The Second Half of July

 We started 2 Mondays ago with the Fibonacci Sequence.  My goal was to watch a couple of videos just to catch the kids' attention.  But those two videos led to 3 more videos, and suddenly Beowulf was yelling, "I want to do that!"  The other kids joined in, and before I knew it, everyone had graph paper and markers and was drawing golden rectangles and golden spirals.

It was an AWESOME afternoon of mom-inspired, self-directed learning.

That evening, Nature Angel showed me the purse she'd invented and crocheted.

On Tuesday, we went to the library.

That evening, Ladybug and Little Princess were able to go to the temple with some of their youth group.

The next night there was a big youth carnival combined with another ward (congregation), and the kids all played crazy games both indoors and out, then had popsicles.  In spite of the intense heat, they had a grand time.

She's all ready to have cheese puffs thrown at her head!!

The days were honestly so hot that we only went outside for the first two hours after breakfast each day.  After that, we hid in the house.

We changed out shaving cream for whipped cream because all Stretch wanted to do was eat it.

Most days were filled with reading, coloring, crocheting, and one particular day found the kids busy cutting up boxes out of the recycling bin to make glorious messes and treasures.  I have no pictures of that activity because I'm less likely to fuss about messes if I don't look at the process.  I can just appreciate the finished product when kids emerge from the dining room.  

It's best for all of us.

Then all of the stars aligned for me to get to travel with my parents, sister, and a niece to my cousin's funeral (the second to die this year).  This cousin was my age, and his death was sudden and unexpected.  It shattered his family, and quite a few of those of us in the extended family traveled quite far to show love and solidarity.

Pixie made the drive south to join us at my aunt and uncle's house, and it was so fun to spend time with her.

Pixie and I are in front with my parents on either end.  My sisters, three of their children, and one grand-baby compose the rest of the back row.

22 of the 49 cousins on this side of the family.  Many more were present, but by the time anyone remembered pictures were imperative, several had already left the luncheon.

Sir Walter Scott sent me a text about how Nature Angel and Little Princess were taking care of the household, and he was doing his best to help them instead of the other way around.

Seriously, I never stop being impressed with my kids.

Look at Little Princess!  Two babies on her body and she's giving cake decorating lessons to her older sister!

(BTW:  Those cupcakes turned out to be sooooo luscious!)

I came home from the trip to a completely clean kitchen and kids who were delighted to tell me all about the fun they had with Dad.

We settled right back into normal with a visit to the library.

The weather jumped from crazy-hot to crazy-rainy.  

We continued to hide indoors for most hours of the day.

It began to feel like late January or February, only we were hot and sticky and irritable instead of cold and tired and irritable.

We did our best to make fun where we could find it.

"Mom!  I alphabetized all of my Pokemon cards from B to Z . . . because I don't have any A cards."

(Oh, good.  Second grade alphabetizing--✅)

The Dude's new baby sister came to visit for a few minutes.  She's 5 days old here.

  (Her blog name is Sweet Peach.)

I cut out some story cards from an old preschool box we hadn't finished, and I modeled using the pieces to tell a story.  The Munchkin latched right on to that idea and told me a story of his own.

Stickers!

They used plastic pattern blocks to play tiddlywinks.

When the rain abated for a few minutes, Little Mister Frog helped me pull weeds out of our non-garden.  He talked to me the whole time, "I helping weed . . . I helping . . . I be right back . . . I coming, weeds!"

One morning I'd listened to a podcast about a few chapters of Genesis, and I was so captivated by what I learned, that I talked to any kid who would listen to me.  This turned into a lecture with drawings on the whiteboard, and even though no one had to stay to listen, my enthusiasm (and the awesome subject matter) held the kids' attention.  We reveled in the miracle and majesty of creation and God's understanding love for all of us as His children.

We finished Jack and Jill.  It was a very sweet book that felt, in the end, almost like a homeschooling instruction manual.  We've now begun The Peterkin Papers by Lucretia Hale, and the kids are laughing so hard every time we read.

We also finished Caroline and her Kettle Named Maud (the boys were so glad she got a gun!).  We started The First Woman Doctor--a biography of Elizabeth Blackwell.  The writing is somewhat flowery, and I find myself editing a bit when the descriptions go on too long, but the kids have asked lots of questions, and we've had a lot of fun finding the answers to those questions.

My description of a cadaver lab has probably scared them all away from the possibility of med school.  :)

When we woke up to yet another day of thunderstorms, the kids asked to get out the painting supplies.

Yes.

I slipped into the room at the start of it all to get a few pictures before I could be tempted to sigh or tell them to be tidier.

My favorite part of this art day was how the bigger kids helped the littler kids.  

I am so proud of how much care they are willing to offer.

This weekend Nature Angel has been busy at youth conference--classes, a dance, a service project, field games, and swimming!  So much fun crowded into a day and a half!

I got brave and took 8 kids (only 6 of them needing supervision) to IKEA.  My favorite moment was when the 6 decided to test a row of chairs for comfort.  They formed a line and the first child sat in a chair for a few seconds before getting up, moving down one chair and sitting again, while the second child took the first child's place.  They weren't out of control or rough, so it was hilarious to watch all six of them bobbing up and down the row of chairs, making comments about how comfortable or uncomfortable the seats were.

I wanted to video them, but Little Princess was out of sorts with a headache (and being 12 years old), so she felt embarrassed.  I kept my phone in my purse out of deference to her feelings . . . imagine the Mad Hatter singing, "Clean cup!  Clean cup!  Move down!  Move down!  Clean cup, clean cup, move down!"

The kids impressed me with their ability to behave themselves in such an overwhelming place.  I only had to remind kids 3 times in 2 hours to mind their manners because they were forgetting to do so.

Now I have a Billy bookcase to put together this week!  

My hope is to buy several more over the next few months and create a library wall in our front room.