Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ The First Week in the New House

In my life this week ... The kids and I are settling into the new house and our new routine. We, well I, have been really busy unpacking, decorating, etc. One thing we have really enjoyed is walking or riding our bikes everywhere. We are within blocks of anything we want to do.

In our homeschool this week ... Dawson started back to public school on Thursday, so we officially started on that day as well. I had grand plans of a school year that would allow us to take off from Thanksgiving to New Year, but that isn't going to happen because of the move. So, now we'll just follow the public school schedule, for the most part.

On Thursday, the kids worked hard on spelling, math, reading, and we started our new unit on Caves by reading some books and doing some activities from our unit study from SchoolExpress.

On Friday, we went the library to get our library card and check out all of the available services. The kids were thrilled to be the only ones there for the computers, so they played on them for about an hour. We also logged some PE by riding our bikes and scooters to and from the library.

We will start our REAL full schedule on Monday and put in our first full week. I am looking forward to the routine and normalcy.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share ... Get outside whenever you can. Taking a midday bike ride or walk is going to make our days so great!

I am inspired by ... my mom who goes, goes, goes all the time. Because of her I will be back on an exercise schedule on Monday.

My favorite thing this week was ... being on a walk with the kids and running into my mom who was on a walk with her dog. The kids were so excited to see her walking down the street, and we finished our walk together.

People we are seeing/Places we are going ... I have run into several people I went to high school with, including the librarian at the public library, the telephone/internet technician, and one of my best friends, Angela. She and her boys came over for dinner this week. We also saw my family lots, with us stopping by there and them stopping by here. My grandma, who lives in a nearby town, stopped by to see the house. We have also seen lots of Amish riding by our house in their buggies, as well as the Stealth bomber flying over our house on a practice run. Only in our small town can you see both of those things in the same day.  

What's working/not working for us ... Having one certain little boy knocking on the door several times a day is not particularly working for me at this time. The kids are not used to it, either, so they are disrupted several times a day. He is a persistent little guy, so I talked with him about maybe just coming down to play when he sees the kids outside instead of knocking on the door every few minutes.

Questions/thoughts I have ... I love being back in a small town.

Things I'm working on ... Hanging curtains (or directing my husband in the hanging of the curtains)!

I'm reading ... The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I am loving this book. I read a chapter every evening when I go to bed.

I'm cooking ... some fried crappy this week. My new next door neighbor brought us over a bag of fish and two jars of homemade salsa. She said she supplies both to all of the people in our neighborhood. LOVE small town hospitality.

I'm grateful for ... the opportunity to go back home.

I'm praying for ... my grandma. Her arm infection took a turn for the worse so she was hospitalized. While there, they determined that her heart is failing and that her condition is terminal. They are putting her back in her nursing home today to make her as comfortable as possible. The doctor doesn't seem to think that she will survive for long in her condition. But, she is a strong lady, so who knows. I do know that we need to spend as much time with her as possible, and to make sure we say everything to her we want her to know. My baby niece, Ashtyn, is also in the hospital with a really yucky respiratory infection. They have her on an IV with antibiotics and are clearing her lungs. She should be just fine, but having your 5 week old baby in the hospital is still scary. Lastly, I am praying for Dawson. He is having a hard time adjusting to going back to public school, and starting in a new town. He is missing his best friend, Antonio, and hasn't made any new friends yet.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share ...

Dawson and my niece, Rylee, on the first day of school. They are both Sophomores.

I am also linking up at Weekly Wrap-up with Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.