Sometimes Life Is just Hard

I feel like this fall has been marked by sadness in our family. So first Austin's dad diagnosed with cancer and its progressing very, very quickly and no one expects him to make it much longer. Then my young cousin dying from a car accident a couple of weeks ago. Its just been a crazy fall. In the midst I am trying to hold it all together and stay strong for the kids. I have worked really hard to keep their lives as normal as possible during this time. 
Sunday morning we received that call that Austin's dad had a blood clot travel to his lungs in the middle of the night. Austin was very upset and made plans to get up there on Monday. He left Monday mid-day. I know he was a big help and encourager to his mom. They hung out all Monday afternoon and evening. I think he was up most of the night with his dad. 
Tuesday he was gone all day. It was a normal day though. I had Bible study. I was actually in charge of leading this weeks. I was nervous but not nearly as nervous as I would have been a year or more ago. It went well and luckily the video is pretty lengthy so I didn't have to do much. I am again so thankful for these ladies that God has placed in my life. After Bible study I was able to go vote. I was glad to get that done. This election has been so crazy! I was thankful for some time to myself that afternoon before going to pick up the kids. I was anxious for Austin to get back home. It was great he got home shortly after the kids and I did. We were able to have a nice family dinner and walk. Colby has had a lot of home work though this week. I hate he spends over an hour after school working. I wish teachers would understand that kids need time with their families. We teach them though that they have to do their work and to try and get it over with as quickly as possible. 
Wednesday I decided to go to Target and then meet a friend for breakfast/coffee. It just lifts my spirits when I manage to do that once a week! We had a great time catching up and I was still able to get home early enough to have a good bit of time to catch up on stuff and prepare for church that night. We of course had church that evening. We had 7 preschoolers! That's a lot on Wednesdays! i had fun though. God has renewed my energy and spirit when it comes to teaching. This month I decided to do a focus on Thankfulness and Community Helpers. This week I chose not to do a Bible story and we focused on the missional work instead. I think both are important. I was thankful I had planned a lot for them to do since the time change we can't go outside. I had coloring pages for them to do when they arrived along with costumes and books. We went into the Clubhouse to do music/movement for about 20 min. I knew without outside time they needed a change of scenery and a place to get the wiggles out! After we got back to class we made our cards for the Community Helpers. I was thankful for how well they all did. They then got to eat a cookie and then we did our last craft making a trash truck which they all loved! It was a really fun night and I feel like they really got it! To close the evening I read 2 books about community helpers to them. 
Thursday was another busy day for me. It was off to school and music class. I am really enjoying my sweet little preschoolers at music. This week we once again did some Turkey and Thanksgiving songs and practiced for our singing in church. Thursdays always feel like they go by so fast though. I don't get home until 12 and then by the time I eat lunch put my feet up a bit and do some chores around the house its time to go pick up the kids. Then the madness continues with homework and dinner before Scouts. This week at Scouts we were altogether and were supposed to re-cap the camping trip but I am not sure that ever happened b/c the kids were so wild! We ended up closing up early. I was thankful though. Mid-week is so busy and hard for me!