Country Living Around the Corner

We have found a house!  2.5 acres and massive inside, we are so very excited!  It's a unique house and will fit us perfectly.  We will have room to have lots of guests and fit them all comfortably.  We will also have room for gardens and eventually horses and chickens ... fresh eggs and beautiful rides in the Kaibab Forest.  We will even get to cut our own Christmas Tree!!

Even though we've lived in two houses together before as well as own a home in Texas, this is feeling like a brand new beginning and it feels like this is our first house.  Can't wait to share more about our country life ... from our gorgeous living room!

Country Girl

Some might read this and think Texas rubbed off on me, but the reality is that while I grew up in a decent sized city, the country was just down the road.  In fact, even in our city yard, we had a pretty big garden filled with veggies we ate throughout the summer and even into winter.  I can remember when we "tried out" having a garden.  We rented a plot (okay, I was like, maybe 10, so the whole logistics of it are a mystery to me!) in a farmer's field and grew corn, lots of corn.  There were other veggies too, I just don't remember.  I can still picture stopping alongside the road to weed and otherwise check on our garden.  I even remember the first time I checked an ear of corn and found worms ... yuck!  But, such a memory!

The idea of living out in the country has always been in my mind.  Fixing food from our garden and using fresh herbs from the windowsill brings a smile to my face (trust me, I'm not thinking about the weeding!).  McH grew up with farm animals and I know he misses that.  So, when we started looking for a place to rent, we were very excited to see that we had some options that were not only out in the country with room for gardens, but also properties that would allow for animals, maybe someday even horses!

We knew that living here wouldn't be a forever thing and even if we don't move in December (in time for the Spring semester), we will eventually move.  We have crunched numbers, searched for the perfect towns, dreamed of country life and ultimately decided that we are going to just have faith.  Faith that this lifestyle that seems so beautiful can be ours.  Maybe not forever ... or ... maybe forever!  We don't know, but hopefully this Christmas we'll have snow and in the summer we'll have veggies!

There are many paths to the top of the mountain.

It's funny.  We have 2 laptops and 2 desktops in this house.  My mom rarely touches the computer and while my dad reads the news, he isn't monopolizing a computer.  McH and Monkey, on the other hand, definitely log hours, and, being honest, I put in a good showing online at night.  So, why is it that I have such a hard time getting to my blog?  Mainly because 1 desktop is a dinosaur, 1 laptop is at the kiddie desk and a pain to use (when Monkey lets me near it!) and my laptop is hooked up to the tv and not conducive to blogging.  Which leaves the other desktop ... brand spanking new, but won't seem to read my SD card for pictures!  I do have my phone, which seems to use blogger pretty easily, except for my silly signature.  I think that will be going away so I can blog easily.

Anyway, the title.  I was reading over at the Secular Homeschool Forum's and one of the ladies wrote that line in her response about Waldorf schools.  It really made me think.  There are many path's to the top of the mountain.  Some are winding, some shoot straight to the top and some circle the whole, big mountain.  The really funny thing is that two people can start on the same path, yet the path will lead them in very different ways.

I'm proud that McH and I, two fairly quiet people, are really forging along our own path ... taking input from the hikers around us, but making the calls that work best for us (even when they aren't the most fun at the time).  We try to be open-minded and free-thinkers and try to pass that on to our Monkey.  Will we make mistakes or ever make it to the top?  I sure hope so!

This week has been the official "start of school" week for us.  McH went back to school (after a lot of stress) and we started the MbtP curriculum.  I am loving it and I think Monkey is as well.  It doesn't take an inordinate amount of prep on my part and it flows together very nicely.  We're also using Time4Learning and it can sometimes be a little strange, but mostly it's working for us.

One thing this week has impressed upon me is that I need to continue helping my two guys with reaching their goals, but that I also need to realize some of my own.  So, to begin that I need to write them down ... can't stick to them if you don't clearly know what they are!

1. Connect more!  Whether it be online or not, I need to make connections with people.
2.  Blog more! My goal is to develop this blog into a place where I am sharing our homeschool progress and ideas, as well as sharing the struggle to find age-appropriate resources to teach Monkey about our beliefs.
3.  Write more! I have written nothing more than blogs or scribbles in 2011.  Not good!

So, there ya have it.  I know there are some amazing people out there in the world and I just have this feeling that I'm about to meet some new folks!

Wowza!

We have had a wild summer so far!  We had a great trip in early June to Texas.  The first few days were spent in Dallas/Fort Worth at a few great museums and aquariums.  P really was excited to see and touch a few pretty cool animals!

Daddy and P checking out some stingrays AND feeding them!

P chillin' out with the sharks.

"Did you really catch that Monkey?"

We couldn't survive this heat without our daily (multiple times) swims!  I can't get over how amazing he's doing in the water.  Saying that he swims like a fish is an understatement.  One of these days I'll figure out how to take videos! lol

My brother and his family were here last week, so we took advantage of having so many people here and had pictures taken.  We had to improvise for a few of them and here's a cute shot of three of the great-grands. 

My beautiful Nani, with 4 of her great-grandbabies.  

And, the latest addiction ... phone games.  They sure are cute, but I'm close to tossing the EVO's into the pool (kidding).

Anyway, our books for this coming school year came in today and they look fantastic!  Daddy and P took some time to look through them, I'll get my turn soon.  I've definitely lagged and allowed myself to really enjoy summertime without much in the way of responsibility.  Most adults don't get that chance so I'm savoring it.  I'm planning to try and take more time to prep for September.  I really do need to get more networked with other homeschooling families, especially since we don't have a homeschool community here.  But I have super smart kid and I'm really excited to see where we go this year.  And, I can't wait to share my excitement as I create a path for us and then watch as we follow it, divert from it, change directions from it, go back to it and eventually find our way to where we are supposed to be!

Mom's day and Home schooling update

Hi all, what busy-ness we've had around here!  I had a great time for Mom's day, my sweet and thoughtful hubs and kiddo bought me a new bathing suit, cover-up and a box of amazing chocolates.  They also had gone that morning to Lowes and made me an adorable flower vase with a heart chalkboard on it.  I can't believe what a lucky girl I am!!

NaniRose cuddling up Jazzy after a swim.

The youngest moms playing with the kids (me and Tia).  Notice what the dads are doing in the background??

Bug with his "planets".

Homeschooling this week was fantastic!  We learned about habitats, specifically the desert.  He did really great and I was so impressed when he told NaniRose what habitat means!  We also did some gardening and, apparently, some crossword puzzles! ;)

Replanting our tomatoes.

Watering.

So smart, he's learned to do the crossword in the Newspaper!

Be Jealous.

While McH finishes up a Geography exam, I thought I'd post a few swimming pics.  Our little man swam all by himself on Friday.  We haven't swam all weekend because it's been windy, but one of these days we'll be back at it!  I couldn't believe he did it!  It was like walking ... we knew he could do it for a while, but he just needed time to gather his confidence.  And, when he was ready he didn't want to stop!

Anyway, I know my northern friends are jealous, but don't be!  In a couple of months it will be hotter than you know what!  No one will be jealous then!

This is bug showing off how he can put his head underwater.  Now, please tell me why he fights me pouring water on his head when I wash his hair!!

My beautiful water baby.

 My two most handsome men.  Love those two!

And ... just one of the many, many amazing sunsets.  Every night someone yells, "Wow, what a sunset".

On the precipice of Wk 2

It's Sunday here in the AZ (well, pretty much everywhere hee hee) and I've spent most of the day going over last week; how it went, how I'd planned it to go and what could or couldn't have been different.  One thing I realized was just how wonderful the flexibility is.  I knew that I was planning and expecting in a very rigid way, however, that is just me and how I am.  I fully expected and intended that every plan, thought and list would be changed.

On Tuesday and Thursdays, Monkey goes to my cousin's for a few hours.  Right now it's in the morning which isn't the best for us, so I'm sure (as it was last week) it'll be a hit or miss sort of event.  But, when he does go, he has a bunch of fun with his cousin's and the other little's that she takes care of.

Last Thursday it was just not happening.  He went to bed late and I found myself stressing out about him getting enough sleep and whether or not to wake him in time or let him sleep.  And then it occurred to me.  Keep him home!  He doesn't have to go.  My mom's not working anymore so if I really need some time to myself I can get it.  On Monday we tried out the schedule.  It worked fairly well, but when Wednesday rolled around, we all felt like going to a movie.  We saw Rio and had a blast! While the schedule was gone, we still fit some lessons in and it solidified for me the idea that we can learn and still fly by the seat of our pants (not my favorite thing!).

This coming week we'll be finishing up our Alphabet book in a quasi-lapbook format.  Looking good so far!  He's also really into mazes, so I printed off a few more for him, along with more letter recognition worksheets.  I want to make sure he's recognizing all of the letters.  We've started BOB books and, while he is ABLE to read them, he is lacking the confidence.  I'll probably pull Mat out once on Monday and see if he still freaks out.

So, we'll see where we are next week! :)