We are the branches

This week seemed to go better than previous weeks. I have finally started to feel emotionally stable.  I have been spread very thin since February, and I am getting my feet under me again. Sometimes we have to take a few steps back in order to remember what is a priority in our lives. Right now I have a handle on that, and for now I need to stick to what I am doing.

In school, Sebastian is doing well.  We finished up Fun Fonix book 2 (digraphs and blends).  He solidly understands sh, ck, qu, wh, and most other blends. He understands ch but he sometimes switches it around to hc.  The ones we need to continue to work on are th (when he hears the word he thinks it is an f- quite common for his age so I am not forcing this down his throat) and ng (he just doesn't hear that n in there when he is spelling the word out).  Overall he reads very well; his issue is when he hears the word in his head and he tries to write it out.  In time he will get it.  We are going to move on to long vowels with Starfall and continue to work on digraphs and blends.  We will get into Fun Fonix book 3 (more long vowel work) in May. Right now his favorite reading material are the Bob books.  They are short and easy for him to read; he understands the stories and laughs at the cute pictures.  He looks forward to the next story every day.  He is loving Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher and I love that his Daddy is able to contribute to the homeschooling day.

This week we were talking about the seasons in science.  He was able to remember spring, summer, and fall, but he called winter "Christmas".  I almost gave it to him.  Christmas is the best part of winter (IMO).  We did an art project that I saw on Pinterest.  We traced his hands (to be trees) and then he colored a tree for each season. I told him what to do, and he traced his hands and decorated how he wanted.  I think he did a great job capturing each season!

Spring: flowers and a bird, Summer: a tree house, Autumn: pumpkins and a crow, Winter: ice and snowballs

We have been celebrating the lenten season by trying to do kind and selfless acts for each other.  In order to give Sebastian something to see, I made a grape vine on a large sheet of paper and stuck it to the wall.  On it I wrote "I am the vine and you are the branches" John 15:5.  Each family member was given a branch, and the goal was to fill it up with grapes and leaves by the end of lent.  Each time we caught someone else doing a selfless act of love for another, we would reward them by putting a grape or leaf on their branch.  In the picture you can see what it looked like (including Kaelyn's attack with a red marker) at the beginning of lent.  I realized at that point that most of what I do goes unnoticed and I mentioned something to my husband about how pathetic my branch looks like and he put a bunch of grapes on my branch after that, lol. 

I think we have filled their branches nicely!

Yesterday morning I got my hair cut and highlighted and then went out to see some friends for ice cream and finished the evening going to see The Hunger Games with a friend.  Today I am going to a Zumbathon to benefit Castaway Critters, the animal rescue league that we got our pup, Nanaki, from. Later tonight we are going to see my younger sister perform her championship show for indoor color guard.  Tomorrow is a free day, and I think I will need it to recover from this crazy weekend's schedule!