A Week, Briefly (In Which We Get Very Muddy)

It was another hard week for me.

I'm skipping over the hard stuff and the boring seat work kind of stuff that we worked through, to focus on the highlights.

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First, here is the only shot of the girls at homeschool prom that we have so far.  More are supposed to be coming!

General Conference was wonderful!  On Saturday, the kids were so attentive.  I could hardly believe how sweetly the day passed. 

By Sunday they were wigglier, but they went into other rooms to play for a while, and then they came back for more conference.  I was impressed that they came back!

During one break between meetings, Pixie played with Lola and Baymax.  Those toddlers hung on her every word and action for 30 straight minutes!

We always have cinnamon rolls on General Conference weekend.

On Monday afternoon while the toddlers napped, I took the middle-littles on a hike.

We weren't planning to be muddy, but kids . . . rain . . . dirt . . . we got muddy.  I piled them all in the bathtub when we got home, and they ate dinner in their jammies.

I'm grateful to Pixie for making a spaghetti dinner for us while we were out.

Deer tracks.

He found a snail.

Our preschool story of the week was The House Held Up by Trees.

On Tuesday Super Star finished her math book--Saxon 7/6--and is now working on Saxon 8/7. 

Belle is also in 8/7, so they're sharing.

Good thing Belle only has 9 lessons to go before she's done. :)

Pixie finished her science book--did I already write that last week?  Anyway, she did, and it was just in time for her to start her IEW Essay Writing Intensive.  She chose to start watching the DVDs on the kitchen floor because she was watching the toddlers.  I missed the part where they took turns sitting on her head!

Tuesday was also library day.  Mister Man has discovered books by Dick King-Smith.  He's devouring them.  Little Princess is reading everything she can get her hands on by Patricia MacLachlan. 

Nature Angel re-read The Remarkable and Very True Story of Lucy and Snowcap. 

It is a treasured favorite.

Wednesday morning we did what school we could, and then Sir Walter Scott and I headed out for what turned out to be a marathon parent session with Ladybug's and Brother's therapist.

Then we went out to lunch.

And in the late afternoon the rain, rain, rain, rain, rain started to clear, so the kids and I went out to start their tire-gardens.

It took them a couple of hours to successfully fill their tires with soil, and because Sir Walter Scott reminded me of the time and that there were youth activities at the church that night,  I had dinner waiting for them when they finished.

Like Monday, they were too muddy to come inside, so we stripped them down, bathed them, and we had dinner in our jammies again.

The next morning (Thursday)we planted some peas and some sunflowers.

These should be interesting gardens. :)

Nature Angel has been spending lots of time outside drawing.

When we could, we continued our family read aloud of Shepherd, Potter, Spy--and the Star-Namer.

On Friday morning I headed to the vendor hall of our local homeschool convention in order to make some planned and discounted purchases.  I usually like to attend the conference, but I somehow mixed up the dates, and by the time I figured that out I was too late for the early-bird discount, and the kids had too many plans for me to be gone for the whole weekend.

I left Sir Walter Scott in charge with instructions for the big kids to do their independent school.

I was home by lunchtime, and once we got through the meal, Signing Time, and an abbreviated quiet time, I sent the kids out into the sunshine and breeze to make the most of April.

Nature Angel had to be ejected from her bookish nature studies to go see the real thing.

Pixie completed her English assignment of creating a personal manifesto.

I like it.

(linking here)