A Week, Briefly (2/22/21)

 Sir Walter Scott is improving each day.  His body frequently reminds him that he is still recuperating from a stroke, and it surprises and frustrates him, but he's still a miracle of stroke recovery.  He started outpatient therapy, and they're assigning him to 3 days a week, "because he doesn't need 5 days a week."  That's annoying us because what he could accomplish in 6 weeks of 3 day weeks, he could accomplish in 4 weeks of 5 day weeks, but perhaps the days at home will be more recuperative and therapeutic anyway.

Beowulf was doing better, enough better that his psychiatrist and I decided to keep him steady on his current med regimen.  Then he had 2 days that were so bad--attempts to choke me, attempts to choke himself, biting, kicking, hitting, spitting, property destruction, threats of elopement, defiance, and other nightmares--that the whole household fell back into PTSD behaviors from when Brother was doing the same.

Oddly, Beowulf woke on the 3rd day as sweetly as you please, and he's had 2 good days since then.

We all feel a little whiplashed.

Belle got her driver's license this week!  She didn't let me take her picture, though. :(

The weather warmed up so quickly, the snow didn't even have time to finish melting!  The kids played with snow--jacketless with bare feet--one day.  Nature Angel took this photo of her snow sculpture:

We had our Morning Meetings, our individual school times, a little bit of nature reading and geography reading, and our evening readings each day.

Ladybug finished her 4th of 5 literature study guides.

Baymax crawled into my lap for his reading lesson one day, and I enjoyed having my great big 6-year-old "baby" there.

I got the Skittles back out for Beowulf, and that has inspired Lola to do more school.  I guess I'll do what it takes to help her learn and grow.

The dollies made an appearance this week after many months of waiting quietly in their drawers for attention.  Ladybug discovered that all of the dolly bottles were gone, so she sat down and crocheted one!!!

Little Princess and Nature Angel did school with toddlers in and out of their laps.

Here are most of the books we read this week (and last).  There's one missing, but I'll add it to next week's photo.

The Mother Teresa book made most of us cry.  It was really well written!

The Sunshine and Snowballs book was for a very young audience about the changing of the seasons, but because we read it the same day as Monsoon, it was perfect because it opened a discussion of how to define seasons differently around the world.

After the intense cold and the mushy snowmelt, we have gotten so in the habit of being indoors that we're all having to relearn to go outside.  One afternoon, I forced the kids out while I ran errands with Sir Walter Scott, and when I came home they showed me dozens and dozens of fun pictures they took.  Here are 5 of them (Baymax fell and broke his lip open when he tried, so there aren't pictures of him).

It was a very challenging week emotionally and physically, but it was extra lovely to have Sugar Bear over for 3 of the days.  This

filled my emotional and psychological bucket in many ways.

Heavenly Father blesses us constantly.