Why We Don't Identify As Year-Round Homeschoolers

We educate all year, of course, and I still require what most would consider academic or book work during most of the summer months. Overall, though, I tend not to identify us as year-round homeschoolers for one reason: summer camps.

I'm a big fan of summer camps. Yes, kids need downtime, time to relax and just be, and so forth. I'm not denying that. For my kids, though, for whom every day might include a good dose of that sort of thing, summer camp is a great time to expand their horizons and provide them with a not-as-every day experience.

The result is that I'm almost always seeking out options and ideas for great summer camp experiences for the kids. EG has a few camps that she always attends, but this year she's branching out. I'm similarly seeking new options for FB, as he's outgrown the preschool half-day camps, and simultaneously hasn't quite aged into some of the grade-school camps. (Fie!) As I was writing this post, I went to confirm something else and discovered that, technically, PC is old enough for half-day preschool camp at the YMCA. I really can't imagine her at camp. "[PC], come sit in the circle." "No!" Yeah, I think we may wait on that one--though, ohhh, it is tempting.

What kind of camps? This year, both of the bigs are going to ice skating camp. They'll also go to a local high school show choir's day camp (EG has gone for years; this will be FB's first year). EG will go to Girl Scout day camp; FB will probably go to tennis camp at the Y for a week, plus a Sports & Skills camp that a local church holds each year. EG's two big new camps are Girls Rock Camp and Space Camp. Yes, these absorb a huge chunk of the summer budget, lol! I think she'll really enjoy both of them, though. I want to find something else for FB, but as I said, he's at an awkward age. The local universities have summer camps, but he's not considered old enough. He's bright and all of that, but if I pay for zoo camp or similar, I want him to be a little older. I think he'll still manage to have a good summer.

And, of course... I hope we'll be moving this summer.

Two Steps Forward...

• We had no internet for most of last week, and then I took the kids to visit my parents for three days. The lack of internet was a huge downer. I did have my iPhone but it's not quite the same as a functioning internet connection on my laptop with its full keyboard.

• I did manage to get a lot accomplished last week while the kids read a lot. I have more work I want to complete during the remainder of this week.

• However, last night when the storms blew through, a neighbor's tree fell into our yard, across the fence that is technically theirs. The good news is that we have no responsibility, financial or otherwise, for the fence to be fixed. The bad news is that we're dependent on someone else to fix the fence.

• This is how I feel:

Weekly Report: Week Thirty-Two (days 156-160)

Busy, busy, busy: a really full week.

• FB turned six on Wednesday, which meant no schoolwork! He did read books, listen to a new book, play outside, go to the grocery store, and watch Schoolhouse Rock, which means that altogether I think he covered literature, physics, math, economics, and history, without even trying. ;)
• FB also finished the Orange Miquon book today! Hooray!
• EG started working through Excavating English.
• PC still has the occasional accident but basically is full-time pottying. She did REALLY well at the convention last weekend, although she refused to poop until we got back home. Apparently she's one of those.
• EG finally got access to her online course from Art of Problem Solving, so there's that.
• I spent another Large Sum of Money at Borders. I think this will be the last time (at the store that's closing, I mean).
• I didn't finish FB's sweater for his birthday. I may get it done before his party tomorrow, or he may just get it as an April Fools present or something. I forget how much longer something takes when it's not worsted weight or heavier. :P

I really need some time to organize things, put things away, and generally work on the house, mainly so we can paint a few rooms and overall so we can sell this place. So next week, we're going to do Reading School: math, lots of books, and probably a DVD or two in the afternoons (e.g., Schoolhouse Rock, Life, Planet Earth, Blue Planet, Young People's Concerts, National Geographic, etc.). I work best in the morning and while it's good I spent the best portion of my day on school, it's causing me to feel really behind on this whole moving thing. So that is my solution. The kids think it's wonderful, except FB wanted to make sure we could still do history.

I Miss My Books

Around this time last year, we thought that we'd be ready to sell the house soon. We took care of various needs, and the next items on the priority list were the remaining tasks to make the house ready to sell. Then the Spousal Unit's freelance work stopped for awhile. We've been paying for a storage shed for about seven months longer than we planned, already.

Now it's restarted again, and while again, we have some other obligations, we're going to be working on those obligations and the remaining house items simultaneously. We need to put up about six feet of fence, have some basic landscaping done, have one of the air conditioning units serviced, and have a section of drywall replaced (and possibly the insulation behind it). We'd like to have the house professionally cleaned just before listing it, but that's not absolutely essential. It's not a long list. In the intervening seven months, though, we've gotten used to the idea that we're moving "someday soon" versus "really soon."

The result is that I've got to go back and declutter some of the same rooms a second time.

The other result that we've kept living. We've done school this year. We've bought books and curriculum and science kits and toys. And in order to stage the house, I know what has to happen.

I have to pack even more books.

I miss my books. I've already packed so many. I hate that some of the kids' books aren't easily accessible for browsing. I don't want to pack any more books.

But I have to.

The only conclusion to which I can come is that I should wait until at least one item off the above list is done (the fence is probably first), and then pack as much as possible, all at once. Like ripping off a band-aid. And hope and pray that the house sells quickly, so we can move...

... so we can have our books back.

Goals and The Dread Flu

In addition to Christmas, we were invaded last week by a vicious flu. A vicious, vicious flu that slowly made the rounds through us all; myself, EG, and the Spousal Unit were first and hardest hit, but FB had a milder case that left him in bed all of Thursday and part of Christmas Eve, and PC had a middlin’ case that really only served to make her both more energetic than the rest of us combined and whiny. This, by the way, is not recommended – having the youngest member of the household feeling the best.

Now that I’m finally emerging from the haze, I’ve been working on finalizing my goals for 2011. I started working on them fairly early in the month of December, which has given me appropriate time to tweak and modify. In the end, I have goals in fifteen distinct categories. Granted, I break things down considerably, and others would likely group some of my categories into a single category, so it’s not quite as gruesome as it sounds. My categories, though, are the following: health; weight; exercise; running; knitting; food (as it relates to money); food (as it relates to nutrition); spending & budgeting; moving; homeschooling; parenting; birthdays; holidays; online life; and books. Some of the goals aren’t really the type that I would share online, but there are a few for which accountability is a positive thing, so I thought I’d share them here.

Running: My goal here is to complete twelve races (5K) in the year, for an average of one per month.

Knitting: My main goal is to finish at least two projects per month. I have a lot of subgoals, mostly related to specific projects. That may become a separate post.

Food (as it relates to nutrition): A late, dark horse entry made itself known for this category just over a week ago. I think we’re going to have to do a trial of gluten-free, at least for the girls. This is going to be a significant hardship, and one to which I am not looking forward.

Books: One of my main goals here is to read any unread books in the house, or to take them to the happy place in Chattanooga, McKay’s. Additionally, I want to maintain a backlog of no more than 4 unread books at a time. As it stands now, I have one book I’m reading, two books that are waiting, one book I’ve decided not to read (McKay’s for it), and a couple of books that I have borrowed. I’m feeling pretty good about this one.

I’m pleased with the way my goals look; I’ve been able to break a number of them down into easily measurable monthly and weekly goals. I’ve also convinced Spousal Unit to join me in working towards some of them. Now the new year just has to show up so I can get started. That, and I have to get rid of this cough that’s still lingering.

Summer Break, But At Least It's Still May

We have officially finished our one hundred eighty days of school for the 2009-2010 school year. Huzzah! Days 176-180 were completed on our trip to Washington, DC, last week. I need to write an entire post about the trip, but suffice it to say that I love that city and am having withdrawal symptoms. The kids thoroughly enjoyed it. EG's favorite thing was the National Cryptologic Museum. FB wanted to take home a pair of ruby slippers just like Dorothy's.

We did come home to the news that our neighbor has decided not to pursue buying our house. We had hoped this was a viable possibility, especially since it would ensure our having to move only once (instead of possibly twice, after finalizing the sale of this house but before finalizing the purchase of the new house). It also means we do have to do those final staging projects which we were hoping to escape. So far, I've been mostly paralyzed by the thought of how much more I need to pack and rearrange, but I haven't exactly had copious amounts of work time, either. Maybe I'll feel more energized after we start.

I should probably also warn you all that I will probably blog extensively about food over the summer. Luckily, everyone alive more or less likes food, and everyone is required to eat it, making food quite possibly the most universal subject about which to blog. Except breathing. I'll devote a post to breathing, maybe.

Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen

Last June, just before PC was seven months old, she pulled up to stand for the first time. Around that same time, the Spousal Unit & I talked about our house. We have an abundance of living space, but only three bedrooms. We're thankful for our two bathrooms, but could see the advantage of more in our future. Our living space, while abundant as mentioned, is strangely configured. Due to a large amount of it being in the finished attic, it's not quite as large as our square footage figures would suggest. In short, if we had just two children, we would never outgrow this space. It's possible that if we did not homeschool, we could stay in this space with three children. We do have three children, though, and we do homeschool, and the final nail in the coffin - we're not sure if we'll have a fourth child or not.

We realized, last June, that we would be moving at some point between that moment and three years in the future. Last August, I spent one night looking at listings online, as I periodically do. It was growing late, and I decided to look at just one more page. Near the bottom of it, I found the perfect house.

So began our efforts to ready our present house for sale. We quickly realized we weren't going to be able to do it within weeks, but no one was buying the perfect house, and I had faith - if not that house, there would be one even better.

The house was taken off the market around the holidays, and hasn't been relisted. We're very close to being able to list our house, but are waiting now to see if our neighbor wants to purchase it. Yes, our neighbor - he wants investment property, and it would be an ideal situation for us. We could remain in our house and rent until buying our new house was finalized. (We're not willing to take the chance of paying two mortgages - no way, no how.)

And while the process has seemed to drag at times, I can't help but feel that it's unfolded in the way that was right. Right for us, right for the ultimate outcome, I don't know precisely, but I know that there have been very few times where I have felt frustrated or that something was awry. In the end, too - we've had time to say good-bye. I've had time to have holidays and get-togethers, and to know it's the last time in this house. Maybe that's why EG's birthday is terrifying me, aside from the uncertainty; it's the only major event that hasn't happened since I found our house.

But we're nearing readiness, I think. We're waiting to hear what our neighbor decides. One way or another, it's coming closer. It feels right - except for that burgeoning panic when I consider how much work I will have to pack!