We usually have homeschool Stations of the Cross today but due to sicknesses in family groups (not ours) it couldn’t be arranged this week. So today was another at-home day.
I was up at 5 am doing some computer work and went back to sleep after 6 so I didn’t get up again till 8 am. It was nice cuddling Paddy as he woke up and we read 3 stories. I read him several last night too, and Clare read him several more.
I started the fire, with Aidan’s help; Kevin had already started the coffee.
9 am
- I made a protein shake for Sean. Aidan brought it to him. Aidan can carry slightly thick drinks perfectly but still can’t balance his gait enough to carry coffee without help.
- Brendan was out earlier than usual and he got a protein drink too.
- Aidan found his Phonics Apple electronic game and was playing with it for quite a while, with my help. We counted that as reading lesson for the day.
- The boys had one of those days when they wake up and start right in playing; and I hate to stop them, always have. There is a good energy about a house where several kids of varying ages are immersed in a pretend game. So I sat with Kevin by the fire, and interacted with the little ones, Kevin read me bits of the Indy Game manual he is reading, and I reflected on the past week.
10 am
- The boys went upstairs to play some more.
- Call from mother in law saying she was coming up to drop off an old sofa.
- Aidan sort of gravitated around me and Kevin, which he tends to do when we are together.
11 am
- Clare was up, eating and reading.
- The boys were still playing.
- I spent some time printing out some old notes.
noon
- Grandma showed up with the couch and some other things which the kids helped her unload. So we socialized a bit. Then the boys brought the sofa upstairs and I cleaned and moved things around to make room.
- Paddy got “caught” hiding in the closet playing with the Game Gear. This is one of the drawbacks of limiting computer time. If it were just the older kids I wouldn’t NEED to limit the games since they moderate themselves. If it were just younger kids I could just use flexibility and not make fixed rules. But the combination leads to problems, including a small child sneaking into the closet so his older sibling couldn’t catch him, and then yelling at me because I happened to stumble across him. So anyway, Kevin talked to him a bit, and he stayed in the closet and played after that for about 2o minutes and came out in a better frame of mind.
- Meanwhile UPS came and it was cones for Sean for football obstacle course running.
1 pm
- I managed the Angelus.
- I took the young ones outside and the older ones came out too. I sledded some firewood, Brendan stacked it in the entryway.
- We had some lunch.
- I talked with Clare a bit and we took some pictures of the little ones.
- I sat down with Kieron to work on some math. Kieron is on lesson 30 with Saxon and still not having any problems. Sean didn’t do math today since I didn’t interrupt the playing.
2 pm
- I took bath, then Aidan took one.
- The boys were still playing.
- I did some more planning work on the computer. Friday is my planning day.
3 pm
- I tried to take a little nap but didn’t succeed for very long. First, Aidan kept wanting to go outside. Then Kevin woke me up and said the real estate agent was coming over (we are trying to sell a lot). But I did get Paddy to sleep after reading him a story! I don’t know if that’s good or bad. He will probably be up till midnight!
4 pm
- Kevin took Aidan and SEan outside. They have played catch twice today.
- I tidied up a bit and made some dinner which is cooking… I am trying to have a habit of listening to music while in the kitchen so tonight it is Musical Evenings with the Captain (from the Maturin/Aubrey series by Patrick O Brian).
That brings us up to now! As usual, many other things happened. You can usually count on Clare having practiced her music — voice, piano, and violin — and on the kids reading at intervals, and Clare does her studies pretty much independently though we gather for goal-setting and general discussion.
Aidan was outside a lot today and the other boys were out a lot more too. That was one of my goals and I’ve been trying to go out too. So it’s interesting how when you have a goal, even a vague one, it often ends up happening IF there isn’t a stronger counterpull of some kind.
