A Week, Briefly (10/30/17)

On Saturday I folded laundry for a looooong time.  Pixie took my picture with most of it--we'd already put a few piles away.  That's not really a school thing, but it is a time-management thing, and time-management is part of homeschooling.  Truly, having all of the folding be my job is NOT working!


We went to "The Kitten Farm" on Sunday for Family Night.  Following are a gajillion pictures because I feel happy when I look at them and because I didn't feel like being selective.



Last week's tractor pic may have been frame-worthy, but this shot is one in a million!                 Photo credit:  Sir Walter Scott

It was honestly hard NOT to bring a kitten (or three) home.

























We tried to get a card-worthy photo of all of the kids . . . this one won't make it into anyone's mailbox, but it makes me laugh at how hard it is to get 12 kids to cooperate for pictures.

Monday
It was an ugly day.

I don't want to talk about it.

We did do lots of school, and that part was good:
   Morning Meeting
   Academy
   Symposium
   One-on-one time
   Teen Mentor Meetings
   Individual Studies.

We also had warm cinnamon apple cider and homemade oatmeal cookies (gf/df/sf) for snack.



That was good.

And Sir Walter Scott had a rousing wrestling-with-the-kids-on-the-living-room-floor session. Then he read stories to them to settle them down.  Then I kicked them all out of the house to play outside before dinner.

Building fairy houses


That was good, too.

But the hard stuff was big, and it is too hard to talk about now.

Tuesday
Morning temps below freezing . . . it's early for that in our neck of the woods.  I need some more hot breakfast ideas now that we're gluten-free, and we've found out how much we all HATE quinoa for breakfast (believe me, we've tried!).  We love oats and rice and eggs and baked treats . . . I guess that's enough.

Perhaps I'm just missing cream of wheat and cracked wheat lately.

I had to be out the door before breakfast for 2 fillings and a wisdom tooth extraction.

I felt yucky all the rest of the day, but I did manage preparing and serving all of the rest of the family meals, doing 2 sets of dishes, Academy, one-on-one school time, evening reading (to the non-teens), and a trip to the library.

But I blew off piano lessons.

The teens went trick-or-treating with friends, but the rest of the kids and I had a quiet evening at home.

Here are Holy Cow! and Oh, Dear! together at the service project last week.

Wednesday

First thing in the morning, I came home from driving with teens to seminary to find these two like this.

The Elementary 8 and I bundled up for the 40-ish-and-misting weather, and we hiked around a lake.  We found deer tracks and looked at the changing colors and textures around us.  We explored places that are now empty but this summer were full of wildflowers and grasses.

This was a crazy sort of fungus--dry but spongy and soft.

Such lovely berries


Climbing back up the dam to the lake after running down for the sheer joy of it.  In the summer this hill is 3 or 4 feet tall in wildflowers and grasses.



Exploring seeds instead of flowers . . .



Beowulf had a tantrum, and Brother broke down a few times, and our thermoses were so effective that our "warm" cider was still boiling hot, so we couldn't drink it until we got home and poured it into mugs to cool.

Most of us have burned tongues.

But in spite of the challenges, it was a good morning.  We didn't do any hard investigating or learning, but we looked and experienced, and that is enough right now.

At home we had Academy, one-on-one school time, and Symposium.

Still no piano lessons.

Pixie was so tired that not even Lola jumping on her back got her up.  She slept right through lunch.

Rose Red kindly dropped Pixie off at dance and picked her back up again because it was game 7 of the World Series, and Sir Walter Scott never ever asks to stay home and watch sports, and he planned to pick Pixie up, and he would have without complaining, but watching this game was something he clearly wanted to do . . . so thanks, Rose Red. :)

During a commercial break Sir Walter Scott came to visit with me, "How was your day?" he asked.

"I was mean," I answered.  "I'm tired of being mean.  I need to stop.  I just feel so gross and wiped out that mean happens before nice can."

He kissed me and sat quietly because there was nothing to say, and he understood.

Thursday
Dance day . . . all day.  We costumed, rehearsed . . .

and then Nature Angel fell in the parking lot and broke both the radius and ulna in her left arm--right across the middle.

We spent the evening in urgent care.

Friday
The teens and I had a laundry folding party.

Nature Angel started feeling better, and we got a casting appointment for early next week.


Then Pixie and I cut and sewed costumes for our show next week.


Even so, we managed Morning Meeting, Academy, and Symposium.

I spent an hour on the couch snuggled between half a dozen small people.  Nature Angel dozed in the overstuffed chair with her arm elevated on a couple of pillows, and Beowulf was still cleaning up his toys from quiet time because he refused to do it earlier.

But half a dozen kids and I had a lovely time together.

Pixie ran off to a babysitting job.
Rose Red is desperately trying to finish up enough schoolwork to qualify for going out tonight with her new love.
Super Star wrote well over 5,000 words this first week of NaNoWriMo
Belle took Theo on a 2 mile run, and then she lost herself in a pile of library books.

Tonight our little babysittee gets to spend the night and all day tomorrow with us because her mommy will be at a women's church retreat; I do hope it refreshes her tired spirit.  This young mama has had it rough for the past year, and she needs some refueling.

I'll be taking advantage of Old Navy's Friends and Family coupon sale tomorrow to play the Santa game for my teens.

We have another week of gray, chilly weather ahead.  I hope to find sunshine in my soul.


(linking here)

Comments

  1. I just love reading your posts because you're realistic about the day to day good and bad mix that is life in a large family. Praying you find some rest and refreshment for you. I hate when my go to reaction to everything is mean mom...sigh. It's my red flag that I've hit burnout and need to find some way to find balance again.
    Broken bones! No fun. How will that affect dance for her?

    We found out Friday that Mason will be having surgery #19 in early December and that will involve a leg cast from toes to upper thigh for 6 weeks. The only good thing is as long as I don't go early we will finish the casting before this baby is born. It complicates a lot of his day to day medical care though...sigh. And sitting, moving, using a wheelchair, etc. But the surgery is needed so it is what it is, right?

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    1. Oh! I wish I were there with my crew of helpful teens to do some good for you! As that's not an option, I hope your Relief Society will be ready and standing by to help. May Mason's surgery and casting and healing all go well!!! I will be remembering you extra in my prayers.

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  2. Such a full week. I hope Monday goes better next week. I remember it was Wednesdays that used to always be rough. Oh, they still are our roughest day. I don't seem to be able to fix it. The pictures are wonderful.
    Blessings, Dawn

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  3. Poor Nature Angel. We really sympathise. Miss 16 broke both her radius and ulna when she was 12 (trampoline training accident) . She ended up needing two surgeries - one to insert rods to hold the bones together and another six months later to remove the rods. Hope Nature Angel' s breaks are simpler are easier to heal. If I could send you some sunshine for your soul I would.

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    1. I don't think her break is as severe as your girl's was. I am concerned though because this is her third arm fracture in 2 years, and all 3 of them have been slip-and-fall accidents. This says to me that she has bone density issues, so now I'm doing some research! Thank you for your sunshiny wishes. :)

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  4. I agree the pictures are WONDERFUL--including but not only the "one in a million" one. Shocked and sad about Nature Angel's arm; hope the pain is easing up!

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    Replies
    1. She's doing ok.

      And, really, we got some good ones, didn't we!?!?

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  5. Definitely a week of ups and downs for your family. I love, love, love the photos. Poor Nature Angel. My daughter broke her elbow once after a slip and fall in her bedroom. Years later, she broke her wrist on the same arm, while playing soccer. I'm hoping she doesn't break anything on her mission! My son broke his leg while on his mission, after breaking his foot on that same leg, years earlier, both times while playing soccer. He now has a metal plate in that leg. I hope the week ahead is full of more ups than downs.

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  6. Oh, I miss having a cat for a pet. Looks like you all enjoyed your kitty time. We are also gluten free. Its been hard but we are used to it now. None of us like quinoa either. :)

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  7. Oh, I so understand about mean coming out before nice can! Especially when other stresses are eating at you. You accomplish so many great things even on your sick days though!! And those darling kittens must count for something, at least! No week can be a total loss with those kittens in it. :) So sorry about the broken arm!

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  8. I have determined to help fold clothes when I come out there...

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  9. I understand about the laundry, it is s battle that I constantly fight. I wash and dry but never seem to have time to fold. Love all the pictures!! I am sorry for the hard days... We all have days where mean comes out. I get so impatient some days and know that I should be better. I hope the broken bones heal quickly!!

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  10. Impressed that you have a smile on your face with that pile of laundry in front of you 🙂

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