It seems that my only time to blog is on the weekends. My weekdays are filled with school work, planning, cleaning, cooking, football practices, and playtime with the boys. Yes, my schedule is chock-full of various tasks, but I am so happy that we made the decision to teach Anderson at home this year. We are having fun!
This past week kept us very busy! With football practices, the first NC State home football game of the season, a doctor's appointment for both boys to have physicals and vaccinations, and a field trip planned, we wanted to have as little work to do as possible on Friday so we could go to the museum. I have learned that I must carefully plan our weeks as you have to complete a certain amount of work each day to not get behind. (And the perfectionist tendency in me does not want to ever be behind!) My goal is to try to finish school by the beginning of May to give Anderson a long break before he starts sixth grade next August. In order to do that, we work anywhere from three to five hours a day on school work, and lately it seems that our school day has extended from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm with a thirty minute break around 10:30 am.
On Monday, we had a very full, long day. I think it was our longest school day ever; we wrapped up our day by 2 pm, but it was necessary since the boys had their appointment with Dr. Britt (our favorite pediatrician) and a football practice on Tuesday, and I didn't want to have to work into the afternoon that day. Anderson and I are at our best in the morning hours, for sure. On Wednesday we had a beautiful fall-like day which was perfect for our fossil dig! I will write about that and post photos in the next blog. On Thursday, we had a full day of school followed by football practice and NC State's first home football game of the season. Sadly, we lost to South Carolina 7-3, but at least it was close. Thursday was Granddaddy Paul's birthday, so he and Ava (aka Grammy) spent the night with us after the State game so that Paul could take his dad to play golf for his birthday on Friday morning. So, on Friday morning, Grammy went with the boys, Jackson (my nephew who is in the second grade and is also homeschooled) and me to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh. We have been to this museum several times, and we always enjoy it.
Since Anderson has been studying fossils and dinosaurs, I especially wanted us to see those particular exhibits that are there. They are fantastic! So much of what Anderson had learned about was on display, and since I had researched the exhibits before we went, I had him read about the Acrocanthosaurus, a dinosaur whose fossils are on display and were found in this part of the country. It is a dinosaur that was very similar to the T-Rex.
Even though we visited the museum to see the fossil and dinosaur exhibits, we enjoyed browsing the entire museum. Anderson liked the bugs and butterflies exhibits especially. We were able to have the butterfly house all to ourselves, and several butterflies lit on Anderson and Ava! Bennett was enthralled with the stuffed animals that are on display on the lower level of the museum, just past the entrace. He kept asking me to hold him as he looked at a large stuffed panther, an owl, a Bald Eagle, and the gigantic teeth of a Great White Shark. Whew! Were they huge!
After spending two full hours at the museum, we went to the City Market and ate at Big Ed's with my brother-in-law, Jordan who works downtown. Ava especially loved this old-fashioned restaurant that serves some delicious, old-fashioned, southern country cookin'! It was delicious, and the portion size was extra generous which is, I can only assume, in keeping with the namesake of the restaurant, Big Ed.
On Saturday, we went on a family bike ride on the American Tobacco Trail. My dad surprised me this week with a new bike of my own. I have not had my own bike since he and Mom gave me my ten-speed when I was a child. So, needless to say, I was so excited! We biked for eight miles, and during the ride, Anderson kept telling me he didn't feel well. As it turns out, he has a virus and has been sick all day today. Thankfully, he seems much better tonight. Prayers are being answered as we were very concerned he had the flu. Whatever it was, it appears God is taking care of it quickly for us, and we are grateful.
What a week! Thankfully we have the day off tomorrow to rest and prepare for another busy week to come. Labor Day is here, and summer officially ends. Fall.....here we come! Adventures await...
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