the brew*crew adventure

1. Re-do our homeschooling schedule for the year.

The 5 weeks on/2 weeks off plan, with schooling throughout the year just wasn't working with our Ambleside Online 12 week terms. (duh!) So, I've revamped it, and like this layout much better! Technically we've already started back to our schoolish routines. But since some things we haven't actually gotten to yet (still adjusting to 3 extra little ones around the place!), and having had a chance to gradually work into routines, I've just put us as starting out "on the calendar" for next week. N and T have both already begun most of their AO readings (N is actually way ahead on a couple that he's really been enjoying), so this will help us to have the room/time to gradually include our art, more Bible study time (HOW units, tweaked to work for us) together (the kids have their seperate Bible reading/journal/quiet times in the morning while I am still waking up!) and some other extras. I'd like to be more consistent with our poetry too, read them each week day. As it is, we've only been getting to it 1-2x/wk. So, our big picture schedule now looks like this:

Term 1: 9/18/06 - 12/8/06 with the week of 12/11/06 - 12/12/06 being exam week. The next three weeks we'll take off for a holiday.

Term 2: 1/1/07 - 3/23/07 with the week of 3/26/07 - 3/30/07 being exam week. The next week we'll take off for an official Spring break, and Passover celebration.

Term 3: 4/9/07 - 6/29/07 with the week 7/2/07 - 7/6/07 being exam week. Then we'll have 10 weeks for a summer break before we start back with our AO terms for the next year in Sept. of 2007. This works out much better, since the AO artist and composers for the new year's first term aren't usually posted until September.

2. Go to the local scratch-and-dent store. Lately they've had cases of Stoneyfield Farm, all-natural, organic yogurts for $1.99, for the entire case! We buy cases and freeze them, the acidophillus is still alive when they thaw. And Newman's Own organic herb blend salad bags have been 2/$1! Cereals are half the price, etc. We love our scratch and dent store!

3. Clean this house, good! Mop all the floors. Oversee the kids' kitchen, bathroom and bedroom cleaning duties...which also leads to #4.

4. Have our home ready for a nice, relaxing Sabbath dinner, and day.

5. Laundry washed, folded and put away.

6. Clean my desk in our bedroom, unearth sewing machine, which is currently buried in books, etc...which leads to #7.

7. Finish pinwheel quilt. I am the queen of procrastination, I tell ya! I started this quilt project in January!! And it's all finished besides sewing on the binding! So, not too much to do. How pathetic that I haven't just finished it yet, huh? So, gotta get that done, so's I can hang it in my freshly painted breezeway! You can betcha I'll be taking a pic of it.

8. Go outside and enjoy this most gorgeous, sunny, cool and crisp weather we're having today! Rake the grass up from where Chris mowed the field (hay) earlier this week. Strew the hay clippings on our garden area, remove old stakes and stuff. {windows and doors are open, letting the outside in!}

9. Take some "silver" pics for this weeks year of color challenge.

10. Read to the kids extra long tonight, and get extra snuggles. They have already claimed Daddy's spot for sleeping in our bed tonight. I shan't be lonely! LOL

11. Exercise!

12. Take the kids to their first tap lesson of the year this evening. They're in the Level 2 class this year. We're hoping to find some tap shoes that fit them in the community box at church.

13. Make some calls to family. I'm the world's worst phone person, will put off making calls way too long. And it's not for lack of thinking of people, even usually enjoy talking on the phone once I actually get around to calling...dunno why the strong aversion to picking up the phone? *sheesh*

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!