A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

 That's what has filled our days for the past couple of weeks. Super Star was pregnant; we were all so excited. Then her numbers went down, and she had several days of waiting and wondering and worrying before an ultrasound confirmed that there was no heartbeat. I am far too familiar with this kind of loss, and my heart broke for my daughter and son-in-law.  Even as I supported her to the best of my ability, I felt gut-punched--as if I were reliving my own pregnancy losses of the not-actually-that-far-distant past.  She is recovering well, and she and Mr. E are adopting a beautiful puppy to fill their hearts and hands while they wait for medical clearance to try again and then face the uncertainty of future pregnancies. (Adopting a puppy has been on their wish list for a year now.  The timing of this puppy being born and available now is a serendipitous blessing!) That was one death. The other was Sir Walter Scott's mom. We are grateful to have her body and mind at p...

We settled into survival mode.  On Monday, they had to check in at FSY in the late morning, and I thought that since it was Juneteenth, we might have a baby-free day. I packed a picnic and asked Sir Walter Scott to take the 6 younger kids along for the ride and for a date-with-Dad-outing because I was hoping to get some work done all by myself. However, first, two babies showed up (Mom was still recovering from surgery, so she needed help getting through the day), and then two more babies showed up (Mom was in the hospital, and Dad is a manager, so he had to go in to take care of stuff even on a holiday). By this time, the kids knew there was an outing offered, so I sent them happily off to see their sisters settled into their dorm rooms, and I settled in for a busy day with 4 babies ages 2-4. I did not take pictures because my hands were full every minute.  With all four kids coping with the strangeness of life with sick or missing mamas, they were very needy.  I spent a...