A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

That's Belle in line with friends to listen to a devotional by President Dallin H. Oaks at BYU-Provo I hate to whine too much. I count my blessings every single day. I do! It has been a rough few weeks, though. For me. Nothing huge has happened. But I feel defeated anyway. And I don't think I should pretend otherwise. I'm old enough and experienced enough to know that seasons like this will pass.  I will feel light shining through me again, and I will see more clearly the good that I am doing. Acknowledging the hard will, perhaps, make the joy all the sweeter. Our habits and routines keep us grounded. Morning Meeting continues to be our daily anchor.  We're reading, discussing, singing, and memorizing our way through scripture. High School Studies have been simpler lately because between post-surgical healing and a cold, I haven't been up to putting notes up on the white board for history/geography.  We've focused instead on reading and narrating.  We finished...

This picture looks boring, but it documents my younger kids having a serious-and-thoughtful conversation about the Bible and current events.  Rose Red has the best ability to make people around her think and engage in conversation!    Thank you to those who posted words of sympathy and encouragement for me.  My heart goes out to you in your struggles as well.  We're all doing our best!   I'm seeking a new blogging routine because my Sundays are full with my church assignment in the leadership of the children's organization--we call it Primary.  That's why my blogging has been hit-or-miss for the past few months.  I used to write on Friday afternoons, but those aren't as free as they used to be either.  So I'm thinking. Today I'm somewhat handicapped as I type one-handed.   I had carpal tunnel surgery this week! Me--prepped and ready for surgery (Recovery is turning out to be harder than anticipated.) It is a profound relie...

As I've written before, it's probably hormones, and I'm trying to put them in their place, but they're bossy little things, and I'm struggling. I feel like a failure every day. I'm disappointed in our homeschool. I cry over things as simple as getting dinner on the table. But I've been doing interstitial journaling in my planner to prove to myself that I'm not failing as a home educator and human being, so I do have proof that we're getting things done. We received an "Everything is for Sale" Monopoly expansion pack that has inspired frequent game play in our home. Morning Meeting is thriving as we review The Family Proclamation using the songs from this blog that we found and fell in love with 10 years ago.   (It's hard to believe Marilyn's kids and my kids were so small and are now so big.  We've never met in person, but her joie de vivre keeps me avidly interested in her blog.) We're also enjoying our daily readings fr...

This is a good representation of how we're living these days.  We did it. We did Christmas, and we did New Year's Eve, and we rested. We had the most hilarious family nativity ever! Rose Red filmed the whole thing (a video far too long to share here), and we watched it twice over because it felt so good to laugh and laugh and laugh. Finding no room in the inn This shepherd is "sore afraid" of the angel! "Unto us a Child is born!" I was reading the story as narrator, but I like to feed the kids lines sometimes.  I think I told Beowulf 4 times in a row that his line as a shepherd arriving at the stable was, "Is this the child?" He walked right up to the manger and said, "Is this the sheep?" We howled until our sides hurt. It took a while to get back on track and finish the story. Sir Walter Scott was a grumpy King Herod. The wise men look uncertain. But they made it to the baby. Such a patient sheep! (Wearing a costume and everything) Our c...