Life

Y'all, this whole homeschool thing...some days it's really hard. But it is SO. REWARDING!!!

It thrills me to see Sister succeed and press onward!

And my heart melts when she hands me something like this...

Sometimes I momentarily question my sanity and ask myself WHY we pursued this path...

And just as my heart feels discouraged, the Holy Spirit gently, tenderly reminds me that we pursued this path because God lead us on it...and His grace is sufficient.

And I thank God for grandmothers who send art projects...

 And I thank God for giant pieces of paper, left over from freelance work. And I laugh at Little Man's ingenuity...that's a "birf-day hat por my birf-day!" (that's in April!)

I thank God for counting bears and the thrill scattering them across the floor brings!

I love watching Sister count...

And the look on her face when she knows she's got the answer!

And then we sit down to lunch and I wonder what all the dots are on our table...and Sister pipes up and says, "Little Man did that with his fork." And I remember leaving him ONCE at breakfast, just to step in the bathroom. That's all it took. Less than a minute. I say it adds character. The Engineer addressed the matter with Little Man. I don't think he'll pull that one again.

And so we sit and eat. Since weaning myself from caffeine, I've indulged in one caffeine free coke at lunch. And we enjoyed peanut butter and banana and honey and sunflower seed wraps...with veggie stix, per my sister's recommendation. 

After lunch I put Little One down to nap and sent the older two out to play. I sent them out fully clothed, mind you. I'm not sure how long Little Man will put up with this kind of thing...Sister coated him in mud, rigged a "tail" with a stick (see it on the right) through his underwear band (covered with those sweet red shorts), and painted a logo on his cheek and declared him her "puppy dog!" And he came in the house barking...and dancing to the music. And all I could do was marvel and laugh and shake my head.

After dinner I walked into the living room and found Sister on the sofa, freshly bathed and in her "night cap" (read me, her raggedy ann hat with all the red yarn tucked up ineside, so she could be like Laura from Little House) and the Engineer on the phone, and my heart sighed with contentment. 

God is good and has so richly more than met our every need. I love having my family together, all well and healthy, safe and sound. These days are hard, and they are so good and so rich. 

And quickly, thank you all for your prayers and concern about the heart palps...the Echo confirmed that I have been having heart palpitations, do have a bundle branch blockage, and have Mitral Valve Prolapse. I am learning MVP is very common. The actual sensations it causes in my heart feel really scary. Those sensations, along with the heart palps (which feel distinctly different to me) should continue to decrease the further out I get from caffeine. I cried the night I found out...but I am better now. Emotionally. I think the tears were a release...I'd been at peace, but I'd spent 30 minutes the night before wide awake in fear, with a heavy sensation on my heart/chest and with it feeling like it was fluttering - weirdness, struggling to get a good breath, wondering if we needed to go to the ER...that was scary. So, we are thankful to know what it is. I had the same sensation last night for about 30 minutes and there was much greater peace and little fear, just because I knew what was happening and that it would stop. And eventually, it did.

So thank you for praying. I appreciate all of you so much. You are precious to me and your encouragement lifts my spirits!