Weekly Wrap Up - Spring Break!

This week I realized why I feel like I get nothing done every week -- because I homeschool!

I don't know why it surprised me so much, but Tuesday night I could not believe all I had accomplished already in just a couple days without having to teach all day. I'm so thankful to homeschool my kids, but we really needed this week off on a lot of levels to get things in order.


Of course, it helped immensely that my husband is also off this week, so some of this is what he worked on as well.

Here is just some of what we accomplished this week:

On Monday the girls still had ballet, so while I took them to class, my husband went and got a new van . . . well, not really, but it kind of feels like it. This was a huge answer to a little prayer. One of those little things on our "baby prep" list involved upgrading our minivan to accommodate six back seat drivers instead of the standard five.


He started by calling Dodge dealers -- $1800 for a three person bench seat!!!! For that price, I think we would look for a whole vehicle! Then he hunted Craigslist and came up with some possibilities, but my husband is amazing when it comes to finding the best deal, so he then took a trip to a junk yard type place.


Here is an aerial shot of what he had to search through:


After walking past probably 100s of cars he found a van similar to ours (different color and other features, and missing the back door . . .) And, it had a three person bench seat in very good condition. It may not match, but for less than $50 I am completely thrilled!


It is installed in the van, and we are one step closer to being ready to have six kids in our family. He also spent another day recovering the floor with plastic and a new rug that he cut to fit. It even has a new car smell now. :-) He's amazing. When a job needs to be done, he always takes it a step further and does it the best possible. God blessed me incredibly with that man!


Other miscellaneous jobs:

- Lots of cleaning (vacuumed everything, all the way to the edges), purged our book shelves (in preparation for upcoming book sales), cleaned out the toys (three large garbage bags full for a garage sale or Goodwill), took control of the craft cabinet that had become a dumping zone for anything that might inspire creativity (but it was such a mess no one would ever find it).

- Ordered some tea. Later in pregnancy I like to drink Red Raspberry Leaf Tea as it is said to help in a variety of ways. I contemplated making my own, but since my raspberry plants are still a ways from producing leaves, I broke down and put in an order from the Bulk Herb Store. Ordered on Sunday night and by Wednesday evening I was drinking some delicious tea. Tasty product, good prices and great service, I will definitely be checking out their other teas.


- Made some homemade deodorant. This has been on my to-do list for a long time, or maybe I should say on my "figure out how to do" list. Thanks to Lindsay of Passionate Homemaking, I found this incredibly easy. She even put together a video to show how simple it was. I filled up a container for myself and my two older girls and have been pleased with the results. No more potentially damaging alum or aluminum for us!


- Lots of paperwork and review work done. Wrapping up the year for our Keepers and Contenders club, end of year decisions for our local support group, and Easter prep for church. I really needed this week off just now, so much to get done! I would not have slept this week if I had tried to squeeze school in as well.


My girls had their own ideas for fun -- baking cookies (yum! and, they are almost independent at it), and we worked on learning how to make friendship bracelets, too. I was prompted by We are THAT family to write our sponsored kids more often, and my kids wanted to make bracelets to put in as well. It was quite fun to see them really take to this.


Blake just really enjoyed having his dad around for the week. As he approaches those teenage years, I see more and more an incredible need for him to be around my husband. I may be mom and teacher, but I can't hold a candle to all that he needs from his dad at this stage in his life.


For fun we hit three parks, Chuck E Cheese, and took a trip to Jump Zone tonight (an indoor play place with lots of inflatables). And, the kids spent a couple nights sleeping on cushions in the living room in their fort -- one of their favorite holiday break treats.

Really a great week. Lots accomplished, refreshed, cleaned up, freezers stocked, house back in order, and ready for another 8 weeks of school.


How was your week? Head over to the Weekly Wrap Up to share with others, or just to read how things went for others.