What’s up?

Lots and lots of football games.

Greg is #69 and a lineman for the Loboes.  He looks huge in his gear.  I’m always amazed that he used to be my 9lb 1oz baby boy.  Crazy.  They are having a good year.

 

Zeke is #55 in the Wolfpack 4th-6th grade team.  He’s also a lineman.  He loves the tackling.  Their team is fun to watch.  Such enthusiasm.

 

Graham is also playing flag football.  They play a 15 min scrimmage during the half-time of a couple home games.  He’s the kid in the middle of the photo with dark pants.  These kids are just racing all over.  Lots of laughing parents.

 

So, yeah.  We’ve been going to a lot of football games.  Some Saturday and Monday, but pretty much every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday since the last week in August.  Schoolwork is still getting done (we started after Labor Day…that post may or may not ever get posted!)…RE started last week…Angelina started dance in September (that’s a month earlier than normal and has it ever impacted our schedule in a crazy way)…Eric’s been gone for two weeks…the tomatoes still need to be harvested…we had a nursery do a bit more landscaping/tree planting (LOVE IT!)…we are attending our first BISON game as a family on Saturday.  And that’s about it in a really small nut shell.

2014-15 School Year Summary

We started today! I’m excited to get going, but hope I have everything ready.  Anyway, here’s what’s up for this year for each of the kids.

GREG – 17yo and Senior

It’s Greg’s Senior year, so is bittersweet in some ways.  We are both ready for him to move along and head out to college.  We’ve knocked heads more than I care to remember!  However the past year was one of much growth for him.  Maybe we’ll enjoy this last year together more than we have since he was in single digits.

Greg’s planned activities & extra-curriculars: 4-H member (in two different clubs), ND State 4-H Ambassador, member of the Catholic Youth Advisory Council, FFA president & member, Crop Judging, Football (he was elected one of the team captain’s), wrestling, altar server, and teen ministry/study group at our local church.

MODG’s Catholic Doctrine using Following Christ in the World. 

Math-U-See Calculus (after we finish up the last couple lessons of Pre-Calculus)

MODG’s British Literature

MODG’s World Geography

American Government & Economics (he’ll be finishing up the last half of this class)

Exploring Creation with Physics (and he’ll also be finishing up the last few lesson of Exploring Creation with Chemistry)

MODG’s Health using the encyclical Casti Connubi

Physical Education – weight lifting twice a week

 

ANGELINA – 14yo and Freshman

Aaak!  Another high schooler!  Angelina will be a freshman this year.  I think she’s excited.  Well, she’s excited except for when Latin or piano are mentioned.  I’ve asked her to continue so that her language requirement can be met with Latin and without starting another language.  She didn’t have much to say.  I’ve asked a friend to help grade some of her papers so that she’ll have outside input on her writing.  She is the creative one in the family.  While organization of her room is not a priority, she can make just about any activity fun for her siblings or those around her.

Eva’s planned activities & extra-curriculars: 4-H member (in two different clubs), first year member of the Catholic Youth Advisory Council, FFA member, Crop Judging, dance (two nights a week for ballet, tap & jazz), and teen ministry/study group at our local church.  We are unsure at this point, if she’ll be able to be a part of the Ballet Academy production, as lessons are to be held on Friday nights….it’s a possibility.

MODG’s Religion 9

Grammar & Composition 9 using Warriners English 3rd Course

Math-U-See Geometry

U.S. History & Geography

American Literature

Exploring Creation with Biology

Art: Drawing with Nature & Landscapes in Pencil

Music: Music of the Great Composers & Piano

Poetry

Latin: Fourth Form Latin

ZEKE – 11yo and Sixth Grade

Zeke is growing up so fast.  He’s fast approaching me in height; I have no doubt he’ll pass me in the next 2 years.  He’s a hard worker when he sets his mind to it and loves to be outside helping his dad in the field.

Zeke’s planned activities & extra-curriculars: 4-H member (in two different clubs), Crop Judging, Wolfpack Football, possibly basketball, wrestling, altar server, and religious education classes at our local church.

St. Joseph’s Baltimore Catechism No. 2

Math-U-See Pre-Algebra

CHC’s plan for Grammar/Composition/English

Logic of English (plan to finish it up this year)

Phonetic Zoo Level A

Poetry

ND History & All Ye Lands

Exploring Creation with Zoology 2

Prima Latina

Art 7 For Young Catholics (1st Semester) & Art Lab for Kids (2nd Semester)

Piano & Ready to Use Music Activities

 

GRAHAM – 8yo and Third Grade

Graham is also a hard worker.  He’s determined and sometimes a little stubborn.  He has a twinkle in his eye when he smiles and always has such great enthusiasm.

Graham’s planned activities & extra-curriculars: 4-H member (in two different clubs), first year Crop Judging, Flag Football, wrestling, religious education (he’ll be studying for both Holy Eucharist and Confirmation) class at our local church.

St. Joseph’s Baltimore Catechism No. 1

Math-U-See Delta

CHC’s plan for Grammar/Composition/English & Spelling

Writing Can Help Book 3

Logic of English (plan to finish it up this year)

Poetry

CHC’s Tour a Country

Take it to Your Seat Geography e-book

Exploring Creation with Zoology 2

Prima Latina

Art Masterpieces (1st Semester) & Art Lab for Kids (2nd Semester)

Let’s Learn Music #2 & Piano

 

LOUIS – 4yo and Pre-School

Louis has an endless supply of energy.  He’s hardly ever in a bad mood and according to his sister, ‘says the most random things.’  He loves super heroes and especially likes to wear his Superman shirts.  He likes legos, Thomas the Train, Link, and being read to by anyone.

His day will consist mainly of play, but he’s also learning more about the letters and numbers.  He enjoys workbooks and art with his sister, who has been the one to lead him through the majority of his workbooks.

 

DAC – 2yo and Resident Toddler to be Entertained

Dac.  He’s a busy 2yo, but also knows how to entertain himself when needed.  He likes books, but doesn’t treat them the best, so we try not to leave him unsupervised with our favorites.  Colored rice and magnets are a favorite activity, but he pretty much likes to do anything Leo and his older siblings do.  He’s frightened of our puppy, Lily, because she’s about his height and tends to knock him over.  I have no set plan of activities to do with him this year, aside from the list of toddler activities that I printed out years ago.  We’ll see how it goes and adjust as needed.

Lily is HOME!

Around noon today, September 30, 2014, and 10 days after she went missing, Lily has been returned to us!  A neighbor’s son-in-law heard her whimpers and took the time to look around.  He saw her with her paws on the windowsill and head out the broken out window on the second story of an abandoned farmhouse.  This farmhouse was within our search area, but we didn’t hear or see her during the time we were in the area.

She is very thin, but was happy to be back on the farm.  We are all thrilled she’s back.  It’s definitely a lesson in not giving up hope.  Thank you to all the friends and family who kept up the prayers and for locals who kept their eyes and ears open. 

Monday DayLook: August 25, 2014

 

Looking out my back porch... mostly cloudy, breezy and it just looks cool.  The wheat field is very ready for harvest, but thanks to the rain this weekend, harvest will wait for a few days.

I am thankful for... allergy medicine, shop-vacs, bacon, fresh peaches, a functioning computer and napping toddlers.

I am reading… a mish mash of books, magazines and online articles. 

I am praying for...  a successful senior year for Greg and a successful year for the rest of my kids.  I am praying they all stay healthy in their sporting activities, as well.  I’m also praying that Religious Education will run smoothly and that we’ll find a cook for the college fraternity I advise.

I am hearing... honestly, in the couple minutes I’ve been writing this post, the boys have scraped a stool across the kitchen floor three times, Dak threw a plate on the floor for clattering effect, and the middle boys were having an argument over who should pick up a game they were both playing.  Mix in a couple screams of ‘Done, done!’ and you’ve put yourself in my chair.

From the Home Front…today has been a doozy of a morning.  Why is it that we cannot discover a problem with our septic pump until water is spilling into the homeschool closet or spilling over the toilet seat next door?  We’d meant to get a back-up pump, but just hadn’t gotten it done.  Of course, my husband thought he’d have more than a year to accomplish that task.  It seems we go through a pump a year.  I think he’ll be getting that done a little sooner than planned.  For now, we are pumping into the backyard…good thing we live in the country and thank goodness it’s windy today. 

From the School Room... assignments are being completed.  Greg and I determined that he’ll be re-taking the ACT.  Unfortunately, there is only one date that works and it’s next April.  He’s also signed up for career days at one college and we’re planning on two college tours, as well. 

From the Kitchen...  Sweet ‘n’ Sour Baked Beans in the oven and Raspberry Chipolte Bacon fresh out of the oven.

From the FarmYard… Lily, our 4mo black lab, went missing last Wednesday.  She hasn’t returned, and we don’t believe she will.  It stinks.  We went out searching for three days in the area where the dogs were last seen, to no avail.  It rained the three nights after she went missing, so the odds of her surviving with an injury are even slimmer.  Bella, our older dog, has been moping around.  We all miss Lily.  Each morning, I’ve woke up hoping that she’d be laying on the mat on the back porch. 

The last batch of hogs goes to the butcher tomorrow.  It’ll be nice to get the barn cleaned out for the winter.

We still haven’t had an opportunity to move the chickens.  The weather played a part in the delay.  Oh, well.  It’ll happen when it happens.

A successful moment… the pile of shirts & handkerchiefs to be ironed has been pressed and put away. 

A few plans for the rest of the week…
*First varsity football game for Greg on Tuesday and his second game is  on Saturday

*Zeke’s first football game is Thursday

*Angelina has an ortho appt in Fargo on Wednesday

*Graham begins Flag Football practice on Thursday

*Family camping trip – last one of the year – begins Thursday night or Friday morning

*Grandma Green Acres plans to take Zeke, Graham, and Louis to see Bob!

*Final prep for our first day of class on September 2.

A picture memory...

 

From our trip through the Smokey Mountains in June 2006.  From left to right: Zeke, Graham, Angelina, Greg.  The pic up top is also from our trip through the mountains.

Monday DayLook: August 18, 2014

Looking out my back porch... It’s partly sunny and the wheat field is ripening.  Another couple years and the tree rows will block my view of the field…I don’t look forward to that day.

I am thankful for... living on the farm, cuddly two year olds, snuggly four year olds, chores to get the kids out of the house.

I am praying for...  insight into how to encourage good work ethic in my kids.

A random thought… my oldest son has his work space in our school room and my work area is in the schoolroom, but situated behind him so that I can see his computer screen.  He dislikes me working on my computer or being in the room behind him during school hours.  I think it’s because he feels guilty.  Maybe it’s because whenever I walk back into the room, after being gone, he’s not doing schoolwork and switches his screen??  Trust is earned my boy…it’s earned.

From the School Room... while the room is more organized than last week, it’s still not ‘there’.  Too many piles on the windowsill, dirty windows, old wall posters, remnants of summer that need to be stored away.

From the Kitchen...  peach crisp in the making thanks to Angelina.  If all goes as planned, she’ll be canning peach something for a 4-H project.

From the FarmYard… another load of hogs goes in to the butcher tomorrow.  We are also planning to move our older laying flock this week.  I plan to have the boys help me move two sets of nest boxes to the Wahoo and then we’ll move the flock.  Ya see, there are rats in the barn where they currently live and we want to get rid of the rats.  They eat the feed meant for the chickens and also drink the water, which prevents any poison from working properly.  It’s a big project, but hopefully one that will improve the property.

A successful moment… the basement is cleaned and a couple loads of laundry were taken care of this morning.  Went through a pile of magazines and papers to donate, store or throw.

A few plans for the rest of the week…
Cleaning and organizing. 
Greg has practice every day this week. Football practice for Zeke on Tuesdays & Thursdays.
A massage and meeting in Fargo for Suzie!
Harvest of the wheat begins this week.

A picture memory...

The picture is from last August, but this little guy turned two last week!  And, he is little.  10% for weight and 25% for height…very different from how his older siblings grew.  But, much easier on his older mama!!

Update:  Since I couldn't quite figure out the whole google+ (I really just don't have the extra time), I shut off that feature.  I'm sorry to those who posted comments under google+ because your comments are now gone.  It's another of those tech quirks.

DayLook: Thursday, August 14, 2014

I am thankful for... the days of August when the weather is mild, kids enjoy being outside, chicken butchering is done for the year, and school hasn’t started yet.

I am looking forward to…Greg’s senior year of school and all that goes with it, football games for my boys and the NDSU Bison, camping one more time with family at the end of the month (never thought you’d hear me say that…for those of you who know me well!), and late Summer/early Fall colors in the flower garden.

I am reading… novels on my kindle.  Eric and I watched Divergent the other night, and while I’d read Divergent, I hadn’t read the other two books in the trilogy.  After watching the movie, I read the other books within the next two days.  I enjoyed the series for the most part.  I appreciated closure at the end, even if it’s wasn’t how I’d envisioned.

I am praying for...  a successful and uneventful harvest for our family and a smooth start to our school year.  October will mark one year since my dad’s accident.  I pray for him and everyone helping on my childhood farm as they enter harvest (and the combine) for the first time since my dad’s accident.

A random thought… another of my children has been diagnosed with shingles.  That’s right, I said another.  And they’ve both been 11 years old!  I find it interesting and maybe somewhat of a double standard that older persons who are diagnosed with shingles are not told to stay home and avoid people, but my two children…who both had the chicken pox at the ages of 3 and 1 years (not vaccine related)…were told to stay home and avoid contact with anyone.  I’d also like to see a bit more research on how/if the chicken pox vaccine is possibly related to an increase in the incidence of shingles in younger adults and children.

I am hearing... the ripple of the water from the aquarium.

From the School Room... slowly becoming organized for the coming year.  Still have last years completed work to sort through and file, but all the non-consumable texts and materials have been stored.  Supplies have been purchased and syllabi are updated.

From the Kitchen...  purchased two lugs of peaches earlier this week with the hope of canning at least one lug.  So far, we’ve only eaten them fresh, but they are delicious.  Angelina used up a zucchini by making chocolate chip zucchini cake; I frosted it with brown sugar frosting.  Very good recipe; even though I initially thought it would flop because she halved the pan size (didn’t read instructions carefully enough). 

From the FarmYard… chicken butchering was spread over three days on two different weekends.  It’s done for the year.  We’ve already started delivering some of the frozen birds to customers.  The laying hens continue to produce!  The newest layers will begin production as early as mid-September.  The sheep are done for the year, and the hogs are being taken in to the butcher in batches of 5 or 6.  It’s awesome to be able to produce so much of our own meat.  Just wish I was a little better about the garden…

A successful moment… both boys had physicals before football practice started, thank goodness.  I’d forgotten about that little, but major, requirement until two weeks ago.

A few plans for the rest of the week…
1. Mass to celebrate The Assumption.

2. Supper with friends.

3. Bills, bills, bills.

4. Trip to Fargo for a doctor appt. 

Picture memory...

Angelina’s dress for the 4-H Sew ‘n’ Show Contest.

 

Lily, purebred Black Labrador Retriever.  Newest addition to the farm and great fun.  She’s much bigger than this photo shows.  This was back in June 2014.