Yearn for Surrender: One last BONUS week of Summer Vacation! (Week 13)

Tuesday 9/1 - Schools in our area began on the 1st, but we were able to enjoy an additional week of vacation. It was such a bittersweet feeling for us to go on a bike ride and see children playing on the playground. I knew we had made the only decision we could and what we felt was the best decision, but I still sort of longed for my kids to be in on the fun those kids were having. M was a bit sad too. T wasn't sad at all. She wanted to be homeschooled and she was actually very sad that she had to wait an additional week to begin. Thankfully, she had Ashley (therapy) which made her day much brighter. Ashley even stayed longer and played a game with both kids!

M and T: We really like Trouble!

Sunshine: I love the drying rack. Please don't put the clothes away. Me: OK, thanks!

During the kid's screen time I made my lesson plans for the first week of homeschool. It was quite a time intensive process which I had been working on for many weeks, but I had not mapped it all out for daily activity. It felt so good to know I had a plan.

Wednesday 9/2 -

I came home from my early morning walk to see this beauty on our porch.

T: I just wanted to play a little game of Trouble. I play multiple people and see who wins.

After breakfast T made her own craft project. She created several characters and taped them up above her desk.

T: Some of the characters are heroes and others are villains.

Our little garden is producing well and we are so thankful!

On Wednesday we felt the privilege of the homeschool life just a bit. We went to a beach in the afternoon and we had the beach to ourselves. The only other people there were T's preschool teacher and her fiancé. After a while our good friends joined us. They brought their boat and pulled M on the tube. We didn't get to do tubing in MO this summer, so it was a HUGE blessing that M was still able to tube at least once. T just wanted to ride in the boat. After we were finished tubing we saw that another family had arrived at the beach and we knew them as well. We talked a while and then headed home. It was a lovely bonus summer vacation day!

M: I was getting tired out, but I tried to stay on as long as possible.

Thursday 9/3 - On Thursday morning M told me his teeth hurt. I looked in his mouth and saw the photo below.

I sent this pic to Grandpa Tom and he said we should start wiggling.

M wiggled so much that he was able to pull out the tooth the next morning. I am not sure how loose it was, but there was a lot of blood and a very big hole. I am thankful that we didn't have to go to the dentist.

M and I had an early morning appointment at Children's for Endocrine. We love his Endocrine Dr. She told us that M had grown almost 6 inches since his appointment before prescribing the growth hormone. She gave M a printout of his growth and really pumped him up. He even said, "I don't want to get too tall." I don't think that is something we have to worry about, but it is amazing to see that the shots are working.

On Thursday I created all of the packet one craft projects and embellished Sunday School coloring sheet samples. The entire week was filled with late nights working on the first packet. I was so thankful that I wasn't trying to do the first packet and teach T.

God looks at the heart, David's stones, an Ark of the Covenant, and David's harp!

T and her bugs! I do not share photos of most of the things she catches!

T: Check out this firefly closeup!

M started fevers in late May. September 3rd was day 100 for his fevers. One of his afternoon checks registered 100 even so we figured it deserved a photo. Poor T did not have a picture taken on her day 100... the life of a second born.

100 days of fever!

Friday 9/4 - I worked A LOT on Friday and apparently T slept a lot. I think she slept for me as I was up until past 12:00 every night.

She still loves cozy nests.

Look at Sunshine's paw! He does such a good job helping with the bedtime routine.

Saturday 9/5 - The time finally came for me to record my Sunday School classes. I recorded 4 classes and 4 weeks of iGnite Bible verse videos. It took quite a while, but I had so much fun doing it. It actually felt like I was teaching again. I even caught myself looking down at the rug in front of me to look for responses from the students.

Ready to record.

Waiting for Brandon to leave to actually start recording.

After recording I finished all of my printing for the packet. The first packet had more than future packets will, but the volume of paper was insane. This go around I have been working more in advance and our amazing admin assistant has been making copies for me. This is already saving me so much time.

The stack was taller than my hand.

After putting the kids to bed that night I made packets for 4 hours. I learned so much in this process and the second installment of packets will be much easier. I didn't even finish the packets when I went to bed at 2:00am, but I figured I would be good for nothing the following week if I didn't get to bed.

Sunday 9/6 - We had indoor church for the first time this morning. The kids and I continued to watch at home, but Brandon held two services. It was fun to hear his reports after church. After lunch I went back down to the basement and worked the rest of the afternoon finishing up packets. In just a couple of days I will be creating the next round of packets. This time I will set things up on tables so I don't have to bend down. That will work SO much better! My goal is to go from 6 hours making packets to just two hours. We will see if I can do it!

This is right before I put them in envelopes.

Monday 9/7 - Happy Labor Day. I took most of the day off of church work so I could get things set up and ready for homeschool and virtual school the following day. We were able to have some good family time too. I am so thankful for this crew who flexed with me so much while I was working. I didn't know what I was saying yes to when I took the position, but I think the most tricky time is behind me.

We decided to end our summer vacation with a swim in our "Giant Family Pool." Actually, it was a little chilly so we just took a picture inside the pool. This is the pool that we thought was going to be fun for the whole family to swim in. We did technically fit in it while standing up!

Our pool!

T: I am taller than the pool!

She makes a good model.

This guy mowed our entire yard!!!!

I was so proud of M and his hard work. T wanted to work hard too. She and I made a fajita spice mix together. She loves to help in the kitchen when she wants to ;).