Let the Graduations Begin!

 In many ways, it was a regular week of school.   Morning Meetings, bedtime reading, history with the high schoolers, history and literature with the younger kids, math for all of those still finishing, copywork for those still finishing, various independent work for the high schoolers.

And another one is done!  Mister Man finished Pre-Algebra.

We did go to the psychiatrist for both blood work and a follow-up appointment.  Brother is very stable, so we're not messing with his meds, but Beowulf is still struggling, so we tweaked one med and are hoping for good results in the coming weeks.

These two boys are now readers!  They read the whole time we were at the lab and in the psychatrist's office.  So many people commented on how cool it is that they can and do read so intently.

Lola is a pretty big concern right now because she's so angry and so easily provoked that she's spending too much time away from us all in order to calm down.  I totally appreciate the fact that she does withdraw and engage in healthy self-calming activities!  However, I worry about how often she's blowing up and how much family/school time she's missing while she calms down.  I've talked about my concerns with our case manager and my FSP, but Lola is so chill when they see her, that my worries seem a little much to them.  

All of the kids had church activities on Thursday--the teen girls had a camp kick-off activity to get them excited about Girls' Camp coming up in less than a month.  The big boys had a pinewood derby--one like the Cub Scouts have every year.  Our boys were delighted with placing 2nd, 3rd, and 5th.  Lola and Baymax each had a Mother's Day activity and came home with little cards and presents for me. 😍

We went running/walking 3 times, and on the 3rd day, we stayed at the park to play catch and badminton and to skate.  We also had so much fun watching the geese families.  There are now three of them.  We delighted in seeing the original family of 4 still intact and growing beautifully as well as the 2 new families with their younger, smaller babies.

They were stomping their skates on the metal ramp in coordinating rhythms, enjoying the booms echoing across the park. 

Our spring garden is producing results!  We've been picking and eating peas and strawberries--not large amounts, but enough to enjoy here and there.

We had friends over one afternoon.  The boys played basketball for 3 hours straight, but the two little girls played house with Calico  Critters.  They are 10 and 11, so they are swinging between childhood and adolescence, and seeing them be little girls made both moms feel all squishy and happy.

Saturday was full from start to finish!

Nature Angel and I headed to the church to help decorate for the graduation party for 5 of the seniors at church.  (Another group of 10 or so is having a celebration on Nature Angel's graduation day, but that was too much for us.)  It was nice to share the work with 4 other moms, and we had a lovely turnout.

The five seniors

11 of our family

Our beautiful senior!

I think this photo might kill me . . . Such a beautiful baby! 
Such a beautiful young woman!

Each senior had a display table.  Nature Angel made her photo board (oh, my heart!) and then chose a variety of items to represent her accomplishments and loves.

That evening, we headed back to the church for seminary graduation!  Nature Angel was one of 4 youth speakers, and her talk was beautiful and perfect.  I was struck by how just her presence at the podium brought peace to the room.  Then when she opened her mouth and spoke her testimony of Christ, I was overwhelmed with her strength.

I admire this daughter of mine.

When that was over, the kids surprised Sir Walter Scott and me with a date night!  The big kids drove the younger kids home and took good care of them while we parents took off alone to browse a 3-story used bookstore in the arty part of town and then get treats to share.

I get my senior girl for one more week.  After that, she'll have graduated officially and will be working almost full-time for the summer.  We won't finish our history book by then, but we'll be 80% of the way through, and that's more than enough to qualify for a complete unit.

I'm deep in planning for the year to come.

Only 7 students.

It's been 10 years since I've had so few kids.