Squire and the Scroll-Chess-Chugger-dude's yoga

As I read “The Squire and the Scroll” to the little ones (snuggled all around me!), sometimes I wondered how much they understood.  I am trying to learn Hungarian right now, and know that the more familiar I am with a word, the easier it is for me to pick it out in my reading.  I have been tempted to leave out words entirely, like “virtue”, “purity”, and “valor”, just replacing them with similar terms.  Then, I thought, the way I read those words will convey some of their meaning, and then they will also get familiar with those important terms.  How much time do we spend filling up their heads with simplified, easy to understand fluff because it is quicker for them to learn, when we could be repeating meaningful words to them, words that we want them to internalize and carry with them throughout their lives?  I read the book with new meaning, pausing to explain what some of these important words were, adding emphasis and feeling to those particularly significant phrases that make that book so beautiful and central to what I want my kids to believe in and become.

Today has been a perfect day (I know because I have plenty of imperfect ones to compare it to :)!)  I know because when I need a quick errand done, I have to do it myself or rely upon Maia, Havala, or Piper to do it :).  The others have been engaged in their level of academics: reading, doing Geo- Safari, painting, enjoying the freshly falling snow, watching Mark draw (and being inspired), doing math, playing chess, doing indexing (Kel is an indexing fiend!!  He has already done 596 names!), finishing the Book of Mormon and doing personal progress for the second time (Tova!),…and so on!  They are amazing, and it is so fulfilling.  As Tova shared this morning from her scripture reading, “I have no greater joy to see that my children walk in the Lord”, or something like that.:) (I should look it up rather than slaughter it, but am too lazy :)!)

Lek is quite the challenge when it comes to chess.  We are doing “mentor times” once a day at 1 pm, and he gets to choose what we do: chess, math, cursive (okay, the last was my suggestion).  It has been nice.  He is very challenging to play, and I have come close to losing some of the times, playing my hardest.  I insist I have to play my hardest and enjoy my victories for now, for I sense that in the not too distant future, I am going to have my victories few and far in between. :)

This morning, Avot was teaching the kids Yoga, and she instructed, “spread out your legs, and try to put your face on the floor”.  Rather than doing it sitting up like Avot was, Chugger-dude interpreted it by putting his whole body face down on the floor, with his legs spread out behind him.  Funny!