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We did a pretty good job of re-doing the kitchen last week, but it's not done yet so I'm not ready for pictures.  New cabinets coming plus a window treatment, so there's more left to do!

Now I'm in the laundry room, which was formerly part of the garage and is going to be a craft/laundry/school area.  I took some pics just now with Zach's new camera, so I thought I'd get them up here quickly!  I'm so anxious to get going in this room--I spent a lot of time already scrubbing things down but nothing's arranged and painted yet--it's going to be fun when we're finished!  Here are some before pics--Rob and Bo are hanging cabinets which had to be moved from one wall to another.

Now, does that just scream potential to you, or what???    I'll get "after" pics up as soon as I've made some progress!

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Well, our busy weekend is over.  First it was getting things ready for the bookbuster sale, cleaning for company, and shopping for several hours at the sale (I found a lot of great things at great prices--yippee!  History, Grammar, the reading book I needed, some math, and lots of workbook extras for their workboxes~!)  Then we had a lovely afternoon/evening with the in-laws and Rob's sister's family *and* a friend we hadn't seen in many, many years, which was great!  Sunday I sent everyone off to church and kept my little guy at home while I baked a cake and decorated because he had a fever Thurs/Fri and was a bit warm Saturday, so he was my shopping buddy for V's birthday party in the afternoon.  We had a very fun birthday party with dear friends . . . I'm so grateful for our family and friends! 

     After our company left, I started clearing out bookshelves and the desk in my living room so I could get going on what was supposed to be the next room, only to find that I don't yet have a place to put all this school stuff that needs a new home--we've got new (read: EMPTY!) cabinets for the kitchen "desk area-to-be" on the way later this week, and the laundry room cabs haven't been emptied yet, either.  So . . .  I'm starting in the kitchen today, instead!  Whew!  I'm finding myself very easily wiped lately!

     So here's the kitchen plan.

     Starting at the area farthest left of the sink and moving clockwise . . .

     Spray oven with Easy-Off so it can work while I do everything else.

     Open all cabinets and see if everything's located in the best place for it's use . . . are the baking utensils near the countertop I usually use for baking?  Empty top cabinets.  Dust off top of cabinets, scrub inside and out, and replace liners.   Throw away anything broken/missing something/never used. I may decide to head to Target and buy some wire shelving for some of those cabinets (I'm thinking especially the ones with baking mix items in them--there's lots of wasted space in those cabinets; also I think I'll get an over-the-door spice holder because my spice drawer isn't quite big enough to hold everything anyway and I need a drawer for towels!) Replace items after wiping them down if they need it. 

     Scrub wall and countertop underneath that cabinet, then repeat process with lower cabinets.   Move clockwise around the room doing the same thing. 

     Bleach sink and run a drain-cleaning product in it (preventative!)  Replace drain plugs, because one is mysteriously missing and the other broke.  Get R to fix sprayer, which is loose for some reason.  Throw away old sponges, replace.  Empty out everything under sink, scrub and install wire organizer.

     My windows need a good cleaning inside and out, and I've got lots of walls to wash.  I hadn't planned on it, but I can tell after talking to R last night that he'd like the color to change so I'll probably be painting in there, later in the week.  We need to pick a good color but I need a new cabinet door to look at, first!   

     I'll hit my fridge almost last, so I can empty it out by putting everything on the counter.  Throw away anything old/missing lids/etc.,  put the fridge drawers and shelves to soak in a hot tub of water with a little Tide added (seriously--this is the best tip ever; it makes them very simple to clean--just rinse!)  Scrub out the inside with some bleach and soap, replace shelves and drawers, and put all the good stuff back in.  I'm going to try a trick I read about lining the shelves and drawers with wax paper which you can just replace whenever it gets dirty instead of having to scrub them again. 

     The pantry is last on the list.  I'm going to rearrange it, putting another shelf of some sort on the top because it's got all this practically unreachable/useable space up there, replace liners on the shelves, wash the walls and door, and put everything back in. 

     Sometime in there I'll have to wash out the Easy-Off.

     Then, I can hit the floor!  I do love my floor, because it's a great French-Country type tile in blues and mauves and greens and hides things well, plus we have dark blue grout.  I'm not especially looking forward to getting that grout scrubbed well because it's a big space and I'll need to do it the old fashioned way on my hands and knees, LOL, but it'll look great when I'm done!

     I'll hit the baseboards and re-paint them, same with the doors, and . . . that should be it until we're ready to paint. 

     There's something very fulfilling about this deep cleaning and reorganizing.  I think that since I'm usually so busy, especially during the school year, things get out of hand and I always have an underlying awareness that it *needs* doing, only I don't have time to do it!  Hurrah for summer!  We definitely will need to take one day this week to head to the beach and have a fun-only day, for sure!  The boys have two jobs this week; doing some landscaping for a couple of ladies from our church, and Z will be babysitting for friends during the next few days, so I'll have to enlist the youngers as helpers whenever they complain about being bored of the pool and their toys. 

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Well, this is pretty much as good as it's going to get for now!  I feel like I'm at a hotel in this room; I may not come out after I go to sleep tonight.  Just need a teapot and I'd be all set.  And some cookies.  And maybe some sort of protein.  And my cell phone.  And a laptop.  And . . . never mind!  :-)

The blush paint was a stretch (I asked Rob before I even considered it!) and we were a little scared when it went up on the walls.  Then it was the pink curtains I was afraid of--I was convinced I'd have to go back to Target and buy white ones, instead.  But when the paint had dried, curtains were up and the furniture got put back . . . we both loved it!  I'm still looking for something for the wall above the bed (we went out tonight and hunted but came home empty handed) and also silently rooting to replace the carpet with laminate, but for now . . . I'm really loving it!

I barely managed to get my boxes of curriculum to the used homeschool book sale this afternoon, but managed to just squeak in under the line.  I'm anxious to head over to the sale myself early in the morning--it's like heaven for homeschoolers, LOL-- while Bo takes his SATs.  We've got company tomorrow--Rob's sister, brother in law and their kiddos, and then Sunday is Victoria's b-day party, so it's going to be a busy weekend.  Next week it's the living room's turn for a remodel.  I hope I have as much luck in here as I did in my room! 

And by the way, NO, I did *not* remember to take "before" pictures!  I will from now on, though; the comparison is so fun!

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Aaaaahhhh . . . the first true week of summer.  And it's even June 1st, which just has a lovely sound to it!  I'm celebrating by beginning my spring cleaning!  Several months ago, when I was thinking I should be starting on some project because it actually was finally spring, I was reading a set of posts about the topic of spring cleaning and someone said "wait 'til summer!"  I decided right then, that *that* was the best tip of all for homeschooling moms regarding spring cleaning . . . Wait 'til Summer! 

I'm starting in my master bed/closet/bathroom, since it usually ends up last on the list all year.  It was actually so exciting to me to think about getting it all organized (plus, it was such a mess!) that I plunged in over the weekend.  I have found over the past several years that it was helpful to me to have a list of steps to follow, and this year I made my own.  Here it is, just in case it might be of help to you . . .

Strip bed, vacuum mattress, wash EVERYTHING (sheets, pillowcases, comforter, duvet cover, dust ruffle, etc.)  Replace.

Empty underneath bed and find homes for whatever's been living there.  Vacuum. 

Empty every drawer in each dresser/nightstand.  Throw away everything I don't love/wear/fit into/need.  Use furniture oil on each piece.  Clean mirror.

Take curtains down, wash/replace.  Wash windows top to bottom, including windowsills.  Take down blinds and clean/replace.

Take everything off walls to be dusted/washed/thrown out if I don't love it. Pull nails out.  Dry sponge/wash walls (there are great tips about this in Don Aslett's book, Clutter Be Gone!)  Fill holes w/spackle and sand down. 

Vacuum entire room including baseboards.

Paint!  Not every summer, of course, but for us, it's time for a new color.

Paint doors, windowsills and baseboards.

Closet . . .

Empty out entirely.  Go through clothes and shoes ruthlessly--throw away as much as possible! 

Dry sponge/wash walls.  We're converting our walk-in closet to be the baby's "room," so I'm also washing and then re-painting these walls, then moving the changing table into that room (had to move a bookshelf *out* first!)  We'll add one of those little mini-cribs to the room later for naps, but since baby will sleep with us for the first year, we don't need too much room, anyway!  We hung rods on the back wall a few years ago, so we still have some clothing space which is covered up neatly by a tension rod hung with fabric I bought on sale and hemmed for curtains--those I'll need to replace since it won't match our color scheme. 

Bathroom . . .

Put toilet cleaner in bowl, and spray down shower and tub, letting solutions sit. 

Empty out under sinks.  Sort, tossing as much as possible.  Add wire shelving, plastic organizers, or whatever will help corral the "stuff" that procreates under there!

Spray down and clean countertops, mirror and sinks. 

Re-caulk tub, because caulk is looking chippy.

Sweep ceiling for cobwebs.  Dust baseboards.  Wash walls. 

Paint door and baseboards. 

Mop.  Clean grout with Magic Eraser.

Whew!  That should be it!  I'm excited about getting it done; I'm already finding myself sneaking into my room to just sit and appreciate the hyper-cleanliness of it all, LOL.  My plan is to tackle one room/area at a time each week, so I should be pretty much done by the 2nd week in July, when we'll be about ready to start school again! 

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I was blessed to attend the Florida Parent Educators Association convention last weekend (was it only that long ago?  Sheesh!) and took lots of notes.  Being one of those people who learns things best by talking them through, I thought I'd do that here and maybe share with someone who wasn't able to attend or just likes the topic!

The first session I attended was called "The Power of a Focused Mother."  Great title; anything combining the words "power" and "mother" in the same sentence has got to grab your attention, right?  Renee Ellison of www.homeschoolhowtos.com taught this session, and it was well worth our time away from the convention hall.  She talked about how we hear all the time in the news about disaster after disaster.  Whether it's a financial problem, an ethical/moral failing, or a natural disaster, each story we hear revolves around a person (or people) . . . and each of those people had (you guessed it)--a mother.  A mother who had a small window of opportunity to focus on that human being.  We are all tempted to focus everywhere *but* on our children, and yet the truth is that we have so little true influence anywhere but our own homes!  Here's a quote I have to give you directly from Mrs. Ellison: "If the enemy can't get rid of the mother by death, or disease, or take her out of the home with a full time job, he'll get rid of her by distracting her 'til childhood is over, minute by minute by minute.  A child's expectation is to be seen by it's mother . . ."

Right there my mind began to drift.  I honestly started to giggle, because if there's one set of words I wish I had a dime for every time I hear spoken in a day, it would be the many variations of "Watch me!" that I hear from morning 'til night.  From my littlest guy's, "See dat, Mom?" to my 16 year old's "Did you see what I did to my car, mom?" I hear it all day long.  I remember one afternoon last spring when my then-15 year old called to me as I was headed back into the house from a gardening session.  I was hot and sweaty (gross!) and just wanted a cold drink and a shower, when I heard him say, "Hey, mom, did you see that?"   I turned around to see him on his skateboard, doing some kind of kick/flip/combination which it seemed I'd seen him do before, and I was tempted to brush him off with a "Oh, yeah, that's great" and hurry back into the house when it struck me . . . how many more times would I hear that from him?  What 15 year old asks their mom to watch some trick?  I don't *ever* remember saying those words to my parents, because I had an innate sense that they basically could care less what I was doing at any given moment, and by that point I certainly didn't care anymore (or at least mostly didn't.)  Here I was, being honored by the request to observe my child's life.  The shower and drink could wait.

Yesterday was an extremely long day.  My husband left at 8 in the morning, and at 8:45pm I was shooing the third child into the tub while I boxed up old school papers for storage in a more convenient spot, and I was tired of watching everyone all day long.  My two year old had, on at least four separate occasions throughout the day, been freshly changed and dressed, only to find his way AGAIN into the large, still-standing puddles in the back yard.  Copying his older siblings, he was doing his level best to pick up a skimboard which was bigger than he, throw it down into the water, and jump onto it.  Each effort was accompanied by a loud "See dat?" to whomever was in hearing distance of his little voice.  Luckily for him, there were plenty to whom that distinction applied--brothers and sisters and sometimes mom, and even the dog got some shout outs, I'm pretty sure.  Each foray into the muddy puddle left him covered in cold water and bits of shredded lawn mower spit, in need of yet another wash-down.  Did I mention I was tired?  But again, all I could think was how lucky he was to have so many people just plain there,  available to observe his little life and what he thought was important.  And how lucky I was to be one of those people.

I thought back to the day many years ago now when our pet hamster, Rusty, disappeared, and was later found to have been stuffed into the tailpipe of our car by the then-toddling Levi.  You can read the story if you want at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/MistyKrasawski/33315/ and http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/MistyKrasawski/33832/ ; it's our number one family favorite story and one we recount over and over.  Sitting in the session last Friday morning it came to mind again, and I realized the obvious--our family wouldn't even *have* that story if we'd all been split up, farmed out to jobs/school/preschool/daycare.  The story couldn't even have happened-- wouldn't even exist, and a wonderful thread that ties us all together just . . . well, wouldn't.  How sad!

Mrs. Ellison said something else that really stood out to me . . . "You earn the right to listen to his thoughts on who he might marry, by listening to the story about his frog."  It's so true!  And all those discussions are coming down the pike sooner than we think.  Have we earned the right to hear them?  Have we earned the right to the privilege of knowing their thoughts and struggles and worries?  Or have we spent 18 years shoo-ing them away while we're busy with something else, or farming them out to other people to take care of?  It's a hard job.  Listening isn't easy, and there are ALWAYS a zillion other things vying for our attention--things that are more interesting to us immediately, or would reward us more materially, or will get us more accolades from others.  But are they truly more important than whatever is going through that child's head right now, at this precise moment?  "See dat, Mom?"

Here's the thing . . . we can predict the outcome we'll see in our children's lives by looking at the investment we're making (or not making) right now.  Paying attention does have a reward!  What do we need to change in our lives to be able to see the outcome we truly desire?  There's a reason it's called "paying attention," you know.  We also say we're "spending time" with someone.  Those little phrases are packed with meaning . . . paying attention COSTS us something.  Spending time with someone COSTS us something.  Truly being there, in the moment, day by day, with your child is going to mean you're not somewhere else doing something else.  It will cost something . . . but the benefits are remarkable.

So . . . where is our focus today?  What we focus on is what will prosper.  I needed the reminder.  I'm determined to remember what a privilege it is to have been called to be an observer of my children's lives.  There are many other things that need to be done, and there always will be.  But there will only be today, today.  Lets not miss it!

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Every year since I've begun homeschooling, I have found that spring has brought, along with the showers and blossoms, a community-wide feeling of "are we done yet???"  March comes, and I'm DONE, only we're not *actually* done!  It must have something to do with the end of dreary, cold days and the coming of sprouts and tempting beaches!  I tire of paperwork and waking the kids up every morning, telling everyone what to do all day long, etc. etc.  And I'm pretty positive my kids feel the same way (at least, that's what they tell me!)  The refrigerator is calling out for a good cleaning, as are all the closets, and the bookshelves runneth over with creased, mostly-used workbooks, broken pencils and crayons, and rumpled papers which haven't found a home.

And then comes May.  Something very interesting happens to homeschool moms in May, too, and there must be a diagnostic term for it somewhere.  All of a sudden, in the very midst of our intense desire to throw every book we've been looking at all year AWAY, we realize that in a few months, a new school year will begin!  A new year, full of promise and empty of mistakes and struggles!  A chance to change math curriculum, to try a new foreign language, to finally introduce art!  And we experience something similar, I believe, to what happens to a mom who's recently delivered a baby . . . a sort of teacher's amnesia.    Thank the Lord we do, because without it, we'd all only have one child, and every one of them would be returned to the local schoolbuilding in September.

So, as the new year beckons to me from across the glowing promise of summer break, I'm basking in the light of possibilities.  I printed out blank monthly calendars for the year last night, and they positively made me giddy, for heaven's sake.  I've got a few changes in store for the year.  For one thing, we're going to run a sometimes modified-six weeks on, one week off school year.  We'll take a summer break for about 7 weeks starting June 1st (the kids have camp on the week I wanted to start, so that was our first adjustment!) and then begin the new school year July 13th.  Somewhere in there, our new baby is expected to arrive, and then after 5 weeks we will hit my family's official "week of birthdays," where we have 3 all at once (and we will also need to go pick up Zachary from his summer trip to New Guinea!) so that's our first week-long break.  When it's time to start again it'll also be the first week of Classical Conversations for the year (aaahhh!  Providence!) so we'll go ahead and run right through to October, when we'll take another week off (and probably run north to see some pretty foliage!) and then we start again and go 'til the week of Thanksgiving. By that time, because we will have started early, we'll be done with the first half of the year--always my dream, and one we seldom manage to accomplish!  We'll break for ALL of Thanksgiving-New Years (no school at all in December--5 weeks, this year!) which is my very favorite thing to do. 

In January we start again with Classical Conversations and will run right along with their (new this year!) schedule of 6 weeks on/1 week off; we break for a week in February just in time for our anniversary.  The next 6 weeks takes us to the week of Easter for our next week-break, and the last 6 weeks leaves us all done with school by the 3rd week in May, which should put us right in line with our umbrella school's schedule for promotion/graduation.  I'm so excited about the way all the dates "just happened" to land--I think it will work really well for us.

One change I'm really looking forward to is something I first heard of from my dear friends at CC.  It's called The Workbook System by Sue Patrick, and is basically an organizational process for managing your children's schedules, papers, books, etc. all at the same time.  The idea is that you purchase/find a set of shelves and 12 bins for each child (she suggests a simple shoe rack and plastic shoeboxes, but many people have modified this idea in a zillion ways) and then fill them up the night (or morning) before each school day with whatever it is you want the student to accomplish. Each box can contain one of a myriad of things: a slip of paper that says "clean your room," a math workbook, a puzzle or craft to work on, a snack to eat, history book to read, or an instruction to "work with mom."  The ideas, of course, are endless.  The child can see what it is they need to do, as each box is numbered (encouraging them to work left to right and top to bottom--a "hidden" benefit of the system which is actually priceless for young ones) and you can see if they're done, too--the child simply removes and stacks both boxes and work as they complete each task.  Great idea, don't you think?  You can see Sue's website with an e-book to download explaining all about the why's and how's of the system (very important, in my view--I don't think you'd be as likely to stick with it without understanding all those why's) at http://www.workboxsystem.com/  and even order system sets from her if you don't want to make them yourself--laminated cards with numbers for the boxes, schedule strips, little pictures that say "Work with Mom" or "I need help" (only three, so they have to really consider how much they need your help when they use them!!!)  There are discussion forums with different tips and tricks and all sorts of things there, but I'll tell you honestly that this originating site is not quite as engaging or informational as others I've been introduced to--there just aren't enough pictures and real-life experience notes there.  So let me give you some good places to read more about what other moms are doing . . .

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LittleMen/669091/  Lots of great pictures at this one so you can get an idea of what it's all about

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/walkingbytheway/674074/  Great ideas for using toys in the boxes as educational tools . . . on the right is a list of "wonderful workboxes" with links to various posts she's written about it!

http://blogshewrote.blogspot.com/search/label/Ideas%20for%20the%20workboxes?max-results=20

Again, lots of pictures and ideas for things to fill up the boxes!

http://www.ideas4theworkbox.blogspot.com/

There you have it; my organizational plan for next year.  I'm anxious to purchase my shelves and boxes (and figure out where exactly to put them, LOL!) and will be on the hunt at the fpea convention this weekend for lots of things to put in them . . . one of the great things I'm hearing about this system is that it helps you use all the books/toys/games you've purchased in the past and never actually USED, which would definitely apply to me!  My friends already using the system are swearing they're getting twice as much done in half the time--accountability for mom is another built-in benefit of the system.  Check it out! 

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Yesterday, Bo graduated from our homeschool program.

Wow!  What a combination of amazing emotions.  I know many are in the trenches of homeschooling.  Maybe graduation day looks like it will never come--at least not with you on the handing side of the diploma.    Maybe you think the only people who actually manage to graduate their students are the ones who have perfectly calm personalities, perfectly compliant children, perfectly supportive communities and have never doubted a day in their lives.  Ha!  I thought I'd share our story here with you as an encouragement to keep on keeping on.  You can do it!

After so many years of loving every day (most of every day!) with my firstborn, I just didn't see any reason to send him away for someone else to enjoy all day long!  Many moms in my church were homeschoolers, and their kids were smart and well-behaved and happy, unlike the ones I'd known in the past, who unfortunately fit more of the "we're hiding out from the world" category of homeschoolers.  I'd *loved* school as a child, had been a nanny and then taught preschool as a young woman, and loved to learn, myself.  I believed God wanted children to be raised "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," and knew that wasn't the public school system's goal.  My next door neighbor, who was a dear friend, had also taught 3rd grade at a local Christian school.  I remember her saying she just didn't think kids were really ready to be away from home all day 'til they were at least 7 or 8.  I wanted to teach my kids at home, and my husband liked the idea, too.

So when the other kids Bo's age headed off to school, he stayed home and didn't really know there was any other option.    No "oh, just leave--they'll stop crying and get used to it" for us.  I remember ordering our first homeschool curriculum for kindergarten.  We used Alpha Omega's Horizons program, and loved it.  I was so excited to teach him and to watch him learn.  We would sit at the kitchen table for about an hour a day doing math and basic reading.  He caught onto everything easily, and I was thrilled that it was simple to teach!  We had 2 little siblings running around (actually, all one did at the time was to *lie* around since he was only just born that August, but that's beside the point!) and homeschooling seemed like the easiest thing in the world.

We had another baby at the beginning of his 3rd grade year, bringing the total number of kiddos to 4 and the "students" to 2, since his little brother had joined in the year before.  This little one had some health issues which had us in and out of the hospital throughout that August, September and October, and the situation left me feeling behind and disorganized.  About 1/3 of the way through the year, I started to fear that I wasn't doing enough at home; we hadn't worked consistently on the Latin program I'd bought for him, and never did enough science experiments.  I'd become convinced that a classical pattern for education was the way to go, and just felt like I was falling too far short of my own goals.  I found a local Christian classical school and Bo headed off to school for the first time.  It was a very good school, but of course schools are filled with--what else?--foolish children (there are no other types!) and we had our little battles.  Finding uniforms every morning and driving back and forth during naptimes (or should-have-been-naptimes) was sometimes a hassle.  At the end of the year, he'd done well.  But as I looked over the year's work I realized I absolutely could have done the same amount he'd done at school, had I kept him at home!  They really only did a few science experiments after all, and only got about halfway through the Latin program themselves.  I'm glad I had that experience because it gave me more confidence that what I was doing was truly *enough.*

We returned to our hours of couch-reading time and plowing through math books, doing science experiments almost as often as they were scheduled and trying to do as much writing as possible.  I started another in kindergarten, had another baby, and pretty much followed that pattern every other year for the next 8 years.  I never really again doubted my ability to homeschool as being better than a regular school until we hit high school and things got so busy.  He started doing high school level work when he was in 8th grade so we figured he'd just finish earlier than usual, and we planned to dual enroll at the local community college for his last 2 years so he could be ahead in college.  Algebra was easy and while he didn't love writing by any stretch, he did well at it.  I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with so many at home and hadn't ever had any house/schooling help, so that year for awhile the 3 older boys headed to their grandparents once a week for a few hours to do all their math for the week, which was a great blessing. 

Then came the summer before 10th grade.  Bo has felt called to the mission field since he was 4 years old,  and we spent many years drooling over catalogs from Teen Missions International, an organization that has sent teams of kids all over the world for 20-some years.  He was thrilled with the idea of going to Brasil and we thought it was going to be such a wonderful experience--spending the whole summer with an entire group of kids his age who really loved God and wanted to serve people, with adults who were mature and would train him in the Word . . . don't set your sights too high!    So much for anyone who said we were trying to keep him away from the world or whatever, LOL!  Seriously, it was as if he got 2 years of public high school experience in that two months because the 18 kids on the team were together *constantly* with somewhat minimal supervision, and to top it off, their leaders were a YOUNG brother/sister team with a lot of personal issues . . . including one *BAD* attitude on the part of the male leader.    We had an extremely difficult school year following it; the kids on his team had really made him feel that we were over-protective and keeping him from this grand thing called "school" and he was missing out on something (no one could say what, but it was something.)  To say it was trying would be sugar coating it.  To say it was heart wrenching, miserable, and incredibly confusion-inducing would be slightly closer.  Everyone was affected by his attitude because it was absolutely determining MY attitude, unfortunately.  By March I'd thrown in the towel and decided to "unschool" and let everyone detox from the blechy situation.  In April that got old  so I returned the younger kids to their regular studies and we gave the older kids The Big Choice:  they could go to public high school if they wanted to.  I couldn't believe I was saying it.  But somehow we knew that they needed to be allowed to make the choice; that if they weren't, they'd have that sneaking suspicion of us keeping them from the candy store for the rest of their lives.  Bo was encouraged to go because I really felt our relationship was being damaged by his (unfounded) beliefs about us keeping him home.  Zach was told he could go or stay home; he's pretty steady and I knew he'd be fine either way.  They both decided to go and we spent many hours visiting the school, choosing and signing them up for classes, and preparing schedules.  I was kindof excited for them--it was going to be quite a change, but we had peace about it.

That summer (last summer) in mid-June, we watched a DVR-ed segment of a TV show that had been made about Teen Missions.  When we got home at 9:30 that night, Bo said to me, "Wow, I kindof wish I were going back there this summer."  Boot camp started in 3 DAYS.  We'd not raised a penny of support, of course, and the cost of the trip was $3500.  I swallowed and said, "Okay, well; pray about it tonight, and I'll call them in the morning and see if it's even possible."  I really wanted him to hear from God *first* and get confirmation from men later, and when he woke up in the morning he told me he'd read some verses in Isaiah that really seemed to back up his thoughts about going.  So I told him to start packing in faith, posted a note on this blog that we were emergency fundraising, and waited anxiously for TMI's offices to open so I could call!  We were happy to find that all his required immunizations were still "good," and so was his visa.  Of course when I finally got through, they were quite surprised but said they'd check and call back if there were flights available.  We waited anxiously all day while washing clothes and making phone calls for donations, and when the word finally came in it was a yes.  Not only that, but the leaders for that summer were the couple all the campers said were the BEST anywhere, seasoned missionaries to Brazil who had been TMI team members themselves as teens.  Amazed yet knowing it was inevitable, we watched the donations come flooding in, and 48 hours later we were packed and driving to Merritt Island with money in hand. 

What a different summer he had!  Compared to the 3 letters we received over the entire summer the previous year, I found my mailbox held one every few days, instead.  And about a week after the team left for the field, about 3 weeks into the summer, there came a letter that I had to sit down to read.  He'd realized, he said, that his reasons for wanting to go to public school were "dumb," that he'd just been wanting to "be like everyone else" and that God wanted his time to be more free to study Portuguese (not offered at the public hs) and travel back to Brasil if he wanted to.  He wanted me to pull his application and homeschool again that year, instead.  I was shocked.  And very pleased, I must say, because it seemed a mature decision to me--one he'd made under conviction.  So we switched gears and I once again bought curriculum for another year of high school--one we thought would be his 11th.

He returned a different person; more mature, more settled, more appreciative of family and home.  He'd been respected and encouraged over the summer and you could see the difference on his face.  School was started happily at home and things really went pretty well.  We sailed through the fall, then Christmas holidays, then January and February . . . and then we hit a wall.  We could sense his feelings of boredom, of being tired of school, of feeling like it was never going to be over.  I hated feeling like he was miserable, and wanted to find an answer for all of us.  One night after a particularly trying day, when we were out for dinner and I was feeling low, my husband said to me, "Why can't he just be done *now?*"  Hmmmm . . . why couldn't he?  Well, there were credits to be earned.  We're in a private school/homeschool umbrella, and the students have to have 24 credits.  He had lots of English credits, plenty of math, and was working on his last year of science.  I honestly didn't know the answer to my husband's question, but something told me he was absolutely right.  I sat down that night with a list of all the courses Bo had taken, and could only find 2 half-credits we hadn't done yet.  When I met with our school administrator, we added it all up . . . 28 credits.  All we needed was Health/Life Management and Economics.  We sat down with Bo and explained the situation--how on earth would I have made him do another *year* of school next year when all he really needed was 2 classes???  He was all for it.  Of course, there was the question of "now what?"  College in the fall didn't "feel" right to any of us, but we didn't want him to just waste a year, either.  It seemed like an internship-type situation, one which would help him clarify what it was he really WANTED to study in the future, was the best scenario we could hope for.  I emailed Pastor Augusto, who last year had asked Bo to return to Brasil and work with him "whenever," to find our whether he really meant that or not.  A quick return email let me know that he was welcome back and needed as soon as and for as long as possible.  More shock and awe here.  The past couple of months he's been working hard to squeeze in those other two classes (simple ones anyway, thankfully) as well as finishing Chemistry, Portuguese, Law and Government, and an ACT/SAT prep course.  He took the ACT and did well enough to qualify as a Florida Merit Scholar (woohoo!) and so that was it . . . we had a graduate.

 Sorry the pic's so small--I'll get better ones up later; that was from dh's phone. 

Anyway, that's our story.  He's got a few more weeks of work to plow through, and will take the SAT early next month before heading to Brasil.  The pastor they've worked with for the past couple of years has invited he and another friend from the team to come back to work with him beginning next month in his five churches--and they'll stay til October/November.  It's hard to imagine him being gone for so long!  But the season of homeschooling for him has passed. 

Yesterday was very bittersweet.  I was honestly so busy cleaning/decorating/hanging pictures/dressing everyone that I didn't have too much time to think about it all until we were actually sitting there in the church with his name being announced, pictures flashed on the screen, diplomas being handed out, roses passed from graduates to moms.  I truly lost it during only one little part--our administrator played the song I'd first heard the first time we drove Bo to Teen Missions; a song that speaks the truth in my heart for him better than any I know; the one I wrote into his graduation card.  I'll share it here with you . . .  

Mark Harris - Find Your Wings
From the album The Line Between The Two

It's only for a moment you are mine to hold
The plans that heaven has for you
Will all too soon unfold
So many different prayers I'll pray
For all that you might do
But most of all I'll want to know
You're walking in the truth
And If I never told you
I want you to know
As I watch you grow

I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams
And that faith gives you the courage
To dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
So let my love give you roots
And help you find your wings

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We drove in late last night.  Arriving home to a very clean house made all my craziness of last week worth it, as always!  I missed my way-too-comfortable bed and was quite happy to get a full night's sleep for the first time in several days.  Drinking coffee on my own couch with my Bible this morning was lovely, and I let the kids sleep off their vacation tiredness, then we hit the books.  Only 12 days to go on our official calendar--woohoo! 

We start them early around here, as you can see  . . .

Is he a cutie patootie, or what?

It's pleasantly cloudy today and we're enjoying the break from the steamy sun.  It was really a great time to visit Disney--great prices, low crowds--all except the weather!  Next time it needs to be December.    I think one of my favorite things was watching my kids experience the fireworks.  Their little eyes look so amazed.  One big explosion made Micah say, "Oh, snap!"  It was hysterical.  I'll try to post and be more coherent later; seriously, this weekend is *graduation* and I've got a lot to do!

Have you ever wished there were someone to hold your hand and tell you what to do each step of the way as you begin homeschooling?  I'll bet many have.  Terri Johnson of Knowledgequest Maps thought so, and she created Homeschooling ABCs.  Designed as a weekly note to your inbox, this program was made to make your transition to homeschooling a little easier.

When you sign up for Homeschooling ABCs, you're enlisting in school for yourself.  26 weeks of lessons for mom will take you from newbie to knowledgeable without too much pain and pressure.  Now, honestly, I'm not the type to wait 26 weeks to feel like I've got a grip on some new thing I'm trying.  I'd want all 26 weeks in my inbox--and I'd want them NOW.  But some people would prefer to do a bit at a time, or even if they want to jump right into homeschooling, they'd like specific advice a bit at a time.  With a monthly pricetag of only $10, many will find the information and hand holding absolutely worth it.

The lessons cover everything from the basics of copywork to how to remove your child from school.  Of course, you would need to check your state's individual homeschool laws before following the advice given on that specific issue, as you don't want to cause problems for yourself that you don't need to have!  Overall; I think if I'd just taken my child out of school, I'd give myself way more than a couple of days to detox, and prioritize getting a philosophy of education before I started them in on copywork. 

Lesson 3 mentions that they will discuss choosing curriculum in lesson 6.  !!!!  While I don't think it's necessary to do everything the first week, I sure think you'd want to choose your curriculum more than a month and a half into the process!  I do think it's great to have scheduling advice and plans as many people are confused by this.  Later lessons cover things like socialization, teaching writing, selling used curriculum, and even organizing high school curricula and records.  Good stuff!

 I'm sure Terri will continue to tweak this set of lessons as she works with moms who are using it.  While her advice is great, there are also innumerable freebies and links that would take you years to find if stumbling upon them one at a time on your own!  Take a look for yourself at this resource which I know will be a help to many who are considering homeschooling . . . a growing number as time goes on!  www.homeschoolingabcs.com

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Apologia is a company with a great reputation in homeschool circles.  And for good reason.  Their books are great; they are written by and to homeschoolers specifically, and they're definitely Christian--and not just because there's a Scripture stuck on the pages here and there, but because every subject is presented from a God-honoring and seeking perspective. 

We first used Apologia's General Science program several years ago through Sonlight.  My kids really enjoyed it, and so did I!  Designed as a great introduction to higher science, it's probably best used sometime around 7th grade.  The first thing you'll notice is that Apologia books are written *to* the student in a conversational tone.  This book contains 16 modules, each taking about two weeks to complete.  Beginning with a brief history of science, this program continues through archaeology, geology, the fossil record, energy, and a little about human anatomy.  There are many pictures and the pages are laid out cleanly, in an easy-to-follow manner.  Each module contains experiments using household ingredients and clear instructions.  "On Your Own" questions are asked throughout each module and there is also a study guide at the end of each which is very similar to the test the student will take.  The set, including the textbook and test/solutions book, is $85.  They also have a companion CD-Rom available for $15.

The Apologia Biology program is similar to their General Science in terms of layout, having the same "On Your Own" questions, study guides, tests and solutions for everything (the solutions given are generally really good, too--often, actually explaining WHY a particular answer is correct, rather than just throwing the answer out there.)  482 pages of information fill this particular volume!  I am again really impressed by the overall look of these books; they're extremely hefty, hardbound, full of great illustrations and interesting content.  Dr. Wile is an engaging writer who really makes the subject matter interesting and as simple to understand as possible.  My own student did very well with this program and my second son is currently on his way through it himself, enjoying it along the way.  This program is also $85 for the 2-volume set, and the CD-Rom for $15 is also available.

The Zoology program is new to me!  I'd read about it but never seen a hard copy.  Gorgeous!  Written by Jeannie Fulbright, this book (and the others in the Zoology set) is written for elementary students in a Charlotte Mason, notebooking-friendly manner!  This book is written to the student also, even if you read it to them.  Narration questions have been added in so you can have your student tell you what they've learned from what you've just read--a great way for them to review and for you to check their understanding.  And the Apologia website also offers notebooking pages so they can create a hands-on permanent record of what they've learned.  Throughout are experiments and project suggestions that any child would love to do, from building a birdhouse to watching their own butterflies hatch.  This book is available for only $35.  I'm anxious to use it with my younger kids next year and will look forward to getting a look at the others too! 

You can see more Apologia curriculum at www.apologia.com .  They're definitely worth a try!