Day Forty-Eight

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are they days when we study history here. We use THE STORY OF THE WORLD , which is a great textbook. Part of our daily routine in classical education is the narration. Usually Aidan wants to recount every detail of the story to me and it's a difficult thing for him at times.

So, this is an exercise in getting to the point.

Today, he thought it might help if he wore the swim goggles.

Just so you get an idea of what this looks like for a second grader, here was his summary of the piece of history that we read.

"Yang Chien was a Chinese emperor who ruled when China was divided into two parts. He united the north and the south by invading the south. He was a cruel emperor. He forced the Chinese people to work for him and the people rebelled against him and killed him."

Day Forty-Seven

We had a great day of fall clean-up at the homestead today. JJ raked leaves and ran them over with the lawnmower to turn them into mulch for the area where our fruit trees will soon be. The boys played games, helped move dirt and leaves, and enjoyed the free time outside. We ordered pizza in the afternoon and enjoyed it immensely after all the hard work.

The Mama certainly got her workout today as she ran for 16 1/2 miles and then worked shoveling bark dust for a few hours.

In fact, a rare thing happened. She took a nap.

Cheers to hard work and Saturday naps!

Day Forty-Six

One of the benefits of homeschooling: the kids can blow bubbles in their milk at the lunch table. And on a good day, the teacher will even suggest it.

Day Forty-Five

Today was our homeschool play day with friends at the park. I can't even express how much I love and appreciate these women. We have a bond that I pray will grow even stronger in the months to come. There is so sense of competition (as far as I can tell), but there are a few sets of ears who are willing to listen when you're having hard time.

This week I was flooded with doubts: Am I good enough? Can I do this? Are my kids going to be okay? Am I making a huge mistake? What's better for my children?

An afternoon at the park where we shared struggles and watched our children romp in the mucky fallen leaves confirmed to me that I have peace in this....I feel refreshed...a burden shared with fellow homeschooling moms resulted in a burden being lifted.

Everyday grace....priceless.

I actually decided to leave my camera at home, so this photo was from the previous day. We continue to enjoy the leaves from our maple trees. :)

Day Forty-Four

The question that I probably get the most often from those who are skeptical of homeschooling is this: "What does Simeon do when you're busy with the other boys?"

Well...he joins in and listens for Bible and History, he tags along on every outing and field trip, and he sometimes fills in the blanks when one of the older boys pauses while reciting a poem or a passage of scripture. When Aidan and Dominic are busy coloring or writing, he sometimes asks me to color with him or play our favorite game, "Bears on Squares". And I usually do that.

There are days when he needs more attention. Those are the days I try to stop, take an early break, and read him a book or play a game of chase. He's always nearby and I don't think he feels unloved.

Right now his favorite color is pink and his favorite number is three. He's my baby and life at home wouldn't be the same without my Simeon Paxton, my peace child. I know I'm overprotective of him (sometimes to my fault)...it's really hard not to be at times. But that's for another day.

Day Forty-Three

After school today we worked hard at raking leaves. We also played hard while we were jumping in the piles of leaves that we had raked. Between the two maple trees that are deeply rooted in our property, we have no shortage of work...and enjoyment.

The fall season has been marvelous this year. The colors seem more brilliant than ever...but maybe that's just because I've forgotten the beauty of last year. One of the poems that the boys have memorized this year is by Emily Dickinson. She observes that in this season "The maple wears a gayer scarf"... and we've seen that to be true. I'm thankful for"our" maple trees.

The photo:

Me: "Hey boys! Smile!"

The Boys: You can see the result of that for yourselves.

Day Forty-Two

Aidan had his first official swimming lesson (without parents).

Dominic had his first official reading lesson in which he actually cooperated for the entire time!

Simeon learned that your fly is actually not a third pocket.

A lot more happened. This was a great moment. I laughed really hard (and that's good medicine...or so I've heard).

"Mama, will you please put my bunny in this pocket?"