Collage Friday - Finding Rest and Peace

It was hard getting back into the swing of things this week.

After a great visit with my parents, followed by three days at BEECH Retreat, coming home was hard.

I arrived home late Sunday night.  

I was tired.  I basically cleaned up a little and unpacked (a very little!) and went to bed.

Early Monday morning I was awake long before the children, and the verse on my coffee mug put my heart at ease.   

Sometimes I just have to remember the only true place I can find rest and peace.    

Between that verse and my devotion from Jesus Calling I was ready to tackle a busy homeschool week.

Homeschool Happenings

Since our homeschool Literature Fair is next Friday, we spent a lot of time writing papers, finishing projects, and getting ready to really dig into our projects next week.     

We accomplished other things like math, spelling, and music, but literature was our focus this week.

1.  We finished The Hobbit.   It's just such an epic book.   I'm glad Grant chose this one for his literature fair project.  He built many LEGO creations while I finished reading the book aloud.   

2.  Anna wrote her paper for her literature fair book, The Quilt Walk.  I was so very proud of her.  Every speck of it was done alone, right down to word processing the whole thing.   My mom heart was very happy when I read these sentences:

"This book made me feel good because it helped me realize that change isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes it can help us learn to love new things and meet new people."

The significance of this right now is huge, because we have enrolled in Classical Conversations next year, and my creature of habit daughter doesn't like change.   I'm thinking, however, that she's more open it to it than I might think.

3.  Grant read Ralph S. Mouse this week.  I had forgotten what a cute book this is.

4.  I created lots of Hobbit copywork for Grant, too.   I couldn't find any online, so we chose quotes from the book, along with Tolkien's original drawings, and I like the way it turned out.

5.  The Kanoodle game hadn't been pulled out in about two years, but this week it was resurrected and played a lot each day.   We LOVE this game. It's great for stretching brains!

6.  Anna finished her quilt!   I will have to do a bigger post about just her quilt because it was a labor of love and perseverance.   This is the research portion of her literature fair project.

Healthy 2013

Now that I have been doing Shakeology and eating healthier in general, it's all becoming habit, rather than drudgery.

Several people have told me that I just LOOK healthier.   I FEEL healthier, too.

1.  While I was away at BEECH, my darling husband purchased a Juicer and began juicing. I'm excited to try some recipes and for our whole family to become more healthy.  (I love it that our credit card earns us reward points on Amazon - that juicer was paid for!)

2. I still can't give up my morning coffee.  I don't think one cup each day is so bad, do you?

3.  We made a trip to The Fresh Market and picked out some healthy snacks for the week.  I got a nuts and chocolate mixture that kept me happy all week.  I do love chocolate, and just a little mixed in with the nuts was heaven.

4.  Anna requested "big breakfasts" this week.   I made eggs and a great new chicken and apple sausage I found.  We had this same breakfast almost every day this week!

5.  One night I made a homemade vegetable soup.  It was glorious, and I still have some left in the frig for lunch this weekend.

6.  More fresh veggies - yum!

7.  My husband brought home some  Kale Chips   Seriously. Addictive.  

This Week's Favorite:

I'd like to start something new.  I'll share my favorite thing of the week with you (I miss my friend Susan's Favorite Resource This Week linky!).   If you feel like pointing out your favorite thing of the week in your collage post, you can do that, too!

Kanoodle is a great game for middle elementary kids all the way up to adults.  We've all been challenged by it this week.  I love it because it can be very independent, or you can sit with a partner and watch them.  Anna and Grant spent some quiet mornings on the couch playing together - I love to see that.

Goings on from the blog this week:

Super Duper LEGO Ideas Book Giveaway

Reflections from BEECH Retreat

How to Become Pinterest Savvy

Please join me for Collage Friday!

The rules are simple.   Link your post (that incudes photo collages) about your homeschool week.   Be sure to grab a Collage Friday button or text link back to this post in some way.   Then, be sure to visit the other blogs on the list to offer support and gain ideas.    This is a wonderful community and I love reading through your blogs each weekend and seeing how you all encourage each other.  

*I will delete any links that don't comply with these guidelines.  {not trying to be crabby, just trying to respect the hard work of those who do follow the rules}

Comments

[Claire]

What a wonderful week! We loved the Hobbit as well, although we never did it along side lego.....! I've linked up my main post of the week, but please feel free to delete it as I didn't really do anything worth photographing!!

[Jen @ Forever, For Always]

I have never heard of Kanoodle, but it looks like something my kids might like, we have some birthdays coming up. I like the idea of picking a favorite resource/item of the week. I'm glad it's Friday, have a great weekend!

[Tricia]

Congrats to Anna on finishing her quilt - it's beautiful! Wow, what a week, huh? You fit in a whole lot of goodness even with settling back in after BEECH. Still smiling about that blessed whirlwind of a retreat - and getting to know you better. Thank you for hosting us Mary. Love your 'taste and see' mug! And you sure have a whole lot going on in the kitchen :)

[Barb-Harmony Art Mom]

Managed to squeeze in a Friday post this week...so many good things going on around here. Thanks for hosting the link-up Mary. (Still smiling over our BEECH dinnertime antics...)

[Jess]

So much to comment on.....
1) Juicer - I have the same one and love it. My favorite juice is ginger (about the size of my thumb nail), apple (2 green) , carrot (6), celery (3 or 4), beet (just one small beet).
2) Quilt - stunning!
3) I talked to my naturopath about coffee. One cup is fine!

What a glorious week. I am just sitting down to do my post......

[Sylvia]

It's funny how they go in cycles with the games and activities, isn't it? Anna's quilt is beautiful. and I'm jealous of your new juicer! I want one too!

[Heidi @ Home Schoolroom]

Don't even talk about giving up coffee! :) The change I had to make last year was getting rid of sugar in my coffee, which I thought I could never do. I used to use the flavored creamers, so no sweetener was a huge change! I worked slowly decreasing until I cut it out altogether. But coffee is here to stay. So is chocolate.

Love Anna's quilt. Sewing is such a great activity! We've also been working on a historical quilt square. It sounds like Anna has learned a great life lesson from the book, too.

[Susan]

Sounds like a fantastic week, Mary!! Love Anna's quilt :)

I'm sorry you miss Favorite Resources, but sharing your favorite thing here is a good idea. I'm struggling with what I want to blog any more...as you might have guessed from the huge slow-down in posts from me. I go back and forth with what I do and don't want to blog about, and then I struggle with finding time to do it!

Hope you have a great weekend :)

[Wonder Mom]

Another highly productive week, and it HAS to be because you took your strength from HIM.

I am inspired and renewed after reading this post- thank you so much for always being an encouragement to me and the reat of the homeschooling community!

[Christy]

What a productive week, even after arriving home on Sunday. I'm in awe of all the you do each week, and still cook dinner. It doesn't always work out that way for us, then again I am not one that likes to cook on a regular basis.

I'm curious about how you decided on Classical Conversations. I've looked at it, but it just doesn't have the right feel to me.

Have a good weekend.

[Carrie]

I just ordered myself the women's version of Jesus Calling! I fell in love with the children's book. My 12YO daughter wants me to read The Hobbit aloud. It's soo long! Did you read aloud the whole thing? Just an interesting tidbit - the Mary in charge of Classical Conversations is the one who changed my heart towards homeschooling! I investigated the curriculum more than 3 years ago before withdrawing my oldest and it was her words that provided the catalyst to bring all my chicks home! I'm indebted to her :)

[Tristan]

I love the Hobbit! We haven't seen the movie though, eventually...

I would love to hear more about what you're hoping Classical Conversations will provide for your family's homeschool journey when you get time!

[Dorie]

Ralph S Mouse - Yes, I too had forgotten how cute that book is! I saw it in your collage and post. Now I'm looking forward to when my youngest son is a little older and reading that book. Or, maybe I'll just slip it into the read aloud pile I have and get to it a whole lot sooner :-) Kanoodle looks interesting. I have never heard of it. Will have to check it out.

[Pam @ Keeping Life Creative]

I've made kale chips a few times, but I had no idea you could buy them in a bag! You must have a great health food store close to you.

[tereza crump aka mytreasuredcreations]

Change is always exciting even if initially it seems bad. :)

As for a cup of coffee in the morning... I think it's fine as long as you are using real cream and holding off the sugar. :)

[John Fraser]

The quilt is beautiful! Yay Anna! I can't wait to see their displays at the Literature Fair.

[Karen]

I so enjoyed seeing all your pictures from Beech! It looked like such an amazing time. I just love Anna's quilt. She did a great job. Keilee just came and looked over my shoulder and said, "What is that game, it looks like fun"! We will have to check that out. You are so inspiring with your healthy eating choices. I have been seriously thinking of making some changes around here. I just don't know money wise. It is such a shame that it is so expensive to eat healthier. We DO eat healthy but fruits and veggies can be expensive. I am very interested in Shakeology. Also, YAY for the juicer. I know you will love that. "Jesus Calling" was recommended to me at our Life Group meeting this past week and I just got it on Kindle. Can't wait to begin.

[Theresa]

I love our Amazon credit card!

[Lauren]

Kale chips? Really, they're good? Also, LOVE juicing! Alas we have not a juicer...on the wish list :D My fave combo is carrot, apple and ginger, kapow!

I know how hard it is to get back into routine - so much grace needed on all sides! Glad BEECH was such a blessing - loved seeing all the pics!

LOVE your blog and this link up, thanks for hosting! :0)

[Jenn]

I love the quilt and Anna's perseverance in completing it!

We eat pretty healthy around here, but we have room for improvement. I've made a few changes lately, and I'm feeling better already. Glad you are looking and feeling great:)

[Jessy at Our Side of the Mountain]

Love her quilt! Making one has always been on my "list". You finished The Hobbit! We just couldn't get into it...maybe it was because it was over Christmas and we go sick? I keep hearing about these Kale chips! Somehow they just don't SOUND good, but lots of people rave about them! I need to find a bag! LOL

[Cheryl]

What a good week. I'm glad you came back rested and recharged from BEECH. And I can't wait to see Anna's quilt in person!

[Mary]

WTG Anna! I can't wait to hear all about your literature fair!

[kelli @AdventurezinChildRearing]

I love a peek at your week - always fun ideas. The Hobbit is one of our faves - Mark reads it to the boys out loud because it was his favorite as a kid. Really enjoyed seeing you at BEECH - look forward to seeing you again

[Gena]

Such a pretty quilt. Great work!
I'll have to look into those Kale chips.
--Gena