Friday Favorites: The First Week of School

All in all we had a very good back to school week.  We are by no means anywhere near finding a routine or a groove and that's OK as we already know the routine is going to change many many times.  However, at the end of the week I still had three boys smiling and that's all that matters.



Ian headed off to work bright and early Friday morning with his father.  The younger boys and I went in at 8 to paint two new areas of the building. The boys and I spent 7 or so hour painting all the walls gray and any of the new trim white.  We did a pretty good job if I do say so myself but we came home feeling like we were covered in grime and paint.

Before:



After: (not a huge difference but we were painting all the walls the same gray colors that some of the walls had previously been painted and covering up any dirt/ scuff marks.




I was WIPED out afterwards so we got take out from Black Dog -- a fabulous BBQ/ Smokehouse near us. We finally got my husband to watch The Incredibles 2 with us.

It was a cold and rainy day on Saturday.  Alec was having his girlfriend over for the day so I went to meet her parents 1/2 way and pick her up.  We got takeout from Panera Bread for lunch.  The kids all played all afternoon while I mostly spent the wet day reading and working on the blog.



For dinner I cooked up some spaghetti & meatballs and made- up a garlic breadstick recipe using the Weight Watchers 2-ingredient dough.  They were delicious and only about 2 points each!  After dinner we dropped his girlfriend back off with her parents and then went to get ice cream with my husband (who had spent the whole day working).




It was a beautiful day on Sunday.  We started our day cleaning house and quickly moved onto cleaning the vehicles inside and out.  We also cleaned out the garage.




Around lunchtime we headed to the hydro with my husband to measure a few things and the younger two boys learned about surveyor's tools.  After a few quick measurements we headed out to lunch.  It took us a few tries to find someplace opened but ended up settling for Deary's Bros. stand; a local roadside eatery that's only open for the summer.




For dinner I cooked up a pot roast with mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, and salad.  My mother in law came over with an Oreo ice cream cake and we ate dinner, watched TV, and played cards.

I had a hard time sleeping so I was up bright and early on Monday. Ian headed to work trying out his new school/work schedule and the younger boys and I had planned to hike in the morning but it was only 48 degrees so we had to wait for it to warm up first!  I started on a few fall crafts in my craftroom and lost all track of time when I couldn't get them to work right.




Alec headed out to lunch with his grandmother and came home after just long enough to change shoes before going apple/peach picking.  Evan and I decided to head to the river trail and go for a nice hour long walk.  It was pretty peaceful and we talked a lot about how weird it's going to feel with just him and I home alone a few days a week.






For dinner I cooked up some quesadillas and served them with salad, tortilla chips, and salsa.

Alec had his last homeschool karate class on Tuesday (with him starting school we're going to have to come up with an alternative).  We were early and hung out in the car reading our books together.  I quickly ran to Target for a few returns and stopped in at Michael's for some fall decor.




Back kick

jump kick


I didn't have time to get much done at home after karate since I also had a haircut in the afternoon; my hair dresser showed me how to fix Alec's masks to fit better and I spent my evening sewing up a few mods for him on all 5 masks. 

I put a pork butt in the crock pot for pulled pork which I served over rice with a few vegetables cooked up on the side.

It was the first day of school on Wednesday! I drove Alec to his new school and found myself tearing up a bit as I drove away.  It's going to be so weird without him home this year.




The other 2 boys and I started our first day of school too at 8.  While they ate breakfast I read aloud from Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix.  They each tackled 4-5 subjects.  Ian had geometry (he's a junior but we did Algebra 2 in Sophomore year), German grammar (have you ever tried teaching a language you don't speak?? It's interesting but I think he's teaching me more than I am him!), biology (again we did Chemistry Sophomore year), and reading.




Evan worked on decimals for math, cursive, English grammar, biology & reading.   We were completely finished with school by 9:30!  I love that.


We had a leak in our basement with the pipes leading to our water tank so Evan got a plumbing lesson. 


I picked Alec up at 2 and he had a great day; came home so full of energy and can not wait to go back. He asked me to order another book from the library and if he could purchase 4 novellas off of Amazon for his Kindle.  He assured me he'd make/have plenty of time for fun reading around all his schoolwork.

For dinner Alec and I cooked up teriyaki chicken, rice a roni, and broccoli.  We all sat and wrote up a menu for next week too.

I drove Alec to school on Thursday morning too.  He was so excited to bake up some bread and mini pizza today!  The other boys and I started schoolwork around 8 and I read Harry Potter again during breakfast.  They then worked on a World Geography crossword puzzle; they each had their own copy of the same assignment and I just gave Evan a bit more help while having Ian work alone.  There are many subjects we cover together like this.


Evan finished 2 more pages in math, 2 pages in grammar, did a paragraph writing assignment, and read some more in his biology book as well as his graphic novel.

Ian worked on another lesson in Writeshop 2, two chapters in his English Grammar book, and 2 more pages in geometry.  He's still waiting for his latest Clive Cussler book to come in so he gets a break on reading for now.  

I spent my afternoon crafting and made this cute garden flag and a vellum/paper pumpkin luminary. 





For dinner we cooked up Turkey burgers, hamburgers, hot dogs and served them with salad.  Then my husband and I headed out grocery shopping.  We saw a beautiful full double rainbow spanning the parking lot when we got out; the clouds were all tinged pink around it too.  I tried to take a picture but this is the best my husband's phone could get.




Linking Up With: On the Edge,


Comments

  1. So glad to hear school started out well for you! My kids go back next week and keeping my fingers crossed it goes well for them. As usual, you had lots of tasty food this week! Have a great weekend!

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  2. 48 degrees...whoa! I love the paper pumpkin you made, and the braided bread is gorgeous. Have a good weekend!

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, that was downright cold! Thankfully it's back to 60's in the morning and 80's during the day.

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  3. Oh friend, what a sweet week! Your school boys are so cute and I’m glad it’s going well! The building is looking great and I love your pumpkins and that braided bread, so yummy and so pretty! Happy Friday!

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  4. I love that cute paper pumpkin! It is getting cooler here too but still too humid to open the windows all day yet. But I am noticing that the shadows are changing in the house during the afternoon, which always makes me think of fall. I love seeing your routines, especially homeschooling. :)

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    1. It is still pretty hot and humid during the day here too. I feel so bad for Alec wearing pants at school; thankfully the shops he's been in so far are all air conditioned.

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  5. So glad to hear you are getting along well in your new routine. Your paint job looks fantastic, and also like a lot of work. I'm not sure if the pumpkin luminary and flag were the crafts giving you trouble, but they are absolutely beautiful so you nailed it if they were! Have a great weekend!

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    Replies
    1. Those are the two crafts I was struggling with but I am glad I persevered.

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  6. Replies
    1. It was so pretty and I could not believe that we seemed like the only people in the whole parking lot to notice or even care.

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  7. I love the healthy meal ideas and glad you had smiles at the end of the first week of school! Y'all enjoy your weekend!

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  8. Joanne,
    What a busy week you had... Love the Pumpkin Luminary and the flag...Both very pretty!! Glad the first week of school got off to a good start...Many schools here that opened to in school cases, including colleges , are now reverting back to inline learning because of positive cases in the schools and colleges.... I hope you have a great weekend..
    Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and for letting me know that you did by leaving a comment!! Stay safe, healthy and happy!!
    Hugs,
    Debbie

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    1. We have one or two at the other end of the state that have a positive test or two already; so far so good here but the school has plenty of back up plans in place in case we have to go to all distance learning before mid-October. The school is really holding out hope we can stay open at least until all the Freshman pick their shops and have been severely limiting the number of students. So far all week Alec has only come into contact with the same 18 students in his shop and a small handful of teachers..

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  9. Wishing you a healthy and successful school year! Love your pumpkin decor too - so so pretty :)

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  10. The pumpkin luminary looks beautiful! And the bread looks delicious! Wish my kids were more interested in cooking and baking!!

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    1. I can't wait to see what he can come up with once they start learning soups and things. Heck I' happy to cook if he'll just take over the meal planning portion.

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  11. You are so right... the schedule and flow is going to change so much as we work through the beginning of the year. All we want is to have smiling kids as we learn, haha! You are SO crafty! I love that pumpkin and the flag!! What did or are you thinking of Susan Mallery's book? I *just* added it to my wish list.

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    1. I really liked this Susan Mallery book a lot!

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  12. I hope you guys have a wonderful school year. That pumpkin craft is wonderful. You are so talented.
    Blessings, Dawn

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  13. Hope Alec is loving school. I am sure it has been an adjustment for everyone. I was always teary-eyed on the first day of school with my girls. Just hard to realize how quickly they are growing up.

    Those WW bread sticks look so good. We are back at tracking over here. Might need to try making them. Went over my points today but will get do better tomorrow.

    Beautiful photo of the deck and lake. Can't believe you're temps have been in the 40s already. We are going from 101* to 69* highs this week. Which is a pretty big drop.

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    1. He really is loving his new school! He's adjusting well too, as we all are.

      Our cool mornings are still giving way to mostly 80 degree days so it's tough getting dressed for such a wide range of temps in one day.

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  14. What a great job painting! That does wipe you out though, for sure. We started school yesterday virtually and today is the first in person day. We definitely have a lot of adjustments to make to get in our groove. I love that your son is practicing karate outside! I have been trying to get my kids to practice outside as well. I think it is better for them. More space and fresh air and it reminds me of The Karate Kid! Thanks for linking up with me.

    Shelbee
    www.shelbeeontheedge.com

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    1. I couldn't believe how sore I was for days after painting! LOL. I always think it's so much quicker and easier than it really is.

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  15. Painting is a huge job! It always wears me out!

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  16. I love all the hands on learning your boys are getting. I hope you have a great weekend and get some rest!

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