A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

This post is insanely long.  It is fun for me and for the kids to read through it and remember our days, but it may just be too much for anyone else to enjoy! No offense if you give up. :) 4:50 am   I wake to Lola climbing into bed between Sir Walter Scott and me.  She's wiggly.  I tell her to settle down and try to do the same myself, but it isn't any good. 5:06 am   I give up. 5:15 am   I have a mug of herbal tea in my hand, fresh socks on my feet, my favorite robe around my shoulders, and a bowl of breakfast chocolate at my side.  I settle in front of the computer to start chronicling the day. 5:20 am   I open my scriptures.  I'm studying the Old Testament this year.  Its been a long, long time since I've read it through from beginning to end, so it feels oddly new even as it is as familiar as my own face.  Today I read Numbers 21-25. 5:33 am  Pixie and Super Star burst out of the basement, grab a snack, inform me that Rose Red won't get up (so now

This is a short week for us because tonight is Pixie's Sweet 16 party, and we're getting ready for 50-ish teens to come over to our house tonight to help her celebrate. We've cleaned out the garage, and we're covering the walls with thrift-store sheets.  Then we've got a bajillion chinese lanterns and tiny LED bulbs to go in them. Pixie's pulled out some fun games from the closet; all of the teens have been cleaning the basement living room and kitchen and bathroom; Rose Red is helping with the music playlist. Add some pizza and sodas, and we've got ourselves a party. But it's going to take all day to get everything set up, so we're not having our regular school--just Morning Meeting.  However, I am fully prepared for some one-on-one time with my small people should they seem to need it.  ( Note :  I never did have one-on-one time with them, but we did have Academy!) And I quite expect Ladybug to need it. Thursday was a nightmare for her.

Still trying to get that perfect toothless photo . . . this is close, but not quite what I hope to capture. We did a lot of our usual things--Morning Meeting, Symposium, Academy, one-on-one school, evening reading, outdoor play, church activities--and we had significant successes. Look at all of the finished workbooks! Took her almost 2 years to finish this course, but she did it!  I am so proud of her I could burst! But what mattered was Valentine's Day. We didn't celebrate until Friday. (Sir Walter Scott had to work on the actual holiday.) And in spite of our best efforts, we couldn't get Rose Red to join us. (But we did tape all of our valentines to her onto her bedroom door.  We'll tell her we love her no matter what!) It was stressful . . . getting all of those valentines made.  I was on high alert for breakdowns. But, to tell the truth, we didn't have any. (I was exhausted nonetheless because of my high alert