Year 2, Day 65: Back to Normal?

Not quite back to normal, but it was a very full day at homeschool co op.  3 families were out today, so I had to pick up two extra classes today, plus watch Abishai all day since Leah wasn't available to babysit and Jared had an all day meeting and work to do.  I am exhausted!  And so are the kids!  But Abishai loved being with the older kids today following them around, copying what they did, and doing his own thing, too.  I bet when he starts really talking in full sentences, he will talk, talk, talk about all his adventures.  There's something to be said about being the youngest kid and looking up to those big siblings.  The pictures will reflect that.  And now we are on our "spring break" i.e. we won't have co op for the next two Mondays, and we won't be doing much for school the week of March 20th because Justin will be busy with a local missions week.  But we will work this week and next as normal.  I need to get in as much as I can before we move, because I doubt we will do anything afterwards, which means, our year will be a bit shorter than normal.  I make sure we get the right number of instruction days/hrs in, but to be honest, no one has ever checked our records in our 10 years of homeschooling.  (Only 10? It seems like I've been homeschooling forever!)

Anyway, there's a lot on my plate, and I seem to keep being side tracked on many rabbit trails or have just chosen to be lazy instead of doing the next right thing.  I'm sure it's partly a spiritual battle.  Unfortunately, life was just as intense almost a year ago as it is now.  We all need patience and perseverance to get through the next couple of months.  Then, I hope we will really settle down and start really living again.  I'm so glad that my parents didn't/weren't able to move after they moved from Massachusetts to New Hampshire when I was in Kindergarten until my brother graduated high school 18 years later.  I don't think I would have handled moving around as a kid very well.  Jared and I have only had 4 homes total, including the current one, in our 15 1/2 years of marriage.  So, I'm praying that when we do find a house, it will be a permanent thing for at least 4-10 years, if not longer.  That's one of the reasons finding a house is so stressful for me.  It's not a stepping stone to something else this time.  It's permanent and we are going in debt for it after living debt free for the last 3 years.  So, I want the kids to know when they read this that we take a) going into debt for a house very, very seriously and b) we want it to fit us well and last us through lots of different life stages.  Our house is out there, we just have to wait and see.

Abishai's set up at church on Sunday nights when siblings are at their activities.  This time he had a fruit snack, his water, and a robot train tv show to watch.  If you can see the kids in the background of this picture, they are the middle school students going from their teaching time to their worship time.  Justin is very good at saying, "Hi, Mom!" as he passes with his friends.

Ga ga ball!  Abishai wanted to join in, so the students were kind enough to let him stand inside the ball pit.  Abishai just stood there with his hands behind his back taking it all in.

Then they started letting him throw the ball to start the round. He loved that!

1, 2, 3, Go!  The point of ga ga ball is to not get your legs hit by the ball, but you can use the rest of your body to keep it away from the legs.  He also had a fun time rolling around on the floor waiting for Benaiah's friend Ethan to tickle him!

Abishai took his blankie on a walk around the gym during co op today.  He even stopped, walked around the stroller to the front, and checked on blankie to make sure everything was ok.  He ran up and down the courts, desperately trying to keep up with those big kids and for the most part, he did keep up! 

Abishai did his first "dot dot" painting today!  My sister got these dot painting things for Benaiah a long time ago,  so I wrote them today just for fun.  We talked about the real meaning behind St. Patrick's Day, and I wanted the kids to be able to paint their 3 leaf clovers representing the trinity, but they came up with some betrer ideas.

One of the girls took a dot to dot page and lined the outline in glue and then carefully added the glitter.  And then she free hand drew the heart.  Both girls were very careful with the glitter and listened well today!

A free hand drawn egg and an origami duck.

"Dot dot" paint is common in areas where Bingo halls are common.  I used to see a ton of these paints in the dollar stores in Canada.  I'm so glad they have lasted until now!

St. Patrick was kidnapped from his home in England, sold as a slave in Ireland, and worked for a cruel master tending his sheep.  He eventually escaped back to England, only to be called back to Ireland to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He suffered a lot of persecution there, but lived a long life.  I explained to the girls that I don't focus on rainbows and leprechauns during St. Patrick's Day.

The heat in student building was not working so we were all frozen for a good part of the morning.  So snack time was done in our coats and hats!

Ready, set, go! Run from one side of the entrance to the other!

The church we meet at is getting a new playground built in May, so they are asking the kids of the church for input on what they should include.  Our fearless gym teacher attends this church, so she asked if her gym students could also participate.  And they were fine with that.  See Abishai in the middle of things?  Just the way he likes it!

I need to design and color, too!