Catching up with the week.

It's been quite a week.

Jack has been very sociable. He's had a friend stay overnight, had another one come for dinner and a movie (X-Men 3) and been out to other friends' homes for dinner a couple of times too. This is the way he likes things.{g} He also moved up from Scouts to Explorers. They were studying 'survival' stuff. They seem to be planning a trip up a mountain. Cool!

He also started the county's Saturday Morning Music School, available for all instrument playing school age kids. They are organised into various groups/ensembles for experience in playing with others. Jack and his guitar are going into a 'beginning rock band', possibly a jazz band and a small orchestra. He's working on improving his sight-reading and getting some theory tuition too. This will be excellent experience for him and at a fee which works out at about £3.00 per hour which is unbelievably good value for money.

Grace started her new routine of 2 consecutive days at college. On one of the days she had a new taxi-driver which was a little stressful for her and another day the taxi picks up two of the other students at the college too. That was okay, as the other students are also quite quiet and didn't make any social demands of her. {g} She's doing a little 'work experience' in the college nursery and some music therapy on the additional day. She starts a new church youth group this week too, so lots of new elements for her week this term. She managed well incorporating the extra day last week though. Also, yesterday, she received a little surprise from an e-pal, Bess. A beautiful pair of hand-made earrings. She was thrilled!

We've been trying to get more ASDAN work done so we can hand in the kids' portfolios for moderation in mid-February. There's lots still to do, but I'm hopeful. It looks as though another drama group might be starting up nearer to home, after Easter. This group has been initiated by one of the parents who, along with me, dropped out of the one which had the unacceptable reading list. It looks like it might be much more suitable for Jack! I'm so grateful we stood firm on our beliefs. God may be opening other doors for us. This will be a good life-lesson for Jack.

I met with some of the American home-schooling families from the local base. They very sweetly asked me to come along to their first meeting. There are 5 of them, including the new Chaplain's wife. Windy has been the Lone Home-schooler on base for 3 1/2 years but now has some compatriot HS'ers, so I'm happy for her! Apparently, she's in labour right now so this vast era of pregnancy will soon be over!

It's been a rough week for us as we have come to terms with a family member's attacks on us for our faith. I know it must be hard for a family of atheists to come to terms with one member becoming a christian. But it's been 10 years now, so we had expected any reaction to have passed by now. It seems this person had been storing up all their anger and it was unleashed on us a week or so ago. Jamie and I have been in shock since. And quite down, though I at least have had lots of loving support from long-distance friends. Because of this (what feels like) assault on us, I've been like a person wading through a great fog, just concentrating on putting one foot in front of another, the past week. But I think I'm coming out of it now.