Ordinary Moments: Week of September 18, 2022

 I hope when I look back on these pictures someday in the future that I realize that what has made my life most beautiful is not the big, grand moments, but rather the small every day ones. 

A planned day

Moose's contribution to the school day...

I have no idea what I am going to do with this cat...

My favorite season.

This is monkey - Moose's stuffed animal that he carries around in his mouth daily by its neck mewing and smooshing him with his feet. 

The beginnings of bread for dinner.

The heart shaped potato that I found in my 5lb bag.

Fall 2022 - Game 1: Soccer with Elizabeth

 Elizabeth played her first soccer game for the fall season this past Saturday. Her team ended up losing 0-1. It is always such a shift to go from watching to competitive collegiate soccer to high school recreational soccer. I had to keep reminding myself that the game I was watching was just rec soccer and to reign in my expectations for the game being played out before me. I am hoping I am better able to do that next for next week's game. 

It was nice to watch Elizabeth play soccer again. I know I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating that Elizabeth is the best teammate. She is always cheering the girls on whether or not she is on the field. She is so excited for them when they do well and is the first to give them an encouraging word when they are struggling. 

As always, Sarah was my trusty, spectating companion. I am not sure how she is able to go to all of the games she does when it is hard to follow the game without sight, but more so because she misses the game so much herself. Her amount of dedication to her siblings is something to behold. 

Homeschooling 2022-2023: Week 3

 This week we were able to get caught up on what we didn't get through last Friday due to my surgery. It was a bit of a stressful week because we didn't get caught up until Thursday, so that feeling of being behind followed me all week. I don't like that feeling. 

The girls are struggling with their sleep schedules which means that, while they are getting up on time, they are having trouble doing their best work because they are too tired. It has been a big frustration for me because I am balancing a home, making meals, and homeschooling. I need all three parts firing on all cylinders in order for things not to become chaotic for me. I am hoping that this week will be better. I talked with the girls at the end of last week about this issue and I am hoping that some of what I said sticks and they will make changes so that they are ready for school at our agreed upon time each morning. 

As for what we went over this past week in school here is what we covered:

Math

Sarah worked on graphing linear inequalities and two review worksheets.

 Elizabeth learned about the distributive property with variables and also two review worksheets.

Science

 Sarah and I finished a chapter on the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. She then worked on a study guide for the chapter. 

Elizabeth took a test on the scientific method and began a new chapter on experiments and how scientists use them and why they use them to prove theories. 

Geography

The girls began a unit on Scandinavia. We focused on Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. We will finish up the unit in the upcoming week. 

Latin

Sarah finished a review unit, took a test, and began Unit III which starts a unit on nouns and their declensions and cases. 

Braille

 Elizabeth also finished up a review unit on punctuation and the alphabet. Next week she will begin working on numbers. 

Psychology

Sarah learned about dreams, the brain, and how & why psychologists perform experiments. 

Language Arts 

Both girls read aloud from their current book selections (Sarah is working through the 5th Little House book and Elizabeth began the first Harry Potter book.) I then read aloud to Sarah for our Great Books series. Each of the girls worked through their spelling lists and each worked through their grammar lessons (most of what they are working on is review from previous years). Finally, for writing the girls did a review on how and why to use a thesaurus and also on basic outlining. 

Browns vs Panthers 9/11/22

When we first heard that the Browns were playing the Carolina Panthers for the season opener here in Charlotte we knew that we needed to go to the game. Once we realized that Baker Mayfield was coming to play quarterback for the Panthers the deal was sealed and we bought tickets. 

We had a lot of fun. It was supposed to be cloudy weather, and there were clouds all around us, but the stadium was sunny and the heat was pretty intense (especially because we did not bring any hats on account of the weather report) so we all ended up with sunburn. 

In the last seconds of the game the Browns overtook the Panthers in score and the end result of the game was 26 to 24 with the Browns winning. The boys were all very happy in our family because they root for the Browns. The girls were rooting for Baker Mayfield and were hoping that Carolina would win. 

There are two of these panthers sitting outside of the stadium and they look so cool. 

/

Paratroopers flying into the stadium before the game started. Game day was 09/11. 

Tailgate food!

Tailgaters before the game.

Heading to the stadium after tailgating. We were a family divided. The girls and I were supporting the Panthers (because we support Baker Mayfield) and the boys were all supporting the Browns. 

 

Game 7: Belmont Abbey vs NGU - Year 2

 The Belmont boys eked out another win last night with a game ending score of 2-1. I feel like this team often begins to fall apart towards the end of games which is why I say they eked out another win. It's almost as if they get too tired to complete a game and their passing starts to get sloppy and it sometimes feels like I am watching a game of kickball rather than a Division II collegiate soccer game. At any rate, a win is a win, I suppose, so I am happy that the boys won another game. (Their record is now 5-0-2.)

I always love watching Joshua play soccer. His passion this year has been revived since switching teams from the first team to the developmental team. He went from getting zero minutes of playtime to 90 minutes of playtime almost every game. He is intense on the field and is (in my opinion) the best player out their every game.