Wheeew! We have almost made it!

So to say that things have been busy would be quite an understatement.  I had no idea how child #4 would turn our world upside down...well I think it was the collision of said child and my (and Annalee's) first official year of home educating that really did it.

Even though we got 6 weeks in prior to Mercy's arrival and took about that same amount of time off after she was born, nothing I did really prepared me for what it would be like to try to teach Annalee (and Jude and Ezra) while taking care of an infant.

There was a LOT of trial and error, and LOTS of tears...some of them were even Annalee's....Lots of "I give up's", and lots of "I'm sorry's", and lots of "Ok, let's start over and try this again's".

There has been just as much learning about patience and forgiveness as there has been about Math Facts, and Grammar.  It has definitely been very educational for both of us.

And here we are in the home stretch of 1st grade, and not only did we survive, but we are better for it!

The Top 5 things I have learned this year

1) Not using an official curriculum with a laid out plan is NOT FOR ME! We made it work, but more than anything I have obsessed and worried over whether or not I was covering all the necessities and I KNOW that contributed hugely to how hard this year has been.

2) I am not a teacher. I have no clue what the "right" way is to teach Math Facts, or Money or Reading...non, nada, zilch. It is only by the Grace of God that this is working, His blessing and favor are definitely upon us.

3) I am loving it!- The joy I get from watching their little faces when they finally "get it" makes it oh so worth it.

4) It is lonely- For me, not so much for the kiddos, but where I was once able to do play dates and hang out with other SAHM's, now we do school, and it is hard to take time off to do other things.  Where other people are sending their kids to school and have the day time hours to occasionally have coffee with a friend, I do not, and it has not been easy to connect with other homeschoolers, especially when no one in my immediate circle of friends does it.

5) I really don't have to wear make up everyday- Ha! I know I know, I should have already known that, but this year and it's many time challenges have put having a full face of makeup waaaaay down on the priority list, and I am totally ok with that.

Oh and a huge bonus! Just about any fun thing we do can be counted as a field trip! We went to Cedar falls park last weekend and I got to count it since there is a lot of history there from the Cherokee Indians to battle land to how it used to be a woolen mill, saw mill and power plant. Plus the science about the wild life that can be spotted there!

Here are some pics from our day...