Weekly Wrap Up: A Sad Week

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My last picture of the dogs playing together. Rex is standing, Chester is on the ground.

In our life this week…

Chester, one of our beloved dogs, was hit by a car a few nights ago.  His buddy Rex, who has been with him since puppy-hood, whimpers in his sleep.  It is a very sad time for all of us.

In our homeschool …

Finally we had an almost full week of homeschooling, and I hope that we will have many more such weeks, full of learning, peace, and accomplishments.  All the different subject areas were worked on, the house was full of music practice and piles of books, and the computer was busy almost constantly.  Soccer was a success again, too.  And Miss 13 and Miss 11 did very well on our impromptu French test, based on The French and English Phrase Book (link to my review).

In our garden…

We found some baby spinach plants that started when the spinach went to seed during our holidays.  The leaves are sturdy and thick and taste almost sweet!  Other than that, only root crops and the very hardy plants like leeks, parsley, and kale are still out there.

In the kitchen… Newfoundland boiled dinner, a chunky soup of ham, cabbage, and root vegetables.  Bread.  Apple crumble. Tacos.  Scalloped potatoes.  Apple pudding.  Roast. Turnip sticks.  Ham.  Coleslaw. And, to top it all off, Miss 11 prepared a ‘restaurant’ and served us Chinese noodles, French fries, veggie tray, roast beef slices, coleslaw, salami-wrapped pickles, raspberries and whipping cream.  She was a busy girl that afternoon.

Some of my favorite things were…

• Time with friends and family, including a house warming.
• My sister’s oldest son is getting married.  It’s too far away for us to attend the wedding, but it’s still such a beautiful day for them.
• Visiting the thrift shop and filling an enormous garbage bag full of clothing for $20.

Questions/thoughts I have…   It seems almost symbolic that throughout the years both of our dogs that liked to sneak out of the fence have been hit by a vehicle.  I ‘happened’ to read the quote from Courageous the day after Chester’s death, and it hit me so hard.

Be where you’re supposed to be [i.e. inside the fences God has set up for you],

when you’re supposed to be there,

doing what you are supposed to be doing.

Fitness… My daily steps this week varied from 7500 to 13,500 and averaged to over 10,000.  Now that it’s too cold to have the windows open regularly, we’re all sniffling a bit again.  It helps to air out the house daily and to be outside a lot.  I’m trying to be active throughout the day and to rest adequately.  Grandma has been encouraging us to take some apple cider vinegar every day, so Miss 15 and I are doing just that.  It’s gross, but hopefully it will be as good for us as she says it is.

Some of the things I’ve been working on…

• Working with Miss 11 to learn and enforce a minimum level of neatness.  This is very difficult for her, but is such an essential life skill that it’s becoming one of our priorities for her.
• Organizing our Canadian History course.
• Reading Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston Price.
• Going through the winter coats.
• Trying to make space in the freezer for the leeks and the kale.  The girls convinced me that that includes eating ice cream.
• Keeping up with Miss 13 in her Visual Basics programming course from Kid Coder.

I’m reading… Isaiah.   I finished My Beloved and My Friend, Saving Leonardo, and The Long Awakening and am still working on Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, and The Story of Canada.

Reading Aloud… We read Psalms at the table.  We are also reading In de Zoete Suikerbol and Carry On, Mr. Bowditch.

When my husband is home for meals we read Romans.

I’m grateful for …. Family.  Routine.  A great harvest.  A warm house.

Quote or link to share…. Every day I get a thought-provoking quotation from Gretchen Rubin in my inbox.  You can sign up on her Happiness Project blog; just go to the yellow line near the top.

This post is linked to Kris’s Weekly Wrap Up . and Hammock Track’s Homeschool Review and Resources Link-Up.