EKjourney Backup

My favorite homeschool days are the ones that are dark and rainy and windy outside.  When the orange lamps in the school room glow and the candle on the table is lit.  When the heater is on and the warm air is gently circulating through the room.  When we have nowhere to go and nowhere to be.  When we get up and get started on time and stick with our schedule and take extra time during our read alouds.  It feels warm and cozy and quiet and productive. This is my view on such a day.... Glorielle listening to Bible stories on the iPad. The girls working on their math lesson. Sawyer at his designated desk working on his math.  (He told me he needs a cat poster that says "just hang in there" and a bobble head decoration.  Where does he come up with this stuff?  LOL!) . Brighton doing Barton tutoring with me. My View... ...from across the room... ...straight down...   (Incidentally, I have been doing a lot of crocheting during my one on one o...

Does a Mama every look at her child (especially her firstborn) and ever NOT see the baby that once there was?  Do they ever not wonder how they got from first fluttery kicks to a saucy independent person?  Do they ever stop thinking that they could solve the trials of this world by cradling them tightly in their arms?  Do they ever really know how they start to let them go, let them grow up, let the be grown up. I woke up at 3:00 in the morning (this has been my reality for the past 2 months - waking up between 2:30 and 3:00 and lying awake for 3 hours)...in a sudden panic...only 4 more years until he is legally an adult.  Will he be ready?  Have I been enough (no), did I do enough (no), did I try enough (no), did I love enough (no), did I teach enough (no)...no matter what the question, I know I was not enough.  Faith has never come into practice as much as raising a teen.  I know I can't and never will be enough.  The more I grow, the more my on...

We had an "unusual" Thanksgiving this year.  My mom has hosted Thanksgiving dinner for as long as I can remember except for the November that I was in Kenya and the exchange students went to a restaurant called The Carnivore where we got to experience exotic meats like zebra and crocodile.  This year, my parents were invited up to Seattle to have Thanksgiving with my Aunt and Uncle and cousins.  I thought it a great opportunity for them to have some time together where they could focus on something else besides Gram's care and her estate.  We had assumed a quiet Thanksgiving at home but instead had a traditional meal, potluck style, hosted by Tina (and my brother).  It was lovely and I probably participated in Thanksgiving preparations more than I have ever done in the past.   But first...November skies... Winter light pouring through the windows. My contributions to the Thanksgiving meal.  I called it my cruciferous Thanksgiving - sautéed Brussel...