A New Start (brought to you by Busy Bee Academy)

After about 2 months off for the oh-so-important hunting season (no sarcasm intended—this time of year is very important to ME since I get such a long break as well as to the boys and Jake!!!), we have completed our first week of the second semester.  And it went quite well if I do say so myself.

I had gotten in quite a funk of being lazy and neglecting my personal time with God as well as pretty much any “fun” time with my kids it seems.  Now, those of you who know me, know that “fun” and “Brenda” don’t really go in the same sentence, so you’ll have to weigh out what you know about me to figure out what “fun” means in this house.

Let me give you a quick run-down of our first week back with all the new activities incorporated and beg you to pray for me that I can keep this up for everyone’s sake!

First let me start by saying that the boys have slept a little later than normal ALL week long, thus giving me some time in the morning to read my Bible and pray before they get up.  Thank you, Lord for that time!  I know I had a friend praying for me and I am quite sure it was a direct answer to her prayers that the boys slept later all week (thanks Jilma).

Monday we usually have p.e. and speech at Medart Elementary, but the speech teacher couldn’t be there, so we moved that to Tuesday.  We met friends at a local park, played and socialized for a while and then headed to gymnastics.  After gymnastics we joined another friend for an impromptu birthday dinner at El Jalisco’s for her son that is in gymnastics with Jonah.  For us “home-bodies” Monday was quite an outing and the boys and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Tuesday I managed to drag myself onto the treadmill and get in a little exercise while the boys watched an Adventures in Odyssey video (that’s a Christian video for those who are not familiar with it).  Then after our school-work was done we headed to Medart for p.e. and speech.

Wednesday, I again managed to get on the treadmill while the boys watched Adventures in Odyssey.  We also played our first “15-minute-game”.  An idea I got from afore mentioned friend.  You set a timer for 15 minutes and everyone pitches in to accomplish a certain task.  Our task was mopping the kitchen & dining room.  And we did complete that in the time allotted with Jonah moving out the chairs and shaking the rugs, Levi sweeping and me mopping.  But, like most everything I do, one thing led to another and we moved on to the bathroom (mopping, scrubbing tub and cleaning fixtures) so it turned into the “30-minute-game” really.  But, the boys enjoyed it (refer to the earlier mentioned fact that you have to take “fun” into context with our house) so it was a success!  Wednesday was also our first day of “kid-choose-the-meal” day and it was Levi’s turn.  He chose grilled/smoked ribs (which worked wonderfully for me because JAKE cooks those!).  We even had Grandma, Uncle Mike & Aaron over for lunch, so MORE FUN!  Then we wound up the day with the boys heading to the bees with Jake.  What a perfect day! 

Thursday was our normal p.e. & speech day at Medart, but due to the weather we decided to skip both.  We opted for art instead (something we never do here, but I had ordered this HomeArt Studio art program on DVD over the hunting break so that the boys would have that as a new and fun thing for the second semester).  I’m loving it so far.  I just get the supplies ready, pop in the DVD and let the boys follow the directions on the video!  I think that art curriculum will be money well spent J   Here's a look at their first art project from the DVD (paper roller-coasters).

 I know you're jealous of this gorgeous table cloth (it's elasticized and I bought it just for these art projects and it's perfect for the job).

 

 Listening and watching carefully to the directions on the video.

 

 

Friday, I’m proud to say that I was able to get myself back on the treadmill even after taking Thursday off.  That might not mean much to you, but it’s an accomplishment for me.  The boys watched a video online that I think I’m going to really like called “My Place With Jesus” while I exercised.

http://www.myplacewithjesus.com/

Then after the boys completed their school-work and their lunch, they went out to play outside.  And while they were happily running and laughing and yelling out there, I was quietly getting papers graded and lesson plans together for another week of school and fun in here!

Oh, and did I fail to mention the sit-up and push-up contest we had on Monday?  Yep, Levi won!  No surprise there, huh?

We will wrap up the week tomorrow (Saturday) with our first Family Fun Day (another new “fun-item” I’ve implemented weekly here).  Okay, you’re bearing in mind the definition of "fun" at this house, right?  We’re heading to the church for a work day.  Yep, that’s our family fun activity for the day, and yes, the boys are totally okay with that being our family fun time.  Now you’re really getting the idea of what fun means around here, huh?  Gotta love this simple lifeJ.

 

I also got a shipment  of produce from an organic food club this week for the first time.  I'm undecided if I will continue to get in on these buys, but we did enjoy our Chard & Spaghetti lunch yesterday

And I threw together some tuna salad with the spinach and carrots today.

Trying to decide what I'm going to do with the 1/2 of a butternut squash.