It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!
I'm not going to get around to putting mission photos on here. They'll be emailed, on Instagram, or occasionally on Facebook. Just takes too much work. I have Brynne's insta account that she said I could post pictures to occasionally, and that's by far the easiest way.
But I have other kids and topics to write about, so that's okay.
School is in full swing around here now that we are midway through September.
I think Logan is excited for most of his classes. He doesn't love writing and English, so he opted for the lower level junior English. I was kind of bummed. He could stand the challenge, but not my choice. However, he's making up for that with two science classes and of course AP U.S. History. I know lots of kids that push themselves with 6 AP classes and sports and stuff. I really don't see the point of that and don't encourage my kids to overwhelm themselves. I have some other thoughts on that. Every family and kid will make different choices and this isn't one of my personal priorities. So I think he's got a fair balance. I find that raising a teen boy is harder for me than my daughters. He thinks differently and works differently and I am never sure exactly what my expectations should be. But he's a good kid and I think he's going to turn out alright. What more can you ask for, right?
Homeschool is in a sweet spot. I spent a lot of time thinking about the realities of our life. What our time available is, our personal learning styles, my energy level, and other factors. They all come into play when selecting curriculum and planning out the rhythm of our days. I bought a new-to-me science and history curriculum that allow K and N to work independently for the most part. That frees me up to help Faith a little more. She's technically K, but I have her in 1st grade math and her reading is coming along pretty well. She's motivated and that's really what you are waiting for to teach reading. I enrolled Kenna in the orchestra at the middle school and she ADORES everything about it. This girl is a public school girl - it is her jam. The social aspect, the teaching styles - she loves it. She isn't thrilled that we opted to homeschool her but she's a good sport about it. Moving into Mutual what amounts to a year early has only increased her desire to grow up. She likes to hang out with Logan and his friends. She adores the recent convert in our ward who is 14 and wants to hang out with her all the time. She just wants to be a teenager with all her heart. It's cute but I don't want her to grow up too fast either.
Hey - good news about Natalie. She's matured too! I would say as recently as three months ago when I assigned her a kitchen job she did a halfway deal and lately I've been noticing such an improvement. She's more thorough, quicker, and complains less. Fun to see people grow up.
So that's the girls.
I feel like our mornings are kind of blissful. And honestly, it's saving my life to have slower homeschool mornings. I worked hard to create an official homeschooling time. It got sort of taken up with other activities last year and I felt like we weren't able to do school as much as we should. Partially it was things like preschool carpool that got in the way. This year is already better. I've been more diligent about keeping activities that aren't school at bay - after lunch only, and preferably after 2pm.
Do we get it all done? Absolutely not. But it feels closer to what it should be. I've learned that in Grants Pass it seems like school is intruded upon all. the. time. I have to put my mind in a zone where school is my job and just like anyone else who goes to work for a certain number of hours/days and isn't expected to drop everything and go do something during that time - I have to treat our mornings like that as well. It's made a big difference. I didn't have this problem in Fort Bragg. I guess because every day, all day, we did what we wanted? I don't know! It's just been different for me since we moved here. More options I guess.
Does anyone else not take pictures any more? I realized that I got pretty overwhelmed with the photos on my phone once I started trying to delete the extras and I stopped feeling as motivated to take pictures. Just more stuff to go through and delete. How many pictures do we need?
But we need some!
So yesterday on Sunday we needed an early dinner (like 4:30 early) and since it was so close to lunch and we weren't starving, I made smoothies and muffins. It was raining but not that cold so we sat outside with our smoothies and somehow ended up playing the muffin song and singing instead of doing our Come Follow Me discussion. But it was fun to be together. Then I had to jet to a stake Primary training, the boys hosted a missionary new member discussion before going to a youth fireside.
Guys - these days are just flying by. I feel like I'm standing at a fire hydrant and life is gushing out at me. It's slightly overwhelming!
We did get to talk to Brynne on Friday. Josh ran home from work so he could catch her. She leaves the CCM for Querétaro today (Monday September 16). She was pretty excited to get out there and start being a real missionary. (Although I think nervous because the CCM was a pretty sweet place for her and very safe feeling). She's going to love it. I can't wait to hear how things go.
But I have other kids and topics to write about, so that's okay.
School is in full swing around here now that we are midway through September.
I think Logan is excited for most of his classes. He doesn't love writing and English, so he opted for the lower level junior English. I was kind of bummed. He could stand the challenge, but not my choice. However, he's making up for that with two science classes and of course AP U.S. History. I know lots of kids that push themselves with 6 AP classes and sports and stuff. I really don't see the point of that and don't encourage my kids to overwhelm themselves. I have some other thoughts on that. Every family and kid will make different choices and this isn't one of my personal priorities. So I think he's got a fair balance. I find that raising a teen boy is harder for me than my daughters. He thinks differently and works differently and I am never sure exactly what my expectations should be. But he's a good kid and I think he's going to turn out alright. What more can you ask for, right?
Homeschool is in a sweet spot. I spent a lot of time thinking about the realities of our life. What our time available is, our personal learning styles, my energy level, and other factors. They all come into play when selecting curriculum and planning out the rhythm of our days. I bought a new-to-me science and history curriculum that allow K and N to work independently for the most part. That frees me up to help Faith a little more. She's technically K, but I have her in 1st grade math and her reading is coming along pretty well. She's motivated and that's really what you are waiting for to teach reading. I enrolled Kenna in the orchestra at the middle school and she ADORES everything about it. This girl is a public school girl - it is her jam. The social aspect, the teaching styles - she loves it. She isn't thrilled that we opted to homeschool her but she's a good sport about it. Moving into Mutual what amounts to a year early has only increased her desire to grow up. She likes to hang out with Logan and his friends. She adores the recent convert in our ward who is 14 and wants to hang out with her all the time. She just wants to be a teenager with all her heart. It's cute but I don't want her to grow up too fast either.
Hey - good news about Natalie. She's matured too! I would say as recently as three months ago when I assigned her a kitchen job she did a halfway deal and lately I've been noticing such an improvement. She's more thorough, quicker, and complains less. Fun to see people grow up.
So that's the girls.
I feel like our mornings are kind of blissful. And honestly, it's saving my life to have slower homeschool mornings. I worked hard to create an official homeschooling time. It got sort of taken up with other activities last year and I felt like we weren't able to do school as much as we should. Partially it was things like preschool carpool that got in the way. This year is already better. I've been more diligent about keeping activities that aren't school at bay - after lunch only, and preferably after 2pm.
Do we get it all done? Absolutely not. But it feels closer to what it should be. I've learned that in Grants Pass it seems like school is intruded upon all. the. time. I have to put my mind in a zone where school is my job and just like anyone else who goes to work for a certain number of hours/days and isn't expected to drop everything and go do something during that time - I have to treat our mornings like that as well. It's made a big difference. I didn't have this problem in Fort Bragg. I guess because every day, all day, we did what we wanted? I don't know! It's just been different for me since we moved here. More options I guess.
Does anyone else not take pictures any more? I realized that I got pretty overwhelmed with the photos on my phone once I started trying to delete the extras and I stopped feeling as motivated to take pictures. Just more stuff to go through and delete. How many pictures do we need?
But we need some!
So yesterday on Sunday we needed an early dinner (like 4:30 early) and since it was so close to lunch and we weren't starving, I made smoothies and muffins. It was raining but not that cold so we sat outside with our smoothies and somehow ended up playing the muffin song and singing instead of doing our Come Follow Me discussion. But it was fun to be together. Then I had to jet to a stake Primary training, the boys hosted a missionary new member discussion before going to a youth fireside.
Guys - these days are just flying by. I feel like I'm standing at a fire hydrant and life is gushing out at me. It's slightly overwhelming!
We did get to talk to Brynne on Friday. Josh ran home from work so he could catch her. She leaves the CCM for Querétaro today (Monday September 16). She was pretty excited to get out there and start being a real missionary. (Although I think nervous because the CCM was a pretty sweet place for her and very safe feeling). She's going to love it. I can't wait to hear how things go.
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