The 2019-2020 Homeschool Year is in Session!

8am - The 1 year old eating breakfast, lots of kids

working on school. Another is behind the table

laying on the floor doing math, one is on 

the couch in the living room working.

Monday
The first day of our new school year went well. I reminded the kids that it would be a bit unorganized this week as we all get used to our new materials and figure out what to do for each subject. My husband is home on Mondays, so I really was able to focus on helping kids do school while he kept Tobias (age 3) and Rebekah (age 1) happily playing.

Daniel reading to me from The Good and the 

Beautiful Language Arts

This year I set a block schedule for each day. There are no specific times - instead the kids have certain subjects assigned to each day. Then there are things kids don't have assigned, because they simply do them every day, like reading great books, handicrafts, personal scripture study, and piano practice. Today's blocks were as follows:

1. Joseph - Math, Language Arts, Art. Our language arts curriculum encompasses many different subjects including: grammar, writing, literature/reading, poetry memorization, spelling, geography, art appreciation, art expression. I just list it as language arts for simplicity.
2. Emma -  Math, Language Arts, Art. 
3. Daniel - Math, Language Arts, Science. This science is a group of Daniel, Oliver, Caleb, Mason, Samuel. Today we studied sight and did a lot of fun experiments/activities. 
4. Oliver - Math, Language Arts, Science.
5. Caleb - Math, Reading, Handwriting, Science. Caleb is not finished with All About Reading, being partway through level 3 of 4, so he does not yet use The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts. Perk of homeschooling - we go at his pace!
6. Mason - Math, Language Arts, Handwriting, Science. Mason has finished all levels of All About Reading so he is doing TGTB LA. Again, perk of homeschooling - we go at his pace!
7. Samuel - Math, Reading, Handwriting, Science. 

Monday is the most challenging day for me as teacher, because I have six new math lessons to teach. The rest of the week kids are doing practice pages, but Monday takes a lot more direct instruction. 

A Peek at Monday Topics

Joseph and Emma reviewed the commutative and associative property today. The chalk pastel work from language arts made Emma batty - because chalk pastels are square, not round like a colored pencil. In Artistic Pursuits the three of us started the unit on space - the area filled or left empty in a piece of art, studied an Indian miniature painting of an elephant chasing his handler, then reproduced a rough sketch of it on 9x12 paper and then on a half sheet, paying attention to the proportion of elephant (4/5ths of the page) to man (1/5th of the page). 

Daniel reviewed negative numbers with addition/subtraction/multiplication/division/exponents. In language arts he happily remembered the grammar concepts and started reading a biography of Evaleen Stein. He loved science. His favorite part was exploring the affect of covering one eye and trying to throw or catch small objects - it really messed with his depth perception. 

Oliver doing The Good and the Beautiful

Language Arts 3

Oliver is focusing on all things fractions this year in Math U See Epsilon. Today he found fractions of a group. For example: "What is 3/5 of 20?" We kept it very hands on with manipulatives. In science he liked looking at everyone's irises and seeing how different the colors are, even within our family. Language arts was all new to him and me - nobody in my home has used TGTB LA level 3. We read through lesson 1 together and practiced using commas in a series, among other things.

Caleb did reading with Daddy, reading aloud the word sheet that prepares him for his next story. This year he will begin transitioning to learning cursive with Handwriting Without Tears, so today was reviewing writing the print alphabet. Math was easy, according to Caleb. He is starting multiplication. Today was hands on, with rectangular arrays of blocks. He liked science best today.

Mason working on Math U See

Mason is still in the throes of all things addition and subtraction this year. He is finishing the last few lessons from Math U See Alpha and moving into MUS Beta. He started TGTB LA 3 today too. I am waiting to see how he does with this. His reading ability is easily on this level, but the amount of writing may prove challenging with the fine motor challenges he has. His favorite science activity today was when we tested peripheral vision to see who can see best to their sides while still looking forward.

Samuel is not sure he wants to be in 1st grade this year because it means learning time infringes on all this play time. I just make sure he has breaks between each subject and offer praise when he is working on his learning activities. He is reading pretty well, semi-fluent in his current level of All About Reading, level 2. His pencil grip is the craziest I have seen in my kids yet, so we are trying a few things to remind him how to hold his pencil when doing handwriting. He liked science well enough, anything that feels more like play than sit down learning is going to be a hit with him. Math was his least favorite because he wasn't thrilled with writing numbers - again, coming back to pencil grip issues.

Rebekah enjoying a puzzle

Tuesday
Day 2 of the homeschool year was day 1 without daddy home and everything went smoothly. Rebekah and Tobias mostly gravitated to whatever room I was in, pulling along toys or climbing up to the table with a bin of activities like slime, thinking putty, magnetic dolls from Melissa and Doug, puzzles, wooden lacing animals, and counting bears.

Caleb doing Handwriting Without Tears

It was day 1 of biology for Joseph and Emma, so I got them oriented in the student notebook and they jumped right in to the textbook. The younger boys science group focused on fooling our eyes today. We experimented with optical illusions.

Our nature study right now is watching the spider who has taken up residence outside our window, building a web and trapping bugs for its dinner.

Emma decided a treat was in order and made a double batch of no bake cookies, about 70 cookies.

Wednesday
No meltdowns yet is cause for celebration. Samuel did tell me he didn't want to be a big kid and do school work any more when it was time for handwriting. Ha!

Joseph working on The Good and the Beautiful

Language Arts

We started our day with our very first lesson from The Good and the Beautiful History 2. I passed out books about Ancient Greece and Greek mythology to the kids and challenged them to flip through and just look at pictures, to get a mental image of ancient Greece started. They each chose a favorite picture from their book, or one they had a question about, to share. Then we started reading the lesson, which begins with a discussion of our belief in one God (monotheism) and the Greek belief in many gods (polytheism). Most of my kids are familiar with Greek mythology so we compared the characteristics of the true God to the characteristics of the Greek gods and goddesses. We looked at maps of Greece - political, topographical, historical - and discussed how the land and water could impact the people groups in ancient times. We learned about the Minoans and Mycenaeans and started individual timelines with entries related to each. We also read some Greek myths.

I am tweaking the amount of writing in TGTB Language Arts 3 as I go for Mason. He has fine motor challenges and is on the young side for this level. He cannot do all the writing by hand in this on top of handwriting lessons. Some days seem especially heavy on writing in the language arts. Today, for example, included the following writing in the lesson:

• Writing 20 words, many of which follow a particular spelling rule, as orally dictated by me. This is not the normal spelling words, this is a lesson on a particular spelling rule.
• Write 4 adjectives that describe a painting in the lesson. 
• Use a thesaurus to write a list of synonyms for those 4 adjectives.
• Write a list of 7 nouns from the painting.
• Rewrite the list of nouns in alphabetical order.
• Write 2-3 sentences that use those nouns in a series with commas.
• Practice the 5-7 spelling words the child is on in the Course companion. TO do this the child is to come up with a sentence for each word and write the sentence.

Add to that all his writing in other subjects and it's overwhelming him. So we tweak. We do some things orally. I write the nouns he lists. We take turns writing the list in alphabetical order. We make the curriculum fit the child, not the child fit the curriculum. It's a perk of homeschooling!

Handwriting Without Tears for Samuel

Today we finished our Homeschool Book Club read aloud: The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Catling. Everyone enjoyed it. We have simply listened to it at lunch time each day. The sweetest thing happened at dinner time. Tobias ran into the other room and grabbed our CD player because he wanted to listen to another story. He was quite put out when I didn't have one ready.

Thursday
A rhythm is starting that feels solid and comfortable. I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts! Everyone is doing their assignments. I'm trying to get my routine back in place for checking papers/grading. I used to do it during Rebekah's long afternoon nap, but we have discovered that if she naps too long in the afternoons now she will be up to midnight or later. As I am not a night owl, and I wake before the sun most days, that nap is now kept to 2 hours or less before I wake her up. And during 1 1/2 of that 2 hours I'm doing medical care with Mason.

Emma doing Apologia Biology

One subject that is outside my comfort zone this year is art with Joseph and Emma. They decided I need to participate in Artistic Pursuits with them. Drawing is not an area I enjoy. I just keep reminding myself that they feel that way about some of their other subjects, so surely I can cheerfully do art. Today's task was exploring the different art pencils and doing a rough sketch of something interesting to us. We headed outside to draw.

Tobias loves this Button Art

Friday
We made it through the entire first week of the school year without tears. It is probably a record. So far I think the block schedule is going to be a great fit. The moments of me being pulled in too many directions/subjects at once were few this week because everyone had the same general subjects each day.

In history group (Emma down through Samuel) we sat around the living room listening to the first audio story for this year's history curriculum. We learned more about the ancient Greeks. We pulled out our timeline and used it to answer some questions relating people and events we learned about last year to this year. Then we did our first day with this history level's game. It is a card game that is set up to be used like a memory match. On light blue cards are descriptions of people. On dark blue cards are a picture and name of a corresponding person. These are all people we will learn about this year.

For today, I passed out people cards to the kids, including Tobias, and kept the description cards. I  read a description card aloud and they could guess who the match was. If they didn't have any idea I would tell them. When you had the match you brought it to me. The kids loved this sneak peek at the people we will learn about this year. As we go through the rest of the year we will play the game as a memory match. Sometimes I will give description cards to each family member and have them pretend to be that person and give us clues about who they are. We will do Pictionary with the cards and take turns drawing the clues. There are lots of different ways we can play with these cards.

While we were doing this Joseph was reading about Einstein's teen years and writing about him for history. He's decided to begin his history study with Einstein.

Over lunch today I read aloud a chapter of Archimedes and the Door of Science. This is the first read aloud we'll do with The Good and the Beautiful History 2.


Well, that's all my notes from the week, so I'm hitting publish. Hooray for another year learning together at home!

Preparing for Another Homeschool Year

With August here I am in final preparations for the new homeschool year. This is one of my favorite things! I love seeing the possibilities ahead of my family as I sort our materials, make plans, and contemplate weekly schedules. This year I will have 7 students in grades 9, 8, 6, 5, 3, 2, 1, with a 3 and 1 year old tagging along for the ride. My oldest will be a college freshman in another state. I'm going to miss her, but it will be a wonderful adventure for her. I thought I would share about how I'm preparing things for this school year.

Task #1 was to create our calendar year. Homeschooling is flexible and laws vary in each state. In Ohio we are given a specific number of hours to aim for - 900. We do not have a number of school days required. I still block out our year and mark when we will be schooling and when we will be on break. Each year is a bit different based on our start date, when holidays fall, and when the local high school spring break is. Until I had high school age students I ignored this. However, from 9th grade on, my teens attend an early morning scripture study class, called Seminary, at 6am. This class follows the local public school calendar somewhat, and I learned with Makayla that it is really nice to have our spring break overlap the seminary class spring break. 

Task #2 was to write out the books and curricula I need for each child and start gathering everything into one place. I ordered materials earlier this year, and some things we reuse for younger children. I have been gathering things to a cubicle in my bedroom. For anything new, that we haven't used before, I spend a few minutes reading through introductions and making notes. 

Some new to us materials this year are:

• Handwriting Without Tears - we've used the orange level, but this year I have kids who will use the next two levels. 
• The Good and the Beautiful History 2 - we used History 1 last year and loved it. History 2 is similar in setup. I have a few things to prep for this year. I printed the first quarter of student explorers for different grade levels. I created a supplies list by lesson. I made a list of coordinating art projects from my Deep Space Sparkle stash of lessons. I gathered books for the first quarter of topics from by boxes of history books in the attic (these are a mix of nonfiction, picture books, and chapter books). They will go into a book basket for free reading. I chose a history read aloud. I transferred the audio story files onto a kindle and grabbed a speaker so these are ready when we need them.
•  The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts levels 3 and 6 - we used 4, 5, and High School 1 last year. This year I will have kids using 3, 3, 5, 6, 6. I'm looking through the new to us levels and making a daily checklist for each level that doesn't already come with one. 
• Photography - Joseph wants to do digital photography as an elective this year. We have a couple resources: Fundamentals of Photography (The Great Courses) with National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore is 23 video based classes, Basics of Digital Photography with Rick Allred is 9 video classes, and we have a checklist of photograph categories (ex: flowers, landscapes, buildings and bridges, teens and adults) that Joseph will use to take 50 photos per category, then choose 10 favorites in each category. He will edit 2 from each category and create a book of his photography from the year. 
• Artistic Pursuits: The Elements of Art and Composition - Emma and Joseph want to do this course. I grabbed a picture of the materials list with my phone and picked up the few things we needed. 

Some materials we have used before:

•  Apologia's high school Biology - I gathered the student notebooks, textbooks, dissection tools, dissection specimens, microscope, and biology slides. Dissections don't begin until Module 11 (about 22 weeks into the course), so those items won't be brought downstairs to the dining room yet. 
• Science for my Elementary group - This year the 5 boys in this group (Daniel, Oliver, Caleb, Mason, Samuel) each chose a couple topics they want to study. We will rotate through the topics together. Here are the ones they chose: Bats, Ants, Bees, Big Cats, the 5 Senses, Muscular system, Circulatory system, Light, Simple Machines, Motion/Mechanics. I have the Apologia Elementary Science series of textbooks, which is what the kids flipped through to give them topic ideas. We will use the chapters that go with each topic, as well as hands on learning, and nonfiction and picture books from our shelves or the library. 
•  Math U See - Pulled teacher's manuals and dvds from the attic for Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Epsilon, Pre-Algebra, and Algebra 1. Opened the box of student workbooks we ordered. 

Task #3 was to have each child empty their school bin and pass out their new books. It was a quick and fun job. 

Then came the hardest part - Task #4 - making a realistic weekly schedule. One interesting facet of homeschooling is that I teach lessons for everything from elementary school through high school in a variety of subjects every day. There are independent portions, such as math worksheets after the weekly lesson, but a lot of mom-led lessons happen too, especially with the younger students. I do some group teaching. For example this year Joseph and Emma combine for Biology and Art, Daniel, Oliver, Caleb, Mason, and Samuel combine for science, and Emma down through Samuel combine for portions of history. Add in the fact that I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old, cooking meals, physical therapy and daily medical care for Mason, piano lessons one afternoon a week, and life in general, and having a realistic schedule is important. 

This year we are starting out trying a slightly different way of scheduling. In past years the kids get assignment sheets listing how many days per week they need to do each subject. They would then schedule that week however they wanted. It works, but it means I have some days very heavy on lessons kids need me for, and others lighter. I want this year to be a more even balance. 

To get that balance, we are trying a more set schedule, where each day has the subjects assigned out already. For example, I will teach the elementary science group lessons on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, while we have a history block on Wednesday and Friday. Our block schedule allows for more time to immerse ourselves in a topic each day, instead of rotating through every subject every day for a shorter time. I also won't have as much mental jumping around because everyone has history on history days, or everyone has science on science days.

Task #5 is to start teaching and learning together. That happens Monday. I'm as ready as I can be. The kids are ready. The schedule is cleared, with as few interruptions to the first week as possible (no appointments).
Here we go!

The Brave Learner Conference

Friday morning I woke early. By 5am my mother had arrived to take care of my kids, my sister had arrived, and I was driving us to our friend Jennifer's house to pick her up. We were off on an adventure - The Brave Learner Conference, planned by Julie Bogart of Brave Writer fame - in Cincinnati. This was our homeschool mama continuing education for the summer.

We had a lot of fun talking and laughing on our drive. We made it safely to the Renaissance Hotel where the event was being hosted in the middle of downtown. It always amazes me how busy downtown in the city can be.

The conference details were spectacular. Beautiful tables, gifts, programs that had room for notes for each session, music, and people. The day was a mix of presentations by Julie Bogart interspersed with breaks, interviews, and music.

I came away with so many thoughts. Let me know if any of these resonate with you!

Kids think about the world differently than you do. Sit with that idea a moment. Think back to when you were a child. Looking back, can you see what went over your head, what you didn't understand in the moment, or what was important to you then, that as an adult wouldn't be the same? When I think back to childhood things were simple and more clear cut. I knew what I liked. I did things that I enjoyed. I have memories that still stick with me today, that at the time, were probably very small and simple things.

Support a child where they are, not where you wish they were. A simple example - no matter how much I may wish a particular child was already doing XYZ easily in a subject, the reality is, they are where they are. I can't force growth. I can support them where they are.

When my child is having a hard time with something I need to remind myself what that feels like. I need to go try something hard, right then. At the conference Julie had origami paper on our tables and invited us to make paper cranes. She had two resources we could use - a quickly moving video playing on a screen and printed image only direction (no text). It was hard! I gave up on the video because it was simply moving too fast for me. I really learn best with written instructions. That wasn't an option, so I used the printed images. They weren't as clear as I hoped, but with a little trial and error, I did end up making a paper crane. During the process I was uncomfortable, frustrated, and almost quit. The noisy room was distracting. It was a good reminder that what is going on with my kids when learning is so much more than the simple thing I think it should be.

If you want your child to love it, you need to enjoy it first. For example, if you want a child that loves the library, go to the library yourself and include them. If you want your child to love making music, make music yourself and let them explore instruments too. If you want them to love the arts, love them yourself.

Kid don't stop learning and growing when they graduate your homeschool. Give them a solid foundation and trust that they will continue to learn what they find a need for as an adult. They have a lifetime ahead to continue learning.

Now that I am home from the conference I am in the final preparations for our school year. Our first day is coming quickly!

A Large Family Road Trip

Last year we made plans for a family trip. For some families this happens regularly, but for us it is a big deal. Our last family trip out of state was 8 years ago when I was pregnant with child #7. We flew to visit my sister's family at a military base across the country - leaving behind grandma and grandpa who were going to travel with us, when Grandma broke her femur chasing after one of my little ones on slippery airport floors. Yes, really. She had surgery instead.

Lack of money, the expense of a trip, medical needs, handicap accessibility, and the reality of travel with a very large family kept us in Ohio. This summer was our last chance to do a family trip before kids start moving away for college, missions, or marriage. We saved our pennies and made our plans. We booked an entire floor of an old mission in upstate New York last November. Last week it was trip time. I would love to say it was an easy, perfectly smooth trip, but it was a lot of work, some unexpected issues, and a bundle of wonderful memory making.

Thursday morning grandma and grandpa arrived at our house and we loaded our 12 passenger van and their small car with everything for the 14 of us for 3 days. There was food, clothing, medical supplies, a wheelchair, stroller, snacks, glow sticks, new audio cds, and one backpack of activities for each child packed by the children themselves. It felt like unloading a clown car in the circus at each rest stop. A parade of 14 people, mostly children, stretching legs, using the bathroom, and then loading right back in the van to leave again. The trip from Ohio to New York is 6.5 hours without stops. It took us 8 hours.

We ran into some problems with the Airbnb (not clean, outdated/gross showers in some rooms, lack of air conditioning in a couple bedrooms and the living spaces in hot July weather even though we asked specifically about that when making our reservation, a fridge full of expired and moldy food from past guests), but we really had no other options. We made it work.

Thursday evening after we got in we drove 30 minutes to eat dinner at McDonalds and do a small grocery trip at WalMart in the nearest small town.

Friday morning we did medical care we usually do in the afternoons for an hour and a half, then got everyone ready to leave for the entire day. We drove an hour north to the Palmyra, NY area. Lunch was Wendys. Then it was time for sightseeing at church history sites (Smith Family Homes, the Sacred Grove, the Palmyra Temple, the Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center). We had a wonderful day.

In the evening we settled in to our seats to watch The Hill Cumorah Pageant, and outdoor performance on a giant stage with a cast of more than 700. It was amazing. After our hour drive back to the place we were staying it was 12:30am Saturday morning. Everyone went to sleep for a few hours.

The official Saturday morning started with another hour and a half medical care for Mason while everyone else packed everything, including lunches, and loaded vehicles. Then we were on the road by 9am heading to Niagara Falls. The only words to describe the falls are powerful and amazing. We had long, hot lines to wait in to get down to the Maid of the Mist, a boat ride that takes you around the bottoms of the falls. It was worth the lines!

The rest of the day was traveling home, eating our packed lunches on the road and stopping for dinner. We pulled in at our house at 10:30pm, 13.5 hours after we left the Airbnb in New York. We were exhausted, but happily so. Sunday was spent recovering, unpacking, and washing mountains of laundry.

Food we packed or picked up at a grocery store in NY:

• bagels
• bread
• milk
• Nutella
• oatmeal packets
• lunchmeat
• fresh fruit
• chips

Snacks we packed:

• candy
• pretzels
• oreo type cookies
• cheese crackers

Fun Fact: Eating out is not cheap for a large family. We ate out 4 times over the 3 days. The rest of the meals we packed or prepared at the AirBNB we stayed at. The restaurant food for the 12 of us (not grandma and grandpa) cost as follows:

•  McDonalds - $72
• Wendys - $73
• Dinner at the Pageant by the local Kiwanis Club - $71
• Ice cream at the Pageant by the local Kiwanis Club - $24
• Chick Fil A - $80 

June 21st to July 10th Summer Notes

Friday kids started to feel better - enough to start picking at each other. Tobias has gone back to napping as part of his recovery. We spent the day at home, quiet and resting. Sweet friends sent us flowers and a get well balloon.

Saturday Joseph and Emma returned from youth conference, healthy and happy. They had a great time.

Sunday everyone was well enough to go to church together. After getting a bit stir crazy after dinner everyone headed to the backyard to enjoy some sunshine and fresh air.

Monday morning the kids cleaned out the van. In the afternoon Mason and I spent a couple hours doing an appointment to get various braces adjusted. In the evening there was a used curriculum sale at the local homeschool group, where I found a few twenty-two good books to add to our shelves for $9. Well, I suppose only 20, because the giant two volume set of all the Sherlock Holmes stories Emma claimed for herself about three minutes after I returned home. She loves Sherlock Holmes and is well into the first volume as of Tuesday evening.

Wednesday and Thursday I have no notes. Friday we went to a game night at the church. The kids loved the different activities, indoor and out. Saturday and Sunday were quiet.

Monday was full of appointments. Just a typical day. Jason had to work, which is unusual, but would get Friday off instead.

Tuesday the big van got an oil change and other minor prep for our upcoming family trip to Palmyra, NY to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant, visit a lot of church history sites, and then swing by Niagara Falls on our way home. Makayla was working the farm and a farmer's market as usual. Joseph, Emma, and Daniel decided to bake chocolate chip cookies for the family and to share with our piano teacher. We had piano lessons in the afternoon.

Wednesday and Thursday have no notes.

Friday we went to our friends' home home for swimming, a late night movie (Monsters Inc.), and then fireworks. It was so much fun!

Saturday was errand day.

Sunday was church and then a family birthday party for Samuel, who turns 6 years old this week.

Monday was the final shopping for our trip. We also squeezed in a 3.5 hour appointment with Mason's bracing specialist trying to adjust his HKAFOs (standing braces). Unfortunately, it looks like it is time for new braces. That means an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon and the physical medicine doctor, x-rays, possible surgery plans (depending on the x-rays, we're tracking a few things), submitting request for new braces to insurance, waiting up to 6 months for bracing to decide yes or no, appeal if denied, then a month-ish for the custom braces to be casted, built, and fit. All while we try not to lose function living without braces or wear improperly fitting braces during this time and risk pressure sores. And of course if it is time for any of the leg surgeries on the horizon that plays into all of those timelines too. Ha! It is never dull.

Tuesday and Wednesday I have no notes, so I'm hitting publish. Next up - a post about our big family trip!

Summer Notes: June 11th - June 20th

Tuesday was 'office day' for me. I was filling out paperwork for various things, listing phone calls that needed made, and paying bills. The kids enjoyed their summer day with minimal fussing at one another. The Instant Pot beef stew recipe we made was delicious for dinner, with a side of fresh rolls.

Wednesday was 'phone day' for me. I spent several hours on the phone, on hold or talking with people at various doctor's offices, insurance, etc. Almost everything on my list was taken care of by the end of it. Today was also Makayla's official birthday. I'm the parent of an adult. Crazy.

Thursday's physical therapy was a lot of fun. Mason liked exploring the new gym and equipment. Beyond that, the day had a lot of cranky kids who were getting on each others' nerves. It kept raining off and on and we were stuck inside.

Friday - I'm sure we did something on this day, but I have no notes.

Saturday we headed to The Works with the kids. It was a great morning for it because we nearly had the place to ourselves. Most of the kids spent their time in the tech center taking apart different donated machines. The youngest kids spent time in the little kid play area with me. It is full of costumes, puppets, and pretend play areas (firetruck, science lab, grocery, ice cream shop, puppet stage).

Sunday we had a peaceful day at church where even the littlest ones managed to make it through the first hour of services (family service). I began a new calling today, secretary in the Primary (children's church). That means I get to spend time with the large group of children we have at church. It is such a sweet place to be, hearing them learn and testify of what they know to be true, as well as enjoying the singing time.

Monday we started the week of daily rain. The kids are NOT impressed. Most of them only have one pair of shoes, so they can't play outside in the mud and ruin their only pair of shoes. We're stuck inside. That means trying to find different fun things to do each day.

Tuesday's fun activity laid out on the table after breakfast was exploring our rock collections. The kids did their summer reading and math time, then play ensued until lunch. Then the day took a downward dive because Samuel threw up. Vomit is a large family mom nemesis, because it increases cleaning, laundry, and work.

Wednesday is a blur because I was up all night Tuesday with sick kids, sick myself, and tired. Half the family was in various states of being sick, though vomit was limited.

It is Thursday morning. I dropped Joseph and Emma off at the church to travel to youth conference (they are in the non-sick half of the family). They will return on Saturday. It is raining and I'm still tired. We're about 25 hours out from the last person throwing up, but I still have a handful of people who haven't gotten sick yet, so that may change. Today will probably be a day of movies while people lay around in various states of illness. I think today will be a great day to watch Newsies.

June 2nd - June 10th

Our Sunday began as it usually does, with church. The rhythms is an anchor to our week and I always some away refreshed. Even if keep 10 children engaged and relatively quiet during worship sometimes means I hear less of the service than I would like.

Quick picture of the family at 

Makayla's seminary graduation.

After a quick lunch at home we headed to the stake center (larger church building 30 minutes away where groups of congregations meet together for various events) for Makayla's seminary graduation. Seminary is a 6am scripture study class with other teens that Makayla has attended throughout high school.

Monday was our usual get-all-the-things-done day before daddy's work week begins on Tuesday. Rebekah and Jason each had doctor appointments, there was grocery pickup, errands to run, a couple hours outside enjoying a random cool weather day, Makayla working the farm in the morning, college work for Daddy, chores, cooking, cleaning, and the usual medical care for Mason.

Fortresses

Tuesday morning I was tired from the get go. Rebekah is getting in her first molars, and she did not sleep well, so neither did I. Our day's plans were very at home and relaxed. The kids read, played built fortresses out of bunk beds, and enjoyed our train set. They also had piano lessons.

Birdwatching window at the nature center

Wednesday Makayla headed off to work at the farm as usual. Rain was in the forecast but I decided to see if we could sneak in a visit to the arboretum. I packed up 9 kids and by the time we arrived it was raining. We decided to start in the nature center basement where there are displays, toys, books, turtles in tanks, a nature table with things to explore, and a giant bird watching area. We had the entire place to ourselves and saw so many birds and chipmunks! Once the rain slowed we headed back out to the van and headed down some of the auto trails to explore. Our mission today: look for leaves and bark to find differences.

Thursday was a bit shuffled around because we switched Mason's physical therapy time to mornings for summer. After getting everyone up, fed, and moving on their day, I took off with Mason, leaving the kids in Makayla's capable hands. Next week his therapy group moves into a new building that has an actual pediatric therapy room. We're excited for more space!

Daddy dropped the borrowed van off at the mechanic shop for an oil change and to have the a/c fixed.

This week we decided to start introducing the kids to some old shows, mainly musicals. Today we watched My Fair Lady. It was a hit with several kids.

Friday was a quiet, at home day while Makayla worked both jobs, using my van, and Daddy had the car for work. In the evening we were able to pick up the borrowed van from the mechanic shop, so we now have 3 vehicles for the summer. It is a huge blessing! We finished off the evening watching The King and I with Makayla.

Saturday morning I browsed a cookbook I borrowed from the library, jotted down a few recipes, and made a short shopping list for ingredients we didn't already have. Joseph was my shopping buddy this week. The cookbook recipes all an Instant Pot, which I already have and use occasionally. Here are the recipes we'll be trying in the next 2 weeks:

• Vegan Fajita Bowl - Made on Sunday, added chicken as an option. Yum.
• Cilantro Lime Rice - Made on Sunday. Yum.
• Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Beef and Broccoli 
• Salty Baked Potatoes - Made on Saturday. Yum.
• Super Simple Chili
• Fire Roasted Beef Stew - Making this tonight (Tuesday)

Sunday began with church. A few of the boys were teaching or giving talks, which is always fun. In the evening we celebrated Makayla's upcoming 18th birthday with family. We had root beer floats and sherbet floats, talked, laughed, and just enjoyed time together.

Monday's forecast was rain, cooling off the temperatures, so we planned an afternoon trip to the zoo. We had a great time exploring three sections of the zoo: North America, Heart of Africa, and Polar Frontier. The kids were thrilled because we finally were able to feed the giraffes, an activity that has been on our wishlist for over a year.

Monday also was special because it was my 19th wedding anniversary! I have been married for half my life now to this wonderful man!