Lately it has been very difficult.  Trying to juggle our family that is.  I graduated our first child--B in January this year and immediantly signed her up for Junior College.  What started out as an exciting event and her signing up for 5 courses, has become a drudgery for her, and she is down to 2 courses now. I know she is excited about growing up but other things have become more important to her and it has been hard to deal with.  She wants to get married to her boyfriend.  I am not sure exactly why, if it is because her best friend has gotten married and is now having a baby, or what.  So, here I am not super happy about it, and trying to help her plan it, although on a very slim budget. 

My second dd--A, is very upset by all this.  We are homeschooling her for her High School years, after being in PS for 1 1/2 yrs.  We got off to a rocky homeschooling start, and we have just never got into a groove yet.  She is such a social butterfly and she needs constant interaction with friends or she feels depressed.  We have become closer in our relationship which has been nice, but this wedding thing with her sister has hurt their relationship.  I am struggling to keep her going in her school work.  She has a two day a week job now, which has been nice, as she likes the money she earns from it.

My ds-CD is showing signs of needing attention.  His PS grades have slipped drastically.  We are now checking and rechecking homework daily and trying to stay on top of things hoping to motivate him to get those good grades we know he can get.  His attitude is also changing and I am not sure if that is due to him turning 13 or what.  He is making good decisions in everything but school work.  His attitude at home suffers a bit, and he likes to pick on the little kids here at home.  Life gets hectic when he gets home from school.

As for JET and ET, well homeschooling has had its moments lately.  We seem to not get a whole lot done, and with ET its more just teaching basic facts of life.  getting dressed, brushing teeth, holding pencil etc.  That is fine, but it is so hard to give him the attention that I know he deserves, with all that is going on in our house. 

Decisions are having to be made here.  Life changing events are taking place and I have been offered a HUGE promotion at work--that of General Manager.  That will mean more time away from home, some traveling and of course the raise, although that is not what is motivating me to do this.  It seems that we hug more, and I try super hard to spend as much of the free time I have at home with each one of the kids.  I just know that homeschooling is going to suffer because of this.  The younger two kids are going to go to PS next fall, but I will keep homeschooling A to finish High school. 

So---off to help with the wedding plans, finishing high school and getting through this last year of homeschoooling the little kids.  Homeschooling has been such a joy in my life, but I truly hope and plan to stay active in the movement and all of my friends that I have made through out our homeschooling years, after all--I am still homeschooling, even if it is just one kid.

Debra