Living My Days With Passion, Purpose, and Pizzazz

I have procrastinated writing this all summer with no real excuse. Our last day of school came and went in June. It was so anticlimactic as I find the last of school always to be. We had a great day. It was simply me and the kids….2 games of bowling, lunch at Bj’s, and a big clearance in our class store.

The amount of lessons that the four of us learned over the year led us on a very different path then if the kids had spent the year in a classroom setting. There are things about it that make my heart so full. There are things about it that make my heart ache. On some level it will always be this way, as in everything in life. Above all, I will choose to praise God for His never changing promise that He will Never let go and He will work all things together for good. He loves me and my children above my own understanding. He knows what He’s doing, even when I do not. Praise Him for that.

As posted earlier, I have not matched up my days of school and postings in order to perfectly let me have a day 149-169 and I will fight my inner neuroticism to let that go. Despite that internal battle, I am happy to report….

Now there are NO MORE SCHOOL DAYS UNTIL SUMMER….

I think this about sums up my year…from my 10 year old sweetheart. I am going to have to start her her own blog! She loves to write. I heart her little heart.

Homeschool has been really fun this year. You get to hang out with your family a lot more. It does make crazy changes to your family though. We have another year of homeschool ahead of us next year and I think I will handle it well. I remember the first day of homeschool last year. I was really excited, but had no idea what it was going to be like. I had a lot of changes going on really fast. I am going into 5th grade this year and I am excited. But again, I feel like, what will it be like? More changes or what? Well those questions will be answered throughout the year, but at this time in life, I will focus on enjoying my summer. I am not going to worry about school and be nervous that I will never be at my old school again. Speaking of my old school, I went to Bradshaw Christian School. I really love that school. I had so many friends that I trusted and I loved to hang out with. A few of those people I have seen this year. They are really really good friends. In my life though, my friends come right after family. It is still hard that I can’t see them as much as I used too. Sometimes I get really sad and little tears come out, but I know that God is with me and that makes me feel much better. God is before anything else. God, family, and friends are the most important things to have in my life. Even though I am not at my old school, I still have them all. So I guess, homeschool is not all that bad

Taylor.

(picture taken 5 years ago, when she was in Kindergarten)

So basically this sweet 10 year old social butterfly has got it. She desperately misses her old school, her friends, the activities, the just being together with lots of people. That is something that can not be duplicated at home. Sure, you can add activities and such, but it is never going to be the same.

So what does this girl do? Look for the positive….being with her family. Accept the situation…she still has her Jesus, family, and friends. Above all else, trust and know that God is with her.

Yes I cried when I read this and my heart melted with happiness. I am so proud of how she has handled this change in her life. As they say….”that which won’t kill you, can only make you stronger.”

Now there is just 24 school days left until summer.

These are the musings of my 11 year old son, the little comedian that he is. I should have asked him to build something that represented his feelings about the school year. That would have been speaking his language.

Homeschooling was fun this year because we got to skip school more (hehe) and walk to school everyday. We did lots of cool stuff like science projects and cooking and we hardly had any homework.

I really like how we had shorter school days so we had more free time at home. I also liked how we had sticks to spend and were able to use work boxes. I did not like how we had to do chores at home.

Next year I hope we can go to the park even more. I hope for next year we will do even more hands on type of things and also be able to read more as well. I really liked school this year.

by Cameron.

…and by the way the (hehe) was inserted by the author.

Now there are just 26 school days left until summer.

As the end of the year is upon us, I asked the kids to write a one page essay on their thoughts about the year. This was from my 10 year old daughter, Taylor. She is finishing up 4th grade.

I really like homeschooling because we can stay in bed later. I also like it because we can stay in our p.j.’s all day. We don’t have as much homework and we can skip school on our birthdays. We also have more family time.

What I do not like about homeschooling is that I do not get to see my friends from school as often. Especially Sydney, I really miss her. I also did not like math this year because it was too hard.

What I learned this year is that family is very important to spend time with. I feel like I have learned a lot more about my family this year. I learned that Cameron REALLY likes the army.

What I would like to see happen next year is a more organized school year. Which I am suspecting will happen as my mom gets better at being our teacher. I would like to see more art projects, too. Mommy, here is my note to you: You are a great homeschool mom. It is really great that you chose to homeschool. I love you sooooo much!

by Taylor.

Now there is just 28 school days left until summer.