Homeschooling While Fighting the Desire to Hibernate....

 We may live in the only state in the USA with no snow......but it's still COLD!!  I happen to be one of the few that is actually enjoying the Winter experience, but it is wreaking major havoc on my productivity levels!!

Hibernation sounds heavenly, and there's nothing I'd like better at the moment than to stock up on hot tea, honey, hot chocolate, soup & sandwiches, cozy blankets, family movies, good books, shut the world out and hole up with my three bears (and my Grizzly).......and just rest, relax and freeze some moments in time for some stress-free family togetherness. 

Linking up with The Homeschool Village today to share our Accomplishments for the week, because the world stops for no one ~ especially not a weary and frazzled (but determined) mother bear ~ and I must keep going.....even if it's at a bit more sluggish pace than usual.  To my children's delight, all their activities ~ including church, choir, co-op, etc. ~ are "up & at 'em" again.  Their favorite at the moment would probably be the 4H Club that just started.  I'm actually delighted with this one as well as I've been looking for this type of club in our area for over a year ~ and ALL THREE of my children can and WANT to participate.  We met last Thursday and voted on officers as well as an official name for the club.

We have the best location ~ at a local horse stable, where the owners have been so gracious and generous in sharing their facilities....and their horses!  Here, the clubbers are taking nominations for officers.

 For a couple of siblings choosing not to participate, there is a very interesting checkers game in progress with my favorite horse, Jazz. : )

Saying the (4H) pledge....

The officers for the remainder of the school year (my children - Jacob(orange jacket) Chaplain; Robert (red hat) Recreation Leader....very appropriate for the One Who Can't Be Still; and Ashlyn (next to Robert) Historian):

I promise I didn't rig it so that all my children were voted in as officers!

A pic of the entire group.....capped off at this number to allow enough time for interaction with the horses.

 Some pics of our favorite 4-legged 4H members while the clubbers were observing their behavior for their books:

Seminole

Hershey

Jazz

Gypsy, who wears a hot pink halter ~ a girl after my own heart ; )

And, Ashlyn's favorite ~ Bubba:

We also managed to plow ahead through the mundane Math (yawn - not my nor Ashlyn's favorite subject) and all the other not-so-exciting basics, and I was rewarded with a surprise by finding my VERY reluctant reader curled up on his bed & propped up on pillows......READING!  Reading WITHOUT my  having to threaten him or bribe him ~ thanks to discovering this fiction book series written for kids by one of my personal favorite fiction authors.

Ashlyn also started official sewing lessons with me after I bought her a machine from Craigslist.....

....which stopped working just a few days later.  : ( 

I took it to my local dealer and, as suspected, I can buy her a new similar one for the same price as getting it fixed.  She'll have to wait a bit for that new one, but can use mine until then.  Meanwhile, I dissected the one that gave up the ghost ; )

Ever wondered what the inside of a sewing machine looks like? Now, you do!  Kind of cool to see all the parts work together when you turn the hand wheel {and I totally took advantage of that teachable moment by inserting some comments about how when we all work together, blah, blah blah..... : ) }  One of my children found this fascinating......the one who always has the tools we're looking for stashed in his room, whose mind never stops thinking & body never stops moving!

 We threw in a quick Science experiment for co-op regarding earthworms.....

.....along with some running to and fro, some really good episodes on Nova after dinner & other things here and there ~ like cleaning those blinds (I didn't even ask how they got dirt on them) & that ROOM.......boys are a mess & it drives me CRAZY ~  that's pretty much it.....or, all that's worth posting about anyway!  Recollection of anything else is currently trapped in the part of my brain that resembles a frozen tundra and is stubbornly refusing to cooperate at the moment.

*Yawn*

Going to make some hot tea now and work on a sea turtle project.....slowly, but surely.  : )