More responses from generous friends: Alas, I live far too far away to come for a dip but, oh, how I have milk bottle legs (much too white!) that are in desperate need of a tan! When we have had seasons to shift things up: ~3 subjects that we determine must be done everyday: for us, math, grammar, Latin -- limit them to 30 minutes each--set the timer. ~have a goal time to head outside (1.5 hrs after beginning)--remind kids. Offer juice/treat if everyone meets the goal time. ~Then read, read, read---outside. Everyone feels a change of pace, we still are getting circle time, and history, geography, science--etc---but doing it outside gives everyone a change of scenery (read for another 1.5 hr outside). Done by lunch then... Works for us crazy Canucks to the north who are hanging in there with school, some kids doing school on Sat. so that "we can get more summer." ~grin~ HANGETH THOU IN THERE, O KENDRA!!!!!!!! He's got you in His grip! All's grace... Ann -------------------------- Gosh I wish had a bowl of wisdom for you. Or at least a good drink. But I know the greatest way to help is through prayer. With that the two times that come to mind semi recently, where I have or had to pare down school and/or my life was traveling and last April. For traveling I bought a vocab book at 3 different grade levels that was a fun word game type thing. The kids loved it. Still do. Kept them reading, and doing a little fill in type writing. And I bought math crossword puzzles from Scholastic to keep up their math facts. They read books and journaled our vacation. Last April I was emotional, spent, confused at the direction we were headed. I prayed and prayed and then stopped school all together (except 15 minutes for my phonics kid). I was ready to jump back into school by mid August with a clear vision of where we were headed but still waited until after Labor Day to start. I probably sound like a slacker but I was new woman come September and I am so thankful that I did stop. I do believe I accomplished more later because I stopped when I did. I know now it was the season I was in (I was worried it was me being irresponsible) because I feel so differently this year. This gave me time and energy to take care of myself and other 'stuff'. Where's your outside help? Anyone there to do easy stuff for you in the afternoon so you can do the stuff in the morning hours that you feel only you can do? Will the kids really be that behind if you do all you can by 2 and then be done? I'd tell you to remember to sleep, because the lack of sleep will zap your energy, but if you're too uncomfortable that wouldn't help at all :) Drink your water! Brain function lags and headaches ensue due to lack of hydration. I am praying (and have been). At least if none of my ideas helped you know I am praying. Dana

Five more weeks till little baby boy is born. You all know what challenges the last eight to ten weeks present: I'm huge, overheated, not sleeping, constantly in the bathroom, can't breathe with a little guy's feet in my ribs, and I am just sure Tums are the fifth food group. God, in His wisdom and mercy, has provided me with a strong support group of moms whose brains I can borrow when in need, and last week was the time. The email I sent to nine friends who are homeschooling moms of four or more said: OK, girls, I am T-I-R-E-D. And super unmotivated to supervise school right now. I want to put my feet up in the sunshine, get a tan, and read a book. I have been praying that the Lord would give me stamina and grace in these last six weeks of pregnancy, and He has been faithful, faithful. I am, however, a goner by 2 p.m. So, here's where I need help. What have been the best things you've done or not done when needing to alter your days for a temporary reason? I am not really willing to scrap school right now because if I do so only to start up again after baby arrives, we'll be schooling all summer long and none of us wants to do THAT! We tend to do a few things in the summer, but we all look forward to a change of pace that includes swimming for several hours every day. In exchange for your time, I invite you all to come swimming this summer. I'll plug in the blender and make some smoothies, and then we can all put our feet up in the sunshine, get a tan and read a book ;) Well, thanks to such a faithful and fantastic group of friends, I'll be able to post their responses over the next few days. The first to respond was Cheryl: I don't know what your homeschool days look like, so just throwing this out there in an ignorant fashion. Is it possible to do all the "hard" stuff that requires your one on one, or serious "mom" time, early in the day and leave things like reading aloud until later in the day? Maybe even move your circle time to that dreaded 2:00 hour? I'm trying to put myself in your shoes a bit and imagining taking care of math, spelling, language arts and that sort of thing all together in the morning while I was fresh, and then gathering everyone around me on the couch, or outdoors in the sun (seems funny to say that on a rainy day like today), or even piled on my bed for Bible time, singing together, reading aloud, etc. If that's not practical for you, how about dropping anything "extra" from your day and just sticking to the absolute "musts". That would look different for [the older ones] than it would for the younger ones. Of course, they are more capable of working independently into the afternoon and reporting to you, or Dad, later in the day or the next morning with their work. So what if the little ones don't have school through May or into June? I won't tell if you won't ;) And you didn't ask for this, but this is me so here it comes anyway... are you getting enough sleep at night? I know you're a bit of a night owl, but perhaps you can try heading to bed an hour or so earlier for the next few weeks. That might buy you an extra hour of activity into the day. A well rested body labors and delivers more efficiently than an exhausted one, too. My babies, and I, never were harmed by a mid-afternoon caffeine boost either. Iced tea, iced mocha, big ol' glass of Pepsi, whatever. Just sayin'... Praying for energy, stamina, wisdom and peace for you. ~Cher