100th Day of Homeschooling!

     Last year, with one child in public school and one child in homeschool, both kids had different things going on that the other wished they could participate in.  Things as big as field trips or as little as the 100th day of school.  With that in mind, I had planned on celebrating our halfway point (last post) and our 100th day of school, which happened to be today.  It's raining right now, and after a meeting I had this morning, we decided to kick off our celebration by ordering pizza for lunch when we got home.  My kids said it was the best pizza EVER!

     Then for dinner, since we're such carnivores, we decided to treat ourselves to Ruth's Chris Steak House.  We all wanted a good steak and this particular location had just opened up very close to us, so we went for it.  It was a nice (pricey) dinner, but the kids felt really special and frankly, I needed something special too.

     This also marks our 20th week of school.  Last week was our last meeting for Classical Conversations before the Christmas break.  Before bidding farewell to our community until after the New Year, we had a joyous time at the annual Family Christmas party.  All the kids showed off their knowledge of our history timeline and each class played a tune on their tin whistles.  My class played part of Jingle Bells.  They did a wonderful job.  All the kids did!

     That's about it for now.  Can you tell I'm ready for our break to begin?  This is our last week of homeschooling until everything, (CC plus our homeschooling schedule) begins again after the New Year.  I.  Am.  So.  Ready.
   
     So, have yourselves a merry little Christmas and may you ring in the New Year surrounded by love, food and merriment and may blessings be poured out upon you and yours!

Year 2, Catch Up (Weeks 12-18)

     I wrote the post below before Thanksgiving but forgot to actually post it because I was busy stuffing my face enjoying morsels of our blessed meal throughout the day.  Yesterday 12/1, marked the 90th day of school for us.  It's our halfway point.  Today, to celebrate (we didn't get to yesterday because I was tutoring) we decided to stay in our pjs---all day.  Yes, as I type this I'm sitting comfortably in my pajamas (I showered and threw on a clean set) while listening to the rain (and my kids going stir crazy from ONE day of having to stay inside.)  On with the post:     

     It's almost Thanksgiving and it's been roughly 6 weeks since I've last written.  It's just been THAT busy.  Planning a birthday party while maintaining a home, teaching, tutor planning for CC, caring for 2 kids with special but different needs (one who happened to also get an infection) and a week of me being sick along with 3 weeks of construction on our backyard to boot; well it's obvious that something had to be pushed aside and it happened to be this blog.  With every passing week I felt guilty because, after all, this is a blog I started for my kids, as a way of remembering and looking back to see how far they've come and I've left the past few weeks out. 

     However, I've let that guilt go because in the past few weeks a lot was accomplished and memories were made.  When I ask my kids to point to a state they can; my son can name all of them and their capitals as well.  We went to the Bodies Exhibition and we were able to show our daughter what a spinal cord looks like and where her surgery was done as well as showing our son a heart that had a similar condition to his.  The kids learned about slavery and one of the books we read was Henry's Freedom Box, which really made an impact on the kids because who would risk sending themselves in a box?!  We also began our tin whistle lessons as part of Classical Conversations.  As a CC tutor, my hope is to get my class to perform "Jingle Bells" at our annual Christmas party. 

     That's all I can remember right now which leads me to Thanksgiving.  I asked my kids what are 5 things they're greatful for and this is what they said: 

Little ToughieThat Jesus died on the cross
My mom and dad
For my home
That I have my own room
That I can help the homeless 

A380That we have a dog
For my little sister
For my airplane collection
For my family
That Jesus died on the cross for us

      I'm thankful for much.  Far too much for me to write down here.  We're blessed, even in times of darkness.  It doesn't always seem or feel that way, but God's purpose is beyond my understanding, beyond our understanding and my hope, my only hope lies in Him.  I'm thankful that He is my light.