This is too long to read :)

We have had a very successful day homeschooling.  It's been a long time since we had a day of what I think homeschooling "should" look like.  One thing I've learned in the last few weeks is that chores in the morning, afternoon and evening are a very important part of school.  I have been including the kids in these chores and find that when I really make sure this happens, our day goes much more smoothly.

When I was first beginning homeschool (okay, like last month), I wondered what multi-age learning might look like.  Today we spent half an hour on math.  All three of us read a counting book (Maryn helped read it, and it even mentioned single file, so we got to learn what that means), Cookie's Week (a book that covers the days of the week), we sang the days of the week song, checked out our schedule to see when snack time and lunch time were, looked at the clock, played with a toy clock, and then Maryn and I read her Life of Fred book (our math curriculum).  It was so easy, so natural, and so unplanned.  The kids loved it, too.

Maryn is enjoying listening to A Midsummer Night's Dream at night as I read to her.  Sometimes we have no idea what is going on, but it sure does sound pretty.  We do stop often to summarize, but we are both really enjoying it.

Maryn is making her way steadily through her cursive writing book. She mostly does it by herself now and just loves it.  Josiah is working on recognizing and making his name, letters and counting.  Owen is totally into doing school and is catching on to letters, letter sounds, and counting like a champ (mostly from TV shows...).

Maryn is doing well with her computer program, Reading Eggs.  She knows 120 sight words and is reading at what they say is an age level of 6.  The big kids are doing great memorizing Scripture for Cubbies and Sparks, always receive good reports from their Sunday and Wednesday teachers, and Owen is just a very fun toddler that, though he gets into trouble at home, steals everyone's hearts.  :)

Maryn has taken two art classes now and enjoys that immensely.  She is usually in the class with older kids and hardly anyone she knows (she recognizes a few kids, but none are quite friends yet).  I'm so proud of her for being brave, as I just drop her off there for two hours to take an art lesson.

You may have seen pictures of our Valentine's Day Party, St. Patrick's Day Potluck, etc.  That is the home school group at our church.  It's been a real treat to get to know some of those families, who all go to our church too, most live in our area, and have a chance to talk to moms who really seem to have a lot in common with me.  It's also really fun to have my little kids around kids their age and kids of all ages.  This is one of my favorite things about home schooling.  Many say kids should not be homeschooled because they will not get enough socialization.  It's actually quite the opposite.  Our kids are learning how to interact with children younger and older than them.  I was surprised at the St. Patrick's Day party how we all were in a big gymnasium, with lots of things going on, lots of running around, and the teenagers were so good at looking out for the little ones.  And the little ones were good at looking out for the big kids :)

John and I visited a co-op that is less than 10 minutes from our house.  Our kids and I would all go there one day a week for classes.  I would probably be in the nursery, Owen would be in a nursery type room, Josiah would be able to do more preschool type stuff in other rooms, and Maryn would go to several different classes for lessons based on Five in a Row books, Apologia Science (astronomy and botany, which she would LOVE), and possibly some basic Latin, art instruction, physical education, etc.  Reading instruction and math would both still happen at home.  It would be on Mondays, which are long days for John at work.  This might help us not miss him so much and start our week off strong.

John likes his job at Home Depot a lot.  He's a lot less stressed, makes more money, and I feel like he is in a much friendlier, rewarding environment. But his hours are long and ridiculous, and his commute is usually 45 minutes long. It has been really tough to keep up on homeschooling, housework, cooking, errands, etc., without feeling totally overwhelmed, stressed, isolated, depressed, and lonely.  Hopefully as the weather begins to change and I make more connections with our homeschooling group, and as we begin our co-op next fall, we can get some relief from feeling so overworked.

Baby Olivia's birth is scheduled just 30 days from today.  We are nowhere near ready.  There are so many things we still need, but are waiting for John's bonus from work......which as you can imagine, is driving me insane.  I love to plan and prepare.  I see such amazing sales at Zulily come and go.  Maryn's downstairs room is nowhere near ready, we have nowhere for the baby to sleep, and a dozen jobs around the house lay unfinished....which also drives me crazy.  John isn't here to help, and I've become rather limited by my condition :)  Also, Owen is quite a handful.  It's pretty difficult to accomplish anything with him around.  Maryn is a tremendous help, but she and Josiah fight so much, I can't leave them alone for long.

I have a very idealistic vision of sitting outside nursing or holding Olivia, while the cloth diapers dry on the line, watching the three older kids play and play and play all day.  We'll snack on tomatoes from the garden and play in the sprinklers and picnic on the table outside for lunch.  I'll just throw salami or something at them.  :)

Maryn and Josiah have been painting while I type this and Owen is napping.  It's time for me to clean up these paints and prepare for the Tasmanian Devil to re-enter.  I think I'll get a snack ready, too.  :)

Oh....and I have to prepare for Cubbies.  I'm still teaching Cubbies, because I am obviously insane.

And laundry.

And I have to iron a badge on Josiah's Cubbies vest.

And I have to make yogurt.  And dinner.

I think it'll be movie time.  We bought Frozen yesterday :)
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