Of a Sunday

I’ve been a blogging slacker this week, and I’m not even sure where to begin. Whew.

Our snow stuck around for another day or two after we arrived home from vacation this past Sunday, causing our school week to go a little wonky. Area schools were cancelled on Monday, and our CC day was postponed until Tuesday. I was glad for an extra day to get caught up, but we paid for it later in the week. Wednesday and Thursday were fairly normal days, though no where near as productive as they should have been.

On Friday morning, we attended a home school movie day with a couple hundred other homeschoolers (there are so many in our area!). All four of the kids LOVED The LEGO Movie, and I thought it was fantastic. So hilarious. Such a great message. And all I’ve heard since then is…

If your children have seen the movie, then I’m guessing you know exactly what I mean. Ha! This review of the movie by Jeffrey Overstreet @ Patheos is excellent. (I realized that Jeffrey Overstreet wrote Auralia's Colors, which Levi read and loved thanks to the book recommendations over at The Rabbit Room.) If you don’t want to read the whole plot, skip to the end. He compares The LEGO Movie to the philosophy of Tolkien (yes, he does), and what he has to say works so perfectly into my year’s theme of story and creativity:

A flourishing world is a harmoniously creative world, not one in which a sub-creator stifles freedom and relationship. Individualism leads to anarchy, meaninglessness, and death. Life is meant to be symphonic, a community that balances improvisation and cooperation, under the guidance of a benevolent conductor.

This was how Tolkien designed his fictional cosmos. And he believed it reflected what human beings do with their imaginations in a world created by, and governed by, God. In exercising our own creative impulses we both reflect, glorify, and enter into intimacy with our creator. Madeleine L’Engle echoed this idea in what remains for me the most rewarding book on the subject of faith and art — Walking on Water — “God is constantly creating, in us, through us, with us, and to co-create with God is our human calling.”

(Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art happens to be one of my favorite books, on the re-read stack this year.)

Okay, back to the week in review…

We had unavoidable errands to run Friday afternoon, so we essentially had a very short school week this week!

And…it will be another strange week this week. After a morning of Classical Conversations tomorrow, Russ is taking over parenting duties and I’m headed down to Medford with my sister Holly, my cousin, and a friend for an overnight getaway. We will be listening to Andrew Kern speak about Assessment That Blesses and Teaching From a State of Rest. (You can listen to a free audio of Assessment That Blesses here.) You have no idea how excited I am. I had the privilege of listening to Andrew Kern in person a little over a year ago, and it was a phenomenal experience. Not only do I get to hear him speak all day on Tuesday (we are returning home that night), but I am planning to attend events closer to home (Eugene) on both Friday and Saturday. So, again, Wednesday and Thursday will be our main school days. Should be interesting…

If you want to enjoy some Andrew Kern while I’m gone, here is another video for you to watch:

 

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This is the end of week 3 of my geography challenge. I’m doing well on all but Africa and Oceania. Both are big challenges! This past week, I’ve made good progress on Southern Africa, Eastern Africa, Northern Africa, and the islands. I’m still struggling with West Africa, and only half way through Central Africa.

This is the end of week 4 of my good food challenge. I did very poorly. Note to self: keep *nothing* tempting in the house during PMS week. I’ve had much better days yesterday and today. This week is going to be another off week. I might have to extend this challenge through next month…

This is the end of week 5 of my SPS challenge. I think I missed getting up early one weekday morning due to not feeling well, but overall I’m pleased. Note to self: It helps tremendously if I get clothes set out the night before and get to bed at a decent hour. Sigh.

This is the beginning of my movement challenge. I’m not sure how this is going to work with all the extra strangeness in my schedule coming up, but that’s why it’s called a challenge. Knowing it might be difficult to fit in exercise the next two days, I started early. It was finally not raining outside (it started raining on Monday and hadn’t stopped since, including major downpours and crazy wind—I can’t believe how long it took for the snow to go away despite the rain!), so I grabbed the kids and told them we needed some fresh air. Nothing fancy, just walking/jogging/racing up and down the driveway, but it felt wonderful. And the company was pretty lovely, too.

It is so, so wet outside. But what else would we expect in the Willamette Valley in February…

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I need to write a separate post about what we’ve been reading and watching. The highlights:

The kids watched all 40 episodes of Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? (mostly on our crazy drive to and from Great Wolf Lodge). It was a huge hit, and it was a blast to hear so many places, people, and events mentioned that the boys have learned in CC.

I’m finishing up The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers and have just begun Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry and Notes from a Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World by my friend Tsh Oxenreider (see photo at top of post). The boys and I are still working our way through Watership Down, which has to be in my top 10. It is an exciting thing to share it with the boys!

I’ll post quotes and reviews coming up…

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And, last but most importantly, my mom arrived in California today to be with my grandma. The treatment she has endured for the past year has not be able to rid her of her cancer, and she is not doing well. We may be taking a last-minute trip down soon. If you happen to remember her and my family in your prayers, it would be appreciated. I am so thankful we were able to spend time with her this past summer and at Christmas just a month and a half ago!

The next few weeks may be whirl-wind-ish around here. I’ll post as I am able!