Spring Has Sprung!

Good evening, my friends!

It is hard to believe that spring is here, but it is...and the weather is showing it. We have had a relatively warm week (a bit of chill in the evening hours). It has given us an opportunity to spend some time outside getting some things done.

We have officially started on some of our yard work, with one of the biggest jobs being cleaning out a bunch of the brush and old tree growth on the other side of our driveway. Aaron also got the garden tilled. We emptied the compost pile and got a couple of wheelbarrows full of good rich dirt. We tilled it into the garden. We got our seeds the other day from Baker's Creek in Mansfield, MO. I can't wait to get them in the ground.

Alysia Shows Off Her Strength While Dragging A Branch Away

Last weekend we were supposed to be in southern Missouri helping with repairing some lawnmowers, but Aaron ended up having a mandatory meeting at work on Saturday morning that he had to be present for. The meeting was early, and then we headed to Warrensburg for a visit with my mother-in-law and to help her with a couple of things.

After we left Warrensburg we headed home the long way and took a brief detour through Confederate Memorial State Historic Site...one of our classic old favorites.

Lion Monument - Confederate Memorial State Historic Site

Aaron loves all things Civil War history, and this has always been one of his favorite sites. It is truly beautiful.

We were supposed to have gotten married in the church on this site in September of 2021. However, my father was in failing health so we changed the date and location so he could be present. That does not take away from the fact that this is a very picturesque location.

Church at Confederate Memorial State Historic Site

This site was once the home of the Missouri Confederate Veterans Home, where Confederate veterans could live out the rest of their lives in peace and beauty. I have an ancestor who actually lived in that home for a time. Next to the church, many of those veterans (and their wives) are laid to rest. The most notable burial there, however, is part of William Quantrill. His body has actually been buried in 3 graves. The part that is here in Higginsville, MO is an arm and a shinbone.

Quantrill's Grave - Higginsville, MO

On our way out of the site we had to stop and wait for some Canada Geese to cross. They took their own sweet time, but it was a great opportunity for Alysia to see these birds up close.

As far as other adventures this week...we had some interesting recipes in World Cookbook (see more about that below in this week's school summary).

Indian Food

Last night I made one of our favorite tortellini dishes for dinner. I will try to post this recipe soon. It has become one of my mother's favorite foods.

School In the Gazebo

Today the weather was good enough that we did school in the gazebo for awhile. It eventually got too hot for us to be comfortable (87° F.), and we came back inside. However, the weather has cooled a bit, and we may spend a bit more time out there this evening.

As far as school goes, we've been busy once again. Here's what we've been working on:

• Reading - We finished Farmer Boy and have started On the Banks of Plum Creek in the Little House on the Prairie Series
• Spelling - State and capitol names as well as spelling words from Language Arts book
• Language Arts - Story concepts, Haiku poetry, penmanship, synonym and antonym worksheets, extra reading practice, similes and writing
• Math - Fractions, fraction conversion and multiplication tables 6-10, as well as 2 digit multiplication problems
• History and Geography - Major continent harbor cities, deserts of the world
• Science - Animal classifications, ecology
• Bible - God's plan of salvation, the life of Paul and reading 1 Corinthians and Exodus
• Special Unit - Our Mississippi: a study about the Mississippi River and its watershed including experiments (We're going to be raising tadpoles in a couple days!)
• PE - Outside work and exercises
• World Cookbook - Middle East: Halva, India: Bhuna gosht, dhal, basmati rice and cucumber raita, Thailand: Chicken in coconut sauce and China: Fried rice with vegetables
• Art: Easter suncatcher, modeled glow-in-the-dark skeleton and a Jewish shofar

We continue to enjoy our classes, and are looking forward to a short time off for spring break from tomorrow through Monday.

I get to go tomorrow and pick Kayla up. Her spring break happened to fall over Easter, so we will have her for that holiday this year. We normally don't have her for Easter, so we are pretty excited and I can't wait to see her smiling face tomorrow. I know that she is counting down the hours as well as I talked to her a couple of days ago.

My mother-in-law, as well as my sister-in-law and her fiancé, will be coming for Easter lunch on Sunday afternoon. We have been busy cleaning, doing laundry, grocery shopping, stuffing Easter eggs, etc. 

Our plan is to go to church on Friday night for the Good Friday service that will be held, and church on Sunday morning so that we can celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Dinner will be held in the afternoon along with fun activities for the girls.

Well...that's a long post, but that's the scoop for now. I hope that you are all well, and have a Happy Easter!

See you soon!

Amanda