Weekly Wrap- Up: The Week That Ended With a Big Snowstorm

 Well, we finally got snow.. snow that won't disappear overnight.. snow that did not start and end with rain... just lots of snow.  I'd say we got a good 2 feet of snow and my boys were thrilled to finally have some "real" snow to play in.  We spent a lot of time this week playing games, reading, and even managed to squeeze in one last fun Valentine's day art project.

We never even started school until lunchtime on Friday.  Alec had an early morning orthodontist appointment and it was quite late by the time we got back home. We hit the books hard and dove right into our work.  All three boys took their spelling tests and a math minute.  They each worked in their math books or on Khan Academy.  Ian read The Runaway Racehorse.  Evan read Wink the Ninja Who Wanted to Be Noticed.  Alec read two books-- Diary of a Wimpy Pikachu and Diary of a Pokemon Trainer.  All three boys worked on some science too.  Together we read Caves and Caverns.  Ian read a few more pages in High in the Sky.  Evan read a few more Ranger Rick pages and Alec read part of his National Geographic for kids magazine.  All three boys worked on some writing.  The older two boys picked a February writing prompt while Evan decided to start keeping track of AJ's 1st Rule of Being a Kid.  We started reading the Mrs. Yonkers is Bonkers yesterday from the My Weird School Series and remarked on how many 1st rules he has so we thought it would be fun to write them up in a list and keep track of them all. He's decided that will be his writing work for a while.  We all played several games of Scattergories and read a few chapters in The Medusa Plot.  We also read a couple more chapters in Darling, Mercy Dog of World War 1.

Saturday Ian headed to work with his grandfather and helped with oil changes on the various vehicles, practiced some very beginner welding, and worked in the woodworking shop with his father.  We played several rounds of Scattergories as a family after dinner too.

Sunday Evan asked me to read another three chapters in Mrs. Yonkers is Bonkers.  Alec  and Evan played with toys and some new Lego sets.  Ian went to work with his father starting on his new screening plant.

We got so much school work done on Monday, it was amazing!  The boys each worked in their spelling workbooks, each took a math minute and worked in their math books (or Khan Academy), and did some reading.  Evan and Alec each read The Ninjabread Man and Ian read a few more pages in The Runaway Racehorse.  All three boys worked on some science too.  Ian finished reading High in the Sky.  Evan worked on putting together some snap circuits and Alec finished his Geckobot as well as read an entire National Geographic for Kids magazine.  Evan completed two more pages in the next section of his word family book while the two older boys completed another page in their English and Grammar book.  The boys and I read two chapters in The Medusa Plot and two chapters in Darling, Mercy Dog of World War I. We all exercised for at least 15 minutes and the boys all spent some time playing with Legos.  Evan and I read another three chapters in Mrs. Yonkers is Bonkers and he found another "rule" to write up.

Tuesday we headed to karate class and the boys worked hard to complete their schoolwork while working around their class.  They each worked in their cursive books, took a math minute, and worked in their spelling books.  Evan and Ian worked on two pages in their math books too.  Evan finished reading Mrs. Yonkers is Bonkers; reading one of the last chapters to himself and summarizing it for me.  Alec read a few more chapters in Foxcraft and Ian read some more of The Runaway Racehorse.  We finished Darling, Mercy Dog of World War I and read another chapter in The Medusa Plot.  We played a round of Harry Potter Scene it 2! We just got this game yesterday and the boys could not wait to play-- we ended up playing a couple of games by bedtime!

Wednesday the boys all worked in spelling and worked with their Multiplication games book.  Each of the boys also worked on two pages in their traditional math book or 15 minutes on Khan Academy in Alec's case.  Evan worked on two more pages in his word family book and read The Night Gardener.  Alec worked on a page in his Success with Writing book and read a few more pages in Foxcraft.  Ian worked on a page in Success with Writing and read The Runaway Racehorse.  Alec and Evan played Mario chess together and Ian went to play outside.  We finishes The Medusa Plot and read Women In World War I during lunch.  We went for a short walk and then played another round of Harry Potter Scene it 2.

We were hit with a fierce snowstorm on Thursday; our first "real" snow of the year!  We had white out conditions, piles of snow, and lots of chances to shovel and plow.  The boys and I started our day with some fun science.  They looked at a dollar bill, toilet tissue and a cucumber slice under the microscope.  The younger two boys made some swirled paper hearts for our windows as a fun and super messy art project.  All the boys did some work on spelling, some free writing, and some math. Evan worked in his world family book and all three boys took a math minute multiplication test.  Ian read a few more pages in The Runaway Racehorse.  Alec finished Foxcraft and read It Came in the Mail.  Evan also read It Came in the Mail too.  We all read Waiting for the Evening Star; a book about life in rural Vermont just as America is entering World War I.  Ian watched a show on the History channel called Navy Seals: America's Secret Warriors.  They played outside a lot and had free reign of video games for the day.  Alec and Evan played Mario Chess again.  They also spent some time playing with Mario and Sonic characters in piles of shaving cream.  Ian played with some mini toy trucks and play dough.

Mid day and we already had the snow piled up. 

Toilet tissue under the microscope

Cucumber under the microscope

Playing with characters in the extra shaving cream