So not Waldorf

Okay, so everything we are doing may not end up Waldorf, but we are trying to find what works. Case is doing an online math program that seems to be working well so far. Amelia will do it in the next day or so just for the month I think. Then we will be off to more Waldorfy things. We are seriously thinking of having Case go back to school and are looking at boarding schools. He has been saying he wants to go. Not so sure about the boarding part, but he seems to want to experience it for a bit. We are looking at a school where he could continue as a day student if we build where we think we will. We will see how that works out.
Amelia is looking at the Sir Circumference books and we are discussing the concepts in each book for the next several days. Today was geometry dealing with rectangles, squares, and circles. We cut out the shapes to act out the problems in the book. She seemed to enjoy it and really comprehend the concepts. Woo-hoo!

Finding the key

Today was an overall good day. The rhythm of life seems to be coming together more. The meals are a big part of it. If I can get the meals down the rest of the day seems to flow better. I have heard this plenty through Waldorf groups, but didn't really get it until now. Brian 's diet helps too. I don't have the option of going out to eat, which is actually much better for us all. If I do well providing the meals this means I have gotten out of bed early enough to get breakfast. Getting up early enough to do this helps the day flow much smoother. We are not rushing through most things. Today there came a point of time when I wasn't quite sure what to do with my time. There was plenty to do, but I didn't want to get overwhelmed and some of it just really didn't matter at that point. I made the decision that everything didn't have to be done today. Some of it could wait for tomorrow or the next day. Some of it would have had to anyway.

I started the day off with starting coffee ad fixing Alika's food and letting her out; then came shower and dressing. I was then able to fix breakfast prior to waking the kids. They ate and did their morning household work and then Case moved on to his Math on the computer. Clothes were being washed and the house was being picked up. I am considering using FLYlady and used some of the ideas I read about on her website last night. It seemed to work fairly well. It, of course, wasn't as perfect as I would truly like for it to be, but what ever is? By this time it was lunch time and I fixed up some leftover stir fry. A few more household work items and the I wasn't quite sure what to do, but somehow I kept busy. Although, at this point, I' m not really sure at what. The memory seems to have escaped me. Off to town for dinner fixing's and to the bank. Got sidetracked at Tuesday morning looking for a tablecloth to protect the table. Got home and realized dinner would not be ready for Case and Brian before they had to leave for the game. Started cooking anyway. Brian came home and was in a foul mood due to the wrecked car not being mended to his satisfaction. The dinner situation didn't help. After a while off they went to the game. Ainslee decided to fix some "soup" while I was finishing up dinner. Amelia was looking through catalogs deciding what she wanted to be for next Halloween. They sit down to eat while I clean up the "Soup" and dinner mess. Now her I am reporting about our day at the computer. Hopefully, the night will go well. I need to clean out the van for tomorrow and get the kids ready for bed Much of the house is still a bit of a mess and the clothes aren't completely done, but "after all, tomorrow is another day" and there always the next and the next and the next.

Settling down and settling in.

Wow! A lot has happened in the last several months. We have moved, sold a home, had visits from family, and celebrated the holidays.
We moved to a wonderful spot in South Carolina. It is so lovely and there is so much nature to enjoy. When ever we leave the community, we get to experience a spectacular view of Keowee lake. We are surrounded by lake everywhere with lovely mountain views too. Our new (but still temporary) house is very comfortable and cozy. If we could just use the fireplace, which we can't according to the lease, it would be even more cozy.
Life is settling down from the chaos we have experienced for the last year and a half. Thank the stars. With this settling down, I hope to have more time to take the kids out and enjoy our beautiful surroundings. I hope to go on a hike once a week to experience all the waterfalls in the area.
Today we inducted ourselves by offering our string popcorn to the birds. We all bundled up and strung a small tree with what we had strung for our Christmas tree. Amelia also gathered some pine cones so we can offer more to the birds next week.

I really need to add a post about our trip to Atlanta. We did so much, but that will take some time that I don't have right now, so I think I will talk about Tiempo Libre. This is a Cuban band we went to see at Clemson on Monday. Brian saw a write up in the paper and thought it would be fun. It was. We all enjoyed it very much. They are a very lively band and were quite good at gaining audience participation. There was quite a mix of peoples present. From Ainslee at 3 to great grandmas. People were dancing in the aisles and Amelia and Case could hardly keep still. In the end I got up with Amelia and showed her how to dance to Cuban music. Ainslee was having a blast being able to move about as she pleased to the beat. We bought a CD and will bring it out and all learn how to dance. The kids got the programs and the CD autographed. They always think that is so cool. It was an excellent night that we all enjoyed very much.
Here is a slideshow from Atlanta, They do say a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are 30 pictures... that should be worth about 30,000, right?

[URL=http://s277.photobucket.com/albums/kk63/Jecaam/?action=view¤t=5743ba1c.pbw][IMG]http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk63/Jecaam/th_100_0002.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Light at the end of the tunnel

Okay. I think it may all be coming together despite all our impediments lately. First the dream house turned out to not be so dreamy. That was a big disappointment for all of us and put us back to the starting block. Next, we had a good one, but still one that caused problems. The mobile home (the thorn in our side) is now going to be sold. WOOHOO!!! However, we have a very short time span in which to find a new place to live. So now we are off to find a condo. One we are hoping we can live in for a while and will be a good investment property. We will still continue to look for the dream place, but we are now thinking this will have to be property and a house that we build.

Despite all this. It looks like we are actually going to get it together. We are settling into more of a rhythm with our days and the planning for the school year is off and running. In the meantime, Case and Amelia are reviewing some of what they have already covered in the past. Case learned long division this week and today learned how to add fractions with different denominators. Both Case and Amelia are turning out to be avid readers. I never would have thought this a year ago. Case is reading the Harry Potter series and A Series of Unfortunate Events and eagerly awaiting the final book in the Inheritance Trilogy. Amelia is reading the Spiderwick Chronicles and Little House on the Prairie.

We will be happy when we finally get to settle into a place we can call "home".

Onset

Life has been in a state of limbo for the past year as we try to find our place in the world. We are trying to find a home, a comfortable way to "school", and a rhythm as a family. It seems it is a long path. We thought we had a home and were gravely disappointed when it didn't work out. So here we are, once again, looking. We have been looking for way too long and are ready to find it.
We are going on our 4th year of homeschooling and are once again trying a different method. Hopefully, we will find our niche.
Mixed in with all of this, we are still working on finding our rhythm as a family too. I will mainly use this as a way to help document our homeschooling life, but as any homeschooler knows, that often turns out to just be life.