Sometimes I Worry…

Sometimes I worry that I don’t push them hard enough, that I don’t require enough of them, that I’m raising tomorrow’s lazy adults. 

And then other times I think, “You only get to be a kid for a little while in this lifetime.  Let them  enjoy it.”

I’ve heard Scott say that all you need to do is make sure they know they’re loved.  They’ll be fine.

I still worry sometimes.

Homeschooling isn’t black and white.  And most of the time I LOVE that about it.  It’s flexible and there’s room for extending subjects that interest them and skipping things that don’t, lingering on a topic until I know they “get it.”  But am I letting things slide?  Am I challenging them enough?

I thought the state standardized tests that we took last summer would ease my worries about all this.  If the boys did poorly, I’d know I needed to work on it.  If they did well, then just keep up the good work.  Well…  they did really well in some areas and not so stellar in others… And I know it sounds pretty cut and dry, but it isn’t.

Our homeschool isn’t as “tough” as the local public school, overall.  I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing sometimes.  I don’t test as often as they do.  (both boys had huge hang-ups about testing when we started homeschooling, so the first year we didn’t do it at all.  Now we do regular assessments and I keep grades but I don’t do it every week.) 

There aren’t as many hours involved in homeschooling.  So they used to attend school from 7:45-3:20, and then a couple hours of homework, making for a total of 9-9 1/2 hours per day.  At home, school starts at 8:30 and we can be done anywhere from 12 noon – 3:00, however usually stopping the book learning around 2:00-2:30.  So homeschool  is roughly 6 hours per day.  Why does it seem like we aren’t doing as much as public school?

I get hung up on everything we COULD get done if we put in public school hours – but then we wouldn’t have a life either…  If we cover everything AND do it in less time, why do I feel like we should try to cram more in?  (like I’m slacking off…)

Sometimes I worry…

On My Mind

We all have our different things going on today.  I guess that’s ok.  I’m hoping to be hanging out here a lot, watching dvr-ed stuff and knitting by this afternoon.  After I run some necessary errands this morning – yuck.

The boys have friends coming over this afternoon.  They’ll have a ball.  I’ve gotta figure out what to feed 4 pre-teen boys who potentially could eat us out of house and home…

Scott’s going to a friend’s family wedding today, which means he’ll be dressing up, which means I’ll be taking lots of pictures of my gorgeous husband! (dressing up is the main reason I’m not attending.  I LOATHE dressing up!)  Give me a cotton, long-sleeved thermal shirt and jeans any day!

Working on all kinds of socks right now, pulling out half-done pairs right and left.  It’s just therapeutic right now and I’m loving it again. 

I’m so thankful to be feeling more like myself again.  Messing with my thyroid meds has proven to be quite challenging this time.  But I really, really like my new endo and I believe she’s getting on top of this.

Forgot to bring in my poor little mum…  He’ll probably shrivel up and go away now…  I’m a little bummed.  Speaking of outdoor stuff, I should  clean out the dead garden plants pretty soon.  I like to wait til the first hard freeze (and we’ve had several of those now) to avoid bugs and spiders.

I’m so thankful for the folks who have stayed in Big Elk since the flood.  Especially the kindred spirit I’ve found in Donna C. who, if she doesn’t take the photographs, she’s eager to share them.  I really appreciate that!  I’m a photograph person! 

Thank you Steve G. for hiking down CR 47 and getting pictures of the repairs for us.  I don’t know what I was expecting, knowing that it would be a long time until we had a paved road again, but this dirt road is BEAUTIFUL to me!  Part of me wishes it could stay this way.  My husband tells me that’s just crazy…  alrighty then.  (He’s usually right.  LOL)

We have VERY little fall color here, in our little corner of Nebraska – so when there’s a red sunset, I stop and take notice. 

I’ve missed being in the mountains this October.  Not having a mountain place to go to has been very weird and sad.  Time heals and we’ll have our mountains again, maybe even before the next Autumn… 

Isn’t it Time for a Crafty Post?

A HAPPY, crafty post!  That’s what this is going to be, dammit!  You know, except that some of my crafting is about the landslide…  Not much, though, I promise.

I HAVE NOT been keeping up with Project Life this year.  Just haven’t had it in me to do an in-depth, two page layout every week.  Now I just do them as the mood hits me.  And honestly, I think I like this process better.  It feels less forced and more fun.  This is probably what I’ll do from now on.  I still LOVE Project Life, but we’re all free to change it up a bit.

I’ve had less time to devote to artsy endeavors lately.  Mostly I’m suffering from self-imposed time constraints that I need to get over, but that’s the facts.  I RARELY make “relaxation” or “having fun” a priority for myself.  I see the wisdom in making it a priority for my family but not so much for me.  What’s wrong with me?  Duh!

So I haven’t done any scrapbooking for a while and really, really enjoyed myself all day Sunday, taking my time and putting this all together and catching up on my One Little Word class.

Conceivably, I should have more time to do fun stuff the rest of the year because Scott’s job has canceled all his work travel for the rest of the calendar year.  And wouldn’t you know it?  Soon as I find out we won’t be traveling, I have to go to Colorado for a week to do “stuff”!  (the doggy spa and massage therapy.)  And what really sucks is this time Scott won’t be coming with us.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder…

We’re experiencing our first really cool spell this week – highs in the 50s all week.  Which makes me think that Holiday preparations will be filling a lot of my time pretty soon.  And this year we’re meeting our Georgia Cousins in Vail to celebrate Thanksgiving!  Haven’t seen them in FOREVER!  We’re all really looking forward to it.

This is my entry for October in my One Little Word book:

It was mostly just an exercise in fun – getting messy with paint and ink and such.  I have to be in just the right mood to do this kind of thing and when I first sat down to watch the lesson video, I WAS NOT IN THE MOOD.  But as the day went on, I realized it could be therapeutic. (and it was!)

Here’s my entry for September, which was a complete deviation from the class assignment but necessary for my book:

I had been craving cake frosting for a month!  I finally did something about it!  My family was really happy with me!

Already finished Will’s Christmas socks!  And at the rate that he’s growing right now, they probably won’t fit by the time Christmas gets here…  Mama has started on Scotty’s socks, but I may have to finish them up.  And I started on another Christmas knitting project and wouldn’t you know it – I hurt my right hand/arm last night and haven’t been able to knit today…  Hoping that goes away really soon!  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Been feeling the need for a little gratitude in our daily  lives, so we’re making daily thankful notes again!

Finally some good t.v. again!  I’m really enjoying this new show:

I’ve always LOVED Buffy and Mork!  Both of which I’m old enough to have watched in their original airings.  WHATEVER!

AND…  AND…  AND – Walking Dead is here again!  I never would have started watching this creepy, zombie show if it hadn’t been for the bad influence of my dear friend, Katherine!  Thanks a lot, K!  LOL  (My husband refuses to watch it with me – he is a total anti-zombie guy!)

Yesterday was our 13th wedding anniversary!  We were planning on going out to a nice dinner.  (It’s so great now that we can leave the kids home alone for a while and not have to hire a babysitter.)  But as the weather got colder throughout the day and the wind got stronger (and I forgot about going out and had put dinner in the crock pot) we decided to stay home.  We promised each other that we’d celebrate next time we’re in Colorado – just the two of us, go somewhere nice and hang out and have fun together.

Happy anniversary, baby!  You constantly amaze me!  I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone!