Weekly Recap (4.6.2020)

What I read: This week I read Far Far Away by Tom McNeal. First off I have to admit that this author is extremely, extremely talented. He somehow managed to make this modern day story feel like it was set in the medieval fairy tale era. I also loved how he used the ghost of Jacob Grimm (one of the famous Grimm Brothers) to set the mood for the whole book. I will say that he stays true to the real Grimm fairy tales and makes this one really dark in the end…so beware.

Emma (15 years old) read All the Light We Cannot See and loved it. Now she started on Far Far Away.

Ben (8 years old) is reading Judy Moody Bucket List.

What I watched:  I am currently watching the latest season of Endeavour. **I love mysteries.

Struggles this week:

-Allergies…boo….

-Moles and Voles – Our entire yard is crumbling due to a massive mole/vole infestation. It has been bad before, but thanks to all of the rain it is simply awful. Now onto researching nonlethal ways to scare off the rodents…

Blessings this week:

 

-The rain finally stopped. It has been simply wonderful to have sunny skies and be able to do a little spring cleanup in the yard. My favorite flowers to plant are Mexican Heather and Petunias because they take little upkeep and tend to do well in our summer climate.

-My husband and daughter helped me out in the yard. They both are willing do the heavy lifting and stooping over so I can spare my back a bit.

-Ben gave me a nice foot rub before bed time for absolutely no reason at all.

-Our church passed out palms for Palm Sunday and we got to wave at our priests and office helpers. Emma and I both cried on the way home because we realized how much we missed seeing them on a weekly basis.

-Our biggest blessing is that we have not been sick and I hope that we keep it that way. **We had a scare when Emma developed a nasty cough last week, but apparently it was just allergies and bronchitis. Praise the Lord!

Things I learned: 

-How to make face masks. Surprisingly they are not very hard to make after the first attempt.

-That puzzles are really relaxing. We are onto our second one!

-The Ben can do math really well when he wants to….now getting him to want to is the real challenge.

-That isolation is not so bad when you are with the people you love….and have a great internet connection.

-That the bad times highlight the fact that there are so many good and helpful people in the world. It makes this awful situation so much easier to bear, knowing that we are all pulling together.

Something I was happy to accomplish this week:

-Cleaned up the yard and planted our favorite flowers in their usual places.

-Getting through another week without yelling at the kids. **That deserves a round of applause!!!!

-Grading Emma’s last Geometry test for the year. Since we did not take spring break or a big break at Christmas, we are done with math for the year:)

Funny things that happened: 

-Emma was pretending to strangle Ben with a blanket (I hope it was pretend anyways!) After she let go, he rolled off of the bed and said, “The earth has never looked so round!” and then proceeded to kiss the floor.

-We are thinking about getting cats to give the kids something to play with during our stay at home period (yes, they are getting desperate) Guess what Ben thinks would be great names….Covid and Corona. **I had no clue that he knew either of those words!

-Having a discussion on cannibals with my children. Because they have an Indiana Jones-type temple toy set, I suggested they pretend their characters got trapped on a island inhabited by cannibals. Ben proceeded to say that cannibals are scary, so I said, “Maybe they can be nice cannibals.” He looks at me and says, “Great. That just means they eat you slowly.” Ummmmmm….

Two of my favorite memes of the week:

Stay safe and try to keep on laughing!