A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

 We were in the middle of the frigid cold and snowstorms that descended upon the country this past week. All of the local schools were closed for the whole week! Which affects us because if the schools are closed then:      *seminary is canceled.      *church activities are canceled.      *Civil Air Patrol is canceled.      *library hours are modified . . . or the library is closed.      *and sometimes our American Rhythms shows are postponed--in this case we had to postpone         because of illness throughout the entire group. And we were part of that sickness. Fevers/Chills Fatigue Dry, hacking coughs Congestion Body aches Headaches Loss of appetite It was rough enough that most of the kids stopped eating (Beowulf skipped cake the first night and then didn't eat for over a day after that.  Lola survived for several days on nothing but water and 3 bites of chicken and rice.)....

 Obviously, our homeschool goes on as planned (mostly) when the weather turns bad, but the extreme winter weather has caused most--if not all--of the kids' activities to be canceled. We're starting a round of winter colds. But we dove into regular school all day Monday.  Nature Angel finished her star blanket while I read To Kill a Mockingbird to the teens. She hasn't blocked it yet--hence the curling points--but isn't it so pretty? It used to be half of another blanket that she started.  When it turned out much bigger than she thought it would be, she searched for more yarn, but it turns out that this yarn is now "vintage" and costs an arm and a leg per skein.  It sat half-finished for a year or more until she was inspired to do this star. It was so funny to watch one blanket unravel and turn slowly into another blanket. The teens and I still have most of To Kill a Mockingbird to finish, but we did complete the quarter 1 exam for The Mystery of History v...

 That's what has filled our days for the past couple of weeks. Super Star was pregnant; we were all so excited. Then her numbers went down, and she had several days of waiting and wondering and worrying before an ultrasound confirmed that there was no heartbeat. I am far too familiar with this kind of loss, and my heart broke for my daughter and son-in-law.  Even as I supported her to the best of my ability, I felt gut-punched--as if I were reliving my own pregnancy losses of the not-actually-that-far-distant past.  She is recovering well, and she and Mr. E are adopting a beautiful puppy to fill their hearts and hands while they wait for medical clearance to try again and then face the uncertainty of future pregnancies. (Adopting a puppy has been on their wish list for a year now.  The timing of this puppy being born and available now is a serendipitous blessing!) That was one death. The other was Sir Walter Scott's mom. We are grateful to have her body and mind at p...