Tag: Weekly Review

Week in Review July 3-7

Grace-Filled Writer
We have joyed another week of vacation, this time in Florida with my in-laws and sister-in-law and her kids. We love spending time with them and this was a nice ending to our time away from home.
My 3 with 5 of their 7 cousins on the 4th of July
The most significant thing about this week was just how relaxed we all have been. It made my husband and I realize that while we have a very solid relationship, we need to be more intentional about relaxing together. I don’t mean in the same room doing different things, but choosing to be together in our down-time both physically and emotionally. We don’t have a 5-step plan or anything like that, but it is just a choice we are making. We do a really good job of finding relaxing things to do alone. He loves to golf. I love to scrapbook and read. Yet we have neglected the joys of down-time together. So that is our new goal for us.
This ends about 6 weeks of almost non-stop activity and travel for our little family. Next week brings reality, where we are busy and happy, but it should include a much calmer pace. I hope to squeeze in a couple of day trips this month and next, but I’m really looking forward to some more low-key moments. 

Week in Review: June 26-30

Grace-Filled Writer
This was our home for the first few days of this week! We camped with my husband’s family for 3 nights in Virginia. The weather was gorgeous even if the nights were a bit cold! 
Full Disclosure: I’m not really a camper!
But since everyone else is, I go along and do my best to enjoy it, be thankful we have time to spend with them, and try really hard not to focus on the reasons I don’t really love camping. We made some great memories and the kids especially were able to spend some much needed time with their cousins! 
Even though camping isn’t my favorite vacation, we did make a ton of memories and I have the pictures to prove it! I’ll be scrapbooking this fun trip soon!

Peek at our Week: June 19-23

Grace-Filled Writer
Here is a little peek at our week!

Yup, it was VBS week at our church! It’s always a blast for the kids and adults. But boy are we exhausted! I taught Bible every night to the elementary aged kids. My husband (also the pastor) had fun leading the opening and closing and just hanging out with the kids in general! And I’m actually in our “week in review” pictures for a change this week!
This year Rose was a junior helper and I was proud as could be at how everyone told me she worked with the preschoolers! It’s hard to watch our kids grow up sometimes, but seeing them serve the Lord is an incredible blessing. VBS is where I first began serving years ago and it was really special to watch her doing the same! 
Rose also completed another unit in Resurrection to Reformation and will be finishing that up in a few weeks. We’re going to be “off School” for the next two weeks as we enjoy some time with my husband’s family and celebrate Beth turning 10. Wow! I can’t believe how fast time is going with these girls!

Week in Review June 12-16

Grace-Filled Writer
This week was fairly uneventful thanks to a summer cold I caught from the girls! We should have spent a good amount of time at our neighborhood pool this week, but since Beth and I spent most of the week feeling pretty lousy we just laid low around the house. We have yet to take our first summer dip, but that is in the plans for this coming week! We will also have Vacation Bible School at church this week so it will feel incredibly busy. So what did we do with our time? Honesty, quite a bit more screen time than normal. We also worked with some online school programs we are reviewing. Summer is great for that. There was some reading and math work each day as well. Rose is finishing out the history portion of our Heart of Dakota curriculum these next couple of weeks and we will be forging ahead into the new very soon. This week was about as eclectic as it gets with us, but that’s what happens when Mommy isn’t feeling well! 
This is what I love most about summer. Lots of time spent just loving on one another!

Week in Review: June 5-9

Grace-Filled Writer

We started off the week with our last service at our denominations bi-annual meeting in OH. There is something uniquely beautiful about worshiping with others in ministry from around the globe.

Then we traveled south and spent some time a few of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and my cousins kids. It has been a long time since I’ve seen them and it was so good to reconnect! My grandparents passed away when I was pretty young and as our families have grown older and moved around, building families of our own, it is harder to see one another.

Some of my cousins and spouses who were able to come.
My kids and my cousins kids. 
Then we came home. Unfortunately we now have a cold making the rounds. So the girls have worked on math and literature while they recuperate since it is just a mild cold. I’ve also been trying to get some decluttering and cleaning done. We have a pretty good pile of things we are getting rid of! 

Week in Review: May 29-June 2

Grace-Filled Writer
Talk about an off routine week! After our church service on Sunday we began our trip for a week-long conference with our denomination in OH. We have had so much fun and have a few more days to enjoy ourselves. 
On the way up we stopped at The Ark Encounter. I can’t put into words just how amazing this was. We enjoyed it so much!
We also had the opportunity to visit a house used as a hiding place for the underground railroad. 
We went to Anthony and Thomas Candy company for a tour. 
Finally, we went to COSI, a children’s museum in Columbus, OH. 
I will have separate posts up about these soon. 

It has also been a week of hearing how God is working through our denomination all around the globe. It was encouraging and challenging. We came back refreshed and ready to see where God will be taking our church in the coming months. 
Next week’s review will have even more peeks at our adventure north! 

Week in Review: May 22-26

Grace-Filled Writer

Our week was incredibly low-key…and by low-key I mean I forgot to take any pictures it was so relaxed! We spent time cleaning and organizing some much needed areas, celebrated our 15th anniversary with the girls at Cracker-Barrel, and listened to it rain… A LOT! This is what “weeks off” typically look like for us with the exception of staying inside most of the time because of rain. We did get to take a few hours at our local children’s museum with friends and that was a lot of fun. Since I didn’t get to take any pictures, here are a couple from our wedding. Be on the lookout for a field-trip review and some fun highlights of this upcoming week in the next Week in Review!

Week in Review: May 15-19

Grace-Filled Writer

This was an EVENTFUL week! I planned to have school for the first three days of the week. I had great intentions and we did get a good amount of work accomplished on Monday. Really, it started off rather calm, but in the middle of the night on Monday I was awakened from a nightmare to a horrible crashing sound. I started screaming, my husband tackled me trying to calm me down (it didn’t work), and it took us a little while to actually wake up.

When we finally did come into full wakefulness my husband began searching the house for what could have caused the crashing we heard. He soon discovered our closet system (think hanging bar, shelves, etc.), which had held up fine for the previous 9 years, had snapped off the wall. In our barely awake state we panic thinking the cat may have gone inside and was buried under the mound of clothing, games, school supplies, and tax papers. While I searched the house looking for the cat to no avail, my husband frantically began digging through the disaster and pretty much throwing things out of the closet to try and find our poor kitty. She wasn’t there. We found her hiding under one of the girls’ beds.

So the next 2 days were spent cleaning, organizing, and purging, something that was absolutely necessary and I was planning to do this summer anyway. It just happened sooner than I expected! This then led to more rooms being organized and purged.We also had the great seasonal clothing swap of 2017 Part 1. Part 2 will occur in October.

All of this had to be accomplished before Thursday morning because we already had a little mini vacation planned for the weekend! We traveled up to Hershey, PA and had an absolutely wonderful time. Grace’s favorite candy in the entire world is Hershey’s Chocolate. She will specifically ask for this brand when requesting candy, so she was over the moon. We had a great time and the girls even went on some decent sized roller coasters…and liked them! Beth and Grace stayed with the smaller ones which did not go upside down, but Rose ventured onto the Super Dooper Looper and braved the upside down coasted and loved it!

That was our much-too-eventful week! How was yours?

Week in Review: May 8-12

Grace-Filled Writer

This is one of those not normal weeks. We did not do any of our regular schooling because we were completing our required standardized testing for the year. We take the whole week off of regular school because those are so much more intense than what we normally do. Having to sit at a table and color in bubbles is not what my girls are used to doing!

 Grace went first because I have quite a bit I am supposed to read aloud to her still. She doesn’t really need me to read most of it, but we follow the directions anyway!

 Rose and Beth worked for two days. Next year I’ll be able to complete all three tests with them together which will be nice. I’ll probably break it into more days so it isn’t so overwhelming.

 

  While the girls worked super hard to finish their testing I kept time and worked on my scrapbook! I also used the time to finish up my grades for the English class I teach. Everything wraps up this week!
So that was it for schooling, but we had some other fun stuff happen this week too!

 For the last several years I’ve lead a moms group at our church. It’s been a wonderful ministry, but this year I’m stepping down from leading. I planned a fun painting night for us for our last meeting. We had a great time and made some wonderful memories as well as art!
 Monday night was my piano recital. Pictured here are 29 of my 35 students. 30 of them played in the recital, but one had to slip out early to be inducted into the National Honor Society. I also teach 2 adults and my 3 nieces and nephews via Skype on the weekends. The theme for the music this year was “Around the World in 30 Songs.” It was an amazing night!

 
My three girls! I love them so very much. Here are their songs:
Grace – He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
Beth – A Whole New World
Rose – The Can Can
They all three played beautifully and I’m so proud of their determination to do their best! 
That was our week! As a dear friend of mine said to me the other day, “Ok, now you can sleep for days to recover!”

Week in Review: May 1-5

Grace-Filled Writer
Back to “full school” for a week! Next week we will be testing as required by the state and then I think we will take a few weeks off from regular school. I have finished up my English class and just need to complete their grade reports. Piano lessons wrap up for the semester with our recital this coming Monday night. I will be taking a much needed break before we dive back into the traditional learning we have. We will still be doing school because my kids can’t handle too much time off before the bickering starts, but it will be the “fun school” that includes materials I’m reviewing and all of the wonderful things I don’t get to do during the school year because we don’t have time! 
Rose (6th grade): Resurrection to Reformation Unit 31
 Rose requested that even if her sisters took a break from Heart of Dakota that she keep on working through the summer at least on her history. I’m more than happy to allow her this! She is very close to finishing this guide, so I assumed that she wanted to complete it, but no, she is excited to move to the next period of history! Her effort has been off the charts this year. I’m so pleased with her self-motivation and willingness to really do her absolute best. It isn’t that she’s ever been difficult to teach, but I see a different level of desire to excel this year which is very good. She is also pursuing some of her own interests more through the electives at Schoolhouse Teachers (affiliate link) and I am excited to give her those opportunities!
Grace (1st grade): Bigger Little Hearts for His Glory Unit 5
 
 Grace loves her new timeline! This is one of my favorite aspects of the Heart of Dakota guides. The girls create their own timelines, adding their own artistic flair. It feels more meaningful and lasting because of this. The girls genuinely enjoy the process. This will be the last folder-style timeline we do. As with many things so much of this guide with Grace is bitter-sweet. But as she grows and learns I’m excited to see her blossom!
 Beth (4th grade): Creation to Christ Unit 11
Rose is reading her history on the iPad. I often save money by getting e-books they girls can read on the Kindle app. I still love books, but the space and money I save make e-books fine for me. I’m not an all or nothing kind of girl anyway so we will always use a mish-mash of reading mediums for our schooling. Beth is settling into her new guide a little more. It takes her a little longer to finish than Rose, but I know this is because she is still getting used to the bigger work-load. She sometimes gets frustrated by this, but I think she will soon see the time she spends lessen once she realizes complaining about her assignments only lengthens the time they take! 
That was our week! How was yours?