Minutia and the end of the school year...

A little Gator action. All the neighbor kids climb on when they go tooling through the cul de sac, especially the curly headed girl from next door.

I'm sitting here alone this morning. It's so quiet that I can hear the fridge running. I had heavy whipping cream left, so I made coffee to so I'd have an excuse to drink it. I slept ridiculously late for me (8:30!!!), and I'm going up for a shower soon.

David took the boys up to VA with him on Thursday for a work trip and dropped them off with his parents on the way. They're spending the weekend there, and I'm leaving today for the first girls weekend I've had in oh, I don't know, 7 years? I'm packing up the strawberries and brie and books and girlie movies and facial masks and nail polish in a bit. 

If it wasn't for grandparents, I don't know what I'd do. (Well, I might slowly go insane.) I got to eat lunch with a friend, go shopping for shorts and sandals for Evan, and wander through Target quietly. This meant that I actually got to think about the things we're out of that are the "extras" that don't make the grocery list sometimes. Oh yeah, we need more sunscreen. Oooh, more ponytail holders! 

The times without kids are a chance for my brain to play catch up, and it feels good. I clean and fold laundry while watching Netflix. I watched a movie and a comedy special and an episode of The Office, all in a row. I haven't watched that much tv in a very, very, very long time. But since I actually can't remember the last time I watched tv (maybe last month?), I think I just made up for it all at once and got  to see things that David isn't as interested in watching. It was fun! I love Netflix. :) (We don't have cable, and we don't use our antenna, but we get our $7.99 a month's worth out of streaming.)

The last time I went on a weekend with just me and my bestie, I'm sure I took books. I probably took a couple of novels, maybe a magazine? This time, I've got a Lord Peter Wimsey that I've already read. (Why did Dorothy Sayers die? I want more Lord Peter Wimsey!!!!) But I've also got two books on the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling. And I'm just as excited about reading those as the other. Times have really changed.

I refresh and recharge myself now to prepare myself better for this job that I have. I prep a little for the coming school year just as this one is ending, and I'm ok with that.

I declared Wednesday our last day of Kindergarten. In N.C., you don't have to count 180 days of school for the kindergarten year. Although I suspect we got that many in because I didn't take random teacher work days or spring break, I'm not worried if we didn't. We'll be having "Summer Learning" all summer long. We'll read books like we always do, and I'm going to do math, reading lessons, and handwriting with Seth a few days a week. BUT 1st Grade doesn't start until the fall. :)

On our last day, we went to the local city park that has a train, kiddie boats, and a carousel. They got to ride all of them. I gave them ice cream for breakfast. We picnicked with friends and discovered an awesome play area under a huge magnolia tree near the picnic shelter. Of course, it was the ice cream for breakfast that they're still talking about.

It was a blessed 1st year of homeschooling. I am really peaceful and content with how it all went, and I'm very thankful to God for a pleasant first step into this new phase of life. We looked through our Wonder Book together in the last few days, and Seth asked me often if we could do this activity again or that one. When I asked him when he liked best about Kindergarten, he said, "I liked all of it, Mommy!"