A Week, Briefly (In Which I Find Myself Back on Meds)

Last week's crisis was such that I am back on anti-depression meds.  Usually I only need them for post-partum depression, but my body chemistry is not okay without them right now.

I feel embarrassed.

I'm not sure why.

But I do.

So I keep repeating to myself what my mom says to me.

"Thank goodness for good medication!"

And I am moving very, very slowly through my days.

Photo credit:  Pixie

 The homeschool camp out was last weekend.  I did not stay overnight.  Instead I stayed home with the 6 youngest, while Sir Walter Scott (more of a knight in shining armor than ever) took the older 6 camping.  The next morning he came home to pick the rest of us up to spend the day at the campsite.

That was enough.

It was joyful and satisfying as it was.

I've abandoned our afternoon school plans . . . for now.

We are getting plenty done with our Morning Meeting, Symposium, individual school time, and dance.   We covered several history lessons, a geography lesson about continents and pangaea (I guess I forgot that we did a pangaea puzzle just a couple of years ago . . . c'est la vie . . . it was new to the middles and youngers, and review never hurt anyone).

Photo credit:  Pixie

We've exhausted all of the fun we can get out of reading Oso Pardo, Oso Pardo and singing a song in Spanish about colors.  We've moved on to Harold y el Lapiz de Color Morado.  Pixie told me that getting too much in Spanish at once is overwhelming, so we're reading about Harold in both Spanish and English and choosing a focus word each day and letting the rest wash over us.

We're continuing our artist study of Pieter Bruegel, and the kids seem to quite enjoy studying his paintings--this week we focused on The Tower of Babel and The Adoration of the Kings.

We've put away our poem and song (Trees by Joyce Kilmer and Picnic of the World) and pulled out new ones to work on (Hope by Emily Dickinson and Grandma's Featherbed).

Summer came back this week, so I made sure that water was available each afternoon, and the younger set played in it with great satisfaction, though they weren't all that thrilled to return to the custom of bathing in the wading pools, as the water coming from the hose is cooler than it is in mid-August.

Photo credit:  Pixie

 Little Princess has passionately typed her story about The Missing Dress into the computer and discovered that she LOVES online math drills.

Nature Angel hasn't worked on her story in some weeks, but I think it is just resting for a season.  Instead she's been reading library books about a clan of pegai (pegasi?  I find both when I look it up) and drawing pictures of winged horses.

Rose Red lit up brighter than Christmas when a serendipitous college catalogue arrived that introduced her to the idea of event planning as a career option.

This just might be the spark that gets her fire going.

Awesome moments this week included finding a huge walking stick on one of our outdoor toys.  We touched it and exclaimed over its sticky feet and put it on a tree and watched it climb up so high.

Ladybug made friends with another butterfly.  I'm glad she's finding some joy--she's been choosing not to "do school" each day, and I can tell it hurts her to do so, but she won't choose otherwise.  She's feeling rather lost lately.

The little boys watch the sunrise each morning.  I love listening to their little boy chatter as they roam the front lawn looking occasionally at the east to see the progress of the morning light.  This morning (Friday) they saw a family of 3 deer.

The babies are talking more and more.  Favorite words? 

"Dop!"  (Stop--Baymax)
" ' e ' go!"  (Let go--Lola)
"Dadu?"  (Water--both of them)
"Ta ba!"  (Bathtub/Bathtime--Baymax)

We studied Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius--complete with baking soda and vinegar volcano on Thursday.  The best part was listening to Mister Man tell us the story of Pompeii because one of his favorite books is Pompeii: Buried Alive, and he knew almost every fact we were going over.   He told all about the destruction complete with hand gestures, wild facial expressions, and awesome sound effects.  We wish badly we had it on video, but we'll just have to remember the best we can.

Pixie's swing dance is officially choreographed, and practices have begun. 

The preschool story of the week was Wilfrid Gordon MacDonald Partridge by Mem Fox.

We're 58% of the way into David Copperfield.  What on earth happened to his aunt? 

Photo credit:  Pixie

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