this week thus far--not according to plan

Wow, after a week of relative relaxation and God-bliss, life this week has suddenly jumped back into hectic-sick-dry-inside stride.  Nothing this week seems to be going according to (my) plan.

Yes, most of us have a bad cold (4 with runny nose, 2 with slight fever, 3 with mild coughs--but still all doing quite well under the circumstances) which started late Monday.  The older two were feeling poorly enough yesterday that we stayed home from martial arts and music--the first time this has happened all year, which is ironic, since it was the last music lesson of the school year.  I was knocked out pretty badly yesterday, but God is good, and I was feeling almost completely well today.

Which was good, because this week is Japan Camp here at our home!  I've been meaning to write about my homeschool camps--and surely will, one of these days!  This week luckily our camp days happened to be Monday, today and tomorrow--just perfectly squeezed the sickness in the off-days.  Lest you think I am being inconsiderate in exposing other children to our sickness, Monday we had camp not knowing we were all coming down with something, and this morning I checked with my dear Becky to make sure she was comfortable with the possible germ sharing today.  She was completely unfazed.  Really, her girls are more like cousins to my kids than friends, and what are colds among cousins?  ; )  Tomorrow will be fun, with a party to celebrate the official last day of school--which does not actually mean anything, since both Becky and I homeschool year-round (another thing I'll write about eventually), but it's nice to give the kids a sense of the passing of the year.

But Japan Camp has not been as successful so far as China Camp and Redwood Camp were, in March and April.  My not feeling up to par was part of it, and also I think the "camp" novelty has worn off a bit for our friends and it feels more like school (which it most definitely is, and then some!) and less like fun (which is also most definitely is! but you know how kids are when things start to smack of learning).  It's probably the time of year too, and the fact that it has been a rainy week, so the kids were inside our tiny house from 11-3 without change of scenery.  It's probably too that I was not quite as creative so far with this camp, and so they have done a lot of coloring so far (Japanese figures in historical dress we will cut out to make paper puppets, with which we will enact a Japanese folktale) and worksheets, which is not nearly the variety of activities as we have done with previous camps.  The end result of the coloring will be fabulously creative, and the kids will really like it, but in the meantime I think it has been fun but yet a little boring too, you know?  Ironically, they have been taking FOREVER with their art, which is great on one hand, but also means there has not been as much time for other things, which might have made the camp feel more varied to them and more productive to me. . . .

But all is not lost!  Tomorrow I'll just get my best game on, and we will make origami and read stories and drink green tea and eat Japanese snacks (and maybe be joined by more kids and moms--let's hope the sun shines tomorrow, so we don't have to be inside the whole time) and we will (hopefully) end the week on a really positive note.  And then, since we did not touch on all the topics I think we should have this week, I have already decided to have Japan Camp Part 2, where we take a day or so to wrap up--that's the beauty of homeschooling, the flexibility. It will all turn out in the end--so I should not focus on how so far Japan Camp has been slightly disappointing for everyone, but make tomorrow fun and go from there!

And then my Dear Husband started work on one of our long-awaited home improvement projects and spent much of last weekend working on it. . . and then came the rain, and now we are looking at a weekend that is booked, from Friday night to Sunday dinner.  Sigh.  Here just when my man was building up steam, he is being stopped by other things, things that have to be attended, that are worthwhile, but which will keep him from getting things done that I was really, truly hoping could be done before my family comes to visit at the beginning of July.  Not many weekends between now and then, and so losing one whole weekend really sets us back. Bummer.

And then, that jubilation of spirit has finally passed, like I knew it would at some point, but I miss it.  Of course, I know the feelings I have in a day are mostly choice--we can choose to be joyful, no matter what!  And if we are joyful, how can we not feel God near?  So I'm going to work on that tomorrow--joy and thanks.  In the midst of everything else--despite everything else.

Hope you are all having a good week, wherever you are!