A large family, homeschooling, adoption, special needs, whatever strikes my fancy, sort of blog.

A large family, homeschooling, adoption, special needs, whatever strikes my fancy, sort of blog.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Weekly Wrap Up

What's up here at Casa Quarantina? Well, let's see...



Brianna managed to liberate her new double pointed knitting needles after they'd been eaten by her bunkbed.



We've watched our share of documentaries and mindless fluff movies. Anything to distract from the itching and keep us all from going stir crazy. (Stir crazier?) The blanket-draped figure is Annaliese, who, understandably, does not wish to be photographed in her poxed condition.



For those who are wondering, this is what stir crazy looks like. Sigh.



The big kids finished up their CAT testing! WOO HOO! I did a lot of this:




while they were working. Can I just say I love love love my iPad? I'm pretty sure it's my favorite present ever. I just need to finish up a couple more sections of testing with Furby this weekend, and we'll be mailing the whole box back next week for scoring.



I escaped to Target for a bit after school today, and got the girls a lamp for their bedroom. They got a new lamp when we moved, but Hannah fried it. I'll have to post about that someday. Maybe when it doesn't make my heart stop to think about it. At any rate, they NEEDED a lamp. So I found this pink bling-y one and knew Bri would approve. I had a coupon for 20% off kids bedroom stuff, which saved us $6 bucks. Bri decided a new lamp was reason to spruce up the dresser.


I finally went through my neglected coupon binder and pulled all the expired coupons and clipped over half of the pile of inserts that have been stacking up, neglected in the chaos of moving and getting settled. Although many of the coupons expired in February, I did find a couple that went all the way back to September, oops!

I have to say, having the product stash I had stored up when we moved has been amazingly helpful. It was so nice not to run out of things! Especially since we had many extra expenses getting the other house rentable. We finally came to the end of the dishwasher detergent and were getting close to the end of the laundry soap, so I made sure to find deals on those. The photo above was from Wednesday, when Sam and I picked Josiah up from school and went to Papa Murphy's to pick up dinner. While our pizzas were being assembled, we walked over to Rite Aid and went couponing. "Wellness + savings": $33.35, Coupon savings, $10, total OOP: $42.59.

Today's Target run was even more fun, with a savings of $75.33. It's been kind of nice doing an errand with just Josiah and Samuel after school every day this week. Annaliese can't go to school with the pox, so she's home to watch the other spotted ones while I catch a breath of fresh air and talk to people who aren't polka dotted.


Guess who is learning to wash her own hair one handed?



That's right! Hannah Banana is doing a great job sudsing up on her own. I still pour the shampoo and does a "check scrub" and the rinsing, but it's a great start, and just a matter of time before she takes over those tasks, as well.

Hannah watching Dora in Mandarin. She's lost most of it, but we continue to expose her. In the fall, she'll be old enough to start at the local weekend Mandarin school. I hope that hearing the tones regularly will make it easier for her to pick it back up. Mandarin school is a long term committment, as I hope she will be at least able to make some conversation with our guides when we go back to China for a heritage tour someday when she's older.
That's my week in a nutshell. I'm SO VERY MUCH looking forward to a Mom's Night Out with my adoptive mama friends next week. I need my batteries recharged. I miss park day and homeschool co op. I miss talking to grown ups.

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