I love Homeschooling...

Aztec Hot Chocolate
I love getting a second chance at learning. We're learning about the Mayans, Aztecs and Incas now and today we tried out a new recipe in our book mixing mexican style unsweetened chocolate, milk, honey, salt, cinnamon & water. Mmmmm.

This morning my little Essie caught the stomach bug that Owen had the night before. As I was holding her on the couch, rubbing her back and watching Good Morning America, I was overwhelmed with the blessing of just being able to sit and comfort a sick child. Sickness (as much as I dread it), is a part of life. And yet I have discovered that comforting a sick child can be an altogether wonderful part of parenting if we are able to throw off the stress of everything we thought we were going to do and just comfort our little one. Anyone with kids knows that you need to hold them while you can. Once I can "get over" my wrecked schedule and a few extra loads of barf laundry, I really do love that time of nurturing.

Mmmmm. Perfect day for hot chocolate! Essie is up and feeling better!

Before melting it into the pot, I let all the kids try the raw unsweetened stuff. Si and Essie (my sweet tooth kids) thought it was pretty bitter. Our activity book had a chart of Mayan numbers with missing spaces for the kids to try and figure out the system and fill in the numbers. I was amazed watching Silas sit there in deep concentration for a good half hour so very into it! And I was really amazed when 9 year old Hannah cracked the code before me. Gemma and the others never did and I am looking forward to seeing if Brian can beat Hannah's time!

We hadn't seen our deer friends for several weeks but they came back today... Must've smelled the hot chocolate...

I am immsely thankful to the Lord today for His constant watching over my children. While rinsing Essie's sick bowl this morning and having one of those ignorant and ridiculous mental pity parties, I heard those horrific sounds a parent never wants to hear. Gemma fell about halfway down the attic stairs while carrying the baby and for a few minutes I didn't know what I had on my hands. Other than a bruised tailbone for Gemma and a scratched nose for Juliet, they are fine. (Long story) We were all crying and praying for Juliet, not knowing how badly she was hurt, and not really being able to tell at first. Owen walked up, handed her a stuffed frog, she instantly stopped crying, smiled and we all busted up laughing with relief. Thankyou Jesus for being a better parent than I and watching them all when I can't! Thank you for reminding us of your control over our lives that can often feel a bit out of control! So far it's looking to be like a 2 hr. bug because all three little ones had it for about that long and have seemed to recover totally. Wierd.


Essie demonstrating a Funny Uncle Matt trick...