Here we go!

Any other homeschool moms have a hard time deciding when you take your obligatory "First Day of School" picture?!  Or am I the only one?!  Haha!  We have been spending the last couple of weeks getting back into school mode.  We started out by spending two days on school one week and then three the next and then four and now this week we are as ready as we will ever be to tackle the full load! I'm really excited about our school choices this year! Every year when it's time to start I get a little anxious about the responsibility of coordinating my children's education.  I get asked so many questions about how we make sure they are "on the right level" with public school or if we have them tested and on and on.  It can be a little nerve wracking.  But what I am learning each year is that we learn so much from the year before.  I learn what my kids have mastered so that I can challenge them with something harder and what they are struggling with so we can continue to learn.  That's how we choose what we will learn the next year.  Obviously they both are working on Math and English/Language Arts per their Grade, but then we just fill in the holes with extra workbooks and our History/Science/Bible is combined into one curriculum.

Last year was such a crazy year adjusting to having two babies in the house.  I feel like we had a lot of fun, but we really struggled to get by and get finished.  We had to work hard to stay focused with so much going on around the house.  It was really difficult, but we survived!!  This year things have calmed down quite a bit.  Of course I say that and while I'm sitting here at the table Owen is playing with his Legos and making all kinds of noise.  Both of the kids actually just took their workbooks into their rooms to work in peace!  They will come check in with me when they are finished and I will help them start their next lesson.  It's all about flexibility haha!  

Back in June I was really struggling with letting go of expectations I have for myself and my house.  I like things to be clean and organized.  But I have four children.  One of them is a toddler and one of them a mobile baby.  Clean and organized just doesn't always happen.  Most days it is nap time when I finally get to shower and put makeup on.  I can either let that frustrate me and overwhelm me, or I can embrace it with a smile.  I'm trying really hard to let go of having everything perfect.  Because really, who cares.  I've had a really clean and organized house.  It was when the older two were at school all day and I didn't have any babies.  I would certainly take this loud, crazy, chaos over that quiet house any day.  I can't even remember what that kind of quiet sounds like anymore haha!!  And that's okay.  

Yesterday during one part of his sermon, our Pastor was talking about the specific things God calls us to.  He talked about how we can find ourselves getting overwhelmed with the calling God has given us, but we have to constantly seek God's wisdom and strength and then "get back in the saddle" and keep at it.  While he was talking I was thinking about my calling as a homeschool mom.  It's not for everyone.  It's definitely something God places on your heart.  In June when I was feeling overwhelmed with the logistics of being home all day with four children and then looking ahead to adding school back in, it felt like too much.  For just a minute, I thought of the possibility that the older two should go back to school until things "calmed down".  Just the thought of it made me sad.  Only because that's not truly what I want.  But under the pressure of having everything right, it started feeling like my only option.  To give me some time until I got the hang of keeping the house clean and looking nice and put together first thing in the morning versus later at nap time.  Really?!  The more I thought about it, it seemed so silly.  I can't even imagine having them away all day at school and missing out on all the rewarding moments of teaching them new things.  Is having a clean house really worth missing out on these precious moments?  Absolutely not. 

Shortly after having this random melt down of a week, I was driving the kids home from the grocery store and the song "Holy Spirit" came on.  I have heard this song a million times and even lead the church in singing it before.  But this particular day, it really hit me right where I was.  I looked in the rear view mirror at my chubby toddler asleep in his seat and my older two being crazy in the back seat and I just sang it out as a prayer. Just asking God to remind me of his presence here.  In my filthy mini van or at my crowded chaotic table while I teach my children.  When I clean pee off the floor for the fifth time while I work on potty training or when my baby is up all night teething.  Without His presence I am completely hopeless to handle any of it.  But when I focus my eyes on Jesus and ask him daily for the strength to do this job he has called me to, I have such joy in it.  I can laugh at the chaos and play with the kids despite my long list of chores.  It doesn't mean that those things don't still overwhelm me.  They do.  But it gives me the focus and strength to get back at it again and carry on.

So this year, this is my prayer for my family and for homeschooling.  That when I get overwhelmed, or when my focus is misplaced, I will remember that I have everything I need to do the job God has put in front of me.  I just have to make sure that I am constantly putting Him back in His place and jumping back in to finish the work before me.

There's nothing worth more
That could ever come close
No thing can compare
You're our living hope
Your presence, Lord
I've tasted and seen
Of the sweetest of loves
Where my heart becomes free
And my shame is undone
Your presence, Lord

[Chorus:]
Holy Spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord

There's nothing worth more
That could ever come close
No thing can compare
You're our living hope
Your presence, Lord
I've tasted and seen
Of the sweetest of loves
Where my heart becomes free
And my shame is undone
Your presence, Lord

[Chorus]

Let us become more aware of Your presence
Let us experience the glory of Your goodness



These were taken last week even though we had already been at it a few days.  So thankful for this time at home with these precious kids!  I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.