September 23, 2017

We are considered veteran homeschoolers now.  This is our 13th year of teaching at home, and rather than be unlucky, we are instead overflowing with graces and good fortune.  God has indeed been good to us.  You can count on one hand the people who have healthy kids, a home, an extended family that still speaks to them, grandparents who are still alive (and an amazingly good influence on our hobbits!) and at least one parent with a job that provides.  We often ask ourselves why we have been the beneficiaries of so many blessings, but usually the conclusion is that we are meant to help others.  If this blog can spread some more sunshine around the Internet (dang new-fangled contraption!) then by all means, dear reader, enjoy it!

 

August 9, 2017

Today seemed like a good day to start a website.  It began in the usual way for a new, sleep-deprived mom, with a baby blurp of spit-up on my shirt, a frantic search for somebody’s socks and shoes, and a round of discipline for a feisty toddler.  All of this was before first breakfast, let alone second breakfast.

Then we moved on to summer homework, which consisted of math for the second grader, math, handwriting, and reading for the first grader, and playtime outside for small children.  At about 10:30 a.m., I finally got to fry and eat my eggs. “I can make you some eggs if you’d like,” said Bilbo to Gandalf, and I to my older son. Like the wizard, my son declined the offer in favor of tea.

After I cleaned the kitchen, and myself, I donned my new Gandalf t-shirt from Wizard World Comic Con 2017.  The shirt reads, “I am never late.  I arrive precisely when I mean to.”  This was a good shirt for today, since I was late to pick up my daughter from ballet intensive because I had to nurse the baby.

Life in a large family is never dull.  Exciting, messy, loud, and exhausting, but never dull.  I enjoy those boring, tidy, quiet, restful moments, but they are few and far between. We do, indeed, have eight children which is adventure beyond our wildest dreams.  My husband and I are just along for the ride.  Join us as we battle cave trolls, feed the dwarves, climb trees with the Elves, and anything else you can find in the world of children’s literature and the real world.