Weekly Review - The Flu, Sleep Deprivation, and some Redeeming Moments

This week started out great...Only 55 school days yet to complete before Miss R is finished with first grade!  Monday night I went to a Precepts Bible study on Joshua at my mom's church.  I came home and picked up my darling baby G, who promptly threw up all over me.  Thus, began the week of the somach flu.  It hit every single one of the fab four, my husband, and myself.  To top it off, Baby G has an ear infection.  I was so, very, very tired.  I don't do well without a lot of sleep.  In Bible college, my dear friend Katie loved to tease me for going to bed early...but, I knew I needed that sleep.  And I was paying for school myself, so why waste that money by showing up for class half-awake?
Anyway, by today (Friday) I was plumb worn out.  Jared told me he was going to work and I proceeded to break into tears.  I was holding my sick babe who wouldn't stop coughing, and after only four hours of sleep the night before, 3 the night before that, and just a few the night before that one, I just felt empty.  I couldn't do it.  I had read just this week about Elijah being exhausted.  He felt in despair, actually wanting to die.  And what God did for him is so beautiful...He had him go to sleep.  And then an angel came and fed him.  And He had him go to sleep again.  God knows and cares about our physical needs.  So, in a very precious, rare move, my hubby stayed home from work and let me sleep!  And I awoke a new person.  I ate and rested some more and now I feel like myself again.
Lest I paint a picture that this week was all bad, and no good, I want to write down a few highlights.
-Yesterday I took the big 3 outside to play while the hubby and baby slept off their illnesses.  We PLAYED and played.  It seems I'm always pregnant, and thus achy and slow, or holding a baby, and thus my hands are full.  But, just me and the big 3!!  And I'm not pregnant!!  N and I played in the playhouse, making it a drive-thru and used rocks for money.  R sat in the red wagon, reading Enid Blyton on her Kindle.  She found a feather on the ground and put it on her head, hoping the birds would think she was a bird and fly close to her (a la Winnie the Pooh and some bees!).  O pretended to be Mary Poppins - and I mean the real Mary Poppins.  I grew up thinking MP was some nice lady, but now that I've read some of the books, I realize she's not so nice.  And Miss O was being just like her in her treatment of her pretend Jane and Michael.  She grabbed her umbrella, pretended to float down to us.  Then she met "Bert" on the driveway making chalk pictures.  And she road "side-saddle" on the swingset. 
-I saw a beautiful sunset out my bedroom window.  So calming.
-Earlier this week we went kite flying with our neighbors (before we all got sick).  This was the first time we had gone with the kids and it was so exhilarating!   Lots of laughing!
-I did get a chance to read and finish up some books!

The first book I finished was Hearing and Reading, Telling and Writing, put out my my fave, Simply Charlotte Mason.  I have read several of Charlotte Mason's original volumes and felt I had a good feel for how to do Language Arts...until I read this book and realized I hadn't put it all together.  For anyone wanting to study LA the CM way, this book is a MUST-have!  It goes through CM's own words about teaching LA, adds in living stories of using these methods, shows how each part of LA gets taught in a CM education, and has a wonderful appendix of examples. I learned that I totally missed out on the need to add in transcription next year for 2nd grade as a stepping stone from copywork to dictation.  In transcription, if I understand correctly, the student looks at a word, makes a mental picture of it in her mind, and then writes it from memory.  I also loved the tips on narration, the examples of end of term exams, and the confidence that this book gave me to continue teaching LA the CM way.


The second book I finished was Nurturing the Write Relationship from The Heart of Wisdom. Miss R writes all day long and I wanted something to help me know how to encourage her without making writing a chore.  This book had some helpful tips like starting a writing group (which I could do in our home with the kids as they get older), explaining the writing process (to actually publish a book), and bringing writing into everyday family life.  She also recommends several other books, which are now on my Amazon wishlist.

The last book I finished was a just-for-fun book for myself.  Hidden Hand was a fun read.  Sort of a lighter Jane Austen. It has action, love, faith, all the makings of a good read.  However, I didn't know when I started it that it doesn't quite end...I have to read the sequel now!  Thankfully, both this book and its sequel are free for my Kindle!  As for readability for my children, I think they would enjoy this book in high school, but because of a few mature themes (tastefully written) I wouldn't have them read this at a younger age.