My eyes itch.  I am hungry.  It's two weeks (to the day) until we leave on our first family vacation in ages.  And we just completed our first week of school.  Whew!

This week, we did tons of fun stuff in preparation for the upcoming academic units on the ear, sound, music, and classical composers.  We are studying the character trait of Attentiveness: Listening Closely and Watching Carefully, via Konos Unit Studies.  Since I last wrote, we've played "In Grandmother's Trunk," and we've made up our own commercial.  The kids even made a jingle.  Very cute, and interesting to think about what advertisers have to be attentive to to get our attention.  We read the first chapter of Dear Dr. Bell...Your Friend, Helen Keller.  Looks like it's going to be a great little book.

But yesterday -- that was something else!  It was our first Konos co-op of the year.  First off, one mama, Janet, decided to leave her littlest guy with his grandma.  That brought our total of kids down 12, but then my Fia is not doing this Konos, since she's in high school now.  So she just hung out and did her work elsewhere in the house.  So I had 4 kids participating, Kim had 4 kids participating, and Janet just had her 3.  11 kids, rock on!  So we began with a fun devotional by Janet about the Martha and Mary story (that woman is hysterical I tell you!).  Then I read that story aloud.  Next,  I gave the kids 13 minutes to assemble themselves into a mini-skit and present a dramatization to us.  It was a "modern day" version.  Nate was Jesus, and he was hysterical.  Kim's daughter was on the floor at Jesus's feet, saying, "Yo, wat' up, Jesus?"  And Nate begins to tell a story...

"So, there was, like, this lamb, and it got lost from the others, so the shepherd went and found it, and there was a big party..."

Up marches another one of Kim's daughters, shrieking, "Make her help me, it's not fair!!!"  When Nate, as Jesus, admonishes her and reminds her that "Mary" is doing what's right,  "Martha" shouts, "Well ya have to eat, don'tcha?"  (<snort, snort >   Me, behind the camera, as I try to keep my composure...)

"Jesus" responds: "Not necessarily!  I've gone 40 days!"  Bwaaahahaa!  I totally cracked up at this ad lib bit!  Well done, Nate!

Then we had them plan some road signs; soon after, they ate lunch.  After eating, we put all 11 of them outside with paint, cardboard and markers.  They made their signs,

some of the signs drying

and while they were drying, the troops sang a song that Kim's husband, Jeremy, one of our pastors, had made up for a verse we were studying that week.  It was really sweet and fun, and it's stuck in my head today!  (I have a cute video of that, but will NOT post it - what with my off key voice in the background of the video, lol!)

After singing, we trucked up the hill with all our rollerblades, scooters, rip-sticks, etc.  In the church's parking lot, we set up a road course with cones and our homemade signs.  The kids had to  be attentive to all the signs on the course.  So they had to spin, stop, freeze, go one way, pick a favorite color, pray at the Jesus Crossing, and yell "Jesus Rocks,"  all while on wheels.  It was hot.  And it was a little gritty.  But it was fun.

After a rather intensive clean up of the parking lot, we headed back down to the house and realized we were out of time for Janet's Olympic Games (to be attentive to directions) and my little kids' games of Mother May I, What Time is it Mr. Fox, and Simon Says.  We'll have to do that at the next co-op!  I had a few more errands to do down there before the long drive home, and we finally got back on the road home at 4:30.

By the time I got in the door at 5:30, I was delirious. Stupid-tired.  I could barely keep my eyes open, and I had dinner to make, correspondence to deal with, and children to oversee and get to bed.  By the time they got in bed, all I could do was shower the parking lot sweat off of me and crawl into bed.  Here's to a Konos year...at least I know I'll sleep well.

Caught in His Web,
MamaWebb