A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

 We're doing well, but I'm already ready to dump school in favor of hiking or outings or projects. But October is always like that for me because the weather finally cools off enough to think again, and all I want to do is play. We're doing our work. And playing when we can. Sir Walter Scott took the kids to Wichita, Kansas for the temple open house happening there now. They said the temple is a teeny-tiny one.   So tiny that the waiting room (the one for kids/friend without recommends to wait for weddings) is across the parking lot in the distribution center! When asked, every one of my kids said their favorite part was being in the Celestial Room . I sent them off with lunch, snacks, and directions to a couple of really interesting parks in the area. They stopped at the big park by the river to have their lunch, play some baseball, and generally work out their kinks before heading home again.  It turns out there's a local wildlife zoo in this park, and they all cam...

 On Friday. :) It was the first and only day we could manage this week, but we did it. Lola, Baymax, and I swam; the other 4 kids followed all of the rules and made a wonderful impression on the gym staff as they used the workout equipment. They want to go back every day! I was a synchronized swimmer, lifeguard, swim instructor, and/or pool manager for many years of my youth.  It was the first time I have been in the water for myself in 26 years, and I felt 16 again! Or at least 16-ish. (Lola and Baymax passed the swim test to be able to swim under lifeguard supervision without direct parent supervision!) I'm old and tired and out of shape, so I swam slowly and felt the work in every part of me, but it was all so good. So. Good. We're going back tomorrow. 😄 We had our last two officially scheduled days with Little Mister. I feel simultaneously grieving and free. Free to work on projects that just aren't practical with a toddler around.   Grieving the sweetness of ba...

About 3 years ago, we took a math sabbatical. Just from formal math. (We did a lot of real life math.)   When we were ready to start again, we used Teaching Textbooks online.  It was perfect for our needs at the time--relaxed, simple, neutral (meaning Mom was not the enemy teacher), and easy for everyone. Then the problems with having kids online that we'd thought we'd solved began coming back. So I began the slow shift back to pencil and paper math. This year, everyone is back offline except Little Princess. I was so nervous!! But (and I know I'm speaking too early) it went really well the first week. Yes, Baymax, Lola, and Ladybug threw math-related tantrums--but only once each! And look at Mister Man. Can you see that he's smiling? He. Loves. Geometry. It's so fun! He works so long and hard at it, and he smiles while he does it!  He comes out to report that he's done, and he has a grin on his face every day (at least every day of the first week).  He talks a...

 Did we do anything summery fun? A few of the kids did; there was a church Back-to-School swim party in a neighboring stake, and four of my kids happily attended. I don't have any pictures of that night, but here's where the party happened! Looks fun!!! And Sir Walter Scott took the youngest 6 to a baseball game.   It was $1 hot dog night! They whooped and hollered and got on the jumbotron twice and had the absolute time of their lives. Even better, the home team won! Otherwise, we took care of back-to-school details and took care of littles every day of the week! One day our extras included 2 kids all day, 3 kids in the morning, and 2 kids in the afternoon--all before attending the funeral of our little friends' daddy in the evening. We had several appointments this week including 2 case management appointments, 2 therapy intake appointments, and Ladybug's last therapy appointment until she is assigned a new therapist (CAPA relies on interns, and they tend to finish/st...

 We've entered the season of finishing. Baymax finished math. Brother, Ladybug, Beowulf, and Lola have finished various math/language arts worktexts , and they're down to only 2 worktexts to go to finish for the year. Little Princess finished American Government. The kids and I have memorized all 47 US Presidents in order.  We're now trying to memorize some interesting facts about each president and develop a sense of each president's season of influence. We finished Little Britches and Great Expectations .  Both books inspired so much discussion!  (In totally different ways, of course!) I do have to comment that I knew a sad ending was coming in Little Britches , but the kids were taken off guard--kind of blindsided.  It was rough to watch them react, and I have a hunch this is going to be a book they're not willing to revisit any time soon. We picked up Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher as our next bedtime read aloud--it's a spin off of 1001 Arabian Nights ....

 I'm not doing well. I have built habits and routines that are keeping us up and running, though. Morning Meeting and morning meds Cleaning/Meal Prep  High School literature/geography Snack Elementary/Middle school subjects Lunch Independent schoolwork Cleaning/Correcting independent schoolwork Meal Prep Dinner/Scripture reading/Family Prayer Showers/Bedtime reading or Evening activities/get ready for bed Evening meds If anything interrupts us, I flail about, lost. Several times in the past few weeks, Sir Walter Scott has found me standing in the living room unable to move or think clearly.   Then I remember where I am, and I do what I can. I've taken kids to keep medical/psych appointments. In the pulmonary function lab I've kept everyone fed. We've gone to dance performances and practices. In the circle before our show, our little friend loved on Mister Man--one of her favorite humans. They've attended church activities. This activity was interrupted by tornado wa...