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Showing posts from November, 2021

A Week, Briefly (11/15/21)

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 Honestly . . . it was a pretty good week . . . even though we had a lot of sickness and a lot of activities.  We did our book work on 4 days, and we had our one and only show for the semester on Thursday.     The whole bad dress rehearsal--good show adage proved true for us, and our show was a joy.  The audience was so appreciative and complimentary (that's why it is lovely to perform for the elderly).  When the girls came out to dance to Peppermint Twist , and they were all wearing poodle skirts, there was an audible gasp of delight from the women in the audience.  One woman leaned over to her friend and said happily, "I used to have a skirt just like that!"     A frantic costume change moment before Peppermint Twist   Our theme is patriotic this year, and as the kids concluded with singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic , there were many tear-streaked faces. How grateful I am that the nursing home staff not only allowed us to perform, but encouraged our children to in

A Week, Briefly (11/8/21)

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 Nature Angel's perspective is always a thing of beauty and a reason to be grateful.    In spite of a stomach bug, a toddler birthday, and the usual psych issues that are always and forever dominating our days, we're actually falling into a working homeschool routine. All of the younger kids are now working daily on some sort of language arts, spelling, handwriting, and math.  We are doing our best to protect the older girls' few hours of uninterrupted school time, and they are making progress in their various studies. We are very much enjoying Benjamin West and his Cat Grimalkin .  Just moments ago, Baymax came up to me and asked, "What would a Quaker think of our house?!?  Wouldn't he be surprised by how many pictures we have?" Then he came back a moment later and asked, "But what would Benjamin West think?  Wouldn't he like all of the pictures?" We're right at the point where Benjamin is waiting for the First Day committee is going to anno

A Week, Briefly (11/1/21)

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"It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times."   That's life around here.   One day we get through a lot of school, and everyone does their chores and gets along reasonably well.   Like this morning--they got dressed, did their chores, and read until breakfast!!!   The next day we have violent outbursts, 911 calls, and psych evals.   It's no wonder none of us knows which way to turn next. But we are looking for what beauty we can find, and we try to be grateful in all things.   I found this on Nature Angel's photo roll--it's of her desk (aka her bin of yarn) in the early morning when she does her personal scripture study.  She is ever seeking for and aware of beautiful moments.   Early Tuesday morning the sky was crystal clear, and a waning crescent moon glowed perfectly.  I told Little Princess.  She got the telescope set up in record time.  She and Nature Angel had a glorious half hour looking at, admiring, and taking pictures of the moon.   Then on