When people ask me how homeschool is going I have come to answer with Charles Dickens iconic- "It is the best of times and it is the worst of times." Of course I don't usually take time to photograph the bad, but the good is pretty sweet. I love the increased time together and the added time all my ages of kids have to be together. It's interesting how the older ones interact with the youngers and how the younger kids pick a favorite older from day to day.
Bruce is reading Merle a book. Merle has since graduated from the bouncy chair, he is an independent sitter and loves to be played and interacted with.
Lia had a birthday and is officially 2 years old. She was delighted to have her turn being the center of attention.
Lia is in love her younger brother. She is very hands on much to his dismay. He is working reluctantly to acquire a taste and skill at eating solid food.
One of the hard parts of having everyone home is meeting all the needs. Lia demands to be on my lap with Mr. Man quite often. He demands nursing with just me alone, those are tricky requests being that the kids couple that with crying and persistent asking I make it work or thankfully an older sister sometimes swoops in and helps.
My next group of kiddos. These two spend a lot of time at Grandma Saunders playing with Eloise and Evander their cousins. They are funny and really good at sneaking off.
Just a normal day, homemade lunch thanks to Addie and mom. Continual play with the magnet blocks and mimicking what the big kids do. My older guys sit wrapped in the blue sleeping bag while they slog through hour upon hour of online course instruction.
Somehow we make it through each day. I'm sure there are some things being learned and some being missed. I'm thankful to gather my children around and know they are ok. I'm thankful we have a lot of them to meet at least in part the social needs they each have, not to mention the work needs and personal development hopes Greg and I have for each of them. Life is good, it is loud, crazy, and loving. Life is good, we build strong homes by righteous habits, focus on goodness and love. We are working daily to fortify our home and our lives. I am truly blessed.
As we anxiously await the political outcomes I have been striving to teach my kids we will not die or radically change our lives no matter the political decisions. We will still love each other, we will continue to do our work, and we will go on. I was struck to the core last week when we read the parents had taught their children to hate and that was the reason the peaceful unified society fall apart. Thus I work to teach them that though people believe, live, choose, and/or act different than us we can still be friends and still find activities or ideas we agree upon.
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