cc weeks 17 and 18:

We're entering the last quarter of CC.  I'll give a full review at the end of the year.  Week 17 was the week we did the valentine exchange.  No one was required to participate, just any family that wished to.  Our director's kids made paper roses and had a back which contained a heart-shaped cookie.  One other family brought those graham cracker bunnies and attached was a card like this one which shows how you can spell valentine in order in John 3:16.  I've always thought that was neat.  We did a science experiment using iodine to detect starch in foods.  Isaac actually was asleep in the car and when we arrived.  When it's colder at night, he doesn't sleep so well, and then he sleeps in in the morning (especially since there's no time for a nap in the afternoons).  I held him for the first hour till he woke up, and boy he was grumpy that he missed some of it.  He did present.  That week's topic was reciting Bible verses again, and he and Lucas chose the fruit of the Spirit.  Isaac just recited Gal. 5:22, and Lucas did 5:22 and 23.  We tried our hand at dot comic art like Roy Lichtenstein's.  

  

Week 18 the boys had to present a tall tale or fable (either one they'd learned or wrote themselves).  Isaac chose The Three Trees and Lucas chose The Ant and the Grasshopper.  Both classes drew a three-strip comic as we learned about Jim Davis (Garfield).  We were so impressed with the 4 and 5-year-old class.  Almost every child had a strip that had a clear beginning, middle, and end, separated by the panels.  Isaac drew (again) a robot birthday party, this time with lightning striking down and blowing the cake up into the sky, and then Roboto (his name) went up in the sky and retrieved it for the party.  We began the process of growing crystals and will see the results next week when we return after having this week off.  A number of families were out one or both of these weeks due to illness or other reasons.  

Testing for starch.

Learning irregular tense while running.

Valentine's exchange.

Lucas was happy with his large stash.

The next week, Isaac gave a summary of The Three Trees.

Scientific method shown by an even mix of older and younger students.

Isaac excited about the prospect of seeing orange crystals.

18th anniversary / presidents' day weekend:

We didn't get to go out on a date for our anniversary, but we did sort of a switch-off date and saw Black Panther solo while the other parent watched the kids.  It's PG-13, so too violent for our kids in my opinion.  There were many kids in the theater, but I think ours pay very close attention to details in films, so no need to put them through anything jarring.  I think that it was to my advantage that I'd been immersed in African-American culture growing up.  There are certain nuances and social commentaries that I think one could miss that would help the overall appreciation of the movie.  The movie did feel re-edited, like they pulled back on the action in favor of the storyline.  I won't spoil it, but Manny pointed out one flaw that I think could have turned a good movie into a great movie.  Still, it was pretty good, and probably my favorite of the more recent Marvel films.  I avoided all spoilers and reviews, so went in without expectations, and it did not disappoint.  No surprise the director also directed Creed, a Rocky movie Manny and I really like.

I think every year since we've been married we've celebrated our anniversary, but this year we didn't really.  I got Manny sick, but thankfully we got better quickly and before we gave it to the kids.  Things have been rough, but we are both working hard, seeking counsel, and want better for us and our family.

Sunday after church we both felt like going to Sweet Tomatoes, probably because we weren't 100% yet.  That and Fresh Choice have been a regular stop for us since we were kids (and Fresh Choice was actually our first date).  It's just become really pricey for a family of five, but once in a while is good for us to get our nutrition back up.

Monday was Presidents' Day, and our actual anniversary.  We just relaxed at home.  I did a little school with the boys, but mostly watched the Olympics and got caught up on some work.  I was over my cold, but it was still good to catch up on some rest.  I found a perfect card for our anniversary, nothing that said our life and love are perfect, but just that we will endure despite all the imperfections.

I often hear, "I married up" (our youth pastor said it's a requisite for pastors).  I know that the saying is to honor your spouse, and I used to say it, too.  Now I realize that neither of us married up.  We're just two ordinary, fallible people trying to make it in this world.  And while we were just sailing through our life together early on, now we have to take each day step by step, with faith and trust in God.  We will continue this journey together...

I really wanted to catch it so I wouldn't miss something when Infinity War comes out, but it turned out to be a good movie.

Yay, beets, quinoa, mixed green, and Chinese chicken salads.

Finishing our meal with soft serve.

valentine's / chinese new year week:

Valentine's Day is whatever you make of it, but don't make too much of it.  As I've mentioned a few times about holidays, put love over commercialism.  It's wonderful to do something special for a loved one on a special day (can be anyone, not just your spouse), but it's not so wonderful to raise expectations and the need for validation based on it.  I've read statistics about suicides increasing on Valentine's Day.  It's not just a statistic; my friend's brother and another friend's daughter took their own lives on Valentine's Day.  And then hurt people hurt others, and we now have the tragic association of a school shooting.  There is a group that goes out to Golden Gate Bridge on Valentine's Day to show people love and hopefully help them change their minds if they are contemplating suicide.  I want to tell you that even though we share these fun photos, we struggle with loving one another the way we should, and Manny and I did not have a nice Valentine's Day.

The Sunday before, we went out for pizza and doughnuts after church.  The doughnut shop has all kinds of weird and sometimes off-color specialty doughnuts.  The boys wanted the cheaper, plain with strawberry frosting and sprinkles anyway (interesting; their sister never liked strawberry-flavored desserts, only fresh strawberries).  Naomi got one with a rice krispie treats and chocolate topping.  Manny got one made with Nutella, and he said I smashed it and was pretty upset with me.  I felt so awful about it, and poor Isaac tried to do his usual Isaac stuff to make me feel better.  When I looked at it later, it appeared the doughnut wasn't smashed at all.  It was really melty, maybe from the warm day, but I could see why he said it was smashed.  

On Valentine's Day, I started feeling symptoms of a cold in the afternoon.  There are three super busy weekdays for me, and Wednesday is one of them.  I knew I should rest, but decided to finish plans for a relatively nice dinner, with some chicken and pork al pastor for tacos, some pineapples.  I also cleaned a lot.  It wasn't a great idea, and I sort of crashed.  It would have been better to take it easy, but I can be stubborn sometimes (okay, often).  At least Manny liked the dinner.  I won't share what happened, but it was pretty much downhill from there, and I don't mean Olympics skiing.

Since I was sick, I decided not to make anything special for Chinese New Year, which was that Friday.  But I did make heart-shaped sugar cookies with Isaac as promised.  Making time to rest and taking my usual regimen (vitamin C, elderberry, tea, honey, lemon, ginger, and oregano oil), I was over the cold in a couple of days.  I'm thinking next year just forget making a Valentine's dinner and make the Chinese New Year dinner the bigger deal.  Holidays weren't ever a big deal to me till I had kids.  It is so much fun doing hands-on and experiential learning with them!

   

The boys got this donut.

And thankfully had no interest in one of these.  I think it's kind of funny, as long as it's not used to hurt someone.

This was what happened to Manny's poor donut.

Isaac and I wrapped some chocolates in messages of God's love to hand out for the CC Valentine Exchange.

Someone in a CC group posted these free printables they made which match our anatomy unit in CC.

Isaac wrote and stenciled little messages for his friends.

Olympics (this was Men's Halfpipe) was the highlight of my week.

As fancy as it got for Valentine's dinner, but it was pretty good.

Isaac and I made sugar cookies.

Happy Love Day (or Love Despite Not Feeling It Sometimes Day)!

Dragon fruit I got for Naomi and me.  It's not particularly sweet or tasty, but it is really good for you and of course looks beautiful.  This was the only Chinese-y thing we did for New Year since I was sick.

birthday celebrations:

Some friends from church held a surprise party for L., who has done so much for others and leads our church's mercy ministry.  She's always been very kind to me.  She's very observant of details, so to surprise her can be a real feat.  She said she did notice a couple of things, but trusted the hostess anyway.  I wasn't sure I should go since I was going out to dinner, and if I go out more than once, Isaac can have a hard time, which is harder for Manny.  I tried to just go toward the end.  I made a scrapbook page for her, and then got caught up talking to someone.  It was an important conversation, though.  I'm not a huge small talk person and enjoy talking about deeper things.  This can repel or attract people, and I figure it works out the way it should.

Someone there brought up my birthday, but I just said thanks and quickly changed the subject.  I really wanted the focus to be on L.  My friend who treats me every birthday took me out for dinner and dessert.  She has to come from an hour away and will picks me up and drives an extra 40 minutes total It was nice to find out after 15 years of friendship that we have even more in common.  We had a good dinner, and as always I am always grateful to Manny for watching the kids so I could go out for my birthday, even though sometimes he gives me a hard time.  Before I go, I have to clean, cook dinner, get things squared away, and try not to bother him too much.  So I didn't get a chance to do my hair or make-up, but I was just glad to go.  It will be nice when Naomi's older and we can get out more often together ourselves.

Surprise party for L.  About 15 of us there.

This is so bad for me, but one of my favorite appetizers at Rock Bottom.

Steak and portabella mushroom salad was good, but would have been better on mixed greens.  I don't really like iceberg lettuce.

Me and O.

Sharing a cheesecake for dessert.

Olympics on lots of screens with different events. Yay!

birthday blessings:

I felt very blessed on my birthday this year, even though I had an especially rough day with the boys.  Sometimes when it's rough, it's so appreciated when the people close to you remember you with just a kind word or two.  My mother-in-law made a very sweet Facebook post and sent a card and a giftcard for Amazon.  I used it to get an Echo Dot and try it out.  I don't have it plugged in all the time, but it's pretty cool.  She'd mentioned it when we were there at Christmas, and I hope to get her one as well.  It's nice to see the well wishes on Facebook.  I haven't been posting much there lately aside from photos at the end of each month.  Just kind of busy and not in the mindset for posting, but I do like catching up with other people through social media.  

Manny got me roses and a pie from Costco the day before my birthday and then took me and the boys out for pho the night of my birthday.  Naomi was out at her friend's birthday party so had to miss it.  Then I got to catch some of the Olympics Opening Ceremony.  I missed quite a bit and had to watch a replay another day.  It was probably my favorite opening ceremony ever, so innovative and yet so rich in history.  I like how every four years I rekindle my love for winter sports.  I don't really watch them otherwise.

Mystery roses.  I ordered groceries online, and the driver said these were in my order.  I didn't see them anywhere in the receipt, though, but I'll take them!

Roses and a pie from Manny.  My favorite color is purple, so he often gets purple or purplish flowers for me.

Isaac "baked" a cake for me.  What a sweetie.

Out for Vietnamese food.

Always some variety of pho with beef tendon in it for me.

Opening Ceremony. 

I was pleasantly surprised to finally have a child who enjoys watching Olympics with me.  His favorite sport is figure skating, all forms (we're watching the ladies' free skate right now).

cc week 16:

This was a couple of weeks ago now, which means I barely remember it, but I remember we had fun learning!  The presentation for that week was to review something they had learned from a particular week.  Isaac chose to recite the standard liquid measure equivalents (from fl. oz to gallon) and show his Gallon Robot.  Lucas went all out and recited everything from Week 13 except the world history timeline, including the U.S. History sentence, Latin verse, English grammar, and math and science facts.  He stayed up late and got up early and studied like he was in college.  I am proud of Lucas' hard work, but he puts so much pressure on himself it does affect his emotional state.  I try to tell him to go easier on himself, but he wants to do his best, so I'm not going to discourage that.  Isaac on the other hand keeps saying he can't do it (but always does).  I think he tends to prepare himself for failing.  I don't know if that's good or bad, but it's his personality.  

For art, they imagined an outdoor scene and then painted over some dots of glue to see the different texture that would result from it.  Our featured artist was Andrew Wyeth, who used different techniques or mediums in the same painting to create different textures.  I have studied art history and am not as familiar with modern American painters, but I really like Wyeth's work.  For science, we did the baking soda and vinegar balloon glove experiment.  

Isaac reciting the standard equivalents for liquid measure with his Gallon Robot.

Kids wondering if something will explode.

Closing their eyes to think of an outdoor scene to paint.

Lucas' farm is on the bottom left.  As you can see, he likes to draw precisely and sort of protected.  He began to paint with wider strokes but ran out of time.  I often see the same thing with Isaac's art.  Both like to get detailed in their drawings.

park playdate:

I feel bad that Isaac doesn't get to have anywhere close to the number of playdates Naomi and Lucas had.  I'm too busy with them and with school and other things, but every once in a while, I rearrange our schedule so we can go to one of our homeschool group's outings.  It was so nice to see an old friend who was also at the aquarium field trip last December.  We were supposed to leave 45 minutes earlier than we did, but a boy, not in our group, which had already left, asked Isaac to play, so I wanted to let him have that opportunity.  He loves making friends at the playgrounds.  The playdate was two weeks ago, but I hadn't had a chance to download my photos, so I'm playing catch-up again.

Isaac and M.

Isaac loves to be high up.  He's about to drop the toy parachute man to M below.

Lucas is starting to outgrow many things on the playground.  Thankfully they have this sideways ladder that goes pretty high.

This squirrel just hung out under my feet and then next to me.  I tell ya, animals like me for some reason.  I must smell funny or look like the food-offering type.

Isaac with a new friend.  Even if they never see each other again, it's friendship to him.

winter camp:

Naomi went to her second annual combined winter camp with our church and another church.  They left on Friday and returned Super Bowl Sunday.  The students had cabins and meals, heaters, and bathrooms available to them, but no electronics whatsoever (yay).  Naomi had a great time, and her team won the bible memory challenge.  I heard from someone else on the team that she carried the team.  Their prize was an unused toilet seat.  Someone (an adult youth leader) came up with those as a trophy, and it seems to work well, goes around the neck, doesn't take up counter space, and can be signed by all the members.  Ok, maybe I'm just trying to make sense of it.  :)  This year's theme was "I Have This Hope."  That's a theme for me right now as well.

I purposely shrank this photo down since I don't have access to an editor with a blur effect at the moment and didn't want to line out everyone's faces.