Safer at Home Week Four

Safer at home week four was April 6th-12th.  This post contains pictures that could have been in several posts but I lumped them together.  The two posts before the post and the two posts after this post are also from week four at home.  During week 4 I wrote THIS POST about what was happening in real time.  

This week was Holy Week.  In the past we would have had this week as Spring Break.  The kids did have Friday (and the following Monday) off of school, but the first part of the week was business as usual.  We were in a better rhythm of school by this week and we were all excited to have a four day week.  

On Monday we finished the kayak puzzle.  Thanks for this great Christmas present Uncle Bret!

M: This took a lot of work, but was worth it. 

We continue to enjoy our daily Adventures in Odyssey. 

On Monday afternoon we did an entire puzzle in one setting.  It had 250 pieces (I think) and we all worked on it together. This was another very timely Christmas gift from Uncle Bret and A

M: We did the whole puzzle without stopping. 

On Tuesday T enjoyed playing various things in the basement.  We found some old math and reading books (from the 1930's) and she played school with them.  Some of books used to be owned by my Grandpa F. We did some of the math lessons.  I assure you the methods are not common core haha.  She loved working on the problems.

T: Look at all these cool books!

After playing school T also enjoyed playing dolls with her wooden doll set.  We had fun setting up the house and castle.

T:  I have not played with these in years! 

While T was playing M was beginning another 1000 piece puzzle. We did this puzzle in August after T's surgery but decided to do it again.

M: This puzzle looks like a good challenge. 

It was really odd weather on Tuesday.  I think there were periods of snow, rain and even hail all in one day.  In the evening the sun came up so Brandon and M played catch and T biked around them.

M: It was good to get fresh air. 

On Wednesday we tried to balance our normal school day with the "Leader Check-In."  This virtual event brought together many Christian speakers, authors and artists for a day of encouragement and teaching.  It was fun to watch the kids listen and learn with me.

All these leaders know and care about Nick... a man we knew while in college. 

T: I like doing work with Buttercup. 

At snack time we were able to listen to Priscilla Shirer.  She is such a great speaker and was very encouraging.

M: I like her.

At 2:00 we stopped everything to watch Lecrae.  M was really hoping he would do some music.  Instead he shared a powerful message, but M was disappointed. I am not sure if these videos are still available, but if they are I highly recommend checking them out.

M:  He didn't rap, that was sad. 

On Thursday (4/9/20) morning I was doing my daily walk and spotted the first blooming flowers of the season.  Our area is behind many areas, but finally a big sign of spring arrived!

Spring is trying to arrive!

On Thursday morning during Bible and prayer time Brandon heard a noise next to him and opened his eyes.  While he usually doesn't get distracted in prayers he said that it was so endearing that he had to take a quick picture.  Sunshine is such a patient cat.  We often call our cats "Golden Retriever cats" because they are so easy going and patient with our kids.  Look at him just hanging out in her arms.

T:  I just wanted to hold the cat, so I picked him up. 

On Thursday afternoon T was playing with babies and she had quite a lot of work caring for three babies at one time.  Thankfully two were able to fit in the Ergo!  He big doll, Raven, played a prominent role in our family for a few days.  Those were precious days of play and fun as she has never really been doll girl.

T: Three babies is a lot of work!

T's hard work didn't stop there.  She offered to help me prepare dinner and she was actively stirring in  both pans.

T: When I am in the mood to help, I really love it! 

On Friday we were able to do some special things for Good Friday.  We have a tradition of spending this day with a family in a neighboring community, so we were sad that we couldn't do that this year.

T: Doesn't Buttercup look adorable? 

At 4:00 we tuned in too GoodFriday.com for an incredible service filled with music and teaching from many incredible Christians including Tony Dungy and Kari Jobe.  We had a church service that night, so I allowed the kids to work on the puzzle during this service so they didn't get too bored by the time our service came around.

M: That football coach really loves Jesus.  

As you can tell a lot of time passed between Tony and Kari as the puzzle is almost finished.  We finished it before the service was over.

Almost finished. 

Finished!

After dinner we had our church's Good Friday service.  M was very concerned about Communion.  We paused the service and talked a lot and he went into the front room to pray.  I checked on him and he was talking with God and crying.  He eventually came back and said he wasn't ready for communion.  Please join us in praying for him, that he would desire to follow Jesus.  We were very encouraged by the steps he took during the service to consider Jesus.  The Good Friday service was very special and though we were all watching separately it felt like we were worshiping as a church family.

On Saturday I remembered that I needed to defrost the ham.  It was much bigger than I remembered so I did some googling and learned about thawing it in cold water in the sink.  It worked very well.

Sign of a procrastinator!