We are in a good routine this year. While the scope of my personal responsibilities and commitments rarely changes from year to year, somehow just having the kids older alleviates so much of the physical exhaustion of being a parent. I never have to be a referee between siblings anymore. We don't have any crying children, except for the occasional injury. There aren't toys scattered all over the living room. I know I should feel wistful—and occasionally I am—but I have to say, I love this season of life.
On the homeschooling front, this also means that everyone can read fluently, add, subtract, multiply, divide, name the continents, play a game without crying or quitting, and find the subject and verb. At 13, my daughter could easily live on her own. She can manage her money, cook anything, do laundry, clean house, take care of kids, and, most importantly, make a pot of coffee. But I'm not in any hurry to have her fly the nest.
The past couple of weeks we've continued on with our regular studies with some excitement mixed in with the routine. For one, Duncan mastered his multiplication tables! He has been working on them so diligently for several months. He was very, very proud of his accomplishment. Plus, I rewarded him with 10 bucks.
We had some pretty weather recently. Here's Duncan outside reading Old Yeller. And no, it wasn't really warm enough to be barefoot.
In our Narnia studies, we finished reading The Silver Chair. This has always been one of my favorites, but Laurel wasn't crazy about it. We have the BBC movie coming via Netflix for next week. We only have two Narnia books left to go, and then we'll read George MacDonald's The Princess and Curdie and The Princess and the Goblin.
We watched the first 4 DVDs of The Long Way Down, which is a documentary by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, as they travel from Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa, journeying through Europe and Africa. This is not at all what I thought it would be. There is a lot of swearing throughout (one must ask: why? why not edit this out?), which was annoying, but we pretty much watched four hours of McGregor and Boorman on motorcycles. I was expecting plenty of good cultural stops, historical information, etc. I'd love suggestions of great geography movies.
In other news, we had our annual Blue and Gold banquet for Cub Scouts. Duncan got his Webelos pin, and Sarah of It's a Boys' Life made this awesome cake:
Laurel attended the Black and White dance, an annual teen event in our support group. We have such a fantastic group of teens. I am really overwhelmed by how blessed we are to be part of this group!
And so our weeks continue on. Jesse's glad to be back at college and looking for a job there in Nashville. He misses working and feels like he can easily work and study. His roommate watches TV all the time, which makes him crazy, but otherwise all is well.And that's what's happening in SmallWorld!
Linked up on the Weekly Wrap-up
I'm so with you - it's so much easier when they are older and you spend less and less time on the trivial refereeing! I only have one left who doesn't yet read and who isn't tall enough to reach things in the cupboard yet, etc., etc. Looking forward to the days when she is more independent as well! Sounds like you had a good week - love the cake, and how fun for your daughter to be involved in a dance!
ReplyDeleteThat is a very beautiful cake! Sounds like a great week.
ReplyDelete"At 13, my daughter could easily live on her own." Love it.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, I am SO not there, though! My 4 are all age 11 and under, so, someday...until then I'll enjoy every moment along the way.