Year 8 and other mason for me stuff - Summer Update

In which I am still chugging along, albeit slowly. I actually really well for a good 6 weeks when my nausea stopped. I completed up to week 22 of year 8 and then kinda went off track. I realized my brain and my body were both pooping out and I needed to start using naptime for not just resting, but actual napping if I wanted to be somewhat helpful at dinner and bedtime. I choose to focus only on reading the few library books I was using before they had to go back. It was still slow reading so I didn't break any cm principles, just narrowed it down a bit. I finished Kon Tiki, Johannes Kepler, Phineas Gage and Napoleon's buttons. I talked about Napoleon's buttons last time and I'm still think we'll be skipping that one but the rest I liked a lot.

 And I'm actually almost finished with A Coffin for King Charles. That one felt really dry for the first 1/3 although to be fair, I had stopped reading Churchill so I didn't have quite as much context as a regular student and felt a bit lost. But once it got going, I really liked it and forced Craig to discuss a few of the ideas when he was trapped in the car with me. Fun times.

I didn't do very much journaling at all. I got a few quotes copied down in there and summarized Kepler's laws on a page but that's about it. I miss it and hope to get back to it but honestly, since I'll be starting my next term with a newborn, that might not happen. Unless the 4th baby miraculously decides to prefer napping on his/her own and not in my arms but that doesn't seem to be the way my kids work.

I did add Latin. After starting Lucy with year 3, I realized year 4 would be next and with year 4 comes Latin so I wanted to brush up on mine. I thought I'd just start going thought the curriculum I used in high school since my mom saved it for me and it was sitting in the basement. I've gotten through 7 of the 16 units in the first level. Despite not doing a lick of Latin in 17-18 years or so, it's really coming back quickly and its making me remember that I really really loved studying Latin. My ultimate goal right now is to finish all three levels (which I own so no excuses!) and get to the point where I can read some original Latin texts. That is NOT a short term goal but I was about 1/2 way through level 3 when other high school obligations called and it got dropped so I'm pretty sure its possible if I take a slow and steady approach.

So my new goals for the summer are very low key.

 - Finish A Coffin for King Charles. Then I'll put aside Year 8 and pick up again after my "maternity leave." I actually normally feel really great after my babies arrive and my brain feels refreshed despite the lack of sleep so I don't think I'll have an issue finishing up the year even if I wait until September/October to really get started again.

- Work on some handicrafts that, not surprisingly, revolve around the baby (Moses basket and sheets are done, still working on the baby nest and I'm working my way through an online mamarazzi photography course)

- I probably won't make any progress in Latin but I do want to go through my current vocabulary cards 1-2x a week.

- Pick a few very light reading books to have so I don't resort to Netflix or mindless web surfing when I'm too tired to get off couch. The Emily books by L.M. Montgomery and re-reading a few Austen novels are probably the top contenders. And I've gotten a few non-fiction reads about foraging and wild plants coming through our library system shortly that I can peruse as well.