It's official...

We're homeschooling again. I've been spending my nights planning our curriculum. The boys will start home learning in November. I've been so delighted at some of the plans that have been shared by other homeschoolers that I've decided to share my plans with you. I've been blessed by others and want to give in return. Putting my plans up here also helps me tweek them one last time.

Change

I sit here, at the laptop, thinking of the changes that are happening in our lives. I feel like a stream, flowing through the meadow, hitting the rocks and logs and feet of little ones catching frogs. I am awash in this world, beautiful but flowing quickly down stream. A pool of clean, clear water is waiting for me just ahead. Here there is time to wait, to sit and swirl and think.

Our life has been too busy, too crazy. It seems that so many people see this as normal. I guess I've always known we were abnormal. We tried, we really tried to do it like eveyone else: The two jobs, the kids in school, the activities.

It just doesn't work for us. We were miserable.

So....this Friday.....I will be no longer working, the kids will be un-enrolled (is this a word?) from school and we will again be a homeschooling family.

I can't wait to breathe again.

Decalogue for Living

Daily Decalogue of Pope John XXIII

1. Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
   
   
2. Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behavior; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.
   
   
3. Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.
   
   
4. Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.
   
   
5. Only for today, I will devote ten minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
   
   
6. Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.
   
   
7. Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and it my feelings are hurt, I will make sure no one notices.
   
   
8. Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.
   
   
9. Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.
   
   
10. Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for twelve hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.

The bold items are the one's I really need to work on today. I probably need to work on them every day but I guess the idea is one day at a time. I also stumbled across this blog when I was googling for the Decalogue. Good stuff.

Hamster

Just because it makes me happy. I hope it makes you happy, too.

Confusion and Complication

I started this blog to chronicle our life. Our SIMPLE life. Wow, have things gotten complicated. Needless to say, we are in flux. We've changed our lives in several ways since I started blogging. We've moved, we've changed the boys' school....twice. We've aged, we've lost loved ones. We've changed jobs, gone back to school and changed jobs again.

What we've lost is the simplicity in our lives.

I vowed when I started this blog not to let it be a place for me to vent my frustrations. I would keep it positive.

Well....I'm venting. Sort of. I changed the banner to reflect my mood. I want my simple life back. Many would say that life isn't and can't be simple. I say we make it what we want. I don't want my children to spend their childhood doing homework. If I had to narrow our difficulties down to a few things I'd say school and work. We have family crisis as well but that can't be changed. To be honest, the school and work problems keep us from being able to spend time on the family crisis the way we'd like.

So....we're contemplating. We're praying. We're making choices. I know this post isn't very specific. I think changes are in the air but I'm not sure. I keep changing my mind. More later.

The above picture was taken at Pinchot Park. The boys and I hiked the whole way around the lake. 8 miles. That was a really big rock. They loved climbing it. We need more rocks in our life.

Repurposed and Remembered

It is almost a year since Mike's beloved Nana passed away. One of the things I loved about this wonderful lady was her stories about her life, including her Catholic faith. She and I shared many stories about the churches we visited and the priests we loved. We enjoyed many an afternoon talking about the beauty of the church, including the history of the stained glass, the pews that "belonged" to the family and how a rosary was passed from one family member to the next.
This summer we were cleaning out her house so it could be sold. One day while cleaning out drawers in the basement I came across an old rumpled paper bag. Much to my delight, it contained old broken rosaries and religious medals. She hadn't thrown anything away....how could she? They were sacred.
So, I packed them away and thought about how to save their beauty and history. Over time a few ideas formed. Yesterday was Mike's cousin Julie's 40th birthday. So, for her day, I gave her a piece of her grandmother. I hope to make each person in the family something to cherish and remember and to give new life to these beloved and much handled pieces of her life and her faith.

Chinese Auction Bag

Well, I made it through the first two weeks of my new job. I was fortunate to have off today and Monday for the holiday. The boys have only Monday off. To be honest, I was sort of glad to have the day home alone. It is a rarity. No one is creating clutter where I just organized. One of the projects I promised myself I'd finish today is something I've been working on for our youth group's Chinese auction.Above you can see the whole bag full. I really love everything that is inside (well, and outside since I really love the bag, too).Here is the quilt. I started this last Christmas holiday and finished it up right before school started this year. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I adore bright colors and this one sure won't put you to sleep. It isn't very large which I think is perfect for a new baby and for a toddler to drag around.I backed it with my Mary fabric from this quilt. I used the pattern from the Happy Zombie. It is the same one I used on this wall hanging.
I've had this bag pattern for a long time but never made it. It's from the same pattern I used to make these. This is the "paper bag" version. I've wanted to for some time and thought it would make a lovely tote bag or diaper bag. There are outside pockets on the front and back. I lined the whole thing in pink.The next two items were great finds. I just love finding things at thrift stores and garage sales. Since this is a give-away for Church I wanted everything to look new, even if everything wasn't new. These Babybug magazines I found at our library's used book store. They are in perfect condition and are wonderful little books.The mother's journal was a garage sale find just last week. It looks like it just came off the shelf at Barnes and Noble. I do love the artwork of Mary Engelbreit and was thrilled to pick this up for $.50.

Well, that's all for now. I've still got a few hours until the boys come home. I'm heading back to the sewing room while I still can. Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Stay safe.