Getting Back in the Homeschooling Game

1. Finishing the essay - Esme has been working on an essay about our Brownie trip to New York for what seems like forever. She has a writing folder to help her stay organized, but this morning she couldn't find a couple pages of the rough draft. O..M..G. I did not kill her though, I just insisted she find it, which she eventually did.

2. I have to mail our assessment/intention letter today - I combined them into one long letter this year, and it makes more sense to me that way.

3. Staying organized is a challenge for ALL of the members of our family - I have to sort a huge pile of independent work for her into categories, folders, etc.

4. We are going to our first 4H meeting today - not an official meeting, but a picnic to meet the other people she'll be working with this year. The theme of this group is Science, which is her very favorite subject.

5. We are going to give her a year to really challenge herself and grow this year - if she was in public school she would be in *third grade,* which is the first really challenging year for many kids.

I've been spending most of my free time the last couple weeks trying to get my studio organized. I use it for all my painting, scrapbooking, sewing, and otherwise crafty supplies, so it is QUITE full. I was lucky to have a friend over to help me redo it and make me feel less boxed in when I'm sitting at my table. Now I've hit the place where I just want to give up and just do some creative projects!! Enough organizing, I want to be painting or scrapping! I have been trying to develop my own style of portraits so I'm doing some smaller sizes for practice. Soon I hope to get into these lovely bigger canvases I've been saving.