In my life this week…
This has been our first week back to school so we really haven’t done a lot of other things. We did go and visit mom at her office for lunch. The kids always enjoy visiting her and her work so it is good to do once in a while. I don’t want it to get regular but as a random treat it works great.
Next week we will be in Vancouver getting Philip his annual scans. It is 6 years cancer free and 5 year off treatment. It is a couple of days of tests with a number of doctors. We get to see an Oncologist, a Radiologist, an Audiologist, and an Endocrinologist. There may be one or two more in there but we will see. Needless to say this is always stressful. Normally it is just me and Philip and we fly down but due to the anniversary and that we are getting a new primary Oncologist Danielle wants to be there as well. For more details on the scans and everything else surrounding these scans please see Scans, Kids Cancer and Stress.
In our homeschool this week…
We completed the Biological Classification Wall project. I now have a couple of item ready for the portfolio. When I get back from Vancouver it will be time to start organizing the portfolio. The project came out very well and my wife commented that it helped her understand the connections better. I did a complete post on it at Biological Classifications Project.
With Margaret we played with sound waves. One cool experiment we did was watching waves in a slinky. Philip’s camera has a slow motion feature that works pretty well. One of these days I will set up a YouTube account so I can post these videos.
The other one we did that didn’t have anything to do with sound. If you let a slinky hang from one hand and then drop it, the bottom stays still until the top falls to meet it and then the whole thing falls.
So physics question: Why?
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
Last week in the comments I mentioned Writing Excuses in regards to a book that I had read. Writing Excuses is a podcast about writing done by four published authors. I found it through a webcomic that I read who’s author, Howard Tayler is one of people making it. One of the other people involved is Brandon Sanderson who’s book SteelHeart I finished reading last week.
I’m cooking…
The week started out good with me making a recipe from my new cookbook. I got Jamie Oliver’s new cookbook for Christmas. It has tons of recipes that I want to try. The first ended up being a Portuguese Fish stew. Mine doesn’t look as pretty as his does but it tasted great. Next time I think we will add more veggies and not spend as much time on presentation.
It ended with me serving mystery frozen lump. Do to a nasty schedule I ended up needing to rush out of the house and have dinner ready when I got back so I could feed people in a half hour window. I found a mystery bag in the freezer with the only identifiable part being corn. I threw it in the slow cooker on high, said a short prayer that it was edible and left. While I was out I picked up some sourdough buns in the hope that it was soup. It turned out to be Turkey Chowder I made with Thanksgiving leftovers. I need to label my bags… I keep hiding the Sharpies from Ian and now I can’t find any.
A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
You know you are a SAHD when you know your way around the grocery store better than your wife.
I do the shopping so it wasn’t that surprising but I hadn’t really though about it.
Linking up at:
I hope the annual tests for Philip go well and the switch to the new oncologist. I think we are scheduled to do a slinky experiment this semester too. Which reminds me, I need to locate Amber’s slinky. I haven’t seen it in years.
Thank you. We had to buy a slinky. It has been long lost in our basement. We got a small one cheap at a dollar store. I would recommend the bigger ones as it would be easier to see the waves.
I know what you go through at MRI time! I’ll be saying prayers about that! Your classification wall is sooo impressive. You guys along with a few other families put me to shame! Is that food photo the fish chowder or the turkey lump? It looks like potato chips! As always, thanks for sharing with us at FF!
Thank you for the prayers. The picture is of the fish stew. It was a layered affair. He called it a stew but I would have called it a casserole.
Well I am glad the lump ended up being something good! Hope everything goes well on your trip and that your son’s scans are clear!
Ha I do the same thing with leftovers. I always think, “I’ll know what this is” and I never do!!! I love your Biology classification wall!! Too cool. I hope and pray that Philip’s exam will be stress free and the results wonderful. I know that must be stressful for you all. Happy week Chris.