Busy and Thankful

This whole week has been VBS at our church.   It's been fun.  And different.  Eating in a big hurry before we leave each evening, leaving the dishes mostly undone.  Rushing out the door.  Getting home five hours later, tired and hungry.  And eating again, leaving the kitchen even messier.
We're getting to experience what "sports families" do.  That's how one of the kids put it, at least.  Actually, we have no idea what real sports families do... we've never done any sports in our family.  That's probably what non-homeschooled kids say when they sleep in til 11 and stay in their pajamas all day!  "We're doing what homeschoolers do!"  ... We sometimes do that, but not usually.  : )

So VBS has been fun and different.

And our big kids are all helping out.  Graci is leading the songs.  Noah's running the games (and running around like a wild man), and Ruthie is the big helper in the pre-school class, and she's doing a fantastic job, by the way.  Actually, they all are.  And I'm very proud of them.

Our church is small but they have a full-size school bus that they use every night to bring kids to church.  It's a lot different than the usual "church kid" crowd.  Elijah actually got to experience real bullying (not the gentler, homeschool version) and he's figuring out how to deal with it.  I'm proud of him, too.  It's hard for me to let him face that, knowing that I could prevent it.  But, unfortunately it's a lot like hardening off those baby tomato plants... just a little at a time makes them stronger.

And they got to see the inside of a real live school bus for the first time.

I'm so glad and blessed and thankful for the freedom and opportunity to homeschool.  I feel so sorry for all those tough little kids who come from such broken homes and hard situations.  I think it actually helps my kids to feel more thankful, too.  For the privilege of being homeschooled and sheltered in a Christian family.  Instead of feeling like "unsocialized weirdos," which is what the world wants them to feel like.

Anyways, that's what's been going down around here.

And I'm onto a major discovery about Apple Cider Vinegar... which I'll tell you about later.

I'm off to practice my script and help everyone find something to wear.

Bye for now!