A Week, Briefly (Jan 2, 2023)

I spent hours and days and even weeks pondering what to do to help our school days run more effectively, meaning:

     * Meet varied needs

     *Bring some math back into our schedule

     *Keep everyone fed--on a budget

     *Need to make fewer on-the-spot decisions

     *Leave Mom and teens with some energy at the end of the day.

With research, prayer, and planning, we dove into a mostly full school week, and we came out mostly successful.

Our strengths this week included (1) having a rotating schedule of activities that allows us to repeat some fun gross motor and sensory experiences and (2) reading by firelight in the evenings.

Our weaknesses included (1) failing to meet the teens' academic needs and (2) feeling overwhelmed in my efforts to feed everyone.

We finished Moominland Midwinter and started Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates.  The Moomins charmed the kids from beginning to end.  Hans and Gretel Brinker aren't as comically engaging as the Moomins, but we're becoming friends with them, and the kids have started to want the best for these sweet young people who set examples of patience, generosity, and love without being pedantic.

We're reading from volume 5 of My Fine Art Book, which covers French, Belgian, and Swiss artists.  

We're also reading garden stories--stories from 100 or more years ago about a little girl and her neighbor who garden together.  The goal is to inspire ourselves enough to plan and follow through with having a good garden this year.  I have some little peat pots for seed starting, and I'm poring over seed catalogs . . . even if my kids aren't.

When I open the computer, I find evidence that Little Princess is writing a research paper.  I'm not sure what it's about, but she's self-motivated enough to work on it, and I look forward to reading it when she's ready to present it to me.

Nature Angel is finishing the last Christmas present--Brother's Storm Trooper afghan--which turned out to be more ambitious than she thought it would be.  She is working on it by the hour, and he is going to be thrilled when he sees it.  She's also rotating through her reading of the classic books that she found at an antique store last spring/summer.  Most recently, I've found her absorbed in Pride and Prejudice.

Monday

We didn't have any babies, but we did have 2 young friends come over for a play date, so we left school off and enjoyed the holiday.

When I checked their photo logs I found these two screenshots by Little Princess and Nature Angel.  If they felt they were important enough to save, then I feel it, too, because it shows what they are thinking about and spending time on.

Little Princess is preparing for her first Civil Air Patrol promotion to.  She took part of the test on Thursday (she passes), and she has the second half scheduled for a week or two from now.   It looks to me as if she's studying the rankings.

Nature Angel creates design mood boards.  I don't know what this mood board is for, but I feel like this is a tiny peek into her mind and heart.

Tuesday

At some point in the morning, I found Nature Angel sitting at the kitchen island, baby in one arm, computer open, paper on the countertop, busily taking notes.

They're notes about creating effective shadows and other effects in acrylic painting.

She's been working on an original nativity painting for several weeks now, and she's not happy with it.

It's far from finished, but I like seeing the process.  

And I love watching her learn!

I have a hunch that this may be a several months long assignment by the time it is finished.

The kids and I pulled out the king-sized sheet that I turned into a 100 board.  We played a life-sized dice addition game that didn't spread out across the board as much as I'd thought it would.  The kids were scrunched onto the same number over and over again!

For that reason, the picture I have is of the kids posing after the game ended.

Mister Man is showing how he felt about the game and how much he wants to play it again. 😂

Later, I made a batch of glittery blue "winter" playdough.

This video is a 20-second clip of how they sang for nearly an hour--one song after another!

Mister Man found the math game books I brought home from the library last week. :)

And we did the introductory watercolor lesson on Lily and Thistle.

The Munchkin used the watercolor crayons because he is "a big boy, too!"

This picture Pixie caught of Lola helping to clean up at the end of the day!!!!!  No one told her to hold Sugar Bear while she vacuumed, but . . . I'm dying!!!!

Kids and library books before bedtime

Some church friends organized an impromptu game night because it was the night before the last day of winter break for public school kids.  Pixie graciously offered to drop off and pick up, and the girls had a blast with their friends.

Ladybug is hidden in the shadows

Wednesday

I woke up to a text from my mom that one of her little brothers had died the day before during a medical procedure.  It was unexpected, and it has broken the hearts of a lot of family.  My aunt is struggling horribly, and my mom misses him more than she can say.  She lived in his home for years, growing ever closer to his family, and his grandkids are like her grandkids, too.

We made cards to send to my aunt and cousins.

Lola helped The Munchkin make one because he wanted to join us.

Little Princess is very interested in making peace between science and religion.  She's been reading books by devoted scientists who loved and honored their Christian faith, too.  

The younger kids and I had a 5-minute classical music appreciation session, after which we listened to a story about Bernard Palissy.

Our nearly universal sentiment was, "Yeah, he got rich and famous, but he was kind of nuts, and he sacrificed too much for it."

I encouraged outdoor play in the afternoon, and Little Princess captured this picture of our 2-year-olds working in the garage. :)

Thursday

Sir Walter Scott and I had an appointment at the temple in the morning, so after Morning Meeting, we all did a Cosmic Kids Yoga workout and left everyone in the care of Pixie and the older girls.

Pixie actually dismissed Nature Angel and Little Princess to do schoolwork in their bedrooms while she handled everyone else!

There's something to be said about having a daughter with formal daycare experience!

 

In the afternoon, Sir Walter Scott ran the kids to the library, and after that, I kicked everyone out-of-doors into the mild weather for more exercise.  Most of the kids hung around Brother's building project.

Stretch makes it look really cold, but I remember it being lovely!

Sugar Bear helped me bake a big batch of pumpkin bars.

And then the kids all headed out for activities.  

I was home alone . . . except for Sugar Bear and The Munchkin because their daddy was late from work.  But once they were picked up at 7:00 pm, I had the loveliest quiet time!

Friday

We stopped to play in the leaves for the first time in a long time.  Everything was buried in snow a few weeks ago, and there's been rain since, but the leaves are all still in good shape!  As they'd dried in the sun for a day or two, they were dry and bouncy and fun!!!

When we got home, the kids and I settled at the table to do a little European map work.  Once they labeled and colored 3 countries, I let them get out their watercolor supplies for some free painting time.

No lesson.

No instruction.

Brother loved the maps, hated the free painting time.

The rest of the kids tolerated the maps and loved the free painting time.

This is a random photo of Little Princess with pretty hair and a pretty clip.  The girls spend lots of time learning how to do their hair, and I think it's worth documenting.

In the afternoon, Sir Walter Scott took all of our eligible children who were also at home to the temple to do baptisms.  It was the first time for Mister Man and Brother!  

Once all of the babies were picked up and Nature Angel was dropped off at a birthday party, Sir Walter Scott and I took 7 of the kids on a full moon hike.  

We handed out flashlights, but it was so bright under the full moon that they weren't necessary.  

After a while, though, the kids wanted to play with the flashlights, and even though I was reluctant to disturb the beauty of the night, I was also reluctant to be boring when the goal was to incite wonder.

The flashlights did not ruin the evening at all.

The kids looked for animal tracks, played tag, studied trees and dried grasses, and generally had a grand time.

It was so hard getting out the door.  Everyone was wired, and I was grumpy, and it felt like a mistake . . .

but getting out is never a mistake!

It was a beautiful night adventure.

Saturday

Most of us did Saturday chores and had a quiet day, but Little Princess went on a field trip with CAP.

She took about 8 gajillion pictures, but I chose only 3 to include that I felt give a peek into her mind.

Huge plane

I don't have a clue, but she made a note on the pic, so there must be something important here.

She took a picture of "U.S. Air Force" printed on the plane.

She told me there were original Top Gun planes, and she was invited by the tour guide to sit in one--the only one invited that day. :)  

If her pictures are any indication, she's utterly in love with cockpits and vintage aircraft.  

She was alive and alight when I picked her up at the end of the day.

What more could I ever ask for?