Saturday morning. Snow is falling. Yeah! Just what everyone has been asking for. It's about 10 degrees and I'm in the cabin all by myself, except for the stupid dog. Snow scraper truck just went by. I can hear the bombing for avalanche patrol going off. Fire is crackling. If it continues to snow like this all day then everyone will be happy. Madeline started work today! She had to be there at 8:00. So excited for her and proud of her. Lucas and Camille are at the snowboard Shredders program. I think that T is going to hike the ridge a few times. I get winded just emptying the dishwasher, can't imagine doing anything more.
We have had a week of a somewhat normal schedule. We started reading "The Purpose Driven Life" as a family every morning. I think that will probably be the theme for our stay here. What is our purpose? So much easier to listen to God here without all the distractions of suburbia life. We haven't had the tv on except for on the weekend and no one has complained or even asked about it. No one even asked to have it on this morning. We are burning through books like you wouldn't believe. Thankful for the library and the online books we can get. I can just see SAT scores going up as they read more and more.
Homeschooling is very, very hard some days. I think back to when I first started blogging and the ups and downs of foster care. What stands out to me is that none of the foster kids we had were ever as bright and bull headed as my children are. Its' very difficult to tame them right now. The ideal students they are in the public classroom has not carried over into the homefront. Madeline is great. The past 1 1/2 she has spent at Marcus doing her homework all by herself is carrying over to her homeschooling her. She is totally on her own and hopefully doing well. Lucas and Camille are another story. Thankfully they are smart kids so they pick things up quickly but they have absolutely no patience. Another trait they received from their father. Lucas doesn't want me to help him at all. I had to reward him with a day at ski school so I could go over his lessons with him and make sure he is where he needs to be. For the most part he is! I have learned over the years that he is not a person that you can take things away from as punishment, he thrives better with rewards. I have also discovered that I don't think there is any way possible for him to go back to public school where he has access to an IPAD all day. I have to have him sit where I can see his laptop screen so that he is not flipping back and forth between games and work. I have so many restrictions set up on his laptop but he can outsmart me and find something different to do. Extremely annoying to have to monitor him so intensely.
Camille's homeschooling is very much teacher directed and she doesn't always have a lot of patience for me. One moment she may be saying I'm the best teacher as we are doing a science experience but then it's back to not wanting to do what I ask. She'd rather tune in to the dog. We are making progress and I do like knowing what she is doing at school. I am able to bring their curriculum into daily conversations to make it more applicable and that makes me happy!
Madeline & I went to Santa Fe on Wednesday and picked up doors for the cabin. Todd's been running a paint line out of Lucas's room. Hopefully we will get them hung up by middle of next week. Yesterday Mad & I hit 5 thrift stores in Taos. We got a chair for her room but had no luck for a kitchen table or desk for Lucas's room. Right now we have an outline for a kitchen table with masking tape on the floor. Patrick our cabinet maker comes back on Monday so hopefully he will have some ideas for a table.
So, this week, I'm mostly glad I'm here. I have heard Todd say that I am a good teacher and then at a different time, homeschooling is very hard isn't it. Yes, it is, but I am thankful to be here in our little cabin and wouldn't trade this family time we are having for anything, especially today when I'm home alone!!
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