Girls and boys. I have hopped on this train called Crazy Busy Life and it is a nonstop ride. We quit school in May so we could creep out from the basement school room to get a glimpse of some sunshine and fresh air and pollen. Lots and lots of pollen. I will not go into all the maddening events that we filled our calendar with. Because I know you know. Because you are doing the same thing. But I will touch on a few highlights of the past month.
Holiday World.
Waterslides. Roller Coasters. Friends. Enough said.
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This is the only picture I have because we were too busy having crazy fun. |
This place is awesome. It is close enough that we go up and back in a day. It's a full day and we are all dead dog tired the next, but it is worth it. Tickets are reasonable. And we took along another family and some other kiddos to get us up to a party of 15, which allowed up the group rate. Hua!
Classical Conversations Practicum.
You might be asking yourself 'What the heck is Classical Conversations Practicum?' To which I would reply...."An intense 3 days where I get up at 5:30 every morning, pile my Yahoos in the car and drive 1.5 hours to learn how to teach my children classically. "
I won't go into what teaching classically means. If you have absolutely nothing else to do or you are trying to find a reason not to do the dishes, you can click
here to read more about it.
But practicum was a highlight of the month not only because it was 3 hard days, but also because it was the beginning process in our family as we begin Classical Conversations next school year. CC, as it is called, is a community of homeschooling families that support each other as they teach their kids a solid foundation.
What I love about CC is that they tie all of what their doing back to Christ. Their whole mission is to know God and make Him known. So the point of learning something isn't just to know a lot of information, but that we find truth and beauty in that knowledge, which leads us to a deeper love and gratitude to the Truth and Beauty. After that we can learn to share His goodness with those around us. And that is a beautiful thing. Because it gives a strong purpose to my days when the days are long and hard. And when the kids just don't want to do another multiplication table and they ask what the point of all this is, I can let them know that God is in math and in history and nouns and adverbs and cursive copy work. Yes,
even cursive copy work.
What I hate about CC is accountability. Because I hate accountability. There, I said it. I mean the idea of having people around you, supporting you, helping stay on the straight and narrow....it sounds good. But actually doing that....well, it's less than comfortable. And I love comfort. I've been doing this homeschool thing for 5 years now. I've gotten into my groove. And if there are days I don't feel like doing all of our spelling words, I wouldn't. Because I had this completely misguided idea that I had to answer to no one. But I was wrong. Because I do answer to Someone when this day is said and done and I do need others around me to help me and my Yahoos do their best job. So as much as it will challenge me, this accountability thing just might actually be what we are needing.
Still interested after my poor pitiful shout out to it? You can check them out
here.
The Honey's New Assignment
We all know that The Honey has loved his current post at the CIA. But recently we have felt a prompting that he might move out of his current line of work into something equally as thrilling and covert, but more local. Like down the hallway local. So after much prayer and wrestling and waiting and listening The Honey decided to take a job where he will be able to work from home.
Give me just a minute while my heart takes in that last sentence.
For years I had been praying for him. Praying that God would help change his circumstances or his ADD so that he would be more present in our home. In the past two years I have seen God work on his heart, helping him to bring into focus the eternal over the temporal. But now, I see He is changing our circumstances. Literally bringing him home.
Some people have asked if we are worried about that. Us all being here together. All day long. Every day. And honestly...yes, a little. I am concerned the kids will see their daddy and want to be with him but can't. And I'm worried Baby will yell 'Someone come wipe my butt!' real loud while The Honey is on a conference call. But I know working out all those hiccups are just layers in this story that is yet to be told.
And I am certain this story will be a good one. Because we do love each other in this family. And I see in our family, our culture, that children need their father more than we realize. And I also know that The Honey being home is another way God is bringing accountability into our lives. I'm guessing this accountability thing is really important to Him or something, because it is all up in my face these days.
There you go. A look back at where the Crazy Busy Life Express train has taken us this month. I'm looking forward to the destinations we reach down the road. I just hope we get there at a slower pace.