The Very Cold Daybook near the End of January

Outside my window... it is dark. And cold. The dog and I went out very quickly this morning!

I am thinking... of what a nice day off we had yesterday. MLK Day always sneaks up on me because we’ve just finished with a big Christmas break. I went back and forth numerous times over whether or not to do school yesterday because T was off and ended up compromising with the part of me that knows we don’t have much wiggle room for extra days off in our schedule. T went out for a bit in the morning and we got some basics done – a little language arts and math for the big girls – and called it good. I gave B a day off entirely. She had her first friend sleepover (where she went to a friend’s house by herself) over the weekend and it wiped her out.

A shot of winter sun streaming in yesterday.

I am thankful... for T. He provides for us so well and is so constant.

In the kitchen... things are a changing. We have been looking at what we are eating and ramping up our veggies. And, I don’t think this is just a January phase that we are going through (at least I hope not). I have long felt that white flour / sugar / excess carbs and I have needed to come to a parting of the ways and I’m slowing working on eliminating a lot of them from my diet. Just in the last week, I can see a wee bit of energy return and some brain fog lift and I like that.

I am wearing... jammies. Must get moving as we have CC today.

I am creating... hmm. Nothing exceptionally crafty right now. Project Life is happening. I’ve been in listy mode (when am I not?) and have been making all sorts of them.

I am going... a fairly light week this week. I’ll be saying that for about six more weeks and then soccer will start for two girls and then it will get busy I predict! Classical Conversations today and, depending on how tired the boy is after a big morning of playing while we do school, we might go to the library. Tomorrow and Thursday look relatively free and Friday is Bible study.

I am teaching… Earth Science is the hot topic at the moment. It’s our memory work focus for CC and we have been reading through Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space and it’s just the right fit for us right now. We are also working on an Earth lapbook from A Journey Through Learning that I was sent to review. This is the first of their lapbooks that I’ve used and so far, I’m impressed. More soon. I always loved Earth Science as a kid (maybe because I had a Dad and Grandpa that were very into maps) so science has seen more school action that it has in a long time which is good. : )

I am reading... nothing right at the moment. I fizzled out on French Kids Eat Everything … it was good, but I felt like I got the gist of what she was saying and didn’t need to press on. Hopefully I haven’t missed something life changing later on the book. : ) I need to put together some February reading goals and that should get me excited to pick something up. I’ve also been spending much too much time on the computer perusing a few new-to-me homeschool blogs. I love the online inspiration, but it does take away from the written page.

Around the house... I need to do a little maintenance. It’s not terrible because overall it’s fairly picked up. But I’ve taken a few too many days off of running the vacuum for my taste. (How do stairs get so dirty looking so fast? I don’t get it…) The laundry monster has been calling my name as well.

I am pondering... Doing things well. Where I am, where I am not, and where I can start changing. It’s not enough to want to change. The work has to be done to get there. (Easy to type, hard to do).

One of my favorite things... winding down in the evening. Working on new routines of NOT falling asleep downstairs, but winding down with hot tea. A blanket. Usually a little dog curled under one arm. Writing on my gifts list. I don’t manage it every night, but I’m getting better at it.

 

A peek into my day...

This girl. This dog. They make me smile.