This week has been one of those weeks where I have to check multiple times a day to see what day it actually IS.
Between our trip to SW Florida and my husband being in and out with traveling for work, the schedule was pretty much thrown out the window.
And that's OK.
I remember when we first started homeschooling. I would wake the kids bright and early, school the requisite SIX HOURS and try to stick to the public school schedule as much as possible. Why?
I have NO CLUE! Maybe I was afraid of what people would think, afraid my kids wouldn't really LEARN if we didn't follow that same schedule I'd followed my entire life, and afraid our homeschool would be a failure.
I was SO WRONG.
One of our family's top reason for homeschooling is the flexibility it offers.
*This post contains affiliate links.
Right now we are living the lifestyle we've dreamed about. We can travel as we want and show everything in the world to our children on our own time. My husband can work on the go - as long as he is by a major airport he's good.
We obviously aren't going crazy just yet. We still have commitments where we live and we do like to live a fairly grounded life. BUT, I do predict more traveling and adventures for us in the next few years.
Homeschooling ROCKS, doesn't it?
Time for Family
We live close to my husband's family - in the same town, in fact.
My family, however, is scattered all over the country, so when my sister asked us if we'd like to join them in Siesta Key to celebrate my dad's 84th birthday I said YES!
A couple of months ago things were really hard for both my father and my husband's father (remember, we were taking it one day, one prayer at a time), but I'm so happy to report they are both doing better. I cannot tell you what it meant for me to be able to spend this time with my dad. To see him with his grandchildren was precious to me.
I'll start in the upper left and go clockwise with the photos:
- night swimming - immediately after we arrived Grant hopped in the pool with his older cousin and did some night swimming and night football - fun times!
- Ping Pong! - Grant thinks we need a Ping Pong table in our garage now. He might be right!
- BOGO Starbucks Christmas drinks - my husband treated us on the way down to FL with Starbucks
- morning walks on the beach - when there's lots of family around it's easy for my husband and I to get away by ourselves - morning walks on the beach are precious time
- LOTS of driving - good thing we have a comfortable van and my husband likes to drive. We spent a total of 20 hours on the road!
- a silly crew - we have a silly family - seems like someone is always cracking a joke, making a face, or something else. I love that.
- Anna and her Grandma - my mom is a great lady - I want to be like her when I grow up. She shares a special connection with each of her grandchildren. She's a breast cancer survivor and I admire her so much.
- Grandma and Grandpa with 4 of their grandchildren - they have a total of 8, but just 4 were able to be in attendance. As my dad put it, "There's not a bad one of you in the whole bunch!"
- Kayaking! We all had fun kayaking through the canals in Siesta Key - I'm not quite sure how Grant's arms held out for all the kayaking he did, but he sure had fun!
- More kayaking
- Puzzling - my niece, Janie, did most of the work on the US Puzzle my sister purchased for the occasion - we got to bring the puzzle home so I'll be gluing and framing next week!
Thanksgiving Preparations
Next week we prepare for Thanksgiving! Grant has been reading Stories of The Pilgrims (a $.99 Kindle download!) and building LEGO scenes to match. Anna has been trying some fun gluten free desserts for the festivities on Thursday.
The leaves are falling (and Grant learned to use the leaf blower for the first time!) and God is putting on the BEST show for us.
We are packing our final Operation Christmas Child boxes - my mom gave us tons of rubber band bracelets and hand crafted fabric bows to add. We will bless the final box packed at our church this Sunday. On December 4th we head to the processing center to volunteer with young people from our CC Challenge community. Exciting times!
There is so much to be thankful for.
After Thanksgiving we will school two more weeks and then be on a month long break!
SQUILT - Oh My!
I have been overwhelmed and so thrilled with the response to SQUILT Christmas Carols (100 volumes sold since its release on 11/3). I have been getting up early most days to respond to emails, deal with customer service issues, and just check in with affiliates, giveaways, etc....
The SQUILT Music Appreciation business is growing and I'm making plans for future volumes and other fun things!
It makes me so happy when a mom writes me and says she now can teach her children about beautiful music because SHE is learning alongside them with SQUILT.
I never dreamed anyone would be interested in these lessons, but I'm so glad my friends Tricia and Jen just said "Give it a try - you can do it!". It was all a little dream I talked about with Jen while sitting on the beach in Florida two years ago.
That was our week in a huge nutshell. How was your week?
*Please note: There will be NO COLLAGE FRIDAY next week - the day after Thanksgiving. I'm sure I will be in a turkey stupor and unable to post! :-)
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