Friday, December 16

It's not uncommon for us to have somebody on our porch around 7:00 in the morning. One morning this week, we had a request for a birthday cake, another morning, a request for our dugout canoe, and this morning, Chief Hensi came to tell us that we would have a work crew to finish up our kitchen.



Today is the last day of school for the Choate Academy, so the kids hustled to get their work done as quickly as possible in order to help. Several young men showed up to sew up panels of leaf and to attach them to our kitchen. This was men's work, so Aaron and Benjamin worked along with our generous neighbors.

Benjamin had great fun climbing up into the rafters of the kitchen to secure the leaf panels. Sarah and I worked down with the ladies whipping our yard into shape. Next week, several other villages will be joining Marulaon on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and everybody wants our village to look its best. We pruned flower bushes and weeded and raked for hours. The weather was steamy and couldn't decide if it should rain or shine, so it chose neither and we all sweated buckets as we worked.



I went back and forth to make sure school was finishing up well in the house. I have the most amazing students. When we began schooling at home thirteen years ago, I had no idea how much it would impact our lives. Our kids make it work, and I'm so proud of their diligence.



This will be the last year with all four kids at home, and next year we anticipate Benjamin only being home part time. I see lots of transition on the horizon, but just for today, I'm super grateful for the four students under my roof and for the thoughtful discussions and shared experiences that school at home provides.