Diary of a Homeschool Dad - Week 39

In the midst of several pages being turned this week we saw the answers to many prayers, and for each one of them I'm exceedingly thankful! 

Sunday - It was a nice day to have my mom alongside us on the pew for church, although she didn't stick around long enough afterwards to join us for lunch.  After the service she made her way over to the medical center to be with my dad while we all went to Bible study.  The afternoon only offered a brief amount of time for rest, however, as we had to return for a big children's choir presentation alongside our church orchestra.  The kids hadn't sung for us since Thanksgiving 2019, so it was a pretty special event.  All of my girls were on stage, with Curly taking her last turn in elementary before graduating up to the youth choir, Whirly singing with her current group one more time, and both Mrs. Geographist and Girly helping teach some of the younger grades.  It was a great show, and after all was said and done we also found out that my dad's procedure to get him ready for back surgery later in the week had gone very well.  

Monday - It was a normal start to the week with everyone off to their respective campuses.  Whirly is winding down a few of her subjects, and this week was when Handwriting fell off the daily assignment sheet.  Having finished her book, it is now time for her to put the work into practice in other subjects.  Consequently, all writing that is done in English and Spelling for the rest of the year will be in cursive.  Girly took the wheel both to and from her cello lesson this week, and now stands just a handful of hours away from finishing her learning requirements before being able to take her driver's license test in a few months.  She also picked up her music for next year's region and all-state auditions, so we already know what's going to consume most of her practice time over the summer!

Tuesday - May the 4th!  Whirly and I hit the mat at martial arts, but this week we didn't even break a sweat.  This was considered bonus week which means we didn't learn new curriculum but instead picked up extra skills that don't typically fit in our usual lessons.  This particular day focused on kid safety, including strategies for avoiding bad situations as well as actions to take if such a scenario unfolds.  Once I picked up the older girls from school everyone had to get "fancied up" for the school's annual Fine Arts Night (although not before Curly had her usual virtual clarinet lesson), where all the music groups perform and select artwork is displayed.  It was Curly's first opportunity to play in band before a live audience and she did a really good job, even getting recognized by the director for a solo section in the very first piece.  Girly handled her duties as section leader in the high school orchestra very well, and then had a bit of fun mugging for pics with her stand partner (and boyfriend) after the show.  Once again, it's so wonderful seeing our kids present their skills after working so hard on them!

      

  

Wednesday - After a fairly late night, everyone could be excused if they started the day a bit on the sluggish side.  I got the girls to school on time, including making sure Girly brought her contributions to the Cinco de Mayo party in her Spanish class, but didn't rush into having Whirly do much for school right off the bat.  Instead, after knocking out some work for my office, we took a trip down the street to our neighborhood park to make the most of an absolutely gorgeous Texas spring day.  The dog and I went by foot while kiddo biked, so of course the mutt and I had to do our share of running to keep up.  The school day may have dragged a bit late because of it, but since we no longer have any Wednesday night activities at church we could stand to be somewhat more flexible than usual.


Thursday - The back surgery my dad has been waiting months for finally took place, and we were so grateful for the doctors and nurses that made it happen!  Recovery will take a long time, but at last he's had the work done that will lead to no more pain and a chance to heal.  Whirly and I were both dealing with some congestion so we opted not to do martial arts, for our own sakes as well as for those we would have been training with.  I forgot that Curly's piano teacher had rescheduled her lesson this week and rushed her over to an empty house for no good reason.  So instead, I came home and caught a pair of movies (something I rarely have the time or patience to do).

Friday - Whirly and I kicked off the day by running out to get some chores done.  First, I had to mail my old work phone back to my company after they replaced it with a newer device.  Second, we had to take care of those special ladies in our lives for the upcoming Mother's Day so we picked up some flowers to brighten up the house a bit.  Mrs. Geo, meanwhile, was not at her usual school as a new full-time opportunity presented itself at a private school down the road.  She's been hoping for a chance to have her own class, rather than just filling in for other teachers, so we're all optimistic this is finally her shot.  After everyone got home from school, I took Curly to her "real" weekly piano lesson before celebrating a bit with everyone over some Italian food.


Saturday - With no normal plans, we decided it was time to get some work done.  We headed over to the old house with some cleaning equipment, lawn tools, and plenty of time and patience.  A day in the low 80s with a pretty consistent breeze was nice for everything except my efforts to blow grass clippings off the driveway, and by the time we were done all the carpets had been cleaned and the garage had finally been completely sorted between what was being kept vs. tossed.  The girls took the opportunity to visit the neighborhood pool for their first swim of the season, and we followed that up with an ice cream run.  I spent the evening trying to deal with pets seem to have no end of issues, including a dog that won't stop licking a hot spot on his leg and a turtle that somehow had its tank overrun by breeding mosquitos (seriously, how does that happen in the 24 hours since I last fed and watered this thing?).  My mom once again found her way to our house to spend a few nights, and got to enjoy the Mother's Day orchid we left in her room a day early.

Nearly all of our regular activities have now come to a close.  This week the girls will start knocking off their final graded work of the semester.  Summer is rapidly approaching!


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