Remember...

I had a homeschool freak-out last week.  The kids weren't even that out of control.  But the house was a mess, Rand was cranky, I was overly committed to the day's list of schoolwork, I saw another sentence written in unreasonably messy handwriting and suddenly all of my reasons to homeschool seemed ... entirely insufficient.  I texted Chris that I was done with homeschooling.  He called, spoke softly to me and suggested I call my homeschool sage, Mary.  Mary, who was hours away from leaving for Rwanda to pick up her newly adopted daughter but still let me be completely self-involved for an hour, also spoke softly, helped me remember why I'm doing this and made a few small but crucial suggestions.  This week has been so much better.  So, when my freak-out (inevitably) hits again, I'd like to remind myself that we've had some really good days lately...

 David spent a lot of time on The Dangerous Book for Boys today.

David made this 3D paper model of a boat today during our History reading.

The boys built forts while we read our books.  We started Treasure Island and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland today and read one of my favorite picture books, Don Quixote and the Windmills.

In case I someday get overly nostalgic, I'd also like to remind myself that this...

is representative of what the entire house looks like every afternoon.