From for the family's sake, by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

"Is it actually more valuable to push a pen on paper or buttons on a computer than to be expert in human life and its care? Is life more worthwhile because there is never time to pick wild blackberries and make a fruit crumble? Are things really more important than people? Will the warmth and wisdom of the expertise if caring for each other be handed on? Isn't this an amazingly interesting and complex life vocation on the one hand, and yet clear on the other?
I find it so. To me it seems an enormous privilege to be what my children call "Mum.""

Better Than Before

I've been reading Better Than Before; Mastering the habits of our everyday lives, by Gretchen Rubin. This about sums up goal of the book, which is also my goal as I build habits a la Charlotte Mason:

"As I reflected on the changes I'd seen in my habits and in other people's habits, it struck me that only rarely do we achieve a dramatic, picture-perfect before and after. Sometimes we do make a complete transformation; it's not an utter fantasy. But usually we end up in a place that's better than before. And that's enough."

A quote about habits

"There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision, and for whom the lighting of every cigar, the drinking of every cup, the time of rising and going to bed every day, and the beginning of every bit of work, are subjects of express volitional deliberation. Full half the time of such a man goes to the deciding, or regretting, of matters which ought to be so ingrained in him as to practically not exist for his consciousness at all."
-William James, Psychology: Briefer Course

Mother's Day

 Mother's Day 2015. E made me a picture with 2 hearts on it. I slept in till 7:30, which threw off the morning and landed me at church flustered and frizzy.  E was wearing boots (forecast: 23* celcius), and KA was wearing a small green hat that kept sliding up on her head and making her look like a smurf.
I fought off a bad attitude for most of the afternoon, and was late getting ready for evening church.    O fell down the steps at church and scraped his face, and then I lost Kevin somewhere for a half an hour after the service.
We came home. I fed everyone again, and it took longer than usual. I put the kids in bed, but O wouldn't go to sleep. I had discovered molars and other teeth in his mouth earlier, so I assumed he was having trouble because he was teething.
It didn't surprise me. What a day.
 I asked Kevin to hold him for me, and he finally did, setting O beside him in bed. O obligingly went to sleep, straightaway.
I checked on KA. She had fallen asleep in less than a minute after giving up her fight to be up. E was snuggled down on my pillow, sucking her fingers, wearing KA's nightgown. O was snuggled next to his daddy, 2 big, orange bandaids on his head, soother in his mouth... so small; so tough, so tired!
I was, at that moment, overwhelmed with how beautiful life is.
 I am so grateful to God for blessing me with these babies. They are so precious to me!!
I know. Precious is a Hallmark word. I'm sorry. 
They just are.

moms love spring

I experienced a completely new emotion the other day. I call it, "Moms LOVE spring!" It's hard to describe the feeling. Part of it was relief at being done with "the worst winter in 75 years," as the Times and Transcript called it. Part of it was love that welled up in my heart as I saw my children's glee; playing outside without their coats. Part was gratitude to God, who sends the seasons. Part was surprise; I hadn't realized how much I wanted this!

CM E-Course

I've recently been thinking that I don't know enough about Charlotte Mason's educational philosophy. Oh, I know enough to teach my children, but not enough to impress people, when I talk about my homeschooling!
So, in order to become more articulate on the subject, I am taking a free Charlotte Mason E-Course. 
On the one hand, I wish this wasn't necessary, but on the other hand, having done one lesson already, I am finding that it has already improved our school time!
Katherine wasn't ready for math, but I was doing a bit with her anyway. This course reminded me of what was important in these early years (lots of time outside), and inspired me to completely drop the math and spend that energy on nature time!

Math

Last week, in order to reassure kevin that we are do kindergarten right, I printed off a summary of what kids usually know by the end of kindergarten.
We are doing well in reading, using progressive phonics,  but had a little ways to go in math and in writing. The list didn't mention art, but I'm sure we have reached greater heights in that area than the average kindergartener.
Thinking it over, I decided to look up math curriculum. Nelleke at Education is a Life pointed me towards free MEP math, and we have begun our spiralling journey towards an understanding of maths.
 Somehow, however, between printing the standards for kindergarten and printing out the first bit of MEP, I found that Katherine could do simple addition and subtraction. Which was all I needed for kevin, anyways.