Miss me?

I've been away from my blogs for the past few months and I've really missed it.  It seems like every time I would have something to post life managed to get in the way.  I just haven't been very good at making time for it and it shows.  Now that we've settled into a new school year I am going to do my best to post on a regular basis.  I can't promise what I'll post but it'll be something LOL.

Joining the land of the living...

Some years we seem to manage to avoid all the crud that gets passed around this time year. We just be-bop our way through all the germs and illness without a second thought. No Kleenex piled all over the house, no hacking, no coughing, no Nyquil required, no chorus of moaning & groaning echoing through the halls.

Unfortunately, this year is NOT one of those years. Since Halloween it seems as though one of us has been sick in some fashion. Most recently it has been my turn (Yay me!) to feel like death warmed over.

I'm slowly getting everything back in order and am looking forward sharing some of our Christmas projects we have planned.

Just checking in!


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Its normal to worry.... right?

Lately I've been worrying a lot about our schooling.  Have we been doing enough?  Have we been doing too much?  Do we spend too much time on this?  Do we not spend enough time on that?  Should we be out of the house more?  Should we be home more often? Am I expecting too much from him?  Am I not expecting enough?  As the mom to an only kidlet I also worry if he's spending enough time with other kids.   You know the drill.

Don't you?  I sure hope so.  One of the only things that talks me off down off my mental ledge is the belief that I'm not the only one who has these crisis of conscience from time to time. 

On one hand I realize that these concerns are the hallmark of a parent. That we're constantly asking ourselves what is best for our children's education.  What will teach them what they need to know in order to turn into the kind of adults we want them to be.

On the other hand, I just want to crawl under the covers with my Fresca and chocolate & have someone come get me when it's time to leave for his college graduation ceremony.

I know that tomorrow my worries will have passed (for now) and we'll hit the ground running next week and love every minute of it but sometimes its just nice to wallow in those worries for a few minutes and know that I'm not alone in them. So, thanks for listening.  I appreciate it.

Camp El Tesoro "Trees in Autumn" Program

It took something really special to kick my butt out of my self-imposed blogging hiatus and today we had such a great time that I just had to share it!

M. and I spent most of the morning out at Camp El Tesoro at their "Trees in Autumn" homeschool program and I cannot say enough good things about it!  Jane, Heather, Wheldon, and their crew did an amazing job (including Linda - who certainly knows her way around hot biscuits & honey!)

We started the morning out by crossing the bridge and getting to know everyone - we have been out at Camp El Tesoro several times for other events and I think that is still M.'s favorite part of being there!  After getting settled in,  Wheldon, a Master Naturalist, then spent some time explaining to us all about burls, galls, fungi, and moss, among other things.

Afterwards Heather taught us how to use the GPS units and led us on a nature hike to different waypoints where we saw everything from galls and burls to harvester ants to funnel spiders.

Once we were back at the main lodge there were fresh biscuits and local honey waiting for us. After a wonderful snack we were free to choose what activity we'd like to do next and there were plenty to choose from.

Nature journaling, making a hiking staff, making leaf & bark rubbings, and much, much more were available depending upon our interests.  The hardest part was deciding what we wanted to do first.

The amount of preparation and set up that went into the program was obvious and much appreciated.    We've gone to a lot of different educational programs aimed at homeschoolers at a lot of different places and have, at times, found ourselves to be well... underwhelmed with the educational part.  That was certainly NOT the case here and at $8 prepaid ($10 at the door) for each child (with parents free) it was well worth every penny.  M. is already asking when we can go back.

It Just Goes To Show Ya'...

As soon as you think you've got a handle on life - it'll teach you different. I haven't been around Cyberland much for the past 6 weeks or so and I'm going through withdrawls!  My laptop decided to put itself on an extended vacation and so I've been reduced to begging, borrowing, and/or stealing time on assorted computers and dealing in only the most essential communications until it returned.  It should be back tomorrow and then life should return to.... dare I say... normal?!? I have much to share so be prepared!  As soon as I boot my baby back up I'll be off to show my face around SecularHomeschool.com's forums - my favorite hangout that I've missed dearly!

Early Teacher Appreciation

For years I have sent little gifts and thank you cards to school with M. during Teacher Appreciation Week.  Until this year when we started to homeschooling.  To be honest it was such a relief not to have to worry about birthdays, class parties, goody bags, teacher presents etc. that it never occurred to me that I now qualify as the teacher.

Until I came home the other day and found this on the island in our kitchen:

I'll admit it... there were tears.  What can I say - inside I'm just a big ole' softy.  It didn't hurt that it was filled with chocolate either.

So, Happy Early Teacher Appreciation Week to all of you!

Back again...

The past couple of weeks I've been working over 2x the number of hours I usually do and have had my hands full keeping up with everything.  As a result, both my blog posts and my time over on Secular Homeschoolers.com have suffered greatly and I'm a little surprised by how much I have missed both of them.

Things have settled back down to what passes for normal around here so I should be posting more regularly now.  I'm looking forward to it!