Tour 1 Week 20

 

Spring has sprung! I took these pictures on one of my recent walks in the neighborhood - the beautiful colors of Spring are blooming all around us and it's especially promising after the long, long winter we've all had. Despite the constant high pollen warnings from my weather app and the inevitable sneezing and itching that accompanies it, I love spring weather.

We met some friends at a local park this week and of course managed to pick the only day that was cloudy and chilly. The boys enjoyed running and climbing and playing with their friends anyway and I got to catch up with a friend I haven't seen in awhile. As a bonus, we also visited the small nature center while we were there. 

We've also had a busy couple weeks of dogsitting as families ventured out of town for Spring Break vacations.  Six of our regular pup guests came to stay with us during the first half of April (not all at the same time!) and we enjoyed their company. 

When not taking care of dogs or children, I've been working on a craft closet makeover. We have a downstairs hall closet that has not been living up to its full potential. Every few months I clean it out and organize it, but despite my best efforts it inevitably dissolves into a mess. 

I have a love/hate relationship with this closet.

The above photo is more of an "organized mess" state - at its worst, there are more things piled on the floor, blocking the shelves and access to their contents completely. There's also no light in the closet, making it easy to lose things in the dark depths of its corners. 

It's a very conveniently located closet for storing arts and crafts and office supplies along with homeschooling materials, but it needed help. So I enlisted the help of my husband and proposed adding actual shelves that would extend all the way down and across one side. He even added some lighting. I still have some final touches to put on the whole thing - like using my Cricut to make fun labels for everything, but it is a BIG improvement and I'm very happy with how it turned out. 

In the midst of home improvement projects and dogsitting, we've still plugged along at our home schooling. This week we learned about the Vietnam War, the First Man on the Moon/Space Age, Earth Day, the Space Shuttle Program and Roe V. Wade. We also added the Southwest States and Capitals to our geography notebooks. 

Our science adventures in zoology have taken us to our final habitat - the ocean, where we learned about penguins and fish this week. 

I seem to remember doing a science demonstration, but maybe I forgot to take pictures? Let's just say the enthusiasm wanes a bit this far into the school year. 

That's what we've been up to lately! I hope you're enjoying the beautiful spring weather. 

~ Dori

Pics of Teens Doing Teen Things