September already…

It’s hard for me to believe that another summer has already come and gone.  Before you know it we’ll be carving turkey, planning Black Friday shopping trips, and seeing Christmas lights when we’re out and about.  Okay, maybe I’m getting a little ahead of myself ~ but I blame Hobby Lobby.  One quick trip into that place will have you thinking it’s November!!  I mean, really.  Is it necessary to have aisles and aisles of Christmas tree ornaments, wreaths, and fat little Santa figurines on display when it’s still 100+ degrees outside?!?!  Come on people!

Moving on.

So, the big news for the month of August of course was the start of the new school year.  And as many of you know, this year looked very different for us than years past.  Because this year, we decided to start out on a homeschooling journey.  I will admit that I was a little nervous…more about how I would handle this change than how the kiddos would.  But I’m proud to announce that we had a FABULOUS first week and we are all still really excited about this new addition to our lives.  It’s still going to take some getting used to.  The girls have approximately 4 hours of school work to complete everyday.  And with a toddler running around, our house is only quiet for about 2 1/2 hours a day.  So, we are experimenting and learning what works best for everyone.  So far things have gone pretty smoothly……knock on wood.

I will say this however, one of the things that I’ve enjoyed MOST about having the girls home with me rather than at the local public school is that I am connecting with them on a deeper level than I have in a long time.  And I think there was a part of me that was longing for this connection.  I get so excited when I see them playing and learning together.  Our family feels closer than ever before and I ❤ it!!

Husband’s hours at work are increasing and he is participating in more tournaments these days, so the time that we are able to spend with him is precious.  But I know that he’s happy because he’s doing better and better with each subsequent tournament and he really enjoys them.

Little Man is still a man of few words.  So much so that we’ve requested the help of a speech pathologist to help us figure out how to get him talking.  He’s only completed his initial assessment so far, but we’ve already started seeing some progress.  He’s actually attempting to say more words now than he was just 2 weeks ago and that’s very encouraging!  I just know that one of these days it’s going to all click for him and he’s going to start spitting out sentences!!  More to come on his progress soon.

Okay, now it’s time for the really exciting part!  On August 1st, I set a goal for myself that seemed a little daunting at first.  But it was something that I REALLY wanted to accomplish.  So that’s what I set out to do.  I selected 12 small areas of my home that desperately needed some cleaning and re-organizing.  Let me just say that there was a LOT of purging done at our house this past month.  I made several trips to the local thrift store donation site.  And there’s still some work to be done, but all in all I’m very pleased with the results.  Click here to see the before and after pictures!