It was just the thing I needed to wind down from a particularly frustrating week. Here are some of the things that frustrated me this week:
--getting up late
--not having Nate there to do math with RJ and AG because we got up late
--having Bible time without Nate because we got up late
--not having much time with MA because I was helping RJ and AG with math
--the drama, oh, the drama
--not accomplishing much of the older two girls' individual work
--three-year-old temper tantrums, which take up a lot of time because I often sit with her through part of them
--my children freaking out about yellow jackets (they might come by that one honestly--I'm not a fan either)
--the clutter that I just can't get to getting rid of or putting away
--only feeling like I'm getting the bare minimum done
--tired, grouchy attitudes (mine included)
--a one-year-old who is waking up to nurse and be comforted more than normal at night
--three-year-old who is waking up at night and joining us in bed
I should balance it with the good things that happened:
--a fun field trip to Tuttles orchard with friends--it barely rained and we got to bring lots of apples and pumpkins home
--helping MA start a new embroidery project--A star-shape on a towel
--a good morning at homeschool co-op
--RJ's willingness to do her work
--both RJ and AG finished a step in All About Spelling
--we are enjoying reading Sticks Across the Chimney as one of our Sonlight read alouds
--morning time is going well--RJ and AG mostly love Latin, get into memorizing the Shakespeare passages, enjoy hearing about Mozart, and like hearing the poems I pick out to read
--we had one morning time outside this week--minus the one yellow jacket that came around every 5 minutes, it went well
--the clothes shopping and dinner date RJ and CN and I went on was very fun
--I have continued to be consistent, by God's grace, in reading a chapter or more from my Bible each night (in Numbers now) and praying
--I worked out a few times
--Nate helped me in more ways than I noticed, I'm sure
--Nate initiated having our Bible time at breakfast, so he could be there a couple of mornings
--RJ and AG enjoyed working on some American Heritage Girls badge requirements on Friday
--the Tenderhearts seemed to enjoy our time in our unit at AHG this week
--Saturday was a good day--Farmer's market, the girls helped me clean, RJ and I did a baking lesson and made granola, I finished the aprons and hats for RJ and AG's costumes, I had a good walk to the park with RJ and the littles, we had a campfire
I know we are going to have good and bad mornings, afternoons, days, and weeks. Even this weekend I was reminded that one bad day does not mean that every day will be bad, since Saturday was a really good day. On days when we are headed in a bad direction, maybe I just need to stop and institute a "bad" homeschool day routine. Getting our work checked off is not the most important thing. People are more important with things, and having a good relationship with these people in my house is important to me.
I must remember that these frustrating interruptions, immature emotional outbursts and such, are not pulling us away from our real life...they are our real life. Sitting on the stairway holding my tantrum-throwing three-year-old is part of my real life. Helping my oldest two work through their conflicts is part of my real life. Getting up a third time at night with a one-year-old is part of my real life. God has called me to be faithful, with his help, especially in those frustrating moments. We had lots of opportunities to learn this week. It just wasn't all academic.
I think we are all ready for a break. This coming week was supposed to be our fall break, but due to scheduling with our co-op, I pushed it over to the next week. This coming week will be lighter because of co-op again and MA's birthday festivities and RJ's horse riding lesson (her third of four we gifted her). I hope to get in two solid days of work before our break.
Anyway, onto the specifics of the week that I want to record.
Monday we went to Tuttles orchard for the apple tour and the pumpkin tour. The tours weren't anything special. We got to tour behind the scenes a little bit. The girls enjoyed all of it except the yellow jackets. We got to pick five apples each as a part of the tour. Then we went on a hayride to the pumpkin patch and each chose a small pumpkin. When we got back the kids wanted to go through the corn maze and play in the play area, which were both included in our package. It was a good deal ($7 each for everything). We considered picking apples before we left, but it started thundering, so we picked up some apples and cider from the store.
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| The apple grader--where they separate the apples for cider and selling. |
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| The cider-maker--I wish we could have seen this in action. |
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| The clouds were amazing at the orchard. |
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| They ran through the whole maze. |
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| We only did a little picking this year. |
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| Collecting her apples |
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| Climbing the hay stacks in the play area. |
Tuesday was co-op. I used some exercise cards called Fit Deck Junior for the beginning of PE time with the 1st thru 5th graders. I think I'll keep using them. RJ, AG, and I use them on days when we can't walk outside. We've been trying to exercise together three days a week for at least 20 minutes. We're working toward a reward of a book when we each reach our goal.
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| Our oh-so-fancy reward chart and the FitDeck Junior cards |
Friday I worked with RJ on the Dawn of our Country badge for AHG. We found pictures of Dolly Madison to print and cut out so she could color them for a stick-puppet skit about when Dolly saved a painting of George Washington and some papers from a fire in the White House. We also reserved a book from the library. AG and I checked off a few of her requirements for the Sign Language badge. We found a video that taught us how to sign the "Happy Birthday song".
After writing this post I realize that this week was really not as bad as I thought it was :)
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