A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

Our teens are an amazing team. Sir Walter Scott and I just got home from a 3 1/2 day trip away from home during which we read books, relaxed in a hammock, watched movies, ate too much, and took long naps. We stayed in this treehouse. I fought tears for the whole drive away from home, and I texted the kids during our dinner out, but somewhere along the way, I got into the groove of relaxing, and it was hard to tear myself away this morning. I could have enjoyed a full week. But it's good to be home. :) And I came home to a very, very clean house (even the game closet was tidied up!), happy children, and satisfied teens. After that first night, they didn't reach out to us once. They just took care of things. They prepared meals, administered meds, took kids on picnics, dropped kids off at parties, picked them back up again (driving safely), watched movies, gave baths, combed hair, read stories, meted out discipline (whooooo, Ladybug was a challenge!), played ...

We had a nice academic start to our week.  On Monday we began with our usual routine of basket duty, a breakfast Bible story, and then Morning Meeting.  Right now we're working on: Article of Faith #3 I Lived in Heaven Isaiah 5:20 Paragraph 5 in The Family Proclamation Studying Mosiah chapters 15-16 God Bless the USA (for our dance troupe) "The Clock" by Mother Goose Bedtime Math The older girls and I dove back into our music appreciation unit with a review of the 5 musical eras we're studying and an in depth look at Bach's life and compositions.  We had a grand time listening to a whole bunch of his music I worked with Nature Angel on some grammar and spelling.  She drew a gorgeous Swallowtail Butterfly and did a whole bunch of sewing on her own. This isn't the swallowtail, but it IS one of her many chalk drawings. This became a little purse, complete with strap and reinforced bottom. The littles and I made music with a bunch of g...

The attorney counted us--not just our family, but all of our invited attendees--as we filed out of the courtroom.  He said to my dad that we were the largest group he's ever seen at an adoption. And he's completed nearly 3,000 adoptions. That's family.  That's friends.  That's community.   Us, with the commissioner who approved our adoption.   I'm counting my blessings right now. I'm so blessed to have community. And 4 new children. Officially. We had a simple luncheon back at our house. Then we went to the park for milk and cookies with more of our favorite friends. Brother enjoys a cookie Sir Walter Scott's brother flew out as a surprise for us!  Pixie kept the secret for over 2 weeks!!! My dad forgot his sun hat, and all we had in the van was this beanie.  He wore it well. :)  I didn't get any other pictures because I was busy visiting, and the park was so crowded I didn't even know where any of my k...