Homeschool Highlights: 4/13/20 - 4/17/20

This week started off normal on Saturday night,  but quickly turned into a crazy and stressful week. Saturday night, the kids and I used our DIY Resurrection Eggs to tell the story of Jesus's death and resurrection. Then we made Resurrection Rolls using crescent rolls, cinnamon, sugar, and marshmallows. The marshmallows represent Jesus's body and the crescent rolls stand for tomb. As the rolls bake, the marshmallows disappear, just like Jesus rose from the death. 

Sunday my dad (who is a retired pastor turned missionary) baptized Titus and 3 of my sister's kids at our church. The only ones there were my parents, my sister and her ex-husband and his mother, and our pastor and wife. We practiced social distancing and left as soon as the baptism was over. My parents came over for lunch. I cooked a roast, mashed potatoes and carrots and my mom brought corn and rolls. I also made a cross cake for dessert. 

Monday morning, Eli woke up with stomach pain. He laid around most of the day, thinking he had some trapped gas or something similar. The kids and I did school. We are visiting Egypt this week, and we read some books that I had, did our country fact sheet, and used air-dry clay to make cartouches, which are like nameplates. We used a skewer to carve our initials or names in hieroglyphics in the clay, and then we wrote our name in hieroglyphics in our notebooks. We also read about canopic jars. Then the kids worked on their independent work and then played outside. Eli was still hurting, and he threw up that night (but didn't tell me until the morning!).

Tuesday was my birthday. Eli woke up still in pain, and I was getting a little concerned. He was hurting when he walked, and he laid on the couch for most of the morning. Mikaela got up and made homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then cooked baked ziti, creamed corn, and rolls for lunch. She also made me a homemade chocolate sheet cake!

35 candles!

They gave me tons of presents! I got two t-shirts, some body wash and lotion, shampoo I love, a bath bomb, the game Catch Phrase, some Rachel Ray spoons (from my sister), candy, a painted canvas from Mercie and Zeke, a journal, make-up remover wipes, and a song written by Titus. I have the sweetest kids ever. They really wanted to make my birthday special, and they did!

We did school, and they painted their cartouches. Then we did a few lessons in "Beyond the Stick Figure" - a Crew Review product. 

However, Eli was still hurting, and now it hurt when he breathed and talked. I touched his stomach, and he winced in pain. His right side was hurting, but his left side was not. I suspected appendicitis but wasn't sure, so I called our family doctor (who I have been going to since I was a few years old!) and explained what was happening. They had him come in to the office. They took his bloodwork, which was perfect, and then sent him to the ER for a CAT Scan. Sure enough, the CAT Scan showed acute appendicitis and he was transferred by ambulance to the nearest hospital that does surgery - an hour and a half away. I followed the ambulance in my car and my mom came and sat with the kids at our house. 

in triage, waiting for a room

Eli didn't have surgery until the next morning! He was in pain all night, and I felt so bad. They did the surgery around 10:00 am and he was back in the room by 1:00. The surgeon said his appendix had curly-qued around his intestine and was twice as long and twice as wide as normal. 

after surgery, still a bit loopy 

I'm so glad they let me stay with him in the hospital! I wasn't allowed to leave the room or order out for food, and I didn't pack any snacks, so I was at the hospital's mercy for meals and drinks. It was tough to be away from Zeke, who is 16 months old and still nursing. My mom is amazing, though and took great care of him and all the kids. I had never left Zeke overnight, so he was a bit mad at me and confused as to why I wasn't there. 

My mom reading to Zeke - a blurry picture but sweet nonetheless.

We got to come home Thursday around 1:00. I was so happy to see the kids, and they were all happy to see me and Eli! They made him welcome home posters and were waiting on him hand and foot, trying to take care of him. It was precious. He is doing very well, but is still very sore.

Mikaela really stepped up and did school with the kids while I was in the hospital with Eli. They watched a YouTube video on the pyramids, made pyramids with Legos, and then wrote four facts on each side of a paper pyramid, and then cut it out and glued it together. She kept them going in their math and language arts workbooks and even did Bible time with them! I love her so much. She is going to be a great mom. She also helped my mom with meals and cleaning, and she and Mercie both helped with Zeke. The house was clean when I got home and I was so thankful!

Today, we finished up our study of Egypt by completed a crossword and word search, making our postcards and fold-outs, and reading our Children Just Like Me book and completing that worksheet. 

It was our last country in Africa, and next week we will go to Australia. We have four weeks left in Expedition Earth, but we did skip two countries (Spain and Argentina) so we may go back and do those countries. I haven't decided. 

How was your week?

Zeke on Resurrection Day!

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