Our first poetry selection to memorize.
Learning notebooks, that cover money, time, weather, the calendar etc. 
Classic read aloud selections.
Meet Sapphire, who will be joining Kai for school this year. Cliodhna’s is red, so of course named Ruby. Two new friends found at the end of the scavenger hunt, where they popped balloons to find their next clue. Fun!
The smell of applesauce throughout the house. Yummo!
A title page for their Gratitude journals.O
Our hymn for the month.
Looks dreamy right?
Well planned, well executed.
Well, it was; well planned that is…
I love to make special traditions for my family, and around here the first day of school is kind of big!
Sunday I had a migraine that knocked me out for the day. So on Monday, although a migraine hangover still lingered, I was determined to pull off the Lemonade stand that the kids wanted to do to raise support for refugees. They raised Two hundred, twenty dollars, and more importantly their voices.
Do. Something.
With the kids fed, showered, and Cliodhna’s hairs braided so it would have the perfect wave for back to school pictures, I hurried them off to bed. There were strong warnings if they dared to step a toe outside their door in the night. And then, then, I transitioned into a little elf who decorated, and set out treats like it was Christmas eve!
After the last clue was stuffed into the final balloon , and hidden in the bath, I looked around at all I created and said to myself “It is good” LOL.
I set my alarm, and flopped into bed.
I was ready!
Morning came, time to execute my finely crafted plan.
“You got this Mama!”
As I walked to the kitchen to start the special breakfast, I was greeted with migraine aura.
NO! NO! NO! This can NOT happen today God! I just had one, two days ago, please not today…
Blindness set in.
Crap!
I take my pills, and then proceed to run around frantically tearing down all the decorations, collecting all the treats, and trying to find the hidden clues with my vision impaired.
I scribble on a post it note – Day off- migraine. Hoping it is legible.
I find my way to the bathroom, and collapse on the floor; defeated.
I pray that the kids won’t be too disappointed.
I ponder, a lesson that I’m not in control?
I lament, ending with surrender and peace.
When I pick myself up at 12:30 and wander into the kitchen again, I am greeted with super happy kids who enjoyed ever minute of their morning off!
I decide that even though the schedule was way off now, this day is still redeemable.
I make a special lunch (instead of breakfast) and have the kids go downstairs while I set out all the fun treasures again! The final balloon was found in the bathtub, and when popped, led to their new Beta fish friends! We did many of the other activities planned for the day, only in a more relaxed and pleasing manor. Arguably, better than it would have been had I been tracking time.
The kids and I ended the day by having a conversation about why God allows me to continually have health problems. Kai wanted to know why I seem so happy even when I’m sick. I was able to share with him about how the Apostle Paul was stricken with an illness that never went away, and it wasn’t because he lacked faith. In his illness he was able to learn contentment. Notice he said “I have learned” It is certainly not natural or easy. I taught the difference between complaining, and lamenting. Complaining leads you further away from God, while lamenting draws you closer. Paul said that the illness keeps him from becoming conceited, and it reminds us we are not in control… lessons for me!
I shared how I could go online and post about my dreamy day, with no bumps in it, and how that would only point to my own glory. It would not be relatable, encouraging, or helpful for others, who just maybe, had a few bumps themselves in their day. So what, if Cliodhna’s hair never got out of the scruffy braids. So what, if they probably ate Bearpaws for breakfast, and so what, if they got to play Lego all morning instead of drill Latin! That rich talk at the end of the day, and the example I set for them of how to respond when things go wrong, was the lesson God had planned for them all along.
If I didn’t have a migraine, those truths may not have been planted in their hearts. And isn’t that exactly what I say I’m always setting out to do with them? Dig deep for truth!
When I fell into bed that night I was wildly thankful that God can take our best laid plans, and blow them all away. I was thankful that I only need to bring him my fish and loaves, and He will multiply them in the lives of my children. His grace is sufficient for me, His strength is made perfect in my weakness. So I will boast in my weakness!
We all got schooled today!
Well planned, well executed God!
Dreamy indeed.
Oak Hills Academy 