Gettin' Our Groove

 
(2011 Parish Picnic Egg Race)

Well, our new year has indeed begun. Despite our efforts to stave off and relish the last days of summer (which in our neck of the woods has just recently arrived). The Pacific NW is so fussy sometimes. I can't help being thankful however, that we have not experienced the severe and scary weather hitting other parts of the country lately. The weather was delightful this past weekend when our parish held it's annual picnic. Good fun was had by ALL, what a joy to be part of such an amazing community, we are so blessed!

At any rate, back to school. We are up and running with a new year and new perspectives. As mentioned in my planning post, we are taking things in a more relaxed manner and that seems to be helpful to everyone, especially moi!

Good Things :: Weeks 1 & 2 ~

• Signed up for Project Feeder Watch, we should be receiving our kits anyday now :)
• Everyone very happy with their maths so far this year, yippee!! Found a few great Math DVD's at the library that both Seamus and Sean-Paul have enjoyed. One is called CashFlow for Kids at Home   (this is a link to the board game, ours is a CD-ROM version), and the other is called School Zone 1st Grade (here is a link to their website).
• Matthias is going gung-ho on his computer classes. He loves them!! We will be using Giant Campus of Washington  for the remainder of his high-school years, it's really great and FREE :)
• Violet is making a nice transition into her Sophmore year classes. She is delightedly self-motivated and our discussions have been very pleasant relating to her history reading, religion and biology. And of course every other book she happens to be reading :)
• Sean-Paul is prooving to be quite the little student, just like his siblings. He loves math and we've been reading up a storm. We have decided that he will receive his First Holy Communion with our Latin parish next spring, so I will be slowly getting him ready on our end  before he begins his classes next year. I hope to have him create his own notebook, although it will look quite different than Matthias's as he is receiving two years earlier than Matthias.
• My menu planning is coming along nicely...post to follow soon :)

Tweaks :: Helps for Mom ~

• Need to try and get up a little earlier for my morning workout. Since the beginning of the summer Matthew and I have been working out in the mornings together to much success and delight. It's great to have a workout partner for motivation and inspiration :) Here's what has worked for us both: Ultrafit by Cindy Whitmarsh
• I would like to beef-up and make more clear our daily chores. As usual with summer schedules and lazy days, we are in need of a little polishing up in the chore area. I'm thinking a daily checklist at the whiteboard for everyone to see and do :)
• As we ease into our new schedule, I can see the need for encouraging self-study and strewing more. This isn't too difficult however, as we are making regular trips to the library and allowing ourselves lots of time to just explore and think, all good things!! 

 
How's your year starting out?? Many blessings in your day, thanks for popping in :)

Comments

[Jennifer Mackintosh]

Love hearing how your year is going, Meredith! These are delightfully good times for us, are they not?

[meredith]

Absolutely!! Thanks for stopping by Jen :)