for you...

this is for all of you who want to read my mental overflow...

I'm so glad it's finally spring.  Finally warm enough for me to consider unwinding my ever present wool scarf  and try on a pair of flip-flops. But, this is what I call Yo-Yo Weather.  For several days we will be digging into the summer bins and then we'll suddenly have to get out a coat and hat.

We have a severe shortage of storage here, and I always look towards this time of year with mixed feelings. Happy for the warmth, dreading the Big Switch. We don't have room to keep both seasons of clothing usable, and I keep Alec's hand-me-downs for Benji, so the clothing swap is a bit of a nightmare twice a year.

We're almost through our first year of home education! While I give myself a huge pat on the back, I feel like I could have done it better. I asked Alec today and he agreed that he liked it, but it could have been more fun. I was told by a wise friend recently that homeschooling shouldn't be about what you teach, but about how you teach it.  You should be teaching not for teaching's sake, but to give the student tools with which to learn anything, and a fire in their belly for knowledge.

I'm prayerfully considering switching curriculum, and have been looking at different science and history options, as well as looking for a study on the Fruit of the Spirit suitable for young children.  If any of you reading this are home educators and have any thoughts to share on these subjects, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I"m also trying to decide if I should purchase a pool membership this summer.  Our swimming season is only 12 weeks long, one of which we will be at our cottage in Lakeside. On the other hand, if I purchase it this month, I receive a 10% discount, and we only live two blocks from the pool, AND it is newly remodeled with a nice, zero entry area for preschoolers with slides, fountains, etc. But do I want to make that my summertime commitment? If I didn't, what else would we be doing?

We'll be gardening, doing light school work, going to the zoo, hopefully some more work on the house, hanging out with friends, and, well...maybe going to the pool a couple times a week!

I'm really overwhelmed right now with laundry, dirty floors, lack of desire to cook, strong desire to exercise but no time, excitement for our upcoming trip to visit friends, feelings of dread and claustrophobia about the two day drive to get there, too much clutter, too many things standing in my way and preventing me from being able to purge, having roller-coaster emotions about so many changes in our life

but...

riding it all out on the current of Jesus' unconditional love for my completely imperfect self.