We Went to the Gym!

 On Friday. :)

It was the first and only day we could manage this week, but we did it.

Lola, Baymax, and I swam; the other 4 kids followed all of the rules and made a wonderful impression on the gym staff as they used the workout equipment.

They want to go back every day!

I was a synchronized swimmer, lifeguard, swim instructor, and/or pool manager for many years of my youth.  It was the first time I have been in the water for myself in 26 years, and I felt 16 again!

Or at least 16-ish.

(Lola and Baymax passed the swim test to be able to swim under lifeguard supervision without direct parent supervision!)

I'm old and tired and out of shape, so I swam slowly and felt the work in every part of me, but it was all so good.

So.

Good.

We're going back tomorrow. 😄

We had our last two officially scheduled days with Little Mister.

I feel simultaneously grieving and free.

Free to work on projects that just aren't practical with a toddler around.  

Grieving the sweetness of baby laughter, mischief, logic, discovery, and company.

I'm sewing a dress.

It's going to be really nice.

(But I really do miss Little Mister!)

The hoped-for CAP promotions didn't happen this week; the kids passed, and their promotions are officially entered in the system, but their adult leader wanted to wait to do the ceremonies.  The nice part about that is that Mister Man is now eligible for the promotion he's been waiting for, so we can take care of three of them on one night!

The kids and I finished memorizing The Family: a Proclamation to the World for the 3rd time.  Now, we're singing the sections for review over the next month or so.  Then we'll be into holiday season, and we'll sing extra Christmas carols instead.  

We also finished another volume of our Bible Storybook.  We're reading about Elijah at the moment, and even though it's not matching up with Come, Follow Me, it's a joyful read aloud experience.  Speaking of Come, Follow Me, we've been having a lovely time reading Isaiah in The Message Bible.  It's not as poetic or lovely, by any means, but I delight in the frankness of the translation, and I get a kick out of the kids' surprise when they hear certain turns of phrase.  It just makes Isaiah fun and somewhat mysterious instead of impossible and erudite.

We're still reading The Hobbit--so slowly because there are so few uninterrupted evenings together.  But we're up to when Bilbo meets Gollum, and the kids were dying over the riddles. 

We're up to Gilgamesh being a king now.  He's not so fond of it because he has to be part of so much ceremony, but he's finding that there are certain perks, and, of course, he's the best king ever.

Because Gilgamesh is narrating his own story, and he's sure he's the best ever at everything.

I'm still editing quite a lot!  I think it's worth it for a chance to read a primary-source document.

We had a short school day on Tuesday in order to help our friends in the afternoon.

We spent 2 1/2 hours at the library on Wednesday while the kids wrote short compositions about any country in the world.  

My FAVORITE picture from the library that day.

With every possible country in the world to choose from, Brother and Beowulf chose the USA!

Lola became passive aggressive and then threw an actual fit in the library because the assignment was "so boring."

I did as much as I could to help her without actually doing the assignment myself:

    I tried asking leading questions.

    I tried narrowing down her options to relieve decision-paralysis.

    I tried setting up an organized work space.

    I tried talking her through opening steps.

She was having none of it and finally did the assignment in 20 minutes only after consequences were explained for NOT doing the work . . . and after those consequences were put into effect.

It was Friday before she did any school in a timely manner again.

Mothering/teaching my crew is no picnic.

On the flip side, Lola has been watching this monarch chrysalis for over a week.  It's located right above our front door.

The fact that it's not green anymore means it's about ready to hatch!!!

I may want to tear my hair out over her a lot of the time, but when she's interested in something, it's like the sun is shining through our lives.  We're all invested in this monarch!

And she's so her own self!

I went to get her up one morning and found an empty bed!

I was startled.

As I tried to step into her room to look for her, I tripped.

Over Lola herself.

She's really sleeping right there in her doorway!

And Lola's spelling is my favorite spelling in all the world.  

Yes, she has spelling lessons.

But, honestly, I will miss her writing when she learns to do it traditionally.

This week she was thankful for "gloow" because it's so useful for making things.

😍

*glue*

Of course she should be able to spell "glue" correctly at nearly 12 years of age, but she can't, and I'm not sorry (even if I should be).

Mister Man had a power point presentation assignment in his language arts curriculum.  

He had to present a pertinent cultural topic that was also a theme in Oedipus The King.

He was terribly stressed about it at first, but then he got going, and he found himself delighted with the work!

He says now he's looking forward to doing his CAP promotion presentations, too.

The kids are all making a lot of progress in their language arts, science, math, and electives.

There's just not much to show.

They read the books.

They wrote narrations or answered questions or studied vocabulary or solved problems or did experiments/projects.

I could take pictures of the experiments/projects, but they do them when I'm not looking!!  I wish they'd call me to see.  I even asked them to call me to see.

But Mister Man built a lemon-powered battery without saying a word until he asked me what to do with the lemons after he was done. 😞

We went on a walk.

Throwing the footballs

Retrieving the footballs from the poison ivy all along the road

There's a monarch butterfly in this highly zoomed in picture.
It's just above the walnut on the right.
Even if it's not apparent to anyone reading this, we know it's there.
Lola found it.
Of course.

Last night Ladybug, Mister Man, Brother, and Beowulf went to a Homecoming Dance Alternate held by friends who were protesting the flavor of their school homecoming (not so wholesome).  

Ladybug got very pretty!
(The boys were already in the car.)

Their numbers were small, but the kids said it was a really excellent party because the attendees were enthusiastic, inclusive, and funny.

I'm so grateful to the parents who did so much work to make it happen!

We spent the weekend watching General Conference.

Hands down, my favorite talk was by Elder Fale.  His heart was in his message of God's unconditional love for each of us.

While I am writing this, most of my kids are off learning a new-to-them Maori Haka--at least the boys are.  The girls are probably socializing, ogling the boys, and cheering them on.

That's why we miss evening reading even more than is scheduled--how could I possibly say no to such a great opportunity with such great people?  

We'll open The Hobbit again.

I'm sure of it.