I went to the doctor this morning and it turns out that I have bronchitis.  I've had a bit of a cough since we all got sick a few weeks ago, but it had gotten significantly worse this past week.  We've been reading our Bible Stories, reading poems and Polite Moments, and listening to our memory verse CD, and that's about all the work we've done this week.  I've been to the library several times since we got to Nebraska, and have checked out titles from the "Book Tree" (which is a great resource, btw), so we've been reading A LOT of really great children's books.  I'm actually kind of glad I got (and stayed) sick because it has made me realize that I don't really read to the kids like I used to.  And we never read to Em.  Isn't that just sad?????  I think it must have happened around the time my dad died.  We used to read to the kids several times a day, and had done so from the time IW was a baby.  My new(est) goal is to get back to reading to them FOR ENJOYMENT everyday.  There are so many wonderful children's books out there.  This past week we read "The Little House" by Virginia Lee Burton.  Oh, so good!  I want that book for MY shelf!  And tonight we read "Petunia" by Roger Duvoisin.  I want this one too.
All of the slowing down I've had to do lately has opened my eyes to a lot of things.  God's timing is so good!
They only get to be little this one time.  And I think I've been missing it this past year.  I've been focusing on checking off boxes and getting to the next thing.  I've been healing and focusing on me, which I don't necessarily think is a bad thing.  But it is time to put my focus back on my tiny precious little people.  I don't know what exactly that means in the way of homeschooling, but I do know it means spending more time snuggling on the couch with good books, and taking more walks, and playing more games, and just loving each other.