Weekly Wrap Up ~ Our Kick-Off Week

I've been reading Weekly Wrap-Up posts over at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers for a while now and thought it would be fun to link up this week.

This week we kicked off our 2010-11 school year. I had the schedule all planned out. Even though it looked good on paper, it didn't work for us. There are some parts of the schedule we are keeping, and some parts of the schedule we are going to switch around. Over at Simply Charlotte Mason, I really like the typical schedule they share. In this schedule, they have the family work together in the mornings and then move on to independent or mother-guided work later in the day. It is going to be better for our family to work with my son one-on-one first thing in the morning, then move on to time with the two girls, break for lunch, and then spend our afternoons doing our read-alouds and projects together.

This week has been hard - getting back into good habits and routines is tough. I have been frustrated and shed some tears. I have prayed a lot by myself, and also together with my son as we figure out how to meet his needs and help him learn the way he learns best. My husband has encouraged and helped me a lot, and I'm thankful for his prayers and his advice.

This past week wasn't all bad, but I am praying for the Lord to continue to mold and shape me into the woman He desires me to be, and in the midst of these trials, may I "consider it pure joy."

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ~ James 1:2-6

Here's a week in review in photographs:

Sometimes being the kid of a youth pastor has benefits - like getting to play on HUGE waterslides!

And eating yummy snacks while listening to Daddy lead a Bible study.

K cooked Tator Tot Casserole this week and it was the best tator tot casserole we've ever had! Thanks Duggar Family for sharing your recipe on your website, and thank you Courtney, for sharing the link to this recipe on your site!

L made the corn!

We ended our first week back to school with an entire day of canning! In the morning, we canned a bushel of tomatoes. We used 1/2 of the bushel to make and can spaghetti sauce, and the other 1/2 bushel we just canned plain tomatoes. Later in the evening we joined some friends and made fresh salsa and homemade pizza sauce! We had such a fun day learning how to can and provide food for our family this winter!

In the middle of all that canning, we also were able to squeeze in a fun impromptu nature study. Do you see the beautiful tiger swallowtail butterfly? K, my 7-year-old daughter took this picture.

I'm looking forward to week #2 of our school year! I am praying and trusting the Lord to give us wisdom and lead our family to learn more about Him, serve Him, and glorify Him! For more weekly wrap up posts, head over to the Weird Unsocialized Homeschooler!