This Week's H/School Journal

In our homeschool this week...

This was supposed to be the week when Matthew completed his last three course Reviews before officially ending his grade 2 year.  But last weekend, Matthew surprised me by wanting to blitz through the Reviews so that this week could be our week off between the end of winter h/school and the beginning of spring/summer h/school.  Because he finished them, we did no formal school this week - just kind of laid back (a little).  We read, hung out on play structures, ran a few errands, went to a couple of appointments, did the zillion extracurricular activities that the kids love, and somehow managed to make it a week off of school when the kids (well, the boys) watched a few movies (Mulan, Dog Hotel, Franklin).  We chillaxed a bit, as my nephews might say.

Places we went and people we saw...

...Well, there were no field trips this week (that we'd signed up for).  We took a dear friend out for lunch to celebrate her big 6-0 birthday, and enjoyed our monthly dinner with two other h/schooling families.

...I went to a movie by myself on Tuesday night while Geoff took all three kids to the boys' cycling program.  I love going to movies by myself.  I got there early and nibbled on popcorn while watching both the pre-show and the people coming in to find their seats.  Afterwards, I sat in a Starbucks for an hour, nursing my favourite cup of coffee (cinnamon dolche latte, skim milk, extra hot - mmmm) and reading a good book.

My favourite things this week...
...date night Friday night!  Geoff and I went out with four close friends for dinner on Friday night, and let me tell you this:  IT WAS A BIG DEAL BECAUSE IT WAS THE FIRST TIME GEOFF AND I HAVE BEEN OUT TOGETHER IN THE EVENING SINCE BEFORE SETH AND LIZZIE CAME HOME!!!  Sorry about all of the caps, but really - it's been a looonnnggg time.  My parents graciously came over and performed as our first put-the-kids-to-bed babysitters - and things went great. 

What's working for us...

...Seth and Lizzie are attaching well.  I see progress every week.  The fact that Geoff and I finally got out together for an evening is an indicator that attachment is going well and that we can feel ok about leaving the kids now.  

What's not working for us...

...I think I need to find ways to 'loosen up' a little.  Since coming home with S&L, I've had to be pretty tight on control issues - the younger kids, Seth in particular, have needed the structure and the rules and the firm consistency (this has been huge for Seth).  I understand the need for it given that they were trying to figure out their whole new world and how things fit together, but I've recently gotten to the point where I feel like I'm exercising too much control over everything now.  Too often I feel a bit like a drill sargeant as I issue commands and decisions and yeses and nos.  It's a role that I'm not as comfortable in as the role I used to have when it was just Matthew and me - I used to be quite a bit more laid back and flexible and into negotiating things than I am now.  Maybe in part it's a factor of having multiple children, and for sure a little more order needs to be in place in order to actually get anything done or to go anywhere...but still, I'm thinking that something needs to shift a little.  Maybe it's a good sign - maybe I'm feeling this way because we're simply ready for a little loosening up now.

Things I'm working on...

...Big Cat Week.  Next week is the week Matthew's been waiting for, for a while.  He really wants to learn about big cats.  So for the past couple of months I've been throwing things together for this purpose (books, videos, worksheets, fact sheets, pictures, etc etc) and I've been trying to bring a little organization to our plans for next week.

...I have many plans for our spring/summer schedule and I'm now planning concretely for our upcoming agenda which will start in just over a week.

I'm reading...

...not much this week.  I've missed it.

I'm cooking/baking...

...kinda more of the same.  Decent cooking, a bit of baking.  When I create my monthly menu plans, I usually try to build in at least one new recipe every week.  But when working on May's menu plan, I admit that I was just tired of doing it and pretty much re-hashed January's plan!

I'm grateful for...

I will tell you something in case you don't already know:  adoption is not for the faint of heart...it can be very, very hard and emotionally exhausting.  Monday was a day like that.  Maybe it's not true for every family that adopts, but a good chunk of the past eleven months has been very, very challenging around here.  It's definitely taken a toll.  Though in some ways it's hard to believe that so much time has elapsed since Seth and Lizzie came home, in other ways it seems like a lifetime has passed through every minute.  Given all of this, it's hard to convey how utterly relieved I am that things are going more smoothly now and that we're finally at a point where Geoff and I can contemplate getting out together.  It's not such a huge deal in the bigger scheme of things, I suppose, but before the little kids came home I knew that it would be a while before Geoff and I would be able to get out together in an evening.  It worried me.  But we've made it, and the time has finally come.  I'm very thankful.  More thankful than I can say.