the best years

There is a rhythm that comes in a bigger household. Mornings, I sit in the corner armchair and listen to scriptures with the kids. We talk over our devotional reading, vocabulary, literature, and biology. I read aloud for about thirty minutes, if my voice holds out and our attention span allows. We try to ignore phone calls.
Afternoons find me running errands, returning phone calls, cleaning the house, checking on school progress, encouraging (someone say harassing?) the kids to finish their assignments, and catching up on my own reading for school. Homeschooling is an education for mom, too!
By mid-afternoon, foggy thoughts about the dinner menu need to crystallize into something obtainable. Add three young adults to the usual family members around the dinner table, plus a pleasant young man from Spain, and (for a few nights) our beloved Grandma Janet....and what do you have? Well, you have dinner for nine. That translates to two casseroles and 18 ears of corn. Luckily, Grandma Janet brought dessert: a pumpkin spice cake with fudgy frosting that looks delectable. More importantly for this cook, it doesn't need any prep time.
Evenings find us gathered 'round the table. If schedules allow, we linger long and laugh hard. Tonight, three of us travel to church for the annual worship team kick-off. The rest will bemoan the loss of our presence, I'm sure. (Hopefully, then will bemoan while they clean up the kitchen.)
A new experiment will make it to the dinner table this evening: fresh home-made white grape juice. We will quaff it well-iced and savor its straight-from-the-vine flavor. There is absolutely nothing like it.
Sorry, Welch's.