Week 23 In Review

The Week in Pictures: 

 Now that John can walk, he can use a light saber.  He was excited to battle with Thomas.

 On Tuesday this week, we went to spend an afternoon at the St. Anne's Shrine in Isle La Motte which was where the first Mass in Vermont was said and was Vermont's first settlement.  It was beautiful!

 This beautiful Statue of Our Lady used to be on top of the Cathedral in Burlington before it burned down in 1972.

Here is Thomas posing with his middle name patron saint - St. Ignatius.  
There are many life-sized saints spread about the Shrine.  

 Miriam with St. Anne and the child Virgin Mary

The children were really excited to find this nest of newborn baby robins in a bush.

Here's a picture of the newly painted back deck and our new swimming pool.  On Monday we took advantage of the hot weather and a Memorial day sale to get a swimming pool.  The kids have loved swimming in the pool almost every day this week.  

Here's a picture of the newly painted front porch.

The Libraries in Vermont have passes to various museums in the state that you can check out.  To satisfy our Vermont history homeschool requirement, we checked out a family pass to the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. The museum had lots of boats on display including birch bark canoes travelled in by Native Americans in this area, and many of the early explorers such as Samuel Champlain and missionaries such as St.Isaac Jogues and  Jean de Brebeuf.  We recently read a great biography on Saint Isaac and the Indians that mentioned their travels in boats like these.  

The best part of our trip was going on board a replica of a revolutionary war gunboat and learning what it would be like to sail on one.  The kids even got to be crew and work together to move the main sail.

John was ready to fire the cannon if needed.  

On our way home from the Vermont Maritime Museum, we were able to make a quick visit to the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory.

 Luke turned 6 years old on June 2nd!

For Luke's birthday, Phil and the older kids slept out in tents.

Here is a picture of the completed chicken coop - the baby chicks moved in this week. 

Phil and William built a fire pit for us in the back yard so we could have pudgy pies for dinner on Friday and roast marshmallows for dessert. 

We went fishing on the river Saturday - we didn't catch any fish this time but considering there were 5 kids present and we were there for less than an hour, it wasn't too surprising.

Getting ready for a bike ride with dad!

 Phil cleared the path in the woods and mowed it so that the kids can ride their bikes through the woods.  Thomas is a dare-devil down the path - hopefully he won't follow in his father's footsteps and try to drive that big-wheel up a tree.  

The cleared path is great for a hike in the woods.

Highlights from the week:
Phil was on vacation for most of the week and we all really enjoyed the family time together and a fun "free week" with no formal schedule,  The weather was beautiful and it was great to be outside and work on outdoor projects. I was able to start painting the kids play ground (look for pictures next week).

I spent most of Saturday putting together homeschooling paperwork to send into the Vermont State department of Home Education and I'm super relieved to have it all done and almost ready to be sent in.  Next year it should take a lot less time since I'll be able to prepare ahead of time and know what to expect. 

This week begins our "Summer Schedule."  For the past few years I've found it helpful to have a check-off list for summer activities to help our days go smoothly and continue learning in fun ways over the summer.  We'll be keeping Nature Journals, reading about and doing some fun activities about the Ancient Greeks, reading "Life of Fred" math books and participating in fun activities with the Library's Summer Reading program.  The checklist helps the kids know what to do/expect/ look forward to and helps me give them something to do if I hear "I'm Bored."

  We also have "Responsibility checklists" posted which are basically chore charts.  Hopefully we'll get back into a routine with keeping the house running smoothly!

May God bless you and your families!  Our prayers are with you, please continue to pray for us!