Mom vs. the Dot: Making it COUNT!

Last week, I watched my kids participate in VBS, particularly the outdoor games.  My camera charger was in a different state at the time (imagine that!  at least i didn't forget my toothbrush.), so I couldn't take pictures, but I can still share what I saw with you. Simple organized games - the best was "Defeating Goliath" where they used a giant water balloon launcher to fling water balloons at a huge face drawn on white tarp.  Riot of a game.  Loved it! With help from an adult, each child was given several tries to bean the giant with a water balloon.  Some walloped it - bullseye!  Others shot too high or too low.  The preschoolers were allowed to take handfuls of balloons right up to the face and lob them.  The elementary-schoolers had to use strength and good aim to launch the balloons fast enough and hit the target. Because my kids are homeschoolers, a lot of our activities include just our 3 kids.  We usually have many trie...

                  (Here my family and I are on a nature walk together - my hubby took the picture) I have been looking forward to this week.  Our kids were all signed up to go to VBS at our former church, bursting at the seams with volunteers and children.  I was ready for a week of free mornings, doing whatever I felt like doing. Tra-la-la! And that's exactly what I've  had: mornings by myself. I've tried to accomplish a few things, but mostly I've had a lot of thinking time.  Not a common occurrence in the land of children.  It's a question-a-minute all day long here. The house was so quiet - it felt peaceful, but not right.  I began to wonder if this is the way moms feel when they've sent their last child off to the first day of school.  The house is suddenly empty. Sure, there are piles of laundry to be folded, mail to be sorted through and phone calls to make, but I missed the interruption...

(Here my hubby is mowing the lawn, with the kids in tow, just for fun!  They love it!)   As I scroll through Facebook, I see many families who, as soon as their children are out of school, whisk their children off to magical places, awesome vacations, camping trips - you name it. We are just finishing our school year tomorrow. Do you know what I have planned? Absolutely nothing. Although I'd love to respond to this thought by putting my feel up, grabbing a book and letting out a long "Ahhhh" (sigh), I can't. I am experiencing a tremendous letdown. A total BLAH. Why? I don't completely know.  Part of it has to do with being in high gear for 9 months, spending half of every week day schooling the kids or planning fun, educational outings.  Many of my after-we-put-them-to-bed thoughts have to do with what we're going to be learning the next day, the next week, the next month and the next year.  My thoughts are consumed with how to make learn...

We are down to the last 5 days of homeschool.  Most of my kids' friends are already out of school.  They're ready to be done. I'm ready to be done. So what are we going to do? It's funny - the whole idea of homeschooling appealed to me because our kids could learn at their own pace and that we could learn in creative ways.  I pictured our family doing puzzles, playing games, and creative play every day. Instead, for 8 months of the year, we are working hard on core academic subjects.  We don't have time to fiddle around with puzzles and fun things because we need to learn our multiplication facts and grammar basics.  My kindergartner needed to learn how to read in 20 easy lessons - and we've only finished 9 lessons by the end of the year.  Granted each lesson was 19 pages, but still...I always think we're going to be farther along by May.  Ah well... We are done with testing.  We have had our portfolios evaluated.   So here...