Wrapping Up a Very Full Week

Well, I can't sum up this week without first explaining that we had VBS at church last week, Monday through Friday, and the homeschool curriculum fair on Saturday.  With this knowledge you can start to appreciate the state of exhaustion with which I started this week!
At the same time, I must say I started the week with a full heart.  I received such a blessing as a helper in friend Misty's classroom during VBS, and the curriculum fair was wonderful and exciting.

Now on to this week...
Sunday evening was our VBS program, where, every year, the kids get to invite their parents to share in what they learned during the week.  Each class gives a short performance, and we all get to watch a Powerpoint presentation of the week's highlights.
Then after the program, we went to a friend's house for fellowship and fun around the pool.  These friends are kind enough to host this gathering every year for all the VBS volunteers to unwind after a week of hard work.

On Monday, I tried to bring the house back to order.  (Surely, I'm not the only one whose house falls apart during VBS!)  I can't say that I notice much of a difference in the clutter insanity, but I had to empty my vacuum canister twice (yuck).

The garden consumed Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  The kids and I "blessed our family" (that's how I like to frame it) by picking and prepping about two and half bushels of green beans.  For those of you who don't garden much, that's a lot of work!!  We all worked together (not always with cheerful hearts, but progress is being made!) and now have 49 quarts of green beans canned for winter.  That means we're about halfway done with that crop.

Picking the bush beans; pole beans are to the far right.

"Snipping" off the ends of the beans to prepare for canning

Thursday afternoon, we took a short break to attend the summer reading program finale down at the library.  A friendly British scientist came and put on quite a show!  What fun!

 
Then Friday came, the best part of all!  We had our family portrait made!  When we last did this, Reagan was a baby, just able to sit up, and since I like to do this every couple of years, we were way past due.  The kids have all changed so much since then!  Dwayne and I, of course, have remained the same. *grin*
That was then...

February 2011

This is now!

 I've shared our two favorites here.  (Yes, Mar is taller than I am--like I said, the kids have changed so much-- so in the first picture I'm standing on a stool!)

On Saturday, the garden beckoned again.  

1.) Picked.

2.) Hauled.

Corn this time.

114 ears.

3.) Shucked.

5.) Bagged and in the freezer (17 qts.)

4.) Cut.

With all this going on, you might have guessed we have not started school days yet, as I know many homeschoolers have.  But being in the garden, working together as a family, and being good stewards of all that God has blessed us with... that surely counts just as much as books and figures, wouldn't you agree?

I'm linking up with http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/ for the Weekly Wrap-Up feature.