Last Week of School Daybook // May 2012

Outside my window...hearing the garbage trucks and occasional bird. Still a little early. We’re supposed to get rain later today and I can’t wait.

I am thinking...that it’s hard to believe we are wrapping up school. And that I will have a third grade daughter! I have strong memories of my third grade year in school – it’s one that I remember very vividly. We had moved to Texas the summer before so that my Dad could go to seminary and it was a new year in a new school. I remember loving my teacher who had dark hair (even though I can’t remember her name) and learning the multiplication tables that year. I really loved third grade.

I am thankful...for a truly restful weekend. From Thursday afternoon until Sunday morning I was home (with the exception of running to get pizza Friday night). I can’t tell you the last time I had such a long stretch of not leaving the house. I put several hours in on reorganizing the school room on Saturday – moving our craft supplies out of the closet in that room and out where they are easier for the girls to use, and moving all our curriculum into the closet for storage. T also helped me trouble-shoot a few computer issues I was having and rearrange wires and cables that were making me NUTS. For the first time in weeks I ended the day with a clean desk for working on and a work space that doesn’t make me cringe when I look at it. Now, if I could just find my camera that was on my desk when we started cleaning and wasn’t when we finished… (FOUND! In the boy’s room…)

In the kitchen...nothing fancy this week. I managed to make it all week last week without a trip to the grocery store and my cupboards are feeling it. We have eaten all our fresh produce and most of our frozen veggies, so I think I’m going to have to get out today and pick up a few things! I had a scare Saturday when I found our freezer defrosting itself and thought I was going to spend Saturday in a marathon cooking session with an giant unopened bag of chicken breasts and a few other items. I stuffed everything into the small fridge in the kitchen and managed to catch it before anything really started to thaw. And, I’m extra-thankful it was just a tripped fuse (or something like that) and we are back in business. However, this just again brought to my attention that groceries need to be on this week’s to-do list - we’ve done such done a good job of eating out of our pantry and freezer that it’s now really empty except for the aforementioned chicken breasts and some popsicles. : )

In the schoolroom…I posted our learning plans for next year here and my brain is tired now. : )

I am wearing...jammies. Must get dressed.

I am creating...order from chaos. See above mentioned reference to my newly reshuffled school room.

I am going...to hopefully pick up my new glasses sometime the week. Last week I had an eye appointment and am waiting for my new glasses to come in. I had to finally give in and move to bifocals because I can’t see to read anymore. And, while I’m sad about the needing the bifocals, (and what they cost! WHOA!) I can’t NOT be able to read.

I am reading...I have a stack to choose from. I finished my reread of Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home and also a reread of Meet the Austins: The Austin Family Chronicles, Book 1 by Madeleine L’Engle this weekend. N1 checked out A Wrinkle in Time at the library last week (I don’t think she’s read it yet), and the Austin family series called to me. Book two is in the basket next to my bed along with several other options…

I am hoping...to get the girls to the library today to sign them up for the summer reading program. They have an adult program this year for the first time, and I’m going to check that out.

I am looking forward to...our week. The last full week of school for us, with one or two little scraggly days that we’ll need to tackle next week. Then we are taking a break until July!

I am learning…and working on slowing down for a true break next month. Between homeschooling and extra activities, this last year was busy. This weekend at home just intensified my desire for a lot of downtime for all of us for the next few weeks with little to no agenda.

Around the house...laundry today. Can I just share that I had a laundry epiphany last week? I moved ALL my little girls’ clothes out of their bedroom and it cut my laundry loads in half last week. Their clothes are all stored in our laundry room on shelves and in the closet there and they aren’t allowed to get anything out without permission. These clothes will eventually be moved again into our bedroom. (We have a second closet in our master bedroom that is empty and we are going to move a dresser in there.) I have a little girl who loves to change clothes a LOT and all the consequences and discipline that I could muster just wasn’t keeping her out of her closet. Clean clothes were getting put into the laundry basket when they were shuffled through as well.

I did the first round of clothes-moving and shuffling while T and N1 were on their trip and it has worked beautifully the last week and a half. After school winds up, I’ll shuffle it all down the hall again and call it good.

One of my favorite things...a date night with a girl one-on-one. Trying to do better about making those a priority and not a happy accident. B will be my grocery shopping date tonight while the other girls have music lessons with T and she has already requested a special drink (a.k.a. frappachino) like I bought the other girls a while back. Sounds good to me. : )

A few plans for the rest of the week…not a whole lot!

• library
• dinner with our small group Bible study
• a nephew baseball game at some point this weekend (we have a couple of game options but are making sure to hit at least one!)

A peek into my day...

A last week of school mid-day movie treat for (a-hem) science. : )

Visit Peggy at The Simple Woman to see more daybook entries.