A Week, Briefly (8/3/20)

I handed out new chore assignments this week, so everyone has worked diligently and with a (mostly) good attitude.

The new assignments are challenging for a few of the kids, and I keep reminding myself and them that learning takes time.

And I totally forgot to assign a kid to tidy/sweep the mudroom!

Little Princess is supposed to work herself out of a job by teaching Lola and Brother how to feed the chickens, so I guess I can give that job to her in a few months. :)

 We released 3 or 4 butterflies this week.

Only 2 viable chrysalises (yes, that's a correct plural--I looked it up) remain . . . nope!  Ladybug just found a new butterfly!!  We'll release it in a few hours, when its wings are full, and it starts fluttering around the enclosure.

Only 1 left!

It is so very true that watching a caterpillar munch and crunch its way through plants, then wander about searching for just the right place to rest, then change into a chrysalis, then emerge as a butterfly is completely miraculous and magnificent and inspiring when it is real, right before your very eyes!

Reading about it is not the same.

 How grateful I am for our friend who shared her caterpillars, fennel, rue, and enclosures with us!

We took a hike at Hidden Valley Park again.

Hike #23 of 52: Hidden Valley Park Trail

46.91 miles + 3.25 = 50.16 miles

After we finished the hike, we played at the park for a little while, but a family of barn swallows had taken over the climbing structure while they had flight lessons for their fledglings.

When Nature Angel tried to climb, the parents dive bombed her and chirped their fiercest chirps, sending her running for cover!

It only took them about 10 minutes to get tired of our kids playing in the area, and they headed out to the surrounding trees.

As I gathered kids to go home, we had a nasty experience that has reinforced the power of prayer, especially as relating to Matthew 5:43-44:

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Beowulf wouldn't leave the drinking fountain.  I called him several times, counted down for him, and ultimately had to go physically retrieve him.  

As I reached out, I caught him by the ear.  

I instantly let go of him.

That is not what I wanted to do.

But a lady saw me and came after me screaming obscenities as she accused me of child abuse.

Inwardly, I shook. 

Outwardly, I thanked her for her care for children.  I stood calmly.  I did not defend myself.  I did not argue with her.  I asked her to stop using foul language around my children.

She complied, but she turned to my children, shouting questions at them about whether I hurt them.

When I realized she would not be stopped, I got the kids in the van and left . . . while she took pictures of us and our license plate, screaming that she would report me.

It was a rather shaky ride home.

It was a rather shaky rest of the day.

I prayed for our safety.

I did not feel better.

And then the scriptural words above came to my mind.

I prayed for her.

I prayed that she would feel peace.  That whatever had happened to make her so angry and panicked when she saw me in a bad parenting moment would be healed.  That she would have joy in her days.  That she would not feel so hurt.  That she would feel the gift of forgiveness.

I felt better.

I slept that night.

I woke and prayed for her again and again and again.

I am no longer shaky.

I feel safe.

I think my sense of peace has been felt by my family.

Our week has been better since then.

I have a testimony of the power of prayer.

We completed another week of reading  Tom Sawyer and drawing/writing about Missouri.  (Only one week left of our state study!)

Mister Man drawing a picture of Meriweather Lewis.  He completed one of William Clark on the reverse side.

Beowulf drawing an ant nest.  He had a lot of fun filling it with ants!

 

Nature Angel completed this picture:

Takes my breath away.

We also had 3 well-child visits and 2 ABA telehealth meetings.

We had breakfast at the park one day.

Kids rode bikes a lot.

And we're processing the death of a church friend.  He's a husband to a beautiful wife and father of 4 kids ages 7-13.  All of the children are friends with mine.  It was a terrible, swift decline from diagnosis to death of brain cancer.

We will not be allowed to attend his funeral due to COVID-19 restrictions (btw:  Super Star's test was negative, and she is back at work).  Nature Angel panicked when she heard, and she channeled that panic into painting a card and finding a pattern for a blanket to crochet, hoping that these tangible gifts would speak to her sweet friend's heart.

We've had family meetings discussing how to appropriately express sympathy and love.  

We've cried.

We've prayed constantly for the grieving family.

How grateful we are for Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation.

How we ache for our friends.