's family.