A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

 We started our week at our friend's pool. This sweet friend not only invited us to spend half a day swimming with her, but she provided a beautiful lunch for us all.   Then she invited us back again! (In a couple of weeks) We sat down to write thank you notes the next day. And Nature Angel drew this pencil sketch as the main card and gift. I'm of the opinion that our friend should frame this signed original and hang it in her cabana! I love that she included the three mom friends (the friend with the pool, an old homeschool friend, and me) in the left loop of the pool. Several of the kids learned to dive on this day, so not only did we have lots of fun, we had P.E. as well! For our Summer Baking Bingo activity, we made homemade lemonade. Nature Angel interviewed for and got her first out-of-the-home job.  She'll be working for an Eldercare community.  It's huge--covering acres and acres of land--with services from apartments for seniors who live independently ...

I really did. We'd taken the family out ice skating--the cost of entry being a gift from Rose Red to the family.  I had chosen not to skate because I'm only just getting back normal use of my left shoulder, and I was afraid of hurting myself again.  (I'd reinjured it over the weekend, setting back my progress already.) Sir Walter Scott got skates, and joined the kids on the ice, mostly to stand by the wall and be available in case of accident.  I was just making noises about going home to dinner soon, and he'd been grateful to see that he could keep his balance far better than he'd thought he would since his stroke nearly 3 years ago . . . when he fell. He sprawled out face-first on the ice. It knocked the wind out of him.   But when he got his breath back, he skated off the ice, returned his skates, tolerated some jokes from me about us being geriatric parents, and started texting pictures to Rose Red to thank her and show her what a good time we were having be...

  Beowulf is the perfect picture of how we all feel after last week . . .  even though this picture of him is from last Sunday night. What a week! Monday was busy from morning to night as we got ready to send Ladybug, Little Princess, and Nature Angel off to Girls' Camp--along with Sir Walter Scott. First, we found out that our day off was not really a day off because Li'l K and Stretch needed to be cared for, and their grandma was out of town.  So they came over and went with us to our church Memorial Day celebration and pancake breakfast. They ate a ton of pancakes and fruit, and then they made friends with as many teenage girls as they could . . . all of whom were delighted to make their acquaintance. We stayed longer than we should have because the kids were so happy playing outside.  But eventually, we returned to our responsibilities.  Mine were doing the shopping, prepping meals, helping Ladybug pack, and refreshing Ladybug's hairstyle. The next morning a...