Scars sort of fascinate me. It seems that everyone has at least one whether they wear it on their body or on their heart. Almost every scar seems to have a story behind it, too. May all of your scar stories have happy endings.

As a homeschool mom, I am uniquely involved in my children’s everyday activities. It isn’t that I am better in any way than those who send their children to public school, private school or even daycare, it is just that I am right here to see the little accomplishments, achievements and transformations right as they are happening and it never ceases to fascinate, amuse and even amaze me. I am always awed and humbled by these young people and consider myself blessed beyond measure just to know them and even more so to be their mother.

The little guy who barely talked before he was five (he could, he even had a great vocabulary; he just didn’t), and who struggled with putting all of his phonics knowledge into use, now writes books. Really! I can hardly believe that he will be turning 20 in less than a month! Where did all of that time go?

The little girl who struggled with hearing loss and was sometimes functionally deaf until the age of eight is now my musician, songwriter and poet. She’s also simultaneously one of the sweetest and most thoughtful people you will ever meet and also one of the toughest. I’m afraid she inherited her mother’s stubborn streak.

The little guy who started talking at five months old and who used to climb all over the furniture and hang upside down asking questions all during his siblings school hours has developed that amazing constant quest for knowledge into a passion for understanding how everything operates, fixing everything that can possibly be repaired and constantly finding ways to make anything and everything work better. He vies with his sister for ownership of the Most Stubborn Person In This Household title, but I guess I have to blame that one on my genetics as well.

The little boy who left a path of destruction everywhere he went and cared nothing of rules? He can make pretty much anything out of anything. I think if you left him alone in a room with an assortment of random objects for long enough he could probably turn it into anything from an amazing sculpture to a robotic assistant. He’s just that creative. He might also be rather stubborn… Does anyone else see a pattern forming here?

As for my two youngest ones, they are only giving clues as to who they are and what they will become. The end is not yet in my limited sight, but I know it is in G-d’s. I’m waiting anxiously to see what He has in store for them. They amaze me every single day and I am grateful, so very very grateful to be here to share their lives.

After awhile, I awoke to the fact that I wasn’t really waiting for things anymore, I was experiencing them! It has become a wonderful and really busy season in my life once more. I find myself in the midst of all of the wonderful homeschooling stuff, and all of the daily chores and the joy of just living with my family all while dandling the most deliciously wonderful little baby on my knee or toting my little one about. It is fun and wonderful and sometimes just a wee bit overwhelming. It also means that my arms are almost always full. I still haven’t perfected telekinetic typing, but I am still working on it!

My days are often filled with writing out our Summer scope and sequence for each child while keeping a baby entertained and trying to direct the search for our Wildchild’s bestest best friend “Frog in Egg” and teaching the rest of the kids who are still trying to figure out how to search through the furniture for Frog while also reciting their list of spelling words or whatever. Madlibs have become a dear friend when it comes to teaching nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs and exclamations. We can shout out parts of speech to each other while searching for the Frog in question. By the way, just how on earth does a toy that gets carried EVERYWHERE and never let out of a child’s sight get lost anyway? I’m betting that the Frog is in the same place as my last marble. I’m just sayin’.