Lots to say...

...no time to say it.

I've been lying in bed at night thinking of all these beautiful reflections I'd love to write about. But of course by the morning there is nothing left. Except for the memories of vivid, scary dreams of things like drowned children and my body being sawed open for surgery. I have had really bad dreams the past year or so.

I also have no working batteries for my camera right now, so that's my other excuse. I hate writing without an image to go with it! But I must find batteries by tomorrow, even if they have to come from this computer keyboard, because...

Ellie turns 5 tomorrow! She has been counting down the days for weeks and is so excited about becoming a big 5 year-old. Last night we went to the grocery store together to buy some special treats for her birthday. She really is such an easy to please child. She was utterly thrilled to buy some mini-cupcakes, gum, and other snacks, and was literally skipping and jumping to the car.

Tomorrow we'll attend a little art class and lunch with some friends and then have them over for cupcakes so she can celebrate with a few friends. Then on Saturday, we'll be traveling out of town for a girls' night with her aunts and cousin to go to the American Girl store on Sunday! I'm just praying that Steven and Steven do well at home together; they might actually get to go to a real baseball game with some other family members! I know us girls will have a great time!

Thinking back over the past weeks, I'm really amazed at just how much better I'm feeling than I was a month ago. My energy is starting to return, my moods are improving, I'm not sleeping as much, I'm cooking a little more, and the house is starting to get organized again! I can't believe just how much a messy house affects my moods.

Another load off my shoulders has been the abandonment of my "Charlotte Mason" ideals for the rest of the homeschooling year. It's just not the season right now for library and craft store visits, extensive planning and printing things off the computer, scouring my bookshelves each week for the right "letter" books, etc. We have enough workbooks to keep the girls busy for months and they are actually thriving with them!

A simple 2nd grade workbook from Walmart has already taught Mary Clare about map skills, alphabetizing, parts of speech, coins, and more. And it's helped me to realize just how much she already knows. I've been amazed at how quickly she picks up these skills and speeds through the pages of the workbook. Both girls are using Explode the Code phonics and some handwriting workbooks, Ellie is completing her MCP math, and Mary Clare has completed some spelling lessons, read in her religion textbook, and continued with her 3rd Little Angel Reader.

Steven Joseph is also amazing me with his memory and vocabulary. Last night he found a photo of them with Santa from a neighborhood Christmas party and recalled to me that it was raining that night! He's been pointing out things that "match" and making all his specific needs known, particularly telling me he wants me out of bed whenever I lie down for a little break! I may not have mentioned before but he's also my "cap" boy. He always has a baseball cap on when we leave the house. Right now he's telling me he doesn't like the sound of my typing while he's trying to watch a video about crafting animals with Ellie. The other 2 family members are already asleep!

So I guess I'm in the season of workbooks and iPhone communication. Hopefully I'll be back more often to share some reflections, whenever I think of them again. And of course we'll have some photos of the birthday girl coming soon!