Day 3

Yesterday i wrote..

I hope to....
work most the day at the church
clean off my deck and pick up the yard
cook supper again- maybe pancakes for supper,mmm

Well, two out of three aint bad! The rain squelched the yard plan, but I cleaned my room instead, I refolded all the clean laundry, and get this- I PUT IT AWAY- now I know what your thinking- who is this woman and where is your laundry hating plump friend? Well ladies, it's still me- just with a taller bedroom now, I could probably have touched the ceiling in there only a few short hours ago.

I do have a confession to make though- remember how I told you yesterday that I cleaned off my counters, well actually I intended to clean my counters, but I didn't really do it. Whew- that feels so good to get that off my chest- I have felt like such a fraud all day hehe! ( and i don't need anything bulking up my chest!)

So tomorrow I hope to....

Vacuum my bedroom floor

Make a grocery list for Thursday

Plan 2 weeks worth of meal plans

Work more at the church

Tonight I wanted to tell you a little about the homeschool coop that we're in. We started homeschooling Riley this year for first grade- and of course we had a ton of questions. Many things just worked themselves out, but I was so blessed to have the ladies of this coop- many are several years into homeschooling there to help. Riley & Sam both love going to coop- there are lots of kids to play with, and they get along really well. The picture is of most of the kids from the coop- pictured with Jennifer Teter who taught our kids art. The kids were able to learn about pottery, making prints, painting- it was great. And while the bigger kids had art the little ones played in the church gym and the moms talked- that's right- just talked. It was great to have that connection once a week with moms who were going through or had gone through the same stuff as I was. I especially enjoy my time with Karen. She is such an amazing mom- with all those little ones- and the girl seriously NEVER raises her voice. Karen and I have very similar values, similar husbands who take such good care of us, and we both are a bit too absorbed into the "blogworld". And here's the kicker- we have seen each others houses on "the day before the maid comes" and we still let our children play at each others homes! Now that is special my friend.

Looking back on this year of homeschooling- I am okay with how it went. I think for our first year we both learned alot. Riley has become an excellent reader, she has learned she can do her work without me helping her every step of the way. We have both figured out that homeschooling for our family has to be laid back. We have to be flexible enough to hop in the truck with Daddy to go look at the bald eagle in our woods. We have to be able to stop what we're doing to help round up the goats when they get out (and they get out alot). I have figured out that my perfectly scheduled day will never happen as long as a little boy lives here.

Our best times this year was during our time when we were reading The Little house books. We read them ALL. We checked out all the LH picture books from the library. We dyed our own fabric, we made rag and corn husk dolls. We made griddle cakes and homemade lemonade. Riley built her own covered wagon, complete with tiny bolts of fabric and barrels of beans. It was so awesome to find something that completely captured all of our interest. We even started to wait to do the read aloud chapters until the evening because John wanted in on the fun too.

This year we pieced a curriculum together to not spend so much money- next year I hope to buy something put together for me- that focuses on units where we learn about people groups from history- I'm considereing sonlight- but good gravy I'll have to sell a kidney to afford it.

It was a year full of questioning ourselves- is this really right for Riley- will she ever catch onto her math- will she learn to be a good friend without daily practice at it- will she hate me forever for not allowing her to have school parties, and school lunch, and ride the school bus.

In the end I am excited about summer, with the possiblity of starting with a clean slate next fall. I love having my kids near me. I love walking to the mailbox together every day. I love fixing lunch while Riley takes a spelling test at the kitchen bar. I love being the one who gets to see her face light up when I put the sticker on her perfect math test. I love conspiring with her to do something "crafty" with her as soon as bubby goes down for his nap. I love feeling like what I'm doing is helping to prepare her to grow to be a Proverbs 31 woman. I love knowing that she will always remember the mumification process because we did it to a barbie doll. I love knowing that she will always hear the rhythm we made up to help her spell purple. I love knowing that Psalm 23 will always be with her because we worked on memorizing it so much. I love knowing that when she thinks of school she will think of a place where she is loved, where she learned and where she was able to teach a little herself. I learned so much this year in homeschool and I am so grateful that we live in a country, and a state where homeschooling is the family's choice and for that.... I am blessed.