Our Relaxing School Year

I plan our school year over the summer and am really pumped to get started with new classes, books and activities...except this year. This year looked like a continuation of last year, only even more relaxing. I was really looking forward to the freedom! Our relaxed little co-op from last year was discontinued. I taught six kids piano there. I wasn't totally crushed; I thought, "Oh, well, I guess I can sleep in on Thursdays." I looked into a couple of other awesome co-ops-- Merritt Island that I drove my older boys to for years, and in Mims, that Jacob loved before it moved so far away. My husband and I decided not to pursue classes at either co-op this year. I was relieved. It is so easy, relaxing and enjoyable to teach classes at home. Jacob is in 8th grade now and will be involved in high school and dual enrolled in college classes soon enough! The only book I bought was the next Saxon math, Algebra 1, so he could join a group at a nearby home twice a week. He tried one class and strongly disliked it, and since I only sent him because I thought he would enjoy it, I was glad to drop it and teach him at home. He and I both felt happy and relieved to do math together at our own pace once again. So that was it. School at home. Well...of course my musical child wanted to do the Homeschool Band again! He wants to be a professional trumpet player and has an awesome trumpet teacher, Jason Moylan. This will be Jacob's 4th year in the Homeschool Band with the talented, patient and soft spoken director, Liz Hyers. He started with bass clarinet and moved onto trumpet. This year he has taken up oboe as well. He learned right away that the oboe is a special instrument---especially hard, that is! He begged and begged me to find him a teacher. I asked all my facebook friends and my Brevard Homeschool Yahoo group, but no one answered, so I picked up the phone and started calling music shops. The 3rd shop, The Horn Section (which is where we found our incredible trumpet teacher) gave me a recommendation. Yay!? Ah, our quiet and simple and relaxed homeschool year...what a beautiful dream. I am so grateful my husband is retired and a kid at heart, a very interested, involved and hands-on daddy. He enthusiastically joined in the Homeschool Band last year, and took up a second instrument this year! Brave man! So for Monday band, he and Jacob are gone from 11:30-3:30. Before they leave, Jacob practices the piano (he is one of my virtuoso piano students!) and we do math together. If there is time, he may read a little more Story of the World or do a little LLATL English. When the guys get back, I'm busy with piano lessons, so they have a couple of hours and then they leave for karate at the Y, and get home at 7:30. Tuesday is currently quite a relaxing day, so we spend quite a bit of time homeschooling without looking at the clock or the rush to go somewhere. Our trumpet teacher lives nearby (currently--we are so blessed!) and comes here, and Jacob's friend also comes over for a trumpet lesson while I teach to his little sister. It is such pleasure to hang out with our friends, and often have supper together. Wednesday is another quiet day of homeschool with just one piano lesson with Jacob's friend who stays and plays for awhile, and then the guys run off to karate again for a super physical workout. Thursday is quite a busy piano-teaching day for me. I get Jacob started with his algebra and teach a couple of lessons, then we work on English and he works independently on his other subjects and practices his three instruments (guitar is dropped for now, it seems, although I thought he was incredible, he had no confidence in himself and did not enjoy it). I continue to teach all afternoon as the boys (yes, all homeschooled boys) stay and play together and sometimes fight. My husband leaves at 2:30 to take Jacob to his oboe lesson, a long drive and expensive. They kill a little time eating dinner; after the last lesson they visited the Horn Section and Jacob tried some professional trumpets ($$$$!). Then they go to Coach Mike Rochelle's Swim Team at Rockledge High School. They get home at 8:30. Jacob has wanted to take tennis for years, so I finally signed him up for 8:30 Friday morning group lessons on Merritt Island at KARS Park. So far he loves it! I think he knows everyone there, a bunch of boys about his age, most, if not all, from our Homeschool Exchange group! Every other Friday our homeschool group meets at a park, so after tennis, we go onto our park meeting. One of these days my youngest son will outgrow this group, but for now he is passionate about "exploring" and loves to talk endlessly with his friends. That is our calm homeschool week. Not as unscheduled as I expected, but I must admit, we enjoy everything we do. I am so grateful we have the choice. Last Tuesday was Brevard Zoo's $2 day, so we hung out with friends at the zoo (we are dying to try the zip line! Waiting for a sale...). I bought Jacob a late lunch there and was so pleased with the vegetarian choices, prices and quality of the food. I bought a fruit smoothie and it was delish! Then we went to the Avenue and shopped for Daddy's birthday and visited our friends the Kann's Farmer's Market. We really enjoyed selecting fresh, locally-grown vegetables and fruit! Jacob told me he had never had such a fun Tuesday. The next day, Jacob had an orthodontist appointment and we got some lunch at a smoothie place before my haircut appointment. Jacob said, "I've had so much fun, I've missed spending time with you." I was kind of stunned that I felt exactly the same way! We spend most of our time together, but this was different, so I knew what he meant. Now that Dad drives him everywhere, he and I don't have that alone-in-the-car time, or hanging outside of the house alone

time, that we had before Dad retired, so I hope to dedicate time in the future to just us.

My New Primitive

Our new kitchen is beautiful, but I had a place for everything in the old kitchen, and trying to figure out where everything goes has been a surprising challenge. I used to have an empty wall with a huge bulletin board for all our phone numbers and calendar. Now it's all cabinets. It was tough finding a place for the calendar, but it's working out on the end of the pantry cabinet near the phone, where it needs to be. Our grocery list and a variety of other papers have ended up on the counter and looked really messy and disorganized. I was so thrilled when I found an antique primitive library card holder on craigslist! The owner was nearby, so my husband and I ran right over and I fell in love with it. It is on my counter and each of the four drawers holds important papers. More than neat and tidy--cuuuute!

Vacations Have To End Sometime

December flew by in a blur. I hung on for the ride and loved it, but it ended too quickly. It is Monday and we will homeschool, have band and piano lessons as usual.

Our last vacation weekend was an exhilarating way to celebrate New Year's. 1/1/11 (I just love writing that!) was Sabbath, so we went to church and enjoyed my little friend's baptism, lovely music and delicious vegetarian potluck. Our son went to a sleepover, so Conrad and I appreciated some uninterrupted time alone. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm with a cool breeze, mid-70's, perfect for a long motorcycle ride. Soaking up the sun and clinging to Conrad filled me with joy, and I fell more deeply in love with my husband.

Sunday, I really wanted to visit my older boys who moved into an apartment across from college. I'm their mother and felt like a visit was long overdue. We loaded up a dresser, chairs, microwave and crockpot, picked up our younger son, and made the long drive south. I can see why they got tired of driving it every day! I was surprised their place looks so new and clean. I felt so much better after seeing what a nice place it is, and convenient for them. A church is nearby, so I hope they go and love it. Brandon made homemade noodles for dinner and we had a nice time eating and talking, sitting in the chairs we brought down. Now my living room is empty and we have a guest bedroom.

Choices

I'm going to bring up the kitchen again. I'm very tired of talking about it, but it is still a work in progress. I have had to make so many choices that my brain hurts! Lowe's is coming Jan. 6 to rip out Diamond-damaged cabinets and install replacements, and to finish all the little details that were left undone. This is supposed to be the last time. After this, it's all on Conrad. We still have to choose flooring (we've moved on from lovely cork to durable tile), backsplash (I am seriously leaning toward white subway tile--simple) and we need some sort of light for over the kitchen island. Also, when we planned this kitchen, we did not plan for a spot for our trash can! So it is in the way, against my John Boos kitchen work island that I must sell, because it's too big and in the middle of the kitchen. I love it and we constantly use it, so felt very ambivalent about putting it on Craigslist, and was partly relieved when the people that contacted me never showed up (typical Craislist!).

How To Stay Warm In Florida

The day-after-Christmas was a big cleanup day here at home and finding places for brand new gifts. A lot of people take advantage of sales, but that has never interested me since I don't need anything and don't like crowds. The day also became very windy and cold. My husband is always hot and I'm always cold, so we play a sort of tug o' war with the thermostat. For Christmas he bought me leg warmers and a foot heating pad for the bed. I put flannel sheets on the bed. My bedroom was Christmas Storing, Staging and Wrapping Area, so my happiest accomplishment was clearing off the treadmill. It feels great to get back on it and walk off some Christmas leftovers, and as this cold weather has continued, I've also discovered that when I'm chilly, a walk on the treadmill warms me right up--without touching the thermostat.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate

Peanut butter and chocolate is a scary-delicious combination. I rarely combine them because I don't want to test my willpower. Christmas was an exception. I mean, if there's ever an occasion for treats you shouldn't eat, Christmas is it! Thankfully, my son made Buckeyes recently and followed the recipe diligently, but they were so soft and gooey that they looked like mini cow pies. They must have tasted terrific though, because they disappeared. I thought the problem must have been our peanut butter, which is natural organic and very runny. I found a Smart Balance chunky peanut butter and decided to see how that worked. I couldn't find a recipe I was totally happy with--other recipes ask for a lot of powdered sugar and butter and omit the graham cracker, but I prefer the texture with it. So I used 2 cups peanut butter, 1 cup graham cracker crumbs and 2 cups powdered sugar. I had to mix it in my food processor because it got very stiff. Then I made small balls and put them in a wax paper-lined container and refrigerated them for an hour, then I dipped them in melted chocolate chips and put them back in the refrigerator. WOW! I highly recommend these! And if you're afraid of eating too many, this recipe can be cut in half:)

Go Truffles!

A few people think vegetarians are weird and bizarre hippies, but I was just raised that way. The thought of eating a dead animal turns my stomach, so I don't. I like to eat organic and am usually vegan, but I try not to stress about food. I've seen a lot of people become fanatical about food, and I refuse to do that. Just trying to keep it in perspective. Life is for living.

My wonderful husband (who is an omnivore like a bear) gave me truffle oil for Christmas. Tonight I made eggplant parmesan and had my first truffle taste. It smelled rather different and strong, almost musky or smokey, so I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. My 12 year old son had never been brave enough to try eggplant, but his truffle curiosity made him throw caution to the wind. We all agree. The verdict is: divine!