Week 19 ~ Thriving Despite the Bumps and Scrapes of Life

I can't say that this week was stellar in anyway, but we persevered and put one foot in front of the other. There were moments of laughter, joy and rest in between the bumps and scrapes. That is enough.

I received a lovely condolence letter from an older woman who had babysat me as a child and had sung at my wedding. She sent me the poem, Irish Blessing.

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

My father read this poem at our wedding rehearsal dinner. I don't know if she remembered that or was even there, but it was very touching to receive that beautiful poem. I am thinking of reading it at my Dad's memorial in February. I have always appreciated things coming full circle.

Sunday ~ Tim and Dean wanted to return to their game play with The Wandering Swordsman. It was freakishly cold (at least for Southerners), so they bundled up and ran around for two hours of great exercise. Anne and I picked them up and headed for Starbucks with a gift card. As we were driving through an "up and coming" neighborhood (the same neighborhood that we had moved away from because of the crime), we witnessed a drive-by shooting! It all happened so fast. I don't even know what I realized first. We were approaching a car coming from the opposite direction when I realized it was stopped with one door open. There was smoke rising from the doorway and there were the pops of gunfire. They were shooting away from the street and toward a parking lot. In a flash, I realized that I couldn't stop or back up and that our best chance was to duck and drive like mad past the car. We made it by the scene and then called 911. Fortunately, the shooters missed their target. We found out that this was just one of three drive-by shootings on that street this week. The high housing prices for that neighborhood suggest that it has up and come, but I think not. To say the least, this has left us all a bit jumpy about loud noises this week.

Highlights and Resources from Our Week ~ We did our best to get back to a normal school day routine. I can't say it was smooth, but it was accomplished. We made it back to full schedule for in and out of the home learning. This really is a first since mid-December.

Anne finished Money Matters for Teens Workbook and we are considering returning to Life of Fred books. She always enjoyed them more than her brother had. Dean is 15 pages away from completing his Consumer Math workbook, Survival Math Skills, which has been all about balancing a check book, credit cards and all kinds of loans from car to mortgages. I am trying to decide which of the workbooks I bought for this year he will start next.

We received our latest Yum Yum box from Universal Yums. The snack box was from Germany this month, and they were mostly tasty. There wasn't anything too strange in this box. I love the fact sheet that is included in the box. There is always something new to learn.

We are really enjoying Hewitt Drew It Physics lessons on YouTube, which I stumbled upon recently. They go along perfectly with our textbook, Conceptual Physics by Paul Hewitt, which I found at a used book store. In fact, they are meant to go together. I love happy little blessings like that!

Classic games seem to be all the rage in my family this week. I think there is comfort in games we have played since childhood. We are certainly seeking comfort around here. We played many rounds of Sorry, Uno and Chess this week.

I am a rescuer of children's books. That sounds much better than "I am a book hoarder". I found these six at a library sale this week. My kids loved Tricking the Tallyman as children. I loved Izzy, Willy-Nilly as a teen and have been meaning to share it with them. It is especially timely with them moving closer to becoming drivers. I don't know the books by Avi and Alcott, but you can't go wrong with either author in our household. The other two books were on my kids' reading list. When I laid the blanket down so you all wouldn't have to see my ugly floor, my side kick thought it was for him. What a sweet boy.

We are about halfway through The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. It is getting more interesting and I love the messages, but it hasn't been a very exciting read. Dean is halfway through Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. This is a much more exciting story and we hope to finish it next week. (I am a few chapters ahead of him so we can discuss it.) Anne is on the last chapters of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I am proud of her for sticking with the series even after I stopped counting them for school several books ago. Reading is a slow process for her (mild dyslexia), and she has read all seven books over the last two years. Dean also completed Who Was Roald Dahl? this week. He has kept up with reading one book a week from this series. They really are well written. I learn something new from every single book (again, I am reading the books, too).

Tonight we are having several teen friends over for a movie and pizza. Two of them will be staying overnight. I look forward to the laughter of teens ringing through the house. That is just what we need!

Blessings, Dawn