The Mindful Homeschool

1)  Watched the hilarious parts of “The Money Pit” starring Shelley Long and Tom Hanks.  Tried to skip over the more adult scenes and foul language as best as we could.  The kids watched certain scenes over and over; they were so funny.

2)  Watched “The Princess Bride” and enjoyed the sword fighting.  (The kids have been pretending to sword fight outside with sticks and paint stirrers).

3)  Learned about the game of soccer while watching my 8 year old son play.  Also learned that May 16 is too soon to put away the winter clothing for the season.  (I wore long underwear, a winter jacket, and covered my kids and myself in blankets while we sat on the sidelines and cheered on the soccer team today.  I was still really cold!)

4)  Learned how to shut off the gas line downstairs while watching their father and the service technicians.  We had a stove range installed recently and it needed to be hooked up.  The kids also watched the plumbers fix a leaking “ABS” pipe downstairs in our laundry room and install a new kitchen faucet.

5)  Spent time at the hospital visiting my dear husband who was diagnosed with a blood clot.  They brought him a backpack (8 year old son loaned his) filled with snacks, magazines, a Harry Potter book, a deck of cards, and a recently charged ipod shuffle.  Saw an emergency helipad up close.  (Is that the right word for a helicopter landing pad?)

6)  Finished reading the Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright.  Love that book!!!

7)  Celebrated their cousins’ First Eucharist, two weekends in a row!

8)  Picked rhubarb and ate it while dipping it in a small bowl of sugar.  (Just like Mommy did when she was a kid!)

9)  Flew a kite outside at a nearby park.  (This kite was bought about a year ago at Costco and my 8 year old son has been begging to fly it).  Hubby put it together this morning;  it is an awesome looking NASA Discovery Shuttle design. 

10)  Set up the boys’ Japanese dolls and Japanese “helmet for display” in honor of Boys’ Day, May 5.  We were a bit late setting this up.  We took the gifts out of their boxes on Monday, May 11.  My 8 year old had been wanting to see these dolls for years and I never found the time to display them.  So we saw them in their full glory for the first time in 8 years.  The dolls, which are of the Japanese Emperor and Empress in their traditional dress, were a gift to my 8 year old son from my Japanese friends.  The dolls were given to him when he was a baby and I never took them out of their wrapping until this week!  They are very beautiful and the boys (and my daughter) love looking at them and admiring them.  The Japanese traditional helmet was a gift to my second born son.