Summer Draws to a Close

Labor Day is the traditional end of summer...and it has been a summer.  We've traveled to Florida and the Outer Banks, have had three children break bones, had an earthquake and a hurricane. The younger children participated on a swim team for the first time ever and I signed up for my second half marathon.  It was busy, hectic, and insane (which seems redundant unless you actually live through it!  Then it makes sense!) season, but as it draws to a close, we can look back and say that I'm so grateful that we survived it all and enjoyed most of it.  The kids experienced snorkeling and kayaking and restaurants every night for a week but also learned that they could do more than they thought they could when asked to swim one more lap when they were really tired.  There were no excuses...not even for the drama queen with the bright green cast on her arm.  :)

This afternoon, while I should have been reading my developmental psychology textbook, I was instead catching up on my friend's blog, Deo Volente.  http://eightbawl.blogspot.com/  She had posted about homeschooling and the fact that she wasn't looking forward to it, but she believed that it was the right thing to do.  So often, especially in the home schooling realm, we hear the excitement and the thrill of starting the new year, but how often do we hear that it's hard work, exhausting, and can actually be insanely monotonous.  Then there's the overwhelm you feel that the laundry is just piling up because you really need to read, The Big Thicket to your kids and this small group of little, or not so little, people will soon be a rioting mob if someone doesn't start dinner and soon! 

So here I sit at my desk tonight pondering the new school year.  Andrew is now at the local community college, and Chris will be taking one class there as well.  That leaves Chris's other subjects, William, and the three youngest.  The current plan is for me to teach Chris and Will while Billy alters his work schedule so he can handle the younger three.


I have been receiving text messages and emails asking if things here are ok because the blog hasn't been updated in quite a while.  Will is doing ok...stably unstable is my favorite term.  He has a narrow margin so he gets sick very easily and very quickly.  He has begged to not go to the hospital through two illnesses this summer...I gave in and did not take him and regretted it both times because his recovery was so much more difficult and prolonged.  I won't make that choice again. 

Caroline has lost weight which is a fairly large concern.  She is supposed to drink a Pediasure every day (which she hates and it is insanely expensive!) and a milkshake (which she obviously does not mind at all!).  The hope is that the dense calories will help her recover some of the weight she lost and help her grow.  Her initial MRI was inconclusive and difficult to read, so a second was performed.  We are still waiting on the results of that one.   I am mailing the disc to Dr. C in Cinci so he can evaluate it.

So as fall looms, I look at the calendar and wonder how the next few months will actually look.  I have trepidation and concern but I am also grateful that I have a sovereign God who knows all that is happening and is at work within my family.