January 31

January has been an eventful month. Things started off slowly and ended up with us on the go nearly every day. We finally made it to New York and had a blast as we always do. It was the first trip that the bigger kids were old enough to actually be out and about in the snow. We even got to walk in fresh fallen snow at the BBG. They were over it after a couple of days, lol. This trip, we did things that I enjoyed doing as a child in NYC. We went to the Sony Wonder Lab which I believe was the AT&T Lab when I was a kid. We also went to FAO Schwarz and waved to Eloise at the Plaza across the street. The kids participated in a community art project for Arty Facts at the Brooklyn Museum. I did Arty Facts as a kid and spent lots and lots of time at the museum so it was nice to be able to talk to them about that. Of course, they always find it hard to believe that such fun things existed back in the Dark Ages when I was a kid, heh.



Once we were back home, I felt the need to join a co-op after all. I saw my HS mentor/friend while in NYC and she unwittingly influenced me to do it. Plus, I kept seeing all these postings to local groups and finally just said, what the hell, why not? So, we are members of a small co-op now. I assist in one of the Kindergarten classes which means I get to cut, glue, and listen to little people while sitting in a tiny chair. No, it's fun. It is! The kiddos all enjoy their classes and I like that it provides a break from our normal routine. And we get to see Darcel and crew every week now! We had a really fun field trip last week to the Virginia Living Museum's Homeschool Day and I'm already looking forward to the next such local event. On the horizon for February are a couple of day trips and some changes/additions to our curriculum. If I've learned anything about homeschooling, it's that I will continue to tweak things to meet the needs of our kiddos as time goes by. L and I discussed what we will do for school next fall and we've decided to keep them at home. I'm still anxious about testing, but it's probably like everything else in that once I'm over the hump, I'll wonder what the big deal was.

January 20

What I don't miss:

• the morning rush
• wondering exactly what it is they do all day
• fundraisers
• turning into a shrew because of homework
• guilt inducing class parties and activities
• bullying
• my son hiding work he didn't want me to see

January 6

So we're back to school and things are going a lot better than I thought they would! I just knew our week would be horrible, everyone would be grumpy and that I would be questioning why I decided to do this in the first place. Turns out I was just projecting my own "back to public school after holiday break" issues on my kids who have no such hangups. We had to postpone our planned trip due to the snowstorm that hit the East Coast. Looking back, I think two weeks was too long to go without doing any kind of school. We had a major case of cabin fever due to the snow, so I'm sure that didn't help any.

I know that January for homeschoolers tends to be a time of renewal with people either starting a completely new school year or changing curriculum. And so it is for us. Finch is now working from (and loving) Math Made Easy. He finds math in general to be interesting and the shiny gold stars at the front of the book have only helped that, lol. The gentle pace is perfect for Kindergarten. I've added Daily Language Review for both Robin and Wren but Wren's book isn't here yet. I have to admit, DLR wasn't even on my radar until a friend linked me to something else by Evan-Moor during a chat. I'm glad to have found it as Robin quite enjoys it and it takes less than five minutes a day. We're also trying to restart daily read-alouds as they fell by the wayside some time ago.

And we did not join a co-op after all. Yes, I flip flop about these kinds of things. I just couldn't shake the feeling that we need to get our daily rhythm under control before adding anything else in. Honestly, I love our days...for the most part. Usually, I get up at least an hour before everyone else (which I've always done) for some quiet time. Then the kids rise, eat, dress and get to work. We do our subjects in a certain order and when I asked Robin what, if anything he liked about homeschooling, he brought up that order. He likes that we tackle the (ahem) harder or more boring subjects in the morning and then do fun stuff in the afternoon. I like that too. As awesome as some of the co-op offerings were, there's nothing more awesome than watching my kids learn and grow right here at home. 

January 5

This year, I've made some resolutions I can actually keep. I'm no longer a vegetarian. I'm now a bacontarian. I didn't even know there was a really a definition for what I was until I just googled it! Heh. I quit Weight Watchers. It was going quite well, but I don't have the time at present to count calories consistently. And I'm going to start drinking a glass of wine every once in a while. I've also pledged to speak before I think this year. So, basically, I'm going to become a fat(ter) loud mouthed drunk person. Super!