aahhh, friday how I love thee....

But then, I love all the days. Today, there is a soccer tournament starting at church, with Kathryn and Joseph both playing. I need to go to the store in town to get some things for lunch, and head out there to watch some soccer with the kids.

Yesterday we had a nice visit from Grandma. She brought some nice outfits for the three little kids. Jonathan really liked his new jacket and shirt, but the little girls are absolutely thrilled with their clothes. It spurred them to play shopping, they got out their little shopping carts that I have been thinking of getting rid of...

Grandma is quite a lady. She is 85 years old, and does not have time to not feel well, she has things to do. She refers to herself as a, "mean old lady", but she really has a heart of gold. She has always remembered all of our birthdays and has been so good to us. She is absolutely organized, and is the polar opposite of a procrastinator. If something needs doing, she simply gets it done. I want to be just like her when I grow up:)

I did get up and take my walk this morning, which wasn't easy, considering that I was making a triple batch of chocolate chip cookies at 11 o'clock last night. Aaron came for a visit:) When the house was finally quiet, I crawled into my comfy bed, where the princesses were snuggled, and finished the book I was reading. So...when 7 a.m. came around, oh I wasn't ready to get up. Margaret had to wake me up, again, because I needed to sign her note for her being late yesterday. Once I am awake, I am awake.

So here I am, awake. I have a million things to do, too.

But writing is important too. (Charlotte Claire is eating a bowl of berries and a chocolate chip cookie for breakfast).

Have I mentioned how much I love homeschooling? I totally wish I had done it years ago. I would have, but I always thought that kids need the hard knocks of life, to some extent. I didn't want to shelter them, or baby them. I thought it best for them to go out that door to school, even though it practically killed me. I sent them because I thought it was good for them. And who knows? They are fine. Each and every year, I considered homeschooling. Benjamin actually homeschooled for his last few years of high school, and he is doing exceptionally well. Then Kathryn decided to, and we let Jon...then this summer I realized how fast Camille catches on to math, and thought about how well she reads...it seemed to me that school was almost slowing her down. My two little girls going to school made me sad, they were learning things on the bus, and were always tired. They had homework every night, which ate into the measly four hours they had between coming home and having to go to bed, so they could get up in the morning and do the same thing all over again. We were continuously counting the days to the weekends, and taking days off here and there just to chill or to go on adventures.

Once I got the idea of teaching them here, it just burned within me, just made me so happy. But it was their choice. I suggested it, and they started talking about the pros and cons. They were simply all for it! I thought perhaps when Real School started, they would feel like they were missing out, but they didn't care at all. I ask the sometimes, and they have no regrets. They know they can go back next year if they really want to:)

I also know that just as kids who start off the year in Real School and get sick of it after the initial newness wears off, these guys might start grumbling about being here. I am bound and determined to just take that as a challenge to make things more interesting.

There are different ways to learn things. Reading, writing, math, proper punctuation, using certain words correctly. Your/you're, already/all ready, then/than....oh dear. Using apostrophes correctly seems to be a lost art too. So there are things kids need to learn. The solar system, history, geography...very important.

But, playing is very important for kids too. Yesterday when I was looking for the playdough, (I got rid of most of it, we had too much and I thought they were outgrowing it), I found these hanging lanterns and crepe paper balls that hang from the ceiling. So, we hung them with some clear Christmas lights in Jon's room. That spurred the kids to want to play in there, so they got out the Little Tikes waffleblocks, Lego, Hess trucks...and played for a few hours. That kind of unstructured playing is good for kids.

And, off I go...to the store and the bank then the soccer tournament.