Well, I am doing better with my studying, as well as going to bed earlier. It figures that I start going to bed earlier and the kids get sick with the flu and I’m up several times a night, so I don’t really feel a lot more rested! Everyone has finally gotten through it now though.
I have been teaching a Pizza Party unit study for the last 10 weeks at our homeschool co-op to 5 rowdy boys (yes, one of them is mine!) and a quiet girl. It’s been a lot of fun. We have learned all about Italian cities and famous people from Italy, as well as done several science experiments. Last Friday was our big party, and everyone brought toppings to make yummy pizza! I am made the sauce and pizza crusts and my God-sent friend, Natalie, made the dessert pizza crust. The kids were all pretty excited when they saw the Brazilian pizza with chocolate syrup and strawberries on it, and decided we just HAD to have that for our party! We had quite a few people join our “party” (they came flocking in when they smelled it!) and had a lot of compliments on the pizza. Way to go, kids!
We have 14 chicks that I bought from my brother and niece! Four of them were from my own eggs, and the rest were from his flock. I can’t believe how quickly some of them are feathering out! I also borrowed an incubator from a neighbor and I’m trying to learn how to use it. I’m afraid that my first batch of eggs aren’t veining, so I’m trying to figure out why. Another friend loaned me a little incubator that holds three eggs. I put three of my eggs in there too, and those have just hatched!
Other than that and homeschooling, we have been keeping busy with Boy Scouts as well as American Heritage Girls, a group I helped start that is a Christian version of Girl Scouts. I am the Troop Coordinator of that, so it keeps me really busy. Right now, the girls are working on their “Our Feathered Friends” badge, so that has been a lot of fun! Last week we paid the Bird Treatment and Learning Center in Anchorage to come out and show the girls a Great Horned Owl! She hooted quite a bit which was really neat! We are planning a field trip up to Gunsight Mountain toward the end of April, which is where all of the raptors migrate through.
Before that though, we have the APHEA convention, our homeschool convention. My dad founded the organization 25 years ago! It’s hard to believe it has been that long ago that I was licking stamps and envelopes, and managing the database….We are now on the Board and Craig is the Vice-President. Mostly the Secretary, Anne, does all of the work though. She is a great friend and neighbor. She’s the one who loaned me the big incubator! Anyway, that is keeping us busy too.
Ben, our oldest, is going to Poland on a short-term missions trip at the end of June – the middle of July, so we are preparing for that. He was the first one in our family to get his passport! My dad is going with the six kids from our congregation, which includes my “little” brother Otto too, who just turned 20. It should be quite a trip! Aaron is hoping to go next year, since he wasn’t old enough to go this year. Aaron will be doing NYLT (National Youth Leadership Training) with the Boy Scouts in June, and then he is hoping to take the Lifeguarding class once he turns 15 in July. Ben took it last summer and is now a certified Lifeguard. He has his application in at the local swimming pool, and is hoping to get a job there.
Well, that is all for now. I hear Joey starting to stir, so I’d best get finished with my morning items!