So home-schooling is going awesome. Eva's attitude is much much much better. She's more respectful, confident, happier, harder-working, more creative, and just plain more CENTERED. I, on the other hand, am exhausted. I feel like I'm doing triage - going from one kiddo to the next and back around again. It kind of goes in clusters...we'll have 1 solid hour of calm and bliss, and then 3 solid hours of ridiculous madness. I guess its good prep for this summer.
The whole "project-based learning" model worked well last week. Our goldfish project was pretty fun. This weekend she found a shell at the Heritage Park. When we got home, she got out a clipboard and markers and asked if we could "observe my shell," which led to multiple discoveries - all of which she documented on her clipboard in permanent marker and highlighter (two tools she got in trouble for using at school). It so rewarding to see her taking an interest in her own learning.
Mother's Day was awesome. Made even awesom-er by the fact that on Friday and Saturday the stars were most definitely not aligned and the days pretty much sucked. Ryan worked a ton with Zach in Wichita and the kids were not exactly having rock-star attitudes on the homefront. (There was a definite bright spot in Friday when Max and Ella Kate joined our kitchen dance party!) I didn't think Ryan would be home on Sunday, so when it turned out that he was AND I got to sleep in AND he made coffee cake AND the kids gave me a card saying I get to go to Barnes and Noble and a movie ALL BY MYSELF...well, that was one awesome day.
It is awesome having my parents so close by. River insists on hiding under a blanket and telling stories when Grandpa Howard comes over.
It is even awesome when pets die. This morning, Eva discovered Whity dead in the coop. She is now coloring a picture about it. Eva knows about cremation. So she has decided that Whity should be cremated and her ashes scattered near the garden. Um. I think Ryan can handle that whole topic when he gets home. But watching her process this chicken dying thing (for the third time) and hearing her thoughts about it is actually really awesome..
"Chickens don't look pretty anymore, but we still care about them when they die."
"I think she must have fallen from the nest."
"Why is her comb black?"
"I will hang this picture on the chicken coop tonight."
"I felt sad when Pecka died, but this is far worse."
Thank you God for my awesome life!