Good ole cabin fever.

Yes, after the stomach flu, I have now contracted cabin fever. Usually, I get to go out at least on Sunday...but, it has now been a full week that I haven't left the house...on top of that, the weather has not been conducive to sending the children out much.  I am feeling a little antsy and dare I say...bored. Yep, I can get bored with six children in my home. Oh, it's not that I don't have anything to do, It is just that I don't want to do anything here.

So, I will blog. I will tell of the things I have enjoyed the past few days. I am glad that the flu has come and gone...as I was getting sick, I just told myself " It will all be over soon". And you know what? It's over! We survived and can move on. 

I have surely enjoyed the family time. Yesterday, Joe and I played a couple rounds of scrabble. He won the first round, which just riled up my inner competitive spirit and I just had to play again..and smash him I did! I love scrabble :)

This morning my amazing oldest daughter made an alphabet game for her younger sister. It was so cute, there was a little card for each letter then she mad a bunch of small happy and mad faces. (Not sure the mad face is all that cute, but her sister did not seem to mind.) Then Jubilee went through all the sounds of the alphabet with her and rewarded her memory accordingly. Such creativity. Totally self motivated and initiated. I love the things children come up with when left to there own fancy. Had I told her to do this, the experience would've been forced and unnatural.

Jackson and Caedence built this incredible block sculpture. The blocks that are all lined up are children going for a walk around the town. Beautiful. My three year old concentrated so intently as she lined each block one after another. No doubt an excellent activity for her hand eye coordination.

My homeschool philosophy is slowly morphing and changing as time goes on. I am taking notice of how much my children learn just in the normal course of a day as they explore their world. It seems to me, the more I step back, the more they learn. I don't mean to step back completely, but I do mean to pay more attention to their leanings and to know what inspires them. 

So, although I am going a little stir crazy, I am still thriving.

Now I am sick. Thriving, but sick.

My two year old is better, but my two oldest have gone down. My two biggest helpers. You know, the ones who can hold the baby for a moment or who can help little guy get a cup of water. Then, on top of that I feel the symptoms creeping up on me! Watching two children run to the bathroom every 20-30 minutes isn't helping either. I feel so bad for them, they are miserable. 

However, there is still a bit of thriving. We are together. I can turn on a movie and space out...that does help...It calms the children and I can take turns snuggling with each one. I managed to make some yummy naan bread.So, all is not lost...there is still goodness in the day.

Now, I am just going to sit very still and sip my peppermint tea, and hope that Joe can come home early.

Romans 8:37 (King James Version)

 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Thriving in the midst of illness and puke. (yes folks, it is possible)

I woke up this morning to my two year old wondering through the house shouting "ahwer! ahwer!" (translation water! water!). So I stumble to the kitchen and grant the little blondie his request. I stumble around a bit more, still trying to wake up. Then my eyes focus on the before mentioned toddler. There is something odd about his jammies. They had formed a crust. "Oh, you puked!" I blurted out. Now fully awake, I sweep up the little pumpkin and plop him in the tub.


That was how the day began. It could've gone swiftly downhill from there, but, I was determined to not let that happen. Afterall, I just started this blog on thriving and I can't fail on the second post.

So, How did I thrive today? Well, we did watch movies(Thanks to hubby signing up for Netfiix, again! WooHoo!).... Heidi, Madeline and a documentary about shark bite rescuers. Not too bad...could've been worse.

Then we did a super fun craft, that I noticed while surfing The Crafty Crow the other day. It took minimal materials and prep. My munchkins thoroughly  enjoyed it. It simply entails covering a glass bottle with yarn. The result was some nifty decorations, even if I do say so myself. ;) The site that first posted the idea is Scrumdilly-do.


Also the kiddos did some creative block construction while listening to classical violin music on pandora.

Jubilee did a little copy-work from the Psalms and did some artwork for the book she is working on. The others seemed happy and occupied for the most part and there were only two more puking incidents. I even managed to keep the house in pretty good order.


I was going to make granola bars...I'll save that for tomorrow....because it doesn't look like we will be going to our science co-op (I will tell you about that some other time). I'll need to do something to make up for it.


I am excited to see what tomorrow brings, hopefully no illness and many opportunities to thrive.