Misc.

It has been busy around here.  Each week is a circuit of school, library trips and piano lessons.  I have been planning menus and lessons each weekend, which dramatically helps the week run more efficiently.

I have been trying to fix up the Northwoods bathroom since June.  I have kicked it up a notch the past few weeks, and I see the project's completion on the horizon.  Currently the walls are primed and the cabinetry and trim have all painted the same creamy white as the kitchen cabinetry.  Orange walls this weekend!  I still have to buy some new hardware.  I am experiencing a sort of crisis between choosing polished chrome and antiqued bronze. Stay tuned for before and after pictures!

Claire started Swim Team this past week.  She dove off of the blocks for the first time yesterday.  I just about died anticipating the worst.  She dove off like a pro.  She loves swimming and has already has made friends with a few of the other 9 year old girls on the team.

Meal Plan Monday

After a long hiatus, Meal Plan Monday returns...hopefully long term.

1. Country ribs with sauerkraut (did you know that my kids LOVE sauerkraut?), applesauce, carrots
2. Corn Chowder with Chilies, bread
3. Beef Stir Fry with broccoli
4. Chicken Pot Pie
5. Bean Burritos
6. Lasagna, salad
7. Chicken Wings, veggies

Moving Dirt

"Mom, I need to go move dirt."

Don't you love how he posed all American Gothic for me?

School Days

We started school a number of weeks ago and it is going very well.  The first weeks were difficult, our lazy flesh undisciplined after a summer off, but we have settled into a nice routine that seems easier every day.

-Finish Saxon 5/4, start Saxon 6/5

-Shurley 4

-Daily Handwriting Practice

-Latina Christiana

-Piano

-Finish Saxon 2/ start Saxon 3, supplement with Brain Quest Math 2 flashcards

-read to mom or siblings daily

-Copywork/ Handwriting - Small Catechism

-Prima Latina

-Piano

Together the girls and I will finish Story of the World 3 and Apologia's Anatomy and Physiology.

When the girls come home from Matins, we start our day reading science and history snuggled on the couch.  After we move to the dining room table to complete everything else.  We are usually done with our book learning by 1:00 or 2:00pm, depending on how focused and motivated we are.

Quincy Mine

When we were on vacation in August our family took a day trip north to visit the Quincy Mine in Hancock, MI.  My husband went to Michigan Tech University in Hancock for a few semesters before transferring to Concordia River Forest.  It was fun to drive through the town and see the places that he has told me stories about.

The mine itself was uber fascinating.  Here is a promotional video I found on YouTube.

The tour started inside the Hoist Building, where the steam engines that raised the lowered the ore and workers out of the ground were located.  The building itself was enormous because the hoist is the largest steam hoist in the world, sitting on top of the largest reinforced concrete engine foundation ever poured!  It was an engineering marvel when it was built in 1919, but in order to appeal to investors it was also designed to be beautiful.  The interior was covered with white subway tiles and shiny brass fixtures.  Swoon.

We then took a ride on the cog-wheel train down the hill to the mine tour entrance.  The miners would have gone into the mine vertically, but they have accessed the mine horizontally for tour purposes.

We are so glad that we went.  It was so enjoyable to learn about this particular place and time in history. I don't know that we will ever have reason to go back to the UP, but if ever we were nearby, I would take another tour of the mine in a heartbeat.