minutia...

Ok, so I've been meaning to post about these things called water beads. They are so super fun and so super cheap. I printed a hypothesis sheet from online, and we made guesses about what would happen when we added water. They start out really tiny, and as they absorb the water, they get bigger and bigger. (If you're getting colored ones, rinse them several times before you put them in a container with water or the color will stain little fingers, FYI.) You can get them in the floral section at Walmart for a few dollars. They're an absorbent polymer, probably made out of sodium polyacrylate or a cousin of it, the same stuff that is in baby diapers....

It's April, and I'm so ready for the end of the school year. David (who remembers things sooo much better than I do) said that some of the speakers at last year's homeschool conference said that homeschool moms start getting burned out in April and May.

Yep.

I'm almost finished with the first Five in A Row manual (as in, we've rowed most of the books in it), and I think I'll intersperse my own short unit studies and days of reading books that we've gotten from the library about different topics with the remaining "rows" until the end of May. Summer vacation won't be a complete break from school. We'll still be doing math, handwriting, and reading lessons a few days a week, and we'll be reading and playing games and doing activities like we always do. I just won't be doing much planning and prepping unless I feel like it. I strongly suspect I won't feel like it.

I started getting drowsy doing Seth's reading lesson with him tonight. That happens too much lately. We do it upstairs on our bed, and its just so nice to put my feet up. Fortunately, his enthusiasm doesn't let me drowse much. He's enjoying it a good bit more than he did in the beginning when reading wasn't coming easily. And if I liked "All About Reading, Level 1" before, I LOVE it now. Totally worth the investment....

I got an email asking if I would be interested in helping with VBS at our church this year. There was a time when I would've been. We did a lot of teaching kids before we had them, and we still work in nursery once a month.

I feel guilty for not wanting to help, but I try to remember a blog post that I read at the beginning of this year that reminded me that teaching my children at home is adding a full time job onto the one I already have. If I am really tired and feel like I can't add much to my plate without cracking, I can remind myself that may be because I've already taken on an extra job, so I shouldn't be surprised if it's taking everything I've got many days.

And that means I can be ok with saying "no" to teaching VBS. Even if it makes me feel guilty. Maybe the guilt will never go away, or maybe I'll have some energy to help as the kids get older and more independent, and I can say "yes" sometimes. But right now? I'm all outta energy.

And in other news, lemme say that the trampoline we got for Seth's birthday is the best birthday present we've ever gotten any of them (ok, except maybe for his bike). The boys have spent a lot of time outside since we set it up. It's made the backyard so much more appealing that it was before, and I LOVE that. Next up? A cool tire-like swing for the rope swing on our tree... Evan's birthday is in May. =)