A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

 Little Princess graduated and came home from Cadet Officer School!  Graduation was available to families via Zoom, and we cheered for our girl at the dinner table as the rest of the kids prepared to head out the door to church activities. Little Princess with her flight There were twelve flights of 10 cadets each at COS. The extra people you see in this picture are her flight commander and sergeant. Our busy girl had one day off before heading into two days of work, a doctor's appointment, and babysitting her nephew. Then we found out that the daddy of one of our former daycare families died suddenly at work on Friday.  Little Princess joined the rest of our family in taking care of the two little boys as well as helping to clean their house.  We offered to take the boys again today (Mom is literally bed-ridden with grief, and Grandma is fragile), but they had a bad night last night, so they opted to have a quiet day at home together. They talked axles and wheels an...

 As a family, we've been in a stable place for a season. And now we are not, again. We are facing some of the old challenges grown larger.  Weare facing some new challenges that feel simply too big. This week a few of the kids are at CAP Encampment. One, who should have been there, is not because of a mistake he made that had large consequences attached. In the past I have written somewhat freely about our challenges. Now, I feel inclined to turn inward. The only homeschool business I have to write about is that we're still reading My Friend Flicka , and we quite enjoy it.  It's wordy, and has some racially biased tendencies (and a nasty word or two).  I edit that out as I read aloud (or sometimes I stop for a conversation about what's in the story and why it's not okay).  The plot is quite engaging, and the peril level is just right for my crew to feel excited as the story progresses, but not actually frightened. We've got kids coming and going so much now that...

 I have been incapable of posting because my depression got so bad that I was in the most basic survival mode each day. But I have seen my doctor. I have talked to my family. I have been taking steps to do better. And I am slowly finding light. Along the way, the kids have been so, so, so busy with Island Fest 2026! It was yesterday. Himene Tarava A song about the planting of the seeds with Little Princess, Ladybug, Mister Man, Brother, and Beowulf Haka Puaka  (The Pig Dance) With Mister Man, Brother, and Beowulf This dance was choreographed by native Marquesas Islanders who gave this group permission to dance it for this festival.  It was accompanied by live music--one musician was born on one of the Marquesas Islands. Otea (The Rooster Dance) With Ladybug and Little Princess Otea again This time with Little Princess soloing (She's the one in the yellow) Himene Uru (The Breadfruit Song) with Lola Ladybug and Lola got to play Uncle Dave's big drum--the one he used to acc...

 Yesterday ended the 2025-26 American Rhythm season. Stars Sparklers Stripes Firecrackers My dancers and me The whole troupe We had a blast putting on our Friends and Family show--a good audience always helps. :) Now we're on a break for a wee bit. This summer we optional clogging/swing dance workshops on the calendar for those who want to develop their skills a little bit. And by June, the other teachers and I will be deep in planning and choreography for the 2026-27 season. As for my personal crew, we are making progress on our academic goals, but we also had a week long spring break--mostly for my mental well-being. (Though I must admit that the change in schedule did not do my kids much good.  We had a few rough moments that made me very glad we're starting school again tomorrow!) We finished up our Book of Mormon Family Reader during Morning Meeting, and we started the book of Alma in The Book of Mormon during our after-dinner reading time.  We're still on volume 2...