365 Project | Week 32

I can best describe this week as a roller coaster, and I spent Thursday evening at the very bottom. By the time I went to bed in the wee hours of the morning, I was pretty well-nigh certain that this homeschooling business was a very. bad. idea. How quickly could we get them enrolled in a traditional school???? Thankfully, some sleep and prayer helped improve my perspective, and by Friday morning the Lord had helped me work through some organizational challenges that had given me mental block the night before. At this point, we are all really excited (and Mommy is ready!) to start school tomorrow morning. Ready or not, here we go! :)

Day 218. Okay, I am SO glad to have finally captured this face on camera. Daddy was the one directly involved in the situation, so I used my zoom to discreetly capture it from the kitchen. ;) When he has a mind to be, Matthew can be as stubborn as the best of them, but in general, he's super sweet and this face captures his heartbroken response to rebuke when he's not been trying to be bad. We love you, Monkey! We are so thankful for your sweet, tender spirit.

Day 219. Getting a new view on life. :) Mommy tends to find a pillow quite helpful for that, but hey, rings work, too. :)

Day 220. In a last minute decision, Mommy invested about five hours late Monday night getting six bins and two boxes worth of clothing ready for our local consignment sale. My crew enjoyed spending an hour with friends while Mommy dropped off the clothes. and I'm looking forward to picking up the check next week. :)

Day 221. Hannah enjoyed using her pastels to create a card for a little boy celebrating his 6th birthday. He is battling a terminal illness, and we are so thankful the Lord allowed him to reach this milestone!

Day 222. It's amazing to me to see how the Lord can use His people to turn discouraging situations completely upside down. Tuesday afternoon, I had woken Matthew up early from his nap in order to take the kids to a Lego event. Sadly, I misread the time, and it was basically over when we arrived. :( The kids really responded well, but I was tired and more than a little discouraged about it. I was absolutely overwhelmed when a friend who had been involved in the event messaged me that evening and offered to let the kids borrow the Lego mosaics for a few days. What an incredible, unexpected blessing! The double blessing was that it kept the kids happily occupied for multiple hours on Thursday while I was working on homeschool preparations.

Day 223. What a joy it has been to watch this young lady grow and mature this summer. :) She is proudly holding her very first pan of brownies made completely on her own--she got the ingredients, read the recipe, measured and mixed, all by herself. I was in the kitchen, but my only contribution to her efforts was putting the pan in the oven and taking it out again. They turned out great! :) We love you, Doodle-bug. Your cheerful, helpful spirit is a big blessing to your Mommy and Daddy!

Day 224. This Saturday evening, we enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship with a family who has recently moved to our area. The kids had a blast exploring the yard as kings and queens and cowboys, while the adults enjoyed getting to know each other inside. It was funny though, because their mom and I both felt like we had known each other for a really long time, when in reality, it had only been a few hours. What a joy it was to realize we had discovered new friends. :)

And thus ended our last week before school ... looking forward to the adventures that await us! :)
And praying for grace for the challenges ...