A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

Newly home from the hospital--that's one proud big brother! The older 4 girls did all of the cooking for the week. Monday morning J11 made french toast for us--it took 3 full loaves of bread and over a dozen eggs.  She was tired but proud of her accomplishment. Oddly warm weather on Tuesday  lured the kids outside a lot.  They flew paper airplanes off the back deck for hours at a time. Dad took the 7 ambulatory kids to a new park for the afternoon on Wednesday .  The kids came home raving about what a great park it is. As they tried to come home from the park, the transmission cable on our van gave out.  (It had been threatening to do that for a long time.)  Everyone was stuck at a near by gas station until AAA, Baby L and I, and some friends from church could come pick everybody up and transport them home/the auto shop.   S12 entertained herself by painting this must...

We tried to have school, but I was so unable to focus on anything that I gave up.  I couldn't get myself to make simple assignments.  Even reading aloud left me breathless and exhausted. We went on an outing on a weirdly warm January day. I left Dad with the kids at a playground and walked over 4 miles trying to kick labor into gear.  No luck. My mental state of being was bad.  It didn't matter what I knew with my rational mind.  I was sleep-deprived, exhausted, unable to breathe, unable to think, unable to laugh or find any sort of perspective.  I felt serious depression/anxiety fluttering around the edges of my brain.  I recognized the signs of needing help because I've been down that road before.  I needed the baby out NOW. But he didn't come out. I took the kids to their Explorer's Club meeting.  We all made valentines to be delivered to local Meals on Wheels recipients.  The kids churned out over 100 valentine...

This week will forever be remembered in our house as the week the baby didn't come. During the week the older girls did the barest of basics for school each day:  personal scripture study, reading journals, and math.  The little guys were free to immerse themselves in creative play . . . and they reveled in it.  Every day (except Monday) we went on some sort of outing to keep me from going crazy--I've never been pregnant so long before! Over the weekend Dad, S12, and I fell victim to the stomach bug the rest of the family had last week.  So on Monday we recuperated.  I had irregular contractions all day.  The littles were busy, busy, busy playing, but I wasn't really tuned in to what they were doing.  At one point as I passed the dining room I noticed a puppet show going on: I was intrigued, so I stepped into the room to get a better shot, and I discovered that they'd spent the morning creating "Fun Land." "Pupit" theater. An...