A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

We are approaching normalcy as Baby L reaches 3 months.  (Kind of supports the "4th trimester" theory according to The Happiest Baby on the Block .  I find that interesting.) We've had such a long break from our regular school, that we all feel like starting a new school year.  However, we all have work to finish from this school year so we're gently working our way back into where we left off. The older girls and I are continuing with the daily read aloud time we started with Standing for Something and their hunter education manuals.  We're done with both of the above, but now we're reading from Freckles .  It is an absolute win here in our house--even the littles bring in their coloring/quiet toys to play and listen as I read.  I'm trying to gently work us from just reading/listening to actively listening/narrating so that we can turn this book into a springboard for some nature study this summer We missed the General Women's Meeting from Gen...

It is too overwhelming to even begin to go through the photos and events of the past 3 or so weeks. Baby L and I are just home from the hospital.  He is fine.  He was not so fine yesterday morning when we woke in the wee hours to find he had a temperature of over 103 degrees.  The ER measured his heart rate at over 230 bpm and his white blood count was critically high.  He underwent standard tests--urine and blood--which were so traumatic that I will never forget the look in his eyes as he lay screaming in terror on the hospital bed.  When the docs told us they needed to do a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) I took the chicken route and left the room.  A dose of IV antibiotics and 24 hours later he is well.  I am grateful for the ability we had to seek medical attention.  I am grateful that he is well.  I am also recommitted to keeping my wait-and-see attitude whenever possible because the tests were dreadful.  To mothers of children who...

 Stuck in the van, there wasn't much else for me to do but think. I was at E15's soccer game on a very, very, very windy afternoon.  E15 was on the field.  M13, S12, and J11 were camped out on the sidelines watching the game.  A8, H5, and I3 were on the playground next to the van (hoorah for that playground!!!!).  I'd already bundled up Baby L and tried to take him outside, but the wind was too fierce for him.  If I covered him completely, he cried.  If I opened the blanket even a peep, the wind rushed into his face, sucking away his breath.  We lasted less than a minute, retreating to the safety of the van for the duration of the game.  We were perfectly parked for me to watch the game from the van's front window and watch the little ones playing from the side windows, but Baby L and I were cut off from everyone else.  We could see but not hear.  We were warm but alone.  Baby L nursed and fell asleep.  I was glad...

I have 2 sticky places on my cheeks--placed there by a mandarin-orange-eating-3-year-old who wanted to kiss me while he was eating his breakfast this morning. On my bed lies a 2 month old roly-poly beautiful baby boy sleeping after a successful nursing session. Two little girls are moving through their morning routines, pausing to greet me and ask me questions as they feed the guinea pig and/or pour their own milk for breakfast. One medium-sized girl is reading on her bed. My husband and 3 oldest are at the temple , sharing spiritual experiences of eternal importance. It rained this morning, and the sun is coming out; the lawn and woods are an astonishing emerald green. I have an exquisitely beautiful life. I know this with every rational part of my mind. But, in spite of medication, I am lost in a fog that both infuriates and frightens me. I have questions-- Do I need a higher dose of meds? Do I simply need exercise and better eating habits? (Without doubt, these w...