9:40 The morning’s healthy breakfast underway, I sort and start the first of three loads of laundry. Jonah and Ethan empty the dishwasher.

10:00 I summon the big kids (who’ve already eaten) from the recesses of the house for a little family meeting. We talk for a few minutes about tweaking our school schedule a bit this week, and I also tell them that the middle kids are going to have to do school in the dining room today so I can get some baking done. I send the big kids off to do school (the first half of their day is spent on three courses from an LDS distance education program, so they’re on their own for this part).

10:10 I notice a couple of “kiss” marks on the glass of one of the French doors, and from the height, take a guess at who the offending party must be. I pull Sofie up the door, Joshua eyeballs the level of her lips and the marks from the other side, and pronounces the evidence incriminating. I leave to get her the Windex and a paper towel, but get sidetracked by a mess in the kitchen.

10:15 I set up the babies watching Nick Jr. in the kitchen so I can help Lulu and Maizie with their math. Jonah and Ethan start on world history, and Sofie works in a dry-erase alphabet book. I sit with them at the table and help with various things.

10:45 The babies join us in the dining room, Lulu and Maizie work on handwriting, and I read a chapter out of “Detectives in Togas” to Jonah and Ethan.

11:00 I check on Joshua and Zoe (the bigs), throw in a new load of laundry, and get Jonah and Ethan going on phonics.

11:15 Ethan wants to see what kind of rides are at Disney World, so I promise on his break, we can look them up on the Internet. We talk about what work still needs to be done, and I help Maizie do three more pages of math (her choice!)

11:30 I take our dog, Poppy, outside, because she’s fighting with the cats and distracting the kids. I talk to Jonah and Ethan about their book ideas for the Young Author’s Conference, which for the first time ever will have a special booth for homeschoolers.

continued