Oct. 15

Today was another day of TNT/Rivendell.  This means I get lunches ready for everyone, get the middle 5 over to TNT by 9:20, then race back home to start teaching chemistry at 9:45.  Well, that's the ideal, anyway.  I did get home by 9:45, but Micah had just woken up when I left to take the kids.  I wanted him to eat breakfast and get dressed while I was gone, but instead he wrapped himself up in his blue fuzzy blanket, laid in front of the door out to the garage, and cried until I got home, instead of cooperating with Nathan and Luke to get anything productive done.  Sigh.  So when I got home, I had to get him dressed and get his breakfast before starting class, so it was more like 10:00 before we started.  But that was actually okay because we weren't doing a lab or anything fun--we were just reviewing for their first exam, which they will take this week.

So I finished around 11:20, and Christine immediately started teaching economics.  I changed Micah's incredibly stinky diaper, put Drew down for a nap, and then Micah and I ran over to the grocery store to buy some "Maria cookies", which Luke needed for Spanish class today.  I had meant to buy those earlier, but . .  well, yeah, it didn't happen, LOL.  We came home, and Micah started his lunch, while I nursed Drew and finished getting his and my lunch together.  Then Micah, Drew, and I drove over to TNT to pick up the middle 5, plus the middle 2 McC boys, at 12:30. 

TNT just started a unit on South America, which our friend Neissy (who teaches Spanish III for us) is leading.  She is absolutely amazing!  Each week is going to be like a 5th week activity!  This week they focused on the ancient civilizations of South and Central America, and they had all sorts of activities in various rooms.  Everyone raved about it!

We helped Megan, our literature teacher, clean up her room, since she was teaching over at TNT this unit.  Then we rushed over to the new church building for Rivendell.  We got there around 1:00, and the kids played outside until 1:45.  Again, we were blessed with absolutely gorgeous weather!  And once again, we had some internet connection problems, but we managed to get through the day!  Megan taught literature at 1:45, while Michele taught the 5th/6th grade literature class.  Then at 3:00 Neissy taught Spanish II, while Christine taught the young writers for about 30 minutes, and then I taught memory work. 

Drew hasn't been napping in the afternoons at the church, so he stays awake by having maximum snackage and lots of attention.  He's standing fairly well, but his feet are still firmly planted, and even Caleb McC could not entice him to walk a step!

We finished up, got the church cleaned up, and we left a little after 5:00.  Then we drove over to Costco, where we picked up Bob, who had dropped off the Sienna for some work on the tires.  Then we rushed home, where Bob grilled hamburgers really quickly while I nursed again.  We had to hurry because Bob left to take Nathan and Luke to Civil Air Patrol at 6:20.  Bob just stayed out there and ran errands, so while he was gone, I caught up on email and Facebook, gave Micah and Drew a bath (bathing 2 little boys is SUCH a breeze, compared to girls, with their long hair and conditioner--a BREEZE!), and got the younger 5 put to bed.  When Bob got back with Nathan and Luke at 9:30, he and I immediately turned around and drove back to Costco to pick up the minivan, since the tire guys had just left the keys in the glove box.

So  now we're home for good.  Nathan and Luke are finishing up their assignments for their history class tomorrow, Caleb and Jonathan are working on their creative writing assignment for next week's Rivendell, and I'm going to clean up the kitchen.  Then we'll go to bed (too late, I'm sure), and wake up tomorrow, ready to go again.  Busy, busy!