A Week Briefly, (April 11, 2022)

 I'm still using my phone, and I can't leave comments on other blogs, so please know I'm reading and enjoying your posts!

We're having a relaxed and easy Easter.  We've been to church, and we've hunted eggs and dug into baskets.  The kids are quite sugared up, and it is raining outside, so there's no escape!

We took Monday and Friday off school.  The kids are becoming more and more proficient at skating up and down our hilly street.  When I look out the window, little bodies zoom past me at (sometimes) alarming speeds.  The kids come in slightly high on adrenaline every day.

Good Friday was a treat for us because even though we love love our babies, it was so quiet and peaceful without them.  I helped the boys organize their bedroom--a 7 hour project!!!  I spent rather a lot of money on an industrial strength shelf and a bunch of plastic bins, but now everything is labeled, findable, and easy to put away.

The big girls and Ladybug were able to go to movie night at a friend's house, and it was fun for all of them.  They needed that respite so much.  Then on Saturday night, Belle and Nature Angel went to a church dance that was well attended and a lot of fun.

Mister Man is done with math for the school year. 

The older girls are very jealous. :)

Belle took her third College Algebra exam and aced it.  She has about a month left in that class.

Beowulf had a rough week.  He got very little school done because required work in any form sent him into a tailspin.  He even pulled the deadbolt out of the safe room door . . . rendering it unsafe.

I've taken his stimulant med out of his daily routine (it's helping), and we have an appointment with his psychiatrist in the coming week.  

Little Princess did MEL science experiments.

Ladybug finally got braces!!!

The babies have been getting reacquainted with the chickens.

Little Princess made these amazing lemon cupcakes.

We finished The Wanderings of Odysseus and started In Search of a Homeland (a retelling of The Aeneid).   This week's reading has been a little bit spotty due to behaviors and evening activities, but we've read enough that the kids have opinions about Aeneas and the gods   We had to have a discussion about suicide when we read the chapters about Dido.

We finished Bridge to Terabithia . . . with so much crying that we all had headaches.  It was of those reading experiences that opened us to greater compassion.  

Now we're reading A Bear Called Paddington.  The mishaps of this little bear are keeping my crew rolling on the floor with laughter.

Baymax has become an independent reader!  Over the past couple of weeks he's worked his way through Half Upon a Time--a mixed-up, funny retelling of fairy tales.  When he finished, he came sadly to me saying, "I just need a really good book right now."

He chose Bambi, but when we opened some of our book storage boxes, he found How to Train Your Dragon, and now he's immersed in the land of Berk.  

 

Pixie finished her semester a couple of weeks ago, and she's found a new job for the new semester starting tomorrow.  The daycare loves her, but the directors wanted her to quit school and work for them full time.  Even though that is a tremendous compliment, that's not what she wants, so she found an on-campus job with no commute and no stress so she can focus on her studies.

Sir Walter Scott is headed to Utah in the coming week to visit his sister before she dies of cancer.  Between work and travel, we won't really see him.  I'm glad he's going, and I'm scared of not having his help with our high need kids.  I hope all goes well for both of us.