Well, we are getting a BIG Snowstorm here in the midwest!  My dh has been as happy as a clam with all our snowfall this winter.  He really missed the snow when we lived in the South.

As a former teacher I find myself a bit in a quandry when there are "snow days".  Do we take the day off?  My selfish heart would love to take a day off and stay in my pjs with my knitting all day.  Well, I figure I still have to train my children, make them meals, and do chores so we might as well accomplish something while we are housebound.  We will take off lots of "lovely spring days", due to the weather of course, when the parks start to thaw out.    So, in the end we will make  up for our working through the snowy days. 

My observation about today was quite comforting though.  We completely turned our normal routinue upside down due to the weather.  I found myself in need of some staple groceries and so we ventured out to the store after breakfast rather than after table time like usual.  I wanted to be home before the weather hit us.  I thought for sure this would upset the whole day.  I praise God it didn't. 

We made it safely to the store and home.  Then we had school at the kitchen counter instead of the table (sometimes a recipe for disaster) while momma put the groceries away and baked up some banana bread.  DS did great with all his copywork, handwriting, DEL, and Explode the Code.  He can pretty much do those on his own.  When I saw he had a new lesson in Math I knew it would require me sitting down with him.  So, we put math aside for a bit. 

As things hummed along nicely I was struck by the idea that the freedom to "live life" while doing school is one of the things I love so much about homeschooling.  I have always felt strongly about helping children to learn to love learning but I didn't feel like I was able to really do that in the institutional school setting and sometimes didn't even understand how to.  I see now with my own children that as learning happens in the context of everyday living they learn be inquisitive and thoughtful.  Yes, we will have times of memorizing, drilling and evaluating some things (ABCs, Math Facts, etc) but I pray that such things are only to serve the greater method of learning which is experiencing, discussing, doing, and trying. 

I guess you could say I had a realization about our homeschool journey, vision, and direction this morning!  I need these moments to help me refocus on what is most important and to encourage me to stay-the-course. 

Oh! You ask about the banana bread...I think I forgot to put sugar in the second loaf because I was giving directions while baking.  I do think the other loaf turned out fine though.  Hehehehehe