Weekly Review - Good Friday Edition

In Our Family
This week we plodded through illnesses once again.  It has to end soon, right?  Jared has been "super-husband" to me.  I pulled a muscle coughing, which doesn't sound that bad, but it really, really hurt.  I haven't been able to do much housework (anything involving bending or moving) and he has been a champ at helping me out.  Our oven broke on Monday and he ordered a part for it and fixed it Thursday after it arrived.  So, the poor guy was all week without his helpmeet and without his oven!  Baby G went to the doctor yesterday and was diagnosed with a virus.  They did an x-ray to make sure he didn't have pneumonia.  We are now all breathing and healing!

Baby G (10 months) decided this week that he would stand on his own!  This was bittersweet for me - my last baby nearly a toddler!  He was so proud!
Mr N (2) has been a delight all week.  It is so good to have him healthy again.  He made me laugh the other day as he was playing on my Kindle Fire and I realized that he knew the difference between a pentagon, a hexagon, and an octagon.  Jared and I were talking about it last night and we had to think hard which shape had how many sides!  Kids sure do humble us with how quickly they can catch on to things!
Miss O (4) is always our little sweetheart.  She visited Grandpa, who is healing from knee replacement surgery.  My mom said she was telling him how bad she felt for him.  She has such a compassionate heart.
Miss R (6) has finished The Wizard of Oz series and I am now looking for something else for her to read.  I have some ideas, but just need to get it organized.
I finished reading Ishmael by E.D.E.N. Southworth. This book is a must-read if you want a fresh look at what makes a real man. So different from what's on tv and such nowadays. And it's free on a Kindle.  Can't beat that!  Now I'm reading the sequel.

In Our Homeschool
As far as homeschooling, Miss R (6) did a lot of work independently. We were able to work together on Wednesday, which was a good reminder for both of us how much we love to do lessons together.

The highlight of our week has been today, Good Friday.  It started nicely for me - I woke up before any of the kids and was able to spend some time reading my Bible and praying over our day.  As I was reading, I came to the passage describing the crucifixion and noticed the different times that things occurred.  Jesus was arrested during the night.  On Friday morning, at 9am they crucified Him.  I always knew that He suffered, but didn't really connect in my mind how long He suffered.  He didn't die until 3.  That is a long time to be suffering.  I had remembered reading in Celebrating the Christian Year by Martha Zimmerman about an idea to make the house dark on Good Friday as something tangible for the kids to remember.  So, with that idea in the back of my mind and the Scriptures I read this morning, I was ready for the day.

I got the kids up a little before 9, and told the girls that at 9am is when Jesus was put on the cross, so I wanted them to think about that.  They came pretty solemnly to the kitchen table for breakfast.  Before I served them their morning oatmeal, we continued to read in He Is Alive by Helen Haidle.  (This book is perfect for the ages of my kids and the illustrations are breathtaking.)  We stopped after reading about the crucifixion at 9am.  Then we ate and went about our day.  At noon, we came back together and I read to them about God darkening the sun from noon-three.  We closed all of the curtains.  We talked about how Jesus had been suffering on the cross from 9-noon already and about all of the things we had done in that time...we had played, written, cleaned, etc.  And that whole time Jesus had been suffering.  I explained that it was day time, but God had darkened the sun when all of our sin was put on Jesus.  I also explained that we would not be opening our windows to let the light in until 3pm.  At 3 we read the rest of the story, ending when Jesus gave up His Spirit to God, and died.  Then we opened the curtains again.  Miss R drew a story of the cave with a big stone in front of the opening to remind us that from now until Sunday, Jesus was in the tomb.  This has been a sobering way to remember His sacrifice.  It was good for me, as well as the children, to experience in our own way, how long Jesus was on the cross, suffering for us, before He died.  Now we wait for Sunday.