Bits of our Week

sorry, no photos this week (though I took a few especially)as my blog system seems to be having troubles with photos.

Our Weekend

Saturday morning was spent cleaning house, baking as we were on roster for morning tea at church, and final practices for our concert. Mid afternoon we headed off to the other side of town for the concert – 6 Homeschooling families turned up and a few guests. The concert lasted for just over an hour and fun was had by all.

Joshua was given the opportunity to speak about the Compass course he went to while on holidays. He spoke well as he shared the importance of seeing our whole life connected to God – not just the church parts – but that God is interested and has something to say about our work, play, family, government etc.

We were late coming home from Church as not only were we on morning tea (which means extra cleaning up) we also had the AGM. Our kids set up the dvd player in the Sunday School room and kept the kids occupied for the duration. We came home and watch a couple of our Hogan Heroes DVD – we are all so tired just blobbing out was what we needed.

We did manage to stir ourselves to watch our Thinking Movie for the week. We were late starting though so we ate while we watched and then discussed it afterwards. We watched the first day of the History of Christianity and Western Civilization which was based in Rome. We discussed how through history man has made himself a god and is at ‘war’ with the Christian belief that God is the one true God. We moved our discussion, especially with the older ones, to how this looks today – how has man, and government taken the place in people’s lives instead of God. Do we rely on the government instead of relying on God?

Bits and Pieces that Happened:

Joshua is cook’s helper this week; the goal is for him to have a variety of meals he can cook independently. Most of the meals he has prepared this week has been done independently: savoury mince and coleslaw, pumpkin soup, jacket potatoes and toppings. Hopefully he’ll bake something for morning tea on Saturday. It is good to see his repertoire growing.

Monday – I woke to find a note attached to my computer – it was from Daniel saying he had been sick through the night and wanted to sleep in. When he walked out he had a temp, was pale and went straight back to the couch to rest. Sickness always changes the dynamics in our day.
Nomi and Jess were set for a full day of study except Nomi was distracted with a piano piece she wanted to master and spent over 1 1/2 hours practicing that. That was all good though it did change what other things she studied for the day (which was okay).
We began our Character study for the month: Thoroughness
I spent 30min or so talking to Nomi about how to go about a reading journal. She is about to do a study on Vikings – at this stage it will be in her free time or individual study time not our general knowledge time – but I may change this.
Nomi spent some time with Pete looking at Domino’s back legs – she seems a bit stiff this week – thankfully we have a vet on hand!!
Nomi is going to try Gluten Free foods for the next few weeks to see if that helps her sleeping patterns and a few other health issues. When in town I bought some GF basics to help her with that transition.
Dinner conversation was on the different types of things you can learn from books – only if you approach a book with the intent of learning not just enjoying the story.
Since Daniel was not well I let him watch a movie while we finished dinner which just meant the other kids wanted to watch it too. So we had an exception tonight – and the kids watched a movie after dinner. They watched “Prince Caspian” (again!)
While Josh cooked dinner I also spent some time in the kitchen and made two raw cookies: Choc Chews and Lemon Chews. Plus a Gluten Free chocolate fudge brownie for Nomi – but everyone had some for dessert with icecream

Tuesday – The girls piano lessons have moved from Tuedsay morning to Thursday afternoon which gives us Tuesday for a full study schedule – Yay!!
I had an indepth conversation with Josh about the basis of our humanity and morality. It is hard to find the balance between debating truths and helping him in conversational skills.
With me not teaching yesterday and today Nomi has taken the opportunity to pick up with her reading journal work as she reads about the Vikings. She is doing good work.
Daniel went for a fly with Peter.
Work for Pay day today – Jess is in the office balancing financial statements, Nomi forgot the time and missed her opportunity to iron for an hour but she did it for 1/2 hour.
I spent some time in the afternoon preparing for the Mums Support group tonight (we are talking about social skills for our kids) then I spent a long time talking on the phone to my long-time friend who now lives out of town.

Wednesday – Today is our wedding anniversary – 20 years.
Went walking today – yay!! I was beginning to feel a bit hemmed in with all the rain and muddy roads. I love to be able to think and process things while I walk.
Conversation with Jessica about not judging people based on externals like haircuts and earrings etc but rather we need to look deeper before we discern rebellion.
Helped Daniel with his Devotions – he is reading through the Bible and needs the occasional help with words.
Character lesson on Thoroughness – we talked about the need to find the balance between completing a job and having the standard of excellence. Knowing the purpose of the task helps us find this balance. I gave the kids a choice of a poster, using graphics and/or words, to portray this idea.
Josh went to work this afternoon (he usually goes on Thursdays) but due to a break in the weather, and not knowing when the next shower is due, he took the opportunity to go up and mow some lawns.
I spent my afternoon working on my Creative Memories business and writing something for my website.
Peter and I went out for dinner, not only to celebrate our anniversary but also as a part of the Marriage Challenge we are co-ordinating and participating in. (The challenge is to go out on a date and talk about a specific issue. This challenge had us talk about relationships need time.

Thursday – We only needed a quick shop this morning so I managed to squeeze in some scrapbooking before heading into town at 7.45am. We did the shopping and then dropped the girls off at Mainly Music.
Peter and I had some planning time together this morning. Daniel spent the morning with another homeschool morning – they had their devotion time and worked on a nature/art project. Josh was supposed to be working but the lawns were too soggy to mow, so he came home early – he was ‘banished’ to the other end of the house so Pete and I could talk with freedom.
I picked up all the kids and the girls who join us for Keepers. We continue with learning different skills and techniques with digital scrapbooking. They learnt about 6 different things today.
The girls’ mum came to pick them up and stayed for a cuppa – I had to ‘kick them out’ at 4.00 so we could get ready for our Bible study tonight.
At Bible study we are working our way through the Truth Project. We did a few sessions of this last year but are starting afresh with a new group of people.

Friday – We spent a little time wrapping up our Character trait for the month – thoroughness. We discussed being aware of the little details that may not be verbally expressed but we need to be aware of when we are asked to do a task. We will continue to be aware of this trait for a few more weeks, but the intentional conversations/lessons are done.
I then helped Daniel, Nomi and Jess with their account book – recording their income / expenses and reconciling with the bank statement. This isn’t something we’ve been very consistent with so there is always a backlog! I feel today we overcame a bit of a bump there and the kids are beginning to take ownership of this aspect of working for money.
I cooked a friend a meal as she is moving over the weekend.
We went into town – Josh took the opportunity to practice his driving. We dropped Jess off at the church for a worship practice (she’s singing again on Sunday), dropped Josh off at our friends to help move some heavy stuff from old house to new house, Nomi, Daniel and I did the town chores, picked up Jess and did the grocery shopping before heading over the other side of town to pick up Josh. I sat and had a little visit while the kids helped unload the truck. It was good to be able to help out.
We then went to the bank before heading home.
Youth group on again tonight. Had a big discussion with Jess about how youth group cuts out our Friday nights doing nothing as a family. It is tough when different people in the family like different things – we have to come to a compromise.

Bits that didn’t happen:

Still struggling to get out and exercise – my excuse is that it is raining and it is no fun walking along muddy farm roads!
I didn’t teach anything other than Character this week. I wasn’t really happy with my effort this week. I didn’t get any prep done for this week and it shows.
We didn’t show our kids our wedding video – maybe over the weekend.
I drank too much coffee – not sure what is going on here – I’ve stopped drinking tea, and now I make myself coffee – something I’ve rarely drunk!! More green juice for me!