Homeschool Camper: Working it out

Before

After

We've had a busy week! Those of you who have liked us on Facebook may have seen that we remodeled the kitchen this week (well, it still needs paint and a few other things but I think it looks great!). The children also did most of their assignments this week. We got those cupboards for a really good deal and so even though we weren't planning on working on the kitchen right now it's what happened. That light (and it's twin in the dining area) were bought for a really really good deal as well and provide so much more light than we had in that area before. If you'd like to see more pictures about the remodel you can check it out here.

My next project (and Younger Cracker Jack's) is to tackle her dresser. Honestly, this was organized less than a month ago ... this is what happens when I don't stay on top of her to put things away neatly. I did get out the totes full of fall and winter clothing to go through and switch out the wardrobes for all three kiddos. I just haven't done it yet, hopefully we'll get to it this weekend while Daddy works on the parents bedroom.

The weather here in Michigan has been it's typical unpredictable self and so one day has been in the high 70's and the next the high 50's making my sinuses go haywire. On top of this the farmer who owns the field next to our home began his harvest on Thursday, which caused my allergies to blow up all over the place. I woke up this morning with my head feeling like it was wrapped in bubble wrap and my sinuses filled with cotton. This has also placed a small damper on our walking the two track that runs between the house and the field, farm equipment and little children are not a good mix when the farmer isn't expecting them to suddenly appear. We'll wait the week out and then begin our near daily walks again and I'm actually excited to see just what we'll find when we head down to our favorite spot next Thursday. All three kiddos suffer from sinus problems and two out of the three ended up with allergies, they've determined that the safest place to be is looking through the windows at the farm equipment going by.

That's Peanut and I during her swim class this past Wednesday. Two classes in and all three of the kiddos are improving. We may just have a group of swimmers by summer time!

We did manage to get in a lot of walks this week and time outside even though we had sinus and allergy issues going on. So much time between outside and remodeling the kitchen that the kiddos have a couple of hours of school work to finish this weekend, about two hours or so ... they figured it was worth it when they noticed how nice the kitchen turned out now that we can close cupboard doors ... Well, now that we have cupboards that have doors! They've managed over 18 hours outside this week and we still have Saturday to go!

Noni showed up around noon today and we went shopping for winter coats for the kiddos. We did manage to get each of them a nice warm coat, Peanut got snow pants too since she doesn't fit hers anymore, for pretty good prices since they were on sale. We did look at the winter boots but right now they want $40 a pair! Not this mamma and not that Noni ... nope, nope, nope! We'll wait until there's a sale! On the way home (well, slightly out of the way but who's counting) we stopped at a very small cider mill for cider and donuts. That "guy" in the picture is a mechanical guy who does the announcements and has a moving head and arm. He sits near the main door and the owners had placed him up above you so that you barely notice him until he starts talking, scared us a bit but then we decided that he was cool.

We learned that the "bees" that mamma's been referring too all over the place are actually yellow jackets (these are meaner than bees). But, when we went over to the tent they had set up by the pumpkins to eat our donuts and drink our cider I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there were very few by the tables. We wandered around and enjoyed ourselves for quite awhile. This made our third cider mill in 8 days! Boy, these kids have it made. The week after next we'll be finding a hay ride to take with Noni, picking out pumpkins, and if my guess is correct drinking more cider!

Next week's plans: Next week we're getting back to our normal school schedule, at least for the week. We're planning on making our bird feeders and "I can" can's (post to follow). Working on our Book IT! goals and getting some caramel filled apples made. So, we'll be checking a few things off of our Fall Bucket List. I also need to find a recipe to do that will use up a whole case of english cucumbers.

This week's tip: Never be afraid to ask a question. We tell our children this all the time. Well, that or "There are no stupid questions". Sometimes we need to remember this ourselves. If my dear hubby had not asked the manager at the store about discounting the price of those cupboards there is no way that we would have bought them this month, my kitchen would not be so much better than it was, and I'd probably still be complaining about not having enough counter space. The worst anyone can ever say to your question about getting a discount is no, so just ask and you may just get the discount. Some places will send you a sample or a full product in exchange for a review or a social media plug, just ask them ... the worst they can say is no.