Friday Fun–Jan 26, 2018

Friday is our family Sabbath. Our day of obedient rest, remembering that we were not made to go 24/7 without rest and restoration. Because Friday is Doug's day off, homeschooling is flexible, and I have a wonderful boss who supports our need to balance everything, we've been able to adjust our schedule to allow us to switch our focus that one day every week. We’re still learning what this looks like for us – how we can truly rest both as individuals and as a family. When to be hermits and when to be social. How to meet the needs of the more and less interactive members of the family without compromising the needs of either. Here’s a glimpse into this week’s Sabbath explorations.

On Friday morning, we all enjoyed some individual nourishment time. Doug and I both had books to finish (that lovely climactic point of a novel!).

Steven enjoyed taking boxes and turning them into various forms of entertainment.

Angie, fully decked out in her poofy pinkness, pulled out the sewing machine to work on doll clothes.

And Olivia sprawled out on her bed to continue hammering away at her novel – writing, not reading.

Friday is also our dessert day. We had leftover challah dough and donut glaze that needed to be used up, so Steven suggested cinnamon sticks!

With a lovely afternoon before us, we all headed outside for a rather hilarious girls-against-guys attempt at badminton. The kids have never really played a real game and are still learning – and it was a bit breezy, with nice gusts catching the birdie at very unexpected moments! So we all ended up getting as much of a workout from laughter as from actual playing!

And yes, just in case you were thinking your eyes were deceiving you, Angela DID remain decked out in her pink poofiness – simply adding a cape for a little bit of warmth. It reminded me of the scene in Disney’s Robin Hood cartoon where Maid Marion and Clucky are playing badminton, holding their skirts as they do so! The girls and I rotated at the serve, so there would always be two of us on the “court” at any time. The third had a very important job while waiting: making sure Smokey got her desperately needed attention!

We always finish out Friday evenings with date night. The kids eat an early supper, then head upstairs to play something together until it’s time for showers and reading/bedtime while Doug and I stay downstairs and enjoy a just-us meal along with a movie, game, or whatever. I’m sure our Sabbath celebrations will change over the years as our life circumstances change, but for now, we sure do look forward to Fridays!