Eleven AM and we are trying to get out the door to go to Chuck E Cheese for PE today. (Hey – we’re experiencing rain of biblical proportions down here, and I contend that skeeball is as athletic as square dancing or calisthenics or whatever else they do in PE. And before you judge, let’s not forget what happened to those who mocked Noah’s plan to deal with the flood.)  As I’m grabbing the keys, an unnamed child of mine... Read more

I came home yesterday to help my nephew Nathan catch up with schoolwork.  He’s home from the hospital but not ready to go back to school yet.  So now I’m homeschooling three boys who would rather not have me as their teacher.  Good times! Thoughts on going home: When I tell people that I’m going home to see my parents, they often say, “I thought your parents lived in Virginia.” “Right,” I explain, “My parents live in Virginia.  But I... Read more

Ezra just asked me, “Mommy, what’s that cheese I like?  Buddha cheese? Or Gouda cheese?” The China theme may be getting out of hand. Read more

Last year, Barefoot Books came out with their first children’s novel, Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing. I bought it in anticipation of our trip to China over the summer.  But as I read it to the boys, they couldn’t follow along.  There were too many cultural references that eluded them.  Frankly, I couldn’t follow it much better. I took it out to try it again last week. The first sentence read, When I was a little boy, I lived in... Read more

“God, please help us have homeschool without crying today.” The noon hour was upon us and the boys and I were feeling pretty good.   As Zach had prayed, we made it through a whole day without crying, and we celebrated by jumping around and high-fiving each other.  You’d have thought we solved the Fibonacci riddle. What was different about today? Maybe it’s that Nathan is still having a hard time in the hospital.  And my fears and prayers for... Read more

Nathan is the first baby I ever really loved.  He is my sister’s son, and when he was a baby, he stole my heart.  He was funny looking and I called him a lizard baby.  Since then, I’ve gotten busy and he’s gotten all old and tweeny on me. But last week, when he started middle school — after he threw up because my sister forgot to send in some papers and he was therefore not allowed to get his... Read more

The secret to a good day of homeschool is the Field Trip.  (cue angels and harps) The field trip is to our first week of homeschool what sex often is after a big fight: it reminds you that you like each other and that things are probably going to be OK. (Didn’t see that coming, did you?  My apologies to my parents.) We went to the aquarium today and it was great.  First of all, there was no one there.... Read more

Are you getting tired of hearing how terribly things are going?  Not as tired as I am of writing about it. So here’s a list of a few funnies heard in between breakdowns and fights: A Curriculum Review: Why do they call this Handwriting Without Tears.  This should definitely be called Handwriting WITH tears. Said by brother one about our well-respected handwriting curriculum while brother two sat on the floor sobbing. Rebuffing Mom’s Affection: No one thinks kissing is better than... Read more