The most productive thing I did in the morning to recooperate of two days of illness was a sink full of dishes.  Luckily it was a normal size, because Riley was kind enough to do two load the two days previous, of his own accord~ 

Milly has become habituated into her school work enough that I was able to do school work along my side while I sewed!  I made an apron that has been cut out and ready to sew for a couple years now.  I decided I wansn’t ‘well enough’ yet to clean my house up, but I could ‘sit there’ and sew.   Well, I did even get tired from that, so I took a break.

I went to my fridge around 3:00 to start lunch.  Since somehow it was 11:00 when we had breakfast, it was about ‘lunch’ time.  I was going to make ramen noodle, when I found a cucumber in the fridge that was near rotten….but just withery so far.  I realized this was bought to show the kids how the ancient people of Egypt and in Mesopatamia ate, so I cut that up and decided to make the meal I found off the internet with  Maccaroni, chick peas, lentils and rice in a pita bread.  Luckily I got some fish too, and our family favorite is tillapia cooked hot with butter and blackening spices.  I decided not to authentically dry it in the sun for a month, and Riley was surprised that we were eating lunch at 4:00 when he came home…but gladly partook in the goods of the fish, and a salad that I had made a few days ago.

I decided to cook the lentils in the pressure cooker to save on some time, and as always I overcooked them, so they were a mush.  I decided to take a little break, so I took a nap.  By then it was 5:30, and I realized that the rest of the Egyptian food was officially dinner.  So I got up, cut some onion and garlic and stirred the tomatoes over the chickpeas, rice, mushed lentils mixture.  I plopped that into a pita pocket and found that the kids ate negative one bights.  So atleast we enjoyed the fish and cucumber, and they tried a nibble of a fig. 

It was time to go to the temple, and Milly was taking a nap….she never takes naps so we got to thinking.   We realized we were probablly cutting it too close as I was really quite sick just two days before, my fever breaking just the day before.   And maybe Milly was taking a turn for the ill.   Hense I left my mushy pot of food on the stove, finished my apron, and watched a movie on the couch.   And to tell the truth, I found it a perfectly productive day~

Riley went to the temple this morning, and I just enjoyed a lovely chat with my cousin Ann on the phone, my kids are all as chipper and fighty as normal, and I have a fairly normal amount of energy, so I guess…now it is officially time to clean up around here~

Rawl informed me in a very tender voice, that “I want to be a Lion all day long”  He asked me to give him whiskers and paint his nose.  He asked me what “precious” meant.  Then he asked what “ferocious” meant.  And informed he he was FEROCIOUS.  Any body come to mind….??

We VERY quickly had to establish that we couldn’t be ferocious with siblings.  And infact learned from a lion book I happened to have and incorporated into our circle time, that lions are ferocious beasts, but to each other, often ‘tender’ and ‘gentle’.  That was my favorite page in the book.

Last night when I snitched two small paragraphs into my brain before putting my *book down to drift into sleep, learned that the Energetic spirited child, or adult for that matter, needs movement or they become irritable.  So I incorporated lion tackles and chasing into my circle time…it was kinda fun.

*from “Raising your Spirited Child” (my mother shares her biggest help-send books in child-rearing with us)

Recently, I decided to have more fun in my homeschooling and life.  And it just so happens with this adjustment, that a parenting book is not the end of my list of things to do anymore!  Its actually fun to catch much needed insight!  Especially when I realize I can skip to a chapter that sounds good, and read only 2 paragraphs, and feel fulfilled.

So, lions and tigers and bears, oh my, are a part of my day, and its fun that way!

Well, its that goal planning time of year.  As I was planning my next steps in teaching Milly to read, I decided to go ahead and quickly blog about my mom’s reading steps.  I have a friend whom I gave these steps to whom I met in Orem a few years ago.  I was so excited when she re-connected with me on Facebook and told me that she had taught a few of her sons to read!!!  Kudos to the Mither!!! (My mom!) This she did before they entered school!!!  It goes to show the process is nice and simple and, except for one step, a plan you can accommodate to in the car time, on the go, at the meal, etc!

For the steps, see Momma’s Homeschool’n.  Ignore all my outlandish plans, I am sure they are way over my head, but I figure if I set up some routines, they won’t be out of reach and even do-able, in part of course!  As is the way of life.