Tatum wanted to move back into her old room. As you know, we cleaned out her closet (HAPPYSAD) and got rid of so many of her old toys. We did keep a lot for her kids…and MOSTLY BOOKS!! But, she really wanted her big old room back and I don’t blame her!
I had her clean out her drawers too. IT FEELS SO GOOD to get rid of stuff! What is that about!?
And Doug disassembled and reassembled and disassembled again… So much work and so appreciated!
Tatum asked to have my artwork back on her walls. (wince..so grateful that she wants it!)
And …..OOOOOOH! SO PERTY!
SO HOMEY!
We have: READ, LEARN, CREATE, EXPLORE, PLAY, IMAGINE, SHINE and BELIEVE along the rim of the wall. SO COOL> Coopy loves it too.
Such a bittersweet day—our last day of 6th grade. We started most mornings with a cozy breakfast, sometimes a surprise, and always a Bible verse to set the tone. From there, we’d ease in with bellwork, warm-ups, and of course, daily writing. You tackled fun and challenging grammar using the four levels, and you learned 147 stems! We refined five-paragraph essays, practiced critical reading strategies, and worked through math until mastery—moving from struggles to confidence.
Many days, I didn’t feel well. I had to lie down again after we started, but I showed up. And you did, too. You had your own challenges as we searched for the right ADHD support. I wrestled with the idea of medication, but we finally found the right fit—and what a difference that made. It was hard, but necessary, to face how ADHD affects everyday life.
You kept writing your book about Blosl—you’re on chapter 3 already! You read nearly a book a week, wrote daily, and in March, something special happened: Aunt Connie moved to Arizona. That bond between you two has blossomed beautifully. Weekly art days with her have become something you both treasure, and I know they’ve added a layer of joy and creativity to your weeks.
We also made the brave decision to leave the COOP mid-year, and I know now it was absolutely the right choice. This shift brought us closer—more like sisters, really. We’re entering 7th grade not just older, but stronger, wiser, and more connected.
This summer, we’ll keep going with history, math, and your favorite: reading. And of course, you’ll keep writing your book.
Here is an example of a final writing assignment. We watched an episode of the Twilight Zone and I had her write:
Sometimes, getting everything you want isn’t actually as fun as it sounds.
In A Nice Place to Visit, an episode from The Twilight Zone, a man named Rocky thinks he’s in Heaven because he gets everything he asks for—like money, girls, and winning every game. But soon, he realizes that having everything all the time is actually really boring. The episode teaches that too many worldly pleasures can feel empty and annoying after a while. Things like fame, riches, and being popular may sound amazing, but they don’t always lead to real happiness.
At the start of the episode, Rocky dies during a robbery and wakes up in a fancy place with anything he wants. A man named Pip tells him he’s in “the good place,” and Rocky is super excited. He asks for beautiful girls, a cool apartment, and tons of money. And he gets it all right away. At first, he thinks it’s awesome. He never loses a game, he always wins, and everyone loves him. But after a while, Rocky starts to get tired of everything going his way.
The girls around him don’t feel real. They just do whatever he wants. The money doesn’t mean anything because he doesn’t have to work for it. Even when he tries gambling, he always wins, and that takes away the fun. Rocky realizes that when life is too perfect, it’s not really living at all. There’s no challenge, no excitement, and nothing to look forward to. He starts to feel bored and even a little sad.
By the end of the episode, Rocky begs Pip to send him to “the other place” because he can’t stand being in this so called paradise. Then Pip laughs and says, “This is the other place.” That’s the big twist. What Rocky thought was Heaven was actually his version of Hell. It shows that too much of a good thing—like money, fame, and girls can become the worst thing ever. Without hard work or meaning, all those things don’t make you truly happy.
So, even though A Nice Place to Visit starts off looking like a dream, it actually turns into a nightmare. The episode shows that worldly pleasures might seem fun, but they get old and tiring when they’re too easy to get. At first, Rocky loved the idea of a perfect life. But in the end, he learned that real joy comes from the ups and downs, not from always getting your way.
I love you, Tot. I’m so proud of who you are becoming.
Today, I woke up not feeling as youthful as I KNOW I am. It was a TOUGH health day…man, like a MACK truck hit me and I fell 10 steps behind. Sadly, it was the same day as my birthday.
No worries, I’d make it a bit memorable. I decided to make Tot a happy brekkie. Before that, I noticed my honey left me a surprise in the bathroom.
Oh, so kind. Very thoughtful.
Brekkie and school time!
We are wrapping up this week, AND preparing for the BIG TOT Move! She is moving across the hall back to her old bedroom (the HAYVEN). SO>>>>>>we dove through the closet which had ALL of her toys/memories/games/life. AAAHHH How is it that these are past?
These piles here are saved for her kids. HER KIDS!! WHAT!? Like we are planning for her children already. But, hey, that is what my mom did for me. She saved ALL my baby stuff.
Happily, she is saving her PLETHORA of stuffies.
Now we are going to go through the books next. YIKES! We have 2 rooms full, so we definitely can pare down.
So many people reached out today to make me feel special. Sadly, I was just so sick that I couldn’t enjoy it. We will celebrate on Thursday.
One thing that STOOD OUT was an email I got from our DEAN of the College of Ed at GCU:
15 years. Sheesh! That is just so cool…so amazing.
I’m so grateful to my family and GCU. Thank you, Jesus for all my blessings.
Coopy, Dad, and Tot all surprised me again on Thursday. I did not want to go out to dinner, so we just stayed in and they made me feel so special. Even Coopy got me a card!
Then my honey of course had me open my cards> He always buys the perfect ones.
Tatum, I thought had forgotten, and then…IT HAPPENED. She played for me a video she had been working on. And just ….just WOW! I felt so honored.
It was to the song, “Best Day of my Life.”
(that meant a lot…know that she sees this about me…and that I never left her side/always there for her)
Really?
Go on!!
Then she had this countdown
to…..an explosion!
I LOVE YOU TOT!
Truly the best day of my life was the day you entered it.
The last place anyone saw her was near the edge of the woods, just before sunset. The wind had picked up, sweeping away the sound of her laughter like it was never there. Now, the forest stands silent, as if holding its breath.
Fourteen-year-old Elara stands at the tree line, the world behind her fading into shadows. In one hand, she grips a flickering flashlight. In the other, she clutches her sister’s favorite stuffed bunny—its ears floppy, one eye missing. A frayed pink ribbon is tied around her wrist, the one she found tangled on a low branch. Mira’s.
Elara swallows hard and steps forward.
The trees creak softly in the wind, like they’re speaking to each other in a language made of leaves and bark. Their tall, dark shapes close in the farther she goes. The light from her flashlight barely cuts through the gloom. She calls her sister’s name once—“Mira?”—but the sound seems to vanish between the trees.
Still, she walks.
Every step feels heavier. Every shadow seems to move when she’s not looking. The bunny swings from her hand like a heartbeat. Something ancient watches from deeper in the woods. She can feel it. But Elara doesn’t slow down.
She thinks of Mira’s gap-toothed smile. The way she danced through puddles and made up songs about clouds. The way she ran off chasing a firefly, giggling, just before she disappeared.
No one else believed Elara’s story about the wind sounding wrong, or the trees shifting. No one else was willing to go into the forest after dark.
But Elara isn’t turning back.
She doesn’t care what’s waiting in the dark.
She came to bring her sister home.
NUMBER 2. This was one was to have stems in it.
The Secret of Sanctum Hill
Mira was just helping clean her aunt’s old cottage when she found something strange. Behind a loose board in the wall, she felt something tangible. It was a dusty old journal that looked super old, like it had been there forever. When she opened it, the pages seemed to glow, like they were trying to illuminate some kind of secret.
There were drawings of bones—like something from an osteology book—and notes about a hidden crystal under Sanctum Hill. It said the crystal had the power to liberate people from fear. Mira didn’t really know what that meant, but reading the journal made her feel inspired, like she needed to find it.
The next day, she followed a map from the journal to a spot where two paths met at an old junction. As soon as she stepped onto the stones, the ground erupted, and a staircase opened up. It was dark and creepy, but lights turned on by themselves as she walked.
Mira kept hearing weird clamors in the distance, like whispers or voices. It was scary, but also exciting. When she finally reached the end of the tunnel, she saw a glowing crystal floating in the air. The walls shimmered around it. She felt totally animated, like this was something she was meant to do.
She didn’t know exactly what the crystal would do, but she knew this was just the beginning.
