Visitors! Visitors!

Well, just one, anyway.

My sister Devon is here for the week. It's been nice to have the extra pair of hands!

Brynne got sick Monday night - I'm not sure exactly what she had other than a fever. She pretty much slept all day yesterday. Today she is out of bed but has not recovered her appetite.

Last night was one of those long nights...Natalie had a hard time settling down after her 2am feeding. And once she was down Kenna woke up! I was so tired this morning!!!

I realized yesterday that I am scared to go places. Maybe I do need to order that double stroller. :-) Poor Devon - I think she's getting bored. But I just have no desire to leave the house with all the children in tow right now. It's been too windy to go for walks with Natalie - that's my big excuse. :-) Although the weather itself is sunny, fairly warm, and the breeze isn't impossibly cold for a big person!

I've been working on a secret project for Sarah. Oh yes. I know she reads this blog so that's all I can say - except that I am very excited about it and hope it turns out!!!

Last week we started edging back into school. I've been keeping up with our family routines so that was already under control. On Tuesday (our first day of school each week) I started with our morning devotional. We are continuing to practice a new primary song each week - well, we work on one until we have it down. This is mostly for Logan's benefit as he doesn't pick up on all the words as easily as the older children. Because Josh does family scripture study, I have decided to do a different gospel study and will be using the Gospel Principles book. I love that the lessons are short. They are easy to understand. They have good discussion questions. They cover the very basics of the Gospel - the things we want our children to know REALLY good. I pretty much do one lesson a day, although some I've split into two-parts.

After devotional I am turning the children loose to study what they please. We have a closet of "school stuff" and they can choose what they want to work on. Logan usually chooses math and science and reading. He loves to learn and practice new skills! Brynne tends to avoid math so I'm trying to encourage her in other ways. She likes reading and science best.

I have checked out two Schoolhouse Rock CD/DVDs for us to try this week. I've also checked out the "Basic Math" class from The Teaching Company. The Teaching Company produces high school and college lectures that you can purchase for pursuing your own education. They are not worth any credit, but are just for personal use. "Basic Math" is one of their high school classes and I want to see if it might be useful for the girls in middle/high school.

Hannah needs to make a decision over the next few months about her schooling. She is for sure coming back home for 6th grade, but there are numerous ways for her to homeschool. One option is to do public school at home (independent study) - which would allow her to participate in school events (such as choir, which she is loving). Unfortunately, she HAS to do Independent study in order to do that. The school board currently does not allow other homeschoolers to participate (although I heard the superintendent thinks differently). Which is really silly. I mean, I KNOW that the schools don't receive per-student funding from homeschoolers. But I believe homeschoolers would be willing to pay a fee for services that they'd take advantage of. Also, homeschoolers do contribute to the general education fund and thus, as tax-payers, should be able to take advantage of government services that do not exclude anyone else. But that's just my opinion. :-) Hannah and Josh and I are planning to meet with the IS teacher, review the curriculum, and make a decision.