Preparing for the Week

I'm already tired just thinking about my week & it's only Monday morning. It's going to be one of those weeks!

This morning my MIL will be coming over shortly & we're taking all the boys with us & heading out to go shopping. We're going to the "big city" about 1-1/2 hours away - the capital of Maine to be precise. They have a Christmas Tree Shoppe, a Barnes & Noble & a Michael's. They have a lot more than that but those are the three stores we will definitely be stopping at. It's a three hour round trip to drive there plus shopping with my boys, it will be a long day.

Tomorrow morning we're home, but in the afternoon we're heading to a friend's house to check out all the school books/reading books she is culling from her shelves. I'm not dreading that at all. It will be a lot of fun - noisy - but fun. I have my three boys & she has six kids still at home. Loud but fun.

Wednesday morning we have started attending the new MOPS group at our church. (MOPS stands for Mother's of Preschoolers - check this link for more info.) I was thrilled that my church started one & I have really enjoyed the meetings I've gone to so far. My two youngest boys attend Child Evangelism Fellowship meetings downstairs. They play with toys, play games, do a craft, & learn about God. They LOVE it & ask me a lot when it's time to go to MOPs during the week. They even have a supervised room for older homeschooling kids. That thrilled me to no end! B has had a few other kids in there with him & I think he enjoys it. :-) Then I get to stay upstairs & enjoy some fellowship with other mommies. I really do look forward to this each week but it means being out of the house one morning a week.

Thursday night is our AWANA night. This year all my boys are old enough to attend & my hubby & I are helping out as well. J is in his first year of the Cubbies preschool program. He is SO cute about it. He absolutely loves it & does wonderfully learning his verses. J is in his second year of Sparks & doing so much better learning his verses. It's a wonder what a year can do! B is in his third year of Truth & Training or T&T. He is highly motivated this year & is cruising through his book. This year they also started giving out Awana trading cards to T&T'ers who finish a Discovery section. B loves getting these! My hubby is a leader helper with T&T but works with a different group than B. I'm the secretary for the Cubbies & Sparks. I really do enjoy it but it can be stressful & very busy. I'm still learning how to read the slips & figure out who gets what awards when. I think last week finally had me all caught up! Yeah!

Friday morning my boys are blessed to be taking free art lessons from a retired art teacher. She wants to help kids be creative. We were unable to take part in the large group lesson she is doing for our homeschool group & was gracious enough to let us come to her home once a week for private lessons. They are really having a good time with it.

After lessons on Friday morning, I'll be driving 1-1/2 hours to visit my mom & niece. I've been helping to homeschool my niece for the first time this year. She's in 11th grade. She's doing really well though. I just hope I do as well grading & doing her transcript!!!! ::grin::

Then Saturday morning we have our homeschool group's Geography Fair. The two older boys are sharing a booth & doing a display on Ireland. Should I mention that we haven't started yet?? Guess what most of our school will be this week. ::grin::

So that is what my week looks like. Why so busy? Partly because my hubby left yesterday for a week at camp to go hunting. I pray he brings home a deer this year. That would certainly help with the grocery bill.