September was a month that I'd never want to relive again. It was a month fraught with depression, loneliness, isolation, frustration, and uphill battles. Everything that I had been pushing off in my busyness of the previous months suddenly came crashing down once there was a chance to breath again. Yet, through it all, I've come to learn some pretty important lessons. I've learned more about myself, my husband, and even my children. I've been able to reconnect with my family and learn to enjoy them again. My prayer life has taken on a whole new dimension, and I've learned so much about the God I serve. My husband is a stronghold; a person who speaks truth into my life and loves me for just who I am. My kids are a joy again instead of objects that often got in the way of what I had to accomplish for the move.
I'm thankful that I was also able to go through this part of the transition on this side of the ocean. My parents have been wonderful in allowing us to stay in their beautiful home and being fantastic grandparents to the boys. It has been so nice to have this extended time with them before the bigger move.
So, what have we been doing in California? Well, for one thing, we started school!
Z is in Kindergarten!
N is a first-grader!
I still can't get over just how much we love homeschooling. Especially after two months of feeling like I was pushing my children away to get things done, it feels amazing to spend some real quality focused time with them every morning. This year for history, we are studying the Ancients, so we did some cave paintings early on.
This year is going to look a lot different from last year. Last year, we only had one kid "officially" in school, and it was only Kindergarten anyway. Our year became more and more less structured and more "unschooled" as it went on. I was never worried though as N is such a sponge for learning, and he picked up so much last year as did Z. We had access to an incredible library system in Seattle so we never had any problems finding books about anything the boys were interested in the time.
This year, though, we have two boys officially in school. We don't have all the physical resources at our fingertips like we did in Seattle. Because of this, we are more structured and I'm trying to keep our physical books to a minimum. This does not mean, however, that N isn't in to doing his own unschooling. He begs to "play" Khan Academy all the time. He loves mastering challenges, getting badges, watching math/programming/art history videos, and learning things on his own. Z can't read yet, so during his free time, he loves to play Starfall or do math games like 2048 or 2584.
As I've already alluded to, I also had somewhat of an identity crisis this month. This manifested itself through Phil and I dying my hair pink late one evening after one of our date nights. For the record, I was going for an unnatural red, but it came out pink. Yah... that lasted a whole week before I landed myself in a nice comfy chair at Fantastic Sams.
It's been really hot here in California, so we've been hiding out at home in the A/C for a lot of this month. However, the last weekend of September, we did get to go to the Harbor Days in Oceanside with my parents. It was fun to see all the military vehicles, peruse around the artisan vendors, and just play on the beach.
While we've been here, our house has been for sale up in Seattle. It is still on the market even though we've already reduced our price once. Please pray for a buyer soon!
I'm thankful that I was also able to go through this part of the transition on this side of the ocean. My parents have been wonderful in allowing us to stay in their beautiful home and being fantastic grandparents to the boys. It has been so nice to have this extended time with them before the bigger move.
So, what have we been doing in California? Well, for one thing, we started school!
Z is in Kindergarten!
N is a first-grader!
I still can't get over just how much we love homeschooling. Especially after two months of feeling like I was pushing my children away to get things done, it feels amazing to spend some real quality focused time with them every morning. This year for history, we are studying the Ancients, so we did some cave paintings early on.
This year is going to look a lot different from last year. Last year, we only had one kid "officially" in school, and it was only Kindergarten anyway. Our year became more and more less structured and more "unschooled" as it went on. I was never worried though as N is such a sponge for learning, and he picked up so much last year as did Z. We had access to an incredible library system in Seattle so we never had any problems finding books about anything the boys were interested in the time.
This year, though, we have two boys officially in school. We don't have all the physical resources at our fingertips like we did in Seattle. Because of this, we are more structured and I'm trying to keep our physical books to a minimum. This does not mean, however, that N isn't in to doing his own unschooling. He begs to "play" Khan Academy all the time. He loves mastering challenges, getting badges, watching math/programming/art history videos, and learning things on his own. Z can't read yet, so during his free time, he loves to play Starfall or do math games like 2048 or 2584.
As I've already alluded to, I also had somewhat of an identity crisis this month. This manifested itself through Phil and I dying my hair pink late one evening after one of our date nights. For the record, I was going for an unnatural red, but it came out pink. Yah... that lasted a whole week before I landed myself in a nice comfy chair at Fantastic Sams.
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| And if you think it looks cute, you should have seen it without the hat. My scalp was dyed red so it looked like I was bleeding, and we didn't cover the bleach very well. I was more of a Neapolitan. |
It's been really hot here in California, so we've been hiding out at home in the A/C for a lot of this month. However, the last weekend of September, we did get to go to the Harbor Days in Oceanside with my parents. It was fun to see all the military vehicles, peruse around the artisan vendors, and just play on the beach.
While we've been here, our house has been for sale up in Seattle. It is still on the market even though we've already reduced our price once. Please pray for a buyer soon!
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