Rainy Day Views

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 or small group time.  I am not as focused but it is so nice to have my hands busy and to be working on something that I enjoy.  Here, I am making a birthday gift so I have a deadline and I don't feel too bad about having school be a little more interrupted than normal as I try to finish out a row.)

...and to my right.

And the paper pile from when we cleaned out our notebooks.

Now, despite the tranquil appearance, the minty room with the orange accents that I enjoy so much, it is never quite this picture perfect.  There are fidgeting children, frustrating lessons, clock watching, noises, lectures, sending children out to run laps around the house, computers that go on the fritz, interrupting phone calls, running behind, days where Plan B, C, D, E doesn't happen, etc..  BUT, I have been trying super hard to count my blessings in the moment instead of complaining and getting irritated about the things that aren't going well (today, I blew it as I harshly lectured the children on obedience and doing a good job on their chores and had a bad attitude about hosting a family gathering because of the work involved in cooking and the company ready house clean that I wanted done...sigh...).  I learned last week that God commands us in the Psalms to reign in and rule our emotions and praise Him continually and with Thanksgiving.  I have been singing the hymn to this myself: 
  • Count your blessings, name them one by one,
    Count your blessings, see what God has done!
    Count your blessings, name them one by one,
    *Count your many blessings, see what God has done.
    [*And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.]

In other news...

We took these poor goaties to be dehorned.  It was awful and I nearly cried.  I am not a very good farmer LOL.

Over the Thanksgiving Break, I got some studio time and managed to created 3 felt paintings.  I need to needle felt and machine stitch but it was so nice to create.  (Excuse the icky yellow hue, I used my cell phone in the evening under whatever kind of lighting that makes things look yellow.)






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