The Month from Heck–Homeschool Highlights

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You know the saying when it rains, it pours? This month was quite the hurricane for our family. I feel we were blasted with one thing after another, barely getting time to catch our breath.

The Sweet Beginning

The month began with us surprising kids with a last minute vacation to Legoland. It is one of our favorite places to go as a family. Since RJ’s birthday fell on the first weekend in August we thought it would be a great place to celebrate.

This was Gordon’s first trip and I was surprised at how much he liked the rides he could go on. The first one we went on was the carousel. I put him on a stationary horse because I was concerned about him being scared. He was so excited though. When the other horses started moving up and down he gave me this look like, “Why is mine broken?”

Lenora was at that in between height, where she is just almost tall enough for most of the rides, but not quite. We ended up sending the oldest five off to do rides while RJ and I hung out with the littlest two.

Legoland was very crowded, but we still managed to have a nice time. We returned home late Sunday evening. RJ went back to work Monday and school was set to begin Tuesday.

The Two Week Quarantine

This year we wanted to make an effort to have everyone up and ready by 7am so we can do our family Come, Follow Me lesson and prayer before our older girls leave. That first day we were on top of it. Everyone was ready to go! It was amazing.

Gordon had been pretty cranky for a few days and was running a fever, but he also cut a few teeth while we were on vacation so I thought nothing of it. A few hours into our day I noticed he also had a rash.

Our pediatrician’s office permanently closed last month, so I called the place his doctor transferred to. Thankfully, even though she hadn’t started yet, they got us in.

Diagnosis: Hand, Foot and Mouth.

The doctor just about laughed when I asked how I should keep my other six kids from getting it.

In the end, five of the seven got it and for two straight weeks, I don’t think we went anywhere.

Getting up at 7am after being woken up round robin style all night by different kids was murder. Most days, I rolled out just in time for prayer before girls left. It wasn’t ideal and I apologized a lot to our older girls for slacking, but we kept at it.

A Picnic Ants Daydream

At the beginning of our incubation period, just when we are wanting to absolutely keep everything as clean as possible, our vacuum broke.

Thankfully, our warranty covered it. But it meant we were out of a vacuum the majority of the month.

We borrowed a vacuum a few times from a friend in our neighborhood, but I really missed having a vacuum all month.

They were unable to fix it, so our new Dyson arrived in the mail this week. It has been really nice to vacuum whenever we need again.

It’s Getting HOT in here!

Just as everyone was starting to get better our downstairs air conditioning unit went out. In case you are wondering, August is one of the hottest months in Arizona. Without much monsoon rain, it’s been worse than usual.

RJ did some maintenance and it ran for another day before completely seizing. Sadly, our home warranty lapsed and we can’t call for maintenance until mid-September.

We decided to tough it out. We’ve been cranking the upstairs AC to try and compensate.

Nobody is allowed to use the oven. This has made dinners creative, but we’ve managed.

And when it gets too hot to handle, we all head upstairs and hang out.

RJ’s brother lent us his window AC unit earlier this week and it has helped.

Gone in a FLASH! Oracle Lays off Hundreds

That was the headline earlier this month and quite an appropriate one. On the 15th, RJ received an email to be in a conference call at 9am. He dialed in at 9:05 to discover he missed the call.

The jist: If you were invited to this call your position ends at 5pm today. Please turn in all your things by 5pm. You will receive a termination package in the mail tomorrow.

Slam, Bam, Thank You Mam! Employment terminated!

In one swift move they laid off around 300 and kept 40. Twelve years of our life, gone in a flash! It was a bit of a shock.

Waiting for that stupid package the next day was miserable. We had no information about anything. No one knew what was going on. Even the people who were kept had no idea what they were doing or who they were supposed to report to since entire chains of command were dissolved. The whole thing was a big, cold-hearted mess.

We did get a severance package. Figuring out insurance has been a nightmare.

RJ has been applying to jobs left and right. It’s really common for companies to use recruiters to hire for software engineering positions. They’re a lot like car salesman.

Anyway, that has probably been the biggest stressor this month. Suddenly finding ourselves without a job.

And the Cherry on Top. . .

And because the month isn’t over, today the check engine light on the van came on saying our catalytic converter wasn’t working. Fun times.

On the Upside

On a more positive note, we have managed morning prayer nearly every day. We have also managed to have our Come, Follow Me lesson or spiritual thought consistently as well.

Kids are enjoying their subjects for the most part. Haydn dislikes literature, because writing. But he’ll do it after some goading.

Olivia has decided that since she can read now, I am no longer allowed to tell her what to do. She is disappointed every day this isn’t true.

Allie’s new medication is helping her to actually sleep. This is a big win.

RJ’s had a few follow up interviews.

We have managed to still homeschool consistently all month! There were so many external life things going on this month that could have really tripped us up. I mean, I was pretty tempted when the baby got sick with hand, foot, and mouth to throw in the towel and try again next month. And I could have and I doubt anyone would have blamed me. But our homeschool routine helped keep our normal. I know my husband’s lay off was easier for kids because they have school to focus on. Otherwise they would be overly concerned with it.

This month has been rough, no doubt. But we have faith and hope that it will get better. Just before everything started falling apart, I read this verse in James 1: 2-3

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

(NKJV)

It stood out to me when I read it and I wrote it down in my commonplace book.

The Lord gives us trials so we will turn to Him and let Him make our burdens light. I know that trials help our faith and testimony grow when we rely on the Lord.

This month was rough and it may get rougher still. But we have faith that it will all work out for our good.

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Here are some of my other posts you might be interested in from this month:

Finding the Joy in Homeschooling

How to Keep Consistency in Your Homeschool During Trials