My Little Eager Beaver

Oh, the joys of homeschooling! They're back with a vengeance now that I only have one left at home to teach. What fun! What creativity! What a special time we get to cultivate our relationship! It's finally HER time. For her entire life, school has always been about the boys and all my time seemed devoted to their educational needs. But she was always there...wiggling her way into their schooling, being the major overacheiver that she is, grasping concepts I didn't know she had the capacity to learn. Since she 'did Kindergarten' for the past 3 years it seems, my only goal this year is to have fun with life learning. We're sewing, cross stitching, making latch hook rugs, planting a garden, doing pottery, making mosaics, cooking...you name it...we do it. My lesson plan this year is "have fun getting dirty and learning". Although, I can't stop this little learning machine. She loves workbooks. She LOVES reading. And today, I learned that she loves spelling too. She asked me to ask her some spelling words. Best of all, we get one on one time together - something I've longed for (and I'm sure she has too). But the best perk is that I have a full time hairdresser and make-up artist ready at all times to try new creative looks on me. Life is anything but boring.

New School

This is a momentous year for our household. Gavin and Bennett are now going to public school for the first time in their lives. And guess what?....all my fears, worries, concerns were for naught. We have an amazing school full of wonderful teachers in our neighborhood. The boys are able to ride their bikes. They even asked me to ride with them in the mornings. It's so much fun; waving to all the kids & parents we know as we ride down the street. I feel as if we accidentally stepped back into 1950.

Upon their return home the first day, Gavin swore the day flew by and Bennett said it felt like 3 days. Our prayers were answered when Gavin told us how someone befriended him and showed him around and pretty much claimed him as his friend. Our hearts soared with joy because this was our prayer for him. Bennett also found a little buddy but was disillusioned that he has to wait until 1pm for lunch. Plus, he's a little peeved that he has such a short time to eat and doesn't have time to sit and shoot the breeze and practice his little comedy routine on his new captive audience.

The first day they both burst through the door exclaiming, "We didn't learn ANYTHING at all today. Just rules." I guess they had high hopes for instantaneous learning. They don't understand that when you have to teach 25 kids all at the same time - rules are VERY important. They've pretty much had a private tutor all their lives and learning has happened all day long at their pace. This is a new concept for them and they're taking it all in stride.

I asked Gavin if he wanted to do something together when he got home and he instantly ran upstairs to get his "Story of the World" chronological history book that we've been reading. We sat and read aloud for a while, basking in our valued time together. The exact same thing happened the next day, except with Bennett. He wanted to read "The American Story" aloud with me. But when friends came calling - he let me down gently by telling me, "Maybe we can do this some more later. It's not that I don't want to read with you mom...".

Gavin's biggest complaint is that he doesn't have enough time to play superheroes anymore or read for multiple hours of the day. I told him he's always welcome to go to bed a half our earlier and get a whole hour of reading in before bed. He was thrilled with the idea, shocked that he didn't think of it himself and declared, "I think I'll do that tonight!" This is a kid who values solitude, yet is thriving in his new environment. He's learning to appreciate the alone time he gets now and make the most of it.

Bennett's biggest issue is not enough play time with all the people in his life. He wants to spend time with each of his cousins who are staying with us. He wants to play with Chloe. He wants to play with the neighbors. He wants to play with Gavin. He wants to play, play, play.

All in all, I'd say this is going to be a good year. We're all going to be learning lots. I'm so thankful for this new journey and thrilled for my kids.

Beauty

This was taken on one of the busiest, craziest days our lives. Too much seemed to be crammed into one day. Yet, on the way home from football practice, we were driving into this gorgeous sunset. What a moment of wonder, peace and serenity it was for me. It brought calmness to my heart in the midst of chaos. It brought my focus back to the One who made this beauty for me to behold and it reminded me how much God loves me. In the midst of our circumstances, God is still there...too often we don't look for him and keep our eyes to fixed on ourselves and miss out on the wonder of life.

Sunset is my absolute favorite time of day. Whether in the mountains, at the beach, or in the heart of Texas, I'm a sucker for sunset. But I'm partial to the ones here...they're so vast because of the prairie. I get caught up in awe. Each one makes me smile. I see each one as a gift that God made just for me because he knows how much I treasure this time of day.

As I mentioned before, I value beauty. To me...this is beautiful. This represents what I love about where I live, the wide open spaces, the gorgeous sunsets, the vast openness of the prairie. God's beauty is everywhere I look...if only I remember to look for it.

p.s....I'm no photographer. This was taken while the car was moving. I only have a point and shoot camera. But I think it captures what my eyes saw, my heart felt and my eyes marveled at perfectly.