That flash is way too bright #1 and my mom #5, #2, and #6 me and my mom The Computer Guy, #3, and #4 What would Easter be without a hat? and fresh beignets after Mass Happy Easter Y’all! With love from the Frechs Read more

It’s been a long week of fierce debate on top of what has seemed to be a very long Lent. It’s time for a little joy. Read more

I read in a military history book once that dying men on a battlefield cry out for God and their mothers. I can remember reading that sentence and glancing down at the sleepy warm baby boy who was then nestled in my arms. The idea that he would ever lie somewhere in agony and call for me…and I just cried. There is something magical for our children in the presence of mothers. A soft word or a gentle kiss can... Read more

Sometimes people say that they don’t understand how I can have 7 children. I don’t know…it seems pretty obvious to me. Read more

2 hours – that’s how much of my day has been spent in trying to get the book layout to look right.  2 solid hours of googling, cursing the computer, googling again, saying some mean things about Bill Gates because this is his product that’s giving me fits, and blaming the computer that hates me – I know it does. Then I start googling again. I’m tired of finding the same answer on every website and trying it again and... Read more

It’s been a long weekend and Monday without the computer. My eldest is writing a paper for her college English class that’s due at midnight, so the rest of us have been banished from the computer area. Because the bigger kids couldn’t get to their math and Spanish lessons, which are computer based, we tweaked our syllabus and spent the day studying together instead.The elementary age kids are studying the French Revolution this week. I’d been dreading the bloody gore of... Read more

I took #6, who’s 3, to the doctor today. Strep. Just like the rest of the kids. (I’m dunking the whole house in bleach later this afternoon.) He was curled up with his blanket in the waiting room when a 40-ish woman stopped in front of him and baby-talked “Poor wittle guy. Is him sick? I hope him feews betteh soon.” He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “I’m sick.” He said firmly. “I’m not stupid.” It was all... Read more

I’m sitting in Starbucks drinking my coffee and listening to the people in the chairs behind me discuss locations and costuming for a vampire/zombie flick they are shooting. They’re not the kind of people I meet in the everyday business of my life, and yet they are completely fascinating to me. It’s not the subject matter of their movie that I love, it’s their passion and enthusiasm for what they are doing. They are in love with this project and you... Read more

Back in 1992 when I was a high school senior, a friend of mine and I were asked to work on a mural for our high school’s cafeteria. Other students were to help us, but we were the only two Honors Art 4 students, so the main bulk of the project fell on us. We were told that we had carte blanche for the design — it was all up to us as long as it was cafeteria appropriate. By... Read more

***Today continues a series on the mistakes we all make. If this one isn’t you, hang with me, I’ll get to you eventually.*** Last week I wrote about the over-scheduling trap that sucks families in and eats up their time. Just as detrimental to the success of your homeschool is its opposite, under-scheduling. It’s so easy to see how you could fall into under-scheduling. There’s a lot of work to get done within a finite amount of time. With all... Read more