We are in our seventh year of homeschooling now, and, by George, I think we're finally starting to get the hang of it (though I realize that by saying that, I am opening myself up to a thousand little brand new snags). This month, for the very first time, I was able to institute a Reading Day, something I have been meaning to do for so long that it's kind of embarrassing. Math, spelling, and grammar were cancelled for the day, and the hooligans' work lists were filled with reading assignments: history, science, literature, and pleasure reading. We all piled into my bed with a big stack of books and had the most glorious relaxed and cozy day while it rained outside.
September was an unusual month for us, in which most weekends were filled to the brim, and though I typically require a little more downtime in order to keep my sanity, we had so much fun that it was relatively easy to roll with it. We finally had the chance to meet our newest family member, tiny Ansley Grace, early in the month, and she effortlessly stole our hearts. Then, we took a long-anticipated camping trip to the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky, and while I do not necessarily recommend tent-camping when the temperatures are dipping below 60 degrees, we had our minds so thoroughly blown by tours inside the longest cave system in the world that it was totally worth the time shivering and bundling up around the campfire.
My daily yoga practice, which has lately been a solitary home activity, ventured back out into the world again with the semiannual yoga festival at UGA's Botanical Gardens and then later with a workshop at the Southeast Yoga Conference in Atlanta. The festival had me practicing on stage again and the conference workshop reawakened a desire to dig more deeply into Ayurveda, so my morning journaling for the past week has focused squarely on where I want to go next with my yoga practice and nutrition education.
This past weekend, Princess Hazelnut turned eight and my father breezed into town for the shortest visit ever, so we reveled in some family and friend celebrations and we all did our level best to make the princess feel like a queen. Cupcakes were eaten. So. Many. Cupcakes.
October is shaping up to be a little bit more subdued (with the exception of a little anniversary getaway) and I, for one, am looking forward to some cozy time at home with my favorite people.
What I'm Watching
I just started streaming Justified after hearing people rave about it for years, and I think I love it. The banter is intelligent and hilarious, and the characters are pretty tightly drawn. As per my usual, I wince constantly at the way the South is portrayed, but since I swear I recognize some of the characters as people with whom I attended grade school, well...
What I'm Listening To
The Story of the World, Volume I. With an over-full calendar, I have been doing everything I can to simplify our daily schedule and to use our time as efficiently as possible. While we are running client errands and heading to the library is a great time to listen to our history lessons in the car, and we are all enamored with the voice of Jim Weiss. This is our second time through the Story of the World series of books, but this is the first time we have purchased the audio CDs. I feel like an idiot for not having purchased it years ago.
What I'm Reading
The Country of Ice Cream Star, a post-apocalyptic novel told with very odd twists of language. I waited for months for this to come in at the library, and though I am hooked on the story, the dialect makes it fairly difficult to read. The rave reviews on the book jacket were written by a couple of my favorite authors, so I'm holding out hope that it will all come together soon.
1 comment:
The Midwest and the South really are equally oddly portrayed, aren't they?
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