You might think that our lives have been rather dull because otherwise I would surely have written before now.  Actually we've been so busy that I seldom have time to sit down at the computer.  We've had a month of out-of-town visitors.  About a month ago Wendy came for a visit.  Although she used to live in Oak Park it had been a while since she had been back in the area.  We all loved having her around for a few days.  Then my parents and Sofie came for the Easter weekend.  Lots of fun and laughter :) .

 A week ago Lisa Davenport, Jessica and baby Grey came for a couple of days.  That was our introduction to the new cousin.  What a cute, round baby!  He took his first trip to the zoo with us.

 Last weekend I drove down to Champaign to visit Logan for Mom's Weekend.  Logan was a good sport to take me to the craft show and to walk through the gardens.  I also got to watch an
 ultimate frisbee game; Logan plays a few times a week and his team is undefeated.  We had supper at his pastor's house and attended his church service in the evening.
So, today was finally a quieter day.  I am not even sure what the temperature is like outside.  Yay!  Usually I have had to drive someone somewhere by now (5 p.m.). Bridget is an after school tutor on Tuesdays at a school on the west side, but today she needs to work on a speech for college. I was thinking that maybe I would write down what a "regular" school day is like at Hope Christian Academy.
By 7:45 a.m. I start to rouse the girls.  They are supposed to get dressed, make their beds and straighten their rooms by the time breakfast rolls around at 8:30.  Jackson gets himself up and out the door on most mornings, but on Tuesdays he has no outside classes and can join us for breakfast.  We are reading a devotional by Francis and Edith Schaeffer about the Gospel of Luke called Everybody Can Know. We have also been watching testimonials on the web-site www.iamsecond.com.  Today we listened to Mr. Birdwell tell how his faith upheld him after he was injured in the attack on the Pentagon.  We also usually pray for our neighbors on Tuesdays, but I got an important phone call and we skipped it.  :(
We also usually talk about something I have read in the newspaper, but not today. :(
After breakfast we quickly do our kitchen chores.  Emma practices her piano during this time.  She is playing Amazing Grace this week and it sounds so pretty!  We are reading The Story of the World for history; we read about Mao Zedong's assent to the chairmanship of China.  The girls color timeline pictures while I read.  Annaliese chose to embroider daisy stitch flowers for her doll's dress today, but promises to work on the timeline tomorrow :) .  We learned that Mao created a Little Red Book full of his sayings; the citizens of China had to carry this book with them at all times.  They could be arrested if they were caught without it.  We made our own Little Red Books, but with sayings from Chairman Mom.    Here are some of the sayings:
"We're off like a turd of hurdles."
"Yes, Mommy, I'll obey, right away, all the way, the happy way."
"Eat your veggies."
"Paper is cheaper than brains."
"Is it necessary, kind, and true?"
"You can never have too much pizza."
If I caught one of the girls without their Little Red Books, I would have to throw them into jail...under the table.
I had graded and corrected the twins' writing assignment.  They had rewritten an excerpt from Pilgrim's Progress in their own words.  The girls made the corrections and printed it again for me.  I gave them their next assignment about Pecos Bill.  Then we did math together.  We completed two lessons and then Annaliese did the problem set...not her favorite school activity.  Linnea did two lessons from her grammar book.  Each day is a different student's "day" and today was Linnea's day.  That means that I spent some extra time with her as she worked on her assignments.
In the meantime, Sonja was working on phonics.  Emma was working on her science reading and Latin.  We work together on her algebra...she is doing really well and, after going through algebra five times already, I am doing well too!
By the time that it's lunch time the table is swamped with books and papers and crayons and pencils and dry erase boards.  It usually takes us some time to clear it all off in order to cover it with plates and cups and bowls and silverware.  I remembered that there were two pizzas in the freezer...a popular lunch!  Since it was Linnea's day, she led us in our lunch prayer.  We have been reading Little Town on the Prairie each day over lunch.  Even Jackson hangs around for the stories :).
Then we come up to one of my favorite times of the day...Sonja and I snuggle in bed and we read together.  Today we took turns reading Abraham Lincoln's Hat.  And then we drifted off for a short and sweet nap.  While I rest the other kids are reading their books: the twins are reading The Wanderer, Emma is reading Basher Five-Two, Jackson is reading The Chosen.
After naptime comes teatime.  Over tea Sonja and I worked on her math.  Her lesson today was about comparison symbols and she really got it.  I can see her understanding of math concepts growing daily. 
 That pretty much was it for school.  I baked two loaves of bread for dinner tomorrow.  We had curried chicken salad on pita for supper tonight.  The girls and I drove over to Barrie Park (now it's 9 p.m.) and Linnea and Annaliese ran laps with me around the park's perimeter; Sonja and Mali just ran up and down the hill.  Emma, Bridget and Jackson have been at youth group all evening and Jay is in Tennessee.  A praise...Luke got the job he wanted working for a company that installs and maintains waste water pumps.  We are so excited with him.  And Jackson, who has sat on the bench for the whole baseball season, finally got a chance to hit and he got a home run his first at bat!