Where There Is Love

This week was filled with so many emotions -- sadness, loss, grief, confusion, anger, hope, courage, perseverance and tiny moments of joy. Some days it was just enough for Dean to live and other days had hours that almost felt normal and had some accomplishments. But for now, we are caught in a time of struggle and so we will grow and stretch. Sometimes it is really hard to be grateful for the struggles. We are definitely in a tempest, but where there is love there is hope, peace and courage. We push onward to happier days.

One of our main missions this week was to keep Dean busy. This is a hard accomplishment when he has felt so lethargic. We arrived home from our trip to a crisis within 12 hours and school, work and Anne's dance classes starting within two days. Yep, it was crazy to say the least. But this week felt more doable. I am just trying to stay in the moment as much as possible.

Dear Husband and I took Dean to the pinball museum. He as been very interested in pinball machines since making one with his Eureka Kit. They had more than 40 pinball machines and some classic arcade games, too. We were allowed to play all of them as many times as we wished for a one-time fee. We had fun for a little while and Dean enjoyed the simpler machines from the 1970's.

We also took several nature walks and Dean made it to the Wandering Swordsman classes twice this week. Exercise is so good when you are depressed.

Our favorite school things this week ~ School is fully underway for Anne and about 25% to 50% for Dean depending on day.

Dean made an electric pencil sharpener and a lamp with his Eureka Kits. He makes these wonderful working kits faster and faster with fewer mistakes each time.

We finally did two of our science experiments for our Physical Science course. We are using Mel Science as one of our supplements this year. We made carbon snakes and foaming eruption.

Anne is really enjoying geometry through Khan Academy. She likes to have Dad nearby while she works but is building confidence every day.

Two September goals that I missed mentioning last week started this week. Anne is starting Driver's Ed this week. She is doing the online classroom part of the course for the next month. Then we will pay for private lessons for the required eight hours of school road driving before getting her learner's permit. We could do it through the school for less money, but I just hate the way they run the program that within two hours of driving, the school has brand new drivers on the highway (we live near one of the deadliest sections of highway in our state). Crazy! I am not meeting the requirements that way.

Dean also is enjoying his new art book. It is called Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Study of Art and History ~ Picturing the Past. He is working through the section on Renoir this week. This book has really high quality pictures. I am impressed with the printing.

Lastly, we tried to get Dean to go to the state fair. He just wasn't up to it and Dad ended up staying home with him. Tim, Anne and I enjoyed ourselves for two hours, but we all agreed that it really is too expensive to go without discount coupons. We shared two fair foods ~ funnel cake and ribbon fries and the kids went on two rides together. Anne and I went on the Skylift, which goes over the entire park. We saw animals, walked through the expo building and visited mommy cows with their newborn calves. It was fun to be there at night for the first time.

 

The goal today is to clean the house, get Dean out and about, start Driver's Ed, do math and watch Moby Dick.

Blessings, Dawn