From September to October

 All I really want to write is that we're just doing the same things--school, church activities, dance, work (Nature Angel and Sir Walter Scott), chores, park days, psych appointments, grocery shopping, cooking, dentist appointments, CAP, and so on and so forth.

The week that I thought was going to be so beautiful that I tentatively planned to take a week off school to enjoy it turned out to be rainy and uncomfortable, so we just did regular school things.

It's why I didn't write last week.  I could have.  But I just let the time slide.

But there have been moments I should have captured.

Our old fridge began to die, and we got a new one at the scratch and dent store.  The new one is huge and easy to use and quiet.  The fan in the old one went from making grinding, moaning noises intermittently to often to almost constantly, and while it made me slightly insane, it made Beowulf lose it completely.

As in violent rages.

Once I connected the rages to the fridge noises, Sir Walter Scott and I replaced the fridge as quickly as we could, and the rages stopped.

The older girls and I are still reading The Last of the Mohicans and working our way through our American Lit text.  Bartleby the Scrivener by Melville was quite an experience for us.  We went from slightly bemused, to really amused, to frustrated to the point of physical discomfort.  I guess that's what great literature does--gives us powerful experiences!

A back rub line during bedtime reading!

The younger kids and I started our second unit in Playful Pioneers 2.  In the past two weeks, we read Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?, The Cabin Faced West, Mountain Born, and The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.  We're almost done with Calico Bush, but we've had so many evening activities that have interrupted bedtime reading!

We're still reading The Story of Science (Galileo right now) including a demonstration of how a few laws of motion he helped explain work.  We also made compasses by magnetizing needles, sticking them through cork, and placing the needles in water for our magnet unit.  

We tried magnetizing nails on an earlier day, but that was a complete fail!  The needles produced far more satisfactory results.

I learned to water-glass eggs, and we currently have 6 dozen eggs safely stored for future use when the hens stop laying so abundantly.  I think we have another 3 dozen ready to be glassed this week.  The price of eggs is outrageous right now, so that I think we might actually be saving money by having chickens!  At the very least, I feel very satisfied every time I walk past the egg case in the grocery store and don't need to buy eggs.

Half a dozen of the kids got to attend the temple with the church youth group last week.

They made a big night of it with dinner beforehand, and it was a joyful experience for all of the kids.

Lola and Baymax had an activity that same day with their church groups.  They combined to meet at a nursing home next to the church where they sang a few songs and visited with the residents.  Doughnuts to share around helped make conversation flow a little more easily than it might have otherwise. :)  One of the residents pulled me to the side to tell me it was just pure joy to spend time with the children.

The kids are outgrowing playgrounds, but every once in a while, they have a great day!

Baymax finished Math 4!

He bargained with me to get a couple of days off math before starting Math 5. :)

Sir Walter Scott and Rose Red traveled to Utah for a family wedding.  Super Star and Mr E-- drove out, and Pixie drove south, so that they all met up for a few days.

It's blurry, but it's the best one they sent me.

The kids have continued happily with soccer.  They only have one session left, and it's supposed to be a game with another homeschool "league."

We're making lots of progress in dance.  We have the month of October to practice, and then we'll have 3 shows in November!

Belle comes home in 16 days!!!  We're working on cleaning out a bedroom for her.  Wish us strength to get the work done in time, please!

Today we had a funeral for Nature Angel's guinea pig, Tiddly.  Jot died sometime in the past year, and Tiddly has been lonely, in spite of our efforts to offer him companionship (other than a new guinea pig).  He's been doing poorly for a couple of weeks, and it's both a relief and a sorrow that he is gone.  

Nature Angel is done having small pets.  The joys have been good, but the sorrows have been so much for her sweet, adolescent heart to bear.  The other kids made cards to bury with Tiddly, wishing him well in guinea pig heaven and thanking him for his companionship in this life.

That makes 6 beloved pets buried in our backyard.

We had a most excellent weekend watching General Conference--taking notes, eating treats, sharing thoughts, feeling spiritually enriched.

Lola took notes for the first time!

The week ahead will include scrambling to get Halloween costumes ready 2 weeks earlier than anticipated because our ward party is this Saturday!