Well... it happened.  A day I never thought I'd see.  Nothing froze over, no barnyard creatures flew, not even a lead balloon was seen.  

We actually finished school before lunch today.  I know.  It was nothing short of a miracle.  The heavenly glow streamed in from the window.  An angelic choir could be heard in the near distance.     And then Abs took off running for the bathroom to wretch. 

Ok so while we did finish before lunch today it wasn't exactly the ideal school day.  (has anyone ever witnessed this phenomenon?  I'd love pictures)  Abs was ill so she didn't join us.  We didn't do math today and we've moved read alouds to the evening.   So minus a small handicap - we actually did it! 

After all the support and suggestions I've received from the wonderful homeschool community at yahoo, I'm beginning to see the light.  Maybe it wasn't really  accompanied by the angelic choir but to me.... it wasn't far off. 

In case you're wondering what's different, here's a run - down.

First, we moved the language arts to early morning.  Right after our Bible reading.  I think getting the worst over with first has allowed us all to look forward to everything we have left to do.  We KNOW it won't be that difficult. 

Second, as I said before, we've moved our read alouds to the evening hours.  This is a very nice and welcome change for me.  Padre loves to read to the kids in the evening. (Yay!  something I don't have to teach!)  Not only that, but he loves pulling out the maps and reference books to dig up some interesting fact about a subject.  He's great at this stuff with the kids.  Sunday evening, in fact, him and Zi-bug were in the floor with the markable map locating all the NFL teams.  And I know he's much more capable of teaching history than I.  I think this will be the most significant change.

The next change we implemented was to eliminate one subject a day and do a special project or activity in it's place.  We are now in the process of making a Charlotte's Web notebook and we're about to start working on some nursery rhymes projects too!  This change I am most excited about.  We love doing projects and crafts around here.  I think the kids are going to appreciate this one the most too.

Our organization is slowly coming together as well which allows for a much smoother flow to our days. 

This journey is much like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle for us.  Slowly but surely we add another peice... then another... and another... until finally an image begins to emerge.  While it's quite unrecognizable in the beginning and I often don't have a clue as to why this peice fits here or there, it only takes a little time til I begin to see the connection.    Thanks again to all the wise who've helped.