Life has been far too busy to stop and blog about it. I have missed writing; somehow, regurgitating old articles to place in new locations doesn’t replace the catharsis of penning my head and heart in a “now” moment. Though I stopped in on a few of you, overall, I missed checking in on my blog buddies. However, I suppose that living life should be higher on the priority list than resigning myself to plug in and add to my log.
My commitment to myself and to my youngest to get out more has taken me to some interesting places in these last couple of weekends. As a bit of backdrop if you’re not a regular reader of this blog, I took a survey on last school year of each of our children regarding their homeschool likes and dislikes. The youngest had much to say in terms of her dislikes, which, after some pondering over her message, boiled down to the fact that she doesn’t get to have the same fun a s the older two. So, as I made plans to put away the books a little more often, I found that a number of my friends with “two sets” of children, so to speak, had the same dilemma. Guess who became the semi-field trip coordinator?
The Blue Bell Ice Cream field trip was our first effort this school year of allowing that younger set to see that school can, in fact, be great fun. This trip was to the zoo–no matter how many times you see it, it never gets old.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to fully enjoy the zoo as I would have normally, because there was a weekend-long dance workshop for our older two beginning on the same day. Personally, I think dancing from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. (with a cumulative 2-hr. break, thank God) is excessive, but who am I to squelch someone else’s passion? We were tired just playing taxi! Our older two were so exhausted at the end of the dance day on Sunday until they came home and climbed into bed–at 5 p.m. in the evening. I had to gently force them to awake long enough for dinner and a shower.
The youngest was such an involuntary cheerleader for the older two during the entire weekend. She never complained (too much) about having to hang out with us while her brother and sister danced all day. So, with an in-the-moment opportunity to do something special for her, my dear husband mustered the energy to take her to a fall festival at a nearby church. His tireless efforts to make sure the family has fun are one of the many things I love about him. This little city girl loved a night in the country.
Following the zoo and the dance workshop, we completed “normal” school days for about two days before joining other homeschool friends at the Texas Renaissance Festival.
The Festival was tremendous, and such a timely exclamation point on our reading, given that the girls are both studying Medieval history this year.
After two more days of normalcy, the kids ended their week with a birthday party and Christmas play rehearsals (for our son). Funny, I was going to write while work was slow about all of my plans during my waiting time. Then, work picked up and, as you can see, the tours all around town never ended–so much for wait time! I’ll post about it on the next round!
Hi Belinda,
It’s great to catch up with you. So glad to see you ejoyig your little one – time well spent, never to be regretted, a true investment that will bring much reward.
I read your post on your public school experience – very scary, in my opionion! (the part where you had to leave your drivers license, they took your daughter, etc..)
I loved your post whre you went back to bed and let the kids do as well. Good for you! May you have a blessed homeschool this coming season.
Antoinette
You all are having so much fun. I wish we had made it to the Renaissance fair but we waited in a traffic jam for 3 hours after a two hour drive. We finally gave up when we realized we were still 6 miles away and were traveling 2 miles an hour. YIKES! Maybe, we will make it next year. Anyway, I would say you are bringing your dd’s dream of getting out more to life.
Blessings,
Dawn