The past couple of months have been a roller coaster ride.  This is why I haven't blogged much.  It's hard to blog when so much is going on and life is already passing by so quickly.  Sometimes, I feel like my head is spinning.

My brother's mother-in-law passed away a couple months ago.  She had Parkinson's and it finally took its toll.  My 99 year old grandma, who lives 350 miles away from me, and whom I dearly love, is not doing well.  She has a closing heart valve and melanoma on her face.  The heart valve has been closing for years and I don't think doctors expected her to live as long as she has.  She's a tough lady though.  Having birthed and raised 12 children (no twins) would make a person stronger, I would imagine.  Either that, or it would kill ya!  My grandma still lives in her home, but this has been an issue since she needs round the clock care.  She doesn't think she does, but, she does!

Just after we returned from our second trip to my Grandma's (within 2 weeks), we were told that my aunt passed away.  She lives near my grandma, so the decision to not attend the funeral was a hard one, but necessary.  Hubs was out of town on business and it would have been too hard for me to make that trip again, only two days after we just returned.

Then, just a few days later, a mom from our former co-op had a massive heart attack.  She was revived after going six minutes without oxygen.  After several days, the ventilator was removed and she passed.  Her daughter saw the whole thing happen.  She was homeschooled until she graduated in 2010.  I can't imagine the heartbreak this family is going through.

In that same week, a farmer, well-known in the community, passed away.  He was only in his late 40's and left a wife and five children behind.  My grief over all these losses could be unbearable if I allowed them to be.  I cling to God and ask Him to never let me take any moment for granted. 

So, as you can imagine, school has been tough for me.  It's been hard to focus.  But, we're meandering through.  And when I look back, I realize that even though we aren't as far along as I wanted to be by Christmas, we learned so much!  And it was all God's perfect timing.  We completed Augustus Caesar's World last week, which ended at the birth of Christ.  Well, it briefly covered portions of Jesus' life and ministry, but the timing of His birth was perfect.

I'm so glad we stuck with reading that book.  We skimmed over parts of it, due to violence, or when I got that deer-caught-in-headlights look.  Trust me, parts of it was no picnic to read, or to hear!  But other parts made up for it.  It's strange how that book flows... or doesn't flow.  Some chapters were so easy to read, and others weren't.  I wonder what the next book will be like.

We haven't stuck with reading the read-alouds.  The Bronze Bow was so interesting, too.  I can't remember how many chapters we read, but with all the chaos, we stopped reading it.  The girls have been reading their own books.  Emily has even been reading much of our Bible lessons.  Katie is doing much better as well.  I think it's finally starting to really click with her.  Don't get too excited, she still has work to do.  But, I'm amazed at her progress!

If I don't catch up before Christmas, I hope it's a great celebration for everyone!