We have it together.....even if it isn't Perfect!

I have to say this last week has been a time of starting to feel settled. Finally! I know, we just moved four months ago and have just been homeschooling for two months, but it feels like it took too long for things to fall into place! Can you tell I am not very patient when my family's emotions are on the line? I want them all to feel settled, relaxed, confident and on their way to learning new things. No small expectations, eh? But I think we have come to a point that I can say is ok. Our relationships have transformed into ones of deeper communication and more respect from being together all the time. Our routines are now becoming more habitual as we have learned how to care for ourselves and get our schoolwork done. I have come a long way in my understanding that things can be good without having to be perfect. Small consistent steps in the right direction will lead you where you want to go! It may not feel like you are going anywhere, but then something will cause you to look back and all of a sudden you will realize that you have come a lot further than you realized. Guess this is one of those kind of days. I still have plenty to figure out how to organize, but we are moving forward even though things aren't "The Best" yet. That is a big deal for me. The rotten ol' monster called Perfectionism has kept me paralyzed for most of my life and kept me from doing some really great things just a little bit at a time. I am glad to finally see another way to live and hope to make great strides with these endeavors even though none of it will be Perfect. What is perfect, anyway? I surely don't know!

We have a good bit of material under our belts as we have already done units on Life 100 Years Ago (including study of the Wright Brothers, Helen Keller, Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, the invention of factories and penicillin, and we read a condensed version of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn). Then we moved on to read My Side of the Mountain by Jean George and compared it to the movie. (They could not believe the differences and totally agree with me that books are better than movies! Yah!) We are now reading Charlie's Raven also by Jean George. They are now doing math and geography lessons everyday. Our readings are all tied together by read aloud history lessons of the same time periods. And we are studying several different science lessons a week. We are about to begin our Spanish lessons again, too. I found a neat lesson and game set at the book store that will give me a good starting point. I speak Spanish, but was just looking for some sort of a plan to use with them. And Benjamin is moving right along in the learning of his letters, numbers and sounds. He can pick them out of print easily now and is almost ready to start learning his sight words. He has a very long attention span for just being in Kindergarten and will sit and listen to chapter books for almost 30 minutes at a time. He has listened to the Boxcar Children #1 and is halfway through another one now, too. He loves to write words that he sees around the house and in his books and is drawing very detailed pictures.

Nate decided this week that he was going to start learning some new words. He had been on a little strike that had become quite funny. I have tried for over a year to get him to say "truck." He had gotten to the point that he would grin and say "No, Mom Mom. Very Big Car." Little weasel! But now he has decided that he will try some new words again and just this week has picked up "horse," "cow," "pig," and his own version of "truck."

We get to go to Texas this next week to see my mom and will take school with us. It should be a lot of fun. The last few years we have only seen my parents about once a year so this is a very nice change. It has only been 4 months since our last visit! yah!

Life just feels good today as I sit in my studio/schoolroom with the sun afternoon sun streaming in the windows. I have started to crochet my first prayer shawl and am looking forward to introducing that ministry into our church. It has helped me to feel more relaxed to do something with my hands again. Pushing a computer mouse around just isn't the same!

I almost have a new template ready to upload to the site and am spending lots of time thinking and planning my business. I really think it is all going to come together! I wasn't so sure I was going to survive just a few weeks ago so my return to sanity has been a fast one, thank goodness!

Off to play with my little one while the big kids are gone!