Highlights of the Week

I used to blog every day and I miss it actually. But I accept there are seasons to everything and this happens to be an extremely busy season for our family. I feel like it is a never ending season but I know it will end one day. For starters it is going to get a lot easier in just 11 days. Why? Because the election will be over and my work will be done one way or the other, but for the next 11 days I am going to be very busy. Then it will be done and my kids will be glad of that to be sure.

Still even with politics in the mix we managed to have a really good week. Just the highlights. I will leave out the bickering, fighting, resistance to math, adult temper tantrums I threw and all the other things you don't want to hear about. I mention them just so you don't think I live in a fantasy world when you read the rest of the post.

Monday my nine year old daughter and I went horseback riding with several of her friends and one of mine. I have not been on a horse in 10 years and that was my first time other than pony rides when I was really a young child. While I am a beginner my daughter is not, nor were several of her friends. But I mustered up the courage to go despite my fear of heights (yes I am aware a horse is not that high off the ground) and even with my back issues. I am glad I went, it was a perfect fall day, the last of the fall trees were pretty to see and the ride itself was fun. I could not have done it without my friend Jen there though, she talked me through it when she could tell I was nervous - I was definitely worse than the girls even the ones who had little or no experience. But it was nice to share that with my daughter and her friends and a perfect way to enjoy a fall day.

Tuesday had a very rough start and led to everyone fighting with everyone else. I decided to change tactics and we all headed to the arboretum for school. I packed a bag of school books, sketch books, a jump rope, blankets and picked up Taco Bell for lunch. We headed to some of our favorite spots and took turns sketching, doing math and other subjects as well as collecting leaves, exploring and jumping rope. The memory of sitting under a canopy of fall leaves while my 5 year old read to me from her phonics readers is a memory I am sure will always stay with me. It really was a great way to spend the afternoon and we actually got more accomplished then I thought we would. We got some strange looks as my kids spread out all over the place but they were well behaved had fun and were learning what more could I possibly ask for? Oh and my G1 phone came which I was very excited for as I have been waiting for it for a long time and our house cleaners came so for the first time in nearly a month I had a clean house - truly a great day!

Wednesday was a rainy day we went to the gym and the girls went swimming with friends while Ciaran and I went rock climbing. Okay he climbed and I cheered him on - remember the whole fear of heights thing? That one I don't think I can get over as easily. Then they headed to a friends house while I went back out to the barn from Monday to pick up my wallet that had fallen out on the trail ride. Note to self - do not put anything in your back pocket while horseback riding. Praise God they found it. Church group that night followed by a treat of an ice cream shake on the way home.

Thursday we had a solid morning of school and then the kids all headed to their various homeschool book clubs, even Sirah is in one this year. I found myself in a very unusual position - I was alone in my house and it was clean I really had nothing I needed to do. Sure there were lots of things I could do: make campaign phone calls, laundry, writing, blogging, etc but I decided to do something I never do - I went for a walk. I put on my headphones and headed out on a crisp fall afternoon all by myself. I walked as fast or slow as I wanted and listened to music without any concern about if anyone else liked it or should listen to it. I looked at the leaves and took in the air and the blue sky and I was just thankful. As I walked past our local school I had the "Is this what I would do if they were in school?" thought. It passed by quickly but it floated through my mind the idea that all of them would be gone all day long now - too much to think about. While I enjoyed my few hours alone I was really happy to see their smiling faces and hear all about their book clubs. Last night the kids were all in bed by 8pm but I went from room to room reading to them I read the younger two a chapter or two from our current book (I always have a special book for each child which just I read to just them)which took about an hour and then Maria and I finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone last night. It was fun to read it with her and we talked about the book and the various characters, choices and events of the book together. It was fun to see her experience the book and world it creates for the first time.

Today was our homeschool cooperative. The kids are taking various classes. Maria is taking Managing Money, P.E, and Betsy Tacy. Ciaran is taking Clay Sculpture, PE and Reptiles and Amphibians (could he be any happier?). Sirah's class reads a Five in a Row book, does crafts and activities around it and then have PE. This year my contribution is playing games with 5th-9th graders and then talking about current events with the teens in our group, very fun and very easy for me. After coop the older two went to various friends homes and Sirah stayed home and watched Aristocats (her current favorite movie). I spent the remainder of the day until dinner (which we ate at 8pm) making campaign phone calls trying to get volunteers for Get Out the Vote in our area. The kids played Wii and when Serona came home we had family night Pizza and a movie.

We had a great week, lots of fun and even accomplished some good school this week. Hope your weekend is well.