Herb Harvest

It was a lovely Saturday. Many loads of laundry were washed and folded and put away. We signed Avril up for a dual enrollment art history class for the fall and inventoried the classroom closest for all the art supplies she needs/ purchased any needed art supplies she didn't have. It was a lovely, sunny day, so we took the top off the Jeep and went out for burgers for lunch followed by more errands. We picked out paint color for the girls' bedrooms and bought a few more herb plants for the garden including chives and basil. We harvested and hung dill and thyme and mint to dry all around the kitchen. We had steaks from the grill and played Catan. Note: A game of Catan with dinner is a nightly ritual now. Now the girls are chatting and laughing and working together to complete a 3D creative bookend that they combined their own monies to buy. The house smells like fresh herbs, and for that, I am very thankful indeed. 

Our Homeschool Classroom Has a New Look

Our homeschool classroom has a new look. The desktop was sold, since we often use laptops instead. The individual desks went upstairs to the girls' room, and they are thrilled to have space to draw and do other art and crafts in their own rooms. We upgraded the classroom table and chairs and added a few bookshelves. We've given away most of our pre-K and elementary materials and homeschool books to friends or relatives, since we are done with that phase. Even though I imagine I'd like to teach my grandkids phonics, it feels right to put those items into hands that can put them to use right now. We kept some of the precious things we feel very sentimental about like my painting of Christ among the children, our poster of Colossians 2:2-3, our Moses puppet, and Abraham Lincoln hat, etc. And we've added a big rug to cover the floor. Up until now, we preferred to sit and work in other spaces in the house and the homeschool classroom was used to neatly store our materials away from the rest of the house.  But with these changes, the classroom is quite pleasant now, and the girls are in there working on watercolor paintings as I type this. Arcus, our parrot, still has his cage in the classroom, too. He's happy for more company. 

Rollerskating and Broken Bones

We went rollerskating with homeschool friends yesterday. We had the best time until the very end when Adele fell down and fractured her wrist. We didn't know it was broken, but it was swelling, and Adele was in pain. I took her to the children's orthopedic doctor, and they recommended we go to children's hospital so they could reduce the break and set it properly. Adele had a positive attitude and some kind words when I blamed myself for deciding to go rollerskating, of all things. "Mom, It's not your fault. I had the best time until I fell down." The girls have already painted the cast. Now all three daughters have broken an arm or wrist at twelve years old.