Superman, Nausea, School, and Supernatural Strength to Endure it All!!

Can I just say that we have the best, most kid-friendly, most crazy fun hairdresser in the whole wide world!! This month JCT asked Mrs. Ann to give him Superman hair, and he came out to the van looking like this. . .
Complete with curl on his forehead and all!!!! Awesome! So everyone had to put on their new Halloween costumes when we got home. Here is a Halloween preview! We are just missing our Wonder Woman and Captain America!!!! :-) (Afton and Quin will be joining us for our Halloween superhero festivities!!!)
Aren't they funny??? They totally crack me up!!!

I'm nauseated. If you are anywhere near me, if you talk to me for even just a few minutes, I'll likely talk about it because it is all I think about most days!!! I'm not a lot of fun to be around right now! I dropped my boys off at the nursery Wednesday night, and the nursery worker said that she could tell I was feeling sick because of the look on my face. I'm green.

In other news, I threw up in a public restroom last week. This was a first for me, and I do not care to ever do it again! It was one of those all-time low moments as I squatted there in front of not my potty and puked my guts out. It reminded me of the night I realized halfway to church that I had forgotten to freshen up before leaving the house. And, I had been outside all afternoon, sweating, with my sons. So, I grabbed my melon flavored antibacterial hand sanitizer and proceeded to rub it on my arms and neck. It was one of those moments where you look in the mirror and ask yourself in a very loud, near panic, type voice, "WHAT HAS BECOME OF ME?????" Seriously. I vomited in a public restroom. I actually used that very same restroom today, and I chose my stall, the one I had previously christened, and smiled. I thought about how it will make me smile for years to come because it will remind me of the sweet little one who made me puke there!!

Okay, I promise not to talk about that anymore! On to more important things like school.

We did this on Monday, and it worked very well for us. . .

The boys love to be outside, and with cool weather coming, I think we will be doing school outside most days! Gotta soak up my favorite season while it is here!!! I love the fresh air and cool breezes. . .

One thing that I have really enjoyed about doing school at home is treating the boys to special things during regular school days ~ like Mexican for lunch on a hard day or. . .
brownies to help the little mister get through his math lesson!

I was completely focused on teaching Joshua the other day when I noticed that it had grown quiet in the living room, a scary sort of quiet. I got up from the table to check on the other 3, and this is what I found. . .
It was almost naptime, and they were getting snuggled in and ready! Ha!

And, then one day this week I saw this. . .
I heard JCT say, "Elijah, want to sit in my lap?" And, sure enough, that is what happened. These two are bonding, and it makes my heart so happy. :-)

I won't lie. The last few weeks have been so hard. I have been fighting nausea, tiredness, and feelings of inadequacy. I am operating at full capacity right now, and some days it feels like too much. But, I can't explain the inner prodding that whispers so sweetly, "Keep moving forward. You only see a glimpse. I see the whole picture. Trust and stay the course." And, it has been enough ~ enough for the hard days, enough for this weak soul. I nearly fell to pieces as I read a Bible verse to the boys the other morning. "Be strong in the LORD and in His mighty power." It was all I needed to hear. I don't have to muster up the energy. I don't have to be strong in myself. Be strong in His mighty power, not in mine. This goes back to hiding myself in Him, being found in Him. Letting go of my selfish passions and desires, and allowing Him to move and work freely in me like a cool autumn breeze blowing through my soul~ working His sweet little way into every nook and cranny of my heart. And, in the submission, in the acquiescing, in the giving up of myself, there is freedom. His will, not mine. It is the gateway to His mighty power and His mighty peace.

When we committed to homeschool this year, I thought that it was about me teaching the boys. But, man, I think I am the one who is learning the most through this process. God has pulled me out of my comfort zone in every way imaginable. Maybe one day I will be able to put a few of the lessons into words and write about them.

Let me tell you about a lesson Joshua learned today. We were on our way to Excelsior where they are studying the Westward Expansion. Somehow the conversation went from the Westward Expansion to the Lone Ranger and then to John Wayne. That's the way conversations go around here. Anyway, so, Joshua asked me if there are still cowboys today. I thought of the pioneer woman and said yes. He was thrilled! So, he began asking questions about cowboys and Texas. He was absolutely stunned and disappointed to learn that people in Texas drive cars instead of riding horses. I promised to show him pictures of real live cowboys when we got home. I used a marvelous teaching tool, a remarkable textbook titled The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I highly recommend it.

In other school news, the boys are studying Renoir. One of their assignments was to paint a family member doing something active because this is the sort of thing Renoir enjoyed painting. So, the big boys took turns being models for each other and painting each other. It was really fun! JCT chose soccer, and Joshua chose football. Then, they had to present their artwork to the class. I wish I could be a fly on the wall sometimes!!!

One thing that I have been committed to this year is no school after 3:30. Evenings are for fun, family, sports, eating, playing, etc. So, we don't study. at. all. I teach one on one during the day, making sure that they "get it" during that time. Whether it be spelling, vocabulary, math, whatever, we do it during school hours. But, I started noticing as Joshua's math has picked up and gotten harder that a little extra review might be needed. So, we spent a little extra time during the day on Thursday to study for his Friday assessment. This assessment looked hard to me!! I sent him to the back porch to do his assessment. I snuck this picture of him while he worked. . .
He did sooooo good!!! I was so proud!!! Yay!! Little man!!

What a crazy twisted, tangled, mess of a post this is. It is actually 6 posts combined into one because I am low on time these days! But, I'm not low on cookies. . .

Nothing like cinnamon to celebrate fall!!!!

And, now I'll end on a happy note! This is what came down the stairs when I called the boys to dinner tonight. . .
Naked as a jaybird. Happy as a lark. :-) It is never boring with these silly boys!!