Gettin' Our Learin' On

Since coming home from our travels to North Carolina, we have stayed put.  We haven't wasted our days traveling around town on an empty mission just for something to do.  During the week we have (mostly) remained at home.  It's a nice change of pace, though I have had a bit of cabin fever.  I can't claim to have been extremely productive in the home, either.

Last week we returned to our lessons.  It was rocky some days and smooth others.  We are still trying to find our groove.  Morning time is by far everyone's favorite, and has been the smoothest part of our school day.  We begin with the Morning Offering prayer and then into our memory work.  We are working from Classically Catholic Memory alpha year, and everyone seems to at least tolerate it.  I let the kids take the timeline cards and put them in order on the floor.  They have really enjoyed it.  We have also started using Blob Maps for map tracing with zero resistance from the kids.  We finish up by reading A Bear Called Paddington while they draw in their journals.  On Saturday I bought some marmalade for the kids to try.  Owen is the only one that seems to enjoy it.

I have been working my own thinking muscle.  Along with the eCourse on classical education, I'm reading Awakening Wonder: A Classical Guide to Truth, Goodenss, & Beauty with some lovely ladies and discussing it using the Voxer app.  Classical education is so intimidating, but it pairs so well with our faith.  It feels like the best option for us.  But how do we have a classical homeschool?  I don't know.    I'm still working on that.  For now since classical schools do memory work...ok, we'll do memory work. Classical schools learn Latin...ok we'll learn Latin.

Reading and learning about classical education, I feel that I need to try and fill in the gaps of my own education.  Sadly those gaps are quite large...embarrassingly large, especially in literature.  I'm not classically educated...sometimes if feel barely educated.  So the past couple of months have been a bit emotional about homeschool and capabilities.  But I digress.  2016 I'm reforming my reading habits.  While reading the nonfiction with the Voxer group, I'm going to have a fiction book going as well.  So, I'm reading Little Women for the first time.  It has been so delightful.  I can't wait to read it with Amelia!

I'm working on a post for my education metaphor.  I have it, but I'm having a hard time crafting my words.  Choosing a metaphor has been really great.  It's made me really think about what education means to me, and what it will mean to this home.  Be on the look out for that.

Chris as has tomorrow off.  Exciting.  I can tell the day is going to fly by, but it's nice to have him home an extra day.  He's in the thick of flight school lots of studying.  When I can, I get the kids out of the house to give him some silence.

I hope 2016 is treating you well.  :)

Word of The Year: 2016

We are still feeling the renewal that the calendar provides each January, and I have chosen a new word for 2016.  In 2014, I choose a word of the year.  It has been the only time I have ever chosen a word, but in retrospect, I think 2014's word really needed to roll into 2015, so maybe that's why I was never struck with a word that year.

Facebook had a fun word generator floating around toward the end of December, and I could not resist the click.  It provided me with the word innovation.  There was a pause, but I didn't feel as if it was the word to guide me through the next year.  So, I Voxed Ashley to get her thoughts, and she recommended looking up synonyms and antonyms which was a lovely idea.

I read lots of words, and continued to Vox Ashley, using her as a sounding board, to determine my word for this year.  In the end I settled with:

I was not blown away with the word in the beginning.  When I hear reform I naturally think of political reforms, which is just makes me think of debates, and honestly leaves a gross taste in my mouth.  Once I got over that and really consider the word, I felt like it was kind of perfect.

Most everything that is going on in my life seems right, but the quality in which I'm doing things is lacking.  Praying, housekeeping, parenting, homeschooling, budgeting, community building, and personal development you name it, I'm not doing it well.  I feel like I'm planted where God wants me, but I'm not fulfilling these roles in the best way.

After going through Advent with St Benedict, I have a better understanding of my life, the mundane, being a pray that needs to be said everyday.  Meaning, my work is prayer.  Getting up and doing my job is a prayer that I need to be saying, or doing, everyday.  I know I haven't been.  Or at least my work has been poor and sloppy. 

By making paradigm shifts and using my strengths to foster my shortcomings will (hopefully) build my self confidence will slowly reform my daily life.  It's going to be a long year with lots of growing pains, God willing.   

First post of 2016

It has been nearly a month since my last post.  Over the last few days I have reading old posts, when I was posting kind of regularly...2014ish.  It was so much fun!!!  I miss it.  I miss documenting our lives.  I miss typing aimlessly to the empty internet.  I miss the comments (mostly on Facebook).

That is not to say that I haven't sat down at my computer several times to type something to share with you, but at some point I started over thinking what I was doing.  Honestly, I'm not sure why.  It was like I was trying to make my life interesting for the sake of this space.  The thing is, my life isn't that interesting.  I'm a mom drowning in dishes and dirty laundry while I'm trying to educate tiny humans and myself on the side.  Seriously, there is no way to make dirty diapers interesting.  They're just gross.

It's funny how I often do that to myself.  Over-complicating an ordinary task.  So I will do a very very quick update in bullet points so we can  move on with our lives.

• I will begin with the most important thing.  The selfie stick.  It didn't work with my mom's phone so now I get to be like that guy at the commissary using his selfie stick in the produce department!  I'm pretty sure Chris is more thrilled by me owning a selfie stick than I am!!!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We are still homeschooling.  I am currently taking a self paced online class The 5 Elements of Classical Homeschooling.  Over the past week I've been reading Awakening Wonder: A Classical Guide to Truth, Goodness, and Beauty by Steve Turley PhD.  My brain wants to explode with excitement and ideas, but I'm still not articulate.  But classical education is totally what I'm trying to achieve.
• I love our co-op.  Amelia was asking today if we get to go this week...sadly, we have to wait one more week.
• Chris is in the thick of flight school.  Studying with four young kids underfoot is tougher than you may think. ;)
• Owen wants to take Karate or something, but I'm being a little selfish with the schedule.
  
• Amelia LOVES dance. She loves putting on a "show" for anyone who will watch.
  
  
  
  
• Simon is still Simon, but dino lovin', age three has been a real treat!  One and two were pretty tough.  Three isn't a cake walk, but we know what he's capable of, and it has been mostly fun.  But he is REFUSING to potty train, and I'm refusing to fight over it.
  
• Becket loves to dance.  He love to say "mo" to everything.  If you ask him to say Muma he tilts his head.  He is into everything!
  
• I'm still adminning the two Facebook groups, and having a great time.  Peg Dolls (I'm working on eggs right now) and Periscope. 
  
  
  
  
• Myers-Briggs is so much fun!!! I love it.  You can take the free test at 16 Personalities.  I'm an ENFP.  I LOVE knowing what others are, too.  I find it very fascinating.  Please comment your type.  
• Go watch the TV show Miranda.  It's a British sitcom, starring Miranda Hart.  It's, what I like to call, funny!  Such Fun!!!

And that's about it really.  Most anyone reading this probably has kept up with our shenanigans on Facebook and Instagram.  I've missed this!  Bring it on 2016!