Life in the Fast Lane!

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I can't seem to slow down.
Really!!
But I am making every effort to. 
As I compare our calendar for April to the one for March, I've cut things in half...and am cutting half again for May.

It's been so nice to be about, in and out of the house, participating in home school activities, community activities, library activities.  But I'm feeling a bit dizzy! :D

I've also been doing a lot of reading/researching options for our homeschooling journey.  We are very flexible right now, perhaps a bit too much, and I'd like a little more structure.  Better yet, Pretty Girl needs some more structure.  So I've been reading, browsing, reviewing, asking other homeschooler's what's been working for them, reading, looking....you get the idea. :D

I've also decided to get rid of another big chunk of my 'stash.'  If you've been around any length of time, you know that I go through a 'purging' stage every so often.  Well, it's here again.  Perhaps Spring has brought it on, perhaps I see that I need to give away what I'm not using (or intend to use).

Our home school group will be having it's first curriculum sale/swap/giveaway at the end of next month--and so I'd like to be able to unload some of those things there.  What I leave with from that event I'll donate to our library's friends' group.

We've sure been taking advantage of the longer days.  The kids enjoy being outside in the yard until sunset most days.  It's nice to see them making up games and stories as they play together and alone.  We've been identifying birds, plants, trees and insects.  We haven't started planting outside, which has actually turned out to be a good thing since the weather keeps changing up on us!  It been dropping to the low 40s at night and jumping to the low 70s in the day.  (crazy!)

The other night we had terrible storms and a tree fell down in the backyard.  No roof damage!! but it's all over the deck and knocked over the overhang (umbrella-style shade) as well.  In the daylight, we saw that it wasn't just a few light branches but a HUGE portion of the tree.  Something else to add to the list of things to do in the back yard! :D

I'm going to make my rounds again---to see just what you've been up to!  We've been good. Learning, growing, doing.

Status Update

We have been so busy lately.

A friend asked me today for my blog address so she could see what we've been up to.  I immediately started laughing, gave it to her and said, "but I haven't updated it since last year!"

We are good.  Our days have felt rather full.  I've gotten back to a 'more definitely' kind of schedule with the kids.  We've been interfacing with our homeschool community and spending long afternoons at the library.

We're pretty much settled in our home now.  As Pretty Girl says, 'it looks more like our home' now. :D  And it does.  Of course there are things that I want to do, have plans to do, but I've decided to let them take a back seat at present.

Today we joined a P.E. Co-op, mainly to catch up with some friends.  The kids had a blast, so I think we're going to make it our weekly thing. 

We're continuing with our Saxon Phonics lessons.  This coming Monday I'll begin where we left off on our 'Money Monday' lesson.  We're also going to focus more heavily on learning Spanish.  The girls started ballet class yesterday and are thrilled about it all. Once things warm up a bit we'll be looking for some swimming lessons and a soccer team.  (Well, those are their ideas for now!)

How have you been?  I know I've been scarce around blogland since the new year.  I hope you're all well.  I will get around, hopefully!  You'll be seeing us more in the next little bit once I put blogging in my 'regularly scheduled routine.' (smile)

Until then...

What Are We Doing?

I've been asking myself that for the past few weeks. Actually, it's been, "What the heck are we doing?!" lol

I look around me at...boxes. But these boxes need unpacking. We have finally made it into our new home! YAY! We've been here for a bit already. Getting used to the space, cleaning, painting, imagining, deciding how best to use each room.

Someone asked me the other day, "So when do you home school the kids?" Usually I have an answer ready, but I didn't yesterday. I said something to the effect of "yeah, I'm really relaxed right now." I guess reading all the wonderful unschooling blogs has REALLY allowed me not to worry so much about what we are and aren't doing.

Now, for those of you who may be nervous about what you just read...let me assure you. We are doing plenty over here. :D  It's amazing for me to recount all the things we've been doing and get about doing in a given day. Even on the days I'm feeling like doing NOTHING. We never do nothing. SMH! LOL!

Our journey has really taken a turn towards a very relaxed place. I feel very connected to each of my children. They are developing into the people God created them to be. They have tons of questions about so many things. We do a lot of reading. I mean a. lot. of. reading. The library is the most frequented place we go, besides the local health food store. We've also been drawing, painting, cutting paper into shreds (I still hate this!), putting tape on everything, making jewelry, learning to bake/cook, coordinating wardrobes, learning about animals, composting, garden planning, chicken selecting, singing, dancing, walking through the neighborhood, exploring our back yard, playing with the dogs, learning to tell time, counting, adding, designing, learning to get along and work problems out on our own, listening, making new friends, testing the rules/boundaries, sleeping, crying, eating, laughing, talking, watching videos, writing letters for family, telling jokes, making lists, planning field trips, sharing ideas.....

See? When I get to actually writing things down it's amazing to see all the things we're doing. And I could list more, but won't for your sake! :D

My "school" stuff has been packed up since mid-summer and I haven't wanted to invest any more money into this line of resources. We've been without our phonics program (which was really the only 'structured' thing I was using) but the girl is reading! I was using a book for teaching word problems, but have found that I really don't need a book. Now, it was nice and I'll probably use it once it's unpacked, but my point is that I was still able to teach them word problems. (go figure!)

Because I've embraced this whole get-it-from-the-library-thing (I don't understand why more people don't!) and made it a point to utilize it no matter where we are, we've had access to things I could never afford, or even want to purchase!

The boy has interests in dinosaurs, dragons, pirates and knights. He asked me yesterday if I would teach him everything I know about knights. He's four. It was adorable. I told him that I'd taught him everything I know, which isn't much, but that we'd go the the library and check out as many books as we need to so he'd know all he'd like to know! We're getting ready to go now.

So, I guess the answer to the question is: A WHOLE HEAP A BUNCH A MUCH! We've been traveling, learning, being, living....LOVING OUR LIFE!

Now that we're getting settled, I'm hoping to blog more. I've missed it. I've missed connecting with you! :D

So I guess my question now is: How have you been doing?
I love comments so feel free to share!

Happy Wednesday to you!

It's Monday...update on us!

For those who may be wondering what's been going on with us...we've been doing a lot! ;-) I've taken a bit of a break from being on my computer. I've noticed just how my time is eaten up when I spend time online during the day. So, since my last post, I've taken a bit of a hiatus. I have been taking pictures of some of things we've been into and will share those in a next few days.

We've taken on a challenge of reading 100 books a month (click here to join us!). I was in conversation with one of the ladies at our local library about how cool it would be read all the books in the library. The children's section is rather extensive. So we have decided to start in the 'picture book' section and see how long it will take us to read all of those. Just yesterday evening we sat and read through 15 books--some were short, others rather long. Jaya has her own 'set' of book, since she has her own library card. I'll be adding a list to the blog for my documentation and to share some really good books with you. (Out of the 15, I have three personal favorites.)

I have also been helping a friend and her family move. Which has brought up the whole thing [again] for me--organization and purging!! I am proud to say that I've gotten through all of our clothes. In the process of utilizing my local Freecycle and giving away not only clothes but all remaining baby items (high chair, diaper genie, crib set, etc.) since as of tomorrow I will no longer have any babies! (My son will be 3!) I am also getting through the paper clutter and trying to let go of some books (that's a hard one for me as I LOVE books and have already weeded my collection down).

We've also had time to attend a homeschool day at Valley Forge National Park, enjoy several playdates (at the park and at home). The children have spent much less time in front of a screen and more time with their hands in the dirt, creating tools with sticks and running in the fallen leaves. Soon Autumn will be over and the colder, more harsh weather will keep us in doors a bit more, so we're totally taking advantage of all the time we have now! ;-)

Surprisingly enough, I've even had time to pick up my journal. It's been some time since I've written in it. I've spend more time typing here. ;-) I have to say that actually putting pen to paper was rather cathartic. I keep a journal for each of my children--once upon a time I wrote them a letter to them daily/weekly telling them about the day and how they were growing and what great things I was learning from them. Since our move, I haven't done a lot of that. I took some time to write in each of their journals. I plan to give each of them their journal(s) when they leave home so they can be reminded of the time they spend with me. Yeah, I'm sentimental that way... I've also taken time, while journaling, to enjoy some good cups of Chai Tea and found another wonderful cup of coffee.

We have two birthdays to plan for this month. My son's is tomorrow and my first born daughter's is later this month. This is also the month of my favorite holiday--Thanksgiving--and with that all the food and prep that going into hosting a dinner (or contributing to another's). I'm also thinking about what handmade gifts I'll be giving this year for the holidays. Some I hope to make myself/with the children, the others I'll be purchasing from others who have made them by hand (check out: Handmade Pledge). There is so much to be 'busy' about. I'm purposing to be 'busy' about the important things--the things that matter in my life! ;-)

I hope that each of you have been well during my 'time away.' I'll be stopping by your pages to check in as well.

Enjoy your Monday!