School Update

Well. 

It's the middle of April.

Already.

We are on the homestretch of the school year, and I'm sitting here with eyes glazed over and am fixated in thought about how fun, spontaneous, and quick this year has been. Last spring I stepped away from a homeschooling mindset and a routine that had dampened our spirits and dulled our interest in learning. This year was the refresher we all needed - and we had the gift of spending several hours each week with other families that were taking a year to be intentional and slow down the pace and expectation of learning.

It has been a gift.

Earlier in March, we joined friends for some anatomy fun and dissection. The more the merrier when it comes to scalpels and formaldehyde. 

First up: sheep brains. 

Next up: cow eyes. And yes, they are really big!

Of all that we've dissected this year, the cow eyes were my favorite.

Slicing and dicing cow eyes proved quite dangerous, but six Angry Bird band-aids later and we were back in business. 

Some school days are simple: a couple hours of seat work in the morning and then an afternoon venturing through a museum or exploring outside with friends. But no matter what. always reading. Lots and lots of reading. 

Standardized testing next week. Co-op ends in two weeks. We clock the "required" school days in four weeks.

And I'm in no hurry to rush it because this year has been what we needed. And then some.

January

I read this before we started homeschooling, and I haven't forgotten it since, even though I can't remember who to credit for writing it: 

"You will never regret the amount of time you spend with your children. One day when they are grown and have left your home, you will not think to yourself, 'I wish I hadn't spent so much time with my kids. I wish I could have missed out on more activities in their lives.'"

My kids are a long way from leaving home, but I agree with this sentiment already. I have five more summers with my oldest before he will likely work full time, leave for college, or something else that means big changes in family dynamics and time spent together. 

So, even in the doldrums of some days of homeschooling, I'm thankful. Thankful for the time. The relationships. The togetherness.

And, let's not neglect time with friends. Learning and playing go and-in-hand, and in many ways, homeschooling gives opportunity for deep friendships, which I'm also thankful for. 

I realized the other day that I don't think you've had the privilege of meeting Peaches! Peaches joined our family several months ago, but hasn't been front and center in my diary of memories while blogging.

She really is the cutest thing, as far as rodents go, and is so low maintenance it's easy to forget she's here. Until you hear her scratching and digging the carpet.

At 2:00 in the morning.

In your bedroom.

Even though her cage is downstairs.

(Say what?!)

Grady had the week after Christmas off of work and we enjoyed several family fun days. Playing golf at Top Golf, jumping at Sky High Trampoline Park, and watching Mary Poppins.

And eating out. Way too much eating out. But, because my husband is amazing and thoughtful, he wanted me to have a "vacation from work too" and decided several meals out was the solution. 

I didn't argue. 

These two are the bestest of friends. They play together, pretend together, learn together, and have sleepovers in each other's room. I love watching their relationship grow, and really hope they have a special bond forever.

Micah has become quite the rock climber. He's fairly quick, stronger than he looks, and enjoys problem solving on where to place his feet and hands. We'd love to place him on a team to competitively climb, but haven't found anything that doesn't break the bank. In the mean time, he enjoys climbing at Inner Peaks a couple of times a month with Grady, and a couple of times a month with our family at the White Water Center.

This handsome dude isn't afraid of much. He's ready to jump in and participate in whatever is happening around him. One day during co-op, the older kids were working on a project and he went outside to play... when I glanced out the window several minutes later he was having a full on conversation with a dog and happily content in his own little world.

I treasure his independence and innocence!

Our church closed on a property we plan to renovate and transform into our new worship space. To celebrate this milestone, we had a groundbreaking ceremony and a Demo Day to begin work on the building. Jaxton was asked to represent the preschoolers and help turn a shovel for the groundbreaking event.

Afterward, it was all hands on deck as we hammered out walls, hauled trash, picked up and stacked loose bricks, and ran wheelbarrow loads to and from dumpsters.

 

As part of Jaxton's birthday, back in December, we gifted him with tickets to see Marvel Live this month. In his mind we were taking him to see a Marvel movie, so he was pretty excited when "real" Marvel characters came out on stage to perform! 

And just like that January was over and the calendar flipped to February without missing a beat. 

Grady Lee began spring training for baseball. Homeschool Valentines Day parties were planned and scheduled. A week of spring-like weather came through so we dropped our books to play outside. The older boys joined the youth group for a weekend retreat. And the routine of balancing kids, school, church, travel, and ministry continued, just like it always does.