September

The last week has been tough, mostly for the lack of sleep that Momma gets. Which, in turn, affects everyone (John is nodding in agreement). The last HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association http://hslda.org ) magazine we got had an article by Mike Smith that stated several things of frustration for the homeschool mom: " 1. mom's scenery never changes, and this can be stressful. Dad typically goes to a whole new set of adult relationships and surroundings every day. 2. the whole world can see the results of mom's homeschooling, and moms feel the intense pressure of this fact. 3: moms need some time each week to regroup, to listen to themselves think, and just be alone for a while. During a typical homeschool day, mom probably hasn't talked to another adult at all. Meaningful adult communication meets a basic emotional need of our wives...."



Those are all so true. Add to that list very little sleep because Luci still does not sleep through the night--up twice most nights, and restless (almost night terrors at times) quite a bit of some nights plus trying to keep kids quiet because the lady downstairs can hear lots of what goes on up here. It's been very stressful, and I am so ready to be in our new house. I'll be able to let Luci fuss a bit more at night without worrying that she is waking John up (she'll have her own room on the other side of the house) or bothering the neighbors, and the boys can be noisier without me getting so upset.


John helped so much Saturday--he took the kids to do errands and then to JT's Upward Soccer game at church and I stayed home to sew. I had the best time working on curtain liners for the new house, and I made Luci and myself matching bags out of red, paisley quilting. They turned out so cute! I even added fuzzy pom-pom trim to them, and they are so girly. Luci loves hers, which makes making them even more enjoyable. Thanks for that time, John. It is rare and sweet!


Here is a photo update for the past two weeks. It's been difficult to find time to "do the blog" since it does take more time to upload the site and then the photos and text...much more time in comparison to checking email, or even another friend's blog.

We got to see the reproduction of Christopher Columbus' ship, the Nina (I don't know how to make the mark over the n). It is a fabulous ship, built by hand, without power tools. It was amazing to think that Columbus and his crew (and the Pinta and the Santa Maria) braved the open ocean. This is an incredibly small ship. The men all slept on deck and bailed out the hold every shift change (every four hours) with leather buckets. Here are JT, Bryan and Luci and some kid we couldn't get out of the photo--we'll call him cousin Bob.
Bryan is getting so grown up! Fourteen and ready to explore the world.
JT is on the right in this picture, and Nathan Riley is next to him. Nathan Riley is one of our favorite friends.
Casey Brooke, Nathan Riley's sister (and another favorite person!) is here with Luci. Luci had to sit exactly like Casey, it was so cute!
Luci is looking into the hold of the ship, seeing where Columbus might have kept water in barrels, livestock and firewood for cooking. It was very interesting, as you can tell. Luci loves to read the paper with Momma's glasses on. Good thing her teeny nose holds them on so well.
She also likes to do the crossword puzzle. Soon I'll have her doing it with a pen instead of that pencil.
Let me outta here! Luci does her version of chin-ups.