I wasn’t planning on starting school until Barry went back to work next week, but yesterday at breakfast he announced, “Tomorrow is the first day of school!”  How could I argue?

Really, I had intended on doing school over the summer and then taking a break when Eva came, but I COULD NOT make myself do it.  It was too hot, I was too tired, I was too pregnant, Hunter was too 2… But valuable lessons were learned.  The 2 year old learned to dress himself and use the potty (most of the time).  The kids figured out how to not be bored when Mom wasn’t giving them things to do– you know, things like that.  I’ve decided that our summer of doing nothing was a summer well spent.

And now I feel ready to do school.  One advantage of not doing it all summer, but having been prepared to, is that I’m all ready!  There was no scramble when the first day of school was moved up a week.

We’re using Sonlight for the 2nd or 3rd year now.  It is literature and history based– which is right up our alley.  My kids read and read and read– especially anything about dragons and magical lands.  I like having some structure and rhyme and reason to the things I read with them and ask them to read for school.  I get a box of books and an instructors guide that shows me how to get through all those books in 36 weeks.  Then I read to the kids, they read on their own, and we talk about it all.  It is expensive and I probably could figure out things to read on my own, but for this season in my life Sonlight has been a godsend.

This year Brenna chose to study Core G.  She’s also doing Apologia General Science.  At her Monday school she’s doing Spanish, Art, Science, International Towne, and Language Arts.  She’s got quite a full load– and has been really excited about it.  She’s doing everything on her own with little interference by me.  All I do is read over the journal entries she writes about everything she reads.  Oh– and I’m the piano teacher.

Jonah and Logan are doing Core C.  They’re doing Apologia for science as well.  We’re finishing up birds from last year, then we’ll see if they want to do Astronomy or Swimming Creatures.  As far as math goes we’re using Math-U-See for everyone.

One goal I have is to be consistent in teaching my kids to play the piano.  That has always been so hard for me, but I play the piano so well it is really a shame that my kids don’t.  And since we really can’t afford to pay someone else to teach them all piano lessons I NEED to do it.  So I will.  I did today!  That’s a start, right?

Ian is working on reading his Bob Books, dressing up as a super hero with Hunter, and talking to Eva.  Hunter is learning to poop in the potty and not to climb on top of other people all the time.

Today went really well, but I did have a husband fluttering around in the background, policing toddlers, making lunch, washing canning jars.

We crowned our first day of school with our annual token attempt at self-sufficiency.

We canned peaches.

We did 12 quarts (It probably would be more accurate if I said Barry did 12 quarts with a little help from the rest of us).  Certainly not a year supply, but we know how to do it and the kids love the real work (and eating the peaches we can’t fit into jars).

First day of school– blissful.