Holy Monday

You know, I was thinking about why I always choose Monday to our "day in review." It's because on Mondays, we're fresh and fairly on task. By Friday, we're just hanging around looking at books. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The day started out with some yummy turkey sausage and scrambled eggs. Then Daddy supervised the kids putting their laundry away and covered devotions while I ran to the store for some last minute corned beef and cabbage.

We looked at Michaelangelo's Pieta. We talked about what the word pieta means--pity--and then they drew a picture of Mary holding Jesus. It's interesting how different their pictures are. Michael's was very gray--"Like marble, mama"--and Katie Grace's was very bright and colorful. She just can't draw a dark picture when it comes to God. As you can see, drawing has never been a strong interest of Michael's.

While we're here, these are the "Walls of Fame". Michael, Katie Grace, and Nicholas each have a door in the kitchen with their work on it. I don't know what I'm going to do with Daniel. I'm out of doors. :lol

Michael's Door

Katie Grace's Door

Nicholas's Door

On to math! We reviewed mixed numbers with Michael. Really, it was pretty simple. And Katie Grace worked some sums of 15 and 16.

We made Irish soda bread and had snack next. We also cleaned the living room a bit. Then the kids went outside. They are killing my lilac tree (bush?). I get that it's the only climbable tree in the yard, but they have split off three huge branches. So, no more climbing the tree for them.

After break, we talked about Holy Week. We sponge painted crosses--see Walls of Fame.

Then it was what is affectionately known as The Language Arts Big Fun Hour. There are all theses little piddly things to be done--a spelling worksheet here, part of a handwriting sheet there--so we just do it. We ended up playing a compound word game, where you have to keep making compound words.
ME: base
M: baseball
K: ballgame
ME: gameboard
M: boardwalk
K: walkway
etc.

We wrapped up the morning reading Jamie O' Rourke and the Big Potato and Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland, both by Tomie dePaloa.

Following lunch (some yummy rebaked pasta that was sent home with us by some church members) we read Caddie Woodlawn. Then we read The Last Snake in Ireland: A story about St. Patrick by Sheila MacGill-Callahan. This played in nicely with Michael's current Loch Ness Monster obsession.

I let Michael mess around a bit on Yahooligans --I believe he mostly watched clips from The Water Horse--while Katie Grace cleaned her room and Nick and I cleaned up from lunch and had Bunny School (Nick's name for "preschool time" with me!). We finger painted with yellow and blue and made green, and made a St. Patrick's Day shamrock sticker picture. Then we built a "restaurant castle" with blocks.

We read Story of the World and Michael did a map, and then Ms. Anne, Nick's speech therapist came. It was his last session! While Nicholas played Candyland with Ms. Anne, Michael and Katie Grace added a page to their Saints Main Lesson Book.

Then we were done for the day! Michael can't practice cello because his buddy Noah broke the bridge when he smashed into it, and his cello is in the shop. We spent the rest of the afternoon resting, munching on soda bread, and running to the library.